Basketball!

After we put up the new basketball court we realized that it was a little too big for our little basketball player, Evan. So Ron came up with a genius solution. He screwed the old basketball rim and backboard to the fence just right for Evan. Now we have two rims in our front yard and everyone is happy! We spent a lot of time outside this afternoon playing basketball. Ron and I even played H-O-R-S-E. I'll let you guess who won. Ron also spent some time trying to teach Evan how to pass the basketball between your legs. It was hilarious. Evan gave it his best effort and before long he really will have it. I couldn't resist taking out the camera for that!

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone! The Perrys had a great Christmas and we wanted to share with you.


Last week the festivities began with our school Christmas program and parties. A few of my students bought me some Dr. Pepper which is always a great gift! One student even bought me a pair of BEE slippers! I've never been a wearer of slippers but I've been wearing them around the house and I love them! They keep my feet so warm!

Last night we went to Ron's grandma's house for Christmas Eve. As long as I have known Ron his family has always celebrated Christmas on Christmas Eve. The kids got some great gifts! Their grandpa bought them a basketball court. The last time he was here Seth and Evan challenged him to a game and he found out just how much they love playing basketball. Grandma Lou bought Seth the Leapster 2 which is awesome and she bought Evan some cars and a case that fits 100 hotwheels! (He doesn't have quite enough to fill it up yet) I was so excited for them to get those two gifts. I knew they were things that they would love.

And then this morning we woke up and opened presents at home that Santa had brought. Seth noticed that Santa uses the same wrapping paper that Mommy does. I told him that Mommy left the wrapping paper out for Santa in case he ran out. He bought that excuse but next year I'll have to remember to buy a second roll of wrapping paper.





Santa brought Seth a skateboard. Too bad it was raining today! He got to get out there a little bit and get a quick lesson from Dad about how to ride. I got a great picture of him falling. He didn't get hurt but he did get wet. As I was taking pictures I began to think that this may be the beginning of many trips to the emergency room!











Evan got Buzz Lightyear. Boy was that thing hard to hide. The slightest move made that thing go off and Buzz would say, "To infinity and beyond!" (which ironically was one of the first few words that Evan put together.)


Christmas was good this year.

The Boys

I've been paying extra attention the past couple of days to how each of the boys is beginning to develop they're own distinct personalities.

Seth is so smart. He's got his dad's memory. He remembers everything. He remembers things from long ago, he remembers movies, tv, shows, songs, etc. His dad gives him a line from a movie and makes him guess the movie. Most of the time he gets it right. He's starting to tell jokes, too. He wants everyone to know how funny he is. And if you don't laugh at his joke he clears his throat and says, "Is this mic on?". Last night he was getting excited because Christmas is coming. He said to his dad, "How come you're not excited? Did you lose your excited voice? Here, you can borrow mine!"
He's also needs lots of encouragement. At school when he completes his work he takes it to his teacher and asks if he did a good job.
Seth LOVES music. He wants to play the guitar. He loves to sing and dance. His favorite movie is HSM3. He got a MP3 player as an early Christmas present and he loves to listen to it.

Evan is also learning to love music. He's starting to find his voice and he will dance when he sees music playing on tv. He's going to have no problem standing up for himself in life. He's strong. He has a sense already of when things are not fair. He loves Levi and other 'babies'. He'll sit and play with Levi for awhile. He's tough but has a sensitive side. He loves to hear us say "Good job, Evan" Evan LOVES cars. Everyday he carries at least one car in his pocket. When he changes into his pjs at night he has to take his cars out of his pocket and then he'll even sleep with his cars grasped tightly in his hands.

Levi...well Levi is loud! (So is the rest of the house). Levi is also on the go, he rarely likes to be confined to one spot. He loves to go into his brothers' bedroom and pull out all of the toys. He likes to wear his brother's boxing gloves so we may have another fighter on our hands. Thanks to Amy he loves to have his picture taken and as soon as you pull out the camera he says "Cheese".

It's so much fun to watch the boys grow into the men they will become and develop they're own personalities. I love those little guys!

I found one more!

I found another one! Black-eyed peas and cornbread on New Years!

For the past two days we I have been off work at home taking care of sick children. With all this time at home I have had time to do A LOT of laundry. I did so much laundry that I am officially done with all of the laundry in the house including blankets. Now, I know that once we all change into our pajamas I will have to continue to tame the laundry monster but it does feel good to be done with it even for just the night! I thought of taking a picture of my empty laundry baskets but if I have to look at the laundry basket again tonight I might go crazy!

Encouraging

As a third grade teacher I'm not likely to get those visits from former students where they tell you about how being in your class has affected their lives. I always read about those visits or hear about them from other teachers and I think it's so cool. I would be so honored if that happened but I do realize that (1) it takes a great teacher to make a great impact (2) my kids are only in 3rd grade and (3) I've only been teaching for 5 years.
However, today I got some positive feedback which was very encouraging to hear. A parent from last year's class came up to me and said, "I've always liked how you say good morning to each student as they walk into class. This morning I was reading the Reader's Digest and read a story that made me think of you. The story was about a guy who made it his mission to say hello to everyone he saw for 30 days. During this time he did some research and found that teachers who say hello to each student every day have students that are 27% more effective. When I read this I thought of you."
I was honest with her and told her that I started doing that so that I would remember their names and then the students really liked it so I continue it. But YAY ME! I was just doing what I do and come to find out that what I do makes my students more productive. Here I am being a good teacher and not even trying!

Fighting a Bear

The other day in the car on the way to church I mentioned a saying that my parents use to say. Ron had no idea what I was talking about. He had never heard of the saying and couldn't come close to telling me what it meant. So I began to wonder what other sayings have I heard all my life that others don't know? And what other things do I consider completely normal that others may not? So here's the beginning of my list starting with the one from the car (and I say beginning because now that this has come to my attention I will be on the lookout for more):

Sayings:
(1) Don't bite your nose off to spite your face. (this is similar to "Don't shoot yourself in the foot" which, by the way, is one Ron knew)
(2) You can fight a bear that long. (My Nanny used to say this to me. She used it when I was complaining about something. It's like, "Hang in there you can handle it.")

Everyday Living:
(3) Until recently I didn't know that every house does not make and drink tea everyday. Nor did I know that what I was drinking all my life is largely called sweet tea in many places.
(4) Chicken and dumplings is not a dinner that everyone knows. (although I don't know why because it's SOOOO good.)

To be continued...

A Bunch of Stuff

20 Days until Christmas! I'm taking Ron's grandma to Toys 'R' Us this weekend to help her pick out toys for the boys. Ron's putting up her Christmas lights and ours too.

Since coming back from the ACSI Conference I have tried to implement the things I have learned into my classroom. I have started a new blog for my class. I post information on there about tests coming up, our weekly memory verse, homework, spelling lists, etc. A couple of parents have already told me they love it. I have also remembered that not every family has interenet access at home so I do not reward the students who do or punish those that don't.
Another new thing is when trying to get the attention of the class I am trying different attention getters. Usually I say "One, two, three, eyes on me." and my class responds with "One, two, eyes on you." This week I have started them on saying their memory verse when I need their attention. (the extra practice is good). I have also introduced a new review game and they LOVE it!

I'm seeing more and more how big Seth is getting. All 3 of the boys were standing in the middle of the living room staring up at the TV and Ron looked over at me and whispered, "Look how tall Seth is!" Sure enough, he's towering above Evan. I used to think it wouldn't be long before Evan catches up to Seth but must have hit a growth spurt. Also, yesterday Seth and Evan were outside playing basketball with Ron when the ball went over the brick wall that separates our house from the neighbors. Ron jumped the wall and then picked Seth up and taught him how to jump off the wall. I kept thinking "Kaiser...here we come." but Seth's ability to balance himself is great. My little boy isn't going to be little much longer!