End of January 2017

Emmalyn caught trying to put on some lip gloss.  some of it made it to her lips.  :)

Snuggles with my kiddos

We went to see this play as part of our season tickets to the winspear opera house.  We totally had spaced that we had a play that night and so about 30 minutes before the show started Peter got a reminder on his phone and we dropped everything and left (it's 45 minutes away).  This play was INTENSE.  On one side, it probably would have been helpful to not miss the first part of the show because we might have understood better what was going on.  But on the other hand, I was grateful we missed some of it because it was totally enjoyable and like I said was a very intense play.

How I really felt about the show

Each day Maxwell comes home with a folder from school and if he has an behavioral issues, his teacher will sign his folder and write down what the issue was.  Well, kudos to him - - he went all the way until the second week in January before he got his folder signed.  That's a pretty good kid. (It ended up being the only time he got his folder signed all year.)

Karaoke fun after showers

I had my leadership team in for a meeting and one of them was sick so they all wore these masks as a joke.  

Maxwell being a chef and putting some granola and fruit on his yogurt.

Joe's brother came to town for a few days and the kids LOVED having him here.

Reading with daddy

Maxwell was chosen by his teacher to be a Star Student.  He was recognized in the school assembly called "Norris Now" and I was able to go and see him. The star students ares in specific award categories that are chosen based on the school's character traits that are learned about in Character Lab (the specials teachers run this and the students go every 8 days or so).  Maxwell's teacher said that she chose Maxwell for "Curiosity" because he often asks really interesting questions about things and is eager to learn more.  Maxwell was really excited when he saw both Peter and I in the audience.

Maxwell is the front row - second from the right.  

We went out for pizza to celebrate

Maxwell came home with his second report card.  They don't say much other than he is at the expected level for everything.  (They don't tell you if they are ABOVE that level.)

A funny thing about Maxwell - sometimes he will talk in a southern accent... could be just a couple words or could be a sentence.  Whenever he does it, Peter and I just look at each other and smile.  The kid lives in Texas, it's bound to happen a little bit!

Love that profile

Love the warm days we get in the winter where we can go to the park without jackets!

Maxwell and daddy going for a run

Maxwell making a poster to take to school to celebrate 100 days of Kindergarten.  He put 100 pieces of washi tape on the poster.

Playing Doctor

Second Week of January 2017

Christmas is over but we still have some Christmas stuff up.  It's a work in progress.  :)

Enjoying linking the beaters

Peter made some awesome crepes with the crepe maker pan that we got Brittany for Christmas.

All our crepe toppings

Working on some puzzles

Puzzle time for Maxwell too

Swim lessons with goggles!  She's legit.

Doing great in her lessons

So many faces from Emmalyn...  Smily

Silly

Cheesy

Upset

Shy

Happy Girl!

Getting my walk done (can't wait until it's not pitch dark at night)

Enjoying her baby toys from Christmas

Dress up time

Maxwell brings home a binder from school each day and if he misbehaves, the teacher will sign it with a note about what the behavior problem was.  He made it until January 11 without having it signed (pretty great!).  

I called the teacher afterward to talk to her about it because I've noticed that he's having a hard time staying focused like when he's at Kindermusik or waiting in lines.  My concern is that he is bored at school, not being challenged, and thus he's starting to act out.  His teacher pretty much dismissed my concerns and said that she hasn't noticed anything difference about Maxwell's behavior lately.  I've been asking her to challenge him more since the second week of school and nothing has really come of it.  It's frustrating.  At this point, my take on it is that she is either uncomfortable with how she can challenge him or she just doesn't have the skills to do that for a child in her class.  I can't wait for this school year to be over and hope for an awesome teacher next year.  :(  So much of what I have been told is that he is just only going to learn Kinder curriculum regardless of if he already has that knowledge.  So, we will just keep trying to challenge him at home and keep him growing.

Mismatched dress up day at school.

Emmalyn snuck up stairs to watch tv and eat cereal with Landen.

Funny faces with mom at dinner

Here are the boys