I CAME DOWNSTAIRS 2DAY 2 THE MOST JOYFUL VOICE REPEATEDLY SINGING, "I'M 5 YRS. OLD 2DAY!" I SIGNED "HAPPY BIRTHDAY," & THOUGH FIA DIDN'T KNOW THE SIGN, SHE IMMEDIATELY GUESSED IT. SEEMED OBVIOUS ENOUGH I'D SAY "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!"

I THINK I HAVE BRAGGING RIGHTS AS A MOM & AN EDUCATOR: TWICE THIS MONTH, I HAVE REALIZED MY KIDS R AMAZINGLY SMART . ZACH IS SO FAST AT UNDERSTANDING MY ASL—NOT AN EASY TASK & I CAN ONLY HOPE IT COMES IN HANDY SOMEDAY, LIKE ON A MISSION 4 R CHURCH. JESS IS AN AMAZING READER–ALTHOUGH SHE THRIVES ON CONTEXT CLUES, SHE OFTEN FIGURES OUT A WORD I’M NOT DONE TYPING & DOES SUBERB HAVING ME, OFF ALL PEOPLE, HELP HER SOUND OUT A WORD. FIA IS STARTING 2 READ & AT 4, & GRASPS MATH CONCEPTS A KINDERGARTENER STRUGGLES WITH.

SINCE THE KIDS LEARN FROM MARK & I, & MARK TEACHES SPANISH 2 JESS’ 1ST GRADE CLASS, THE KIDS HAVE BECOME MULTI-LINGUAL: ENGLISH, SPANISH, & ASL–WHERE THEY UNDERSTAND MORE FINGERSPELLING (I OFTEN SPELL WORDS 4 THE GIRLS 2 WRITE, BECAUSE THEY CAN USUALLY IDENTIFY MY LETTERS) & IF IT’S DONE SIGNED 2 THEM (RATHER THAN THEY DO IT).

1 QUES: ONCE, AS JESS WAS FIGURING OUT A NEW WORD, & I AGREED IF IT WAS A SOFT OR HARD VOWEL, I COULD C THE IMPORTANCE OF MY EDUCATION (AT TIMES LIKE THESE, I'M SO GRATEFUL 4 MY EDUCATION & STUDENT TEACHING 1ST GRADE, SO I CAN NOD YES OR NO 2 HER QUES. ABOUT HOW A VOWEL SOUNDS), BUT USUALLY I WONDER, WHAT GOOD WAS IT 2 LEARN 2 TEACH YOUNG KIDS, AS FAR AS MY FAM. IS CONCERNED, IF I CAN'T TRULY TEACH? (REMEMBER, THIS WAS A RARE INSTANCE, & ONLY HAPPENED ONCE—& I UNDERSTAND HOW MUCH IT MEANS 2 SET AN TEACHER THROUGH EX., BUT I DIDN'T NEED A TEACHING DEGREE 2 DO THAT!) ZACH, MY OLDEST, WAS JUST STARTING 2 READ WHEN I STROKED. NOW I’M MISSING TEACHING THE GIRLS 2. IT’S BITTERSWEET–THEY’RE CLOSER 2 BEING ABLE 2 SPELL & FINALLY UNDERSTAND ME AFTER ALMOST 3 YRS., BUT I WISH I WAS TEACHING THEM 2 READ!

ON A FUNNY NOTE, WE WERE PLAYING THE APPLES 2 APPLES GAME: SOME1 GETS A DESCRIPTIVE WORD ON A GREEN CARD. ALL OTHER PLAYERS TRY 2 WIN THE GREEN CARD BY CHOOSING A WORD THEY THINK THAT PERSON WILL CHOOSE AS THE BEST MATCH FROM THE WORDS ON THE RED CARDS. I HAD A GREEN CARD THAT SAID “USELESS.” MY FAV. RED CARD CAME FROM 6 YR. OLD JESS–“MY BODY!”

P.S. MARK JUST BROUGHT ME “DIGITAL SCRAPBOOKING” MAG. FROM SIMPLE SCRAPBOOKS. MY SCRAP. PG. IS FINALLY PUBLISHED, & IT MENTIONS THIS SITE! ONLY THING IS THE ADDRESS CHANGE 2 WWW.JENANNLYNN.ORG, BUT THANKFULLY THE OLD ADDRESS DIRECTS HERE!