Having an Only Child...

...must be dull. No offense to all my dear friends out there. Let me explain. Sunday, Harrison left with my parents and his cousin Ethan to go camping for a week. It is just Chris, Maia and myself until Maia and I travel to where they are on Friday to meet them and camp for the weekend. I have too much free time and it is waaaaayyyyyyy to quiet. Maia, on the other hand, is enjoying all the one on one attention. She did say she misses him in the mornings and that it is lonely. They really do love each other even though they spend half the time trying to inflict bodily harm upon each other. Personally, I can't wait to see my baby boy again on Friday!!

Time to Move on...

Wednesday I attended my kids awards ceremony at TCM. I knew they were getting a reading award but wasn't expecting the others. Maia and Harrison both got perfect attendance for the year. I had NO idea. How cool!! Maia also got the Rocket Math award for meeting her goal in addition. Harrison's class won the recycle challenge that the school did. It was a great day for them! I was so proud of both of them. It has been a rough, but overall good year academically for Harrison. He started out way below where he should be and once he was diagnosed ADHD and properly medicated, the jump in his academic progress was astounding. He is now reading on a second grade level, versus the K. level he was at in November. We just need to iron out the kinks. Harrison on the far left in the brown and blue, and Maia striking a pose for me, receiving their Perfect Attendance Awards.

After the awards, I went to each class and distributed the teacher gifts. I was able to snap a photo of Harrison and Maia with their teachers. Mrs. Webb really seemed to like her gift. She is SUCH a great teacher! I cannot say enough about this woman. The kids adore her and she makes everything a lesson. It is amazing. Here are some photos from the day.

Maia with Mrs. Webb, before she gave her the gift.

Mrs. Webb, showing the class her flower pot. Even here, she was teaching them.

Mrs. Webb giving Maia a high five for the Kindergarten Rocks Tee shirt. I love this photo.

Mrs. Webb was the ONLY teacher I EVER saw eating lunch with her kids EVERY DAY! I thought this was so awesome! Her daughter, Nettie Jo, is in the yellow shirt.

Mrs. Webb, Bria, and Megan watching Maia being silly with her pizza.

Harrison acting shy, with his teacher, Mrs. Hudson. He finished up with an overall great year. Again, its all about the kinks...

I got them to pose today, Thursday June 11, for the last day of school shot! My how they have grown this year!!

Teacher Gifts

End of the year equals teacher gifts to be made. Here is what I came up with.

The insert for the flower pot, which were $1 at AC Moore. Grass stickers, finger print butterflies by the kids, school photos and ABC stickers.

The insert in the pot. This one is Maia's for her teachers.

And Harrison's for his teachers.

finish the pot with a bag of potting soil tied up all nice and pretty, a wooden planter sign with the type of seed, and a packet of "Forget-Me-Nots" seeds and you are all set! All for less than $5 a gift. Hopefully the teachers will like it.

Popsicle sticks and a $.39 wooden sign painted white make up the sign.

Mrs. Webb, because she is so awesome, got the best gift. We LOOOOOOVVVVVEEEEE her. She Always says "....(fill in the blank here) Rocks!" She tells the kids they rock when they are successful in school, etc. You get the idea. Maia has a Kindergarten Rocks Tee shirt I made for her, so we made Mrs. Webb one too. Iron on letters for $2 for the entire sheet and the tee shirt was $2 on sale at AC Moore. The mini tote bag (this was TOTALLY Maia's idea!) was $1.39. I hope she likes her gift!

Breathe Deep and Count to 10...

I had to do that several times today. I visited my son and daughter's school for field day. I knew that Harrison would be missing a portion of the activities for his behavior in the past few weeks. I sought out my daughters class and had a great time with her class. Then I went to look for Harrison's class. I found them, minus Harrison. I spoke with the teacher to find out that he was in the office doing PILES of work that he had been refusing to do. I also learned that when he was asked to take his work out of his desk and get busy so he could eventually join the class for field day, he refused and put his head down. She told me that she turned up his desk and dumped it in the floor. He later told me he was embarrassed by this and all his friends laughed. This is a young teacher. For the most part, I have not had any issues with her. I like her and she has been really good at keeping me posted. That is why the next part of this was so hard for me to handle.

I hang out with Maia a bit more then decide to head inside to see Harrison and how much progress he was making on his work. ( I'll interject here to say that he had already earned some of field day so I was not too cool with the fact that all of that had been undone and his reward of earning some taken away.) When I got to the auditorium where he was at, there he was laying in the floor with PILES and PILES of work. OK, now when I was told that he was doing work he had refused to do, I was thinking a weeks worth at best. What I found was at least a months worth. This was work he should have been doing independently. My concern was that WHY was I not told before now? Didn't she realize that he was not turning in his work? How did it get so out of hand? I just don't understand how this happened. I could have been working with him at home to make it up. He should have been missing rewards/recess/fun things all along, not the last three days of school. I was so angry and upset. I felt awful for Harrison sitting there alone while his entire class and the entire school for that matter was out having fun. I am NOT dismissing what he did. But she is the teacher and I should have been told before it got out of hand. He is a 7 year old boy with a disability. Who's in charge here?

They tell me he doesn't qualify for the 504/IEP, whatever, because his learning is not being impacted by his disability. Uhhh, i think I would have to disagree after today. He told me when he got home from school that he had been stuffing papers in his desk since day 1 in first grade. I have called the school and demanded a child study be conducted ASAP and If I have too, I will be that parent that teachers loathe. I am my sons only advocate. I have to see that he gets what he needs, that he doesn't fall through the cracks. For Goodness sake, I pay my taxes! I know my rights. Something WILL be done about this.

On another note, Maia had a GREAT field day. Here are some photos from the day!

Maia throwing a pass!!

The girls! Katera, Maia, Bria, Grace, Maggie, Chloe, and Megan.

My girl doing the limbo. Her all time favorite game!

She won!! She is so good at this game, even on skates!

Maia and teacher extraordinaire, Mrs. Webb. I only wish Harrison could have had her. She use to teach 2nd grade. This was her first year in Kindergarten.

This is how Harrison spent most of the day. The photo doesn't do this pile of work justice.

A Little Math

THIS...

MINUS this...

PLUS this...

EQUALS this...

Just look at that attention to detail....

This was several months ago, and I still have the prints to prove it. I have tried everything to remove the cute little footprints left by my darling and her friend, to no avail. Lesson learned. WATCH THEM AT ALL TIMES or this is what you get!!!

Maia as Teacher

Maia has been quite the little teacher lately. She taught my Mom how to draw a reindeer a few days ago, and then repeated the exercise with Chris that night. Mom got an A+ Good Effort mark on her paper, and so did Chris, but he also got an "X" by his name because he was talking during her instruction (to me no doubt!). Too funny. When we went to school for TCM's Winter Fanfare we noticed this on the wall outside of Maia's classroom. I had to laugh.

Mrs. Webb, Maia's teacher, said she did a great job teaching the class how to create Rudolph by giving her classic, very specific, step by step instructions. That's my little superstar!! I also noticed this on the wall, created by Maia, illustrating that the class can write sentences. I definitely see a future artist in the making!

I just LOVE the cheesy grin on the cat. Notice, the purple lines indicate where space should be. I think she has EXCELLENT handwriting for a kindergartener!!

Maia sporting the reindeer antlers at TCM's Winter Fanfare!

Fancy Nancy Visits the Tolers

Maia thinks she is Fancy Nancy. She is in LOVE with these books and everything that goes with them. She will be getting the doll and some dress up clothes to go with it and the matching dress up clothes that fit her (Maia). Should be a funny day! Below are two of the most recent books. The original Fancy Nancy book could not be located for this photo shoot. If you have never read one of these books, you MUST go check one out. They are just too cute. My favorite is Fancy Nancy and the Posh Puppy. Oh yeah, She will be getting "Frenchy" the posh puppy too! Looks like Fancy Nancy will be moving in Dec 25.

Saturday, she spent the better part of an hour running around the house getting "accessories" to put on so she looked fancy. Check out the shoes and socks and the dark purple eyeshadow! Love it! I had to snap a photo. She is such a girly girl!!

Maia's Doll

Boy, I just wanna say, that I am really starting to reach for things to blog about and it is only day 14 of this blog a day business. Luckily, with Thanksgiving and Harrison's birthday approaching, I should have more to talk about in a week or so. In the meantime, you get what you get. The hubby thinks I should blog about an Idea, rather than my day to day life events. Whatever. My ideas are probably things you REALLY don't want to read about anyway. I have Mommy brain. If it doesn't involve my kids or someone else's I probably don't have much to say about it at the moment. Which leads me to this post...

Maia, my girl child, who until about a week ago, could have cared less about a baby doll. Her aunt Pat and Uncle Gary gave her a doll with a creepy laugh for her birthday this past May. She was briefly interested in it, but soon forgot it. Well, about a week ago, she "rediscovered" this doll and has drug it with her everywhere since. The doll is fine. Has a bit of a hair issue and the laugh is just too creepy for words, but other than that, it is OK. She has lots of others, from Cheap to American Girl's Bitty Baby, but this is the one she has "adopted" to be her baby. Oh, excuse me, it is her little sister Mia, and I am the mommy. Not her. When asked why she is not the mommy, she just giggles and looks at me like, "duh, I am not OLD ENOUGH to be a mommy." (You go right ahead and keep thinking that Maia until you are about 30, preferably, 30 and married)

Doll, pre-naming, wearing a dress Maia wore at age 3 months.

What I find most funny is that my daughter wakes up, changes the doll into her daytime clothes, feeds her breakfast, etc., then at night, she changes her into her pajamas, reads her a book, tucks her into her bed with her bunny and blanket and plays her doll mobile for her. The baby has even had a "bath" and several birthday parties complete with handmade invitations. Maia addresses the dolls needs before her own. Tonight, we went to the mall with baby in tow. I had an infant car seat in my car from my outing today with the child I keep, so Maia strapped Mia into the car seat WAY before she was worried about herself. I had to wait several minutes for his to happen before Maia was ready to hook her own car seat. I can already see the beginnings of a Mommy in her; neglecting herself to care for her "child". Funny how young that starts. I made the mistake of suggesting to Maia that we leave the baby in the car while we went into the mall. Lord, call social services on me. Silly me, You would have thought I slapped my own daughter silly by the look she gave me upon this suggestion. Don't worry, It won't happen twice.

Maia, tucking the baby into her bed at night. This happens EVERY NIGHT without fail lately.
I think it is kinda cute & have WAITED for my daughter to discover my favorite childhood toy.

All tucked in and ready for sweet dreams.

I can now add to my list of lifetime accomplishments, the title of SURGEON extraordinaire and professional stylist (I only wish I had the paycheck to go along with the first!). I had to perform a small "surgery" of sorts on her for fear that her head and foot would fall off. This is NOT a super well made doll; cheap fabric body, sub-par wig for hair that was barely glued on and whoever styled it must have been on drugs at the time. So, the baby got its neck sewn back together, the leg sewn back together and its wig re-glued and trimmed and restyled. Much improved much to my daughter's delight.

Baby Mia before makeover, sporting her new duds. Original ponytails are out at this stage, ready for her trim and new styling, courtesy of ME. I failed to get a photo of the before/after surgery. THAT was a real accomplishment.

Baby Mia, (actually, Maia refers to her as Little Mia), post surgery and makeover. Hard to see the differences in the hair, but trust me folks, it is MUCH improved in this photo.

Now, I am on a quest for a small wardrobe for this doll. I am finding that newborn size baby clothes fit it best and are actually CHEAPER than doll clothing. Better made and more stylish too. Never thought I would be shopping the infant section again, and certainly not for a doll. Oh well. There are some really cute and inexpensive things out there for a baby and it is probably the ONLY WAY I will ever enter the infant department in a store again.

Little Mia and her wardrobe purchased at Target. Bib, socks, and onesie all came from Target's Dollar section (oh, I could do a post on that!!! I LOVE LOVE LOVE that part of Target!), dress was clearance rack purchase and Pink Ballet slippers were from AC Moore.

For now, I am left to deal with a cheaply made, semi-cute, baby with a freaky laugh. Enjoy the photos and be glad I have not figured out how to add sound to this post.

Little Mia's First birthday party.

Invite to Said Party. This is the front.
I must say, Maia has GREAT handwriting for a 5 year old.

Inside of invitation, complete with Glitter glue accents, Maia's all time favorite.

Maia, sporting a particularly strange look, and her doll after a visit to Target to purchase
the outfit baby is wearing. Sale racks at Target ROCK!!

Are you freaked out yet by the Doll staring at you?? Now you have experienced a small bit of what I am dealing with. Every time I turn around the doll is there, staring and laughing at me. Creepy. I just thank God it doesn't have teeth. I am also just SLIGHTLY disturbed at myself for posting this much about a DOLL. I really really need to get a life.

Ahhh, Fall in Virginia

I think Fall has finally arrived. For a minute there, I had to double check. We were moving along, summer clothes were packed away and then BOOM! We had a week of 80 degree weather. NOT LIKING that in OCTOBER!! Anyway, this past weekend, I did my normal photo shoot of the kids. We headed down to Concord after church on Sunday and after the Kids had some lunch I tried to get some photos of them in the mountains where my Mother in Law lives. Around the pond, on the rocks, etc. One thing I didn't plan for was the mid day sunshine. I got a lot of glares and shadows, but I still like them. Maybe a professional wouldn't think they were so good, but I think the shadows kinda add something to them. Not really liking the harsh light on some where it is so washed out they are white, but hey, I am not a photographer, and have a very pitiful piece of equipment that I am working with. I got semi-cooperation from the kids. Maia was so not feeling the photo shoot. Copped a major 'tude on me at one point.

All dressed and ready for church. She thought she was SOMETHING in this get-up, esp. the new shoes her Grammie got for her. She had been wanting high heels and The Children's Place came thru for us with these cute ones. She said people would be calling her "Sparkle Maia" because her shoes, tights and dress all sparkled. AND ALL THIS AT AGE 5!!!

Sitting pretty on the rocks at Grammie's House.

She wanted me to take a photo of her gazing into the "gazing ball". Wonder if she sees her future in there?? Wonder if she sees money in mine??

With the pumkins they picked out the day before at Sprawl-Mart.

OMG! She melts my heart. Is she not the sweetest thing you have ever seen???

He is so proud of that missing tooth. His second one to lose.
My preppy, handsome Momma's Boy.

My little tree hugger. I LOVE LOVE LOVE this photo of Harrison.

Anyway, we moved on from there to the Old City Cemetery. Seems to be a favorite of photographers, professional and amateur alike, these days. I got a few decent ones of the kids and some of the pretty fall colors of Virginia leaves. I don't have much to say other than "WELCOME FALL"!!!! I am sooo glad you are here. Enjoy the photos.

Fall foliage in Virginia. Pictures don't do it justice.

So sweet. As much as they fight and pick with each other, they actually do like each other
most of the time.

Maia was NOT into this photo at all. Harrison was all smiles though.


My favorite of Maia

So handsome. He is gonna be a lady killer one day.


All together now, say, "AWWWWWW".