So this is the big Friggin' bean!

Don't know why but I couldn't post this photo to my other post, so here it is ladies and gentlemen,
The Very Very Big Bean!

The Secret Message Bean Plant Turns into The Very Very Big Bean!

This is the start of the Bean Saga. A long Time ago in a galaxy far far - oh wait, wrong story, hehe.
Ok, a long while ago, approximately 5 months ago, I decided to get the kids this cool Secret Message Bean Plant. It comes in a can and you just add water and it grows a bean that has a message on it, see photo. Well, it grew, we saw, it was fun, and to be honest it was a pretty healthy plant. The kids decided we would plant it outside so we did. As you can see by the other photo, it liked to climb. Well, it got rather large and we thought, hmm, still a very healthy plant. Then one day Kaleigh said Mommy there is something weird on the bean plant. I said lets go look, and we did. Well, to our astonishment there were very large beans growing on the bean plant! I mean Big! See photo.
The coin next to it is a quarter, if you can't tell. So in other words the beans looked like flat green bananas! It was really weird and Kaleigh decided to bring it in for sharing at school, everyone thought it was really cool. Score one for the Secret Message Bean plant! It was fun and a cool science project too! We even dissected it (found large pink lima-type beans inside) Very weird!

My Own Kids in School
Unfortunately, I forgot to take photos of my kids in uniform the first day of school, but a friend loaned me her camera, so I did take some, I just don't have them yet. I will ask my friend to e mail them and you will see them soon! Kaleigh is doing good, after the initial disappointment of not having the teachers she wanted, she settled into her class. There are a few good things, apparently this teacher got most of the laid back or "easy" kids (like Kaleigh), and no trouble makers. Also, this teacher has a neat end of the day treat if the kids get all their work done on Fridays , they get to sit anywhere in class, on a desk, under the desk, on a counter, wherever they want, take off their shoes and then read for the last 15 minutes of class. Kaleigh thinks that is pretty cool. So she is doing fine. Cole adores his teacher and he is doing really well with his coloring and his reading. He is probably reading better than 85%-95% of his classmates. He might be the only one that reads well. We are very proud! He seems to be following Mommy's footsteps in that regard! I have always loved reading! Kaleigh can't wait to get started on this years fundraiser. Magazine sales (yuck) and cookie dough sales (yum!) Last year her sales were the highest in the first grade! She sold 50 orders! Mostly cookie dough of course but some mags too. The cookie dough is actually really tasty and a lot of our friends from church have been asking when she will be selling again, so this year will be good too! So all is good school-wise for the kids!

Second Week of School
Well, now that my room is done, the kids have had a full 3 days of school so far (the kids in my class that is), things are starting to be a little normal. We are still having trouble with our speech (and a bunch of other stuff) delay boy, I think I called him Trent in the last blog about my class. He hasn't said one word (our of his so called 20), but today he seemed a little happier to be there. His favorite thing to do is hold paper and wave it so that it makes a sound. He liked the soft blocks I brought in, but he still doesn't participate in any way. I am thinking it ain't gonna happen any time soon. He really likes one on one attention, that I cannot give, with 4-5 other kids in the class. I do my best to get him to participate and then I go about our day. Today was better than last Tuesday in that he didn't really throw any toys around. While I was reading a story, however, he pulled all the papers out of the cubbies and was waving the cubby liners around and dropping all the other paper on the floor. If he just wandered it wouldn't be so bad, but I end up picking up after every activity because I am busy with the other children and when we are starting something new, I have to go over to where he made the mess and pick it all up. The others in the class are getting used to his different behavior, but it isn't fair to keep taking away from them, just as it is unfair to Trent to not have the one on one attention he needs and wants. I am trying to work with the mom (who is really nice and grateful he can be there at all) on getting a college student or something to sit in the class and help with him. I will be talking to my director at the end of the week, with all my documentation.

FINALLY!
Well, as you can see my classroom is done! I won't write a lot, just to say, I am sooooo glad that it is finally done! Now it looks like a real classroom. I went in Saturday ready to drill into the wall myself, but it was all done!
Thankfully, because I wouldn't have done the job right anyway. Drilling into brick blocks and all.
So it is done. Big HUGE sigh of relief!