Parental Pride

It seems like it's been a while since I posted and I didn't really have much to say, but I just had to sit down and get my latest news out there as soon as I could because I'm just bursting with Parental Pride.

I went to get the mail this morning from Saturday because it was raining that day and we never went out to get it. In the stack of bills was a letter addressed to "The Parents/Guardians of Cooper Johnson" from our school district. I opened it up and my eyes started brimming with tears as I read:

GIFTED & TALENTED EDUCATION (GATE)

IDENTIFICATION PACKAGE - GRADE ONE

Dear Parent/Guardian,

Your child is eligible for formal identification in the ___ Unified School District Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) Program....

On the enclosed identification permission form the test name and Cooper's score were written in.

Test: Nagliari

Test Score: 99%

I don't know how many of you recall Cooper's other great achievement but I'm telling you that my Parental Pride is just overflowing. This is one special kid and I feel so blessed to be his Mother. He hasn't even heard the news yet. He's still at school.

Creative Catelyn

Catelyn has turned into quite the little artist lately. She's always been one to play by herself and make up stories and now she is using her imagination to make some very creative pieces of art. Here she's used some pipe cleaners (which I have discovered are a great cheap art supply) to craft her name.

As an aside, I really like the nickname Cat for her. Going into school I know there will be a lot of Katie's, Caitlin's, Kate's,but she can be my spunky Cat.
Aunt Mimi came to visit the week after Valentines weekend and cut some spirals out of the craft paper for the kids to play with. After Mimi left Catelyn spent hours perfecting the skill. No one ever sat down with her to show her, she just figured out how it works by herself.

We now have probably one hundred of these spirals in different colors cut from these note papers.

All while she sings or hums real and made up songs.

A little interview with the little ones.

This survey has been going around Facebook lately and I thought it was a great idea. I asked Cooper who just turned 7 and Catelyn who is 4 3/4 to answer these questions.

1. What is something mom always says to you? Cooper- Don't do this unless you ask. You're not the boss. Catelyn- Obey.
2. What makes mom happy? Cooper- Do what you ask me to do. Catelyn- Making jokes and silly faces.
3. What makes mom sad? Cooper- Unobey. What's the word? Catelyn- Scratching and pulling and climbing and tying.
4. How does your mom make you laugh? Cooper- Funny jokes that we haven't heard before. Catelyn- Silly faces and dancing and fun at the park.
5. What was your mom like as a child? Cooper- A beautiful girl. Catelyn- Like folding your arms.
6. How old is your mom? Cooper- 30 Catelyn- 30
7. How tall is your mom? Cooper- I don't know. Do you know? Catelyn- Get up. It looks like that long (spreads her arms out)
8. What is her favorite thing to do? Cooper- Uh, be with me. Catelyn- Play the piano and organ.
9. What does your mom do when you're not around? Cooper- I don't know. Catelyn- Do computers.
10. If your mom becomes famous, what will it be for? Cooper- I don't know. Catelyn- Go to the party.
11. What is your mom really good at? Cooper- The piano or the organ. Catelyn- Sweeping and eating tortillas.
12. What is your mom not very good at? Cooper- Climbing a tree. Catelyn- Climbing up the tree.
13. What does your mom do for her job? Cooper- Take care of us. Catelyn- At her room.
14. What is your mom's favorite food? Cooper- Meatloaf (we had it last night) Catelyn- Dinner!
15. What makes you proud of your mom? Cooper- That she takes care of us. Catelyn- When she puts on Dora.
16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be? Cooper- Word Girl (its a show on PBS) Catelyn- A Rabbit and a rock star.
17. What do you and your mom do together? Cooper- Play Wii together sometimes. Catelyn- Work and clean up.
18. How are you and your mom the same? Cooper- Our eyebrows. Catelyn- Brown hairs and brown eyes.
19. How are you and your mom different? Cooper- I'm a boy and she's a girl. Catelyn- You play the computer and I play with toys.
20. How do you know your mom loves you? Cooper- We tell each other. Catelyn- Tell me a story.
21. Where is your mom's favorite place to go? Cooper- To the temple. Catelyn- To go to a party.