Student of the Month

Today at school Andrew received the first "Student of the Moth" award for the year. He has been working really hard (as usual) to earn it, and was so excited. :) At the Friday morning assembly, they announced the students (one from each class), who all got to come forward and receive a sticker they get to wear all day. Then, when the assembly was over, they got to sit with their "adults" and enjoy a special treat (it used to be cookies, but since the schools have all adopted the special nutritional guidelines, it was teddy grahams.) When he was finished we got to go back to his class, where he received his award, a certificate for a free meal at Islands restaurant, a bumper sticker, and a big round of applause from his class. His teacher, Mrs. Crabtree, read a special note that she had written for him:

"Andrew...you have been soaring high since the minute you entered 3rd grade. You
show responsibility, respect, friendship and compassion to everyone...everyday.
Thanks for making room 35 a wonderful place to be!"

Afterwards, she told Ryan and I that she meant every word she had said. She told us he is an awesome student and child, and she thanked us for doing such a great job with him. :)

Andrew's Big Idea

The other day...

Andrew: "Mom, can I bring my skateboard in the house?"

Me: "No, you can't skate in the house, only outside."

Andrew: "But some people have skate parks in their houses."

Me: "That is true, but we don't"

Andrew: "Well, can't we build one in our house?"

Me: "We would need a lot of money to build a house that's big enough to have a skate park. Do you have enough money to build one?"

Andrew: "No."

Me: "Well, you better get a job and start saving all the money you earn."

Andrew: "I'm too young to get a job! I know! I will have a lemonade stand!"

(He revised his menu after learning that we didn't have any lemonade in the house.)

I lovelovelove that he is a problem solver and thinks creatively to come up with a solution.

Is this what Dora is teaching kids?... ;)

Devynn: "Mom, repeat after me."
Me: "Ok."
Devynn: "You. May. Kiss. The. Bride."
Me: "You may kiss the bride."
Devynn: "Ok, now we kiss."

**kiss**

Devynn: "Ok, now you're pregnant."
Me: "What?!"



Where does she learn these things?! Should I be worried? At least maybe it will keep her from kissing boys for a long time! ;)

Devynn's Quote of the Day

"Mom, 'Jingle Bell' and 'Taco Bell' rhyme!"

When I Get Big

Devynn: "Mom, when I get big, I'm going to get the hooks that you take off like this (does a little upward pulling motion) (she is referring to the Command hooks by 3M that come off the wall easily by pulling and releasing the strip). And pop-up tape!"

Me: "That's cool."

A minute later...

Devynn: "When I get big, can I get the striped cookies too?"

Me: "Sure you can. When you're big, you can get whatever you want. "

Devynn: "YAY!"

Smarty-Pants! :)

I know I am a bit biased, but I seriously think I have the world's smartest boy. We have known for awhile that Andrew is incredibly advanced in reading and math...last year (2nd grade) he was reading and understanding books at a 6th and 7th grade level, and he whizzed through all of the 2nd grade math before they were even halfway through the school year. Thankfully, he had an awesome teacher that allowed him to continue on to higher levels to challenge him rather than hold him back with the rest of the class. In addition to reading and math, he has only missed one spelling word on all of his tests since first grade, and he consistently gets A's on every writing, history and science assignment.

Last week, we received the results from the Standardized Testing and Reporting (STAR) program that Andrew took last school year. Students are tested every year in English-Language Arts and Math to measure their progress in meeting California's standards and helping us find our children's academic strengths and weaknesses. The test scores also tell us how well our schools are doing to prepare our students for the future.

Scores are broken down into 5 levels with "far below basic" as the lowest and "advanced" as the highest. California's goal is to have all students reach the "proficient" level. Each score is given a numerical value between 150 and 600. Each student's percent correct is also listed for each specific content area they are tested on.

In Math, Andrew had an overall score of 517, which is in the advanced level. He was tested in 5 content areas and received 100% in three of those. In the other two, he received a 93% and a 96%. Pretty good. :)

In English-Language arts, he had an overall score of 600, which is in the advanced level and is the highest possible score. This means that in the 5 content areas he was tested in, he didn't miss ANY questions and had a score of 100%! How awesome is that?! My boy ACED the state testing! :)

And, as if we could get any prouder than we already are, we received word this week that he has been accepted into the G.A.T.E. (Gifted and Talented Education) program. Following in his mom's footsteps. :)

So I think it's official that he is the smartest boy EVER! And I am the blessed mom that has the honor and privilege of calling him my son.

Wild Weather

Yesterday afternoon we got a bit of wild weather for a short time. Dark clouds moved in rather quickly, and then the thunder, lightning, wind and rain began. The lightning strikes caused a couple fires but they were quickly put out. The neighboring areas lost power a few times, but we were lucky and ours stayed on (thankfully, since it was around 100 degrees out!). The whole thing only lasted about 30 minutes or so, and wasn't that big of a deal.

Unless you were Devynn.

While Andrew and Rylee watched the excitement through the window, my little drama queen sat on the couch cowering in fear, saying

"Please don't make me die!"

I feel sorry for her future boyfriends/husband. God really needs to send a patient soul to fall in love with my youngest monkey because he's going to need it!