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grayson’s class participated in read across america last week at school. hooray! hooray! they had different storytellers come to their classroom everyday reading fun dr. seuss books, and all the students dressed up to match that day’s story theme. FUN!.jpg)
△ monday’s book was “the sleep book”. they got to wear their pajamas to school. at first grayson wasn’t so sure about putting on pajamas when we were getting dressed for school. he said, “jeans, mama!” but then when i showed him his thomas pajamas?! it was a big, “YES!!” △.jpg)
△ tuesday was hat day! ”500 hats of bartholowmew cubbins” was the book of the day. grayson wore his train toboggan, because trains are his thing, and don’t you forget it! △
△ would you just look at that cute little clown! wednesday’s book was “if i ran the circus”. we weren’t sure if grayson was going to go for wearing a clown collar tied around his neck, so my mom sewed a little stitch around the edge of the collar to a white tee shirt. and, SUCCESS! (oh, and how neat is it that the collar was mine when i was little! thanks to mom for saving it. she must have known that we would need it again! ;) △△ guess what thursday was? yep, crazy sock day! they all got wild with wearing a pair of crazy socks. the book of the day was “fox in socks”. grayson’s crazy socks were compliments of his crazy aunt allie, ha! and yes, she wears those socks routinely. i know this because when she and i were chatting on the phone the night of crazy sock day, i told her that he looked cute in her socks that day. and she said, “ohhhhh, okay. i was wondering where those socks were when i couldn’t find them earlier.” haha! △△ friday was party day, YAY! they saluted the famous dr. seuss with a birthday party, wore party hats, and read the book “happy birthday to you”! they also had cake, yes CAKE! i am sure grayson had a ball at the party. he came home that afternoon saying, “CAKE time!” he looooves cake, and so do i! happy reading, y’all! △
FROM THE HILL AT HOPEWELL »
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Grayson
A recap of the last few days… Wednesday afternoon after school, there was a note in Grayson’s notebook from his teacher that he had been very quiet and still all day, rubbed his eyes a lot, and ate very little. I noticed when we got home from school that afternoon, that he was quiet also, the sun was bothering him outside, he didn’t want to eat much of his supper, he wasn’t all that happy, couldn’t really get satisfied… it was just not a great day for him, a sensory-overloaded day. He said “bed” during supper, so I knew he was tired. I stepped things up a notch so that I could get him to bed a good bit earlier, hoping that he could get a good night of sleep, and hopefully feel better the next day. Thursday came along and we were having a good morning, until we headed out the door for school. It was raining, and he doesn’t like walking in the rain, so I carried him down the steps to put him in the car. I slipped on the wet steps and down we went to the bottom. I never let go of him, so luckily he wasn’t hurt. My lower back/right hip/rear end area is bruised and all sorts of colors. It looks and feels not-so-good, but I am and will be fine. Of course, right when it happened, we both cried a little, until Joe saw us at the bottom of the steps almost on the ground and came and helped us get up. He helped us get in the car, we dried our tears, said our good-byes and love-yous, and we were on our way. Poor Grayson was teary-eyed the entire way to school. I know it was only a fall, but the whole ordeal bothered him so bad, and he was shocked and worried that Mama got a boo-boo. Every time that we came to a stop sign I would turn around and ask him if he was okay and he would start to cry. It was the most pitiful thing, but so sweet at the same time. I could tell that he was so worried about me just by the look on his face and the tears in his eyes. His precious little soul has the biggest, sweetest heart. We got to the bus stop and I got him out of his carseat and he gave me the biggest hug and kiss. I told him that I was okay and he said, “Okay Mama.” Last night when Joe was looking at my bruises, Grayson got worried again and was kissing my boo-boo. And, bless his heart… this morning on the way out the door he really didn’t want to go down the steps to the car. At first he wouldn’t even get close to the steps. He just stood on the porch and said, Today, Grayson came home from school with a fortune cookie in his backpack. Chinese New Year is this coming Sunday, so they celebrated today in his class with Chinese food and activities. I’m sure they had a good time and lots of fun celebrating. I wonder if he tried any of the Chinese food (he is a very picky eater)… I would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall in his classroom today! February is going to be a busy month for him at school. Here is a little of what they are doing this month… Learning about money and Presidents as they celebrate President’s Day. Goodness, I do not know how they get all of that done! Plus, his one-on-one speech and occupational therapy while he is at school is scheduled in there too. They stay busy at school, that’s for sure. It’s just wonderful to me that they have such a structured curriculum that they follow. I know that it is all so so good for him. I know that he has fun and is learning a lot. We are so very thankful for his school. We are confident that Grayson is right where he needs to be. Hope your February is going good so far. We are glad that today is Friday, and we’re looking forward to a nice, boo-boo free weekend. Happy Chinese New Year!
Grayson’s class at school just recently celebrated 100 days of school. On the wall in their hallway they have counted down to 100 since the first day of school, and they decorated the hallway with a caterpillar that had 100 body parts crawling all over the wall. They have been working on counting different items in groups of 1′s, 5′s, 10′s, and 20′s until they got to 100. On the 100th day of school, each student sent in a food item that had at least 100 pieces, and with it they made a large bowl of trail mix for their 100 day celebration. Grayson took a big bag of reese’s pieces, because he LOVES peanut butter. They snacked on the trail mix throughout the day, and counted the pieces to 100 in groups of 1′s, 5′s, and 10′s. For lunch, they made a pizza that had 100 pepperoni slices counted out. They also made a tall tower stack of 100 can goods. Everyone sent in 2-3 can good items so that they could reach 100 cans to stack. I love all of their creative learning projects that they do at school. His teachers really help him and spend that extra bit of one-on-one time that is so necessary in helping him and the other children in his class learn. We are sooo pleased with Grayson’s school and everything that they are doing there to help him. You know, a year ago Grayson was only saying a few words. His vocabulary has been growing more and more, and his communication with us has improved so much. We are climbing the ladder over here, and we couldn’t be more proud of how far our sweet little boy has come, and the progress we know he will continue to make. This life we live is a big ride. It’s one that passes by every day with different experiences, challenges, and milestones. We are thankful for every single bit of it. Love, support, believe, and hope. “Different, not less.” - Temple Grandin WE LOVE GRAYSON’S SCHOOL!!!! It has been a dream come true….so happy with his progress and I look forward to each day for him! And to think we looked and looked for such a place and thought it did not exist…
Late Sunday afternoon, the children were playing out on the screen porch, the doors were open, and a nice breeze was blowing through the house. I got busy in the kitchen baking the best cake in the world – a cream cheese pound cake. Sweet, plain, buttery, and just right. I used to bake this cake weekly, but I have not made one in awhile. I thought we were due for one, and I knew that Grayson would love to have some in his lunchbox this week. It’s so good; good for breakfast, snack, and dessert. My go-to recipe is from an old Southern Living cookbook, and it tastes perfect every time. Cream Cheese Pound Cake You will need: 1 1/2 cups butter, softened Directions: 1. Beat butter and cream cheese at medium speed with an electric mixer until creamy. Gradually add the sugar, beating until light and fluffy. Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating just until blended after each addition. 2. Combine flour and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, beating at low speed just until blended. Stir in vanilla. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 10-inch tube pan. 3. Bake at 300℉ for 1 hour and 45 minutes or until a long wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan on a wire rack 15 minutes; remove from pan, and let cool completely on wire rack.
Grayson had a taste test as soon as it came out of the oven. He said, “Mmmm, cake.” He loves it and always has. If you like cake, you will too! |
Really cute Lauren. Ya’ll did a good job with the outfits. JRO needs a toboggan like that! Trains are his thing too!
So adorable! I remember fun weeks like that in grade school, he must have had a blast!