The Kids trip to the Zoon

Today the kids went with me to the youth group trip to the zoo. Since a lot of our youth group were not going to make the trip we turned it into a church family day out. Moms and the kids. Beth came with her two boys, Pastor Cyndy and her two boys, and my two girls. They all wore the extra church shirts (no loosing kids that way). Not sure if I ever told you guys but I am the youth director at my church and run the group. So I created the shirts and plan events. I have a youth group blog if you want to check it out. The address is below. This was Gabby's first time to the Atlanta Zoo. They all had a great time and we are all tired. Here is a photo of all the kids in Panda Cubs house, you can see her in the background. Ms. Beth fixing Syd's hair and Steven pushing Gabby on the stroller. A great time was had by all.

http://nlpcyouthgroup.blogspot.com/

Family Update

What is up.

Well, both girls are doing well at school. Gabriella's teacher and I spoke on Friday and Ms. Deb said Gabriella is doing well, she is attentive, does what she is told, and participates well with her classmates in the classroom. The only issue they are keeping an eye on is she is pretty shy and keeps to herself on the playground. Sydney is doing well at school. On Tuesday she gets to be one of the announcement speakers for her class. All the school children K-5 will see her on the tv and she will tell them about the ice pop party they get for being a very good class, well behaved in the hallways and stuff.

The girls went to Athens to our friend Andy's house for his daughter's 6th birthday party. The kids had a blast, they played on the two water slides, saw a magic show (Joyce's father was in from Pittsburg) Joyce is Andy's wife, ate supper, and had cake. Needless to say they did not want to leave. Joyce's mom does face painting so she painted all the kids. Not to suprising here Syd wanted the ice cream cone on her arm and butterfly, Gabby got the ice cream because it was PINK.

G is doing very well at school. She is teaching some lower grades and having to adjust. But, she is a fantastic teacher and will do well.

School is going well for me as well. We are four weeks into the school year. Which means I had better have my grades done very soon. Today I had a old student of mine from 2002 stop in to see me. He was a very tough kid to teach, very low reader, behavior issues, and low grades at school. I can't remember the number of times I made him angry for pushing him. He is now 18 and about to get married, he is going into the Marines in six months and he got his GED after dropping out of school. He also told me he is reading a lot now and that helped him with his GED. He wanted to come by and say thank you which made my day. It is nice to know you made a difference in at least one student's life. He is turning out to be an all right kid.

Not much else is new. The girls are going to the zoo with the youth group next week. Gabby has never been. Sydney has softball tryouts next week and the old coach emailed me seems like I might be coaching my own team this fall, Syd has also joined Girl Scouts which I have always wanted he to do. Gabby will be starting dance again in Sept. the studio she was going to has moved and will not be ready till mid Sept. We have been thinking about gymnastics, there is a nice place up near my school.

Got to run... See what happens when you don't write for seven days..

Love to all

FIRST DAY OF SCHOOL

Well, the girls started school today. They were both very excited and both had a great day at school. Gabriella started Pre-K. She reminds me of me. Starting Pre-K with a black eye. I started Kindergarten with a broken arm. I should have known than that breaking things would be in my future. By the way the black eye was from her sister. Oh yea, my broken arm was too. Sydney had a great day. She loved school. She already did her homework. Read a book. Our problem is not reading a book by stopping. Here are some of their before school first day photos.

Getting ready for school

As most of you know Sydney starts Kindergarten this year and Gabriella Pre-K. They are both really excited. Sydney has decided that she wants to take her lunch so she and I are going out to get a lunch bag today. Want to bet a princess one. She got to go pick out her drink box and snacks to put in her lunch she is thrilled. Gabriella on the other hand got to go meet her new teacher and we are so glad it is Ms. Deb that Sydney had last year. She knows the family and already knows Gabby. Gabby is very excited but we are expecting some academic issues. Still trying to figure out if it might be ESOL (English Speakers of other Languages) or a processing disorder. But, Ms. Deb is aware of what we are thinking and will test her. This is a good thing. She worked on her abc this summer and is doing a much better job staying in the lines when she colors. Sydney got to meet her new teacher and is ready to go to school. Sydney has signed up for fall softball and Girl Scouts. I pushed for the Scouts it taught me a lot when I was a kid. Gabby will join next year you have to be 5. We are looking for a new dance place for Gabby (her old one is not available at the present). We're considering putting her in Gymnastics. There is a place not far from my school that might work out. That's about it for the new info. on the kids. They are doing great. As always the loves of my life. I have been back at school now for three weeks and the kids have been back for a week and a half. Loving what I am doing. We will play our first football game in the next three weeks at our new stadium. I'll send some photos it is fantastic. Better cut off here.

As you can tell the girls are ready. Gabriella has her Dora bookbag we got in Guatemala and Sydney has her Auburn bookbag. She also has one her Gigi got her so she is planning on using both bags for school.

Love to all our family and friends.

The End of Summer

With the end of summer comes the last bit of fresh veggies from the kids garden. They got a good bit tonight, but I think the zuch. plants have seen better days and are about to die. We did get out first eggplant and it is a good size take a look at the photo. The kids are enjoying their final days of summer play. They are not to happy that I have gone back to work and am gone all day. But they are happy with where I am working since they know a lot of people. You know how social Syd is. I have been given a new room this year and it is small but it is all mine. Due to the curriculum I get to be very creative and my new AP really likes the things I have done so far and what I have set up for the next few months. My school also got a new 7 mil. stadium for track/football/soccer and stuff. I finally rode by it and it is awesome. Here are some pics of the girls playing with their friends up the block.

Last Days of Summer

Rounding up the kids summer is their last night of Vacation Bible school and playing in the pool with their friend Sydney "Smiley". They are both ready for school to start. Sydney is more excited than Gabriella but Sydney is a bit of a book worm and loves it. Gabby is more like me a needed evil you have to deal with. I am looking forward to finding out what I am teaching this year. I am pretty sure I will have a few reading classes since that seems to be my expertise, struggling readers. It was nice to see my school made AYP (annual yearly progress) last year. I like to think I had something to do with it. My new principal is cool. I worked for his wife a few years ago and she and I did great together. So with the new school year about to get underway I wish all my friends and family who are in school a great year. Sydney and Gabby do not start till August 14th but I am in a different school district and our first day of classes is August 1. So much for the summer. But at least I will be in with the air conditioning.

PS. If you look close you will see that Sydney made her ONE PIECE swimsuit into a TWO PIECE. Very creative. But now she does not have a swim suit..........

VBS Wed. night

Just thought I would throw a few more photos out of the kids at VBS. Yes, I know I am one of those parents. To bad, deal with it. Syd met the cow and had a nice long talk with him about the fact that he should be walking on all fours but since he is not he must be a real person inside a costume. They got their a few minutes early so they danced to the music and had some fun together. They are both in different groups.

Vacation Bible School for the girls

Since we missed VBS for our church we decided to put the kids in the Hope and Life Fellowship VBS. This is where the kids go for Halloween and some other christian sponsored things. Here are some photos of the kids. It is called Avalanch Rance. Jesus is the Sheriff. The girls went on Monday to now they have to wear their cowgirl hat and boots. But they are having a blast and in the process learning more about God. There are over 300 kids at this VBS our small church gets about 20. It is crazy.

End of summer

With the end of summer coming so fast, we are getting the kids ready for pre-school and kindergarden. We are also trying to finish up some projects around the house. I have gotten the deck back up enough done to use it. I still have handrails to redo and one floor board to install. But the house siding is on and the deck it up and 10 Xs more stable then it was. I still have to stain it and paint the siding but for the moment it is looking pretty good. If I ever get fired I can build decks for a living. The kids are doing great. Sydney had a dentist appointment today and got a great bill of health. Gabby does not go back till Sept. then she starts her treatment to fix the damage from poor nutrition in Guatemala. Gabby will be starting dance again and Sydney will be playing fall. Well I hope everyone is doing fine. Love you all.

PS. Yes I am sore. I am getting to old to build this kind of stuff. I only smashed my finder once and got stuck with a nail once in the hand. Not bad.

July 4th 2007

We hope everyone had a wonderful 4th of July. We spent the day here at home since Sydney is just getting over being sick. Eric came by to have a late lunch early supper with us. We cooked on the grill. What would a holiday be without a little suprise. Eric and I were cooking on the deck when he noticed the deck was lower on the back corner and I said yes it does seem so. He then said right here and as he did we both went for a ride, the deck fell. Let me say it was not the section I built. That is still standing. It was the original deck that I have always complained about it construction. Oh what joy.. We did save the grill and the food. We started taking off the bad siding and taking the old deck apart. I guess for the remainder of this week we will be working on demolishing the remaining deck and than either rebuild or just move my deck over. So for anyone who likes to build decks I welcome the help. On a good note the kids got to watch the fireworks at the lake and they had a lot of fun. They put on a really nice show. Love you all.