The First Day Of Summer For The Jacksons

Yep! We went to the first of many trips to the YMCA pool. Luckily none of us were fried by the 96 degree heat and almost 100% humidity. (remind me why I like Tennessee, oh yeah, the winters rock!!! Just gotta make it through the next 3 months and we are set) Tyson, Taryn and myself stuck out like little white beacons because of the fact that our legs and arms haven't seen sun for a while. Needless to say, people needed sunglasses to look at my white legs. HEE HEE
I feel bad enjoying the time at the pool, while Vaughn works his tail off. He is now doing a month rotation of Surgery and getting up at 3:30a.m. is going to kick his butt. About ten days ago, we started on a new chemo medicine. The other one wasn't doing all that it needed to do, so Dr. Hanna, the oncologist, wanted to switch and get this stuff into remission, now! The only side affect that this one has, so far, is excessive tiredness. Vaughn is good while he is at work, but the second he comes home, he eats, says hi to all of us and goes straight to bed. Poor guy. I will be glad when this whole summer is over for him. Not that I would wish my summer away, but his is going to be a hard one. No rest for the weary. Back to the sun tomorrow.

1st Lost Tooth

Not only are we finished with Kindergarten, but now we are hitting another milestone.....loosing a tooth! Tyson wiggled and wiggled this one for days, and finally asked us to pull it. So we tried the string-on-the-tooth trick where you slam the door and supposedly the tooth comes out...yeah, didn't work. Next, Vaughn stuck his finger in there to pull it out but Tyson didn't like that at all. Last resort, get out the medical pliers and pull out the little bugger. I was surprised that Tyson even allowed his dad to do this, but it was his idea. So with the pliers clamped down and Tyson balking a little, we pulled out the tooth. He was ecstatic to see the tooth suspended in the pliers grip and then he tasted the blood.......tears flowed after that! He didn't realize that a little blood would come with the pulling of the tooth and he was not a happy camper. After about 10 minutes he calmed down and was happily putting his tooth in an envelope with a note to the tooth fairy.
And now......the other one is loose!

Tyson's Last Days of School.

These are the wonderful, stupendous, ladies whom I cannot say enough great things about, that I had the pleasure of working with this year in Tyson's class. I was the head room mom, a title I am glad to relinquish. These 5 women made the job a breeze. If ever I needed something, each and everyone of them responded and helped. L to R Kelly Masters, Sarah Roberts, Jennifer Copland, Shannon Beck, Laura Mueller and myself. I have made lasting friendships with all of these women. What an awesome year it has been to be with them and their children in Kindergarten.

AH! It is the last days of school for Tyson. Here is Tyson signing names in their autograph books.

My little, big man. I can no longer call him my little man, because he is moving on to first grade. It is hard to believe that he is that old.

He is all smiles..........ready to move on. (Kind of) The funny thing is, when he was getting ready to leave, on the last day, Mrs. Smith had told them all that they owed her one last hug before they could graduate to first grade. Tyson, my too-smart-for-his-own-good child, told her, "If I don't hug you, then I don't have to leave." What a concept! He loved this class and was a little sad to come to grips with the fact that he won't be coming back to Mrs. Smith next year.

Mrs. Smith's 2010-2011 Kindergarten Class. This has been one of the best classes. Mrs. Smith said so herself. The kids all get along and have bonded well. And us moms, of the kids, have gotten along and worked together wonderfully all year long. It has been such a great experience.

Last Monday, the other moms and myself had this wonderful, fun party planned for the kids. We played REAL bingo. I have one of the old style BINGO ball turning apparatus. The kids loved playing the game and then picking out a prize if they won. We then had a cookie decorating station, where they could decorate their very own cookie with frosting and sprinkles and eat it. Mrs. Smith had an autograph book for each child, to sign that had a picture of everyone in the class. They then went around to each friend and had him/her sign by their picture. What fun! Tyson and the boys. From L to R: Christopher, Tyson, Sam, Issac, Miguel, Davis, Connor and Andrew. These little men were such good friends this year. It is too bad that next year they switch them all up into different classes.

Tyson's best buds, Connor and Davis. Davis's mom already has play dates scheduled for these guys through out the summer. In fact, one of them is this Friday. These boys want to stay in touch no matter if school is going or not. I am so glad that Tyson could make such great friends. He deserved it after moving around so much!The Miracle Lady. Mrs. Smith was one of a kind. She taught a lot like my mom. She was good with the kids, and made them tow the line, which I think is very important for kids to learn at a young age. I wish she taught 1st grade. We would be signing up already. So we chalk up this first year of school down in the record books, or the blog, and are ready to enjoy the summer and then be a FIRST GRADER!!!

My Little Piano Player

This video speaks for itself. Here is Taryn in her Internet debut singing "The 4th Article of Faith" while playing the piano. Multi-talented Child!!!

Last Soccer Game

My little all star soccer player. Tyson has been playing soccer with Upward Soccer this spring.
Today was his last game, and by the look on his face you can tell it was a good one. We started soccer without knowing anything about it. Tyson wanted to play so bad that we took a plunge and 3 months later he has turned into a pretty good little player.

Here is our little player running towards the ball. Tyson was always in the middle of the pack trying to get the ball away from the other team. Tyson and Zander. These two became fast friends on the first day of practice. (Zander reminds us of Tyson's buddy on St. Marteen: Peyton Laney) These two worked well together on the field. They would pass to each other and look where the other was to pass the ball and get it up the field.Everyone received one of these cool soccer trophies. This is Tyson's first trophy and he thought he was pretty neat. Not only did he get the trophy, play a great game, and have fun, but he also got this really nice back pack. Sweet! Now I don't have to buy a new back pack for school next year! He had such a great time playing soccer that we will do it again next spring. It was a great program. They really emphasised learning the basics, team work and having fun. I really enjoyed it, and I know that Tyson loved it! Great Job buddy!

School For The "Old Dog"

They say, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks," but I am about to break the mold on that one. In less than 3 weeks I will be returning to the world of a college student. YIKES!!! I won't lie, I am very petrified, not just scared, but petrified. It has been 11 years since I graduated college and so much has changed since then. This class in an online class, which I have never done. It does have its up side:
I can go to class anytime during the day
I don't have to be dressed up, I can go to class in my P.J.'s

The down side is:
No professor to talk to, have to send an email and it will take 24 hours to get a response back
The grade is based on responding to the chat room and 4 different papers
I haven't had an stimulating "English" based conversation in 6 years
I haven't written in about 11 years.

I think that my biggest fear is not being able to articulate my words the right way. For the past 6 years, my conversations have been with my children 5 1/2 and 2 1/2. I can tell you anything you want to know about Bakugans, Beyblades, He-man, Star Wars, Cars, Disney Princesses and Strawberry Shortcake, but to talk about literary terms and use them correctly, let's just say I am worried. I bought the book for the course about 3 weeks ago and have been reading in it every other night, highlighting and labeling all the important information, (at least I think it is important).
The main reason for me going back to school is to renew my teaching license so that I can work again. I need 6 credits, two classes, to accomplish this. I feel very out of my element. Hopefully, as the class progresses so will my cognitive thinking process.

Tyson Making a Goal!

Since I cannot find time to write about what we have been up to, I decided to put on a few videos of the kids and their activities. This first video is Tyson playing soccer. During this clip he makes the first goal for his team in last Saturday's game. He has really caught on to the dynamics of the game. He amazes Vaughn and I at how well he does. Good Job buddy!