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Project pride

Posted on November 13, 2010 5:44 pm by TheAngelForever

Dear JSL,

This week you had your first ever project for school. At three years old, you were so excited to do homework like your big brother. Your nursery school teachers asked us to make a poster that showed things that we like to do as a family. Completing this together, with help from NHL was a lot of fun. You helped me to pick out photos, then we went to get them printed off at CVS. Once we got home we plunked down on the floor with the paper, photos, photo glue, and my monster sticker box. You helped me to put the pictures in just the right spots. After I glued them down, you were able to go into my sticker box. This was the first time you had ever seen it. You were mesmerized with the different Winnie the Pooh, Mickey Mouse, Monsters Inc, Blues Clues, and countless other options inside.

You wanted to hold onto your project to show Daddy when he got home from work. Luckily I was able to get you to put it down to dry. On Friday, when we took it into school, you insisted on holding onto it as we left the house. Then when we got to school you clutched it tight and paraded into school showing everyone along the way.

It was so much fun watching how proud you were of the photos, stickers, and project as a whole. Now I hope we can keep this excitement for homework alive for years to come.

Love,

Mommy

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Dear Kid Saturday jsl milestone photos school

School projects

Posted on November 12, 2010 12:00 am by TheAngelForever

When I was teaching, I was a pro at assigning projects to my students. I had a lot of fun coming up with new and creative ways for my kids to do things like book reports and science projects. Of course, the flip side of these items was correcting them. I spent countless hours creating rubrics with my grading policies, expectations for each section, and more. Once the items came in, as exciting as it was to see the creativity of my students, it also meant a lot of work correcting/grading them. Not simply slapping a grade on them, but writing comments as to why points were deducted per the rubric and beyond. In the end, it was well worth it. Of course, I did have complaints about some of my projects. The calls, e-mails, and personal visits happened many times. Most of the time, things ended well and everyone was happy.

Now I am getting a taste of life as a parent helping with projects for my own boys. NHL has had a few of them here and there, he is a second grader after all. On Tuesday, JSL (3) came home with his first ever school assignment from nursery school. I smiled as I watched the little guy get so excited that he had homework. I read the note that was on a large sheet of construction paper:

Dear Parents,

In conjunction with the upcoming holiday of Thanksgiving, we will be focusing on our families.

Your homework is to depict what your family enjoys doing together. Use pictures, stickers, etc.

Homework is due Friday, Nov. 12th.

Have fun,

JSL’s Teachers

So, JSL has been talking non-stop about doing his homework (I need to record this excitement to use for when he gets older). Thursday, he helped me to pick out some photos. We went to CVS and had them printed out. Then we sat down on the floor to arrange them on the paper. He helped me to glue them on (had special photo glue I was testing), and then added fun stickers of his choice from my collection. Here is the final result:

So my question for you this week:

If you have children, what has your favorite project been that they have brought home? If you do not have kids, or they are too little, what was your favorite as a child?

P.S. Be sure to stop by and enter my Mastermind Game giveaway and TechyDad’s Mastermind Animal Tower giveaway.

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Thanks to Kailani at An Island Life for starting this fun for Friday. Please be sure to head over to her blog to say hello and sign the linky there if you are participating.

Aloha #125

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Aloha Friday holidays jsl looking back milestone photos school

2010 Halloween Memories

Posted on November 1, 2010 4:29 pm by TheAngelForever

This year, the boys had a lot of fun doing different things for Halloween. After being sick last year, anything was a huge improvement. Friday night, we went to NHL’s school for a party. The boys had a great time playing games, seeing people, and making some goodies.

Saturday, it was time to carve our first family pumpkin. Little did I know, it was also the first EVER pumpkin that TechyDad had carved. I was floored since I had so many memories of carving pumpkins with my family when I was little. Here are a few photos about this experience. TechyDad wrote more about it on his blog today.

On Halloween, we took the boys to the mall for a short time to get some trick-or-treating done. Thanks to the weather, we were not sure how much we would all want to do outside. The boys had fun, but were getting tired from walking in the crowds.

After this, we went back home and then to Nana and Papa’s house. We stayed there to play for a little while and then went to a few of their neighbors before heading back home to see some people here.

Then, it was time to head back into the warmer house, take costumes off, eat dinner, and wait for a few trick-or-treaters to come. Before we knew it, we turned out lights off and called it a night. Lots of memories made and two very happy little boys.

P.S. This is also serving as my entry in the SITs Girls Halloween Giveaway. Thanks for the fun ladies!

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fun holidays jsl milestone nhl photos weekend

Tuesday Tales – Books of the Hebrew School Kind

Posted on October 26, 2010 1:19 pm by TheAngelForever

My memories of Hebrew School as a child are cloudy at best since I try to forget it. I will be the first to admit that I did not like going. When I was a child, I went Monday, Wednesday, and Sunday. Now, Hebrew School typically begins in kindergarten once a week for children. Then, when they are in second grade, it goes to twice a week. We have been very lucky. NHL loved Hebrew School the last two years as a kindergartener and first grader. This year, the addition of Wednesday had been a big change. Still, he looks forward to going and learning. Just the other day, he mentioned out of the blue that he wanted to be a Mench. I nearly choked on my dinner. This was not a word I expected to come from my seven-year old son.

So, why am I bringing this up for Tuesday Tales?

Good question. I guess this has to do with how far books for Hebrew School have come. The new books are more realistic, interweave Judaic customs and views of every day life. The books are child friendly, packed with great information, and do not intimidate children while learning about our religion and how to read/write/speak Hebrew.

Check out NHL’s books that are being used. I have to admit, I am jealous and would love to get my hands on a few of them to really read.

Now, I can completely understand where the Mench term was coming from. I was also excited to see the amazing collection of Jewish Holiday/Heritage books that NHL’s teacher has. Many of the books we have and others I have never seen. I am sure he will be especially intrigued by The Cat in the Hat and a few other familiar books all written in Hebrew.

To all of the text-book companies out there, thank you! As a teacher and parent, I applaud you for stepping up to the plate. By making books to use in the classroom that are more engaging, you are not only helping teacher, but also reaching more students.

So what have you read recently? Please be sure to link up to your Tuesday Tales and/or leave a comment below. Include something you read on your own, with a child or someone else. Tuesday Tales are all about spreading the love for books.

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books looking back milestone nhl photos school Tuesday Tales

Another febrile seizure anniversary coming

Posted on October 25, 2010 12:11 pm by TheAngelForever

The other day, it hit me. It has been almost a year since JSL’s last febrile seizure on October 29, 2009. I should be optimistic about this milestone, but we have been there and done that before. JSL’s febrile seizure nearly twelve months ago was his fourth. I had three as a child, TechyDad at least two, and NHL only one, so we know all too much about them. Still, I look at my bubbly child and wonder, will there be another?

Will we need to go on another ambulance ride to figure out why he has a raging fever and seized? I do not obsess over this, yet it is on my mind a lot right now. It is hard not to when you have seen your child stop breathing four times in less than three years’ time.

The first febrile seizure was when JSL was nine months old in February 2008. That was quite possibly the darkest night of my life. The night that my baby’s lifeless gray body had to have breaths of life blown into him by my mother.

A four day hospital stay resulted. I wrote about it at the time, and, then a year later, in my post called Memories of THAT night in February. At the time, I celebrated the fact that JSL had gone a year since his one and only febrile seizure. Typically, that is a huge accomplished and means that a child is less likely to have another. Something I have learned, JSL is not a typical little guy. Less than two months later, I would be writing about JSL having his second and third febrile seisures in less than 30 hours.

Seven months later, while home alone with the boys my worst nightmare happened. While recovering from H1N1, NHL had to help me let paramedics into our house. While changing his diaper, just moments after running around and playing with his brother, JSL had his fourth febrile seizure. To this day we are still not sure what caused that one.

Now, I just hope and pray that we can continue to add additional time onto our watch since JSL’s last febrile seizure. I promise not to jump each time the phone rings and it is nursery school, but I think you can probably understand why the underlying fear will remain for years to come.

Now, I am off to give my little guy a great big hug.