Parent Teacher Conference

This morning I met with your teacher and she had nothing but wonderful things to say about you. She said that you are a very bright girl with a very funny sense of humor. She has found that humor and intelligence tend to accompany each other. Apparently, you have exceeded the expectations that were set forth for you. Since you know the sounds of all of your letters, know how to do lower digit (1-10) addition and subtraction, all of your shapes, colors that you should be able to begin reading. She advised me to begin with the Dolch List of Sight Words and then begin basic reading skills with you. What I thought was normal behavior is apparently not. Mrs. Dozier says that most students will begin to read in Kindergarten where as you are already showing signs of reading. Another thing that she recommend that I work on is holding a pencil correctly and using scissors, but those skills come with age (you are the youngest in your class). She also suggested that instead of attending school 3 days a week that we may want to consider sending you 5 days a week because during Tuesday and Thursdays she only has 5 students and she uses those days to do more one on one work. Mrs. Dozier went on to say that on those days she would be able to work on the sight words with you since the majority of the class is not on that level yet.

Ava, mommy and daddy are SO proud of you!!! You make us so happy. We love you!

Bad Mommy

Dear Ava,

After putting you to bed tonight, I decided to look deep within myself and try to determine if it was you going through the "terrible three" age or if it was me being shorter tempered then normal. I realized that every since Vaughan was born, my life is a lot busier than I expected it to be and what what patience I did have is now gone simply because I feel like I have to survive the day. Even as an adult, there is always something to be learned. I am 32 years old and I still have to learn patience. I have to realize that you are only 3 and not expect you too much out of you. How can I be a good mother if I can't stop, take a deep breath, be present in the moment and appreciate the time that I have with you. I constantly say that it seems like just yesterday that I brought you home and now almost 4 years have past. It is now my mission, and goal to forget about the "things to do list" and put you and Vaughan first and foremost. I will make it my daily goal to get down on the floor, be silly, play games and do much more with you. When you are frustrated I will really try to stop and explain things to you instead of raising my voice. I do not want you to remember me as the mom who never stopped screaming but rather the mom who thought about your feelings and provided a loving and nurturing home for you. Always remember this, I love you with all of my heart and always will. I am so sorry for being a bad mommy.

Love
Mommy.

Christmas Pictures 2009

Yes, Mommy is a little organized and every year we get our pictures taken in October, to give me enough to time to order christmas cards and get through the 200 that we send out Dec 1. Despite what I thought was a complete fiasco, it turned out to be a fantastic photo shoot. We met her down at the University of Tampa and brought not only the family but Bentley too. Anyone, who really knows me, knows how much I love my dog just as if he were one of my human kids. Here is a sneak peak at some of the pictures that Kelly Noel took for us. You can visit her blog at http://www.kellynoel.typepad.com/

Bowman Fall Festival 2009

Rise and Shine Daddy, time to get dressed to head out to the fall festival