G's last day of school was "his best day of school ever!" He was so thrilled to receive a Blokus game from his two special EAs, and very excited to meet Mr. F, from the high school. G got to bring a Math 9 book home for the holidays, and was very excited to hear that he would be able to go to the high school after the holidays to begin learning some new math. It has been a journey for both us and the staff at his elementary school to decide how to support his growth in this area of strength. Before Christmas, the resource teacher did some assessments to figure out if his math abilities demonstrate conceptual understanding, or just calculating ability. This was the first step in determining what is appropriate education for G in math. We weren't terribly surprised to hear that he flew through the entire assessment (which assesses number sense up to around the grade 9 level), but it left us a little puzzled about what to do next. So, we met with the Resource Teacher from the high school and talked about possibilities. It turns out that Mr. F. from the high school was interested in meeting G to figure out where he's at, and to determine what his "instructional level" will be. Since then, they've met one more time, and G has learned some new math. G is sometimes choosing to work on his Grade 9 math during his school day, when his peers are doing math that he already knows, and occasionally he's even experiencing some frustration and has been generating questions for Mr. F. I'm so grateful that there are people willing to think outside of the box to support G's learning!
Christmas holidays began with a trip to Grand Forks to pick Grandma and Grandpa up from the airport. The kids were very excited, and a delay in their flight meant we even had time to eat supper :-) When Grandma and Grandpa walked through the gate, the kids had a LOT of hugs for them, and so many things to tell them. We were all so happy that they were home for the holidays! At the beginning of the week, we took a trip to the city together. Grandma and Grandpa took the kids to Build-A-Bear as one of their Christmas gifts. Everyone had so much fun, and the kids have played with their new stuffies a LOT! It's been so cool to see them engaged in imaginative role-playing with their stuffies :-)
On Christmas Eve, we had Christmas with the other Grandma and Grandpa. We had a big brunch, opened presents, had naps, played, and had a fish fry for supper. G loved his microscope, L was thrilled with her sleeping bag, and M put her new pj's on right away (and pushed her stroller around non-stop). It was beginning to storm during the day, so Grandma and Grandpa decided to go home after supper and we went to Church. After church, we put out some gluten-free peanut butter chocolate chip cookies and pink milk for Santa, and went to bed :-)
On Christmas morning, everyone was up bright and early, excited to see that Santa had eaten his snack, left some gifts, and filled stockings. This was the first year that the kids really tore through opening their presents :-) We spent a good part of the day putting new Playmobil toys together. The kids have just loved the Castle that Santa left for L, and have spent tons of time playing with it. M was thrilled to get more Geotrax, and G was over the moon about his DS. He has spent a lot of time cheering me on as I earn Power Stars for him in Super Mario 64. Both sets of grandparents had planned to come for brunch, but a storm meant that only one set made it (after getting stuck a few times). We made waffles for brunch, put together toys, played, and finally watched a movie to have some down time as it was beginning to get dark. It was a great day!
On the 26th, we celebrated Christmas with my parents. They came over in the morning to make crackles and open gifts. They we loaded up our vehicles and went to a nearby hotel for a day of swimming, and for the night. Unfortunately the pool heater was broken (or turned off), so we did all of our swimming in the hot tub :-) The kids really didn't seem to mind at all, and we all had a good time together. It's amazing how a few busy days tire everyone out though... we both fell asleep lying down to help the kids fall asleep at bedtime. I'm sure Grandma and Grandpa were hoping for some kid-free visiting time to play cards, but we went to sleep on them instead. The next morning we did some more swimming, then went home. The following day, it was time to take grandma and grandpa back to the airport. The visit sure went fast, and we all miss them already! G is counting down the days, and L gets a little sad sometimes about missing them.
The rest of the holidays flew by! With new toys in the house, everyone played SO nicely. Ralph was on holidays, so we just hung out, played, and got the house ready for more renovations. We spent New Year's Eve with another family, and we had a blast! We made Prime Rib for supper, and then the kids played like crazy! G and M put themselves to bed shortly before midnight, but L was up until after 1:00 a.m., when our guests went home. Needless to say, the next day was pretty low key!
Our holiday was so great this year, that it was pretty hard for everyone to want to go back to school and daycare. We're back in the routine of regular life, and still enjoying the new toys.
Yesterday, this little ballerina had her dance class at the Ballet Studio in the city. She was thrilled to dance in a real studio, with bars & mirrors. She loved the costume room and the shoe room, and she was so excited the whole morning! She was also excited to go for lunch with her friend (and moms of course). What a great girls' day!
