Loser mom...again, Chore chart progress report, and Way to go Zacky!!!

~So, I'm checking facebook (rare for me because it gives my computers viruses but I was totally bored) on Sunday night around 9:00 and I read one of my friend Emily's posts that talks about her son's Valentine box he made for school. UH OH!!! We totally spaced off the Valentine's boxes. We were going to do them on Saturday. Matthew was going to make a dragon. Zack was still figuring his out. They were going to be awesome and they were totally going to win 1st prize in the Valentine box contest at school! Man I suck sometimes... Sorry mom, I had to say it! Luckily Zack was still awake because Brian has been letting him stay up until 9:00 lately. The poor kid had to stay up late and throw a box together. It was pretty cool and even had a monster drawn on it with it's mouth open around the card slot. Matthew had to get up early and throw his together. They would have totally rocked when I was a kid but since the Valentine's box competition is CrAzY and people are really intense about it, they didn't have a chance! When there are Spongebob, Bunnies, a whale, and a dragon that are all HUGE and intricate and totally awesome there is NO way my kid's had a chance at winning. They knew going into it after their experience last year. That is why we were going to make totally awesome ones this year. Unfortunately, I taught Zack to clean the bathroom Saturday, made the other kids do chores, took Max to his friend Michael's super fun 2 1/2 hour birthday party at the Wave Pool. We finally got faster Internet for several reasons and now we can watch our Netflix movies through the wii so we pretty much spent any spare time we had over the weekend watching movies. So, after the bday party we watched a movie while the kids played outside since it was a beautiful afternoon and apparently none of us even thought about the Valentine's boxes. Next year...it...is...on!!! We are going to start making them in like January so I won't be a loser mom and my kids will at least have a chance at winning! You'll see! It's going to be great!
~Max is cracking me up lately so much. He is always hilarious but lately he is just really funny. I am SO like Dori on Finding Nemo so I can't remember 5 minutes later what he said but it is fun to have a good laugh at the moment. I'm going to start writing everything he says in a notebook in my purse now so I can remember and share. I'm just a mess!
~Zhack talksh really shilly lately becaushe he hash retainersh now. He got them last Friday. His top one is cobalt blue (he picked it because it's called BYU blue but I am a Utes fan so I'm choosing to call it cobalt blue) with the Batman symbol. Totally awesome!!!
~This new chore chart thing is the best! Last night Matthew's chore was to straighten the living room, Max's chore was to vacuum the living room, Zack's chore was to peel potatoes. When they were finished Matthew asked if he could wash the dishes, too. Who am I to stand in the way of a kid that wants to work! When he was finished he was disappointed that there weren't any more for him to wash. AND he's totally stoked about learning to clean the bathroom on Saturday. He keeps telling me everyday that he just can't wait until Saturday so he can learn to clean the bathroom. He was my biggest grumbler about chores for the first few days and now he's my biggest helper. How cool is that?!
~Zacky has always been a great student. His kindergarten and first grade teachers in Cedar City called him "brilliant"! He was always one of the 3 top scoring kids in the class. His second grade and third grade teachers in Pleasant Grove were INTERESTING!!! At that school they literally tried to dumb things down for students that excelled so that everyone was on the same learning level instead of having different levels for different kids. I talked to his second grade teacher about how he was reading at a fourth grade level in the first grade and just wondered how he was doing. And she said that she didn't realize he was that great of a reader, she would have to test him. This was in FEBRUARY!!! It was just not the same, to say the least. The teacher he had in Salem for the last 3 months of 3rd grade (we moved there in March...HARD for him!) was interesting. Each time someone misbehaved EVERYONE was punished by having to put their heads on their desks for a minute. The next time it happened it was 2 minutes, then 3 and so on throughout the day. How is that fair to anyone! Here's my poor Zacky who has always behaved so well (every one of his teachers has said they wished all of their students were as well behaved and as kind to the other students as Zacky is) and he's being punished off and on all day long for other's bad behavior instead of rewarded for his good behavior. Not cool! One morning on the way to school, he was crying because he didn't want to go so I started crying too and just kept him home. I just couldn't do it. Fourth grade here last year was..eh. Now, this year his teacher is outstanding and recognizes that he is "brilliant" :) and LOVES my boy so much! She challenges him and helps him become the best he can be. It's been amazing! He and 2 other students this year are always the top scorers on everything. She moved all 3 of them up to accelerated programs in reading and math. He is doing so, so well! He's happier! We're happier! It's been a wonderful year and I am so grateful that things are going so well for him! He really needed this boost in his confidence after so much weirdness! And with all of our crazy moves and everything I am just so proud of him and his ability to be so resilient and remain the "brilliant" :) amazing boy that we love so much!!!