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!

Stumped

I've been a mom for over 14 years now. During those years, I have answered a menagerie of questions thrown at me by my monkeys. Some have been silly and fun, some have been purely educational while others have had more of a serious nature. I've always been able to answer these questions to the satisfaction of my monkeys and all remained right in our little world.

Until yesterday.

Devynn asked "Is it tomorrow?"

"Yes and no" was not an acceptable answer to her. Trying to explain that it is tomorrow compared to yesterday but today compared to tomorrow to a 3 year old was not very fun. She was left thoroughly confused and was not very satisfied with my response. And to make it worse, she asked me a few times throughout the day.

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that she doesn't ask me again today, which is yesterday's tomorrow.

Lines

My kids always love playing the "don't step on the line" game when walking down the sidewalk. Brings back memories from my childhood. :) Lately, they've also started playing it in the house on the tile floors. This morning, as soon as she woke up, Devynn decided to play and wanted Jessie to join in with her.

Devynn: "Jessie, don't step on the lines."

Jessie: "I can't step on the lines?"

Devynn: "No, you can't, only when you just have your footies
on."

(Translation: "You can only step on the lines when you're barefoot.")


Jessie couldn't help but giggle, and I'm pretty sure it set her day up to be a great one. :)

Rare Sweet Moment

This morning as Devynn was giving Andrew and Rylee hugs and kisses before they left for school, she told them "Bye. I'll miss you."

This is the side of Devynn that not many people get the pleasure of ever seeing. She can be so incredibly sweet when she wants to be. I just wish her sweet side would make appearances a bit more often. :)

Quote of the Day

Devynn:

"I keep coughing and sneezing. I think it's my brain doing it."

Funny girl!

Andrew: "Devynn, you are the funniest person I have ever met!"

Devynn: (sounding and looking completely annoyed) "No I'm not Bub. You are."



We tried to explain to her that Andrew had just complimented her, but she wasn't having any of it. She cracks us up! :)

New Song of the Day

Devynn and her little songs! Her newest one is sung to a cute little tune and has very simple, repetitive lyrics...

"Rock Obama. Rock Obama. Rock Obama."


So cute! But shhh! Don't tell Papa Steve that Devynn was singing about Obama...he might have a heart attack! ;)

First Day of School

This week, my monkeys went back to school. Jessie started high school! She is now a freshman at Chaparral High School...class of '14! She was pretty nervous to start, but came home the first day saying "It wasn't as scary as I thought it would be." :)

Andrew is now a third grader. His classroom is on the "big kid" side of campus. :/ He was a little bummed that none of his close friends are in his class, but his best friend is in the class next door so that is a little better.

Rylee started first grade! She attends all day now, and is so excited to play on the big playground and eat lunch at school with her friends. She even bought her lunch for the first time yesterday so she really felt like a big kid. :) She had her first "Friday Flag Salute Assembly" today (since she was in the afternoon kindergarten last year, she missed out on them) and got to experience the fun of sitting on carpet squares on the blacktop while listening to announcements, songs, and award winners.

Time sure is flying by! I can't believe how quickly they're all growing up. It makes me sad, but I am also really enjoying watching them progress from one stage to the next. They are all growing and developing into great children, and I couldn't ask for anything more! :)

End of Summer Pics

Future Award-Winning Actress

Yesterday morning it was almost time to leave to take the kids to school, so I asked Devynn to go potty. Apparently I am the meanest mom ever because this was her response: "I want to move to a new family with all of my stuff because this is the worst family ever!"



Andrew thought that was the funniest thing he had ever heard. Giggling, he asked her "Why are we the worst family?" With a huge furrowed brow and stomping feet she replied:



"Because! I don't like to go potty. I hate going potty. I don't want to go potty EVER AGAIN!"



With that, Andrew was laughing hysterically. In between fits of laughter he told her "Even if you moved to a new family, you would STILL have to go potty!"







Never a dull moment in my world. I think I need to get a video camera so I can keep it handy and record all of the entertaining Devynn "stuff" we get to see all the time. I think I would have a very loyal following on youtube! :)

That's MY Boy!

Happy Birthday to my sweet Bubba. He turned 8 yesterday. He is such an awesome kid, and I am truly blessed to be able to call him my one and only son. I love you Andrew. :)

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Today while driving, Andrew started talking about bats. He was telling me that they are nocturnal animals and was curious why that is. We chatted back and forth and came up with a few different theories of our own. (I have no idea if our hypotheses are correct or not.) Then he started telling me about the number of mosquitoes a bat consumes on an average day. I was quite impressed that he knew such facts. But I was completely SHOCKED when he started telling me that the bats use "echo location" to find the mosquitoes since they have less than perfect eyesight. How many *barely* 8 year olds have any clue what that is?! I'm pretty sure he is a genius.

Didn't I tell you he was AWESOME?!?! :)