Brayden's got...well..Brayden's got a whole lot of somethin'

Brayden was happy he got to carry around a light saber. That's the bottom line of Brayden's Happy Halloween. Besides that, Brayden had his first great day of kindergarden and it just so happened to be on Halloween. Thank heavens it wasn't a bad luck day for him or his teachers! He has had a ridiculously difficult time adjusting to his new school schedule and he has manifested that in many ways frustrating us all but especially himself. Needless to say that my parent/teacher conference with Mrs. Balcar (who loves Brayden) wasn't nearly as fun as the ones with the other boys' teachers. We were all having a hard time figuring out how to help him but something happened and yesterday he had a great day. (it might have had something to do with the pain pill we gave him the night before for his tooth which helped him actually sleep. I check on the kids every night before I go to bed and Brayden is always laying there awake. He tells me that he can't make his brain be quiet. Sad huh?) I hope this is the wave of the future for our Brayden. It was hard for him and he struggles with so much; it's so nice to see a bright light of hope for the future in each of the little doses. We'll take them as they come. And we absolutely adore Brayden the way we got him.

Trevan's got the force

Trev was the one who kicked off the Jedi idea and the rest of the boys were in on it right away. I found out that fleece was more expensive than I had thought but scored when I found the perfect brownish colored blankets for half off making them cheaper to make than I had hoped. Wrap in the price of a seamstress extraordinaire Mom sewing them together in a Jedi fashionable way and bada bing..it's all good. (Big thanks Mom.)
Also, update on Trev...He is cruising along in first grade and I also had my first parent/teacher conference with Mrs. Ablinger where I got to hear some great stuff about Trev. A lot of the "you're so smart" focus has always gone to Rylan but I was made very aware of the fact that Trevan is exceptional as well. He just doesn't like it as much. Learning is a fun game for Rylan but Trevan is bright and does what he's told so I guess that makes for greatness too. They took the benchmarks also to see where the kids were at and Trevan scored a 100 on it! I was happily surprised. His teacher is recommending him for the SAGE program (gifted and talented) and I never even knew he was that on top of it. Way to go T-Bird. And his biggest improvement this year has been his social behavior. Every year his teachers tell me that he is a very "cool" kid with lots of friends but that they have to often redirect his talking. This year he's still super cool but has learned the concept of place and time. Thanks for being so awesome Trevan. We are very proud of you, your brains and your kind heart. We think your the best 7 year old out there!

Not just any Jedi but a Master Jedi

Rylan wanted to clarify that point. I think it was the purple light saber that made it so. Anyways, to update on Rylan, we just got our first nine weeks report card and we are super super excited and proud to tell one an all that Rylan has still never missed the all A honor roll and perfect attendance award. He works hard at it and is super dedicated. He still loves learning and challenging himself and truly is gifted. I guess that's all it would take for anyone huh? He also took his third grade TAKS benchmarks test(A Texas mandated thing) and scored the highest in his grade on each of them. And better yet, during our parent/teacher conference Mr. Herzog told me that Rylan has really taken to helping the other kids learn in a patient kind way. I am the most happy with that because Rylan has always gotten frustrated working in groups because the learning came easier for him and was always excited to move on to see what was next. I've always felt blessed with the teachers my boys have gotten. They've always been the best ones for what they need at the time. We have also noticed a difference here at home too. Rylan has been very quick to help and obey. I love it when that sense of self initiative kicks in. We couldn't be happier with you Jake. Keep it up.