silly kids

I got the baby swing out so I could sell it, and Sloane HAD to sit in it. She sat in it so long she almost fell asleep in it- just like when she was tiny. WHAT was I thinking ever putting that thing away? LOL! Sloane and Cameron really love Cameron's new toy box. They don't believe me that it is to put toys in- not just them!

JBF

Just Between Friends (JBF) is a sale that happens twice a year. They sell used kids clothing and maternity. I have been selling stuff there for the last year and a half. I set my own prices and I get 66% of what I sell, JBF takes the other third. I hate the thought of garage sales, so this has been great, not to mention that I sell things for way more than I could get for them at a garage sale ($10-15 for a nice dress) I don't feel as bad splurging on more pricey items for the kids once in awhile because I know I can sell it later! LOL! Plus, as a consigner I get access to the sale before it opens to the public. Last night was the early shopping night for consigners and I did pretty good. 3 swim suits for Sloane- always nice to have extra swim suits! 3 pairs of shoes for her, including Stride Rite ($$$), a whole bunch of clothes ultra cheap, AND I also scored a toybox for Cameron (long overdue) and a baby doll stroller for Sloane. I spent about $150, but I have already made $100 in sales and it isn't even open to the public yet- yeah!!!
I work my butt off getting ready for this sale and our house looks like it exploded with baby clothes and gear, but I do get rid of alot of stuff and make some decent cash from it. As for baby gear- I think it all sold yesterday. I didn't take the high chair out of the attic yet- I will probably sell that on craigslist. Then the only baby stuff we will have left is the crib which converts to a headboard for a double bed, so i don't think I have any 'big' stuff left to get rid of- yeah!!!

Ethan

Well, we had a meeting yesterday at school with the principal, Ethan's 3 teachers, and the adhd/ sensory issue specialist. The principal is still refusing to implement a 504 which legally gives Ethan some extra help, but they did pretty much decide to give me everything I asked for to help him and a few extra things. He will have access to Success which is where the adhd specialist works- she will help him clean out his folder, making sure stuff goes where it is supposed to go. He will also get access to a motor lab that has a trampoline and some other things, if he is really fidgety and needs to get his 'crazies' out. LOL! I don't know that he will use that much though- at school this year he is VERY quiet and VERY shy :( mostly he has problems with focusing.
Right now he has such low self esteem and has no good friend at school- lots on our street though, but that doesn't help him at school. They are going to give him a 'buddy' in all his classrooms that is focused- this kids is going to be helping Ethan remember to turn his papers in, remind him to do his work when he is off in his own little world, and will hopefully end up playing with him at recess. I was very happy that they all seemed concerned about the no friend thing- I think having a friend will help his self esteem a ton!!!
His math teacher also said that if she notices him looking off to the distance and fidgeting alot, it is because he doesn't understand what is going on, so she has to finish explaining to the class and then go re-explain to Ethan. I am SO glad that she has noticed this because Ethan will NOT ask for help, and she knows that too. He absolutely will not do anything that will draw attention to himself. School Ethan is SO different from Home Ethan!!
His homeroom teacher is really concerned that he won't pass the 'big' test next week on writing, but I think he will do okay- they have been tutoring him alot, and we have been making him write alot at home too.
Aslo- the ADHD specialist is going to be working with Ethan to be able to listen to his body and know when he is in need of extra stimulation and do something about it so that he is able to pay attention to what he needs to do. She just got back from a seminar about this new technique and is excited to try it out on him. I am really happy that they have a specialist like her- not many schools have those, I don't think!

various things

It is snowing AGAIN! The kids were out in it this morning all ready. I tried to take some close up pictures of the snow but me new good SLR camera doesn't have a macro lens, so I had to use my old camera- but I am not used to it anymore so I got some crappy pictures. Jim even offered to get me a new lens this year and I turned it down so we can use the money to do some landscaping in our front yard this year :(

This is a pretty funny picture of Sloane- She loves it when daddy throws her in the air. She looks like a bird!

more pictures of the snow fort the kids built

Olympics

Well, I think Sloane may be a future Olympian :) She LOVES watching the olympics- especially any type of skiing. She has learned the word FALL and thinks it is great stuff when they do jumps and or if they fall. She was even practicing yesterday on the bed- falling! LOL!

Things may be getting better.

Well, Ethan's principal FINALLY decided to set up a meeting to discuss Ethan. The meeting is tomorrow. Hopefully we can come up with some things to help him do better in school. I know there is some discussion about giving him access to the 'success' room, which is not really the special ed room (there is another name for that room) but it is geared toward kids like Ethan. The room has a negative connotation though, and I am worried that his self esteem will suffer if he has to go in there- even though they would really help him there. He has such a low self esteem now anyway- he even told his teacher on friday that he was really stupid :( I understand why he feels that way though- he gets all that extra help and tutoring, not great grades, he knows he is 'different' from the other kids. His teacher was great though- she gave him a huge pep talk about how smart he was because he was doing the extra work to do better in class. She then gave him a special award for going 'above and beyond' because he was doing some tutoring even though he didn't HAVE to. Yesterday he got to be on the morning announcements at school. The really cool thing is that our school is now doing video announcements and it is posted online. It was really the first time Ethan was proud of something this year. So thanks to Ethan's wonderful teacher, I am starting to be happy with his school again. For now anyway..... The TAKS test for writing is in one week. Then all the pressure for writing will go away and they will start shoving math down their little throats for the next test in 8 weeks. fun, fun!
I will post a link to the video announcement for Ethan's school once it is online :)

school sucks!

Well, I haven't liked our elementary school since we moved here. They are very high on themselves and let everyone know they are better than all the other schools. That would be almost okay if it were true but it's really not a great school! Ethan's 2nd grade year was really rough, but 3rd grade went very smoothly. 4th grade has been awful. He actually has a wonderful teacher this year but he is having a hard time grasping all the concepts and they have been taking away his recess to make him stay inside and do more work. You can't do this to an adhd kid!!! He needs to run! Really I imagine all kids need a break to get some fresh air but for Ethan- he really, really needs it! 4th grade has an extra TAKS test (no child left behind crap- thanks Bush!) And Ethan is really struggling. I have tried to get him some extra resources because technically he has a disability but the principal blows me off and says he doesn't need extra help until he is FAILING! So they won't help him until then......(honestly though- he isn't too far from that) Twice now she has blown off my request for meetings and it just isn't right. Ethan's homeroom teacher has bent over backwards to help with what she can but she isn't his only teacher so she can't help with everything. I never ever ever thought I would consider this but I have really been thinking about homeschooling him and getting him away from that awful school! He says that for now he wants to stay so that is what we will do. I cringe at the thought of his upcoming TAKS though- an entire day spent completely silent. No recess allowed, no talking during lunch. I am pretty sure if a work place tried to make employees work under those conditions they would be sued but apparently it is okay to do to our children :(

More snow!

yep, even more snow this morning! Today the project is no longer snowmen- it's a snow fort! All the neighborhood kids helped fill recycle bins with snow and make snow bricks out of them- great idea!

Though Sloane has apperently had enough of the snow...

SNOW

When we had snow on Christmas Eve, Sloane wasn't at all fond of it, but yesterday she was quite fascinated! Both her and Cameron had to go out and check it out before they had even gotten dressed. Ethan was really bummed because he had school. Luckily they got out 2 hours early!

It snowed ALL day long- from 4am till after we went to bed. It wasn't windy out though so it actually felt nice outside- which is good because we were all out for many HOURS yesterday.

We ended up with quite the collection of snowmen on our street- the whole neighborhood helped build all of them. Sadly- they got tired before they made it to our house so we didn't get one :(

Sadly- Ethan isn't in these pictures- off with friends.....Maybe I will get some of him today since school was cancelled!