College and Career Week – What will you be when you grow up?

Last Tuesday the kids at Luke's school were to dress up as what they wanted to be when they grew up. 

Luke wants to be a paleontologists.

“Um, what do they wear?” I asked.

“Brown shorts and a gray shirt, duh!”  Luke responded.

Riiiiiight......because this paralegal Mom should have just known that!!  He forgets we are not all geniuses about dinosaurs.

So, he wore his brown shorts, gray shirt, and took along some digging tools, a dinosaur book, AND some dinosaur bones!

He rocked.

His Daddy rocked for putting it all together.

I rock because they are my boys.  I love them.

Oh, and I told Luke he was the cutest paleontologist in all of the world and he said I did not know because I've never seen another one.  I told him I did not need to.

He smiled.

College and Career Week – A College Flag

At Luke’s school it is college and career week and they have all kinds of fun things planned at school.

The first fun thing was to make a college flag.  And after much deliberation, he decided to go with the love of his Grandpa and Daddy and do the University of North Carolina.

Josh was proud.

They sat down at the table and started to discuss what they would put on the flag.

Luke drew all of it on his own.  He did the NC there just by looking at a picture of it.  An artist like his Daddy!

I was floored at how good Luke was doing!

I also loved that he decided not to just stick with the powder blue and white, but to add some color! 

I think his flag turned out great!

100 Homework

I have often times heard parents complaining about their child’s homework. I am not sure if it is just because Luke is in kindergarten or what, but I really do not mind helping him with his homework and he loves doing it! He gets a monthly package of homework that we work on, and then from time to time, he will have larger projects to complete.

Since they are approaching the 100th day of school, Luke’s current homework project was to be creative and bring a collection of 100 of his things to school. When we first talked about this, Luke was convinced he did not have 100 of anything. I told him that I know for sure that he had 100 of one kind of toy. He thought and thought and then realized he had WAY over 100 cars.

As we continued talking about this assignment Luke realized that it would be somewhat difficult to take 100 cars to school. So he came up with the idea of taking pictures of the cars. Luke then decided to make groups of the cars by color. I asked him how many groups he would need and he said ten groups of ten, and that would make 100! I could not have been more proud.

One day after school he began going through all his cars.

He grouped them by colors.  

And then HE took pictures of the cars.

Luke originally wanted to put the pictures on a poster board, but then decided he would like to make a book. So, today we went to the store and printed off the pictures he took, as well as bought some construction paper and the materials to make a book.

He glued each picture on a piece of construction paper and labeled the color. He then assembled all the pictures into his folder and titled the book, Luke’s 100 Collection.

I think the book turned out great! I am so proud of him for coming up with the idea on his own and putting it all together with minimal assistance.

Great Job Luke!!

Emergency Health/Clinic Information Form

Luke brought home an Emergency Health/Clinic Information Form and told me that I needed to fill it out so that if he got sick, the nurse would know what to do. So, when we got home, I sat down and started filling out the form.

Luke comes up and asks me what the form says. I explain that we need to write down the name of his doctor and her phone number. Then I showed him the section that asks about medical conditions. He asked what a medical condition was and I told him that sometimes people have problems with their heart, and that is a medical condition. (I know, short answer, but it is was all I could come up with).

Then came the section for allergies and here is how that went:

Luke: What are allergies?

Me: Well, some people have food allergies. Like if they eat a certain food, it will make them very sick.

Luke: I have that!

Me: No, you don’t.

Luke: Yes, I do! Remember that time you made me eat those noodles that I didn’t like?? They made me sick, put it on the paper.

I could not think of one reason why the school nurse needs to know why my son hates my cooking, so I left that one blank.

Today was a great day…if you are a five year old boy

But if you are his mom, it was an emotional roller coaster. When he was eight weeks old and I dropped him off at Ms. Marlo’s house, I cried. When we dropped him off at prep school, I cried. So it was not really a surprise that I cried when we dropped him off at elementary school for his first day of kindergarten. But, here is the difference -- I called Marlo a bunch on that first day (and many days after), and she was so sweet and told me Luke was okay and the happenings of the day. When he went to prep school, we had a friend who worked there and her daughter was in Luke’s class, so she checked on him. I have no allies at elementary school!!

Joshua and I walked to Luke to school and Luke was excited. He was such a big boy as he located his seat and started playing with his play-doh. No tears at all from him. He just started playing. We told him bye and to have a great day. I was so very proud of him. He truly is so excited about going to school and learning new things and making new friends. No tears from me… at this point. But, as Joshua and I walked home, I started to tear up. Where has the time gone? Luke is growing up so quickly.

I could not wait to go and pick Luke up and find out all about his day. He told us about reading books, going to music, playing in the gym, eating lunch, and playing outside on the cool playground (where he did the swings by himself!). He was also full of instructions for us: we need to read his folder EVERDAY, sign it, and he is to return the folder every day. He told us this is VERY important! He made a book today that he was very proud of and did a worksheet. However, he was a little disappointed that he did not get to paint. He said that he guessed they would have to learn things for the next few weeks, but maybe then he could paint. I love it!

He did have homework. Every day he is to read a book and tonight’s selection was Hop on Pop. I love listening to him read and watching him as he sounds out the words.

The first day went great! And we are looking forward to the school year and all that Luke will learn.

And a thank you to all those who took the time to text, email, and call today. Luke was so happy that people would call to see how his day went and I am so thankful that people asked about me as well. I am touched that so many people prayed for us on this day. God is good, Luke had a great first day of school, and his parents lived to tell about it.

And just like that, it's over

Today when I got to Luke’s school to pick him up, they told me he was moved over to the other building. I gulped hard, smiled, and said okay. She told me how they moved some of the kids to the other building to go ahead and transition them. She went on to say how he had a great time and told me a little more of his day. As I drove the short distance to the other building, I was almost in tears. I have no problem with the simple fact that he is in another building, but the idea that Pre-K is officially over? Yes, I have a hard time with that. I am a girl who needs to prepare herself for things!

I must have had an odd look on my face when the Luke got in the car because the lady said, “I bet it was a shocker to you that Luke was moved.” Yes, I thought, it was…but, I just said, oh, that is okay and smiled. She too told me what a wonderful time Luke had in the new class. As we pulled off, Luke happily told me about his new class and what he did during the day. Then, he got quiet for a minute and said, “But Mommy, will I ever get to go back and visit Mrs. Lori? And can I talk to her on the computer?” And then I could not hold back the tears anymore. I told him yes, he could certainly talk to her on the computer and we would visit her. Then I let my tears flow. Pre-K was over. Just like that.

When we got home, he said he had lots of stuff in his backpack, and then he unloaded Pre-K right then and there in the living room. He brought home his art work, his swim trunks, and his cubbie label. Ugh, I wanted to cry again, but held it together since he could see my face. I just gave him a hug and told him I loved him.

Growing up myself was hard enough at times. Watching my little boy grow up is even harder.