Hart of Dixie

I'm beginning to LOVE Mondays....this morning the kids slept til after 9!!! AND Belle didn't wake when Howie left, so I slept straight thru til 7 when DJ joined me, and then til 9 when he woke again. Kinda nice!!! We had a nice breakfast together (DJ on his first bite remembered his sore teeth, poor guy!) and then the playing started.

It was a lovely overcast day with threats of rain...which did happen! Thankfully not til after football practice! The kids played well together again, its SO nice when this happens! The boys next door were doing school, and it took a bit for DJ to understand that fact. So instead we coloured and played games.

After lunch I got ready to head out to the school for my first ever parent/teacher conference for DJ...Michaela came over to babysit while I was gone and I put on Rio before I left for them. I got to the school in perfect time and headed in for my meeting. I really do love Mrs Hughes!!! Maybe even more than DJ does!! She's the quintessential kindergarten teacher!! Just perfect!! Ok, I'll stop raving about her and tell ya what she said about DJ.

She asked if he had had his hearing, eyes and speech checked....and I said his eyes were tested in June (and were fine) and his hearing was tested as a baby (I'd forgotten about the test he had done a year ago at my audiologists office) and as for his speech, he did have his own language for a while there, but the marbles have come out nicely. She asked if I'd noticed any changes (good or bad) in DJ since starting school and of course we have noticed only good things!!! So I told her how he and Sam have been so nice to each other since they miss each other...and how sometimes we only have to ask him to do something once and he actually does it right away! 

Then she asked for my help...you see, he doesn't take initiative when it comes time to do work...they'll have a page to work on in their books and he just sits there after she's told everyone to get started...and once the kids are done they're free to go read a book or play quietly, so this should be motivation enough to get the work done no? She then points it out to him and says he needs to get his work done and he then does it. So I suggested maybe he's waiting for permission to do it, and she'll try that...and praising him when he does do it right away. She also said he's a follower...that when he gets in trouble, its with another student, its not just him...and usually his cohort is Marty! The one name we hear the most!! lol

She also said he tested "at risk" on the DIBELS (The DIBELS (Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills) is a set of procedures and measures for assessing the acquisition of K-6 literacy skills. By giving primary school students number of quick, simple tests DIBELS allows educators to identify students which need additional assistance and to monitor the effectiveness of intervention strategies.) but since we're not in the right school district we need to figure out how to get him some help with letter recognition. And she gave me a few good ideas to help with that too. She also said that getting help early, even in Kindergarten, will make a HUGE difference next year when they really start reading.  DJ's already commented on how smart the 1st graders are as they do reading with that class...its cute!

The whole interview was all of 20 minutes, but I'm even more convinced than ever we made the right decision to get him in this school!!! I walked away from there feeling good!! And proud of my sweet boy...she just loves his smile!!

Speaking of smiles....I got to preview (but can't share, sorry) his school pictures....I'm in LOVE!!!!!! Oh this photographer captured the very essence of DJ...his beautiful smile, his impish twinkle in his eyes, and the crinkle of his nose! Just perfect!!! Not sure how long it'll take before I get my hands on a copy, but you can bet your bottom dollar I'll be posting it on here!!!! :D

When I got home the kids were still watching Rio, so Michaela stayed and finished it with them...then they went out with her and played (all the while fighting me on wearing shoes...they really are my kids!) and I got busy with dishes and whatnot.  Howie got home and he and DJ took off for football practice while Sam and I stayed home. She was mad when I gave the dvd of Rio to Howie to return...easily placated when told to ask santa for it lol.

As soon as Howie got home he started cooking the burgers I'd made for dinner...and then the squash wars started! DJ's getting WAY better at eating it and not fighting me...but Samantha actually got sent to her room for being such a priss about the squash...the same squash she ate (and fought then too) two nites ago! She did finally eat it all...and in the end was just fine with it!! Silly girl!  Then came bed time...a little later than a normal Monday nite as there's no school this week, but it was all good! They were asleep by 9...not too bad! Howie wasn't too far behind them and so I got to watch tv all by myself...well, with the animals that is.

We watched HIMYM which was funny!!! Team Baby!! ha! Then 2 Broke Girls which hasn't completely won me over yet. Then 2.5 Men which finally showed the new opening song and Ashton is singing the soprano part, quite funny! I'm really digging his addition to the show! Don't even miss whatshisname! Mike & Molly was cute...Melissa McCarthy is just fantastic!! Glad she won the Emmy! Then I watched Hart of Dixie....I watched the first episode this afternoon while the kids were out and it almost had me in tears a couple times (I may be slightly hormonal) and so tonite I was anxious to see the second episode...it didn't disappoint! I'm loving all the southern drawls and the country music in the background....and the cast is quite good!!! But who on EARTH names their daughter Lemon!?!?! Yowza!!! lol If you get a chance, check it out!

Til next time...God bless!