Sunday, September 27, 2015

It's been a long time...

I just realized how long it has been since I last updated my blog...like 3 months.

Paul and Nathan went to Chicago from 7/16/15-7/25/15.  I decided to stay home to save us money on airfare and dog boarding.  We intended not to go to Chicago this year so that we could focus on home projects, but I decided that Nathan should go see his family, especially grandma GG.  I also really wanted some time alone to get things done at home without interruption.  While in town, they also went to Paw Paw, MI with aunt Lisa.  I was pretty busy at home.  The one fun thing I did was go to the zoo on 7/20.

Nathan started Kindergarten at Sonoran Science Academy on 8/3.  He has computer class on Mondays and Fridays, PE on Tuesdays and Thursdays and music class on Wednesdays. He is in a Lego Club that meets every Monday after school.  We were not very impressed with the school in the beginning because it seemed like the administration was not prepared for school to start.  It has been an adjustment for Nathan.  He had a few behavioral issues the first couple of weeks.  Then he did great for about 3 weeks.  Two weeks ago he got -5 behavior points.  This past week was even tougher.  Daddy was out of town for work.  Nathan got -7 behavior points on Monday for hitting another student.  He claims he was playing tag, but those who witnessed said otherwise.  He promised me that he would not hit his classmates again, but he did it again the next day.  He was sent to the principal's office and got another -5 behavior points.  He also lied to me and told me that he was good at school so we had to have a talk about lying.  Fortunately, the rest of the week was better. Friday he had a half day.  He did earn a free dress day for having enough positive behavior points for the month of August.  Kindergarten won the Box Top contest, thanks largely to us!  Nathan also has won a future lunch with the principal for selling 15 fundraiser coupon books.  

I went to the Reid Park Rose Garden and Tucson Botanical Gardens on 8/5.

We went to Peach Mania at Apple Annie's in Willcox on 8/8.  We love going there.  We had the peach pancake breakfast.  Later we had peach ice cream and roasted corn.  I bought salsa, fudge, vidalia onion dressing, cheese curds, fresh veggies, etc...  Of course we picked a ton of peaches....we have had many peach shakes since!

I went to Tohono Chul Park pretty much every day from 8/12-8/20 trying to see the starfish cactus.  I saw a bud getting ready to open the first day I went and I was told that it would probably open in a couple of days.  It did not open until a week later!  There were actually 2 open when I went on the 20th, but one was in the back where I really could not get to.  I saw a snake that day, too, so I had to be careful.  It was the first time I saw a starfish cactus in person so I thought it was pretty cool.

I went to the Desert Museum on 8/19.  I got some good pictures of the bighorn sheep.  However, my camera had been having trouble focusing so I finally decided to take it in to get it looked at the next day.  A few weeks later I finally got it back....after spending about $500 to fix it.

We went to Funtasticks on 8/23.  We did bumper boats, miniature golf and go karting.  That was the first time I went go karting and it was really fun.  I won miniature golf because Paul said whoever got a hole in one wins...and that was me!  We went to Cheesecake Factory afterward for lunch.

I went to the Reid Park Rose Garden and Tucson Botanical Gardens on 9/4.

We decided to go up to Phoenix on 9/6.  We went to eat lunch at Maggianos.  It was a great meal...I had chicken piccata.  I went to Butterfly Wonderland while the boys went to the train park.  They also went to the mall and Nathan got a new dog at Buildabear which he named Fluffy.  We went to  Portillos for an early dinner, but we were all too stuffed from lunch to eat.  We just got smoothies there.  Then we went to the Glendale Drive-In.  We had a couple of hours to kill until they opened so we really did not know what to do with ourselves.  Finally we got in and we watched the movie Inside Out.  Nathan and I had seen it at the movie theater, but Paul had not seen it.  It was Nathan's first time at a Drive-In and I think for me as well.  The only issue we had was that we wanted to sit on the ground on a blanket.  You are supposed to get the sound for the movie from your car radio, though.  We don't have a truck or SUV which made that difficult.  We were just listening to the sound from everyone else's vehicles.  Unfortunately, the people next to us decided to keep their car running which drowned out the sound of the movie so it was difficult to hear.

9/9 was National Teddy Bear day.  I got some pictures of Nathan with a couple of his teddy bears and his new Buildabear dog.

I went to see the Lego exhibits at the Tucson Botanical Gardens on 9/14.  We decided to let Nathan enter their Lego contest.  His age group is K-5th grade which makes it a little tough on him.  He built a saguaro with the mountains and sky in the background.

Paul turned 45 on 9/20.  I made him a cake.  We went to church.  He could not decide where to eat for lunch.  We finally ended up at El Charro Cafe downtown.  We were disappointed in our meal, though.

Paul went to Hartford, CT for work 9/21-9/25.  I really do not like when he travels for work because then I have to take care of Nathan by myself.  Nathan had rough days at school the first couple of days, too.

Yesterday, 9/26, Paul and Nathan went to the U of A football game vs UCLA.  I was supposed to go with, but I was not feeling up to it.  I did not miss much because they lost 30-56.

This next week will be the last week of the quarter for Nathan and then he has Fall break.  Even though he has had behavioral issues, he has been doing well academically.  It is a tough curriculum, too.  He has been learning to count, but he can already count past 100.  They are adding and subtracting.  They are learning their phonograms.  We do a lot of computer work at home for IReady that concentrates on reading and math.  Nathan loves doing it because they make it fun like a game. Nathan is learning how to write and read.  Supposedly he is one of the strongest readers in the class according to what he has told me. We have been working with him at home and he is finally getting it.  Now that he knows he can do it if he sounds out the words, he enjoys it.  He especially does well with the BOB books that Ms. Monica from his old school recommended.