Run Ruby Run!

She *almost* scored again tonight. Unfortunately, her own team-mate blocked her shot. Doh!

Dress up days

Kaylee has had a special dress up day every Friday this month. The first Friday was "70's day," which made me feel old. An era I lived through is now considered inspiration for a costume day?!

Then they had career day. Of course she dressed as an artist. Unfortunately, I didn't get any pictures of that one. She wore a white shirt with paint all over it, a shiny black skirt and white socks with black shoes. Very cute.

Then this week they were to dress like a character in a book. She chose Goldilocks (after I shot down Dora and Diego as TV characters). I found an old apron my mom had made me for a school play and repositioned the snaps a bit so it would stay on her shoulders. We braided her hair up the night before so it would be big and wavy. (Keithen has always called her Goldilocks when we do this.)

Mother's Day

Kaylee's class had a Mother's Day tea the Thursday before Mother's Day. They sang us some cute little songs and had gifts for us. They had made butterfly pins for us and a cute little "Kindergarten Cookbook" with their versions of favorite recipes in it with their photos.

We went to Matt's aunt's house on Mother's Day. The girls wore new dresses. Kaylee's came from the Oaklandon Community Sale that we go to twice a year. I thought they both looked so bright and springy! After we came home the kids spent quite a bit of time playing on the new garden wall Matt has been building. I got a new brown dress that I wore for Mother's Day and a new red one that I'll wear this next week for the PTA volunteer appreciation dinner and my swearing in for next year's board. I wore the butterfly pin that Kaylee made me to Aunt Faye's.

This is the "ball snowman" that Keithen made after we came home.

RIP Rev. Jerry Falwell

Uh-oh! Tinky Winky says bye-bye!

Kaylee's songs

Here are a couple of Kaylee's new songs she's learned at school recently:

Let's Count Coins
(Tune: Are You Sleeping)
Penny, Penny. Penny, Penny.
Worth one cent, worth one cent.
Nickels are worth five.
Nickels are worth five.
Dimes are ten. Dimes are ten.
Quarter, Quarter. Quarter, Quarter.
Twenty-five. Twenty-five.
That's what they are worth.
That's what they are worth.
Lets count coins! Lets count coins!

The Fuzzy Caterpillar
(to the tune of "The Eensy Weensy Spider")
The fuzzy caterpillar
Curled upon a leaf,
Spun her little chrysalis
And then fell asleep.
While she was sleeping,
She dreamed that she could fly,
And later when she woke up
She was a butterfly!

New OotP commercial!!!!

There is a new Harry Potter & the Order of the Phoenix commercial out now.

Order of the Phoenix

In other HP related news, JK Rowling has issued a plea on her website for people to PLEASE not spoil the ending of the final book.

AND Jo has reportedly made a huge donation to help a British couple find their lost child.

Happy Teacher Appreciation Week!

This week is Teacher Appreciation Week. Have you told your child's teacher how special s/he is this week?

I'm the chair of the teacher/staff appreciation committee at Kaylee's school, so I've been in and out every day this week with little gifts for the teachers from the PTA and working on setting up a luncheon for them on Friday. Last weekend we decorated the sidewalks outside the school with drawings and messages of thanks.

Moms are good!

Kaylee made me a sweet Mother's Day card at Kindergarten today. They are having a "mother's tea" tomorrow morning. I love the little teapot she drew, complete with the steam coming out of it!

Here is the card she made:

and here's the inside:

When she read it to me, she said, "Moms are nice. Moms are good." The little spelling mistake will make for a good chuckle with Daddy when he gets home later tonight. Very cute!

We bought a coursage for her teacher today to give her in the morning before the tea party.

Hootie & the Blowfish collecting school supplies

Hootie & the Blowfish announced a 14-city concert tour Wednesday to help collect supplies for disadvantaged schools. Indianapolis is on the list of cities for that tour. Concertgoers are encouraged to bring school supplies, which are in turn donated to schools in the community. The group started its school charity concerts in 2003, and has collected around $100,000 worth of supplies so far, it says. The Indianapolis show is scheduled for September 2, 2007.

Good News for Gifted Students in Indiana Schools

Here is some good news from Virginia H. Burney, President, Indiana Association for the Gifted:

Governor Mitch Daniels has signed Senate Bill 408; beginning July 1, 2007, it is a requirement that all Indiana school corporations identify students of high ability in the general intellectual and specific academic domains and provide them with appropriately differentiated curriculum and instruction in areas of core content in grades K-12. In addition to this bill, the Indiana General Assembly passed a state budget that includes $13,000,000 per year for High Ability Services. This is more than twice the $5.8 million received for the current school year.

It is thanks to the hard work of the volunteers of Indiana Association for the Gifted for nearly 30 years, the effective testimony and the contacting of legislators by many members to let them know how much this was needed that has resulted in these changes that will positively impact the futures of many children and our state. Please be sure to thank all legislators for their support. Encourage others to join IAG in order to stay abreast of events, research, and efforts related to the education of gifted children. Dues are $25 per year; membership information may be found at http://www.iag-online.org/

When I read this earlier today, my jaw hit the floor. All Indiana school districts must now provide services for gifted students, Kindergarten to 12th grade. More than twice the budget of past years. What amazing news! I can't wait to see how that money is put to good use!

Here's the bill:
Senate Bill 0408

Keeing HP 7 on the hush-hush!

Libraries have been asked to follow strict rules about the handling of the final Harry Potter book prior to the July 21st release. The rules are required to honor Rowling's wishes of preserving a "magical moment" for children around the world.

So.....where's my $140K?

According to a story on MSNBC, the work a stay-at-home mom does is worth $138,095 annually. So.....where's my check?

Keithen's blog!

I set up a Blogger account for Keithen today. I saw that Anne's daughter Kaylie had posted her spelling words on her blog and I thought that might be a great way to get Keithen to focus on studying his spelling words.