on another note

...so you know how it goes...
you're in the car with a friend...
tunes turned up...
favorite song comes on...
....
and then you realize that you actually don't know the real words to the song because your friend just pointed out how those words you've been singing for years are wrong...
...
oh, so that's never happened to you...
well, it happened to the girl child this week...


the girl, the boy and I are sitting in the car...
the girl starts singing
the song...Bon Jovi's Shot Through the Heart...


her version...
"Shot through the heart, 
and you're too late...
You need love, a bad mate"
...
me-"Um, what did you just sing?"
girl-"The song"
me-"Yes, but what words did you just sing to that song?"
girl-"Shot through the heart, and you're too late... You need love, a bad mate"
me-giggles
boy-giggles
girl-"what?"
me-"those aren't the words."
girl-"really?"
me-"You need love, a bad mate, isn't even a sentence"
girl-"well, it's a song and songs sometimes don't make sense."
....
and she's right...


and FYI the words are
Shot through the heart,
And you're to blame
You give love a bad name


so, what song did you sing wrong until you figured it out?

girl child

love that girl child.

cutie girl in pink the in middle

school has been hard for her...

she is a tenderhearted person who wants to learn, but learning hasn't been easy these last few years...

she sailed into school and soared those first 2 years...

then we hit second grade and things came to a screeching halt...

...third grade we started back in the forward momentum...

but just a very slow forward...

we've done different things to help her over the past 4 years...

• talking with teachers
• testing
• different ways of doing things
• more talks with teachers...
• different testing...
• NO TESTING...
• no screen time during the week...
• very strict bed times...
• careful with the food that she eats before and during school...she NEEDS brain food, no wasted calories!
• only mom does homework with her...
• after school tutoring....
• only dad can do homework with her...
• no after school torturing...
• homework at the kitchen table...
• homework in her bedroom....
• more talks with teachers....

I'm going to be honest, 

     her going into 5th grade was very scary for me.  

She was going to have 4 different teachers...

4 different people that we had to communicate with about any issues she had with classwork or homework...and please don't let there be any girl drama...please NO 5th grade girl drama...

....

I prayed a lot this past year...

not that I wasn't praying before...

but I had more focused prayer for her...

God, help my girl enjoy school...help her get joy out of learning...God, help her to just get it!

we prayed more together...

Beau and I prayed for her

Beau and I prayed WITH her

we encouraged her over and over and over again to pray for herself.

we constantly reminded her that God was with her during EVERY test she took...

we pray daily on our drive to school...and would encourage her to pray at school before a test, before a project, or if she was having girl drama...

guess what...

there is 6 1/2 days of 5th grade left...

and this has been an amazing year.

....

school is still not easy for Madison,

learning will always be something that she has to reach a little higher for...

but her 4 teachers that she had this past year...

they were a gift from God...

they are what teachers are meant to be.

they stretched Madison when they knew she could stretch...

and they let her rest when she needed rest.

they helped her love school...

they nurtured her, they cherished her, they grew her academically in ways that we didn't hope for.

in the past month...

this child who has struggled with school for the past 4 years...

she won 3rd place in the 5th grade science fair...

...um yeah, there's ONLY 120 5th graders at her school!...

3rd place!  Thanks Ms. Stoker...

and then...

she received a President's Education Award for Outstanding Academic Excellence....

WHAT!

yep...that's Mr. Obama's John Hancock on that!

and then...the one from left field...

the girl hates math...

always...since kindergarten...it's been her worst subject...

she received a certificate for her work in Math!

...thanks Ms. Hyatt....

Madison & Hailey with their math awards

I know what it's like for school to not be easy....

I didn't sail through school...

I think that may be why it's hard for me to watch Madison struggle...

I remember being in the group of 'slow' kids...

I remember wanting to leave the class and go to the fun reading class, but I couldn't spell so I had to stay in with the slow readers (even though I was a great reader!)...

I've learned this year...

some stuff I've always known...

• Madison is smart, she just takes longer to get the information in...and then back out again...
• I'd rather have a child that struggles with reading but never falters with it comes to compassion!
• that girl is funny...
• maybe school isn't as hard for her as it is for mom watching her...it's like I'm going through it again and saying, "not again,"... but it's her first time...she doesn't know different...
• school isn't the end or the beginning of her life...or mine!
• teachers can make or break a child...be your child's advocate 

the 3 besties...Madison (left),
Lauren (middle), holding Madison's math award,
 & Hailey (right)...and Hailey's little sister in front

anyways...

I'm so very thankful for this past year...

I survived 5th grade again!

and we have been so very grateful for Madison's team of teachers...

thank you Stoker, Hyatt, Kubisch, & Packham...you are the teachers that Madison needed this year.

seriously...we know...without a shadow of a doubt...that Madison's teachers were the answer to our prayers!

Thank you God!

my week

it's just the boy child and me this week...
the husband and girl child are away at WES camp
Whiskeytown Environmental Camp
blog note:
...Whiskeytown is a local Lake and State Park...
I didn't send the 5th grade girl to a camp to learn about making fire water!

anyways....this has been my week
work
call dr. office to talk about insurance issues
volunteer for boy child's class
call dr. office leave message
have wii tournament with boy child
(fyi...I totally kicked his you-no-what in table tennis and frisbee)
make waffles for dinner
have Monday night Hookers over
...that's what I call my crochet ladies that come over on Monday's
stay up way too late with Erin trying to get the knot-from-Hades out of her yarn!

wake up too early on Tuesday morning
work
call dr's office and leave message about insurance stuff
work
hang out with church financial secretary while we are both on the phone with insurance company about a totally new issue
pick up boy child
cuddle and read with boy child
call dr office AGAIN
get letter from insurance company about totally different issue...
...UGH...
repeat the mantra
"I just love health insurance companies"
fall asleep crazy early due to last night's 'hookin' issues

wake up early because I went to bed too early
work
call dr office and leave another message about issue #1
have meeting with volunteer
pick up boy child
make cookies....
and that's where we are right now...boy and I are going to make cookies!
good bye!

May Day

May Day...May Day...

it's another ChambersMade family 1st...

we've never really lived in a neighborhood that we could really 'celebrate' May Day...

 now we do...
I've been collecting cans for a few weeks now...
I have a plan for them and this summer...

but I figured I have plenty cleaned & up in the cupboard that I could spare 4 so the kids and I could have a little May Day fun...

we wrapped wire around the groves in the cans and made a handle with the wire...
printed up a little May Day Tag and tied it with twine
and then cut some mini roses off our rose bush...

the kids sneaked up to the doors...

rang the door bell...

and RAN as fast as they could...

...

fun times...

all in all it took 30 minutes...

from creating and printing the tag,

to wrapping the wire around the can and creating a handle

tying the tag onto the can

cutting the roses

and then the delivery...

and cost us $0.00

we will hopefully make this a ChambersMade family tradition...

and hopefully our neighbors are pleasantly surprised by the little can of flowers on the door knob!

have you ever participated/celebrated May Day?