Bobble heads

Ever notice you can buy sports equipment for adults in all sorts of sizes, but manufacturers expect children to all be roughly the same size? It isn't a one-size fits all world and Keeli - AKA the bobble headed t-ball player - is a perfect example.
The season opened Tuesday and Keeli had a great time and - hopefully - is grasping some of the game's concepts. That giant helmet and the way it shifts forward, backward and side-to-side on her head with every move she makes is very distracting for a 5-year-old.
Ready position - enough said - no comment. I can't stop laughing when I see this going on!Her friend Mia did her best to tag Keeli out as she approached first, but the first rule of t-ball is all runners are safe and all runners get to score! Yeah for everyone!!! Keeli celebrates each and every advancement as if she were scoring the winning run. So, maybe she doesn't have all the concepts down quite yet. She has time to learn.

Last Bus Ride of 2009-10

We closed the books on another school year Friday.

When the bus returns next fall Tatum will be headed to 6th grade, Rikard will be in 4th grade and Keeli will join them on her way to Kindergarten.

Both Tatum and Rikard returned home with "acceptable" report cards. I'm not sure I like the standards based grading system that is now in effect. They are both passing all their subject areas, although Rikard got a low mark in neatness and the component of music that has to do with carrying a tune. The system we have doesn't allow for any comments from the teachers regarding the level they receive (0-4 scale with 4 being the highest). And, most of their marks were 3s, which means they meet the grade level expectations. The biggest problem I have is that the system is very nebulous to the parents, we don't see the rubric or system their grades are based on and some of us - mainly me - do care.