No Chocolate for Breakfast: Report cards + Caleb monkeys around + Plans for Christmas + Liana joins Facebook

Report cards

Liana and Caleb both received their report cards this week. Caleb's only non-A was in physical education which is no as he isn't into sports (other than swimming). I met with his teacher who had nothing but great things to say about him. She said he's always smiling, gets along well with his peers, participates in discussions, lends a helping hand when needed and generally radiates confidence and happiness. It's always nice to hear positive things about your kid but it was especially reassuring because Caleb had been highly emotional the few weeks prior and had just that evening had a mini meltdown. They say kids test their limits around those they trust most - glad he exhibits good manners elsewhere.

Liana's strongest points were French and Visual Arts but, being my daughter, is having trouble with math and science. When I went to De La Salle they had a tutoring program in which older kids volunteered to individually tutor kids in younger grades. I contacted Liana's teacher and that no longer exists. My options were to hire an older student (one charged $25 an hour - I feel like I could hire a University graduate for that cost!) or for Liana to join the school homework club. The homework club meets three days a week after-school for 45 minutes with a teacher present for assistance but you need to commit to attend all three days every week...which Liana wasn't too keen on. I wasn't too keen on it either since she is helpful in picking up Caleb from the bus stop after school, saving me the trouble of dressing Evelyn and potentially at times waking her up or interrupting a feeding. In the end Liana proposed having a friend who's strong in math and science help her review class material and cram for tests. We'll reconsider homework club next trimester depending on progress made but I'm hopeful.

Caleb monkeys around

I mentioned Caleb's been emotional lately but that tends to show itself through short meltdowns. I wonder to what extent it may be related to the baby. He adores his baby sister but the timing of these meltdowns coincides with her birth. Anyway, most of the rest of the time: he's hilarious and such a blast! We had a mommy and Caleb afternoon last Sunday and went to Midway Funpark to play arcade games followed by a haircut at Melonheads. While we were driving that day he wanted to play "truth or dare" so we did! He got bored after a while though because I kept choosing truth (I'm very truthful but not very daring...). After school and piano this week he made paper airplanes, a volcano, attempted to make glue, wore funny hats and climbed walls. And on Thursday he played Just Dance 4 with mommy and Liana - he was adorable while busting a move.

Darcy's wedding hat now a prop

He wanted the picture to capture the two missing teeth

Monkey kid

Plans for Christmas

I'm a Christmas junky. Darcy and I compromised that decorations will go up on November 25 so that we have one full month of celebrating (I wanted November 1st and he wanted December 1st). This year we'll have our own family advent calendar (this one) each box will have a paper with the name of a Christmas craft (paint ornaments, make snowflakes) or activity (bake cake pops, build snowman) that we'll do that day. We'll also be getting our very own Hartwick Elf on the Shelf. The Elf is a new Christmas tradition that I initially thought creepy (shifty eyes, appears at random places) but after reading up on the Elf it seems like a lot of fun. Next on my to-do list: prepare and mail out Christmas cards!

Liana gets Facebook

Liana joined Facebook this week. She wasn't too interested before and waited 8 months past being allowed. The last few months though her absence on social media meant unintentionally being excluded from a few things at school. I have her password as I do for her email and cell phone but I would only use them in case of an emergency which she completely understands after watching a horrifying episode of the Degrassi: The Next Generation.

Two years ago when she first got MSN she could only use it in the living room with the screen facing the open area. She's been more open with me than she's had to be so I have no concerns. The schools have scare-educated her and her peers about privacy settings and not adding strangers etc. I will show her the block and report functions at some point.

Other than that I reminded her never to post anything she wouldn't be comfortable having her kids read one day or having attached to her University application. And I asked her to promise me never to write negative comments about pictures she posts or is tagged on.

We had fun one evening taking potential profile pictures of her.

Miscellaneous

In other news, Darcy took second place at CBS Modern night and first when we played a Modern Masters draft with friends. I went to my first ever Tupperware party at Julia's and learned that what I currently own are plastic containers. I'm excited about how my 60-day fitness challenge is going but I'll write a specific post on that when it's complete. And wonderful lovely little Evelyn slept from 9:30pm to 6am last night after about a month of rough nights.