The Insanity of School

It is upon us.  The insanity of school.  I thought I was ready for school to start.  Ready to go back to a schedule and time for myself.  But wow.  I forgot how busy busy busy it is.  This week we had curriculum night (where Libby begged me not to wear sweats--apparently I am embarrassing her already).  We fed the elders, had Piano lessons, picked up Libby's new glasses, went to Ben first soccer practice, and dealt with the fact that it is getting colder and my kids have outgrown their coats, warm shoes, etc.
I went to the gym 2x, swimming once, and had lunch with a friend (one of my goals for when all my kids were in school) and take Ben to purchase a reward for the marathon he finished this week (which he then lost later that day at Target and we had to go back and pick up from their lost and found at bedtime last night). But it all felt like a whirlwind.  Derek was home and super helpful.  He made dinner 4 nights this week (all delicious Japanese food), and it still felt like a whirlwind.
Whew.

Ben is taking a Kidz Love Soccer class.  And I think he likes it.  I didn't love standing out in the cold and wind and sprinkling rain.  This is one of the reasons I have avoided outdoor sports in our lovely climate.  

The cones on his head are "candy."  They were playing a game where you kick the ball and hit people to get "candy" like the people are pinatas.  It turns out it is hard to kick the ball and keep your eyes up to see the people you are trying to kick the ball at.  It was a good drill.  

Sarah's new boots.  She complained that her boots were pinching, so I took off the ones she had worn to the store to see the size, size 13.  She now wears a 3!

Libby's new glasses.  She has always worn ones with really light frames.  These dark ones are super cute.  

HappilyEverAlfi David and Alicia

We went to a beautiful wedding last weekend.  Derek had to work, so I took the kids.  It was so fun to see some of our wrestling family, spend time in a beautiful setting, and listen to Ben say the most hilarious things.

Here are my favorite Ben quotes.
We are waiting for the ceremony.  Ben is squirmy and freaking out.
I say, "Ben, in a minute there are going to be some really pretty girls coming out, they are called Bridesmaids.  Do you think you can tell me which one is the prettiest?"
Ben:  Sitting stone still and getting all business.  "YES!"  (And he did.  He also picked out the prettiest girls sitting in the seats around us.  He is into pretty girls.  Yikes!)

Ben (as the oldest Alfi brother walks a bridesmaid down the aisle that is NOT his fiance): totally concerned... "Mom, that is NOT KIM!  What is Brian doing with a girl that is NOT KIM?"

The bride comes down the aisle in her beautiful dress.  Ben:  a bit distressed..."Mom, the bride should have a short dress like the bridesmaids.  See, her dress is dragging on the ground!"

We go to the bathroom after the ceremony.  There is a line.  Sarah goes into the stall ahead of Ben.  Ben (to everyone waiting):  "If Sarah is pooping, we are going to be waiting for a long time."

All night I kept seeing him around chatting with various people.  I would ask what they were talking about.  Ben:  "I don't know, they did most of the talking."

He was chatting with a wrestling friend named Rich during the dancing.
Me:  "Hi guys, what are you guys chatting about?"
Ben:  "Nothing."
Rich: "He just told us that your dancing is ridiculous."

Libby also met a new bestie on the dance floor.  Too bad she lives somewhere far away.

It was a really fun night.  I'm getting so many ideas for my kids' weddings.  Like that they should elope and save me $20,000.  Or else I'm going to need that much to throw a party that fun.
Thanks David and Alicia for inviting us to your wedding #happilyeveralfi.

Every time we moved from place to place, Ben stopped by the table with the candy and snagged another sucker.  

Such a pretty location!

Loved the cakes

View from in the Gazebo

Lipgloss girls!

Ben being a little ridiculous himself on the dance floor.  

Libby's a Fourth Grader!

I loved 4th grade.  I had the best teacher (Mrs. Bailey), good friends, and I really hope that Libby loves her year too.  So far so good.  At the Back to School BBQ she found out that she wouldn't be in class with her bestie this year.  There was serious wailing by both girls.  But Libby told me that the teachers do a lot of things together and she got to spend most of the day with Lily anyway.  And she told Aunt Maren tonight that she has the best teacher ever!  So, I'll take it as a good start!

Awesome photos by Black Hat Media.

Libby's "so excited she won't stand still" photos by me.  

Libby wrote her own goals.  She gets really angry at school and we decided to get her some stress balls she can keep in her desk to squeeze.  We'll see how that works out.  The kids who were the most frustrating for her have both  moved, so that will help I hope.  

Cheers to another good year as Cheetahs!

Sarah Starts 2nd Grade

Sarah just sparkles, doesn't she?  2nd grade is lucky to have her.

Back to School photos by Black Hat Media.

And the actual big day!
 (She had to redo her first sign because the 2 was backward.  Clearly we are a little rusty around here!)

Guess which goals I suggested?  Yep, the bed making.  I wanted her to go for 99%.  She drove a hard bargain, but I wasn't giving in and we arrived at 93%.  So far (after 1 day) we are at 100%.

Ben Starts Kindergarten

Today my baby started kindergarten.  They made 1/2 the kids do morning K and the other half do afternoon K (just for today, then they are all full day).  All morning he just kept asking when it was time for him to go to school.  He was so ready.  And, he loved it.  I'm excited for this new phase of my life!  

Ben wrote his own goals, except the sight words one.  That was my suggestion.  We will see how he does.  So far 2 for 2 on getting to bed on time!

Actual first day pictures!  He wrote his own K sign.  It kind of looks like an F, but trust me, it's a K.

The sweet pictures taken by Black Hat Media (my sister-in-law and brother) while we were in Utah. 

Summer 2016 Memories

All of the kids, and especially Sarah, love to ask Derek and I to tell stories from our lives.  It is fun, but also hard sometimes to remember funny and entertaining things to tell them.  So for FHE last night we wrote down our favorite summer memories.  Except for Sarah.  Ironically she was the one who just couldn't come up with anything to write in the allotted time.  Maybe I'll add hers later.  

Ben and Mom worked together.  I put captions on his pictures.  Bombora (his first rollercoaster), a monster, Baker lake, etc.  It was an amazing summer with SO MUCH SWIMMING!  All of the kids and I have tan lines.  This is a great accomplishment for Seattlites!  We managed to get out there on the sunny days!  Next year I hope there will be even more camping and swimming.  It was so fun.  

Dad worked A LOT this summer.  But, we timed things right and got to spend several days with him.  He even took the kids camping to Baker Lake.  I have a before picture, but I forgot to take an after picture.  The hair was crazy and they were much dirtier.  But since pictures don't capture that camping smell, you can't really get the full impact of the "after" effect anyway.

I love what Libby chose to include in hers.  The Green Mile--(going around Cromwell 4 laps on M/W/F..didn't think that would be on her favorite memories.  Glad it is!)

I am ready to say goodbye to this summer.  But it does mean sending my baby off to school!  Where did the time go?

Research Symposium

As a teacher, test days and big due dates were my favorite days.  I loved the nervous excitement that hung in the air.  That sense of accomplishment tinged with fear and energy?  Remember it?  Creating opportunities for kids to stretch was my favorite part of teaching.  So, I decided to do this for my kids this summer.  Now I have a lot more empathy for the parents of my students, ha.  It takes a lot of parent support for kids to produce awesome work.
I had a few goals with this project:
-Give myself motivation to get my kids to the library.
-Work together with them each individually on something.
-Teach them how to research and draw conclusions from their research.
-Teach them about design for a presentation board.
-Give them an opportunity to present what they learned to a wider audience.
-Spend time with some friends who also wanted to research. (We got 2 friends who finished with us!)
-Have fun.

And, actually I would say that I accomplished all of those goals!  More or less.  For the younger 2 I may have drawn many of the conclusions and had to lead them toward them.  But it was a great growing experience for all of them.
Sarah's biggest complaint was that we didn't have more people come to see their work!

These were the first dates I chose (after our vacation dates).  I wanted to make sure this happened!

Sarah's original topic was Kuwait.  Then she switched to Anne of Green Gables cooking.  (We had been listening to the Anne books in the car over the spring. )  I had her add the fabric part since I was so interested in that...I helped her hone in on her final conclusion (okay, I told her what it was); that people love Anne of Green Gables because it isn't just a book.  It is a total sensory experience including touch and taste!  We made ice cream, the liniment cake, and raspberry cordial.  

 Libby decided on her own that she wanted to recite some Shakespeare.  I wasn't sure that she was ready, but she had it memorized.  Maren helped her polish it.  This girl amazes me!

Our invitation

The appetizer table setting.

Ben's monster project.  He actually did so much of this research because it was looking at pictures of monsters to figure out what made them scary.  Did you know the characteristic shared by most monsters is sharp teeth?  We learned that together!  I put the board together, but he helped pick which monsters made the survey and the board.  

Here are my favorite poems.  I was super proud of these because she also typed and formatted them herself.  

Libby was actually crazy about her topic and loved the whole thing.  She decided to focus on the lessons Shakespeare is teaching through his tragedies.  We listened to a bunch of the plays in versions for kids in the car over the summer.  The kids all loved them!  Since Libby loves poems, I suggested she make a poem on each gravestone about the lesson Shakespeare was trying to teach.  The poems are amazing. Aunt Maren dedicated 3 hours to helping Libby make the graveyard.  Libby is very determined about how she sees a thing being accomplished.  It can be a challenge to help her.  But Maren did a great job!

Libby also wanted to have a Shakespeare coloring pages area.

And a carpet where kids could read the stories of Shakespeare.  

Sarah was a master on the mic.  (She is practicing here).  She made so many hilarious announcements.  She loves to hear herself in the microphone.  Wonder where she got that?

Thankful to everyone who came!  Especially Grammy who came after a long day of getting teachers technologically ready for school.  

Ben explaining his project to Ms. Harris (Sarah's teacher from last year).  We have a great community!