Last Hurrah of Summer!

Last Sunday afternoon, we took a drive to the lake and just sat on the shore and enjoyed the nice, warm weather. It seems like the next day, cooler fall air moved in, so it was like a last summer outing. It was sooo pretty--a storm was moving in, so the clouds and sunset were just gorgeous!!

Jarren wanted Hooie (his raggedy blankie) to see the lake.

Jenna playing near the woods.

Kendall with the setting sun in the background.

Kristen walking through the sand/mud.

Chinese

I seriously have NO idea how these little kids learn Chinese, but they do. Jenna brought home this homework yesterday and did it. I said, "Oh, it looks like you have to practice some letters." She said, "No, Mom. Those are numbers and words." Hmmm...go figure.

1st Grade

Jenna is in the Chinese Immersion program at our school. She was so excited and I thought it was a great idea--until she actually started school. Ugh. She came home very frustrated because the first 3 hours of each day is strictly Chinese--NO English spoken at all. She said, "I have no idea what the teacher is saying!!" I asked her if she learned anything or knew any words and she rattled of about 10. O-k-a-y....She learns more and more every day. I think the transition from half a day (kindergarten) to all day (1st grade) is a really hard one and then to combine that with a foreign language. It was a rough first week of school. She was extremely moody and would melt down at the drop of a hat. This last week was much, much better. Phew!

They walk with my neighbor (6th grader) and didn't want me to come with them. :(

4th Grade

Jarren is not and never has been a big fan of school, but he seems to be enjoying it this year. He has a good teacher and she told them if they're good, they get easier homework. He is determined to be good!! He tries hard too. I wouldn't say he loves school, but he's tolerating it quite well so far.

7th Grade

This was a big year for Kristen because she got to start middle school!!! She was very nervous, yet excited. She came home the first day in a really good mood, which means she's liking it so far. Phew! She has changed a lot since school ended for the summer--she got contacts, got layers in her hair, and started wearing makeup. She acts more and more like a teenager every day.

They won't walk together....hmmm....

9th Grade

Kendall started 9th grade this year. This is totally crazy for me because when I was in 9th grade, I was in high school (he is not), and it seems like that happened last month! He seems so grown up and was the most excited to get back to school to see his friends.

Bad Luck for Mouths

I'm finally back to blogging!! We got a new computer a little while ago and it doesn't have an photo programs, so that makes it really hard to do pictures. Add that to the fact that I couldn't find the camera.... I took these pictures with my iPod, so they're not the best quality in the world, but you get the idea.

The week before school started was a bad luck week for mouths. Jenna had two little cavities that needed to be filled (her first), so I took her in and they numbed her up. We waited to eat lunch for about 2 hours, but she still somehow managed to bite her lip. I had (and still have) no idea if this was the result of little bites or a reaction to the filling or what (the doctor said it's not uncommon), but by that night, her bottom lip looked like this:

Big fat lip. Ouch!

The next morning, it looked like this.

a mouthful of blisters and sores

Two days after the filling, Kendall got his wisdom teeth out and a chain put on his tooth. He had two teeth that never fell out, so he had them pulled last summer. One of the permanent teeth finally came in, but the other one never did. The orthodontist sent us to an oral surgeon and he recommended that we have the wisdom teeth out at the same time, since they had to put him under to do the chain. They had to dig in and find the missing tooth, attach a chain to it and the braces and then each time he goes to the orthodontist, that chain will be tightened to bring the tooth down and in. Back to the wisdom teeth. He said they were just starting to grow roots and if we had it done now, it wouldn't get as swollen and wouldn't be as painful. It would be worse if we even waited a year, not to mention the fact that it looked like they were angled and could potentially mess up his braces. So...we did it. He did really well!! Days 3 and 4 were the worst for swelling, but he did fine to go back to school on day 5. He also felt well enough to hang out with friends the same night he had it done! Eating was painful for about a week, but he made it through.

As swollen as he got. Not too bad...