Little Bits of 1st Grade

Let's start with the best of all:

 I freaking laughed my head off.

 His haunted house.

 His constructed compound word.

 Can you guess it?  The thing on the left is a letter and the thing on the right is a box.

He was supposed to write 5 addition problems with the sum of 12.  He mostly stuck to addition and I love that he has complicated problems and then 10+2 and 2+10.  Haha, he's great.

Now check out this video.  I didn't take it to always remember Miles roller skating like an athlete, but to get his teacher.  She's the black lady with the big hair dancing.  Check it:

Ms. Gates from DAM FAM on Vimeo.

Fun Run

This really isn't an important life event or something we would be sad if it didn't get recorded, but Miles was pretty stoked about it and it was an excuse for me to get out the camera and practice again.  I have been extremely uninspired with photography lately.  I feel like I don't really have anything to take pictures of and my house is wretchedly dark (as in, lack of natural light.  Don't get me started.  When I grow up, I want a house with WINDOWS.).  I should get some sort of project going so my camera doesn't collect dust and my skills rust.

Anyway, I busted out the camera for this event and took pictures so here they are.  It was Miles' school fundraiser this year.  A fun run that the kids got pledges for how many laps they ran.  Miles was way in to it because they got prizes for how many dollars per lap they got pledged.  He wound up getting a whopping 4 dollars per lap!  I didn't let him ask very many people to pledge (Dave and I pledged one of his four dollars) because the whole fundraiser/asking for money thing just makes me extremely uncomfortable.  Is that just me?  I really dislike it.  My problems aside, THANKS to everyone who pledged!

Anyway, the whole deal was put on really well and you could tell it was really fun for the kids.  And Miles really, really loves it whenever I come to school events.  

Miles gave me a five as we went around each lap.

Miles' 1st grade class and teacher, Ms. Gates.

The silly face picture.  I love Miles' silly face.  It's so him.

Popsicles to celebrate their accomplishment.  Way to go!

The Power of a Compliment

Waaaaaaaaay back on Mother's Day, Miles and Dave made some paper link chain decorations for me.  On one of the chains, they wrote things they like and/or love about me on the inside and outside of each link.  I literally just took it down like a week ago, and only because Miles begged me to.  He was tired of it being up and is chomping at the bit to decorate for Christmas.  So it had to go.  But I couldn't bring myself to throw it away!  Just so you know, I LOVE throwing stuff away.  I've moved enough to know what is truly valuable enough to stay out of the trash and I know I'll still have to throw a bunch of stuff away if we are ever lucky enough to move out of here.  Anyway, I'm not keeping a paper link chain forever, but I want to remember it forever so I'm writing their notes down here.  Done and done.

Dave wrote (not in any particular order):

-Stylish
-Hugs
-Nurturing
-Laugh and smile
-My best friend
-Love and support
-Open heart
-Kisses
-Healthy
-Family values
-Sense of humor
-Beauty
-I love that you're my wife!
-Testimony
-Eyes

Miles wrote (not in any particular order):

-Love!
-I love that you're my mom!
-She makes me happy.
-Best friend.
-I like that you take care of me.
-You let me take off school yesterday.
-You play with me.
-Kisses!

No wonder I wanted to leave it up forever and ever!  Wowzers!  Those are some good boys I've got.  Thanks for loving me, guys.

Ripping Out Teeth

You can go ahead and judge us.  We pulled Miles' two front teeth.  They were half out and his permanent teeth were coming in on top of them so we felt like they had to go.  Call me vain, but I didn't want to risk his permanent teeth coming in weird because they had nowhere to go.

Anyway, it was brutal since Miles is so unbelievably pain adverse.  He would barely let us touch a tooth before he'd close his mouth so I held him down and Dave ripped them out.  We did one per night, so Miles looked ridiculous missing just the one for a whole day.  As usual, he was totally fine and happy after all the ridiculous drama.

I was so ready for those suckers to come out, but after it was all said and done, I had the weirdest sense of regret and loss.  It was like I didn't think about how this is another step away from little kid land, how it's the start of the ugly duckling years and all of a sudden I didn't feel so ready for that!  It was weird.

Then the next day we ripped out the other one:

Miles was pretty stoked because he planned to be a hockey player for Halloween and missing teeth is very authentic for that costume.  That's why he wanted his picture taken in his hockey helmet.  Anyway, as soon as both teeth were gone, I felt better because it seems/looks so much more kiddie to me than just missing one.  He won't have those holes for long, though!  His permanent teeth are already coming in quick!  Yikes!  Ugly duckling here we come!

Snore

Miles has the best snore in the world.  He uses it in the funniest times and it always makes me laugh and smile.  He's the best.
 
Snore from DAM FAM on Vimeo.

Now here he is snoring for real when we all shared a room at my parents' house:
 
Snore For Real from DAM FAM on Vimeo.

First Day- 1st Grade

First grade!  Holy moly.  Dave's parents were leaving that day and we were a little worried about Miles having his usual sad, sad, sadness he gets whenever he has to say good bye to family.  It's so heart breaking to watch.  Anyway, we told him it would probably be better if he said good bye to Grandma and Grandpa at our house so he wouldn't have to cry at school.  He really wanted them to come, though, and promised he could be strong so we all went together to take Miles to his first day of first grade.  He said good bye at the car, held it together and then Dave and I walked him in to his classroom.  It was a success.

I think Miles is enjoying school a little more this year.  He has a very lively teacher which I am thankful for.  He still complains that he is bored, though.  He tells me, "I didn't have to think ONE TIME at school today."  He's a smart little one, so I totally believe him.  He's in the "gifted and talented" program at the school but all it has done so far is give him extra homework/projects rather than actually challenge him at school.  Oy.

Every day I take Miles to school, I am so so thankful that he got in to that school.  We are zoned to a school in a severely ghetto and scary area, so I will never forget what an enormous blessing it was to get in.  We all prayed for months that Miles would get in to a good school (lottery based-- hundreds of applications and few spots) and it was so great to be able to tell Miles that Heavenly Father answered his prayers and he got in to a great school.  No matter how sick I am of Houston and everything we've had to deal with here (someone getting shot and killed by a cop about 20 yards from our place, suicide on the other side of the wall, waking up to gun shots right outside our bedroom window at 4am, all the ridiculousness of Dave's job, personal stuff.... oh, and the fact that it's HOUSTON), Miles going to this great school is something that keeps me going, even if it is slowly.  I hope he is happy, even if he is bored!

Nice Kicks

There is a sandwich place here called "Which Which" where you fill out your order on a bag and then they put your prepared sandwich in said bag.  Also, I want you to know that you have to write your name on the bag so they can call you when your sandwich is ready.  Dave and I always try to put names that go together like Bert and Ernie or Frodo and Sam, etc.  It's a fun game.  You should try it sometime.

OR, you can just use the bags as replacement shoes, as seen below.

In summary, the which which bags provide entertainment for all members of the DAM fam.

A Museum and Butterflies

Dave's parents came to visit in August right before Miles started school.  It was a quickie, but a goodie!

We all headed to the museum of natural science.  It's really fantastic.  I was not disappointed.  We went to the butterfly exhibit thingy.  It was super cool!

They have a variety of other bugs and things to look at before you go into the butterfly place.

This grasshopper was ENORMOUS.

These cockroach pictures are up equal parts for you and for Miles.

They are up here for Miles because he claims they are his favorite "animal."  It's all he would consider taking as a pet, though he wouldn't really have the guts to do it if it were actually a possibility.  He's royally afraid of pretty much all bugs and creatures.  I'm not sure why he raves about them-- probably just for the reactions.

They are up here for you so you can feel bad for me that I live in a land of roaches and have seen many of them this size in my house.  In fact, Dave killed one in our bathroom this morning.  Good ol Houston.  What's not to love?

Moving on.

They have cases of chrysalises.  It's super cool.  We watched one butterfly come out of its chrysalis.  It was pretty freakin' rad.

Enjoy the pictures: