Joshua's Interest Inventory - 3rd Grade

As an ice-breaking activity, Joshua's teacher asked the kids to complete an interest inventory. Below are the prompts and Joshua's answers...

1. My favorite foods are - subs.

2. My favorite eating places are - Publix and subway.

3. My favorite snacks are - apples.

4. My favorite TV shows are - Fetch with Ruff Ruffman.

5. My favorite TV characters are - Jay, Marco, and Willie (mom note: contestants on#4).

6. My favorite movies are - Star Wars.

7. My favorite actors are - Luke, Solo.

8. My favorite actresses are - Padma.

9. The best book I ever read is - Calvin and Hobbes, and the Hardy Boys.

10. My favorite music group is - Loree Berkaner (Laurie Berkner)

11. My favorite song is - Jumpin' in my Soup.

12. My favorite sport is - soccer.

13. My favorite school subject is - math.

14. I know I am very good at - bugging my sister.

15. When I am alone, I like to - be lazy.

16. My favorite thing to do with my friends is - play tag.

17. My least favorite thing to do is - lose.

18. My favorite thing on a Saturday or Sunday is - to be lazy.

19. The thing I fear most is - my mom.

20. If I had a million dollars, I would - be lazy.

Back to School!

It's been so hot and steamy, that as soon as I walk outside - my glasses and my camera lens steam up. Ick. I won't even mention what it does to my hair. Mentioning hair, it was time for back to school haircuts for the boys. Keith set up shop out back, and down to business. After two clean cut boys cuts, and one cute little bang trim, everyone under the age of 10 ended the day looking neat and tidy.

They boys are such gigglers that it took forever to get hair cuts.Megan recently saw our new eye doc and he did an amazing job during her eye exam. She got a new prescription for glasses and picked out two adorable pairs. Here she is in her favorite of the two.
Megan is in the second grade now. She really likes her teacher. I, also, really like her teacher. Mrs. Smith is already working with Megan and her reading/writing issues.

And her classroom is in the pink hallway! Grandpa and I attended Open House night for the second grade kids. We were both impressed with the curriculum plan for Megan's class this year.

Joshua's classroom is really cool, too. He was excited over having an actual desk and not a table. It's the little things in life that make him happy! Grandma and Keith attended Open House night for the third graders and they were also very impressed. Joshua's teacher is teaching the children how to read and write in cursive writing this year. Another big skill this year is using an organizer/assignment book to document every night's homework, the weekly spelling words and other important items. I really like that there is an emphasis on owning his work.

The library is awesome. It is huge and there are many different computers and resources available.

Daniel is in kindergarten now. He really likes his sweet teacher. She's been teaching K at the school for over 20 years. Her organization is top notch!
Daniel and Joshua checking out the kindergarten classroom.

Somehow, we ended up with a couple of new additions. Keith picked up some mice at the pet store, and they have been a constant source of entertainment.

They are cute, but noisy little things. Their wheel makes a lot of noise, and they prefer to run at night.

We spend our nights playing games or reading stories when everyone is done with homework. It is a big incentive to finish the homework in a timely manner so that each child can participate in playing.

Our first day of school pictures!

The first day of school went wonderfully. They were all nervous at first, so we parked the van and walked them to where they needed to be. Security is tight on campus and the amount of teachers and other adults offering assistance is awesome. Everyone morning and every afternoon, they have all hands on deck helping to keep the kids moving along.
A shot of Daniel at his desk on the first day of Kindergarten.

For our really observant family members, you'll notice that the uniforms of last year are missing from this year. Keith and I had to spend quite a bit of time contemplating what our school-related goals are for the children, and in doing so, decided to move them into a different school this year. It's a decision that was made in the best interest of our family, but the primary driver came down to academics. Megan is in the early stages of testing for dyslexia and early intervention services are not offered at private schools, but are offered at public schools. As we researched more into what was offered at this particular public school, we became at peace that all three children would thrive academically in this setting, based on their personalities and current academic abilities. There were other factors in the decision: finances, time of classes, ability for extra curricular activities and increased community involvement. We're happy and the kids are happy.

OSC - Guitar Exhibit

A couple of weeks ago before school started, we went to the Orlando Science Center to check out the guitar exhibit. Megan checking out one of the guitars.

We played with the display showing different wood types and their sounds. Any opportunity to bang on stuff makes for a great day.

There was a giant real working electric guitar.

Keith read about every guitar in there. Even Daniel found a guitar he liked...there was an air guitar display!

The kids gave us a performance.

Megan tried to dress Daddy up. The picture is very blurry - there was a lot of giggling going on.

Happy 9th Birthday, Joshua!

Wrapping up the month of July with Joshua's birthday. My sweet young man is now 9 years old.
Sadly, the virus that had been making it's way throughout the house had finally taken me down. So it was a quick meal and a store-bought cake to save the day. Megan helped write Joshua's name on the cake.

We had Grandma Sandi and Grandpa Joe over for lunch (which at the birthday boy's request was chicken pot pie).

After lunch, we moved onto presents!

A basketball hoop for the pool!

And a mysterious package that came the week before from Grandma Mary Grace and Grandpa Frank.

After lunch and presents, we all played in the living room together. Some played...
...and some napped.

As the sun came out, we decided to give the hoop a try. Breaking into a game of boys vs. girls, the competitive nature of some of the adults in our house came out.
Never fear, I had Megan on my team, and what she lacks in skill, she makes up for in her squirrel-like defense technique.

Unfortunately, she did not block the shot, and the ladies remain defeated.

After drying-off, it was time to check out the rest of the mystery package. It contained Jabba the Hut's Sail Barge in a bazillion legos waiting to be put together.


It was quite the family affair getting the barge complete. It is so awesome!

My sweet little boy fresh from the tub and playing star wars.

Partying with the Cousins

Nana, Auntie Pam and Aidan and Austen came over for a visit two weeks ago. We had a blast! Nana and Joshua having a good-bye hug.

Aidan and Joshua hanging out together.

Megan and Nana.

Auntie Pam and Joshua having a Mythbusters show-down. It was truly a meeting of the minds.

Our little slice of heaven was packed full of happy, giggly kids.

Daddy and Megan having a lazy day.

Nana - she's found her new vacation spot!

A wild, rowdy bunch enjoying their meal together.

Even the littlest in the group had a great time!

It's almost school time again!

The kids are registered, the school supplies are bought, and the first day of school outfits have been picked out. The countdown to the first day of school is TWELVE DAYS!!

We were given a wonderful tour of the kids new school last week.

Disney's Animal Kingdom with the kids

We were blessed with an opportunity to spend the day at Disney's Animal Kingdom. The kids were so very excited! We got up early and planned to arrive early but had an adventure along the way. Oddly, Keith asked me to drive (which I never do when we go out as a family). So here I was zipping down I-4 just before the Princeton St. exit, when we saw cars that had just bumped each other and were pulling off to the side of the road. As all the surrounding cars were slowing down, Keith shouted for me to brake. I hit the brakes as he jumped out of the minivan. There was an injured kitten under the truck beside us. Keith swooped it up and got back into the van. Lots of people honked and gave us thumbs up. We brought the kitten to an animal hospital along the way and they let us know the preliminary injuries were likely at least a broken leg. At this time, the kitten is still in the animal hospital convalescing, but they are actively looking for a home for it.

Now for the rest of our day...

The ride on the tram from the parking lot. The kids were just giddy with anticipation. They had never been to Animal Kingdom before and this was only their second time going to a Disney park.

Notice Keith is wearing an Expedition Everest t-shirt. It was quite a conversation starter with the Animal Kingdom workers. Everyone wanted to know if he ran the race.

We entered the park and went straight to Camp Mickey Minnie. There were so many cute things to see there! This is definitely a slow-down and enjoy your walk kind of park.

Daisy and her boys out for a hike through the woods.

Mickey and the guys fishing.
Donald caught a shoe!

After we walked through that area, we went to the Lion King show. It was fabulous! The kids loved it. The acrobatics were amazing and the music was awesome. Daniel, ever the safety-freak, was very uncomfortable with the pyrotechnic part of the show and climbed up into my lap.

After the amazing show, we stood in line for about 15 minutes to say hello to Mickey and Minnie.

As we were standing in line, the rain clouds started to come in. Joshua helped Daniel fold his map up really small and put it in his pocket.

Mickey and Minnie, as usual, were fantastic! The kids couldn't help laughing and smiling the whole time.

It started to sprinkle as we were walking away from there, and so we decided to venture off for someplace to sit inside and eat lunch. Keith and I both agree that we would rather do a theme-park in the pouring rain, then to do it in 100 degree/100% humidity, usual July weather. So our apologies to all of the other Disney guests that day, but we secretly had hoped for rain, and the sky did not disappoint us!

We had lunch at the Yak and Yeti. Our waitress was so wonderful. She was describing all of her favorite animals on the safari and gave us some tips on the kid-friendly areas of the park. After we finished lunch, the sprinkling had stopped, and so we were off again to walk around. We came across a rickshaw and the kids immediately knew what to do, even though they had never seen one of these before.

One of the things I loved about the park was that the cast-members were so great about explaining things to us. This lady was telling Daniel all about the monkeys and how to tell which ones are boys vs. girls by their coloring.

While walking along one of the trails, we saw lots of tigers. Daniel said, "come here mom, very quietly so you don't wake up the tiger."

A group shot on one of the walking paths.

I liked this sign and find it to be true of both wildlife and children. :)

Once again, the rain picked up, only this time there were no light sprinkles. This was a full-on deluge. We could see it coming our way, and so we make a run for the Dinosaur ride.

I was thinking 5 year old dinosaur fan + ride about dinosaurs = happy 5 year old. Well, fortunately, while standing in line for the ride, there were some loud noises and Megan decided she was just done, she was full-on sobbing that she was afraid (she doesn't like loud noises). Keith said he would take her outside and Daniel decided he was going to go with Daddy, too. At this point, I still thought this was a mild ride about Dinosaurs. Joshua and I were ushered into the first row in our car and then we were off. About 2 seconds into the ride he was cutting the circulation off of my hand. Another 2 seconds later, he was screaming. So, the end result is that Dinosaur in absolutely no way is a little kid ride! I was so glad Daniel did not ride the ride with us, as he probably would have needed a change of clothing mid-way through the ride.

Joshua and I met up with Keith and the littler kids at the end of the dinosaur ride. It was pouring raining outside, so we put on our foul-weather gear.
Daniel was so cute! Just a little face sticking out of his poncho.

We had a plan to head over to the safari and then go home. Well, the safari was all the way across the park, and we had to pass the Tree of Life to get there. The boys noticed a show about bugs, and so inside we went. What could be more fun than a 3-D show about bugs hosted by Flik? The first part was adorable with 3-D butterflies, but then Hopper the giant grass hopper comes out and tells the audience that the bugs have had enough and are going to exterminate the humans. So then the auditorium goes dark and fills up with fake fumigation, which sets Daniel into a near panic attack. The gigantic spiders descend from the ceiling and there is a loud buzzing which causes Megan to bury herself into my chest. The show ends on a positive note and then when Flik excuses the audience, there is a sensation of bugs crawling on the seat between your bottom and the seat itself. Megan was not pleased with that at all. Joshua thought it was pretty cool.

From there, we went over to the Safari. Riding the safari in the rain is awesome! The animals are all out playing in the rain. It was so cool! We sat in the back row and the kids absolutely loved it. Megan pointed out the animals and then found them on the placard hanging down from the top of the jeep.

The excitement of the safari.

We had an awesome day! The kids were so well-behaved all day. We learned a lot and saw a lot of really cool things. The kids were wiped out by the end of the day and they were all asleep in the van on the way home.
Some of our animal friends from the safari...

Look at the baby flamingos! They are so cute!!

The elephants loved the rain!!

It was an awesome day! We are so glad we went.