Not off to such a great start...

Ben was up bright and early Saturday morning ready to win.  He had a high protein breakfast, and a great attitude.  The team met up early and had an extra hour to prepare.  Everyone was ready to smoke the bad guys.  What they didn't count on was the bad guys were good, really good and nothing our Raiders did changed that.  The final score was quite dismal-32-6.  Keep your spirits up boys, you'll do it next time and remember that it is not about winning or losing, it's about having fun.

Football Fever

Ben's first flag football game is tomorrow.  He is so very excited!  The team is comprised of boys from Meadowbrook, Ben's school.  All of them are in 5th grade except for Ben.  Although he is youngest in age, he is still the tallest.  Go figure.  

Are boy is tall and broad but he is not the fastest on the field.  What Coach Sabra is grooming him for is to be a receiver.  Ben will be the one who runs out 6 to 7 yards and stays open so he can catch the ball if it is thrown.

So go Raiders and go Ben!  Let's hope for a win tomorrow.  We'll keep you posted.

Realizing my age

One of the real reasons I love to teach kindergarten is that it keeps me feeling young.  Those little guys are so full on life!  One of the many methods I use to defuse some of this unbound energy is kiddy exercise.  I have some great cds in my collection and we all enjoy the breaks in the day. 

Well, today was no different.  The babies had been sitting listening to me for a very long time and we had such a nice discussion about our story and made tons of text to self connections.  There was only 10 minutes left until lunch so I put on one of our favorite exercise cds.  I always do the exercise with them.  As it turns out, literally speaking, I turned and ,whoops, twisted my ankle in the process.  Ouch and many other words came to mind as a gimped away from them so they could not see the intense pain that came over my face.  I asked my grandparent volunteer to finish the song out as I tried to regain my composure.

It still hurts.  It's not broken-I have done that before in my life and I could not put any pressure on it whatsoever, I can now.  It just stings and is a bit swollen.  I guess I need to temporarily stay away from kiddy aerobics.  I feel that a part of me had to grow up today.  World, I am not ready and I promise you, I will digress!!!!

Such a long week

I am so beat tonight.  It was the first week back.  Back to work.  Back to school.  Back to schedules.  Back to being a teacher to way too many little beings.  I am tired.  Yawn.

Ben also got his first homework assignments of the year.  Back to homework.  Hopefully I can help him with it.  Please don't let it be some weird, new and very different way of adding to numbers together.  

It seems that the earlier I get to school, the more behind on some of things I get.  Back to endless piles of paperwork-28s, 29s, SM1s, 80s, 4620s and so many other numbers that don't make sense unless you are a classroom teacher in Detroit.

Last, but not certainly not least, back to being completely exhausted.  Yawn, again and goodnight.  

Benny

Well, blogger-rangers, today was it-the start of Ben's 4th grade year.  He was rather excited about it.  He got the teacher that he really wanted.  Two of his close friends were in his class.  And most importantly, his MEAP book was completed and ready to be turned in.  

This morning he awoke happy and confident.  His new John Cena wrestling shirt was clean and ready to be worn and his over-stufffed bookbag was ready to go.  Wow!   When I looked at him this morning I asked myself one simple question-What happened to my baby?  I remember the first day of Preschool like it was yesterday.  Time flies.  It really made me reflect on my Ben and how he has changed since last year.

First of all, he loves wrestling.  He watches every show that is on regular t.v. and begs for us to buy the Pay-per-view ones when they are aired.  He has more confidence in himself.  He is actually going to try flag football this year, something of which he never would have done in the past.  He is reading better, thanks to a little extra help from a familiar face this summer.  He understands multiplication and is starting to really get the complexities that are involved in the facts.  He still loves to imagine and has tons of wrestling action figures.  He now is starting to gain an interest in building legos and how things work.  

Physically, he is so strong.  He reached five feet this summer and I am confident that he will reach my height in just a few short years.  His incisors are almost grown in and his bite isn't bad but I'm sure he is still going to need braces.  He prefers his hair longer and he even had a few highlights put in this past winter.  

Good luck, little dude and may this school year be the best one ever.  I know you can succeed at anything that you put your mind to.  Now, go out there and show them who you are!