Daddy's Buck

Camden called me into the living room and told me to bring the camera.  I wasn't sure what I would find, but she simply wanted me to take a picture next to the deer head we had recently hung.



I'm really glad she did, because it gives such a perspective on how HUGE this guy was.  No wonder it made the state record book!

New Market Visit

In the meantime...

 

With our beloved elementary school slated to close forever at the end of this school year, there has been many activities planned to help the Waveland kids transition to their future school.  I am on the parent advisory committee and one of the events we planned was a field trip for each Waveland class to go to New Market Elementary for an afternoon.  A few Thursday's ago was the K-2 trip.  Parent's didn't go, but I found some pictures on the New Market Facebook page.

Arrival & First Look Around:

Meeting a 1st Grade Teacher.  I love that some older New Market kids were ambassadors for the new group.

Scoping out a Classroom:  Mrs. Barr's class was thrilled to learn that the Kindergarten class was working on the exact same lessons this week as they were.  Their new classmates were just like them!

They checked out the library, art, gym, and music rooms as well.

The day ended with a trip through the cafeteria line to get a cookie and a drink.

Another of the transition activities we have done is pen pals and Skype pals.  At this point, I don't believe the Kindergarten classes had exchanged any messages, but they did get to sit with a New Market buddy and begin to form friendships.  The older classes actually paired up with their pals.

It made for a full cafeteria when all 3 grades were together - exactly like it will be next year!  She will move from a school of 109 students to a school of 450-490 depending on enrollment.  It will be a big change, but we are excited!

Gulf Shores, AL

We made it!  Lots of fun, sun, and seafood in our future!

Best Sign

Waiting for our field trip, Camden wrote me this sign.  She is such a sweet child! 

Her teacher told me, once again, how well she is doing in reading.  I confirmed because I couldn't believe the books she was being sent home as homework.  Mrs. Barr said she keeps trying to stump Camden by giving her a book with words that she won't be able to figure out, but she sounds them out and does it!  She's progressed 2 more letters on the reading scale (A to Z; they are to be at a D by end of this year and Camden is at G) in the past month.  Mrs. Barr says she actually is holding her back a bit so she doesn't get too far ahead of her classmates and become totally bored.  So proud of her!

**I'm really not trying to be one of those mothers who brags on her brilliant child (although that is okay and expected when you have a brilliant child!).  I am just trying to use this blog as a good record of our everyday life and Camden's milestones/achievements. 

NIFS, Part II



Station 4 were the scooters.  They did a few races across the floor and then played tag.

 

The next station involved relay races on the track.  They ran, skipped, hopped, and waddled like penguins.

The final station was the parachute.  One the way over, some of the boys heard they were going to parachute and were expecting to jump out of planes. They had fun anyway!



NIFS, Part I

Camden had a field trip last Friday with all the Kindergarten, 3rd, and 5th grade students.  They went to the IUPUI campus to experience the National Institute of Fitness and Sports.  This center does all kinds of research in addition to housing a great facility for athletes as well as individuals who want a good workout or assistance in their health goals.

 

The day started with a brief lesson on nutrition and health.  The instructor was pretty impressed when Camden answered her question on ways you can exercise with, "Walk on a treadmill."  She said no kid has ever said it before. 

 



The rest of the 2 hour visit was spent in 6 stations doing various activities.  These kids worked hard!  Probably the favorite was the Treadwall.  The older kids got to use the revolving climbing wall, but Camden's class only got to climb to the top, then the adults manually brought the wall back down while they rode it.  The kids laughed hard each time their classmates rode down.  It was pretty funny!

Next they did an exercise race.  They did several rounds and did a different exercise on the various equipment.

Next they did an obstacle course. 

Push-ups were hard for each of them the first time, but they all pretty much managed to figure it out by their third or fourth turn.  Not perfect form, but she did press those arms up and down while keeping her body in a semi-plank.

One Miserable Girl

Camden woke up Saturday morning with a 101.5 fever, scratchy throat, and vomitting.  It progressed through the day to show all the signs of classic strep.  It is also going around this area like crazy right now.  We were finally able to get some Tylenol in her so that her fever would give her a break, but she mainly slept, whined, and didn't eat all day.  At points she even refused to swollow her saliva and sat with a bowl in her lap to spit in.  She had vomitted so violently that tons of blood vessels in her face had burst.  She was simply miserable.

 

We called the doctor to see if we could wait until Monday or if we should take her to an urgent care.  She advised that it could wait until Monday, but that our local hospital's lab was open on the weekend and we could get a culture done without an office or ER visit.  We waited until Sunday to see if there was any change overnight, but it was still the same.

 

Off to the lab we went.  The rapid strep test came back NEGATIVE!  We were all shocked (including the doctor), but relieved.  We kept the Tylenol going on Sunday and she continued to sleep, whine, and not eat.  Finally on Monday afternoon her fever was under 100 and she wanted to try to eat something.  She had gone almost 72 hours without any food.  Kevin was home with her and could see her improving throughout the day.  Thankfully she is back to (almost) normal and at school - the book fair is this week and she was soooo worried that she would miss it!