I'm working for our business again today. Hubby also has an evening shoot on Russel Island (a small island just off the coast) so is unlikely to be back before 9.00 pm. I hate those evenings.
Sarah - meal planning is definitely a helpful thing to do once you have children, although then the trick is finding things that they will actually eat! The number of meals you can use is sometimes quite small, let me tell you! I hope Jason and you are feeling better soon.
Susan - report card day sounds fun! So does the mardi gras. Dressing up is always good! If you're looking for a mud cake recipe, try this one.
Report card day was great. The kids were super excited and we went to the store and loaded up on desserts for dinner...plus chicken for mommy and daddy because we do not have cast iron stomachs like our children. They sent the reports over email, which in hindsight was maybe not the best way. I understand they were trying to conserve on paper, but as parents must sign and hand back the report, it doesn't actually conserve paper. And the poor woman tasked with sending out all 246 (I think that's what she said) emails was SWAMPED. I was at the school decorating for the Carnaval party along with some other moms. I had already gotten the reports at lunch time and 2 of the moms were complaining that they hadn't gotten reports and if they are going to send them over email, they need to do it during school hours, etc. I said they ARE sending them during school hours...I already got my kids'. So they accosted the woman when she was going between classes to ask teachers questions about the reports she was sending and she was visibly flustered and she said it was alphabetical order, she was working as fast as she could and it might be 4:00 before she was done, which didn't sit well with the one mother because the grandparents were waiting for that report. But then, I've never heard this particular mother say a nice thing about anything or anyone. She wants things done her way and on her time schedule or it's not right. Her son was invited to MM's b-day party and the invitation said to RSVP and she never did and the kid didn't come, which did NOT upset me because the kid is a little brat and I don't know why MM wanted to invite him anyway. So anyway, the reports came and they were different than last year's. They had 2 sections on them. One for the grades they got from their classroom teacher, which went on a scale of 4-8 (what kind of a scale is that??) with 4 being weak and 8 being above average. Bug had nothing lower than a 7 (for gym), she had a 7.7 for music, 7.5 for...I don't remember, and 8s for reading, spelling, math, etc...mostly 8s across the board. Then the second section was for the testing they do where they compare them to other kids throughout the nation in that grade. That scale goes from I - V with I being an "outstanding" score (0-20% scored higher), III being average and V being "weak" (80-100% scored higher) For Bug's grade they test DMT (3 Minute test) which is a reading test of some sort, Reading comprehension, Math, Spelling, and Vocabulary. Bug scored I on everything. She really could not have had a better report card. She's above average - outstanding on everything and her reading level is about 2 grade levels ahead. MM got 8s from his teacher on math and reading and got satisfactory (his lowest was 6.5) on everything else. And he got a I on the Math and DMT. They don't test reading comprehension at his age because they are just learning to read single words instead of stories. He got a III on spelling and a V on vocabulary, which I'm not worried about. For one, he could have had a bad day the day they did that test. Two, he's almost a year younger than most of the kids taking the test in his grade level. Three, he has 2 sets of vocabulary because he's bilingual and only the Dutch one is tested. Four, Bug had the exact same thing at his age and now she scored outstanding. I'm confident he'll catch up IF there's actually a problem. Five, he got 8s on reading and language from his teacher...that seems like a pretty big discrepancy to be one of the best readers but have the poorest vocabulary. I'm not sure it's accurate. But if you compare a kid with kids who are almost a year older and who only speak one language, he's going to score lower...and despite being younger, he still scored higher than at LEAST 80% of kids in Math and the reading speed test (DMT) and he scored 8 from his teacher on reading and all other "related" subjects. If his vocabulary is the only thing he didn't do well in, I think he did great. And I remember from when Bug had the same problem, the test questions were things like...they show a cow with some grass at his feet and they ask "The cow is standing where?" and they are supposed to come up with the word "Pasture" and most kids say "Grass", which is considered incorrect. Maybe if the picture showed more than one cow and there was some sense of depth to it that it was an actual pasture, it might be a fairer test. But with questions like that, it's not surprising that kids have problems with it. I'm curious what the teacher has to say about it though...when Bug scored so low on the vocab, her teacher said she didn't understand because it didn't seem to match with what she saw in her in the classroom. So it will be interesting when we have parent teacher conferences in a week. If THEY don't see a problem, then I don't think there is one. And I would hope that if there WAS a problem that they noticed, I'd have heard about it by now. They are pretty good about that...they asked me to get his motor skills tested again because his handwriting is still poor. I think they would have asked me to come in if there really were a big problem. Overall AWESOME report cards. I'm a proud mama!
Lynne, I sympathize! I hate the days when hubs is late coming home. It makes the day seem so much longer, doesn't it?
I will definitely check out the recipe! Thank you!
Sorry I didn't write Wednesday or yesterday. Wed, we didn't have the router installed yet and we were working on stuff, and yesterday I was busy with cleaning stuff and today I'll be out going to the library (and paying a fine), going to Walmart to get some grocery stuff and a rolling cabinet for some of my stuff in the bedroom, and getting something to eat.
But at least I'm back home and have slept in my own bed, something that I haven't done in month in a half
Just wanted everyone to know that I'm OK and I've only been busy.
I'll be back later
Audi, Twilight, Cher, Pink Floyd, symphonic/progressive rock, KStew, RP, Bio-Booster Armor Guyver-what's not to like
Hubby's evening shoot was postponed for about a month, which was very nice. That meant he was home last night!
We have a busy weekend ahead. Swimming this morning, visiting my parents this afternoon, helping with Clean Up Australia Day tomorrow morning, then down to the Gold Coast for a lunch with Hubby's family. it'll be fun though.
Susan - you like it when people RSVP whether they're coming or not? So do I. Unfortunately, Australians usually assume that you only have to RSVP if you're attending something. It's very annoying when most people don't bother to reply so you know for sure. In fact, many don't reply and then turn up anyway, which is even more inconsiderate. How am I supposed to cater? I've had this problem with both previous book launches and it looks like I'll have it for this one too.
I'm relieved it's Friday and that my cold has finally decided what it wants to do, which is go away. I'm not really feeling too badly, thank God, because I've barely had time to rest this week, with Jason not being able to help around the house as much due to his back. He was finally starting to feel better, even went to work, until he tried to bend over and tie his shoes and tweaked it again, ugh, right as we were going to go for dinner. Thankfully we had frozen pizzas, so I was able to throw together a really quick dinner!
Tomorrow I'm back in the office for my FIL in the morning and having lunch with two of my girlfriends for lunch..and then home to finally rest!
Lynne-I think that's fun that you're participating in a clean up things sound so much more interesting in Australia! Sounds like you have a busy weekend planned!
Song-that's such a cute report card tradition! I love it What'd they pick for dinner? It sounds like they did super well on their report cards, how awesome! How are you feeling?
Yesterday was a good day. Little Man's doing so well in swimming now. He swam the length of the pool yesterday (25 metres) and although he had to stop a couple of times, he did it by dog paddling, not by holding onto the side. He managed it even in the deep end! It's great to see him doing so well after so many years of struggles.
This morning it's Clean Up Australia Day, which I'm not looking forward to. Basically, we just go to a park and pick up all the rubbish. It always makes me nauseous to pick up garbage, and some of the things we find are disgusting. This afternoon should be better, when we go down the coast for lunch, but it will be a race to get there in time.
Sarah - I'm glad you're feeling better and I hope Jason's back is better soon.
What I did yesterday: finished cleaning up the kitchen, got groceries, got stuff to organize my room, got sick, I'm still sick today, but I got some more stuff, got a cabinet built to house some books, cleaned up my bedroom, and I now also have a new, empty dresser that I can use now.
Now tonight, I want to finish moving some stuff around and that'll be it for a while with cleaning stuff off and everything should be about back to normal here.
I'll be back later
Audi, Twilight, Cher, Pink Floyd, symphonic/progressive rock, KStew, RP, Bio-Booster Armor Guyver-what's not to like
I'm still fighting my cold, but rest and drinking coffee and popping mints and the occasional cough drop has helped.
Parents are here now, and I have some clothes that I have to put away later on. And I plan on just trying to rest up and find something on TV later tonight if I'm up to making and eating a pizza. Aside from being sick, yesterday was pretty good.
I'll be back later
Audi, Twilight, Cher, Pink Floyd, symphonic/progressive rock, KStew, RP, Bio-Booster Armor Guyver-what's not to like
We had a good day yesterday. Clean Up Australia Day wasn't too arduous. The park we got this year was fairly well kept anyway, and this year it didn't rain. Last year we were doing it in drizzle and knee length grass. It was a lot more pleasant this time.
We went to lunch with my MIL's family at an RSL (Retired Serviceman's League) Club down the coast. They're supposed to have reasonably priced food but this one was just as expensive as most restaurants. The food was good, though. Then Hubby, Little Man and I went to Currumbin Beach. We couldn't go out in the water too far - the tide was going out and the undertow was too strong - but Little Man and I paddled in the water and picked up shells.
I feel like I finally got a good balance of productive/rest finally! I worked a few hours for my FIL, as I should be doing for the majority of the weekends until the end of our tax season which is April 15th, just for extra money and because I like being back in the office a bit. I managed to spend time with Jason, who was able to go out last night, and time with my girlfriends as well. I've tried to get some rest, but my house is a mess. Whoops. I guess that part is still unbalanced, but one weekend at a time, right?
Lynne-glad your clean up went really well, sounds like you had fun at the beach! Swimming is hard, I still can't do it very well Good for MM for doing so well so young!!