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For the last three mornings, I’ve had to get up and fix a “real” breakfast. The girls have been taking the End-of-Grade test. They are required to take it each year from grades 3-8 to “pass” that grade. It is similar to the standardized testing we would take, but is made by the state of NC. Basically, it is a royal pain in the butt! Teachers are judged by their students’ success on the test, so they have had to begin teaching the entire year on how to take the test. They are stressed and it rubs off on the kids. Anyway, I was told that they needed to be in bed early and have a home cooked breakfast each day. Even in 6th grade, Julia got extra points on a vocabulary grade or a piece of candy for each day she brought a note saying tshe was in bed before 9 pm and had a good breakfast. Its a good thing I am already out of school myself or they would’ve been eating frozen waffles or Otis Spunkmeyer muffins like they do every other morning!
But, as of noon today, the testing is over for this year! Madi was the main one I was concerned about. This was her first year taking the EOG and academics are not her forte. She does well, but doesn’t excel as much as the first two. But, at the end of school, her teacher came out and gave me the thumbs up, meaning that she passed! We’ll find out if she got a 3 or a 4 on Monday, but 3s are good with me! Bailey said she felt like she did fine…she made a 4 on both the reading and the math last year…she’ll find out on Monday also. Julia said her’s were easy…we’ll see!
Thayer was also involved in the EOGs this year. We volunteered to proctor the exam at the middle school. He was going to do Wednesday and today and I was supposed to go Thursday. He told me Wednesday night that he didn’t mind taking my day, too, so he actually went all three days. He was with the kids that have modifications like extended time to take the test. His job was to walk the kids to the restroom during breaks. I’m very thankful he took my day! Now, we have 8 days left where they will be doing virtually no school work with the kids that passed…the rest have to be remediated to be tested again before school is out.
We decided Sunday after church to take a last minute trip to Wilmington/Wrightsville Beach for the night. The girls have never been to Wilmington except to eat on our way back home from another trip. We took them to a cool outodoor mall that looks like a bunch of downtown shops, but they’re all new. Of course, we got there at 6 pm just as all the stores were closing, but they still enjoyed walking around and seeing the stores we don’t have around here. Then, we went downtown to let them walk on the boardwalk. You can see the battleship and there were lots of smaller boats docked. More than anything, they were amazed at how many people had their dogs out walking.
We waited almost 30 minutes to get icecream and fudge at this store:
It is soooo yummy. We watched them make the fudge and waffle cones and the store smelled so good. Madi said she wanted a candle that smells like that store!
We spent almost 5 hours at the beach (1/2 hour was spent looking for a parking space!). There were thousands of people there, but we still had a relaxing time. Bailey was in the water almost the entire time. She loves riding the waves. Avery and Madi spent a lot of time sitting at the edge of the water and Julia is getting to the point where she enjoys laying out. There were three guys who came walking by carrying an American flag…it was good so see everyone clap as they walked by.
Now, we’re back to reality for another two 1/2 weeks. They take the End-of Grade tests tomorrow through Friday, so I’m told I have to cook a “real” breakfast for the next three days!
Avery and I finished school today. She is no longer a Caterpillar. I can’t believe how quickly this year has gone by! When we go back in the fall, she will be in the four year old Frog class. We have lived in this house exactly 4 years as of Thursday. Avery was not even three months old when we moved it. We’ve never lived in one house that long since we got married almost 14 years ago!
Our four year old program and Kindergarten graduation was last night. I was in charge of the program…the songs anyway. The theme this year was “Surf’s Up.” All the kids were so cute in their beach attire! We learned Surfin’ Safari (Beach Boys), Cheeseburger in Paradise (Jimmy Buffett–a kids’ version!), You’ve Got a Friend (James Taylor), Hot, hot, hot! (don’t know who did it originally, we did the Diego, Live! version), Huki Lau (the Kindergarteners did a dance to this with grass skirts and “fire sticks” we made out of paper towel tubes!) and I Can See Clearly Now. We walked in to Wipe Out and the kids had all decorated foam surf boards they carried as they “surfed” in the auditorium. Some of the boards were awesome! One family even had a friend who was a graphic designer do a picture of the kid on his board with some cool effects around it. Afterwards, we had a reception in the gym where they ate refreshments and watched a video of pictures from the year and it also had baby and recent pictures of each kid. It was really great. You never know how the kids will act during a program, but I knew they had learned all the songs well. We had about 5 kids missing (3 are at Disney World this week…I’m jealous!) so only 41 were in the program. The 11 Kindergartners also get to wear a cap and gown at one point in the program and receive their certificate while the director reads out their name and what they want to be when they grow up. We had a few police men, a dentist, an engineer, a 50s girl, a monster truck driver, a cowgirl, and a cowboy farmer (“that’s a cowboy who farms!”). Next year will be Avery’s year to be in the program. It will be a jungle theme (we rotate themes every 4 years).
I know next week will be a busy week with the girls all taking End-of-Grade exams. This is Madi’s first year taking them and she is nervous. They test next Wed.-Fri. Thayer and I and proctoring the exams at Norwayne Middle School…don’t ask me why we volunteered for that! So, I’m really looking forward to starting my summer next Fri. afternoon!
Some good news…our car’s air conditioner is fixed!! I am so thankful to Sue Harrison for letting us borrow her car (its a Cadillac SRX) while she is out of town this week. We have been spoiled by its bells and whistles though! Bailey got in after school on Monday when it was kinda chilly. She opened the sunroof and then turned on the seat warmers! I promptly closed the sunroof and turned off the seat warmer!
Have a wonderful, long weekend celebrating our country’s heros!!
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Today has been one of those days where you don’t get nearly as much accomplished as you’d like. The main reason is that there is too much to be done and I’ve had to take 4 Benadryl and am still sneezing my head off while being stuffed up. I had to have a two hour nap just to be able to take Madi to dance. Thankfully, Julia cooked supper tonight. It wasn’t just because she wanted to be helpful however! Last night, we had breakfast for supper. Julia had cheese grits that weren’t up to her standards. She threw the spoon down and started crying saying, “these are lumpy and have absolutely no flavor!” Wow, those middle school girls and their emtional breakdowns. I don’t think I ever cried over grits, though. I remained calm and told her to go upstairs and get ready for bed. It was a few minutes after 6. When she had settled down, I called her back downstairs to talk about a response that may have gotten her a better result. I also informed her that the punishment for her ridiculous fit was that she would cook dinner for us tonight. Here’s what we had:
Yes, those are grilled cheese (or peanut butter for Avery) and potato chips. They were pretty good and I’m in no shape to argue. Maybe tomorrow will be a better, allergy-free day.
On Friday, I had to participate in our students’ Famous Person Scavenger Hunt…as one of the famous people. The kids had no idea what it was all about…they only knew they had to collect six signatures of famous people. The six people were Gateway people dressed up in different parts of the mall. I was “Ethel,” an old lady who was posing as a shopper in the Belk lingerie department. I had borrowed some of Mrs. Sylvia’s clothes, shoes, and walker. I asked her for a long sleeve shirt so you wouldn’t see my arms. I had a gray wig and some old lady glasses. I guess I was fairly convincing…only Julia’s group found me (and she didn’t know I was even part of the event!). Since I had to hang out there almost 2 hours, I told the cashier what I was doing so she wouldn’t call security on me! I bought some huge granny panties to carry with me to the reveal at the center of the mall. It was really hilarious when the kids saw me and the other people come out. There was one group that walked close enough for me to reach out and touch three times and never realized it was me. The middle school boys’ group never even looked over when they walked by. I guess they were too embarrassed to look at lingerie! (Or maybe they wanted to but knew they shouldn’t!)
Julia had taken 3 friends with her who spent the night with her afterwards. Four 12 year olds in the house was interesting…I finally told them to go to bed at 3:30 am. We had to be up at 6 the next morning for our 5K. When Vernon saw me the next morning, he said, “you look so young today!” It took me awhile to figure out what he was talking about! It was as if I lost 45 years in 12 hours! I did o.k. in the race…not my best time, but I finished…33 minutes, don’t remember how many seconds. It was really humid and I was drenched by the end.
We had a blast today picking strawberries at Cottle Farms in Faison, NC. Thayer decided to go with us this morning and I’m so glad he got to go. He ate more than he put in the bucket at first. I’ve been telling him for years that the strawberries are so pretty and taste so good in the field. Now he’s a believer! Avery has been looking forward to this for weeks. We were rained out last week and she has asked every day if it was “strawberry picking” yet. I’m not sure why she has been so anxious to go because she is not a strawberry lover. But we made her try one. She decided they weren’t that bad after all. I love all the kids having red berry juice dripping down their faces…at least her shirt was already red! She also got to plant some seeds to bring home. Cucumber, I think. They had some animals at the farm…I have never seen chickens like the ones they had. I couldn’t get a good picture, but they had tons of hair that was all crazy on top of their heads.
This was half of her Tues./Thurs. class.
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I hope you have had a great Mother’s Day everyone! I had a wonderful day! The girls and Thayer gave me a really cool purse (that I had picked out!) and some flip flops that are the giraffe print that everyone has on a purse. Avery and Madi had made gifts at school too. After church, we went to Raleigh to eat at The Cheesecake Factory – my absolute favorite place to eat! While we were waiting for our table (it was a 1 1/2 - 2 hour wait), we went to Build-A-Bear. We were just going to look…Lord knows we have enough bears, dogs and bunnies already…but, it was decided that since I was the only one without a Build-A-Bear (even Thayer has one!), I should make one. I agreed but picked out the cheapest bear and insisted that she only needed the cheapest summer outfit I could find. She is cute…we named her Eve, in honor of the first mom!
We all enjoyed our meal and most especially the cheesecake. Julia and Bailey shared a Godiva chocolate, Madi and Avery had chocolate chip cookie dough and I shared Thayer’s favorite with him: carrot cake cheesecake. I knew there would be a few bites left of the other two to satisfy my chocolate craving! My absolute favorite there is the apple cheesecake…but I’ve never had one I didn’t like!
I want to wish my mom, Judy Brown, a very happy Mother’s Day. I had just started blogging last year around Father’s Day and I blogged about my dad, so I did not want to leave out the same honor for my wonderful mom!
Judy Elaine Traynham was born in Laurens County, SC on June 21, 1949, the youngest of three children to James and Julia Traynham. She grew up in a very hard working family and although they did not have a lot, they always were able to provide what they needed. She was a high school cheerleader and on the student council. She and my dad started dating in 11th grade. She went to Lander University and she doubled majored in business education and elementary education. She worked full-time while going to school to pay for it and still finished before 4 years. She and my dad married in 1970 and I was born two years later. She was able to be a stay-at-home mom to me and my brother until I started Kindegarten. She taught school for 30 years (mainly 2,3,4 grades) and had been such an inspiration to so many students through the years. She and my dad are very active in their church. She has retired, but stays busy volunteering at the hospital in their town and going to Curves! She is a tremendous friend, wife, mom and grandmom. She lost her mother way too early (Nanny was 67 and had cancer). I’ve heard her tell stories of things her mom would do for her. Once she picked cotton to be able to buy the special shoes my mom had to have to cheer. She was always sacrificing for others, especially her family. My mom told me that her mom “was an angel.” I can truly say that I feel the same way! My mom is my best friend…my angel! She was always so supportive of me…still is. Some of most favorite memories of her so far are the times she would come stay with us after each of the girls was born. She totally ran the house so I could rest and focus on the new baby. When she had to go home, we all cried each time! I guess I’m like many people in that you realize how much you owe your parents after you become a parent. I hope that my girls will be able to say the same kinds of things about me later in life! You already know this, mom, but I love you dearly! And I so much appreciate you and all you have done for me over my 36 years of life.
The girls and I made those horrible tie-dye shirts…you know she loves us to have had her picture taken in it!
The girls and I went to Dewayne’s Home and Garden Showplace in Smithfield tonight. Can you say, “WOW!” ? I’ve been there before and loved it, but had forgotten how amazing it is. The store is full of really cool stuff…a lot of it is designer and pretty pricey, but I still love browsing through there. Avery was not concerned at all about anything in there except the pink Rainbow flip flops. Madi kept saying, “oh my gosh…look at this!” Bailey was ticked off because she couldn’t find her name on anything that was personalized. (Julia wasn’t with us, but would’ve wanted to find a place to sit and read so she would’ve missed all of it anyway!)
The best part of the store was the outside. They have amazing displays of the most gorgeous plants I have ever seen. I know a good bit about flowers thanks to my mom and I loved seeing all my favorites in soooo many colors and paired with flowers I would never have thought to put together. I’m not sure how large the outdoor shopping area is, but we didn’t see it all before the girls gave out on me. Madi was still in awe…I’m hoping she will gain a love of flowers from me. She decided her favorites were geraniums (especially the salmon colored ones) and the striped petunias. She now knows the difference between regular petunias and “wave” petunias. I hated to leave, but they were ready to eat at Zaxby’s. Maybe I can go again with my mom while the girls stay home and I’ll be able to look as long as I like!
Even though I loved looking at that store, the bargain hunter in me came out because I didn’t buy my “wave” petunias there…they had great color choices, but Lowe’s beat their prices by a mile! I did make a purchase at Dewayne’s, but it was for Avery….you’ll have to see what it is the next time you see her. I have a feeling they will be on her feet pretty much every waking hour for the next 5 months or so!
Our camera is still being fixed…we should be getting it back any day, and I already gave Sue’s camera back to her so we had to use Thayer’s cameraphone to catch Avery’s first night of bike riding without the traing wheels. She came in tonight and told us she was ready to take the training wheels off. She just turned 4 two months ago…I think Bailey learned when she was 4, but it was later during that year. We explained that she would probably fall several times and she said she was still ready. About fifteen minutes later, Thayer and I were exhausted from running behind her, but she was doing pretty good. She kept making these sounds like a puppy when she realized we were letting go. Our neighbors saw her from their kitchen window and opened it to clap and yell for her. We had knee pads and elbow pads on while we were riding, but had taken them off before the picture.
In other Stamper news, Bailey had to write a three page essay about why Physical Education is important. It is due tomorrow. Apparantly, the class was giving the PE teacher a hard time because he wanted them to run the mile a third time (over the last 2 weeks). So, without telling them the consequence, he allowed only those who wanted to run the mile. Then, those who didn’t–well over 2/3 of the class–were told about having to write an essay. At first, Thayer was about to make her run the mile when we got home in addition to writing the essay, but I convinced him that writing a 3 page essay would be torture enough. Sure enough, she just finished and it is about 7:45 pm. I even had to coach her through over a page of it. She found enough info. on line about the benefits, but wasn’t elaborating enough on each point to fill up the space. The last paragraph is how lucky she is to have PE teachers who show her how fun PE is so she can live a long, healthy life!
Julia has her spring band concert tomorrow night. I can’t wait to see how much they have improved since the Christmas concert. When we got home today from taking Bailey, Madi and Avery to dance, Julia had raided my closet in choosing an outfit for tomorrow night. She was wearing one of my shirts and shoes. She looked very nice, although I had to point out to her that the shirt was sleeveless and since the sweater overlay she had on is “hole-y” you could see that the shirt was sleeveless…against dress code. So, we have to find another shirt to wear under the sweater.
Madi made a picture tonight for each girl in her class to give as an end-of-the-year gift. They each have a flower…all different designs and they say “To my BFF, ________(girl’s name)…Love, Madi.” What a wonderful child she is! I am so proud of her.
On our way home from SC yesterday, we stopped in at IKEA Charlotte. I had been to IKEA in Minneapolis two years ago and couldn’t wait to get back to one. It is a Swedish furniture/home store. They have the neatest designs and the prices are great. Madi was so amazed…she loves watching HGTV (or the “designers’ channel” as she calls it!) and she kept saying, “they have really good designs in here, mom.” Bailey and Julia can’t wait to go back with us next time. They are already planning what they want to do in their rooms. I told them we might pick up a few things here and there…we have lived in this house 4 years this month and that’s the longest we’ve ever lived in one house. We’re all getting a little tired of our bedroom decor. I also found my dream kitchen…it could all be mine (minus flooring) for $12,500…yes, I said the prices are reasonable, but that includes all cabinets, appliances, countertops, sink, etc. Maybe one day…
In IKEA, they also have a cafeteria. In the mornings, you can get a 99 cent breakfast. No charge for coffee and there are no servers to tip, so literally, with tax, is is $1.03 or something. The lunch is not quite so cheap, but still a really good price and great tasting. Before we left, we got a warm, cinnamon roll to share and picked up a 6 pack to bring home for breakfast. It was so good!!
We needed a few things at church and we picked up two new desk chairs for Madi and Bailey’s room and also for Julia. Knowing Avery would be mad if we bought something for everyone else’s rooms, we got her a cute, pink stool. Now, I won’t find her little chair everywhere around the house. She drags it around to turn on lights, get clothes out of the closet, get a sip of water, etc. The cool thing is that all the furniture is unassembled so it fit in the trunk of our little Corolla! If you haven’t ever been to IKEA, check it out sometime. There is another one just above Richmond for us Eastern NC folks!
