My Challenge - as written by Abby

Here is the essay that my 5th grader wrote regarding her challenge....

Have you ever had a challenge you wanted to face? I am facing my challenge right now. My challenge is soccer. My brother started playing this year ad I wanted to play to. My mom signed me up. Then, one day we went to a store called Dicks Sporting Goods to buy cleats, socks, shin guards and a soccer ball. I was ready to play!

Finally, the first practice day showed up. I was very, very nervous. I was anxious to see if any of my friends were on my team. I could not believe my ears when the coach said we had to sprit all the way around the high school. That didn't exactly make the team very blissful. Then after we finished, I was extremely pleased when we got to go get an icy gulp of water.

Next, we had to split up into teams and play a practice game. T he coach advised me of the positions. Let me tell you, there are a lot of positions in the game! It was hard for me to comprehend every position, but I finally caught on. Then, later that week, my first game day came up. I was extremely panicky. Then to make things inferior, I was playing the first quarter. That made me even more frightened! But after I played, I was in good health. No broken bones or anything! I couldn't wait to be in the third quarter After the game was over, I realized that we lost. Well, it was our first game and we barely knew each other. I was still determined to play and win the next game. So if you want to do something very badly, always work hard at it and make sure that you really want it. But also, make sure you will have fun!

Happy Halloween

My little Harry Potter followers.....Hermanie & Harry.... they won best pair in the Halloween Parade in our city!

Johanna & Ben's Wedding Shower

Parent Teacher Conferences...

Today was the dreaded work day for teachers in our area, parent teacher conferences. Now I say dreaded work day not because teacher's don't like talking to parents, but because it is a VERY LONG DAY for the teachers. Try teaching a half a day, then working from 12-8 pm. It wears you out. I had good conferences overall. You always have that one weird parent, the gushy parent, the talks too much parent, the what can I do parent...but all of mine were pretty much normal this year. YEAH! I've been doing PT conferences for 12 years now so I've seen a lot of parents in my day.

The exciting part of today was meeting with Abby and Owen's teacher. Owen's conference was first. I was little excited to hear what his kindergarten teacher would say about him. I am proud to report that his reading is on and above grade level. His math concepts are above grade level. He focuses well on school work, understands directions, works well on projects, and takes time to complete his work. YEAH OWIE!!! His issues are that sometimes he works ahead when told to wait - when asked about it, he says I get bored waiting for everyone else. Here is the biggie that I am a little concerned with.....he sometimes wants to challenge authority, but otherwise follows directions. His teacher says its normal for his age group but he does ask that WHY question a lot. I'm aware - trust me! All in all...he is doing GREAT in school and we know he is socially where he should be. He has many friends and seems to get along well with his buddies.

Abby's conference went well too. She has a teacher that is only in her 2nd year of teaching, but has been a mother for 20 years and a teacher's aid for many. I think teachers who are mothers seem to be more understanding to kids- at least this is my experience. Abby got straight A's this grading period. She is the first student for her teacher to get all A's in a nine weeks. Abby is going on her "A" wall. Abby's picture will be the first on the wall. YEAH Abby!! The only problem I have with Abby's report card is that her lowest grade is in SCIENCE. She has an A- in Science, but hey it's still an A! While waiting for the teacher, we got to read some stories that the kids in the class wrote. The topic was Challenges. I read the first story, it was pretty good. The second story was Abby's. Wow!! I was impressed that my daughter wrote such an amazing story. I am going to post it on here once it comes home. I couldn't believe her sentence structure, use of the introductory paragraph, and the vocabulary!!! Wow, that girl can WRITE!!! Her teacher thinks she will get a perfect score on writing on the ISTEP. I hope so!! Guess what Abby's major issue is? neatness and organization...oh things never change.....

Cousins.....

This is the cutest picture ever! At gammas this summer, Owen was walking around shirtless. Miles decided he wanted to be like "Owa" and be shirtless too. Miles wanting to be like "Owa" made Owen's day. I suggested a picture together and they both loved the idea.

Ben & Johanna's Wedding Shower in Princeton

Abby's First Day of School Pic

Abby's First Day of School - she rode the bus to school.


Owen's picture below is with his friend Briar and his teacher, Mrs. Layman