Sophomore Mum

40

Little Maestra

I have a minor in Spanish from college but am not by any means fluent.  It's very hard to become fluent in another language as an adult, especially when one has never had an immersion experience.  I can think only a few words in Spanish first and have to translate the rest from English to Spanish in my head which is very slow.  I can often tell you how something is said but that is very different from being able to keep up in conversation.

The Lone Star Girl had some very inadequate Spanish instruction in elementary school and started taking Spanish classes in middle school.  She takes Spanish seriously and has learned a great deal, but still is nowhere near fluent.

The Lone Star Baby, with her Spanish immersion schools since the age of 18 months, is pretty fluent in Spanish. 

Lone Star Pa is from North Texas and does not speak any Spanish at all.

He and the Lone Star Baby decided to do something about that.  She has been giving him Spanish lessons.  She is quite the amazing little teacher, too.

The other evening, he expressed an interest in learning what the Spanish words from her weekly spelling list meant.  She told him maybe later - that they were having a lesson on articles first.  She then proceeded to explain the difference between definite and indefinite articles to him and to teach him each in Spanish.  It was really something.

Bienvenidos Otono

I finally took down the summer decorations.  We put up the fall wreaths and fall decorations, including many of the Halloween variety (though we still have the hard-core Halloween decorations on hold), and changed out the nature table.  Autumn is so very welcome to me this year.  May it bring many blessings to be harvested.

A Happy, Hard-Working Girl

The Lone Star Girl's sophomore year has gotten off to a good start.  She mostly likes her classes, is learning a lot, and is enjoying a whirlwind of clubs.  She enjoys doing the announcements at school and having a free eighth period to work on her homework or have adventures with her friends.  Girl Scouts has started and she is looking forward to the Leadership Institute at the National Conference in November.  She has moved into a faster lane at swim practice and did great at her meet today.  They got their first class ranks as sophomores on Friday and she was all about finding hers out.  She expected to be in the top 20 kids and would have been (silly Girl) very upset not to be but she did not expect the rank she got - 6 out of 532 kids.  She was so happy she about cried.

She is happy and hard-working and sweet.  I am one one lucky mama.

The Week Ahead In Evenings

Monday:  Open House at Lone Star Girl's high school.
Tuesday:  College Night with Lone Star Girl.
Wednesday:  Allergy Shot for Lone Star Girl and shopping for mum supplies.
Thursday:  Middle Years Program Parent Meeting at Lone Star Girl's school, 
                   soccer practice for Lone Star Baby.
Friday:      Senior Girl Scout meeting.




And some extras:

Lone Star Pa is taking off Tuesday to take the LSG to the dermatologist and the LSB to the dentist and will probably turn some GS registrations in for me on the way.


On Saturday, the Lone Star Baby has her first soccer game and the Lone Star Girl has her first swim meet and the Lone Star Girl has a car wash for math club and a birthday party to go to (there was also a beach clean-up but even she had to admit that being three places at once was not going to work for her).


Fall in full swing.  I need to change out our seasonal decor- summer is definitely over, in spite of the heat.

Flu Shot Mama Strikes Again!

Lone Star Girl:  Check.
Lone Star Baby:  Check.
Lone Star Pa:  Check.
Lone Star Ma:  Check.



Now that I have achieved this height of autumnal maternal awesomeness, may I go to sleep for a few months?  Thanks.

New Roads

The Lone Star Baby's new school moved to a yet newer location over the Labor Day weekend - we helped some with moving and setting up the new site.  Her teachers are thrilled about the new, bigger space and it is really nice.  It is also a whole lot further than the old-new location, though.  Lone Star Pa and I have had to experiment some with various commutes there and back, but there is no magic shortcut - it's just far.  We can't complain, though - the school itself is magical - such a wonderful opportunity for her.

My school is losing a couple of teachers due to over-estimating our (still considerable) enrollment increase.  Many schedules will change day after tomorrow and I'll return to sixth grade social studies after having seventh at the beginning of this year.  I like sixth so it is fine for me, but I know it will be an unsettling week for many.  We are just so lucky to work in a district that has fought so hard to hold onto its teachers.

One of our guinea pigs, Pandora, died on Friday.  We buried her in the yard by the mice and the hermit crabs.

The Lone Star Girl has joined a lot of clubs at school, as if she had time for that.  She is enjoying them, though.  She finds Algebra II quite difficult.  Her butterfly stroke, on the other hand, has improved a lot.  A girl who can swim fly is quite an asset.

Lone Star Pa will start coaching Marigold's soccer team again this next week and our Brownie troop will be starting up as well.  I am reading submissions for the new (first online) issue of Lone Star Ma. 

There have been a lot of changes this season, but I have so much for which to be grateful.

Lone Star Ma #10 Deadline Extended to September 30th!

We need more submissions, mamas!  Please see Lone Star Ma for more details.