Today, Thursday, December 18, 2008 is a no school day due to snow in Las Vegas. Have I now seen it all???? Maybe not, but what a surprise. Yesterday it did snow at our house, but this morning it is raining and I thought for sure the kids would go to school. But, I guess the district is so big that some areas of Vegas have a lot of snow and if you close one school in the public system, you close them all. It is weird that they closed school today and tomorrow is the last day before Winter Break.
Yesterday was such a great day. Russell had no school because his school had Parent Teacher Conferences. So, being the ultimate mom, I planned his dentist appointment the same day so he wouldn't have to miss school. Miss school for the dentist? Yes, because the children's dentist we are using is 25 minutes away (and so worth the drive) and Russ goes to school until 4pm, so he would have to miss school to go to the dentist. ANYWAY! Russ did great at the dentist, even had 4 sealants put on his first permanent molars, no cavities and a good cleaning. Rachel…. Well, she's another story. She would not have xrays taken and she pretty much did a scream / yell the whole time the dentist looked in her mouth. Which is typical for Rachel the last 2 times she went to the dentist in Florida. All that said, no cavities either and not worth the screaming for the cleaning. We'll try again in 6 months. But, no Happy Meal for the screamer. That was the deal and she broke it. We went to McD's and got Russell his meal and she was so sad. Russell kept trying to convince me to get her one anyway. She told me we could go back to the dentist tomorrow and she'd cooperate. I said No. Then she said let's go back today. Russell has been on this protect Rachel kick lately. If she gets in trouble, he's trying to tell us some excuse for her – she' scared, it was an accident, she didn't mean to, etc. It is very sweet.
We had a good conference with Russell's teacher. We all went to the conference, which was fun. During the conference, Rachel had to use the bathroom and Russ took her (by the hand) to the school potties. When they left, he said they'd be gone for a while and he was right! Too cute. Russ is doing a lot better than the start of school. His teacher is awesome and she really understands Russ and works with him to accommodate his needs in class. She said he's well liked in class and is the resident artist; they have his art all over the place. When they choose groups, Russ never initiates getting into a group, but someone (different every time) always makes sure he gets in a group. She said he is communicating in class well, everyone pretty much always understands him and when he's having a hard time getting it out, he has friends that will finish his sentences for him and Russ always thanks them for helping him. She said he doesn't talk a lot on class, but he is listening well and will tell Mrs. Cayer about a conversation other students have to get her up to speed. His challenges are turning in work timely in class and writing. He hates writing and he hates typing. He just can't get going on writing assignments and by the time he does, many times it is time to move on. Not sure how to overcome that. She suggested maybe we try a fun journal at home where we write a question every day – the sillier the better and have him write a sentence or two to respond. We will try that. We felt good about her observations and suggestions and feel good about Russ being in her class.
One other school story…. The kids in his class had to draw themselves as an elf and the directions were: the funnier looking you make yourself, the better. So, at school before the conference and not knowing the directions for the picture, we see Russ's elf and it is way different than anyone else's. Adam was a little worried, comparing Russ's work to the others. Russ's picture had a yellow face, shark teeth, huge pointy ear, goofy hair, etc. and all the others pretty much looked like themselves. In the conversation with Mrs. Cayer she had told us about Russ's picture and how he was the only one that could think and accept making himself look weird and he really got into it. Cool! Russ is a different thinker and he is always thinking.
After the conference it started to snow. We did a couple of errands and went home! Once the snow built up a little, the kids went out and played. They managed to scrape a few snowballs together and throw them at each other. We also baked cookies. I had to make some for Rachel's class (no school, so now we have a lot of cookies…) and we made some for us. Typically we really have to supervise the kids when they decorate Christmas Cookies. Rachel always needed help spreading the frosting. But this year, they didn't really need us or want us the whole time. They sat at the table and did cookies, one by one. Some have mounds of frosting and sprinkles, some are carefully executed works of art, but all of them are beautiful! Adam and I did get to decorate a few, but we really just let them do their thing and listen to them talk and work together. When we were at the table, Rachel would always ask for help that she didn't need. So, while we would have liked to it there with them, it was fun to observe from 'afar' and appreciate it all. Such a great day!!!
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