The Royal Blog

Who's the (Woo!)man?

Three miles in 31:28!

No, no, no.... Thank You!!

When I read at decor8 that Holly appreciated receiving submissions from readers, I was so excited! Like, a nanosecond later, I sent her links to Lori Marie's (Pretty Little Things) blog and etsy shop.   And then, Holly cc'd me on her email to Lori Marie!  And then there was her blog post about Lori Marie!  And the sky was a little bluer, the sun shone a little brighter, and the clouds were a little whiter and poofier! AND THEN:

                          

A pretty little package came in the mail for me!  Wrapped in starry tissue with a handwritten note on adorable stationary!  *sigh*  When (not if, when) I start quilting again I'll have my very own pretty little pincushion!  (I'll probably have to get one of the kids to poke the first pin in because I like to save and look at things that really should be used and enjoyed.)

Thank you so much Lori Marie!  Wishing you much success and happiness!

My Knight in Shining Armor

Happiness is:

Getting a phone call from your darling husband that says "I'm picking up the kids from school and taking the afternoon off".

Amazing how one sentence can turn gray skies to blue!

E1's Third Quarter Progress Report

Achievement:

• 4 - Consistent, Strong, Independent Progress
• 3 - Successfully Meets Expectations, with Minimal Support
• 2 - Progressing Towards Expectations, with Support
• 1 - Needs Time, Experiences, Improvement

Effort:

• M - Most of the Time
• S - Some of the Time
• N - Needs Improvement

• Social Development - M's
• Work Habits - M's
• Reading - M's, 4's
• Written Expression - M's, a few 3's, a bunch of 4's
• Spelling/Word Study - M, 3, 4's
• Handwriting - M, 4's
• Mathematics - M, a few 3's, a bunch of 4's
• Social Studies - M, 4's
• Science - M, 4's
• Health - M, 3's

Math EPP

• 5 - excellent
• 4 - very good
• 3 - satisfactory
• 2 - minimal
• 1 - unsatisfactory

• Mathematics - 3, 4's
• Work Habits - 4's, 5

Z's Third Quarter Progress Report

Grade/Achievement:

• A - Classroom work consistently meets the highest expectations
• B - Classroom work meets expectations and has a good degree of accuracy
• C - Classroom work meets expectations with an average degree of accuracy
• D - Classroom work does not meet expectations and has a marginal degree of accuracy
• F - Classroom work is significantly below expectations

Performance:

• 3 - Strong
• 2 - Satisfactory
• 1 - Minimal

• Social Development - 3's
• Work Habits - 3's
• Reading - 3's, A+
• Writing - 3's
• Writing Process & Applications - A+
• Writing Conventions - A
• Spelling/Word Study - A+
• Mathematics - 3's, A+
• Social Studies - 3's; Ohio History A; Economics A+
• Science - 3's, A
• Health - 3's, A-

Math EPP

• 5 - excellent
• 4 - very good
• 3 - satisfactory
• 2 - minimal
• 1 - unsatisfactory

• Mathematics - 4's & 5's
• Work Habits - 4, 5's

Conferences

I had conferences this morning with Z's teacher, E1's teacher and the EPP teacher (B went in to work late so I didn't have to drag the three kids in with me).  Wow, am I on cloud nine.   It was an hour of hearing wonderful things about the kidlets.  Apparently they are very bright, shining, diligent, joy-to-have-in-class, sponges! Z highlight: testing places his comprehension on a 10th grade level.  E1 highlight: She excels at writing.  Z needs to work on neater handwriting and class participation (his teacher admitted she had trouble coming up with things he needs to improve) and E1 needs to work on getting her reading logs turned in and occasionally being a little less silly. 

So we're off to Timmy Horton's to celebrate!

E1 Report Card

Effort: M = most of the time, S = some of the time N = needs improvement

Achievement: 4 = Consistent, Strong, Independent Progress 3 = Successfully meets expectations, with minimal support 2 = Progressing towards expectations, with support 1 = Needs time, experiences, improvement

• Social Development: M's, except Self-Control S
• Work Habits: M's, except Returns home assignments on time S
• Reading: M's & 4's, except Summarizing main ideas & Responds to literature in a variety of ways 3
• Written Expression: M's & 3's, except Uses phonetic spelling to write independently 4
• Spelling/Word Study: M & 4's
• Handwriting: M & 4's
• Social Studies, Science, Health: M's & 3's

Math EPP: 4's (very good) and 5's in Accepts Challenges and Uses Time Effectively

       *participated often, made good contributions, catches on quickly, willing to explore

No more pencils, no more books

a.k.a. about 80 days until school starts!! ;P

Grade cards

Achievement:

• 4 - Consistent, Strong, Independent Performance at Grade Level
• 3 - Meets Grade Level Expectations
• 2 - Inconsistent in Meeting Grade Level Expectations
• 1 - Does Not Meet Grade Level Expectations

Effort:

• M - Most of the Time
• S - Some of the Time
• N - Needs Improvement

Z :

• All M's and 4's except a 3 in Physical Sciences: Forces and Motion.  (sounds like physics, blech!)
• strong mathematical skills
• whiz at multiplication facts
• set high expectations for himself and worked hard to achieve them
• wonderful job with final book report and it was nice to see him speak in front of the class with so much confidence
• 4's in Art, 4's in Phys. Ed., 3 (effort) and 4's in Music, and 4's in Language Arts EPP

E1:

• All M's, 3's and 4's
• 4's in Art, 4's in Phys. Ed., 4's in Music

Report Cards!

Z was all M's & 4's!!

E1 was all M's & 4's and 3's!!

Effort:

• M: Most of the Time
• S: Some of the Time
• N: Needs Improvement

Achievement:

• 4: Consistent, Strong, Independent Progress
• 3: Successfully Meets Expectations with Minimal Support
• 2: Progressing Towards Expectations with Support
• 1: Needs Time, Experiences, Improvement

Smart baby!

The baby just patted her diaper area and said 'wee-wee'.  I asked her: "did you just go pee-pee?".  "yah."   "can you bring me a diapie?" "diapie. yah."  And she went and brought the package of diapers to me.  :)

Eight is Great!!!

Happy Anniversary to us!  I love you B!

Thank you for 8 wonderful years sweetie!! 

And the three-diamond necklace [ 3 kids, 3 diamonds :)  ] is pretty fabulous too!

Love you hunny bunny. 

Phew!

Had Z's parent-teacher conference this morning.  He is doing AWESOME!   Total opposite of last year!

Miss D had nothing but praise for him.  Z is staying caught up, helping other students with math, isn't struggling with writing or focusing, etc etc etc  Hip hip hooray!!

Yay!

After MONTHS of watching me stack blocks (which she promptly knocked over), Eleanor stacked two blocks this morning!!

Happy Birthday Baby!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday Sweet Princess!!!!

Progress Reports

E1:

All S's, and she is reading at level 12.  ("Benchmark" is level 3 for end of Kindy.  So E1 is reading at a "middle of first grade level". )  She received mostly 4's with a sprinkling of 3's for her related arts (gym, music, art). You go girl!

S: Strong evidence of Progress

Z:

Almost all M's and 4's with just a few S's and 3's. Mostly 4's with some 3's and 3+'s in related arts and EPP.  Nice!

M: Effort most of the time   S: Effort some of the time

4: consistent, strong, independent progress   3: successfully meets expectations with minimal support