More Pictures

'Twas the Night Before Halloween

What a busy day! MB's new school has a huge halloween carnival, so we spent the morning having fun there. Afterwards, my piano students had a costume party, and then we headed down the street for a neighborhood party. Whew, I'm pooped. And, there's more tomorrow!

The Munchkin Goes to a New School

After much consideration, we have made a decision to move the munchkin from public to private school. While we liked our old 1st grade teacher very much and think she does a good job under the circumstances she was given, we are unhappy with the degree to which state standards and standardized test performance control everything in public school. We want a richer, broader, more challenging and creative school experience for our bright child. So far, we're very happy with the decision even if it is taking a huge chunk of our income. Fortunately, another child in our neighborhood is making the change, too, so having a friend eases the transition for both of them.

My first inkling that I wasn't going to be happy with public school came at first-grade orientation. The first words spoken were, "Now, we want you to all know that we're all going to be teaching your children the same standards..." and for the rest of the evening, the only things I heard that didn't have to do with state standards were the directions for where to drive up for the car line. By the end of the meeting, I was ready to stand up and say, "I've heard all night about how you plan to teach the standards. Would you mind spending some time now talking about how you plan to teach my child?"

We like many things at the new school. They are able to devote time to things that wouldn't be evaluated on a standardized test - chess, Spanish, and handwriting. They do a great job of teaching the children to present themselves well and communicate effectively, both aurally and in written form.

I never thought we'd be the private school type of parents. But then, I didn't realize just how much public education had changed even since I was a public school teacher. We're very happy with the new situation.

Labor of Love

It took three weekends. He routed all of the edges to make them smooth. Had a few setbacks. Injured a finger. But, he finished. One tired daddy, and one happy girl.

Mary Beth's BIG birthday present!

The last swingset was a kit from Wal*art. The wood rotted inside of the vinyl cladding and turned the swingset into a kid death trap. But, the new one is going to be awesome!

We got the plans here. We didn't realize how much bigger this structure would be than the last one until we stood up the fort. It's huge! Mary Beth is beside herself.

First Grade!

Today was the first day of first grade! We met our new teacher last Thursday, and we both liked her very much. There's one little boy in Mary Beth's class that was in last year's class, and one little girl that we knew from Pre-K. Our teacher's room theme is dogs, so that made Mary Beth very happy! This was also Mary Beth's first day to ride the bus. It stops right across from our house, so she doesn't have far to walk, and we have lots of neighborhood friends who ride. Here's the neighborhood gang waiting for the bus to arrive.Today, I took Bella for a walk right after the bus came, so Mary Beth got to see me and wave as they passed me twice while picking up other children in the neighborhood. Mary Beth will take ballet again this year, and she's also signed up for a tennis class. We're looking forward to a good year!