Our Little Kindergartner

Well we had a bit of a rough start with Kindergarten. At first Lizzy was at a disadvantage to the other kids because she didn't go to pre-school, she had a hard time keeping up with class, and socializing with the other kids that were older then her seemed to be a problem. She would complain that she didnt want to go to school and that she had no friends and that the kids picked on her! I thought she was just a bit nervous about the whole thing.

So after getting her first report card, her teacher mentioned that she was struggling alot! That if she didn't catch up soon then she would be at a disadvantage when she starts first grade the following year. She had a hard time with computer class and was struggling a bit with her reading!

Since then she has done well. We started her off on a program on the PC that would help her follow directions, sort, work with number and to use the mouse properly! It was great!! On her second report card, she went from a grade 1 (the lowest) to a grade 3 (highest) in the areas she was struggling in. She is still having a hard time with her number 20-50! but she is doing well with math and counting. She has a hard time remember her "family"words (-at,bat,mat...etc) but she can read them! She is reading alot more and alot better with each day!

We dont think that she will have a problem adjusting to first grade now. She has made a new friend named Regan. And she spent the day with her last week and had dinner with her family. These girls have been doing well together. Regan is one of the other girls in the class that is younger and had a hard time catching up to the other kids. So that is how the girls became friends, helping each other out with their problem areas.

A few months ago the school started doing a program that if they read the most minutes in the school district they would get one of the Jazz basketball players to visit their school and read to them. Each class was responsible for bringing in a certain number of minutes. Lizzy won second place in her class for reading 175 minutes and was awarded a coupon for a free personal size pizza at Pizza Hut!. She was so excited about that!

So far she is doing well, we have a hard time getting homework done because her little brother tends to grab and pull at her papers and yells and screams when she leaves the room to do her homework else where. But she is learning to do her homework with her brother crying and making noise.

Now we are getting Jamie ready for Kindergarten. We know there will be alot of struggles for Jamie as she has a developmental delay and a learning disability. But we will do our best!...

BEEP BEEP!!!!!!!!!!!

So finally a about a week ago I did the drivers test.. I was so nervous, we went driving a bit before the test to just try to see if I could do the test without freaking out. The practice was horrible, parallel parking took me three times before I got it OK, then the U- turns weren't so great, but I managed. Then there was that incident when I stepped on the gas instead of the break and ran into the curb.. HARD!.. All about 20 mins before my test! I was about ready to cancel when I thought that I would just try it and see.

So I filled out the paper work and got everything ready. Then they told me to have a seat with the scoring paper. I had a chance to see what they would be looking at and how they would grade you (take 2 points off for this or 5 for that). As I read the paper work I started to get nervous. There was alot of things that I thought I wasn't great at. Like keeping with the speed limit ( I have a lead foot) or what to do about railroad crossings without a signal do I stop and look or just go? (we have alot here in UT) and everything else I thought I could do but would be great with more practice!

So I sat there for about 15 mins, rehearsing in my head all the things that I was suppose to do right. I kept reminding myself of what my driving teacher Libby told me about the examiners and how they could be really picky about certain things. This made me more nervous. I thought I was going to throw up all over this 16 yr old kid who was sitting next to me taking the written test.

Then this really sweet lady (reminded me of a RS president) came to me and introduced herself as the driving examiner. I was relieved that she wasn't wearing a police uniform or that she wasn't a man! She asked me to walk her to my car and she got in and explained everything on her scoring chart to me... what she was more interested in getting correct and that she would give me instructions well before I needed to make a turn or whatever the instruction. Basically no surprises! ...That was the most comforting thing, because I need to know where I am going or I will freak out! Which is the case now. If I never been there before I use the GPS, Google Maps and other sources to know what the road will be like. Yeah I know I am a FREAK!

So the test was suppose to be 15 mins long but she took me back to the Drivers License Bureau withing 10 minutes. I thought I failed. But she told me to park! ..She said I was the most careful driver she has seen in 10 years, and that my parallel parking was just 100% perfection. She said even she cant parallel park as well as I did! ... I thought she was being too nice, because during the parallel park I started to hyperventilate! I felt like a huge weight had been lifted off my shoulders and my butterflies were gone. I actually felt hungry.

So now I have a license... well its in the mail, but I have the paper work to show that I have one.... NOW for the car... I need one!