At the End of the Day I'm another Day Older!: MAY RECAP

May is one of the two busiest months of the year, in my opinion. Not sure exactly why - but it must have something to do with end of the school year and all that accompanies it. Regardless, we are just glad to have made it through alive.

Things that Happened:

A: We decided to paint a wall in our house
B: Learning more about the horrible "Common Core"
C: End of the school year and sports activities

How I felt about them:
A: Greg left to Boise for a weekend for a continuing education thing, and so I pulled my usual 'surprise change" for when he leaves me, and decided last minute on saturday night to paint the large wall in the front room. The kids were excited and all helped me to do it. I chose a green that is called "jalapeno" and I think it turned out nice. Greg even liked it. It was the first time that I have painted anything in 3+ years since before we moved into the house!

It's hard to see it here - but the color actually is one of the shades in the couches!

B:I have become involved (by my own choice) with a group of other parents who are also concerned about Common Core. This is a tricky subject as there are many people who either A) don't know anything about it at all or B) feel like 'it's already implemented so we can't do anything about it now' or even worse (in my opinion) C) those who think it is a 'good thing for our educational system'. If you don't know anything about Common Core - I would suggest you do some reading up on it - there is just way too much for me to explain here on this blog about it - but I would happily invite you to attend our next 'Cottage Meeting' where we will explain in a nutshell what is going on and how we can fight against it. Our goal is to get Idaho to stop it's implementation (that we realize has already begun) and give the people and the legislature more time to really investigate it and pull out the 'good parts' of it and get rid of the bad parts of it. (data collection is so over-the-top it is like we are really living in a futuristic sci-fi book, I swear!)

http://www.ksl.com/?sid=25452802&nid=1014&title=3-fla-schools-scanned-childrens-eyes-without-parental-consent&fm=home_page&s_cid=queue-13

www.idahoansagainstcommoncore.com
www.tnacc.net
www.utahnsagainstcommoncore.com
http://dianeravitch.net/2013/02/26/why-i-cannot-support-the-common-core-standards/

C:If there is one thing that I try NOT to do, it is to brag. I know people get all wrapped up in how wonderful their children are and try to 'live through them' or whatever. But to be honest, I have mostly been surprised at how seemingly 'easy' it is for my kids to do well in school. I am happy about it, don't get me wrong, only just surprised at how so far they have all done so well. The oldest 5 children (all that are in school) managed to pull off perfect 4.0's. I promise I don't pressure them about it - they just all seem driven to do it. The only thing that I tell my kids is that if they are trying their hardest, then that is all that I expect of them. It is the one thing that I know was helpful to me when I was growing up - the 'no pressure' attitude of 'just do your best'. My parents wouldn't punish me for bad grades or reward me for good ones either. They just always expressed confidence in me and encouraged me to do my best. I hope that it is the right way to go about it all - so far it seems to be working well. We'll see what comes up in the future as I am sure things will always be changing and each child is different.
Anyhow - especially Landen is making Greg and I so proud lately. He has the most sticktoitiveness of anyone I know. He has worked so hard for several years to pass off what is called "Famous 1" through "Famous 3". It is a set of tests that they study for and take throughout the year - and you have to pass off one per year in order. He got the last one this month. He had to know and memorize so many things that I could never have done - and I consider myself a pretty decent memorizer. Here are a few of the things that he had to pass off:

http://tceagles.weebly.com/uploads/6/3/4/9/6349044/famous_3.pdf

What a fabulous son he is. So proud of him and of all of my children for working so hard and doing so well. I am truly blessed.

The oldest four kids also did really well at their end of the year piano recitals.
In SPORTS - Landen finished off his season of Track-n-field and especially loved throwing the discus and Sadie finished off her soccer season by making a bunch of great goals.