It's Beginning to Look A lot Like ....

CHRISTMAS

We are in FULL Christmas mode at the Deaton house. Decorations are put out and the tree is UP.  Why does that feel like an accomplishment and relief all rolled into one?  Miles was SO excited about getting the tree up this year.  He asked us everyday last week, "when we were going to put the tree up?"  We managed to hold off until after Thanksgiving. 

You can tell by the pictures how happy he is!

I'm certain all of my ornaments had hooks on them and were in fairly good shape before Miles got into the ornament box.  We only had a few that needed repair =).  It's amazing how handy a hot glue gun is when decorating a tree. The ornament triage was set up on my dining room table and going at all times.

The kids holding up some of their favorite Hallmark's.  I love my Hallmark tree.  Isaac is holding a snowman relaxing in a hot tub which is a musical ornament that sings "feelin' hot, hot, hot".  You have NO IDEA how many times that button has been pushed since putting up the tree.  I may have to secretly hide that one before I lose my COOL, COOL, COOL.

I'll occasionally catch Miles just looking around the tree and beaming with pride at all the decorations.  

We have sadly never made it to the L & N Train Depot for the Polar Express.  This is an annual free event sponsored by the public library.  I was determined to get tickets for us this year. The tickets were available on Election Day.  I spent 20 minutes on the phone, madly dialing and redialing the ticket hotline number over and over again and continually getting busy signals.  Finally, I got THROUGH, got our date scheduled, hung up and then realized I'd told them the WRONG date (there are multiple dates for this event).  Ugh, are you kidding me?  My sweet husband Matt said he'd take care of it.  I was glad because I didn't have another 20 minutes of dialing in me and was very frustrated with myself. 

The correct date was chosen--Tuesday, November 27 at 6:45 p.m.
Anxiously waiting to board the Polar Express.

 The train schedule.

We arrived at the Depot about 15 minutes early so we could get our tickets and enjoy the lobby which was decorated so Christmas-y for the event.  They had also put out cookies and hot chocolate for everyone to enjoy.  Fun!  Miles immediately noticed a school friend, and they were inseparable.  I tried to get picture of them but his friend was quick and to excited to sit still.

 Isaac's buddy Jonathan was there too.  He had just gotten off the train so we only got to see him for minute.  On a different note, completely unrelated, Jonathan's dad is the bowling coach for Greenwood High.  I'm not sure if I've ever mentioned in a post that Matt is the bowling coach for South Warren, but he is.  Jonathan's mom and I have been trying to coordinate bowling schedules so we can send both boys to the match (with their dads) so they can play together.  Guess what?  It's happening this afternoon, GHS vs. SWHS at Southern Lanes.  

Back to the bi-polar, I mean Polar Express post....

Me and my precious cargo!

I don't know that I've ever been on a train before, or at least, I have no memory of going on one.  I was like a mad woman snapping pictures of each little room and holding up the entire line that was slowly snaking their way down the tiny corridors to get to the dining cart.

I'm thinking we may need to travel by train to our next vacation?

We finally made it to the dining cart area and found a spot at a table.

Can you see Miles's little friend peaking over my shoulder?

The reading of the Polar Express began.  I was to distracted to listen to the story.  I was busy looking at all the train decor and imagining what it would've been like to go on an actual train ride and how cool that would've been.  My mind feels like it's in a million places this time of the year.  I think Miles had more fun playing with tickets than looking and listening to the book.  Like mother, like son =).

Santa greeted all the kids as they exited the train and gave them all a jingle bell.  I think the look on Isaac's face is priceless.  Jolly ol' Santa brings out the joy in everyone!

Farewell from the Polar Express and Deaton Christmas beginnings....more to come....!

Our Brilliant Children

I met with Karson and Isaac's curriculum coordinator, Ms. Crump, on Thursday to discuss their academic achievement and how the school is addressing their academic needs.  Isaac was recently chosen to participate in Plano's primary talent pool which is an honor.  Unfortunately, they can't do a whole lot with the primary grades besides give them enrichment exercises and more advanced work in the classroom.  Isaac is so smart.  Although he doesn't really enjoy school much, he has an excellent memory, advanced vocabulary, he absorbs books and writes his own almost daily, his math skills are incredible, and the list goes on.  For his age, he is considered as part of the top 25% nationally for his grade/age.  The school uses STAR Reading for testing and Isaac scored a 98% meaning that he reads greater than 98% of other students nationally in the same grade.  His STAR Math was a 92.  

Karson continues to soar in the academic arena.  She has been selected to participate in the school's academic team in the areas of language arts, arts and humanities and quick recall.  She hasn't committed to any specific area yet.  I told her we needed to see the practice schedule first to see what we can and cannot accommodate.  Academic Team, although wonderful, is very time consuming.  Karson is involved in a lot of extra curricular things so we have to be somewhat selective.  She got her mid-term report back this week and scored 100% in spelling, language, math and science.  She scored a 97% in reading and 95% in social studies.  She also received scores from K-PREP which she took at the end of her 3rd grade year.  Karson's performance scores in reading and math were both distinguished.  She scored a 229 in reading (school mean = 209, district mean = 208 and state mean = 209) and a score of 234 in math (school mean 204, district mean = 204 and state mean =206).    Her national percentage rank in reading is 99% and her math is 95%.  She was invited to participate in Duke University's Talent Identification Program.  This program provides additional academic resources to help challenge gifted children and give them opportunity for growth.  Ms. Crump showed me the extra enrichment Karson gets in the gifted studies at Plano and how the pull-out program works.  She told me Karson is ranked in the top 5% nationally.  This child never ceases to amaze me!

Miles is a newbie in the academic arena and seems to be more interested in the social side of school more so than the academic.  However, he is quickly becoming an excellent reader and has already passed his Lexia Level 1 in reading.  Miles is very smart and very popular =)!  Who knows, he may be the president one day with those stellar qualities. 

Matt and I are proud of our children and love watching them succeed!