Started this a week ago....

 {Please note the boys started school a week ago. That is when I started this post.  Today is actually Kate's first day but I am just getting around to finishing the post.}

Today (last Monday) is the first day of school for Will and Harry.  I seriously don't know how this happened.  This is the oldest photo I have of them on the blog on a 1st day of school.

This was August 2007.  Harry was going into 1st grade and Will was going into 4th grade.

This was this morning (last Monday)...




Will is a senior and Harry is a freshmen.







You can tell that they were totally thrilled about me taking photos.

I kind of wish I had taken more time because these are the last "back to school" photos I will have at home of Will.

So far, high school is going really well.  Will is starting his college applications and we are all hoping he knocks them out quickly so we can just enjoy this year.

Harry LOVES his new school.  He is fitting in well, making new friends and adjusting to the academic rigor. I can say that this is the happiest and most comfortable I have seen him in his own skin in years.  It's all good. Harry even went to the high school mixer dance this weekend and seemed to have a great time.

Will drives Harry each day and I think it has been really good for their relationship.  They used to be best friends when they were younger and then naturally drifted apart though the middle school years. I can see them becoming closer again and I am so thrilled about that.

This is Will and his best friend David first day of freshmen orientation.

And this is them first day of senior year.

They went from looking like boys to looking like men.

Kate started 3rd grade today. She had a tad more patience (literally a tad) for my picture taking.

(Please excuse all of our weeds.  We need to do some yard work but it's soooo HOT.)

She got the teacher she was hoping for and some of her friends are in her class.  Kate was super excited for 3rd grade.  She suddenly looks a lot older to me in these photos.  

Our summer FLEW by.  I really have no clue where it went.  We took a long family vacation that was incredible.  Will got his wisdom teeth removed.  Kate and Harry went to camp.  I hope to catch up on blogging.  I know I say that all the time but this year is so special (Will's senior year) that I really hope to be better about preserving some of our favorite memories.  I know I will be back very soon to blog about Kate's first gymnastics meet of the season and our vacation.

I hope your children are all having a great end of summer/back to school.

Humble Parenting Lesson {one of many}

Life is so humbling sometimes. And such a good teacher too. As many of you know, Kate is getting an encore presentation of kindergarten this year.  As such, she is doing all the same projects she did in kindergarten last year.  At the beginning of the year, last year Kate had to make a "me" doll and an "all about me" poster.  Her teacher strongly encouraged these to be family projects with lots of help from Mom and Dad.  I took that as a sign to get involved.  Usually, I do not get involved at all with the boys' school work. I am big believer in letting them do it themselves.

Anyway, I probably did WAY too much of Kate's beginning of the year projects last year.  You can look at them here  (and you can tell I did a lot of the work). Sure, she did some cutting and painting but I assembled them to make sure they looked pretty.  BIG MISTAKE!

This weekend Kate was supposed to make her "me" doll for this year's classroom.  She started drawing on it the other day when I was cooking dinner and I told her to wait until I could help her.  She looked at me with complete innocence and said, "Mama, this year can I make my me doll?" GULP. Shame. Guilt. Embarrassment. Lesson learned.

I am constantly advising my clients and friends to let their kids make their own mistakes.  I am constantly coaching my clients to do less and less for their kids so their kids are more self reliant.  I am appalled when I read articles stating that over 43% of parents admit to having done their kids homework.  I have always excluded myself from that statistic as I never have done the boys' homework.  Yet, I did it too.  I sold my child short.

When we do these things for our kids we are sending them a very strong message that we don't think they are capable.  We don't think they can do the work themselves.  We are also telling them they are not good enough.  These are all very damaging messages to send to our kids.

Parents think they are helping but really they are hurting their kids by doing so much for them.

Truth is...last year I probably did not have the confidence that Kate would finish these projects. She was exhausted from all day kindergarten.  She struggles with multi-step projects. But I should have at least let her try. I should have given her the benefit of the doubt. I should have shown her that I believed in her.  I am not saying that I did any long term --gonna be telling a therapist some day that I did her "me" doll--kinda damage.

Anyway, Kate did her me doll 99% by herself this year.  I had to hot glue the hair because my gun is old and gets super hot (and I burned myself).  She was so creative though.  She made a bow out of a tissue. Apparently, she saw Minnie Mouse do this on TV and gave it a try.  She made a necklace with paper beads.  I have no clue how she did it but Harry taught her a while ago. She even wanted to put her monogram on the dress. That had been my idea last year but this year it was hers:)

It was so wonderful to see Kate proudly hand the "me" doll that she did on her own to her teacher this morning.  We both learned a lot from this assignment.  Maybe I needed the encore presentation of kindergarten just as much as she did.  

P.S.  Kate lost her second tooth last night (you can see in the photo above) and that darned tooth fairy forgot to show up last night.  Anyone else ever have that happen?  Sure hope she remembers tonight.

And another P.S.  If you missed the blog radio show last night you can listen to the archive here.  We talked about this very issue last night:

Listen to internet radio with The Pearl on Blog Talk Radio

First Day and Transitions

We are definitely experiencing some growing pains in our house.  Will started high school and while he loves it, it has been a BIG transition. He knew very few kids going into his new school and it is academically very rigorous. Some of the things they are doing his freshmen year are things I did in college (no kidding).  Luckily, he seems to be rising to the challenge and keeping up so far.

Today is the first day of school for Harry and Kate.  You might remember my concern about giving Kate an extra year of pre-school and then kindergarten as I have blogged about it over the past few years.  Well, we DID decide to give her the gift of an extra year of kindergarten.  She was not happy about our decision at first. She repeatedly told me she was going to be " SO embarrassed" in front of her friends.  I let her feel how she felt even though I told her it was nothing she did.  She is just "young."  I knew that the long term benefits of the extra year would FAR outweigh the short term costs of some embarrassment.

Kate is so sweet and carefree.  Aside from reading, she has very little interest in academics yet. She wants to paint and dance and pretend play.  Developmentally, she did not seem ready for 1st grade.  We are at a very advanced IB school.  The school is a great fit for Kate but you need to be really focused in 1st grade. And she was one of the youngest in her class last year.  Luckily, we had experience on our side as we gave Will an extra year way back in kinder too and it was the best decision. He is a summer birthday too. We can really see how much it benefitted him even though it was for somewhat different reasons.  I think it can be very hard to be a summer baby!

Well, this morning Kate told me she was SO GLAD that she was doing another year of kindergarten.  She specifically stated her excitement at treasure chest, free centers, recess and all the things that make kindergarten so special. She got one of her favorite teachers (the one she thinks smells like champagne--it's actually patchouli).  She is ready to be a leader this year and I think that will be so good for her!

Three children at three different schools in completely different parts of town (and they all start and end at the same time) sure can make life challenging.  So, we were very rushed taking first day photos.  And no one really wanted to take them....

Harry is starting middle school today.  Most of his friends will be going to the middle school just down the street.  But Harry applied and was accepted into a magnet program at a different school. It is really an accomplishment to get into this program and we have waffled back and forth whether to do it or not but he finally decided (like a few days ago) to rise to the challenge.  This year, he will have an introductory course of Chinese, Italian, Latin, Spanish, and French in addition to his Pre-Ap courses.  He is very nervous and none of his friends are in this program.  I know he will be fine but he has seemed very anxious and that is hard for me to watch.  He is usually so self assured.  I have been praying for him like crazy.

Harry is also really struggling with migraines.  All summer he has been getting about 2-3 per week and they are really bad. If you would not mind saying a few prayers, I would be so grateful.  We are headed back to the neurologist soon but there is little they can do for them at this age.

Harry's graduation and the last day of school...

Sometimes I feel like my blog must be so darned boring to other people (and that is okay..I'm just saying). It truly is my journal.  I look at it like a family recipe book that my kids will read one day when I am gone.  Anyway, because it is my journal, I try to document anything I will want to remember and look back on (or think they might want to).

Harry's graduation got off to a pretty rough start.  There had been LOTS of pre-graduation things up at school.  The kids were really tired. The parents were pretty tired.  We were very rushed as Will also had his dance that night.  And truth be told, Harry had a meltdown as we were leaving for his ceremony and he said he wasn't going.  That is not really like Harry and to this day I am not sure what exactly was going on (except I know he was very sad to leave his FABULOUS elementary school).  The kids from our elementary go all different places for middle school and he will miss a lot of his friends dearly.

Anyway, he refused to cooperate for a photo but I have to share these cause now they make me laugh and  so you all know this stuff happens here too..... we ALL have our bad days...

{He refused to look at the camera for us}

He cheered up in time for the ceremony and graduated with honors.  He also got a citizenship award and a music award.  Harry has had all A's and all E's in elementary school.  We are very proud of him.

After the ceremony, I did get a photo of him and his "friend" M.  Isn't she adorable?

I also got a photo of Harry and a few friends... 

And this one is of Harry and one of his friend's mom.  This Mom really loves Harry and she used to hug him all the time (and Harry is not one to give out a lot of hugs)

I think Harry is in a bit of a hard place right now.  He LOVED his elementary school and while he is really excited for middle school...I think he is sad about leaving this place and these wonderful people behind.

The next day was the last day of school (and Will's graduation).  It was the last day Harry and Kate would ever be in school together. I will admit I was teary when they did this all on their own...

I cannot even put into words what an incredible brother Harry is to Kate.  He really looks out for her.

{this one is from the first day of school last year}

Awful direct sunlight....





Harry with his teacher and the principal.



{yes...I let him spray his hair red for the last day and yes...Harry LIVES in this judo shirt...it kinda drives me CRAZY!}

I am REALLY sad that all 3 kids will be at different schools again next year.  Harry was such a GREAT big brother to Kate this year.  He helped her navigate her first year of elementary school so well.  He walked her in for me on days I was too lazy to get out of my pajamas.  I am REALLY going to miss that!  I guess I will have to wear clothes to school for the next few years.

This last day was sad for me for another reason too.  For the past few years, I have sat on the steps in the cafeteria at dismissal and talked to 3 other Moms every day. We shared things about our kids, reality TV, our health, our teenagers and everything you can think of.  One of the Moms will not be there next year as her youngest graduated. We have forged a really nice friendship and I know we'll keep in touch but there was something so nice about knowing I would always see her and the others on the steps each day.  I did get a photo of the 4 of us but I am not sure if the others Moms would want to be on the blog:)

Go Big or Go home!

According to the Urban Dictionary this is

an expression the speaker says to the listener to encourage the listener to be extravagant, to go all the way, and do whatever you are doing to its fullest - and not flake out.

Well, let me tell you that my little girl goes BIG!  I love seeing her dance into her school each morning and say hello to everyone on her way.  She is full of confidence and joy! She loves life!  Last week, the kindergartners went to the fire station and Kate had a ball.

She was not afraid of this guy at all!

She hopped right in the seat and buckled up...

Then, she jumped right into this firefighter's arms for help getting down:)  And BTW, he was quite the handsome firefighter...just sayin!

But the funniest part was when she got to hold the hose.  For most kids, the firefighter held it with them and they calmly stood there.  Not my girl....

She grabbed that hose and shot it way up in the air!

She even got me and some of the other "paparazzi Moms"a bit wet!

Look at  her face.  You can tell she loved every second of that!!!!

Also yesterday, their school had a Storybook Parade.  Kate and Harry's school has a special literature program that is an intense reading and writing specialty.  Yesterday, the whole school (teachers and students) dressed up as favorite storybook characters.

We opted to use our Halloween costumes and be a cupcake from both Pinkaliscious and If you give a Cat a Cupcake.  Harry was a hot dog from The Pigeon finds a Hot Dog. The principal even dressed up and led the parade...

Kate strutted in the parade smiling and waving like she was the grand marshall....

Harry loved it too.  Only about 1/2 the 5th graders dressed up but Harry had fun with it all.  I love his attitude. He goes BIG too!!!

Last year the theme at the boys summer camp was Live out Loud.  I am so proud of all 3 of my children because they truly Live Out Loud!  

Kate's first day of Pre-K {Hallelujah}

I just love how the sun was shining down on my little sweetie this morning on her first day of Pre-K! Can you believe she will be in kindergarten next year?

I had my house-keeper snap this one of us too since everyone else was already at school/work.

I would be lying if I told you that I felt all sad and sentimental this morning. In fact, I am overjoyed! Kate is SO ready to be at school from 9-2:30 and so am I. She does not really play at home and she just follows me around most of the day. She is so smart and so ready to learn more at school.

With one brief exception (right before Kate came home from China) I have had a little one home for most of the day for the past 13 years and I am looking forward to a little more freedom. I LOVE being a stay at home Mom but I also know it is time that I get a little break. I plan to cook more, work out, organize my house, go to Bible study and volunteer more. I might even explore a career opportunity! I know I will miss my little buddy but I am excited about a new chapter in our lives too.

I am so proud of Kate. She loves school and her independence has grown so much in the past few years. I hope you have a GREAT year Katie Ru!!!

{Kate's darling back to school outfit was made by my friend, Daleea. Daleea is raising money to adopt another beautiful daughter from China. Her site, Lady Peep Boutique has gorgeous hand-made clothing. Please check it out.}

Kate sings in Hebrew!

Last year Kate Emerson attended a Jewish pre-school in our area. In fact, although we are Christian, all 3 of the peanuts have attended this pre-school at some point. It is a warm and wonderful place and my children learned a lot about the Old Testament there. They also all learned the Ha-Motzi. Ha-motzi is a Hebrew blessing over bread. This year Kate is at a Catholic Montessori school and I know she will soon forget her Hebrew blessing so I wanted to get it on video before that happens....I am sad that I do not have this from Will and Harry too.

( I am sorry about the construction vehicle in the background noise. They are repaving our streets and Kate would not give me an encore performance).

This video reminds me of funny story. Several years ago when Will was Kate's age we had one of our favorite parish priests over for dinner. He asked Will to say grace and although Will knew how to say a Christian grace, he said the ha-motzi instead. Luckily, the priest was quite impressed and we all had a good laugh:)

To my Jewish friends, I hope you had a peaceful Yom Kippur.

(These are the Hebrew words that Kate is singing)

Harry picks a winner!

Harry picked "Michele" as the winner. Michele has been teaching 2nd grade for 17 years!!! Congratulations!!! Michele, Please leave your e-mail in the comments and let me know if you would prefer a Starbucks gift card or a Barnes and Noble gift card. I will not publish your e-mail. And thank you to all the awesome teachers out there. I read all of your suggestions and this week, I offered to help in some of the specific ways y'all suggested (sponsoring a child on a field trip, helping in the classroom, etc).

P.S. My voice does not usually sound like this. I have a terrible, terrible cold.

Teacher giveaway, recipes

About a month ago, I asked my teacher-readers for input and advice regarding Harry's class assignment this year. You all offered wonderful insight and I promised y'all a little thank you for your kindness. So, if you are currently a teacher, please let me know the comments. In fact, tell us parents how we can better support teachers. I will have Harry randomly pick one of you to receive your choice of either a Starbucks gift-card or a Barnes and Noble gift-card.

To update you on the situation with Harry's class. I decided to keep him in the class and I am so glad I did. His teacher is the ESL trained teacher for 3rd grade and his class is extremely diverse. In fact, Harry's best little buddy is from Israel. Harry and I have had some great discussions regarding religious and cultural differences. There is a world map in his class indicating where all the students are from and only 4 or 5 children are from the US originally. But most of the children speak English. There are a handful of children who struggle with the language. One little girl joined his class from Saudi Arabia last week and speaks no English at all. Dave taught Harry how to say hello to her (he lived in Libya as a child) and I told him to smile because that means hello in any language.

Harry's teacher is AMAZING. She is truly meeting each child where they are. Harry is being challenged and stretched. She has re-ignited his love for reading through a challenging literature circle for him. And he goes to gifted and talented class for 3 hours a week. He is an extremely good student. His report card usually has grades ranging from 95-100. But this week he earned a B on a test. This was a first. He had never earned less than an A on a test since kindergarten. He was a little upset but I was secretly glad he got a B. That told me that he was being challenged and that he would have to study a bit more. This is a good lesson to learn. I think kids need to be challenged.

We talked about his B at the dinner table...Harry said, "I got my first B today." Will quickly quipped (offering a high five), "Welcome to the club, Harry." Harry (not missing a beat) said, "yeah well my membership is temporary. This is a club I do not want to be in." My boys crack me up.

I want to share two recipes with you. I fell off my juicing wagon BIG time with Kate's surgery and the boys being so sick. And I noticed three things: a) I gained weight--my pants were tight and b) my skin did not look so good and c) I was tired and irritable. So, I am trying to get back to my daily juicing. This week, I am focusing more on fruits and have a recipe to share.

1 cup organic green grapes

2 oranges, peeled

1/2 lemon, peeled

mineral water

Juice the grapes first, then the oranges and finally the lemon. The grapes might splash out a bit. Mix with mineral water (50%). I am not a huge fan of mineral water and plain water is fine too. This has great vitamin C and A, folic acid, and calcium which I need now because Will and Kate have colds. This makes enough juice for 2-3 servings. From The complete book of Juicing.

Here is another recipe that is not really healthy but a special occasional treat. Harry was at a sleepover one night and I made this. Harry cannot eat butter or cheese so I cannot make this when he is home. Although you could substitue olive oil for the butter and it is equally as delicious!

Oregano Shrimp

1 1/2 lbs fresh large shrimp, peeled and deveined

2 tbs fresh lemon juice

1/2 cup bread crumbs (gluten free work well too)

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

2 tbs freshly grated parmesan cheese

2 teaspoons minced fresh oregano

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted

1 lb of angel hair pasta, cooked al dente (we used gluten free)

Preheat the over to 325 degrees. PLace shrimp in a 9 X 13 inch baking dish. Sprinkle shrimp with lemon juice. Combine bread crumbs, garlic, parsley, parmesan and oregano in a small bowl. Sprinke bread crumb mixture over shrimp. Pour melted butter on top. Bake 10-15 minutes, or until hot and bubbly. Serve over pasta.

From Stop and Smell the Rosemary.

Hope you are all having a GREAT week. It is rainy here and I am enjoying hanging out at home and cooking cozy fall food. Oh and don't you LOVE Season Premiere Week? I laughed so hard last night watching Modern Family!

Thank you Moms and teachers

Thank you so much for all of the wonderful words of wisdom and advice.  I knew that many wonderful teachers came by this site and I am so fortunate to draw from your wisdom and experience.  I am going to think of a way to thank you teachers (look for a giveaway for teachers only soon).   I spoke briefly with the vice principal on the phone yesterday (I have a fever and stomach virus so I cannot go up to the school).  She informed me that Harry's teacher is the ESL teacher for 3rd grade.  However, she also informed me that 11 of the kids are ESL and the rest are not (10 maybe).  So, perhaps Harry is exaggerating the ethnic diversity in his room?  I am not sure. She also told me that this particular teacher is the most requested teacher in the whole school. Parents BEG for her because she is so good and that she teaches to each individual child's ability. Harry said there are two children from China that do not know any English at all and need translation so that concerns me (as far as pace goes).  Harry seems to think that the work thus far is challenging and he likes the class a lot.  He does not want to switch classes.  The vice principal assured me that it was not a mistake and that this truly will be a great year for him.  He will be pulled out for gifted/talented one day a week.  She also said that if we feel it is not a good fit in a few weeks, she will talk to us again and look at switching him.  She was a bit surprised that I was asking questions because so many parents are upset that their children did not get into this particular class.

In talking with a few other parents at the school, they agreed that this is an amazing teacher and they would keep their child in the class.  The only parent that suggested moving him was the one who told me it was the ESL class to begin with and she had a negative experience with her child in a much younger ESL class.  

I will keep you updated once I talk to his teacher to see how this really works.  I know several of you were interested.  As a side note, our school is extremely diverse.  We live in the medical center area of a very large city.  Many physicians come here for internships, fellowship, research etc. from all over the world.  Harry has told me that the children in his class are from Poland, Russia, China, Japan, Mexico, Saudi Arabia, and Indonesia!  Two children in his class wear the traditional clothing that covers part of their face (according to Harry).  Many of the children in the ESL program are extremely bright children and are in the gifted program as well.  I am still concerned about the pace of the class but I am willing to take a "wait and see" approach.

Off to the ENT with Kate...what a week!

Teachers~ I need your advice, please.

We had the most amazing time at the beach last weekend with friends. We kayaked, played scrabble, beach baseball, collected shells and shark teeth, ate, danced and laughed. Thank you Lisa and Charlie for including our family (there were 5 families staying in the beach house). Look at the photos above~Kate actually fell asleep in the ocean jumping waves with Dave.

Thank you for all of the GREAT feedback on the surgery. I am so grateful for all of the words of wisdom. I have a BAD stomach virus right now but hopefully will recover enough to take Kate to the ENT tomorrow morning:) I will let you know what happens.

I need more advice from you teachers (and Moms too) out there. Harry was placed in the ESL (English as a Second Language) class at his school this year. He adores his teacher but he is one of only two children from the US in his entire class. While I think in many ways this could be a fabulously enriching experience for him; I am also concerned that it could impede his progress academically. I imagine things go a little slower in the ESL classes due to language and comprehension issues. I do not want him to be bored. Harry is a straight A student and in the gifted program and I am not quite sure how he ended up in this class. Any words of wisdom, teachers? How are these things decided? Do you think he'll be challenged enough? I love the cultural diversity. I just want to be sure he is stimulated academically. And I don't want to react if it is no big deal. Thank you in advance if you have any special teacher/school experience with this. I know that a lot of teachers read my blog:) And I LOVE teachers!