Sage's School Work

Sage has produced some GEMS at school so far this year.  If we are "friends" on facebook or you follow me on instagram, these aren't new, but I wanted to keep them here.  This first one was probably the first week of school.  I suppose they had to make an introduction to their family.  I'm looking.  We all look nice.  I've got my highlights and lowlights going on here.  My red dress on.  Red shoes.  Baby in hand.  Bleu has his blonde hair and green outfit going just right. Jaggar's hair is fixed like he likes it.  He's even waving to the crowd with a grin dressed in Auburn colors just in time for football season.  Sage's dress is perfect.  Matching shoes, socks, and bow.  Pretty smile.  Long lashes....and then Travis...who has no color, no clothes, no hair, and no hands and sticks for legs.  I was laughing so hard.  I said, "Sage, what happened to Daddy?"  "Oh, we ran out of time." 

 If that wasn't funny enough, I think I choked on the drink I was sipping while I read this.  She doesn't even know how funny this is and couldn't even really understand why we laughed so much at this.  Of course, after all of that, my favorite line is, "ANYWAY, my dad sleeps on the couch because he snores."  What fun it must be to be a teacher and see a kid' perspective into their own family.  Kids will also throw you under the bus in a heartbeat apparently.

 All the funnies aside, just the next week or so was grandparents' day.  Travis' mom and stepdad ate with her and took her to the book fair.  She racked up and chose several books and a journal.  The first page talked about daydreaming and dreaming big.  Then it left a space to write one of your dreams.  Of course, I cried reading it and so will you.  It's just not right, is it?  This is everyday of my life, these things are running through my mind.  Some days, I feel like it's a struggle to just catch a breath.  I don't get it.  I don't like it.  I feel like something in me died a little over a year ago.  I'm not the same person.  I feel cynical towards a lot some days.  I'm actually too selfish to care if it "helps someone" else by seeing her or me or us.  I'm even more matter of fact than I was before, which can be hurtful....but in spite of all of that, I believe.  Because what else do I have?  And she does, too!  While at the doctor just a few weeks ago, she said something about "When I don't have diabetes, do we have to come here?"  She's always hopeful.  But waiting is hard.  So I'm hanging on to her dream along with her.

A few days later, I heard a song I hadn't heard or thought about in YEARS, but it's one I used to LOVE.  I found it to be even more touching and true now than it was then.  It's like my daily thought process.  Hey God, aren't you strong enough?  I know you are.  I believe He hears us and is working even when it doesn't look like He is.  And on days that I find it hard to even do that, I believe I have others doing it for us.

First Day of 3rd Grade

Little Miss started 3rd grade today.  How is that even possible?  I thank God that I'm not nearly as nervous as I was when she went to kindergarten...and even more that I'm not as nervous as last year's beginning, which was the most stressful.   Sage didn't necessarily WANT to go back to school, but since she had to, she made up her mind to be excited about it.  She said that she likes the first day.  It's when they expect you to KEEP going that's irritating, I think.  I get the feeling.  I feel that way about bills.  We had a very long weekend, but she was up and excited to go, and I think she looked adorable.  I can't wait to hear about her day because the house is a little too quiet.

She wanted to take Costner with her.

 Our routine first day picture

 She picked out that lunchbox when we were in Kentucky in July.

 I thought Travis was going to stay home because Jaggar was still asleep.

 But nope...he wanted to be a part, so he woke Jaggar up.  You can see how thrilled he was about that.  He was NOT happy for quite a while

 Inside the school.  They say only kindergartners need to be walked in, but they won't say anything to you.  So, I got this picture in the lobby.  They're the yellow jackets.

 Sage and her sweet teacher, Mrs Lindsey.  When I met her about a week and half ago to make sure we were on the same page with taking care of Sage, I found out that her husband has type 1 diabetes.  So I had very little to explain to her.  God keeps blessing us.  I know Sage will have a great year in 3rd grade.

 Afterwards, TRAVIS suggested we go to Cracker Barrel for breakfast.  I don't have the time to go into detail about Travis and his hate for Cracker Barrel, but suffice it to say, he does.  We had a nice time though this visit, but it's definitely hit or miss when we go with him.

 Costner eating some eggs.  He actually broke that small plate trying to get his own eggs when Travis wasn't fast enough.

 When we got home, Jaggar went straight to work.  Remember, he loves it when Sage goes to school.  He loves it when she first gets out, and he loves it when she goes back.  He said "no" when I asked if he missed her.

 He was very proud of his smurf tower that he made.  Jaggar will have his own big day tomorrow, even though he disagrees with it.  More later.

School's Out!

We made it through another year of school.  2nd grade came and went by so fast that it was scary, but it was a great school year.  I have to admit that after giving birth to my 3rd child, I was more than ready for EVERYTHING to come to a break:  School, Dance, Church, Meals...you get what I'm saying.  It is crazy to me how much Sage has grown, both physically and academically, this year.  She is a kind, smart, sweet, articulate girl, and I genuinely like her, and so does everyone who gets to be around her more than I do during the school day.  I get compliments from other adults about how wonderful she is.  Makes a mom's heart happy.  So we embrace summer time now!  Jaggar, in particular, was SO thrilled when we went to pick her up on that last day when I told him she didn't have to go back for a long time.  Although she was very upset that Nonni had just headed back to Kentucky, and Jaggar's repeating  "Sage, Nonni leaved!"  over and over was pouring salt in a wound, she is now really enjoying being home.

Last week of school

 Her report card...3rd grade?!  How'd that happen?  I swear it just seems like it was kindergarten.

 Her teacher had this in with the report card.  Look how much she grew!  And if you can't tell by that, just look here.

Gifted

I have SO much to catch up on, and I just can't.  I feel that way in life right now.  So much has gone on this month, and some I probably won't recap.  I wish there was a way to just be able to put stuff on here as I think it, which could be dangerous but yet extremely entertaining.  I'm awesome off the cuff. :)  Anyway, one thing I want to mention is about Sage.  I remember asking at the beginning of this year when they'd test them for the gifted program at school.  They said the teachers would pull who they thought could be gifted during the middle to end of 2nd grade.  I said, "Well, I am pretty sure she is."  They probably thought, "Yes, MOM, I'm sure you do," BUT it just so turned out, that as usual...I was right. :)  They tested them months ago, and at that time, I didn't even realize that they don't test everyone.  Only a few, including Sage, were pulled from her class.  Oxford has 3 different elementary schools, and out of all 3 of those, 120 2nd graders were hand picked by their teachers to be tested for this program.  Out of those 120, 18 qualified to be in this gifted program, and our Sage was one of them.  Do THAT percentage.  So yes, I'm very proud.  She'll be pulled out for 3 hours a week so that she can be worked with, along with the other 5 that were at her school, on their own level.  We couldn't be more proud of her.

 She was excited to make it for the fact that she gets an extra field trip.  One thing I was concerned about was if they would be giving her a ton of extra work, making school even more of a hassle, but no, they don't.  I had a meeting with the coordinator, and she said that it's really just enhanced learning for them.  She said any extra project is generally fun and that's not the norm to even have one.  It's enrichment.  Because more work for her equals more work for me, so I wanted to make sure that wasn't the case.  Also, once they are in this, they never have to be retested.  Once they're in, they're in for good.

 I had her file folder on hand. It was a pretty big file, and here is a page that I thought was interesting.  If you can see that bold, squiggly line, they had to make as many things as they could out of the line.  The gifted teacher saw me looking at it, and she said they were scored higher if they did not make it into a number or letter and "thought outside the box."  Pretty cool.  I liked seeing her ideas.

Picture Perfect

Last week (maybe? POSSIBLY the week before) was picture day at school. I don't think I've ever purchased an actual school picture because we can take much better pictures, but they do go in the yearbook. So Sage always chooses her ensemble with care, and she woke up early this year to ask me to curl her hair. I think that they should take school pics the moment kids get to school and not 4 hours later after lunch and PE, but few take my advice. So THIS pic is probably better than the actual school one will be. I think Sage looks beautiful. Also, I am SO happy that she is currently into bows again!!! I don't even question it, but I most definitely go with it.

2nd Grader

As of this week, we have a 2nd grader in the house. In my mind, I still keep thinking 1st. I don't really know why. With the past few weeks, this school year brought an anxiety that far surpassed anything I could have imagined when she went to kindergarten. Forget what she's learning. Are they keeping her alive? Do they know what they're doing? Can I trust them not to screw up? Of course, Sage is oblivious to all of that. I called the school shortly after we got out of the hospital to meet with the teacher and nurse beforehand and set up what's called a 504. This just legally binds them to do what needs to be done for her and basically not discriminate against her grades should she need to stop doing something (a test, PE, whatever) based on symptoms of high or low blood sugar.

God literally smiled upon us with the teacher Sage got this year--Mrs. Robbins. I instantly felt good about her when we got her letter in the mail welcoming Sage to her class. I felt her passion in reading that in how she felt about her job and children. In orientation, I watched her go around and individually introduce herself to each child. She reminded me of Sage's kindergarten teacher, who I loved so much. In the meeting with the nurse and teacher, Mrs. Robbins was taking notes, asking questions. I SO appreciated that. And the nurse is wonderful too. I let her show me what to do in drawing up insulin, and we talked about all of my concerns for a LONG time. She said that she wouldn't hesitate for a second to call me. And this week? They've all worked so wonderfully with Sage. The nurse called me twice on the first day of school and emails me regularly. Sage is doing great at school. I've never been more thankful for our first Friday because I am exhausted, but we have made it. And though it's a lot of work for now, I am thankful to have these people--Mrs. Robbins and Nurse Hubbard--caring for my girl and considering it a privilege. Because that's exactly what it is.

Ready for her first day. She was so excited, a complete contradiction of how I was in school.

And Jaggar? He was actually THRILLED with Sage at school. That's terrible, isn't it? He really loves to play alone. Sage is not like that at all. She wants Jaggar playing WITH her. So she tries to force him to play with her all the time, and if he's into a show or a certain toy, he is not interested. This causes for lots of fighting. So on her first day, I said, 'Jaggar, do you miss Sage?' Without hesitation, he said, "NOOOPE."

2nd grade. Jaggar's head is down because he chose that moment to spit. Awesome.

I am a full 5 months and a week...I think...pregnant now, by the way. I'm doing an awesome job chronicling that. I had so many pinterest ideas for photos and capturing pregnancy...and it's just not happening.

You can see how thrilled he is about this kiss.

Baby. She was so excited to have a desk this year. I walked her in because she SAID that she didn't remember where the classroom was. Turns out, neither did I because I passed it up. I'm glad that I was able to walk her in though and get a picture of her at her desk.

And here's Jaggar on our morning car rides to school. He likes to take a small toy in the car for the ride. :)

Sage's First Grade Events

Sage's last two weeks of school had some events that I was able to help with because we still had the family in town to watch Jaggar. Unless I just go eat lunch with her, siblings are never allowed to participate in school events. This is annoying at times, but oh well. I wondered all year if they'd have a field trip, and a week and a half before school let out, they sent home flyers that they were going to the museum. I volunteered to be a chaperone, and Sage was thrilled. The entire 1st grade was there, and it was a little crazy. It was good, though, because a lot of those kids had never been. I will say that the museum is not nearly big enough to spend hours in, especially with an entire 1st grade. Phew...there were times I didn't know if we'd make it, but it was fun.

Here is Sage and our group: Mikayla and Andi, who is also our neighbor

They were sweet girls and had a fun time.

Just 3 days later was the biggest day of the year to an elementary aged child: FIELD DAY! I still remember field day when I was little. I won the 3 legged race and the long jump. Bam. They don't give out ribbons now because it's mainly just playing, but they do have several inflatables, which is GREAT for the kids. I was assigned to the bubble table, which I thought was kind of anti-climatic but the kids didn't seem to mind. But their favorite part was that about 10 minutes before they rotated, the coaches told me to spray the kids with the water hose. You would have thought that I was pouring out 100 dollar bills. I should have just skipped the bubbles and went straight to the water!

I'm glad that I was able to participate in these events with Sage. When you are little, there is nothing better than having your mom help at school. I'm thankful I'm able to be that mom for Sage.