Bein’ Franklin

Posted by DaddyFranklin at October 21st, 2008

Tonight was the last game of the flag football season for Timothy.  We got to see him score his first touchdown.  As you’ll be able to tell from the video, we were quite pumped.

Here are a few pictures from the last day as well:

Posted by DaddyFranklin at October 4th, 2008

Today, after mowing I put together the canopy that we bought with our new lawn furniture. Lori helped me finish it off after she finished putting together the boys’ new dresser (the dark one).

Posted by DaddyFranklin at October 4th, 2008

This weekend looks to be a very relaxing one. We spent last Saturday in bed with a nasty stomach bug so last weekend was a bust. My main goal of the day is to get my giant yard mowed. Is there any chance it is my last mow of the season?

One could only hope.

By the way, I am posting this from my iPod touch. I’m still trying to get the hang of it. I mean I know how to do just about anything I want with it. The real question is whether any of the functionalities it provides can replace the way I used to do it. I spend so much time at a computer I wonder if I really need to be able to post blogs, check email, review calendars, fiddle with facebook, and chat all from the iPod. If there was anything besides music I might prefer to use this thing for, it would be the games, but I’m just not a huge gamer. I am trying…

Posted by mommyfranklin at September 20th, 2008

Timothy started playing flag football this week.  It really is quite comical to watch a bunch 4, 5, & 6 year olds play football.  Unlike t-ball, there is quite of bit of education that the kids need to play football.  In t-ball, the kids need to know to hit the ball and run the bases when it’s their turn to bat and to catch (pick up off the ground) and throw the ball to first base when they are fielding.  In football, they learn to hike the ball, hand it off, and run for the end zone when they are on offense and to grab the flag of the guy with the ball when they are on defense.  It’s a lot to remember and requires some ability.

There wasn’t a lot of learning involved in the first week of practices.  The kids learned to hike the ball and to run with it.  They didn’t learn to hand off the ball or run in a certain direction.  We’re hoping that now that we’ve been through the first game, these will be some skills learned in practices.

Timothy’s team (the Redskins) played the Cowboys this week.  They don’t keep score, but it’s pretty easy to tell who won.  The Cowboys got 3 touchdowns and the Redskins got 1.

Nonetheless. everyone had a great time.  All it takes is to get a snack at the end of the game to keep the kids coming back for more.

Posted by mommyfranklin at September 19th, 2008

* August 30

Holy moly!  My oldest child is 8 years old today.

As you know, we already had her party.  We celebrated her birthday at school yesterday with cookies.  Today, we went to Lubbock while Emily went to a friend’s party and we did some shopping.  Then we met some friends at Chili’s (Emily’s choice) for dinner.

Wow.

Posted by mommyfranklin at September 19th, 2008

* August 25th

Emily started 3rd Grade today!  I can’t believe it.  It seems like just yesterday that I was taking her to Kindergarten.  She is attending LaMesa Elementary.  This is the same school she attending for 1st grade, and she is just delighted to be back to the school she knows.  She is participating the Gifted & Talented Program both at school and will go to weekly G/T classes at the district office.  The good thing about being back at the same school is that she does not have to be retested to get back into these programs.

Her teacher’s name is Mrs. Chilton.  She has been teaching at the school since it opened 20 years ago.  When we tell anyone that Emily is Mrs. Chilton’s class, they all tell us that she is wonderful.  Several of her friends from her 1st grade class are in her class.  Emily doesn’t feel like the “new” kid at all.  We’re confident that is going to have a great year. 

Emily is too big to be taken to her classroom, even on the 1st day of school.  We had meet the teacher night last week, so Emily already knew where to go this morning.  She hopped right out of the car and walked straight in.  I’m assuming she did great from there.  She told me she had a wonderful first day.

Posted by mommyfranklin at September 19th, 2008

* August 23

We had Emily’s 8th birthday party last night.  When we started planning the party, we were still living in Lubbock.  Emily knew she wanted to invited her two best friends from Plainview and a group of friends from school / church in Lubbock as well.  She wanted to have a sleepover, but we felt that most of these moms probably wouldn’t be comfortable with their 8 year daughter spending the night in another town.  Not to mention the hassle of getting them to the house and back home again.  So, she decided to have the party at Mr. Gatti’s in Lubbock and have her two Plainview friends spend the night.  In an effort to avoid Labor Day, we scheduled the party for August 22nd.  Having the party before school starts has become a custom for us.

Emily decided to have a Cheerleading party.  We weren’t real sure what that meant, but agreed to make a megaphone cake.  We made the reservations that included food, drinks, the use of a party room, a party host, and a $10 game card for up to 8 kids.  She sent out 8 invitations and waited for party day.  There was no need to get party favors since each kid would be getting a game card and could get their own prizes with their tickets.

On the day of the party, Emily’s friends from Plainview rode with us to Lubbock.  7 of the 8 kids arrived and the party went very smoothly.  I really didn’t have to do much at all, which meant I got to enjoy the party.  It was nice!  Everyone had a great time and Emily was a great hostess.

Emily is now the proud owner of Monopoly: Then & Now, 2 new webkinz, a webkinz outfit, new pajamas, 2 ePets, a purse & Nancy Drew book! 

After all her Lubbock friends had left, we ran a couple quick errands in Lubbock, picked up Slushies at Sonic and then headed home.  Once we got there, the girls wanted to play Emily’s new Monopoly game.  Since it’s kind of a tough game, I played with them.  We decided to play the “quick” version.  We quit when two hours passed and there was no end in sight, the girls were pretty simpled out and I was tired.  We set them up with a movie in the living room and I went to bed.

The next morning we had Belgium waffles and the girls played with Emily’s new toys until their parents came.   Then we all crashed on the couch for the rest of the day.

Posted by mommyfranklin at September 19th, 2008

* August 21

Happy Birthday Scott!  I love ya!

Today is Scott’s 32nd Birthday.  In case you’re wondering, that’s 100,000 in binary.  He says his next “cool” birthday is 64 — age 1,000,000.  He started class yesterday by telling all his students that he would be 100,000 years old today.

It’s so unlike us, but we actually managed to celebrate his birthday.  On Saturday, some friends watched the kids while Scott and I went on a date.  We went to a matinee showing of Dark Knight and then out to Chili’s.  Then, we went to Wal-Mart where Scott picked out his birthday gift.  He decided to get an iPod Touch.  He’s already had tons of fun getting it set up.  And, lucky me, we traded phones so now I have a “smart” phone.  I don’t mind hand-me-downs gadgets.

This afternoon we went as a family to see The Clone Wars (movies are really inexpensive here, it’s great!) and had a great time celebrating as a family.  I think he’s a great day!

Posted by mommyfranklin at September 19th, 2008

* August 20

Today was Timothy’s first day of Kindergarten.  He is attending the 1/2 day program at Plainview Christian Academy, a private school here in town.   Like most public schools in Texas, Emily doesn’t start until next week.

When I took Timothy to school this morning, he went right on in with little more than a hug goodbye.  We had meet the teacher last night and he has the same teachers that Emily had, so we’re pretty familiar with the routine there.  When I picked him at 11:30, he was very upset because he wanted to stay at school like a lot of the other kids at school get to do.  The teacher assured me that was the only time of the day that had been upset.  He had a great day!

Since I am working outside of the home now, we considered putting him in the full day program.  Emily attended the 1/2 day program when she was in Kindergarten because she was still 4 when school started, she had never attended a full day program away from mom before then, and I was still home full time.  Timothy has been 5 for 3 1/2 months and attended the full day at Calvary last year because I worked there, so he is technically “ready” to go full days.  But the schedule worked out that he doesn’t have to stay all day and, as we explained to him, the kids at his school lay down for naps in the afternoon.  Timothy hasn’t taken a nap in several years, and I can just imagine how things would go if he were made to lay down at school.  Once we told him about that, he was okay with going half days.  Since either Scott or I will be home in the afternoons, we will be sure to make afternoons lots of fun.

Posted by mommyfranklin at September 15th, 2008

* This is another “forgotten” post.  I’m discovering a theme with the entries I’ve not published.  They all include pictures / video.  I’m guessing that’s what I’ve been waiting for to publish them.  This one was started on July 18th.

For the past two weeks, the kids have been going to swimming lessons at Texas Tech.  This is our second year to take lessons there.  We really are impressed with the program they have.  The kids learn a lot and have a great time.  And the price just can’t be beat. As luck would have it, these have been the coldest two weeks of the summer yet.  It’s been cloudy just about every day, so the water has been cold.  It hasn’t seemed to bother the kids too much.

There have been two notable differences this year from last year.

1) I didn’t have to swim. 

I like swimming, really I do.  But I would rather not have to participate in swimming lessons.  Last year, we signed Timothy up to be in the Aquatot class (3 & 4 year old) and Emily was in Level 3.  Both of these classes do not include parents swimming.  We didn’t sign Zachary up for anything, because we figured he was too young.  Swimming lessons for 2-year-olds wasn’t a choice in Plainview, so the thought hadn’t occurred to us.  Well, the first day of lessons last year, Zachary expressed in deep disapproval at having to just watch his big brother and sister swim.  Noticing his distress, the pool manager informed us that there is a class for 2 year olds.  It’s the mommy-and-me class.  So, I pulled out my swimsuit and got in the water with Zachary.  It was fun, but I was glad to get to stay dry this year since had graduated up to be an Aquatot.

2) We knew some other people at lessons.

Last year, we had lived in Lubbock for about a month when we had lessons.  This year, two other ladies from my work had signed their kids up for lessons at the sign time.  Between the three of us, we had signed 9 kids up in classes ranging from Aquatots to the Diving Class.  So, as we watched our kids swim,  the moms got to visit.  That was a lot of fun for everyone.  It has been a nice way to spend some time with friends and not think about the fact that we’ll be moving away in just a few weeks.

Now the part that you are all reading for.  Here are some pictures.  Emily was in level 3, Timothy in Level 1, and Zachary was an Aquatot.  All three kids mastered all parts of their class.  If we go back to Tech next year, which I think we will, Emily will do Level 4, Timothy will do Level 2, and Zachary will do the Aquatot class again (you have to be 5 to be in Level 1).

And, here are some videos.

Emily — Level 3

Her teacher was Kelsie.

Timothy — Level 1 His teacher was Kendall. (I know I took more than one video of him, but can’t find the others.  The others may have been on my phone that broke the day we moved )

Zachary — Aquatot

We found out today that his teacher’s name was Louis. Zachary has insisted on calling him Roger for the last two weeks.