Chromatography!!!

Ben got out the coffee filters and markers and started making these today.  Who says science doesn't run in the family???!!!  The top two are Ben's and the bottom two are Maggie's.

New hair cut!!!

Yes, Maggie has gone back to short!!!! She has been wanting this for a while and I have resisted,but I took her to get her hair cut on Thursday night and decided to meet her half way. Of course, she wants it as short as Ben's, but that's not going to happen!!! I thought it would be good to go shorter because she never takes care of it and it gets really matted, plus she eats the corners of it!!!! She is so happy it's short

She told me I had to take a picture of the back of it too!! She said to me "Mum, I don't like my hair cut, I LOVE it"!!!!!

A very long trip

We had a long weekend. Went to Springfield for Ben's gymnastics meet and then on to Oklahoma to sign Consent to Adopt paperwork for Daniel. We drove 1000 miles in a little over 2 days and it was pretty rough. We left Maggie with Jan and Julie for the weekend and took Ben with us (of course). We thought it would be easier for all of us. I took this picture of Ben and Sam together in the restaurant we ate at on Saturday night. I never get pictures of the two of them together-Sam says it's because Maggie is always all over him!!!

My favourite coffee shop is in Springfield. Sam had brought coffee back from there when he did the last Crossfit competition and I have been ordering it online since then. We went there so that I could get a latte-definitely worth waiting for!!!!

Ben couldn't go in the swimming pool in Springfield because of his gymnastics, but we made sure he had a pool when we got to Poteau. He couldn't wait to get into it when we got to the hotel. He had a great time swimming.

Who knew there was a town called Jane in Missouri???!!!!! Apparently its claim to fame is having a Walmart and Hank Williams grew up there. Fame at last!!!!

Spring is just around the corner.....

We have had a great Winter and Spring is on its way.  I am so excited that my hellebore is finally flowering.  It takes ages for these plants to flower.  I had a bunch at our old house and they had just started flowering when we moved.  This is the only one I have had that has survived and it's under our Japanese maple on the front, so it's kind of hard to see, but I know it's there!!!!! 

I am SO not ready for this......

Ben brought home his class photo today.  I was looking at all the kids in the class this year....

Me:  Morgan Dubose is a very pretty girl
Ben:  I know.  That's why I picked her as my girlfriend....
Me:  WHAT????!!!!!

OK, that came out of nowhere, I don't even want to think about girlfriends for another 10 years!!!!

Gymnastics meet in Springfield

Ben did pretty well in Springfield. There were a lot of teams and a bunch of boys at his level and age category. He did the best in his team but only came 6th overall. I did take some videos but some of them are far away. His floor routine was pretty shaky today
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c2Qh5PWdc-g&list=UUAOWX-wOARFYsMlXtYv82vA&index=3&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6E5htyhwgms&feature=autoplay&list=UUAOWX-wOARFYsMlXtYv82vA&lf=plcp&playnext=1
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0PlhozlBRcM&list=UUAOWX-wOARFYsMlXtYv82vA&index=5&feature=plcp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rmK2wCvhco&list=UUAOWX-wOARFYsMlXtYv82vA&index=6&feature=plcp

Parent-teacher conferences

We had a busy week with conferences.  Ben and Maggie's were on separate nights, plus I was involved in the catering for it this time so I was at the school 3 nights this week.  Maggie's meeting was on Wednesday night.  She is doing very well in her class.  Her teacher is great with her and works 1-on-1 with her a lot.  She also brings material down to Maggie's level so that she can be successful.  Maggie's strengths are that she tries very hard in class, she loves school and she is very successful.  Her report shows how far behind she is and it's very frustrating as a parent to see how below her peers she is and that there is nothing else the school can do for her.  She has a huge amount of support and does reading and math in small group sessions.  She gets pulled out of class several times and is kept pretty busy for the whole day.  By all accounts, she still keeps working hard the whole time despite being challenged throughout the day. 

Ben's conference was on Thursday night.  He is doing very well.  They get letter grades in 5th grade and I am always pleased that he has no F's!!!  Of course his grades are not that great, but he's still trying.  He was very happy that he got a B+ for social studies.  Unfortunately his grades dropped in all other areas, but it's just a reflection of how he can't always keep up.  As with Maggie, he is still trying hard all the time and he still likes school.  He loves his teacher even though a lot of the other kids think she is too strict!!!
So, as long as they are still trying hard and enjoying school, they are doing all that we ask of them.  I worry about Ben moving up to the new school where they don't know him and I worry about Maggie going into 3rd grade where things are very different.  I guess it's a mother's job to worry.....

Mexican mirrors

The school has the greatest art teacher. Not only do the kids get to do great art projects as part of the curriculum, but she runs extra classes at night for the kids. It's quite competitive trying to get into one of her classes. Maggie and Ben did the Mexican art-inspired mirror this year. It was a 3 week course where they did an hour each Wednesday night. They brought their mirrors home last night, they are great.
This is Ben's mirror. As usual, he did a great job.

This is Maggie's mirror. She pretty much followed Ben's cues to do the design (same colours, same shape mirror), but he didn't seem to mind at all. She did a fantastic job