My BABY's First 5k

Today we took off to the Orange County Choppers 5K. Our expectation was to bring ALL the kids., but the weather wasn't allowing for it... so 1/3 were left at home, while 2/3 remained with the "grown folk" to face the weather AND run a race.
I am proud to say, my eldest son successfully ran his first 5k.... PLACING in his age group!

Earlier in the week his doctor told us he has moderate to severe asthma and seasonal allergies and we had doubts about letting him run. But he wanted to go and was looking forward to it, so we took the chance.

When we got to OCC, we had about half an hour to burn, so we checked out a couple of the awesome OCC bikes, then headed outside for the race to kick off.

After we got him some water, snacks and grabbed a bite to eat in the cafe.

Come to find out, both my guys ended up placing third in their age groups!
 

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Mama's down for the count...

And I thought I was in the all clear because, as we know, moms don’t get sick.
Ever.
I was wrong.
And for some reason, this time around, illnesses are hitting me harder. We’re talking category 4 hurricane here.
Is it because I’m older? More stressed out? More melodramatic?
So I had been waking every morning STILL tired from the night before, (since my little Cashew doesn't like to sleep through the night, or alone for that matter -- and we moms know that when you are co-sleeping, YOU are not really sleeping), and downing 2 Tylenol before the day even had begun.
After assuming my issues were directly related to nursing; I phoned the doctor, only to discover my fever was not high enough, my pain was not severe enough, my arm was not numb enough and the 'lump' was not substantial enough. I was told I was "merely suffering from inconsistent night weaning, dehydration and severe exhaustion."
Well then.
I can drink more water, I can pump during the night, but I CANNOT as they suggested "nap mid-day". When the dr. asked if my children would "let me nap", I laughed out loud... literally.
Does that happen?
Do mothers of three nap?
The nap time is my time to clean, organize and set up afternoon activities. It IS supposed to be my working out and relaxing time, but since I am so exhausted when I go to bed and do not have time for the cleaning before I hit the hay.
Now, I am tired, out of a workout for now two weeks and losing my patience with the children from lack of  "break" and the dr. wants me to 'take a nap' ...riiiight.

 I can’t imagine how some of my single mom friends – who are the only parent in their child’s life – do it. I’m not going to ask. Parenthood is a house of cards. Try to see what one card looks like and the whole thing will tumble.

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Summer for the Second Grader

The lessons are organized into a series of chapters that introduce and cover:

1. Long vowels, punctuation, and story elements - Teaches the long vowel sounds and common vowel digraphs for the vowels e and a. Students learn phonological awareness and reading comprehension through the use of exciting exercises. Second graders will demonstrate a sound knowledge of high frequency words. An interactive story will build fluency, sequencing skills, and the ability to determine the setting of a passage. Writing exercises develop the second grader’s ability to use punctuation correctly.
2. Long and r controlled vowels, punctuation, and story elements - Teaches the long vowel sounds and common vowel digraphs using the vowels I and o. Students learn phonological awareness and reading comprehension through exciting exercises. Second graders will demonstrate a sound knowledge of high frequency words. An interactive story will build fluency using question marks, sequencing skills, and the ability to determine the main idea of a passage. Writing exercises give the student the opportunity to apply what has been learned.
3. Digraphs, r controlled vowels, punctuation, and story elements - Teaches both vowel and consonant digraphs, special sounds such as “ch”, and r controlled vowels. Students extend phonological awareness, vocabulary, and reading comprehension through the use of exciting exercises. Second graders will demonstrate an extensive knowledge of high fluency words. An interactive story will build fluency using exclamation marks, sequencing skills, and the ability to determine conflict and predict the outcome of a passage. Creative writing experiences enable the student to apply what has been learned.
4. Inflectional endings, plurals, and summarizing - Teaches inflectional endings such as “ing” or “ed.” Students extend their knowledge of vocabulary, reading a leveled text, and high frequency words. An interactive story will build fluency using phrasing and commas. The ability to identify the characters and plot, as well as summarize a story is developed. Creative writing experiences enable the student to apply what has been learned.
5. Varying consonant use, story elements, writing - Teaches double consonants, vowel exceptions, and silent consonants. Students extend their knowledge of vocabulary, reading a leveled text, and high frequency words. An interactive story will build fluency using phrasing and poetry rhythm. The ability to identify the anticipation, making inferences, and the author’s point of view of a story is developed. Creative writing experiences enable the student to apply what has been learned.
6. Antonyms, Synonyms, and Homonyms - Teaches students the proper use of antonyms, synonyms, and homonyms. Students will extend their knowledge of vocabulary, reading a leveled text, locating information in a graph, and high frequency words. Creative writing experiences enable the student to apply what has been learned.
7. Suffixes, inferences, and cause and effect - Teaches the use of the suffixes “er”, “est”, and “ly.” Students will extend their knowledge of vocabulary, high frequency words, making inferences, drawing conclusions, and cause and effect. An interactive story will build fluency focusing on stress and tone. Creative writing experiences enable the student to apply what has been learned.
8. Prefixes, context clues, and authentic literature - Teaches the use of the prefixes “re” and “un.” Students will extend their knowledge of vocabulary, use of commas and periods, and high frequency words. Fluency is built through the use of phrasing. Students are introduced to reading authentic literature. Creative writing experiences enable the student to apply what has been learned.
9. Suffixes, reading maps, and multisyllabic words - Teaches the use of the suffixes “less” and “able”, and reviews prefixes learned. Students will extend their knowledge of vocabulary, reading a leveled text, reading and interpreting maps, summarizing, and cause and effect. Creative writing experience at the end of each chapter enable the student to apply what has been learned.

The 22 language arts extensions chapters include:

1. Spiders 2. Bees 3. Worms 4. Nutrition 5. Hygiene 6. Fitness 7. Rain Forests 8. Arctic 9. Deserts 10. Directions 11. Maps and Globes

12. Symbols and Keys 13. Sound 14. Heat 15. Light 16. Hurricanes 17. Tornadoes 18. Volcanoes 19. Conflict Resolution 20. Following the Law 21. Goods and Services 22. Consumers and Producers Lessons are organized into chapters that introduce and cover: Number Sense - Second grade "Number Sense" teaches how to read, compare, match, and define whole numbers. Lessons also cover skip counting, odd and even numbers, number line use, and rounding. Fractions - Second grade "Fractions" teaches the difference between equal and unequal parts. Fractions divided by halves, thirds, fourths, and eights are introduced in lessons such as "Mangos Take Out", which you can see a screenshot of, below. Operations - Second grade "Operations" starts with math vocabulary. It distinguishes the difference between addition and subtraction facts up to 18, and teaches second graders about the associative property. Lessons move into addition and subtraction of one and two digit numbers and gives problem solving strategy using regrouping. This chapter ends with lessons on multiplication, division, and estimation. Money - Second grade "Money" teaches about coin values, how to count money, and how to add and subtract it using regrouping. Patterns - Second grade "Patterns" teaches students how to identify, sort and classify things by common patterns or attributes. Students learn to identify patterns on a "hundreds chart" and then apply those patterns to skip counting by 2s, 5s, and 10s as well as patterns such as tessellation. Algebra - Second grade "Algebra" introduces students to algebraic symbols and the commutative property of addition. Lessons also teach number sentences, equal vs. unequal, greater than vs. less than, real world equations, and solving for unknown numbers. Geometry - Second grade "Geometry" teaches about two and three-dimensional shapes. Lessons cover straight vs. curved lines, open vs. closed shapes, and planes vs. solid objects. Students are introduced to similar, congruent, parallel, and perpendicular shapes and asked to compare them in the lessons. Positions - Second grade "Positions" introduces basic geometry and spatial relationships. Students learn how to identify, locate and move objects according to directional (left, right, up, down) and positional (top, middle, inside) instruction. Second graders use the coordinate grid as well as the number line to plot and identify numbers. Using Shapes - Second grade "Shapes" teaches congruent shapes and symmetry. Students learn to match congruent shapes and identify lines of symmetry in two dimensional shapes. Students are also taught how to identify and create vertical and horizontal lines of symmetry. Spatial Sense - Second grade "Spatial Sense" teaches how to build and calculate perimeter and area of two dimensional shapes. It teaches how to recognize geometric shapes and how to use one shape to build another. This chapter also teaches the concepts of perimeter and area. Time - Second grade "Time" introduces different ways that time is classified, such as calendar time and clock time. Students learn about digital vs. analog time telling as well as the relationship of hours, days, weeks, and months. Length - Second grade "Length" teaches how to use, compare and measure length. Students will choose the appropriate tool and use it to measure different metrics. Students will also apply the measurement skills to measure for perimeter as well as use metric units to determine length. Weight - Second grade "Weight" teaches different attributes of weight. Students will estimate, compare and measure with customary and non-customary units of measure. Capacity - Second grade "Capacity" teaches how to measure, compare and estimate capacity. It shows students how to identify the best unit and will ask them to place objects in order according to capacity. Temperature - Second grade "Temperature" teaches how to measure temperatures. Lessons introduce Fahrenheit and Celsius and show students how to read a thermometer and compare different readings. Graphing - Second grade "Graphing" reinforces the "Patterns" chapter by asking students to sort objects. They then learn to create a tally table and record information in pictographs and bar graphs. Using Data - Second grade "Using Data" teaches the basics of statistics, showing students how to compare and make predictions based on the data that they organized into graphs. Probability - Second grade "Probability" teaches the basics of probability. It teaches the difference between principles of certainty, impossibility, likely and least likely. Second graders are prompted to identify the differences and make predictions based on data. Patterns in Nature -Students will learn the steps in the life cycle, the food chain, pond habitat, wetland habitat, and ocean habitat. Lessons will focus on the different characteristics of the different types of animals in each habitat. Force and Motion - Students learn about magnetism and the law of magnetic attraction, and apply these to real life objects. Earth and Space - Students learn about the objects in our sky, their orbits, and their characteristics. Wants and Needs - Students learn about the basic human needs of food, clothing, and shelter and how these needs are met. Earth Science - Students learn about using maps to locate the United States as well as individual states. Map symbols, use of globes, and cardinal directions are taught. Contributions to Science - Students learn about historic places, the symbols, icons, buildings, and holidays that represent American beliefs and principles. The Surface of the Earth - Students learn about the different types of jobs in the home, school, and community.

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