First Day of School 2008-09

Today was the first day of school for Megan, Connor, and I. Megan started her 7th grade year - her second year in middle school. Connor started his 3rd grade year. Megan's schedule changed again today when she arrived at school, but she seems ok with the new schedule. She knows at least one person in each class, and she has classes with several of her friends. While she does not think that she likes all of her teachers, she does like over half of them after meeting them only once. The ones that she described as "mean" she does not think she likes. But, I told her that some teachers start out mean or tough because they need to set the tone that they are in control of the classroom. Many times they lighten up/soften as the year progresses, so I have tried to encourage her not to count them out yet. She ran into her Math teacher tonight at the baseball field and went over and said hello to her. I was glad that she took the initiative to talk to her outside of school.

Connor loves his new teacher already. Her name is Mrs. Orr, and she is fabulous. I have known her for a few years now, and she is an amazing teacher and person. I am so excited that Connor has the opportunity to be in her class this year, and I believe that this is going to be another great year for Connor. Connor was excited about returning to school today, but he was not excited about all of the practicing that they do the first few days. They practice walking down the halls, to the lunch room, sitting at the lunch tables, etc. He does not think that they need all of this practice, but I tried to explain to him that there are new kids and that there are other kids who need to be reminded of the rules and procedures. This afternoon, he did not seem to be too bothered by the practicing, afterall, and he said that he had a good day. I saw him a few times during the day, and each time, I received huge hugs and lots of kisses. I will really miss it when he is too old to give me hugs and kisses at school in front of his friends and teachers. That will be a very sad day for me. I am going to enjoy my hugs and kisses from Connor each and every time I see him at school. They make me smile, and they help me get through the busy, hectic days.

Connor had a pre-season game tonight. Although his baseball team did not win, they all played really well. Connor did not get a hit when he was up to bat. Instead, he received 4 balls, so he was able to take first base on a walk. This season is completely kid pitch, so I think that there may be quite a few walks. He had the opportunity to play third base and catcher tonight. He did rather well at both positions. He really hustled while playing catcher - well, until his legs got really tired - and he stopped a few balls at third base, and nearly caught a ball to tag a runner out. Although he did not catch the ball and get the out, it was a terrific effort of his part as the 3rd baseman and on the part of the catcher. I don't have his baseball schedule yet, but when I do, I will be emailing it out to friends and family. If you would like his schedule, please let me know.

Well, it is 11:15, so I had better get some sleep. We all have a big day tomorrow ... our second day of school, and I am sure that it is going to be harder for us to get up tomorrow than it was today. Until next time ...

Saturday Night Church

We attended our second Saturday night service last night at Preston Trail. Our church decided a few months ago to add a third service, and Saturday evenings received the highests votes. We were excited to hear about the addition of a Saturday evening service, and we committed to attend the Saturday evening service for the next year. Our first two services have been great, and we are looking forward to the grand opening of the Saturday evening service next weekend.

Megan initially was not as excited about the Saturday evening service as Blake and I were. In fact, one day she told us that we were ruining her life by making her attend church on Saturday evenings. When we asked how we were ruining her life by going to church on Saturday nights, she said, "I will never be able to go on dates because I will always have to go to church!" She was completely serious. We both laughed and said, "You're 12! You are not going to be going on a date for several years. Remember, you can't date until you are 35." Her reply, "Still! You're ruining my life." Oh well. I'm sure that there are worse things that we could do.

Megan's Belated Birthday Party

Megan decided to wait until closer to the start of school to celebrate her 12th birthday party with her friends. We held her party on Friday & Saturday at the Embassy Suites Hotel. The girls swam, spent a few moments in the sauna, participated in multiple scavenger hunts, ate pizza & cake, played sleeping bag tag, watched part of the Rough Rider game from the hotel window, watched the fireworks after the game (which were right outside our window), and had a great time together. I was not sure that they were ever going to bed, but they finally did fall asleep sometime after 3:30am. When my alarm went off at 8am on Saturday morning, I felt as though I had just gone to sleep. But...they all got up and we had a great breakfast before their parents came to pick them up. All in all, I think that Megan and her party guests had a great time.

Men's Gymnastics

Gymnastics is one of my favorite events to watch. I never took gymnastics as a child, but I have always enjoyed watching them. I enjoy watching them flip and flop across the floor, twirl around the bars, and dance across the balance beam. It amazes me that they can jump so high, flip and twist, and stick a landing. Tonight, the US Men have given a phenomenal performance so far. I saw a few of the men on the parallel bars and then watched the high bar event. Wow! I can't believe that they can swing and spin that fast on the bar, fly off, grab the bar again, and just keep going. I would be so dizzy and nauseous. I can't imagine. Then, to watch them make three huge rotations, release, twist, flip and stick a landing. Wow! Even Blake is getting into the gymnastics! Blake who NEVER wants to watch gymnastics is getting excited. Incredible! I can't wait to see the women's events tomorrow. I LOVE the olympics!

Back to Work!

Sorry that I have not posted in a while. I am back to work, and I really have not had much to blog about other than work. I did conduct a blogging workshop last week with some elementary and middle school teachers. I think that it went quite well, and I hope to see many teachers and students blogging just after school starts.

I had the day off today, so I slept in a bit and then took the kids to see Space Chimps. It was a cute little movie, and the kids seemed to enjoy it. Connor ate too much buttery popcorn and felt really bad when we left the theatre. A few hours later, all of the buttery popcorn came back up. He feels much better now. I don't think that he is really "sick"; I just think that he ate too much junk today and it upset his stomach.

This morning, I watched a little bit of the swimming and men's beach volleyball before we left for the movie. It was great watching Michael Phelps and one of his teammates get so excited watching the final leg of their race today. It is also quite amazing that many of the world record swim times from 4 years ago wouldn't even qualify a swimmer for the finals this year. Wow! It is incredible that athletes have improved that much. I also enjoyed watching the strategy in volleyball. I have never been a volleyball player, but I do enjoy watching it. Tonight, I watched the women's volleyball and saw the Americans beat the Cubans. If you have not had a chance to watch the olympics, you need to find some time to do so. It is fabulous!