Mom, my teacher was spanking kids today...

Christian got in the car the other day after school and when asked how his day was he responded, "My teacher was tired and grumpy today."

No surprise there. I have bad days too and I can only imagine that the first week of school with a bunch of first graders could be a bit trying. It would be for me. :) However this is not where he stopped.

He went on, "Kids were not being good today and she got mad and started to spank them. She got really close to me but I got lucky, she didn't spank me."

I was thinking, there is no way this could happen. He didn't seem horribly upset about it. Usually if he even gets a (verbal) warning for talking in class he dissolves into tears when he gets into the car. So, spanking? And talking so nonchalantly about it? So, I questioned him about it and he became more detailed. He started using kids names from class. I was a little worried, but something deep inside of me didn't panic. I mean, really, mass spanking? She would be fired the next day if kids went home telling their parents about this. If she really were that off her rocker, wouldn't they have figured that out by now?

At this point, I did what any good parent would do...a little research. I called a friend that has one of her daughters in the class and her daughter said that kids got magnets taken off of their desk (a method of keeping track of the kids that get warnings a missed recesses for behavior) but that she didn't see anyone get spanked. Then as I was finishing the conversation with my friend, to my surprise, on the caller ID it showed the kids school was calling. Lo and behold, it was his teacher.

She called to let me know how great my child was doing, what his struggles were that I could work on, and how glad she was to have him in her class. Sure, she sounds like the devil in disguise...NOT. So after a healthy discussion about my cute little Christian, I casually add in that Christian said he saw some spanking at school that day. Without the slightest fear in her voice she puzzlingly said, "Maybe there were kids spanking each other in line that I had not seen." Her biggest worry, that he could be having a hard time understanding what was really taking place in the class. Like a complete break with reality (okay, she didn't insinuate that far).

After I got off of the phone I called Christian into the room to talk about my phone call. I started, "I just got off of the phone with your teacher and your friends mom and they both said there was no spanking at school that they know of."

His eyes were held wide in disbelief and he was blubbering before I could finish, "I was just joking mom."

Yes, we had a little discussion as to how NOT funny it was and he made a nice "I'm sorry for lying" card to his teacher.

Great way to make a good impression the first week of school. :) Time to read the story about the boy who cried wolf....

Invitation

You are cordially invited to the Baptism of

Katherine Grace Marchese

as she becomes a member of

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints

August 30, 2008

10 AM

2740 S Lindsay Rd, Gilbert, Az 85926

Katie would love to have her friends there if they would like to come. We will miss those that are far from us on this special day.

Cute little video...

This is a little hard to hear in the beginning of the video, but I liked it...

The Fourth Day of School...

As was established, we missed the first day of school. So what do you post,...fake pictures, that's what. From the FOURTH day of school. Yes, I told the kids to smile like it was the first day of school and they were really excited about going. We won't talk about how they were wailing and gnashing their teeth last night because of homework and the loss of their care free hours. The fake picture tells the truth...they were excited.
Katie found out that she has a least five of her really good friends in her class along with a really nice teacher. She is a bit shy and has had a hard time putting herself out there with her friends so I was so excited that she was put into the middle of all the ones she plays with on a regular basis plus the ones she loves at school. What a blessing. The ironic thing is that the first day of school I asked her which friends she played with at recess and she responded that she played with a new friend, a girl named Shelby. I am almost sure that one of the reasons she was drawn to this girl is that she has the same name as our dog we no longer have, but still misses. I think this is going to be a great year for her on several fronts.

I still don't really know who is in Christian's class, but I can tell he is really loving his teacher and respects her. When I picked them up on the first day of all-day school Christian said, "That was a really long day. I am going to be glad when it is a half day again tomorrow." (Like in Kindergarten).


I responded in surprise of this misunderstanding, "Oh honey, you are in first grade now, it is all day everyday from now on..."

"WHHHaaat?"

Yeah, a shocker, but he is doing well. I think he loves having lunch at school and feels very grown up about that right now. It is very cute.

The cool thing that we did do the first day of school is the traditional Father's Blessing. We woke up early enough in the morning that they were able to receive one before they took off on their first day. What a wonderful blessing we have. The comfort it gives and the reassurance that their Heavenly Father loves them is truly an awesome thing. It was calming for me also, to feel that everything will go well, at least after the wailing and gnashing of teeth is over. :) We are still human after all. Thank goodness for the extra blessing to help us through that. :)

Nashville in Opryland...

So what do you do right before school starts? Go on another trip and miss the first day of school. Mike had a National Boy Scout Meeting in Nashville and without my regularly trusted long-term babysitter available, we decided to tote the kids along with us this year. It was really fun to have them there and probably got me out of the hotel room more than I would have otherwise. (I love to relax on those trips, I turn into a total sleeping bum). We stayed at the Opryland Hotel, one of the few hotels that can handle that many people along with the conference facilities that are needed.

The first time I went to the Nashville and the Opryland I was pregnant with Katie. That time I got to see The Hermitage, the Ryman Auditorium, go attend the Grand Ol Opry (w/Vince Gill and Diamond Rio), dance at the Wild Horse Saloon (pretty tame, actually) and other Nashville type things. I am really glad I got to do that last time, because those are all things that the kids would have had no patience for this time around. And in true Marchese fashion, the kids got sick right before we left. However, this was the first time this summer, so I wasn't really that bummed out. I took a good book and some things for the kids to entertain themselves with in the room during our down time. The Opryland itself is fun to roam around. Katie started to hone her map skills (she's my daughter) as she wanted to help navigate our way through the vast landscape.

The hotel has three large (and I mean gigantic) garden areas. The kids had a blast seeing all of the green around them. This may not seem to have anything to do with the gardens, but as the airplane was getting closer to landing the kids looked out the window and Katie turned to me and said, "Mom we are over the water!" I looked out my window (yes, Mike sat with the kids, blessed man!) and saw lots of deep green tree tops. We had to explain that this is what the tops of trees look like from the air as they are used to seeing so much brown in the desert. In the garden areas of the hotel there are waterfalls, rivers, and streams running through the place. Katie got very excited when she saw some pretty fuzzy green stuff growing along the stream "beds". Here is a picture, just for you Jeralee, of my daughter holding hotel grown moss. She was exhorted not to pick anymore as it was a premium in the hotel. But if she would like to go back to Oregon she could pick and pull as much as she wanted. I loved moss when I was a kid too. The house across the street had lots of trees with beds of bright green moss growing under it that was perfect for walking barefoot. Here the kids have climbed up the rocks and are playing in the man made stream. I guess we need to go hiking when it gets cooler...

Here is one of the gorgeous waterfalls they have there. I just loved the sound of the water.

More Green. Yes, those are fully grown, real trees in the background. You can see the steel trusses up at the top of the picture that support the giant atrium that provides all the natural sunlight with a wonderfully temperature controlled climate. I think that this is what heaven will be like. Temperature controlled climate.
Waterfalls and a pretty house/restaurant, full sized building under the massive atrium.
We had a lot of fun wandering together and hanging out sick together.

Do You Want to See a Magic Trick?

Our kids have had some loose teeth for awhile. We nicknamed Christian shark teeth, shark boy, shark (you fill in the blank) because he had two rows of teeth. A couple of weeks ago, Mike asked Christian if he wanted to see a magic trick. Christian was game so we got out the dental floss and tied it onto a tooth and told him to get ready for the magic trick...and then we yanked. I truly don't know if he really had no idea what was coming, but he said he didn't know. He was pretty excited about losing his first tooth. No real fuss, neat and quick. We wanted to do the other one and get it out of the way but he didn't because, apparently, it hurt. I convinced him that it would hurt later too, so he might as well get it out of the way. He was game again and went for it. Quick and easy. He thought it was pretty cool. His little video is really cute. What a cute kid...

Apparently Katie felt left out because she was ready to get her lose tooth pulled. Amazingly, hers seemed much more loose, but it took forever to get it out. She has great roots and short teeth that make it hard to get out. She was a trooper. I was glad we did both of them the same hour, because I realized her teeth are difficult, not her. :) She wanted to have a video all by herself too, but Christian was being a stinker... That is what a brother is for, right?

So if you need to pull a tooth just ask them if they want to see a magic trick...and yank.

Here is Christian the next day. He found his bunny ears from Easter and was flashing his new toothy smile. Too Cute!! Just had to share it!