Parent/Teacher conferences

We went to see Mrs. S first. She said Junior is doing a great job. He has improved not only in his work, but in his attitude. He still needs improvement in some areas, like staying focused and not talking so much, and putting more work and pride into his artwork and handwriting. We were so proud, listening to everything Mrs. S had to say about his recent growth. She is definitely a teacher who expects a lot and it was nice to see that she is impressed with his efforts.

I told her that we always discuss with him how he needs to take more pride in his artwork assignments and handwriting because those will be easy grades to bring up if he just puts a little more effort into his assignments. I told her that his uncle and grandfather have terrible penmanship and I think he takes after them a bit. I know he can print neatly if he takes a lot of time but even just going at a normal pace, he has so much trouble making neat letters. She seems to think he could do a lot better than he is doing and did show me a couple of examples of good writing from him. I know it is possible. And as for his artwork, she said, "He is a wonderful artist! I know he can do it! His only problem is waiting until the last minute to do an assignment and then, for instance, drawing something quickly and not coloring it in." I know what she is talking about because sometimes he will have to draw something as part of an assignment and he will do it as fast as he can and I will ask him to do it over and take a little time and the difference will be amazing.

But overall, she gave us such a good report. She said he is such a good, sweet boy. And she is so proud of the growth he has shown. It made me feel so good to see that she obviously likes him so much.

Next, we went to see Mrs. S and Mrs. J. They had so many wonderful things to say about Chicken-hair. Mrs. S is his main teacher so she spoke the most about his improvements in his behavior. He started out the year not having any problems behaving or listening. And then after our trip to Mexico over Christmas, he came back a little wound up and had some trouble getting back into his routine. He actually took at least a month to start behaving like his old self at school again. It wasn't anything extreme, but just a notable difference. Mrs. S said that he has definitely gone back to his old self, having no problem behaving. He listens and does what he is told. She is very impressed with how quickly he is learning to read and both teachers mentioned how hard he is trying to improve his artwork -- fine motor skills.

And then Mrs. S started talking about what kind of boy he is. She said he really gets so excited about religion and we mentioned that we have noticed the same. I told them that they must be incredible religion teachers because he is so fired up about it. Mrs. S went on to say that he is such a kind boy, showing so much kindness to his friends all the time. She said, "He is just beautiful. He really is. He is so beautiful inside." And then she grabbed a tissue and said, in a half-joking way, "I mean it! I am going to have to grab a tissue because it will make me cry!" and we chuckled a little but I saw that her eyes filled up with tears. I started to say something to ease the tension but it took her a couple of minutes for her eyes to stop tearing up. I was so touched. We have noticed that she really seems to care so much for him, but to see it like that -- I was going to start crying, myself!

We left the school feeling so happy. Not only are we so proud of our boys, but we feel like they are just in such a great environment. They are being challenged but they are being cared for and loved. Today is just one of those days that all feels right with the world =)

Gama's new wetsuit.

I wanted to see Gama try it on but when we got to the place to pick it up, Leo was asleep so I sat in the car with the kids while Gama went in. So at night when we got home, Gama brought it upstairs. I was sitting at the computer, checking my email. He put it on the bed and started to unzip the outer piece. Suddenly I said, "Oh crap, did you remember to throw the baby's shirt in with that laundry that you just started?" Kidney Boy had spilled icee down his shirt and I soaked it and put it in a plastic bag until we got home. Gama had forgotten to add it and the wash was already started so he ran downstairs to get it out of the car and throw it in.

I knew I only had like 3-4 minutes. But I knew it would be hilarious. So I pulled off my PJ shirt and separated the pieces of the wetsuit. The first part you put on is one piece that basically covers you like a tank top and pants. You undo one shoulder and then pull the whole thing on. After that is on, the other piece is like a big tuxedo coat that has one leg you have to step into because it goes down to your knees. The other leg you pull together and that is where the zipper is. I knew there was no way in hell I was getting it zipped up over my pregnant stomach -- I was shocked I got into the other part so successfully.

I heard the garage door slam shut and I ran into the bathroom. Gama got to the top of the stairs and didn't see his wetsuit on the bed and started laughing before he even got into the room. And there I was... in the bathroom, 7 months pregnant and wearing his wetsuit. We were both laughing so hard... I was crying. I just couldn't stop laughing. I couldn't believe I actually did it. I felt like a penguin. The suit was so thick and I was so stuck into it, I was waddling hahaha... I should have taken a picture. It would make a good myspace default. It would certainly keep guys from sending me friend requests ROFL

Snow Day

We took the kids to the mountains today, to play in the snow. We stopped at McDonald's for lunch just before getting to the mountains. The kids were maybe as excited to eat there as they were to be heading to the snow! I saw a lady with 6 girls at her table, the oldest was probably 11 and the youngest maybe 9 months. I wanted to ask her if they were all hers but felt shy. I noticed her checking us out a little and I think she wanted to ask us if we were having another boy but she looked a little shy too. When we made eye contact, we both looked away LOL But later, Gama asked me my opinion on a boy name, I can't remember which, and out of the corner of my eye, I noticed her head pop up.

Anyway, we got to the snow and Gama first took Junior and Chicken-hair to do some sledding while I popped Finding Nemo into the DVD player for Kidney Boy. I had no plans to even walk in the snow. Two years ago, while pregnant with Kidney Boy, I tried at least playing around a little in the snow and I slipped and fell and scared the crap out of myself so I wasn't about to go through that again.

After about 90 minutes, I yelled to Gama to come get Kidney Boy. Chicken-hair was ready to rest anyway so we traded little ones and they played for about 20 minutes. At that point, Junior started having a fit about something and Gama was just exhausted. They all came back to the car, Kidney Boy crying for more sledding. I felt so bad. He loved it and unfortunately didn't get much time doing it. Next time, we'll make sure to let him join in a little earlier. I just didn't want Gama to have his hands too full when I couldn't even hang out in the snow to help him.

I logged so many hours in the front seat of the van today, I don't even want to sit in this computer chair LOL

Junior's blinking

We took Junior to the doctor yesterday. For the last few years, he has had this little nervous habit of scrunching up his face and blinking hard. He does it when he is on stage at school concerts or when he is reading something to a group. He will blink hard and scrunch his nose and wipe his face, those sorts of things. Gama does stuff like that sometimes (like when he made a video and was speaking right into the camera) so we didn't worry too much about it. But just recently, the blinking has gotten more and more. It started to look more like his actual eyeballs were bothering him because sometimes he wouldn't scrunch his face, just blink normally but very often. And then last weekend, he started winking one eye on and off. He doesn't do it constantly but now that I think about it, it is usually while he is talking to us. I don't see him do it much when he is doing homework or something.

He just had his vision tested at school and while they haven't given me the results yet, he said he was able to easily read everything the woman told him to and that she said he did a perfect job. His vision doesn't seem to be affected which was a relief to me but I just wanted to make sure he was OK. I had tried giving him Visine drops and it is always a fight because he doesn't want to open his eyes for them.

So we went to the doctor and he looked at both of his eyes, including some little spots that I noticed last weekend in the white part of his left eye which happens to be the eye he is winking. He said the spots don't look like anything (Chicken-hair happens to have a little one in one of his eyes too and doesn't have any blinking issues) and that his eyes don't look dry or like he has allergies. He pointed out that they aren't bloodshot at all and that they look very healthy. He looked at them a lot with his light, bringing it back and forth in front of his eyes.

What he really thinks is going on, after examining his eyes and then watching him play around in the room with Chicken-hair and Kidney Boy, and seeing the blinking, is that it is just a nervous tick. He said they come and go and that he might have a new blinking tick in addition to the scrunching up his face one and that the winking might be even another one. He told me that the most important thing to do is to not call attention to it. He said if it gets excessive, to bring him back. I asked him what he meant by excessive and he said, "If the teacher mentions it to you" which his teachers never have. So we are keeping our eye on it for now, but that is it.

Junior story from 2004

This happened on Nov. 18, 2004:

Tonight, Junior's Religion homework was to dictate a letter to me. It is a family letter, thanking God for all of our blessings. I wrote exactly what he said to me. I thought it was really nice and pretty cute too (of course I always think the stuff he does is cute LOL) But I did think that you would enjoy this...


Nov. 18, 2004

Dear God,

You are not mean. And we love everything that You do for us on the planet Earth. Thank You, God, for our pets. We love the Bible Book that You made for us. And when we are scared, we must put our hands on our hearts because we know You are saying, "I love you." Thank You, God, for electricity. You are the Whole Mighty. Thank You, God, for food. Thank you, God, for our family. We know that every child is Yours, because You made everyone.

Love,
The Rodriguez Family
Christine, Gama,
Jr. and Chicken-hair

St. Faustina

We were driving in the car tonight and Chicken-hair said, "Why don't I learn a lot about science?"

I told him, "You will learn a lot about science in school. Trust me! And actually, you already learn some science now." I was about to remind him that he learned a lot about dinosaurs, spiders, and snakes.

But before I could say anything else, he said, "Well, I learned about St. Faustina."

Gama said, "A ver... que aprendiste de St. Faustina?"

And Aidan said, "I don't remember."

Juan Diego's grandpa

Saturday morning, Chicken-hair got into bed with us and started telling us the story of Juan Diego and the Virgin Mary. When he got to the end, he looked over at this picture,


which has been in our room for about 2 years, and said, "And there is the Virgin Mary, bringing his grandpa back to life." I asked him whose grandpa and he said, "Juan Diego! He died and Mary is bringing him back to life!"

I explained to him that it is Pope John Paul II and that he is giving respect to the Virgin Mary who is comforting him. But I think he liked his own version better LOL