No Pictures :(

My new phone really stinks. I cant get it to send me the pictures to my email. And the ones it has sent are pretty crappy quality. Mikes phone takes OK enough pictures, but its a Blackberry, which means it is complicated just to take a picture. My phone you just flip it open, and push the camera button and its ready. His, you have to open it up, go to the main menu, scroll thru all the icons, find camera, click on it, then click on Image, then it takes about 2 seconds to bring that up. By the time your ready, the moment is lost. And I really don't like 'posed' pictures. So this is the reason I haven't been writing the blog lately. I'd rather do it with pictures. ANYWAY..... Zachary is going to 2nd Grade!!! YEAH!!!!! Mike and I are sooo relieved. We have worked so hard with him and his reading. Plus he has been in tutoring, and that has really helped. He has mastered over 80% of his requirements for 2nd grade. (you need to be at least 70%) He WAS at 68% a few months ago. We had a PT meeting this morning, and his teacher said she was SHOCKED that he came up so quickly. She has never had a student that she really thought needed to repeat and then improve as well as he has. Yeah Zachary!!!! I got a bunch of scholastic workbooks to do with him over the summer so that he can continue to advance. His teacher will be teaching 2nd grade next year. We are kind of thinking about seeing if he can be in her class again. We figure she knows him, how he works etc, so the first few weeks wouldn't be lost on a teacher getting to know him. This is what happened with Christina in 3rd and 4th grade. Sort of the same thing. We didn't care for the teacher all that much, but by the time Christina was done with 4th grade, she was a much much better student. We also got back all the Stanley letters today. WOW!! You all ROCK!!!! Zachary won for most letters, and the furthest away. 3 in WA, 1 in OR, 1 in CA 1 in ID, 4 in AZ. We still haven't got Stanley back, as he is still on the road. He was last heard from in Idaho. We had a fun Memorial Day weekend. On Sunday morning we dropped Christina off with her friends at Universal Studios, and we went south to Palm Beach. Our hotel we had before, and it has a little 3 hole putt putt, and a swimming pool. Caleb was so excited to be golfing again. Zachary spent alot of time in the pool. He is ready to learn how to swim any time now. But he doesn't want to try it without his vest. Caleb used to hate being in the water if his feet couldn't touch the bottom. So all his time would be spent on the stairs. Not anymore!! The last 2 times he has been in the water, (Saturday at a birthday party he and Zachary went to) he has ventured out and started swimming all over the pool! Yeah Caleb!! He is so proud of himself! Zachary was so proud of him too. He kept yelling "Caleb your doing it!! Your doing so good! Mom, DAD, look at Caleb go!! Woohoo Caleb!" What a good big brother. Our room was on the first floor, right next to the pool and putt putt, so Mike and I could sit on our patio and watch them AND the NASCAR race. It was a fun night! On Monday we went to the beach. We didn't go in the ocean tho because there were riptides. I read about at least 1-2 people drowning every month from them. So we played on the sand, and built sandcastles. This weekend the space shuttle is being launched at 5pm. We are planning on going camping close by there. Unfortunately we didn't get a space reserved in time at Cape Canaveral Camping, so we are having to camp a few miles away. Thats OK. It would of been very crowded. But we still should get a very good view of it. We have been showing the boys the pictures we received on emails on the International Space Station. (Mike and I saw it years ago when it passed over AZ. Looked like a slow moving airplane.) We will be leaving tomorrow after Zachary gets out of school. MAYBE I will get some decent pictures to blog. I hope!!

Mothers Day Week

Zachary had his play on May 8th. BUGZ. It was a cute one, with his class dressed at Fireflies.

Each child had 1 line they had to say. The microphone in front was placed at a good height for all the students. Except Zachary.

Its hard to tell in this picture, but if you can see it, the microphone is as tall as he is.

So when he spoke into it he had to stretch his neck up and back, and stand on his tippie toes.

The whole audience went "aaawwwwww how cute".

His wings wouldn't stay up, they kept falling over. I had a pin for them, but his teacher didn't see it. Can you see Zachary? Hes the WHITE kid standing on the left side.

Unfortunately the pictures didn't turn out great because they were FireFlies and had the lights way down since Fireflies come out at night. They had little flash lights that they were twirling around as well. Christina, Robby, and Caitlyn (Robbys 16yr old sister) were also at the play. Their little sister is in first grade also. Sunday was Mother's Day!

We went to Universal Studios.

The only thing I wanted was to be there before the park opened (for passholders) at 8am.

We got there AT 8am. Oh well. Close enough.

We headed straight over to the Simpsons Ride.

It looks great on the outside! The lines had paintings all over the walls of the Simpsons, and flat screen TVs every few feet playing Simpson cartoons. Theme park and vacation versions I think.

Even tho we arrived right at 8, the line was about 45 min long.

However, not once did we see a repeat of a Simpson Cartoon. So that made the time go by very quickly.

It is a fun ride. Even tho the car you are riding in, stays in the same spot (it moves around, but not on a track) you feel like you are really on a roller coaster. There is a gigantic screen in front of you. They did it really well!!! Cant wait to go again. And again. And again!

Can you see the pins on their shirts, and wrist bands? They were given to us after the ride was over. The wrist bands allowed us to go in the Fast Pass lane on the rides. (that is normally $30 a person!) We also got free Squishees. (Icees) Caleb refused to go on the Jaws Ride, yet he wanted me to take his picture under this shark, while we were waiting for the others to get off the ride. Go figure! In fact Caleb didn't want to go on hardly anything this day. So Mike, Christina and Zachary went over to Islands, to ride Jurassic Park, and Spiderman. Caleb and I stayed in Universal and rode ET 3 more times. And saw Shrek 2 times. Nothing planned for this week. Mikey has to work in the Miami area today and tomorrow. The library is closed this week (renovations). Caleb has really been enjoying story time there. So he is bummed we can't go this week. I think I will take him to the park. My friend JoAnna found another park she likes better than the one we go to, so I think we will check it out.

Toys and Groceries

Christina had her modeling Expo last weekend. Out of 12000+ people, she was one of 300+ that got picked to attend the Expo. Out of those 300+ about 25 were given call back cards. Unfortunately Christina didn't get a call back card. However, that doesn't mean her chances are over. She is on NYC Agencys computer composite card website for an entire year. She also has a list of 400 legitimate agencies to send her composite card to. We had a fun weekend. Saturday was the first day in a long time that it was just the 5 of us. And no extra kids! Christina joined us running errands, shopping, and eating at Cheesecake Factory. It was really nice having us all together for an entire day. We used the gift card that Uncle Bruce gave us. (at Christmas we each gave the other the exact same gift...a 50$ gift card to Cheesecake Factory! Great minds think alike!)

We also went to Toys R Us so Caleb could spend his birthday money and his gift card from Mama Linda and Poppie. (Only 2 months late...oops!) There were only 2 things he wanted... 2 Jets.

Mike had to convince him to buy other stuff! Zachary still had money from Easter, so he got Poke'man Cards. Once Caleb had more toys (for him and Daddy), Christina had what she was buying, and I had Alvin and the Chipmunk Movie, we headed to checkout. The cashier asked the boys who all the toys were for, and we said "Its for Calebs birthday." and pointed to Caleb. Next thing we know, the cashier is saying Happy Birthday to You! Then before we could correct her, she announced that since it was his birthday we got 15% off the entire bill, AND she added a 5$ gift card to take off 5 more, THEN gave us a 5$ gift card for next time!!

OK!! Its Calebs birthday again!!

Plus she gave the boys paper birthday crowns, and balloons. Then she announced over the speaker system that there was a special birthday boy in the house. Caleb just stood there the entire time starring at her. Zachary had a little smile on his face because he knew it wasn't Calebs birthday, but he was enjoying all the attention. By the time the announcement came, Zachary was in giggle mode. I think every time we shop at Toys R Us, it should be one of the kids birthday!

Last night we made chocolate covered frozen bananas. Yummy! Yesterday I went grocery shopping. I go once a week. Mike usually stops at one half way thru the week to buy more milk and juice. The fridge just isn't big enough for me to buy 4 gallons of milk and juice. I cannot believe how much money I spend on so little amount of food. I had 1 shopping cart full. Every week I spend at least 200$. This time was 250! AND that was after I used coupons I clip out. That little act I spend 20 minutes on, saved us $31.43 And buying items on sale saved us 43.01 for a total savings of 74.44. And I STILL spent 250! I wonder what our parents spent on groceries in a typical month? How about our grandparents!? I wonder what the price will be when our kids have families of their own? Of course, we eat at home much more than we eat out. I plan out our dinners the week ahead of time, so I am not over buying. Between the cost of gas and food, I may need to go back to work! Nothing too exciting planned for this week. Caleb and I are starting Story Time at the Library on Weds. I'm already done with the 2 books I got last week. Is it Wed yet?? Oh wait! There is something exciting! Zachary is in his class play on Thursday night. He is a firefly! We looked at wings for him, but so many were girly, pink, purple, and glittery. Then Christina remembered she had blue ones in her chest at home. They are perfect! Small, and BLUE! As ungirly as butterfly wings could be! Yeah!!

On Saturday or Sunday next week we are going to Universal to ride the Simpsons Ride before the park opens to the public. Since we are premier annual pass holders, you get in an hour before anyone else! Now, I just have to convince Mike to get up and be gone at 7am!

Zachary and School

We had the meeting today with the people from Zacharys school. Mike and I have really had a hard time deciding if Zachary should be held back or not. Most of the papers he brings home are S (satisfactory) or S- (below satisfactory). Rarely does he bring home a N (needs improvement). We know he is behind on his reading, but we have him in tutoring 2 hours a week and that has really helped him. Do you hold a child back because he is slightly behind? Or do you work extra with him and bring him up to speed? We walked into the office and not only was his teacher there, but so was his speech therapist, his guidance counselor, the school psychologist, and a resource specialist(?). We immediately felt like we were being ganged up on. However we got a pleasant surprise. We got a bunch of paperwork handed to us. Listed was every type of speech, language, comprehension, hearing, vision, vocabulary and etc testing that they had done on him. We definitely know where and why he is having such difficulty. It all relates to his speech and language. His Non Verbal IQ is 139. (90-109 avg 110-119 high avg 120-129 Superior 130+ Very superior.) His Verbal was 120. Obviously we are talking about a very bright child. So whats the problem?? Its his comprehension of Language. He says things like "that ball is more big than the other ball." Rather than say BIGGER. He doesn't say past tense words he uses present tense. "I sleep all night last night." Rather than SLEPT. He has difficulty retelling storys that he just read. In his writing he writes short simple sentences with spelling matching his speech difficulties. He has trouble articulating which is impeding his reading and writing success. All of these are fixable! Starting tomorrow he is attending a Language class for 2 days a week for an hour each day. There will only be one other girl in there. He will need to be in there next year as well. So that means they are not yet willing to assume he will need to repeat! Nothing of course is certain yet, but his teacher said several times that Zachary has really improved these last 4 weeks that he has been in tutoring. It seems now that he is reading a little better, he is more interested in reading. So I have some ideas to help him here at home. All is not lost! We are not giving in yet!