Is this week over yet?

Well I am still somewhat congested and having the occasional coughing fit but I did rejoin the land of the living this week. Why do the bugs Dracen brings home always seem to hit me ten times harder than they do him? I suppose it is due to that whole resilience thing kids have working for them.

In other news, we had our first parent/teacher conference with one of Dracen's teachers this week. It seems he is doing well as far as grades go. His only problem (which was no news) is his inability to stop talking incessantly. He gets a lot of "silent lunches" and laps at recess and doesn't hesitate to tell me all about each incident (which usually involves some tattling by a girl) as soon as he gets in the car in the afternoons. Giving Dracen laps to run is more of a reward than a punishment but I guess it at least stops him from talking for a few seconds.

Data notebooks came home for the first time yesterday and inside was his behavior chart for October where all his laps and silent lunches were listed along with some questions he had written answers to. When asked why he didn't meet his behavior goal, he wrote "because I was talking a very, very, very lot!" Did this child get even one of my genes?  Because seriously, I NEVER TALKED in elementary school. Seriously. I think some of the kids (and maybe teachers too) thought I was a mute.

And then there's his brother...the one who looks like me and even has my introverted nature yet has somehow managed to get himself labeled as the class clown.  I had such high hopes for high school, thinking we were leaving these problems behind us with middle school. Turns out, I was wrong because while I was grocery shopping Monday afternoon Charlie received a call from his math teacher. Her words were "I need some help." Apparently he threw a piece of paper and then proceeded to hum while she was trying to teach the class. So she put him on the phone in order for Charlie to give him a good talking to. 

Oh yes, we've been having us quite the fun time around here this week what with the teacher phone call, the coughing fits (Charlie got hit with it this week) my lecture to Dracen on "girl drama" and why he should be trying to steer clear of it at all costs, the Devin lectures, and the fact that Dracen seems to have forgotten that one should be wearing shoes in order to attend school and to leave the house in general. The child forgot his shoes twice for school this week and once while going to Popaw's in the afternoon. One day we were already late leaving so the turning around after we were almost out of the neighborhood landed him a tardy. 

Also, it has turned COLD. Way too cold for baseball which has continued to carry on this week. I may be sporting my bibs and snow boots to Dracen's game tonight. It was 34 degrees on the car thermometer this morning and yet Devin (for reasons way beyond my level of comprehension) refused to put on a hoodie over his short-sleeved t-shirt. So while I was fussing at him, he was rolling his eyes over the backseat at Dracen..."Who forgets to wear SHOES?!" 

Thank the good Lord it is Friday! 

We did manage to make our yearly trip up the mountain last Sunday to see the changing leaves. I usually always forget until the leaves are past their peak but for whatever reason this year (maybe it was all that record-breaking rain over the summer?) they have decided to take their time about changing since many of them were still green. But some spots were absolutely breathtaking and we got a few good photos....

   

Happy Friday,