2nd grade girl

Second grade has been challenging for my girl so far. Let's face it, it's been challenging for me too. It started the first day of school when she told me on the way home that she hated second grade.  I didn't take her too seriously, even when she told me before going to bed that she was going to call in sick in the morning.  It still didn't really sink in....until the next morning when she barricaded herself in her closet and refused to come out.  After some coaxing, she did come out and ended up having a better day. 

We are still struggling to love second grade.  Now, don't get me wrong, there are way more good times than there have been bad, but it has been breaking my heart to see Katie upset about school and homework. 

Katie is a thinker.  She always has been.  She understand things most kids her age don't.  People have commented on her "old soul" for most of her life. She is sensitive.  She has REAL emotions that she has to express. She is a girl who cries while watching a movie, both when things are sad and when they are happy.  I've seen her wipe tears away many times, she really feels what is happening. She is super caring and puts other people first. She is the first to give away things to someone who needs them more than she does. She's beginning to understand that she is a fortunate girl and that she is lucky to have such a caring loving family.

She still doesn't love second grade. She cries about doing homework. She doesn't like that her class gets in trouble.  She doesn't like getting punished as a class for things that she didn't do.  She doesn't like that other students talk and are disrespectful. She doesn't like writing. She feels stressed about doing work. She is a smart girl and has great ideas.  Her area of struggle is writing.  It takes her FOR EVER to write things. She is a horrible speller. These things cause problems when you are in second grade.   I wish for her that things would come easier. I hope and pray that she is learning some valuable lessons by having to struggle to do things.  There are so many things that she does well.

She has become a pretty great reader. She loves books and is gaining some confidence in her reading ability. She has to memorize a new poem every week, and by Tuesday morning she's got it down.  She doesn't just recite the poem, she performs. My girl has music inside of her.  She loves to sing and dance and she does so with gusto.  The girl has moves!  She's also a great problem solver.  She thinks logically and is good with numbers. She's also confident in most things. She's confident in her own style and is comfortable in her own skin. She doesn't sit back and let someone tell her what to do, she makes her own decisions and sticks to what is right for her.

Katie is a great big sister.  She loves her brother and would do anything for him. She is quick to sacrifice what she wants to make him happy. She always includes him in things and she lets him be a leader in their play. Alex is lucky to have a big sister who loves to help him.

I am blessed to be her mother.

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A Five Year Old!

On August 3rd, Alex turned 5 years old.  It really is amazing how fast they grow up. For his birthday, we had a family party. Alex choose to have ravioli for his birthday dinner. I insisted on making homemade ravioli.  I stuffed almost 100 raviolis.  Next time, I'll buy the frozen kind! 

Of course, the big theme for his birthday was Monster Trucks.  As his big gift, he got a room makeover. His room was painted Grave Digger green and the wall are now adorned with a giant Grave Digger Decal and lots of smaller Monster Truck stickers.  He loves it!

Blowing out the candles on the homemade icecream cake!

Wipeout! Wii game.

Do you think he liked the Monster Jam K'Nex set?

On the Saturday after the big day, we heading down to Sky Zone for a jumping good birthday party.  The kids had an hour of jumping on the trampolines, then it was time for pizza and cake.  I think all of the kids and the dads had a blast jumping. Alex had a great birthday!

Celebrating at Sky Zone!

Thanks for helping us celebrate Alex's birthday!

Second Grade!

Katie started second grade on Monday.  Before going to Open House on Friday she wasn't excited about going back to school.  After Open House she said she was excited.
Here is she before heading to school. It is our family tradition to bring flowers to the teacher on the first day of school.

Ready for 2nd grade!

Of course, once we got to school she was excited to see her friends. Here she is with her friends from first grade, Kaia and Hailey.

Friends!

Once the music played it was time to head to their new lines and head to the new classroom. 

Katie and her 2nd grade teacher, Mrs. Blomquist

I was excited to hear about her first day of second grade when we picked her up from school.  She didn't have anything good to report.  She was disappointed in her day.  It pretty much broke my heart. She said the best part of her day was seeing her friend, Kaia. She complained that recess and lunch were too short, the kids in her class were annoying, and the day was boring. That night before bed she said she was going to call in sick to school in the morning.  The next morning she hid in her closet and said she wasn't going to school.  Heartbreaking!

However, we talked about things and she asked me to talk to her teacher.  She was concerned because in order to have "Fun Friday" the class has to earn it. She didn't think it was fair that even if she was good, ("because, I'm ALWAYS good") she might not get to have Fun Friday and she really loves Fun Friday.  One of her first lessons that life isn't always "fair."  We got to school and I did have a little chat with her teacher. I left hoping she had a better day.

Day two turned out MUCH better than day one! :)  Yippee! She even told me she made friends with the girl who was bugging her the day before. This morning, for day 3 of second grade, she had no complaints about going.  Yea!   I guess that first grade was so great that there was no way second grade could live up to it. She was spoiled in Mrs. Payer's class. I know she will adjust and have another great year at Gilbert!

A Cousin Visit

It's been awhile since the McCrady's came to Vegas to visit the Oppenheims.  We had a busy week and it was fun to get the cousins together.  Just about a week before their arrival, Jonathan broke his arm.  That changed our plans a bit, but we still managed to have some fun outings.

They arrived Monday afternoon/evening. After picking them up at the airport, we headed to Cafe Rio for a yummy dinner. When we arrived at home the kids had fun showing thier cousins around the house, playing for a bit and the it was off to bed.

Cousins playing with the Iphone!

Tuesday brought a trip to the outlet mall for school clothes shopping for the McCrady boys.  There was also lots of swimming.

Wednesday included a trip to the Las Vegas Natural History Museum.  The kids had a great time. Here are some shots from the visit.

Katie & Nathaniel checking out some of the fish.

Alex is dressed like a Marine Biologist!

They found the dinosaurs!

Thursday brought a trip to Sigfried and Roy's Secret Garden and Dolphin Habitat. It was HOT!!! The kids LOVED seeing the brand new baby white tigers. They also enjoyed watching the dolphins. Here's the best shot of the four cousins in front of a lion.

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Watching the dophin training.

Friday morning was spent swimming at a friends' house with our playgroup. I didn't think I'd ever get Nathaniel out of the water.  He had a blast. I felt bad for Jonathan since he couldn't swim, but he managed to pull it together.  Friday night, Don took the kids to Chuck E. Cheese and I took Kristina with me to play BUNCO. 

Do you know how hard it is to get 4 kids to sit together nicely for a picture.  Here is the best shot we got of Grandpa's grandkids. Those boys are crazy!

It was a fun week with our family visiting. It's nice that the kids get to know each other a bit more. We are glad the McCrady's came to visit. Maybe next summer we'll be able to visit them in WA.

It's my birthday, I'll cry if I want to!

Well, I'm not really sad. Growing up I always had a countdown to my birthday.  I was known for loving my birthday.  Maybe it's the Leo in me, we love to be the center of attention.  5 years ago my birthday got overshadowed for a great reason, Alex was born the day before my birthday.  Now, this was kind of my own fault, since he was a c-section, my doctor had suggested my birthday and I politely declined that date.  I chose the day before, rather than the day after so that he would always have his birthday first.  Good move....I think.  But, it does mean that we will always have lots of dessert around our house this time of year, because I insist on having my own cake.  This year I made Alex an ice cream cake and I stayed up late last night baking a cheesecake for me.  The trouble is, there will be another cake for Alex's party on Saturday.  Oh well, gives us a good reason to have friends over for dessert, right?

Today I am the same age my parents were when I was born. Kind of weird and cool.  Made me realize that if I live as long as my mom, my life is more than 1/2 over.  I don't want to think like that, but those thought occur. It actually puts a fire under my butt to make sure I live a long life.  I mean, as much as I can control that! I really want to be around to see my kids have families of their own and be a fun grandma!

I spent yesterday afternoon stuffing about 100 homemade raviolis for Alex's birthday dinner.  Next time he requests ravioli for his birthday, I'm using the store bought frozen kind! Tonight's dinner will be grilled shrimp and steelhead trout.  Yummy!  Which reminds me that I'd better go get the shrimp marinating.

Growing up birthdays were always a big deal at our house.  I've tried to keep that tradition going with my little family.  I think I'm succeeding, now just hoping that translates to my family spoiling me on my birthday too. Maybe in a few years the kids will be making my birthday cake.

I'm looking forward to seeing what kinds of adventures I can have in my 34th year!

Future Rock Stars

A few weeks ago Katie and Alex attended a Rock Star birthday party.  They had a blast.  Every kid dressed in rock star clothing and had their hair and makeup done. Alex decided to have his hair sprayed red. Next they all had a photo shoot/fashion show, then recorded a song with a group, made a music video, ate pizza and cake, then did some music trivia.  Although it was really hot in the venue, all of the kids had a blast. Katie really like seeing so many of her friends from Gilbert.  Happy Birthday, Makalia!

Rock Star Alex!

Rock Star Katie

Katie and her good friend, Kaia

Playing Guitar Hero