Conferences, Dr. Suess, and the paint

First, I have to report about our first ever parent/teacher conference. What a blast! We had a 15 minute time slot to visit with Mrs. Carlson about Tyler. We sat at a teeny tiny table, in teeny tiny chairs...I was cramped up, so I know Marc felt like he had his knees in his throat!! The visit went well...Tyler is doing amazing for a child his age. He's way above the average; his teacher said she was hoping he didn't get "too bored" in Kindergarten, since he knew almost all of the stuff already.

The statewide assessment testing was done in August, will be done again in January, and the last time in April (before school lets out in May). The testing is to see where the kids are academically, and track their progress throughout the school year. It lets the school know which kids are having difficulties (and in what area) and helps determine which kids will be ready for first grade. Anyway, the testing shows that the kids must have a score of "8" in two areas...letter sounds and letter recognition. Tyler scored a 15 in one, and a 36 in the other. The child blew the test out of the water!!!! In fact, the end of year testing goal is a 40, and Tyler already has a 36...wow!

Mrs. Carlson gave us a checklist of things she "grades" him on, since there are no real report cards for Kindergarteners. He aced the checklist. The only areas that she thinks he needs a little improvement is obeying conduct rules and demonstrating self control. In other words, Tyler likes to touch his buddies and constantly flap his gums. Unfortunately, these issues are actually genetic defects, passed down from me. :) So, he has to work on keeping his hands to himself and keeping his mouth closed unless it's time for playing and visiting. He's getting the hang of it.

On to Dr. Suess. Tyler has been learning to read. This child is scary. He and Marc sat on the couch every night for 3 or 4 nights, and read One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish. They broke it up into sections since the book is so long (63 pages). Marc read the harder words, and Tyler read the easy ones. There's a whole two pages that he read by himself..."Who am I? My name is Ish. On my hand I have a dish. I have this dish to help me wish. When I wish to make a wish, I wave my hand with a big swish swish. Then I say, "I wish for fish!" and I get fish right on my dish. So, if you wish to wish a wish, you may swish for fish with my Ish wish dish". OH. MY. GOD. The only word he got stuck on was "right", but he did try to sound it out. Marc and I are completely blown away. He's actually starting to read some bigger words, like "mouse" and some of the names of states.

I'll make sure everyone gets an invitation to his college graduation when he's 12 years old...

The paint. Ah, yes, the paint. We are taking on three house projects at the same time (accidentally). We are taking down the hideous border in the kitchen/breakfast nook, painting the trim, doors and window casings a fresh new white, and changing the paint in Tyler's room to prepare for the big boy stuff. Ugh. I do claim responsibility for the overload, though. I can't sit still, so I started painting stuff and one thing led to another. I've already repainted the trim and cabinets in Tyler's bathroom, and it looks awesome. I can't wait until the rest of the house is done...it'll be so crisp and clean looking.

We got Tyler his big boy bed...it's in the garage. We're making him sleep out there until his room is finished. Just kidding! We still need a headboard for it; our neighbors have a twin headboard that looks like a fence gate that they used for their daughter. She's now in a bigger bed, and they need to get her a bigger headboard, so they said we could have the old one for Tyler. It'll work out great, since we wanted to make him a headboard that looks like a fence gate at the barn. A little paint (yippee! more paint!!) and some authentic looking hardware, and it'll be ready to go. First I have to paint the lower 36" of the room denim blue, then add the red bandana border I found (think chair rail) and clean his carpet. Then we can put the bed in and change out all of the decor. His old Classic Pooh stuff will go in my craft room (aka guest room) since the colors match the stuff in there, and I can't bear (no pun intended) to put away the wall hanging of Piglet my mom made before he was born.

Once I figure out how to do it, I'll upload some photos for you to see.

Otherwise, things here are status quo. The weather was AMAZING today...it was partly cloudy, a light breeze, and 76 degrees. Woo Hoo! I shut off the A/C and opened every window in the house. It was so nice to have the fresh air in here all day. We did have to turn the A/C back on before Marc went to bed, because he'd fry without it. I can't wait until the stupid thing is shut off all the time in the fall!

I have been riding Ranger at least twice a week, and he's doing so amazingly well that I'm almost thinking he was abducted by aliens and this is a different horse in his place. Wow! He's doing stuff I never thought we'd accomplish together, and I couldn't be prouder of the old guy.

On a nifty note, my best friend Stephanie (who sent Scout out here to live with me) is now less one horse...finally. The lady who owns the barn I board at (Anna) is taking Scout's momma Tequila to be a full time lesson horse. It's a great situation for everyone; Anna gets a well-broke sweetie of a horse to give kids lessons on, Tequila gets an awesome job with health benefits, free room and board, and all the love in the world from a bunch of little girls, and Steph gets the burden of one unused horse off her wallet, and into the competent caring hands of Anna. Win, win everyone! Anna and I are going to travel to OK to pick her up and haul back to AL. The drive will be about 14 hours one way; we'll go on a Sunday and Monday, within the next couple of weeks. It should be a fun trip!

Off to bed I go. I have to work tomorrow...by myself. It'll be fun, though. I'll have my MP-3 player, and I'll be working on the base so I can have lunch with Marc. ;) Talk to you later!!