NoDa

Endings...

Somebody is going to play in her LAST middle school game tomorrow. 

Last sport to be played in middle school. 

EVER.

In just a few way too short weeks...

SOMEBODY will be a

MYERS PARK MUSTANG.

Dear God,

Please help us to NOT hurt each other during these next couple of years.

Thanks,

S

(we have been fighting lately.  she's a little rude sometimes. 

and i'm really mad that she's growing up.  not the best mother/daugther combo. 

what i really wish though, is that she maintains the happy that is maddy most of the time. 

 i hope that she is as happy in high school as she is in the above photo. 

but oh LORD....i will continue to pray...just in case)

Your Teacher Said WHAT?

Finn has had a hard year in school this year. For the first time ever, he's been insecure and uncomfortable at school on a somewhat regular basis.  Chuck and I have had several meetings with his teacher and we manage to maintain a good rapport while keeping in close contact about his progress.  He HAS made steady progress all year.  His teacher has told us how well behaved he is (most of the time) and how he flourishes in his favorite subjects (art and science).

Yet somehow, despite all of the positives we hear from his teacher, Finn has continually told us about how is teacher is mean and says mean things to kids and how he "threatens" the whole class all of the time.  When I ask for examples, he's give me scenarios like this:
"Well the boys wouldn't listen and kept laughing at him and so he says things like, 'you guys will be lucky if you ever get out of 4th grade. or 'that's fine boys. have fun.  but i'll have the last laugh when you never make it out of the 4th grade because you can't follow directions'"  
When I hear these I think to myself....This class is pretty wild but dang he sounds burned out.  Maybe he needs a vacay.  Wonder if he reallly likes teaching??  Having been a teacher for a lot of years myself, I try really hard to give teachers a chance. Benefit of the doubt.  Yada yada yada. 

Until a teacher crosses the line.

Finn came home yesterday and asked me (as I FLEW out the door, kissed him on the head, and ran with Stell in tow to the car to go and get Hailey "Mom I really don't like Mr. G anymore.  I need to seriously ask you...can I take a couple of days off?"  Since I was in a hurry, I quickly asked him if he'd gotten in trouble (let's face it...always possible).  He said no and I said, "Ok please tell me alllll about it when I get home."
When I finally got home, he ran outside to see a friend for a bit and I started dinner.  It wasn't long before Maddy came home from her game, had a meltdown as we finished up dinner, and proceeded to talk and cry with me for over and hour.  She needed me.  She was really frustrated after a terrible soccer game (WHOLE NUTHA POST) and was in serious need of support and a reality check.  She needed her Mommy. 
I then had to go get Hailey from gym.
I finally get home at 920 and Finn comes up to say, "Please tuck me in." complete with heavy sigh.
I rushed downstairs and he reminds me..".I need to talk to you."

And here is what he said, "Mom.  How and what do I need to do to get a teacher fired?  (serious as a heart attack)"  I explained to him that it wasn't all that easy.  Depends on a lot.  What in the world happened?
"Well, you know I lost my agenda a while back?" Nod. "Mr. G asked me if I'd finished my word work.  You know it's all due on Friday and it was ONLY Wednesday and I hadn't done any yet. (that's my boy!) So I told him I hadn't done any and he shrugged his shoulders and told me to bring him my agenda.  I had to tell  him AGAIN that it was lost (it's been lost for a month) and he told me I had to find it. I told him I'd looked everywhere at school and at home and just couldn't find it.  (we knew it disappeared at school because he lost it on a day I picked him up early)  So he said to me,
'I'm really sick of all the stupidity Finn.'


I literally sucked in my breath, counted to five slowly and then said, "Your teacher said what?"  Finn repeated the story slowly and carefully.  Twice.  And then he finally added, "I don't think he really meant to call me stupid Mom.  But I know that he doesn't think I'm very smart.  Now Mom, I need to ask you something?  What are you going to do?  You don't look so good."  I hugged him tight, kissed him goodnight, told him he was the smartest 10 year old boy I'd ever known and that  I was going to call his Daddy.  He said, "Are you going to talk to my teacher Mom?"   Me-"No"  Him-"OK.  Why not?" 
Me-Deep breath, calm voice (which may be the scariest part for the poor little guy)
"Because if I were to talk with him now, or even in the morning, I would punch him in his face."

He chuckled a little and said, "Great.  That's what I was afraid of."  I reminded him that his Daddy would be my voice of reason until I could focus and process.

After a phone call to Chuck, an email to the principal, and an email to the teacher, I received a phone call from Mr. G.  He did not confirm or deny the words he said to my only son.  He did however listen to what I had to say.

I don't know the exact words you used with Finn yesterday because I wasn't there. Finn told me exactly what he remembers and the phrase he presented was this, "I'm really sick of the stupidity, Finn." over a missing agenda that has been missing for about a month.  His dad and I didn't want to get into an email war because we didn't want a He said/He said conversation.  So what I ask of you now is  to listen to what  I need to say.  
He politely agreed.
I chose to move my family to a neighborhood I can barely afford for one reason.  Sharon Elementary School.  I have always loved Sharon for two reason.  Positive Discipline (PD) and Multiple Intelligences (MI).
 PD is extremely important to me as an educator and as a parent.  I have built my entire child centered life around PD because I feel it encourages children to make choices, communicate effectively and learn how to deal with consequences in a safe setting...all of which help to develop a positive self image.
I love MI because it reminds us that we are all smart in some area.  We can't all read 1000 words per minute OR make perfect scores on standarized tests, but we can all do something of value.
Sharon School, and the teachers who work there, have a responsibilty to learn, understand, and implement these philosophies.  Most of our experiences here have met our philosophical expectations.
If the words you chose to say to my boy today were kind, firm, and used to teach him a lesson about organization- then I can stand behind you 100% and we can continue to work together to help Finn achieve his goals. 
If the words you chose to say to my boy were unkind and or unhelpful, then I need to ask you NOT to make that mistake again.  He is a sensitive guy and will probably remember what you said to him for a long time.   Please think about what you say to these children.  Finn has two academically gifted sisters.  He's in the lowest reading group in his class.  He has to go to tutoring while his friends get to play.  It's NOT ok for you to use the word stupid, in any context, while referring to my son or any other student.  You know that. It's PD 101.

His comment?  "Yes Ma'am. I am so so sorry that Finn thinks I don't think he's smart.  I would like to talk to him tomorrow about all of the great things he's accomplished this year.  I want him to know that I truly believe he has artistic talent and that I think he's an awesome kid.  If you'd still like to meet with me and the principal, I can show you all the great things he's done."

Dude...he's my kid.  I  know how great he is.   DO YOU?

I will be having that meeting with him, the principal and his Daddy.  Hopefully it will be short and sweet.  I think I have said all I need to say.  But in all fairness...Daddy needs his turn. 

Before and After

One more Thing to show that my girl is growing up!

Before.

After. 

Sun kissed highlights and a few layers!

Gorge either way! 

(she looks even older now though.  not sure i like that.)

The Big Girls

Both of my girls have been busy, busy, busy lately.

Hailey finished up her gymnastics season at State Meet with an 8th in the State on beam and 10th on bars.  It's been an up and down season but she finished things off REALLY well.  I could write an entire post on the life of a gymnast...or a post called...a day in the life of a gymnast's family...but that's not my intention for this post.  I do, however, want to say that proud doesn't come close to describing how I feel about that beautiful young girl, I mean, woman.  She works harder than any kid I have ever known.  Her whole life has been about discipline, determination, concentration, hard work, integrity, courage and honor.  She's beauty in motion!!

Maddy has finished basketball and is in the middle of her soccer season.  Two teams.  Lots of games.  She enjoys playing soccer for her school the most.  Her new coach is goofy and awesome with a side of crazy and he knows how to talk so that she will listen.  (Only a select few can obtain that great honor.)  Nothing makes me happier than watching Maddy when she's happy playing her sports.  The girl can sparkle sometimes.  She's fantastic at her balancing act as well.  She is the perfect amount of intelligent, ambitious, intuitive, diplomatic, problematic, compassionate, fun loving and confident.  Not sure how she manages all of that...but she does it with grace.  She's beauty in motion.

 (she's number 11)

  Here's a word from my dad on Maddy's last game.  He is NOT biased at all.

See Maddy Run! Whether it's putting a Basketball thru an 18 inch hoop, or booting a Soccer ball into a net, Maddy loves to Score. Carmel girl's Soccer team moved to 6 and 0 yesterday coming from behind at the half to win at Mint Hill 2-1. Moosh juked herself into the open and scored from 30 feet out with a stinging shot to the back of the net with under 2 minutes to go. That's what I'm talking about!

52 photos project (a little late)

Theme:

A safe haven...

This reminds me of a book called The Pilgrimage and the quest to find your destiny.

I'm so behind...

I am so so so behind these days. I will rest soon. I feel it coming.

But for now, there shall be no rest for the weary.

So I have a pile of unedited photos to go through, a million random thoughts to try and place in a post coherently one day soon, and a messy house that needs to be somewhat tidy before I leave town...TOMORROW.

For now, I'd like to post some photos of my date with Stella and our friends A and E.

 

(she was so excited to go to Dish It Out.
 she'd never been there before.
 she has no idea how it will look after it's fired.
 I'll have to post the after photos when we get her pieces back.  if i can remember..that is..).

52 photos project

Theme:

What's inspiring you right now?

And here's what made me pick up my camera today....

Gymnast hands.

Yes. Those are holes in her hands. 

OUCH!!

Early Bloomers

Look what I found on my back porch today! I know they've been popping up all over town but the large ones in my front yard haven't bloomed in a couple of years. They always start too soon, sometimes get snowed on, and no flowers actually bloom.

BUT then... when I went outside to tidy up the leaf infested patio so Stella could play out there...I saw these!! Yay! Minis!

They made my day.

I love ANTHROPOLOGIE

Queen City Champs!!

Here are some photos from our final, most intense game.  The photos are not that good.  I was nervous and yelling a lot. 

But here ya go....

We had a rough start.  Couldn't sink anything we threw up.

Very nervous.

Both teams wanted to win...BAD. 
(we are the guests...)

Hawthorne calms Maddy.

 

But things continue to get ugly as Courtney (on floor) and Allie

fight for the ball.

We are still down, and girls start to freak out. 

And then Allie hits a three from just inside mid-court to tie us up at the half time buzzer!

That was the momentum we needed. 

Every shot went in after that.

Our 8th graders were ON FIRE.

We never get behind again...

We end up winning by 21 points.

Celebrations at Salsaritas!

Happy girl.

Winter Update

Many, many things have been going on since I've last written!  I have managed to post some photos here and there but MAN have we been busy.  We are always this busy this time of year.  Basketball, gymnastics, soccer, birthdays...you name it. 

With birthdays past ( and i can't believe i didnt even have time to do a proper bday post for either girlie...sheeeesh), and basketball complete (BEST SEASON EVER!!), things will slow a tad...just a tad...until middle school soccer starts.  And I think tryouts are next week. I will enjoy having Maddy home in the afternoons for a few days.  When it comes to Madge, I take what I can get these days. 

Which reminds me of a Maddy story. 

Yesterday morning Maddy woke up at 6:30 am (unheard of) and came upstairs with a look of panic on her sweet, tired face.  She held up her left hand and said, "I fell asleep with my ring on and now it won't come off." 
Now this ring is a big ole silver monogrammed ring.  Hand Picked.  All her girlies have them.  Maddy got it for her bday and she loves it BUT it's a tad too small.  I had her try on my rings and I thought I was getting the right size, BUT Maddy is 2 inches taller than I am.  Bigger feet.  And apparently bigger hands.  So I have been telling her I will get it sized but she's been dying to wear it.  Which is ok..sometines...on her left hand ring finger..when her hands are cold. SO she was wearing it in our cold basement that gets cold enough to freeze your fingers a size smaller than normal. 
THEN she fell asleep in it.
I said, "It will come off.  Let me see it." 
I tried to hide the horror on my face when I spied her fat swollen knuckle.  She had obviously been pulling on it for a while already.  I gave her an icepack to hold.  Made her stand outside in the 30 degree temp for 5 min.  Then made her try lotion.
Full on panic set in.  "MOM!!! WE HAVE THE BIGGEST GAME OF MY LIFE TODAY.  I can't wear this in a game.  IT HAS TO COME OFF.  GET IT OFF!!!!"  (not worried about her finger.  just the game.)
So I say,  "Fine.  But it's gonna hurt.  Give me your hand"
I pulled.  She screamed. 
I pulled some more.  She started to cry and crumbled to the floor.  Mostly from fear but also from pain.  I felt it give a little as the lotion got all up under the ring and started to work it's magic. 
I gave one last twist and yanked hard as I prayed to God that I wouldn't rip her finger off. 
Finally, it popped off and went flying across the kitchen and slammed into the kitchen window. 
I checked her hand. 
Finger still attached.
I checked the window.
Wasn't broken. 
Checked Maddy's face. 
Pure relief.
She stood with tears streaming down her face and said, "GOD THAT HURT.  Thank you GOD that I can play today. Thank you so much Mommy." 

Sweet baby face.  I wonder if she will ever wanna wear that ring again??

(in case you want to see the look of a satisfied champion)

Many other things to tell. Big plans for me and Stell next year. But I will elaborate later!

52 Photos Project

THEME:   A Love Note

(this note has been in my camera bag for about 3 years)

52 Photos Project

Theme:  COLOR WITH EMOTION