Teacher Conference – Lael

Lael’s teacher requested conferences with all of the parents.  So, I went in yesterday to meet with her.  She said that Lael was doing very well in all her subjects, especially the language and reading.  She has an 89 in Reading and 97 in Language/Writing.  She has taken 15 AR (Accelerated Reader) tests and passed all 15.  Her average book level is between 2.7 and 3.1.  That would be 2nd grade, 7th month or 3rd grade, 1st month.  So, she is way ahead.

Lael got an ‘E’ for Excellent for:

• Follow Directions
• Works Independently
• Works neatly
• Complete classwork on time
• Turns in homework on time

She got a ‘S’ for Satisfactory for Listens.  and a ‘N’ for Needs Improvement for Demonstrates self control.  Mrs. Chance wrote in “talking” beside that.  I had to laugh!  That is so Lael, I swear she just cannot stop herself from talking.  She chatters nonstop.  Mrs. Chance said that she was a great student, very bright and wonderful to have in class.  But, she likes to boss some of the other kids around.  That is so Lael too.  That is just her personality.  I know she is going to have to learn to control that urge at some point in her life.

Kids Market Sale

Today was the day!  Well, actually Saturday was, but since we were out of town, I didn’t get to go.  It was fine though, because there was still plenty of clothes left!!  Oh my gosh!  This is a huge sale!  It is housed in an old grocery store, so think of the size of your Publix or Winn Dixie or wherever you shop, and picture it packed with clothes racks.  I went straight to the girls side because strangely enough, for the first time ever – Lael has fewer clothes than Caeden this season.  We are finally getting into the stuff that we had saved from when Chace was Caeden’s age.  Yes, we have been schlepping that stuff around for 6 years!!  funny, huh?  Aimee also passed on some of Dylan’s clothes that he had outgrown.

Anyway, the place is jampacked with people, strollers, crying babies, kids on leashes, kids climbing on the bikes and riding toys, and of course the clothes racks.  I had remembered a tip I picked up somewhere and had brought a laundry basket to stow the clothes in that I wanted.  So, that kept my hands free to push and shove my way through the aisles and try (sometimes unsuccessfully) to pull the hangers and clothes apart to try to get a look at the clothes.  There were so many clothes, it was hard to see them!  Plus, it was hot in there.  I developed a headache quickly.  Finally, I finished going through the girls racks and made my way over to the boys side.  There was not really a lot of boys stuff to choose from.  Oh well, by this time I was done and ready to go home!

I start searching for the end of the line.  I find it and join at the end.  Then I realize that everyone in the line had these little zip tie things around their handles.  Uh-oh, I don’t.  I ask somebody what the deal is and tells me that this is the line to pay, that I first have to stand in line to get my clothes counted and tags taken off.  So, off I go searching for the other line and the end of it.  Eventually at the other end, corner of the store, I find it!  I join this line, and just under an hour later I reach the lady who counts my clothes and takes all the tags off.  Then of course I have to go back to the other line, which has grown exponentially longer by now.  I wait in this line for about 45 minutes, which is not near as bad as I thought it was gonna be!

yay!  I am done – I have lots of great clothes at a wonderful price.

Back to Tuscaloosa

Traci and Mayson are home from their vacation and they stopped in Tuscaloosa to pick up Rex and to vist.  So, we decided to go down and visit as well.  Todd was supposed to go as well, but at the last minute he got called upon to go on a business trip next week.  The twins had a soccer game on Saturday morning at 8:30, we decided to be packed up and ready to hit the road when it was over.  However, somehow we got our wires crossed and the other team didn’t have their full team there.  I still am not sure what happened.  But, we did not have enough to play so we took off for Ttown.  Todd stayed behind to fly out tomorrow.

When Chace found out we were headed to Tuscaloosa, he was excited because that meant that he could see his friends there again.  He made plans to go hang out at Ashley’s house for a bit Saturday.  Actually he was planning on watching the game with them.  But, apparently they could not wait to see him, and started texting him as soon as we were on the road asking where we were, how long til we arrived, when he was coming etc.  So, I ended up taking him over there at 2:00.  He stayed until just before the UA game started.  Of course, they wanted him to stay and watch the game with them too.  But, I insisted that he come back and spend some time with the family.

We had a wonderful time.  Mayson is so adorable and fun!  She is at the age where everything is just the coolest, most awesome, new thing she has seen yet!  Traci was the hero and had bought some toys to entertain the kids with, bubbles and sidewalk chalk and stuff.  Good thing she was thinking – because all I brought were the kids!  Of course they did have their Big Wheel cycles that we left there to ride down Lynda’s basement driveway.  That is always fun!

Our visit was much too short, as usual.  I want to go back soon though for a UA game.  Tickets are a bit harder to come by these days though!!  Now that Saban is there and UA is winning again the prices are outrageous!

Daisy Parent Meeting

We had our first Daisy meeting tonight.  It was actually a Parent Meeting.  So, Dusty was talking to the parents, telling them what to expect etc.  I had the girls – all 14 of them.  Yikes!  We were making bead bracelets.  One bead to signify each color of the the Daisy petals.  Each color stands for something too.  They were doing ok, but I felt like I needed 3 more sets of hands!  In the end, everyone got their bracelet finished and were wearing them proudly.  So, it was a good first meeting.

I don’t know we ended up with 14 girls so quickly!  When we first got out list we had like 6 or 8.  Then somebody called and they wanted to switch troops to ours.  Then they told somebody else, and then she told somebody else and now we have 14 wonderful girls in our troop.  I am very excited, I think it will be a lot of fun!

Lael with Curls

Crazy curls!  When Heather was here she used a flat iron on Lael’s hair.  It looked so good, so sleek and straight.  This got Lael to thinking about changing her hair.  She has been talking about wanting curly hair for a while now.  So, I got some foam rollers from Target and we rolled her hair last night.  It took forever!  She was not a happy camper while all that was going on.  She kept asking how much longer, how many rollers do you have left?  I bought a pack of 45, but only used about 30.  This morning, I took them out and was simple amazed at the curls.  They are true spiral curls.  Her friends were amazed!

Spider Plants

These are most definitely the easiest plants in the world to grow!  Lynda has them at her house and she was always telling me they were easy to take care of.  So, when she came up to visit a couple of months ago, I asked if she could bring me one.  She did, and I put one in a hanging basket on our patio out back.  I think it might have been getting a tiny bit more sun than it would have liked, but it grew very well.  So well, in fact that I decided that it needed to be taken out of the pot and divided.  I got 4 small pots from Lowe’s and Lael helped me to divide it into 6 smaller plants.  We gave 4 of them away to friends and neighbors and repotted two of them to put inside our house.  But, I also planted two of the original plants that Lynda brought in these metal containers that hang on the wall on our patio.  It must be the perfect spot for them.  They have grown so well, the color is always perfect and they are putting out ‘babies’ like crazy.  Todd was astonished to see little white flowers on them, we had never noticed flowers on Lynda’s plants before.  He seems to be so impressed that I decided to take a picture of them.

Soccer Cheering Team, Birthday and BBQ

Heather and her family are already here, so today Mom and Dad decided to drive up also.  The twins had a soccer game this morning at 9:45.  Mom and Dad hopped on their motorcycle and took off from Birmingham early enough to make it in time for the game.  It was awesome, the twins had their own cheering section!!

It is also Dad’s birthday next week so after the game Mom, Heather and I went to the grocery store to get the yummies to make his fave cake – Red Velvet.  We also decided to get some BBQ for lunch.  I thought we would try a BBQ place here in Madison that apparently tons of people LOVE.  On the weekends, the drive-thru is absolutely covered up.  I have seen 12-15 cars in line there on a regular basis.  So, I figured it must be good right?  Well, apparently people here in North Alabama don’t know what BBQ is supposed to taste like.  There are so many different variations of BBQ is it unreal!  This is what one of my faveorite magazines, Southern Living, had to say about BBQ and the South:

As long as there’s been a South, we’ve loved barbecue, the one food that defines us most as a region. It suits our Southern sense of comfort, society, and the passage of time–friends and family gathering around glowing embers, drifting smoke scenting the air and seasoning the meats of animals that grazed the grass of our prairies and rooted the mast of our forests.

That might be a bit over the top, I mean I love meat, I could never be a vegetarian, but I don’t really want to think about these animals roaming around the woods behind my house and then eating them for dinner. 

Anyway, back to the topic – BBQ at this place was weird, different and not good.  When she gave us the container, it didn’t look like the 2 lb. that we had ordered.  She confirmed that is was.  We decided that would not be enough, so we got another container.  Then we asked where the sauce was, she said it’s mixed in the BBQ.  REALLY?!?!? Where???  There was certainly no sauce there that I could see.  So, we got the meat home, and I dump it into a pan to doctor it up with some ‘real’ BBQ sauce.  The stuff that they claim to be sauce was a clear, vinegar base type that just was not good IMHO.  The actual meat was not that great either.  So we have striked that particular place off our list.  There is one great place here, but it’s not in Madison – it’s out in Limestone county, feels like the country, but in reality only about 15-20 minutes away.  It is called Greenbriar Restaurant. This is the real deal, Southern BBQ like I am used to. They also have the best hush puppies I’ve ever eaten.  They bring a basket to the table when they bring your tea, and they just keep filling the basket up when it gets empty.

We always have to find a BBQ restaurant wherever we are.  It took a long time in upstate NY, but we finally did.  It was called Everglades.  Which is very strange considering after we left NY, we were practically living in the Everglades.  In FL, we did find a place, but I cannot remember the name of it.  I don’t think we were in Charlotte long enough to settle on one.  In Tuscaloosa it was Archibald’s, yep – most people erroneously believe it is Dreamland (which is good!), but Archibald’s is better.  Ifound a funny review somebody did about Archibald’s here.  In Birmingham, it has always been Full Moon.

The Gilmers Visit

Yay!  We are so excited the Gilmer’s are here to visit!!  They arrived yesterday.  The girls are out of school for Fall Break so they decided to come visit.  Today we went to the Space Center.  My kids went to school this morning and I will check them out at 11:30 so that they won’t be counted absent.  I went with Heather and them early to the Space Center and bought tickets.  I got the annual passes for us because it worked out nicely with Heather and her family.  We wandered around the Davidson Center museum first checking out everything.  It is really fascinating!

Then we moved on to the older part of the Space Center.  Lots of really cool stuff there too!  There was a rock wall to climb, so the girls wanted to try it out.  Then Heather decided she wanted to do it also.  So I couldn’t be outdone!!  We all got our harnesses on and started climbing.  It was hard, but not as difficult as I thought it would be!  When I got to the top though, I got a bit nervous at the thought of rappelling down.  Heather and I looked at each other at the top and I am sure that my face showed my terror.  Then she takes off, I was like oh man, now I really must do it.  Of course there was no other option, so I lean back and try to remember how to do it.  I’ve done it for real years ago, off of a real mountain!  I even took a class at UA where we had to do it for a grade!  But, that was many years ago when I was young and in better shape!  I did reach the ground safely though, although I did land on my bottom!  Chace roared with laughter when he heard that!

After walking around there for a while, it was time to go get the kids from school.  I got the twins first, and when we go Chace from Liberty, he said that he had just sat down with his tray of food.  So, we ran through the drive-thru at Burger King for him.

Back at the Space Center – we find the Gilmer’s.  Chace wants to head to Space Shot immediately.  But, we are not sure if either of the girls are tall enough.  I know the twins are not.  We walk over and sure enough Mallory is not quite tall enough, and Madeline barely makes it.  So, Chace, Madeline and I climb on.  I’ve never been on it, but Chace has talked about it plenty since he and Todd came to the Space Center last year with TMS.  Here is what the website says about Space Shot:

What does a rocket launch really feel like? Three, two, one, liftoff!

• Rocket 140ft straight up in 2.5 seconds.
• 4 G’s of force on launch!
• 2 – 3 seconds of weightlessness out of your seat then a 1 G free fall!

That about sums it up!  Scary, thrilling but FUN!

Back into the older part – because Chace and the twins want to rappel.  I was not so sure about the twins doing it, I didn’t even know if they were big enough.  The guy said they are supposed to be 50 lb.  But, that they looked close enough.  We get the harnesses on everyone and they take off, Lael is climbing fast – and then she makes the mistake of looking down and gets scared.  The guys has to climb up and get her.  Luckily she had only made it about 15 feet up.  Caeden is doing well, he goes about halfway and then decides he has had enough but he doesn’t know how to get down.  We talk him through it and he rappels down.  Chace of course flies to the top of the wall in like 10 seconds.

Oh, the Space Shot for kids – it is supposed to be kind of like the big Space Shot but without the g-forces etc.  The twins climbed on and Mallory grudgingly did too.  The twins were loving it, throwing their hands up, giggly and thoroughly enjoying it.  Mallory had that smile on, like she was having fun, but didn’t want to admit it.

There were other things we saw and did, but this post has gone on way too long already!

Girl Scout training

I am going to be a Girl Scout Leader.  Me!  I don’t know how well it will work out, but I am going to give it my best shot.  Lael already had 1/2 year of Daisy Scouts at Rock Quarry in Tuscaloosa last year.  But, they changed the rules this year and now Kindergarten and 1st grade are in Daisies.  So, it will be a bit of a repeat for her – but that’s ok, we’re both excited.  I had to meet with one of the ladies from the Girl Scout Council for formal training Monday night.  It was nice, I don’t really feel prepared, but we will go with the flow!

Cub Scouts – Here we go again

Caeden is now officially a Tiger Cub.  When we first talked about it – he was excited, sounded like fun, he wanted to do it.  Then the day of the first meeting arrived and he declared he did not want to go.  That is just Caeden’s aversion to going anywhere.  He is such a homebody!!!  Anyway, we convinced him to go, that it would be fun.  We were supposed to cut out some pictures from magazines of things he likes to take to the meeting.  So, we sat down with a bunch of magazines and went to work.  Of course, Lael wanted to help, so she got busy picking out pictures for Caeden.  We sent them off in a ziplock bag to the meeting.  He comes home seriously pumped up about Cub Scouts.  He has the popcorn order form, the schedule for upcoming meetings, info about a fishing rodeo, info about a campout.  You would never guess he was not wanting to go a few hours earlier! He also made something else. Not exactly sure what, but it’s definitely a masterpiece!