Their Status' in School

Parent/Teacher conferences were today for all three of our children.
Sterling and I took Ty and Athena to the elementary school for their meetings. First was Ty's. His teacher said that he hasn't improved as much as she had been leading us to believe with her focus/behavior charts she has sent home weekly. She said that she can see that he thinks differently and learns differently than the other children. She asked permission to have him assessed at the school to learn better how to help him learn and focus. We agreed.

Next we went to Athena's class. Her teacher said that she is super smart and knows more than is expected of Kindergartners. She is close to where the kids are expected to be at the end of the school year.
Ms. Ingram said that Athena's time as a kitty in class has not been a problem. She just allows Athena to be a cat when she wants to.
Sterling things that we need to keep her ahead of the class. Start 1st grade level with her. I see no harm in it. She's smart enough to start reading and spelling etc.
I do , however, have to teach her to count to twenty first. She doesn't know her teens.
And she still has trouble with Ww, Mm, Gg in the alphabet. But I've taught her so many times the alphabet. I think I will just leave that alone and she will grasp those final letters soon enough.

A couple hours later Ster and I took Athena to Luke's middle school parent/teacher conference. It is a meeting with all of Luke's teachers at once.
When we arrived in Japan last school year Luke's teacher saw him as a lost cause. It was late in the school year and she discovered that he was far too behind in his education. This was a surprise to me because I have always homeschooled the kids during summers and I thought he wasn't too far behind.

I had a meltdown and couldnt handle it. My mom and a few others told me that this is normal. It happens often. Boys don't care about their education and they fall behind. Then in middle school and high school they barely get by.

The new school year began and I had let it go. Whatever was going to be was going to be no matter what I tried. Sterling took the reigns. He taught Luke how to study and started training him to do his homework and get it turned in on time.
Luke has made such a great stride in this first quarter of school! He comes home and he does his homework before being told. His friend Ethan from middle school came over and they chose to do math homework together!

Unfortunately the teachers think it's not enough. They think that he cannot focus as a 6th grader should. They think he needs an aid in every class. The teachers have been acting as his aids as much as they can but that is not their job. And they worry that in 7th grade he will not have the support and help he needs to pass his classes.
They suggested we take him to the pediatrician and ask for a referral for an assessment. Both our boys need to be assessed.

Sterling has always been against the idea. He still believes that if our boys are assessed they will be labeled with something that will ruin the rest of their lives. But I have always felt that it can help them!

Sterling sees how much Luke has changed in just a few weeks and he imagines Luke continuing on that uphill climb for the rest of the school year. So he doesn't want to give up and have Luke tested.
Luke may have ADHD or something small that will be helpful to know for sure about.

We prayed, Sterling and I, for guidance and comfort. Ster is very sad about this.
Sterling talked to Luke and then asked Luke what he wants to do. Luke said he wants to get assessed.

The process for both our boys could take many months. We need to get it started but we have no guarantee that we will even stay in Japan the rest of this school year.

Sterling leaves in a few days for his 6 week training in Okinawa Japan. I will be in charge of helping Luke keep his grades up. And I will be in charge on making this assessment stuff happen. I don't have to do anything about it for Ty...his teacher will get that going. But I do have to schedule an appointment with the pediatrician for Luke. And here, at Yokota air base everything runs so slow! It will likely be a month before he can see the pediatrician. It's so annoying. The base is so small! But they run so slowly here!

Athena: "Is Santa Real?"

Today we were driving in the car; Sterling, Athena and I. Athena then asked the question..."Is Santa real?" She is almost 6 years old now. And she was secretly questioning the legitimacy of Santa, Easter Bunny...anyone who is actually a person in a costume. She could see it this last 12 months...the zipper or velcro line on the back of the costumes.


Sterling and I have mastered answering this question by now. The answer we find best for children...
"No, Santa is not real. But remember how much fun it is to believe in Santa? It's up to you to keep that magic alive for other children. Don't ever tell other kids that Santa is not real. You don't want to make them sad."
Sterling added that if you want presents you have to pretend Santa is real. That's the fun of Christmas.

She was happy to know that she knows the truth. And she reassured us she would not tell other children. We shall see.

General Conference Sunday in Japan

Lately Ster and I have been making Athena time things with her Alexa computer. For example; setting times for her time outs or her playing alone. Well, this evening Ster and I were watching a show and Athena wanted to talk. Our show was almost over so Sterling said "Go play for a minute and then our show will be over."
Athena went to her bedroom and about 60 seconds later her alarm was going off. She opened her door and headed bad to us. Sterling said "I didn't mean literally a minute!"

We went to the church today to watch a session of general conference with our ward. After a fun potluck hour with the ward we sat down to reverently watch the Sunday afternoon session. Tiberias groaned and said "Here I can't sleep during conference!" lol
A little later in the session Ty scribbled on a piece of paper like a three year old and then said "Darn! This is NOT turning out the way I wanted!" What was he trying to do, anyway?! haha

Tiberias Startles!

Tiberias lives in his own world. Often he gets so caught up in his imagination that he gets startled by reality.
If he is coming down the stairs and I start heading up and he doesn't expect to see me he gasps with a "Ho!" and jumps back.
If he is using the restroom and someone waits outside the door he will open and gasp "Ho!" and jump back. It happens all the time!

He scares easily! So easily. You can scare him even when you are trying not to! haha

If I open a door too quickly he gasps "Ho!" and jumps back.

She Purrs

One Sunday I was holding Athena on my lap which I don't often do anymore because she has grown so much. She loves having her arm or back scratched (not tickled or massaged but actually scratched. Just like her dad). During Sacrament meeting Ster or I will scratch her to keep her calm and quiet and still.
This particular Sunday as I scratched her back on my lap I heard her purring. It was a purr that came from within...like a true cat! Not the purr of a little girl pretending to be a cat! Not even what I thought possible for a human. lol

Since then she does that, mostly at church, once in a while.
She has taken pretending to be a cat to a whole-nother level!

Athena and the Dryer

Athena has discovered the dryer as a place she can climb into. It's surprising she hasn't discovered it earlier than this. We've been in this house where the dryer is accessible to the kids for a little while already.

Anyway, she asked yesterday if she could climb inside the empty dryer. I allowed it, teaching her not to close the door when inside.
Today she went back inside, this time with her blanky, a pillow and a book! :)

But then her daddy came home and said she can't do that anymore. He worries.

Gum in the Eyebrow

Sterling gave the kids each a gumball from our gumball machine.
An hour later I told the boys to do their yoga for the day (something we've been doing lately).
I saw the boys stretching in yoga positions when I noticed Ty's face. He had gum stuck to his forehead, hair line and eyebrow!

I examined it and he claimed he didn't know how he got it stuck on his forehead.
I saw that the gum was stuck pretty good. It stuck and he had removed as much as he could himself. He had pulled the gum from his eyebrow multiple times. And with the gum came his eyebrow hairs! He is now missing a whole section of hair in the center of his left eyebrow!

He is, of course, embarrassed. So, I wont take a photo and make him feel worst.
But it is pretty funny!

Athena

Our next door neighbors invited us to their home for dinner after I watched their dog for three weeks. While at this dinner social I was asking my boys where they want to have their birthday parties this summer. Ty said "The USO", Luke said "Our house." Then the boys asked Athena where she would want her next birthday party. She responded "Here!"
Apparently the neighbors house with the dog is her wish for a birthday venue! lol
She was disappointed to learn they are moving this year.

Athena still loves animals and bugs. She talks to them.
We were on our way to a playground this morning, Athena on her balance bike and I on foot. As we went Athena saw a butterfly "having a good day?" she asked happily.
Then we passed a bird "Hello bird!"
She also spoke to ants and more along the way.

She still is (mostly) like Snow White. Except that Athena stomps on ants and spiders sometimes.
And she collects many bugs, places them in her bug container and leaves them there until they die.
She is always collecting more bugs and she knows they will die there. But she loves seeing them and holding them too!

I want fruit! Never mind.

Tiberias is always in the mood for fruit. Latley, frozen fruit especially. One evening I did not allow him to have some for his snack. So, the next morning I made him a fruit crepe.
He said "Mom, i am not in the mood for fruit." And he did not eat it!!!
So, it became my breakfast. And it was amazing!!

Sterling said "You should have made him eat it!" And I know, if I had, he would have loved it.

Tiberias

Tiberias turns 9 in August.
I am so thankful for the progress he has made in his behavior in the last few years! He still feels like he cannot control his anger but I tell you...he has come a looong way!

He is not as argumentative as he use to be either. Sometimes he goes back to that drive to argue about everything. But not that often.

Tiberias has always been a sweet sweet boy. He is very sympathetic to others. He feels so much emotion! He is my little emo boy. lol

His favorite game right now is Telestrations. You can't play that game alone though! The more people the better. He wants to play it every single day. Sometimes Luke and I will play with him. Sometimes he gets neighbor friends to come over and play it after school. And sometimes he has to go a whole day without playing it.

After church today (Mother's day) we were driving home. Sterling and I told the kids that when we arrive home they needed to stay in their church clothes for our video call to Ster's parents.
The kids asked "why?" We answered "because we want you to look good for the video call."
Tiberias got a little offensive and responded "I don't look ugly in my spiderman pants!"
We all laughed out loud. Ty was talking about his pajamas but it sounded funny.


Ty loves writing stories, though his spelling is wrong. And then handing them over to Luke or myself to read them as written. Not to read them as we think he meant but as he actually wrote them. That way they turn into these silly nonsense sentences. He cracks up hearing his stories read nonsensically!
However, in the new school they want him to know how to spell correctly. Unlike the last school that didn't care. Both boys are now expected to learn how to spell words the right way. They have such a hard time with that.

Athena

Athena wanted to give me gifts for Mother's day and was disappointed when we did not take her to buy me chocolates and gifts. So, first thing this morning while I was still in bed she brought me her pillow and a toy and told me she wanted to give them to me for mother's day. Ster and I then suggested she make me a card. She went to her art supplies and found a small piece of paper that had been previously colored with markers.  She folded it in half and wrote the letters A and R. Athena and Roundy. She excitedly gave it to me.  (she is 5 years old)


Athena loves pets and being a doctor. Veterinarian is a good career for her.
She has a nice collection now of animals and medical supplies for those animals.
She loves for people to play pet doctor with her. No longer just "cats" game but "pet doctor."

Tiberias loves his spiderman plush toy. He beats it up and throws it all over the place! Athena tends to snatch it up when she can. Ty gets to mad! "Stop taking my spiderman!" But I know she does it because she wants his attention. She wants his love and his time.

Luke is a lot sweeter to Athena, as has always been the case.
At his first school dance last week (see our family blog for details) he danced with Athena for half of the party. But, sometimes he yells at her when he gets annoyed. Little sisters can be annoying.

We are still trying to teach Athena to do as Luke says so that one day he can babysit her. She still doesn't listen perfectly even to her mother and father. But we know that she will likely be 6 or older before she listens enough to let Luke babysit her.

Athena looooves fake tattoos! I have a large supply of them in my jewelry box. Now and then she gets into it and asks permission to apply some to her own skin.
She has always had a thing for putting them on her tummy. But then she wants to show them off to everyone and I say "Keep your shirt down! You can't show people your tummy."
I am still trying to teach her to just apply them to arms, legs, hands and feet.
Tonight she started with one tattoo but by the time she finished applying them she must have had 9 tattoos! haha
On her hands, feet, legs and stomach.

I kind of knew what she was doing but I didn't care. I was busy reading the funny stories from our first "Our Rugrats" book (account of these blog entries of my children's youth). All three kids were listening but Ty and Luke were sitting with me on my bed. Athena was into my jewelry box then the bathroom then back to my jewelry box again.


I don't stress out of things other parents might. Like my daughter taking 9 tattoos to apply. Or climbing too high in trees. I keep my cool. I know what my daughter's limits are, for the most part, and I don't like stress. There are plenty of things to say "no" about to my kids. I don't need to add to that list.

Little Kids and Locking Doors

Not all of the funny stories that happen end up being blogged. But my kids love hearing about the funny things they did and said when they were younger.

Today I remembered one worth recording:

Little kids love to lock doors. But locking a door is always easier than unlocking a door!
I find that most kids at age 2 or 3 start locking the bathroom door when they go in. They lock out mom. Maybe trying to feel some independence.

This often turns into "Mom! I'm stuck!"

One time, Tiberias was probably 3 years old, my mom and I took Luke and Ty to a small town restaurant where my parents live. It had a small bathroom like one in your home. A single toilet in a single small room with locks on the door.

Tiberias went in to the restroom and locked himself in. He could not unlock it to get back out. I could not help him out. So I tried to talk to him through the door to tell him how to unlock it.
I tried and tried. The other customers sitting to eat their meals were staring at us! haha
We went for help from the staff. But it took a while! It is not a kid friendly bathroom!

The sad part was that Tiberias was freaking out. He was so scared. I had to try and calm him down through the sound of my voice.
I think Tiberias learned a lesson that day about locking mommy out.

Athena Interview

I took Athena to get her hair trimmed at a salon today. While sitting in the salon chair the stylist kept asking us questions about our upcoming move.
I asked Athena something I was curious about..."What is your favorite place in Rapid City?" I then gave her some examples to choose from..."Reptile Gardens, the dinosaur park, Storybook Island..."

Her response "Seeing the pets at the pet store" Petco. LOL! She loves going to Petco to see what cats are there and the other animals for sale. She also loved going to the animal shelter when we use to do that.

Funny Story - Winter in SD

The weather here lately has been so bitter and harsh. For about a month and a half we have yearned for warm days. Finally, today it was sunny and 33 degrees. The warm version of 33, not the cold 33.

After church we were driving in the car (note, none of the kids were wearing coats) and Athena said "I am too hot already." Then Tiberias chimed in..."It's like it's summer outside!"
Sterling and I looked around at all the snow. High piles of snow! And we laughed.