One more thing...

I don't think I have ever posted 3 entries in one day on my blog, but I have had a busy weekend and wanted to write down the things I was thinking about that my little ones had said and ....

I have an announcement...

but first...some background info. Last August I discovered Reid Whitaker! Well, actually I discovered he was living here in Houston, in Montrose and was a teacher for HISD! I was so thrilled that I e-mailed him to see if he was THE Reid Whitaker I knew when he was a toddler living in Ft. Worth. Indeed he was! And is! And in September we finally worked it out for him to come over for dinner. And he has been coming over every Monday that he is available ever since! (He had not been here for about 3-4 weeks so he joined us for Valentine's Day dinner -which was a Tuesday!)

I want to say I have grown to love Reid Whitaker, but actually I loved him when he and his twin sister were born and until they were 3 years old and we moved to Houston. The truth is that I loved him first, because I loved his mom and dad, Kathy and Steve. They were some of our dearest friends at our church and in our neighborhood for about 4 years. But now I love him for who HE is and not just because of his amazing family that he comes from. He is witty, loves to laugh, loves to bring desserts when he comes (homemade or bought, we don't care!), is very thoughtful and helpful - jumps in and makes coffee or helps load the dishes or put away the food, genuinely loves the children he has taught and works with, is very intelligent - loves to read all genre of literature that helps him to grow and learn new ways of thinking and doing things, and is very ambitious for the sake of the education of the children of this city.

I think I could go on, but now for the announcement: Steve and Kathy Whitaker are coming to Houston this weekend and are coming for brunch Sunday morning! I am so excited about seeing them again I can hardly stand it!

So, Kathy and Steve, I hope my enthusiasm is not overwhelming to you! See you Sunday!

So, I will stop now and will blog about their visit afterwards.
(I hate that my blogging is so long - I go on and on and on..."let my words be few!" But not tonight!)

In honor of Dental Health Month...

Did you know February is National Dental Health Month? Along with Black History Month, Ground Hog's Day, Valentine's Day and President's Day, for a kindergarten curriculum February is a pretty full month!

This week Dental Health has been our science focus. Monday we talked about the things we need to do to have healthy teeth and then made a bulletin board display for the hallway. The things we drew and wrote about were: brush, floss and rinse your teeth after meals, eat healthy snacks and visit a dentist regular check-ups - things you would expect.

Tuesday I asked the student to recall with me the things we needed to do to have healthy teeth. With hands popping up, I called on each child to hear what he had remembered or had thought of to add to our list.

Just about when I thought I had heard "everything" Christian's hand pops up. "Be careful when you ride a scooter!" I paused and then replied, "Tell us how that helps your teeth stay healthy."
Christian begins his disertation: When you ride a REAL scooter that goes with a motor, you have to watch where you're going or you might go flying over a bump and flip off the scooter and fall to the ground and hit your mouth and make your teeth push back and then you have to go to the dentist tomorrow and the dentist has to pull them out!" He then smiles real big to show where his 2 front teeth had been pulled!

We all agreed that was something we needed to add to the list of things to do to KEEP your teeth - healthy or not!

An All-Star Day!

Friday the K-2nd grade classes from my school had a once-in-a-lifetime experience! We were invited to attend a "Read to Achieve" rally as a part of the NBA Jam Session (for those as unaware as I, it was a part of the NBA All-Stars events here in Houston). To say the least it was a very exciting day for my kindergartners! They gave us each a "Read to Achieve" t-shirt that had to be put on AS WE WALKED down the corridor of the George R. Brown Convention Center - they had to be wearing them BEFORE we passed through the curtains to enter the rally area. (Try taking OFF jackets, putting on "one-size-fits some" shirts and then jackets back on while 15 kindergartners and 3 adults stay on the move, leaving none behind or adding to your group from others trying to do the same!)

Some of the highlights of the day were:

* BowWow and Ciera both there and spoke but didn't sing (yes, they are very famous hip-hop/rap singers)

* B-5 (or was it B-6? I know it wasn't B-12!)Another group that DID sing! Every child in the building was on his feet singing and clapping and dancing! When I noticed my quiet Kendale singing his heart out, I mentioned to him that I was impressed that he knew all the words. Very proudly, but trying to be casual, he replied, "This is one of their OLD ones!"

* We had about 2 hours to roam around the exhibit area where there were games to play, exhibits to see and free goodies to collect.

When it was time to meet back up with the other classes from our school, we headed out the first door and were ushered "cattle-herding style" up two flights of escalators where we met our group and then came back down the two flights of escalators. Being the "teachable moment teacher" that I am (or at least try to be) we had a conversation about the beginning sound of escalator and reminded the students that we had talked about escalators when we were on letter e. (hold that thought...)

As we are "herded" out of the convention center at 1:00 we were handed sack lunches (compliments of the NBA Jam Session) which we ate on the bus enroute home. I began asking the kids what they liked about the day. Their responses included: BowWow, Ciera, B-6 (or B-7), the goodie bags, the NASA exhibit (really cool!). When I turned to Deon sitting right next to me, he replied, "The escalators!" I LOVED it! Just think - we don't have to wait for the next all-star game to come to Houston - we can just go to the Galleria for a free ride up and down escalators! (Personally, I was pretty impressed with the dancing of B-7 (or B-8?)!

None the less, it was an all-star day for my little ghetto darlings!

Amanda - "Worthy of love; precious thing"

"Fun, great sense of humor, funny, tender-hearted, creative, loyal friend, girl-friend to kindergartners, great burper, can-put-any-guy-to-shame-farter, is a party wherever is she, strength of character, knows herself and is secure in who she is, joyful morning spirit(wati - who said THAT?), conscientious student, adventurous, heart of gold, great big sis to freshman girls, amazing aunt to 3 little girls, spoiled little sis to 3 older sibs, named after and adored by her Aunt Pamela Kaye and then passed the middle name on down to niece Haley Kaye, beautiful eyes, loves to serve God, a joy and delight to her mom and dad!"

February 12, 1985 Amanda Kaye Herrington was born in Houston, Texas as the last of 4 children. She was a baby that was mutually decided on by her older sibs and parents - 1 more girl to balance & finish out the chairs around the 6-seated dining table. The words above are only the beginning of a list that describe her.

The first thing people would notice about her even as an infant were big,blue, beautiful eyes! I loved putting her in bonnets and showing her off at church, the mall and Wal-mart! She was definitely THE baby of Willow Meadows Baptist Church - loved by every little old lady, even until this day!

So today marks the first day in over 31 years that we do not having any "children" in our nueclear family.(ok, so it is a little bit about me - after all I had to carry her in my tummy for 9 months - give me a little credit!) Amanda is the last one of our children to cross over into adulthood - today she is 21 years old! By the world's standards she is officially an adult, yet I guess she will always be our "baby."

Being an early childhood educator, I always found such joy in the younger years of each of my children. I was always ready to "pass the baton" on to their dad, the former youth minister, as they crossed into adolescence. But, ya know, having adult children is so much more fun and delightful than I had ever imagined. And although our role as "parents" may never end, it is really cool to have a different relationship with our adult children. Each of them are unique and bring such different gifts and perspectives to the world they live in. Yet each are such a gift to us! I think I am gonna like getting old if it means having adult children in my life!

So, Amanda, Happy Birthday, Precious Thang! I love you and give thanks on this day to God who gave you to us - you who are so worthy of love....and give love so well!