Journaling

***I thought I had scheduled this to post on Saturday.  Oops!  I took the weekend off of blogging and just noticed.***

For summer vacation I'm going to have my children journal about their day.  I'm hoping I can get them to write a few sentences each day just to keep them in the habit of writing.  This is an area of weakness for my son, so this can only help.  I think I'm going to have Goalieboy  (Gb) write his journal in an online blog.  I think it'll also help him with his poor typing skills.  Our goal is going to be to write  four to five journal entries a week.  At least one four sentence paragraph.

I decided I'm also going to journal here.  It won't necessarily be daily and on hectic weeks it may be more of a week in review journal post.  I'm going to lead by example.  Hopefully my son willingly follows.  I know my daughter will be excited.  I can't wait to see what they write.  Anything goes.  I want them to explore their writing.  I want it to be fun.  I plan on highlighting a few of their journal posts here.

I'll start today...

June 24, 2011

Today was Goalieboy and Little Bee's  last day of school.  Hallelujah!  It's been a long year with many ups and downs. It was a wonderful day.  I blogged about it here. 

I let the kids sleep in this morning since there would be none of the typical before school rush.  My son actually was up by 6:30 and came in to snuggle in bed with me.  It was so sweet because he doesn't do morning snuggles much anymore.  It was so precious.  My heart was melting.  We finally climbed out of bed at 7:45.  It was one of the best school mornings.

I loved not having to pry them out of bed.  It was great having an enjoyable and relaxing breakfast.  They had a chocolate chip muffin and berries (strawberries and blueberries).  Then they relaxed and watched Word World together.  A newly, rediscovered show they both enjoy.  It was wonderfully peaceful. 

I walked the kids to school, laden down with their teacher gifts.  They were so excited, even though it was a bit cool and damp out.  Usually the weather is in the mid-80's to low-90's this time of year.  It was surreal.  It made so that it didn't "feel" like the last day of school.  When we arrived at school I realized Little Bee had  forgotten the flowers for her teacher.  I kissed Goalieboy goodbye and then Little Bee and I headed quickly back home for her flowers.  Thank goodness we live close by.  We made it back home and made the quick drive back before school start.  Woohoo!

I spent the morning blogging and blog hopping.  Then I spoke to Gb's hearing impaired teacher and we were able to setup a time to meet in front of the school.  I had been trying to see her this whole week but both are schedules have been crazy.  It was so nice to see her!  I told her I appreciated everything she did for Gb this year.  He is finally getting some of the support he needs because of her.  She has also networked and connected us with someone who is getting him new aides.  We are so blessed to have her in our lives.  She is the embodiment of what teachers should be.  She goes the distance and beyond for her kids.  Gb was so happy to see her as he walked out of school.  He told her thank you, hugged her and gave her his gifts of flowers and chocolates.

Late morning was spent going through end of the year papers and art projects.  They also got their report cards.  Little Bee thrived this year.  She did awesome.  Her teacher is not one to give 4's and "O's" for outstanding.  She worked hard this whole quarter and was rewarded with two 4's and 3 O's.  I'm so proud of her. I try to speak to the kids separately about their report cards because Gb struggles with his grades.  I don't want him to ever feel compared to LB.  They are two separate kids with different learning abilities.  Gb's grades dropped again in many areas.  He received his first D.  This year's been so frustrating.  I'm hoping for better things next year.

We spent the afternoon out on a walk.  It was nice and peaceful since it was overcast and rain was threatening.  Then we spent an hour at the park enjoying all to ourselves before heading home for dinner.  It was the perfect afternoon.

As a treat we ended our meal with a hot fudge sundae.  The kids were in heaven. 

Overall it was a wonderful day that ended with us watching Toy Story and enjoying a HUGE bowlful of popcorn.  Perfect!