Sheryl Crow

First celebrity siting of the year ... Sheryl Crow at Monkey Joe's.

Snow Day, Again

Because of the ice, school was out Tuesday through Friday last week and Monday.  We got less than an inch of snow last night and they canceled school for today again.  Since it's sunny and going to get to 40F today, I got the big boys out early to sled for a bit with the neighbors.

Rylan was up for it this time because I found him his swimming goggles so flying snow wouldn't get in his eyes again!

Climbing Wall

The boys have tried the climbing wall at Pump It Up before but will never go higher than my head.  They always get scared and decide they are done.  Usually they aren't even interested in trying it.  Well Carter surprised me on Monday and asked to try climbing the wall when we were there.  He almost got all the way to the top too (there is a button to push at the top that sets off a siren - he almost got there!).

Lego Winner

Carter won a prize at the Lego contest this weekend!

Besides 1st, 2nd, and crowd favorite in each age category, there are also a few superlative awards given out.  The superlative winners don't get a gift card to the Lego Store, but they do get a certificate and ribbon.

Here are some facts about the competition:

I believe there were less entries than 2 years ago when Carter last did the competition (the boys didn't do it last year because we were at Disney World).

Carter's creation won "Best Nashville Architecture".

Carter was so excited.  He kept saying, "I can't believe they picked mine!"

Rylan was sad that he didn't win but he did really well for him.  He has a lot of trouble with losing (you do not want to play a game with him unless you are prepared for a fit with lots of tears if he loses ... sometimes things are thrown ... we are working on this!).

Lego Contest

There is a Lego contest at the Nashville Library this weekend.  The boys have been working on their entries since Christmas!  They have been obsessed.  A few weekends ago we got serious though and came up with final plans.  I tried to help as little as possible.  I only helped with some ideas, when needed, and let the boys build (I admit that I did put together a brick or two).

We got out about 10 of our larger Lego sets and covered the dining room table with bricks.  It is going to take me forever to sort the pieces back into their sets!!!

Rylan decided on a football game.

I like how he has one guy tackling another one.

There are quite the interesting mix of characters (Carter built his entry first so Rylan got all the weird guys!).

Carter built a scene from Centennial Park.  At Centennial Park, there is a full-scale model of the Athenian Parthenon.

So Carter built the Parthenon and things you'd find people doing at a park.

There are the policemen guarding the door of the Parthenon ...

Two guys planting a tree ...

A couple having a picnic on a blanket under a tree ...

Two guys playing frisbee ...

A guy walking his dog (who is sniffing a light post) ...

A police officer giving a kid a ticket for skateboarding ...

A duck swimming in a pond with lilypads (with trees and a fountain nearby) ...

A guy on a bench looking at a map and drinking coffee ...

A guy throwing something away in a trash can ...

A guy riding a bike ...

I took the boys downtown to turn in their entries.  The roads were fine except for our neighborhood.  I made it out okay though.  We also stayed at the library for their current play, Tall Tale Circus.  It's our favorite one they do.  Grayson watched it the entire time too, mesmerized for the full 45 minutes.

We go back tomorrow afternoon to view all the entries and for the awards ceremony.  Both boys are in the Pre-K/Kindergarten category.  However, I expect there will be over 100 entries so the odds of winning aren't great.  You never know though and the boys are super excited about tomorrow!

Carter's IEP

A few weeks ago I met with Carter's speech teacher, the vice principal of his school, and Carter's kindergarten teacher for his annual IEP (Individual Education Program) meeting.  Carter has been getting speech therapy for three years now.  Usually after three years, additional testing is required to stay in a program.  However, Carter's speech teacher said she had enough data to know that Carter should continue getting speech therapy so additional testing wasn't necessary.

Mrs. Elrod (Carter's speech teacher) decided that she'd like to see Carter two times a week for 15 minutes (instead of once a week for 30 minutes).  I like this schedule better so that he hopefully retains a little more.

Here are some excerpts from the IEP ...

Present Level of Performance

Carter has made great progress on his speech goals!  He has mastered the goal of using /l/ and /l/-blends in conversational speech!  His accuracy is consistently above 80% for these sounds.  He was 88% accurate on this goal in January (data from 01/09 & 01/13 combined).  Carter is very close to mastering his /s/ in conversational speech.  He was 87% accurate and 73% accurate on 01/09 and 01/13, respectively.  Carter demonstrates some difficulty with "sh" in conversational speech.

He also demonstrates difficultly with /r/ and "th".  However, these errors are developmentally appropriate at this time.

Carter's speech sound errors continue to impact his ability to communicate effectively in the classroom environment.

Measurable Annual Goals and Benchmarks/Short-term Instructional Objectives

Goal 1: During 5 minutes of conversational speech, Carter will correctly produce /s/ in all positions of words with 80% accuracy in 4 consecutive sessions as measured by observation and data collection.

Goal 2: During 5 minutes of conversational speech, Carter will correctly produce "sh" in all positions of words with 80% accuracy in 4 consecutive sessions as measured by observation and data collection.

If Carter masters these goals, he would stop going to therapy.  However, when he turns 7, there are new age appropriate sounds that I am not sure if he has yet or not.

Carter's kindergarten teacher (Mrs. Colasso) was in the meeting to supply input on how his speech impacts him in the classroom.  She said that his peers don't seem to have any trouble understanding him.  Usually it is adults that need him to repeat himself.  Also, his speech seems to have no effect on his educational performance.  For example, on the Star Early Literacy and Math tests he recently completed, Carter scored in the 99th percentile on both.

I am glad that Carter will continue to get therapy.  Even though he's come so far, I know there are still times that others don't understand him.  Rylan is much less intelligible though so I barely notice Carter's issues anymore.  Luckily Carter doesn't seem to mind being pulled from class and seems to look forward to it.

Should I Be Worried???

Carter made this little creation a couple of months ago ...

Sometimes I wonder if I should be worried about him!!!

Snow

On Wednesday morning we got some snow on top of our layer of ice.  We got at least an inch.  It was coming down hard for a little while.

Once it warmed up a little, Brian took the big boys out and I stayed inside with Grayson this time.

Carter tried shoveling some snow ...

Brian tried pick axing some ice :)

Rylan made dinosaur footprints with these snowshoe things I found on clearance at Target the other day.  The footprints are still there and look kind of creepy now!

Brian had to remind the boys to watch out for killer icicles (as well as sheets of ice that have slid off the roof)!!!

Still at Home

School has been canceled for the rest of the week.  I believe the main roads are pretty good but the neighborhoods aren't great.  Most neighborhoods don't get plowed so there is an inch or two of solid ice covered with an inch of snow.

So far we haven't tried getting out.  So we've been finding things to do around the house.

On Tuesday we made cookies.  Unfortunately I only had one stick of butter (we just don't use regular butter often so I don't usually have much).  The boys were able to make one cookie sheet each though.

Yesterday I blew the air mattress up and set it up in the bonus room for movie time.

Eventually the air mattress became part of a fort.

Carter has been very studious the last couple of days.  On Tuesday he learned how to count coins and yesterday he learned to read a clock.  He then did a bunch of math tests for school on the computer for those topics (as well as other basic math concepts).

When Grayson got up from a nap, Carter wanted to read books to him.  Grayson actually really seems to like being read too (just like Carter did when he was a baby - Rylan did not).

Iced In

School is cancelled today and it's not looking good for the rest of the week - lots of super cold temperatures and more chances for snow and ice.  The roads are horrible - sheets of ice.  As long as we keep power, I'll try not to complain too much :)

I took the boys out in the 1 to 2 inches of sleet yesterday.  Now all that sleet has frozen together into solid blocks of ice, but yesterday you could still crunch around in it.

Carter got to wear the new ski pants I had gotten him before everyone in town was scrambling to find some for our predicted several inches of snow!

Everything is coated in ice from the freezing rain we got for awhile.

Even the side of the house (notice how shiny the bricks are?) ...

We only played about 20 minutes because the boys were getting soaked (it was raining while we were out ... and then freezing).  But at least we got out for a few minutes - we are not good with being housebound.  We are on the go all the time and start going a little crazy when cooped up too long!

Ice Storm

Unfortunately this is not snow.

Yesterday there were predictions of 3 to 8 inches of snow.  Instead, we have only had freezing rain and sleet so far.

It's a mess out there and we aren't supposed to be above freezing all week (Wednesday night is supposed to be -7F).  I'm scared about how long school will be canceled!!!

Spelling Tests

Carter has finished both the sight word and phrase list tests at school.  He is now moving on to spelling tests.  He got his first list on Friday and will be tested this Friday.  The words are harder than I expected!

He only got two wrong the first time we went over them though.  I was impressed!

Carter's School Valentines

Carter had the exact same Valentine's as Rylan.

But he also got to write his classmates' names and his own on each Valentine.

Carter got to make his Valentine's box at home.  I found the idea of using a trashcan to make R2D2 online and we went with that.  Carter and I tried to copy the pattern of around R2D2's body and made that part on the computer.  We then printed it and taped it onto the trashcan.  We used cardstock and a cardboard tube to decorate the lid.

Front:

Back:

Side:

Top:

Carter was super proud of his R2D2. His teacher emailed me this note: "Carter’s “box” is AMAZING! I’ve never seen ones so cute! Love the idea of the trashcan too! It’s the perfect size and the opening is perfect too."

The school secretary offered to make all the kids Valentine's from their parents.  We got to send in a message and she made these for all the kids ...

Carter really likes the canvas I hung in Grayson's room that says "Never Forget My Goodnight Kiss" so I used that as part of his message.

Carter has 21 kids in his class so he got lots of Valentine's and treats!

These were some of the cute homemade ones like ours ...