Academic Achievement

It was a year of uncharted territory. Although we had a peace about having Emily return to general education to repeat first grade, I always had questions bouncing around in the back of my head like "is this the right thing to do?" "will she make the adjustment back?" Well, Emily proved it was the right choice. After a lot of homework, class work and tests, she ended the year by receiving a certificate for academic achievement. Basically she had to average an A/B average for all 4 school grading periods and had to receive all "satisfactory" markings. She did it. Emily also took the 1st grade NJ required testing and received a proficient marking in Mathematics and an advanced marking in Language/Arts. One main reason for her success this year was her teacher, Ms. Palummieri. She was exactly who Emily needed for her transition from special ed into general ed. We will never be able to thank her enough for all she did for Emily.

Emily it was tough, I know there were times you felt overwhelmed by the amount of work expected and sometimes our homework sessions were a little "uncomfortable" but you pushed through and accomplished so much. We are very proud of you. Look out 2nd grade here she comes!!

Field Day at Washington School

The last Friday in May was Field Day for both Emily and Matt at their school. Emily was very excited because it was basically a play day and not a "work" day. I was able to be with Matt in the morning seeing I am one of the class mom's for his class and I had to bring in the morning preschool's breakfast of bagels. The kids had a great time. I was able to see Emily run a few of her races which included a leap frog race - boy, did that bring back memories of childhood. In the one picture, Matt is at the right "prepping" for his next race - his class got to run three races. Matt's class was done at 10:45 seeing field day is done on a half day of school. As soon as he was done, he was ready to leave. We stayed a little longer for me to be able to get a few pictures of Emily doing T-ball hits. It was a perfect weather day, not too cool but a little cloud covered so it never got too hot. Next year, Matt will be able to be there all day to participate. All in all a very fun day!

Matthewisms

I decided to use the title "Matthewisms" instead of funny family sayings seeing most of the funnies come from one source - Matthew.

The other day as we were walking back to the car after getting Emily from school Matthew got frustrated with me because I was unable to hear what he was saying to me so he emphatically said "Just look with your eyeballs". It was so funny I started to laugh and repeated back to him so I am suppose to look with my eyeballs and does he want me to hear with my eardrums. Well, this has now become a staple statement of Matt's when he wants you too look at or see something. I love his sayings, they make my day a little lighter.

Emily Is 8

Well, it is official Emily is now an 8 year old - no more car seat. Her statement of the day which she said to just about everyone was "Today's my birthday, I'm 8, no more car seat". Emily's day started as requested - a pancake breakfast with a candle in it and her presents by her plate. She also told us how she would come down the stairs and say "where is everyone?" and we were to jump up and say "surprise". Well, we fulfilled her request. For her gifts, Matt gave her the princess from the Princess & the Frog and we gave her a stuffed gecko. Emily's main gift is an American Doll that she gets to go to the store in NYC to buy. The doll's name is Emily, for real. Emily chose her outfit for the day - I'm sure you are not surprised that is was a dress. She wore a button that said Birthday girl. Emily took cupcakes to school for a little party in the afternoon. Of course, she needed to take extra cupcakes for the principal, her former preschool teacher, Mrs. Santos, the school secretary, Dawn, and a few other teachers. Emily is such a giver which is great character trait but it isn't so great on my wallet. Fortunately, Dave didn't have to work really late so we headed out around 7:15 for a late dinner at Red Lobster, Emily's request. She told the host it was her birthday then proceeded to tell the waitress it was her Birthday and she would need a cake at the end of her dinner....hilarious. Of course, so the waitress wouldn't forget she told her after she ordered her chicken tenders "don't forget the cake". We all shared a slice of cheesecake...and they did sing to her. It was a really nice day. It is hard to believe that the baby in the picture is the same little girl today. We love you Emily, Happy Birthday!

Five Guys...What?

Time for another Matthew "funny". This morning Matt asked me where he was going and I told him it was a school day to which he replied "bummer". As I told him to get his shoes on he asked once again where he was going and I told him school. He asked "When are we going to Five Guys?" Five Guys is a burger joint, so you can imagine my confusion as to why he was asking when we are going there and it is only 8 in the morning. So, I asked him "You want to go to Five Guys?" To which he replied, "When are we going?". Still confused, I asked him, "You want to go to the hamburger place?" A very frustrated Matt responded "What is the place Danny gave us tickets to?" As a gift Danny, our contractor and husband to the kids babysitter, Victoria, gave us tickets to an amusement park.....ready for this....it is Six Flags. Matt confused Five Guys and Six Flags. Hey, they both have a number and a single word in their names. Matt was very disappointed when I told him we wouldn't be able to go today that he needed to go to school. I love this little guy....he makes life very entertaining.