Rooms With a View

MISS SPITFIRE~

Vinny is in a Language Arts class for Gifted Children. Every 12 weeks they are required to complete a project on a book that is a South Carolina Award winning book. They are given many options for this project. One of them is to make a stage depicting a scene from the book. The more creative the better. Vinny read a book called 'Miss Spitfire' which is a story about Helen Keller. Here is her stage...

She came up with all of the ideas including the stage curtains. All I did was put the paper on the walls and cover the beds. She did the rest.

I love her little people. She made them from a die cut I own for scrapbooking. A friend of Patrick's helped her make Helen Keller's doll. If you look closely you can see the wardrobe she made behind the people.

A close-up of Helen Keller and Annie Sullivan.

A window and one of the two beds. The ribbon is from the curtains.

A view from above. Notice the rug. They also are required to write a summary about their scene. Vinny decided to make her summary a 'Playbill'

It resembles the cover of the book.

The inside of the 'Playbill'. She has not received a grade yet. I think she deserves an 'A' don't you?

EGYPTIAN GIRL~

Last Friday was Egypt Day for the 6th graders at Gable Middle School. They finished their study of Ancient Egypt which culminates with a dress up day. They receive extra credit in 4 classes if they come to school dressed like an Egyptian.

 

I'm not sure why her face looks so round. Perhaps because I took these photos at 7:00am. Perhaps it is due to the makeup. I did not make this wonderful outfit. We borrowed it from a friend of Mitchell. We did make the headband.

Is she not the cutest little Egyptian girl you have ever seen?

GYM GIRLS

We had an uneventful weekend; Mitchell is still under the weather so we laid low. How was your weekend?

Vinny decided a couple of months ago to give Gymnastics a try. Her best friend Abigail is also taking the class. I finally got to pick her up last week and took a couple of photos.

Vinny.

Abigail.

Vinny.

Well, that is all I have for today! Have a great Monday.

MASQUERADE VIDEOS

As promised, here a two videos of Vinny's viola concert. Enjoy!

MASQUERADE BALL.

Friday night was Vinny's first Orchestra Concert of the year. It was the Masquerade Ball Concert. The concert consisted of the  Elementary Schools and the 3 Middle Schools in our district. The kids are encouraged to either dress in costume or in a Masquerade Ball gown and mask. We are so proud of Vinny. This is only her second year playing the viola and she has already been chosen as one of two first Viola players from the three Middle Schools. Here are some photos from the evening. Tomorrow I will post a video of the concert.

 

 

In case you have not figured it she is a Candy Corn Witch. I love her bright orange converse! They are not part of the costume; they are part of her own wardrobe.

 

 

 

She is so cute! I know, I am a little biased. I hope you are all having a great Monday!

PROUD MOMMA!

Since this is my blog, I can brag all I want about my kids. Today I will be bragging about my brilliant daughter and her first Middle School report card. I did a post in August about how nervous I was about her starting Middle School (6th grade) at the age of 10. She skipped 1st grade due to being a little smart so I should not have been so worried. I was also worried because she had tested into Pre-Algebra as well as Horizons (Gifted Program). Well, I should have known that she would be just fine. Here is her first report card from Middle School...

If you cannot read it, it shows straight A's.  We are so proud of her! She is proud of herself as she should be...

 

No word yet on how Mitchell did since he was out all week. He will get his report card today. Patrick is on a 9 week schedule so we have a few weeks to go before he receives his grades.

I hope you all had a great weekend!

MY GIRL

Sorry I did not post yesterday. As I was about to sit down to write my post, Mitchell asked me if I had picked up the poster board he asked for. Yes, I told him I had and then I asked him what it was for. He said it was for a science assignment. 'Cool, when is it due?' I asked. 'Tomorrow' answered my son. What, tomorrow? I kept my cool and said that if he needed my help to just ask. He said he did and we were up until 9:30 finishing the project that could have been done over the weekend. I must say that even though we were a little stressed, it was nice spending three hours working with him. I would show you photos but believe it or not, I did not take any.

Last night was Vinny's back to school night. It was interesting to hear the teachers speak about my little girl. Her P.E. teacher told me how much he loved her outgoing personality. I was shocked to hear this. I asked him if we were talking about the same Vinny Paddock. He said that she is funny, a great leader and is always the first one to start a conversation with him. I agreed to the funny and great leader, but she has always been so shy around other people that I was truly shocked to hear that around this one male teacher she was not. Her other teachers all told me how amazingly gifted she is and how shy. Oh yes, that is the Vinny we know and love. It was good to hear that she is doing so well despite being so young. Our biggest fear when deciding to move her up a grade was whether or not she would be mature enough to handle being around peers that were a year older. So far after 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 5th grade she has done just great! I am now a little relieved to hear that she is keeping up with her friends in Middle School. 

 

This was Vinny with her 1st grade teacher. The teacher is explaining to the class that Vinny will be moving on to the 2nd grade the next day. It was the day of their Halloween party which is why Vinny has pom poms in her hair. She was a cheerleader.

 

This was Vinny's first day of 2nd grade with her teacher Mrs. Jones. If I have not already mentioned this before, I will say it now, Mrs. Jones was and is the best teacher in the world. We miss her so much.

Well, enough bragging for now. I hope you all have a groovy day!

HOME AGAIN, HOME AGAIN, JIGGITY JIG

We arrived home around 2:15 this afternoon. We are all wiped out. Tomorrow I register my baby for Middle School so now I am going to go have a good cry. Have a great day!

WHAT FUN YOU CAN HAVE WITH A $1 INNER TUBE

Is it really August already? Where did this summer go. I am so sad that the kids go back to school in 17 days. Okay, enough whining, on with my post...

I love picking up cheap pool toys for the kids that they can trash. I found a couple of inner tubes at a local store for $1 each. I told the kids they could go crazy with them. Usually I do want them to jump on them or in them for fear of popping. When I only spend a dollar, well, go for it. These two tubes actually lasted 3 weeks! Mitchell and Vinny had a fun afternoon with them and I was right there with my camera.

 

 

 

 

I think this is Mitchell. I was trying to get a better shot than just his/her feet. It took me a few tries.

 

 

Too early.

 

Too late.

 

Just right.

They also did some other fun tricks into the tube...

 

Mitchell.

 

Vinny.

 

Vinny.

Vinny, I think.

 

Mitchell.

Well, that is all there is with the inner tube. I hope you are having a nice Saturday!

POOL TRICKS BY VINNY P.

Last week after Vinny showed me her cool new pool raft design I swam for a few minutes then went to get my camera. We played a game where I give her a trick to do and then she does it until she feels she has it down. We started with handstands under water.

 

 

 

Pretty good!!!

Then we moved on to straddle jumps off the diving board. I love the tongue action in the first few tries...

 

 

 

 

 

PERFECTION!

Next I told her to surprise me...

 

Back dive.

 

Jack Sparrow dive.

 

A Teardrop. This is now one of my favorite photos! 

Two more photos just because...

 

I hope you all had a great week! Have a fun and safe weekend.