Vote No

I find it interesting that there are some people who cannot be supportive of GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender) rights until they have someone in their family or a very close friend who comes out as gay. I don't know when my moment came to me, because I didn't have gay family members or friends who were gay growing up.

Maybe it was working with really awesome gay students.

Maybe it was watching my school district get sued after six gay students committed suicide in just one year because of bullying.

Maybe it just comes naturally as a person of color, wanting everyone to be treated equally and fairly.

Or maybe it's just the right thing to do.

But right now what is driving my vote?

This precious child.

You see... I don't know who he is going to love yet.

He's already had his first girlfriend.

But he's also told me he's gay!  (Not really.  Click on the link.)

Why would I vote yes on an amendment that could hurt my son one day when I don't even know who he is going to love yet!?

If James is your grandson, your nephew, or you're friends with me and you know James to be the sweet little boy that he is- how could you deny him (or anyone else!) his right to love one day?

I hope James and all children can be your reason for Voting No this November.

Until then I am surrounding my family with...

Rainbows.

Positive influences.

Great teachers.

And I'm going to let my neighbors know how I feel too.

One day I hope James will read this and know that I had his back.

He truly makes my heart happy. Or feliz as he is saying now :)

¡Te amo, James! I can't wait for you to fall in love and be happy!



Pledge to Vote No here: http://mnunited.org/

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Correra Loca (Fun Run)

 

Jim and I went to our KINDERGARTENER's first school event. It was a fundraiser, as I'm sure you all know, since we hit most of you up for some dinero :)

James was able to raise $50 all on his own! The goal was $25 per student, so he was a Rock Star! He actually did great putting the donated money in the big envelope. There was no temptation to keep the money. I was very proud of him.

So it was a cold, rainy day. BOO! We stood with the other parents and waited.

Finally, the kindergarteners marched out. We see James! I held my sign for James to see.

There he is! The kindergarteners were given the Pajama theme. James very proudly wore his new Angry Birds pjs. He also had Angry Birds underwear on (as he showed me in the morning, pulling down his pants) but I told him NOT to show everyone :)

The look below says, "Mom, really? More pictures?"

I love how this kid is ready to RACE!

 

The principal delivers a message and then they're OFF!

If you missed it, Mr. Larson said that they raised $5,800 for the school!

So the kids took off and most of the parents jogged over to the other side of the field, straight across the grass. Jim and I trotted over and took more video.

 

And then the finish line...

James was visibly exhausted, huffing and puffing. I think that's the longest he's ever ran!

Popcorn and water for all the kids.

And then I noticed James doing his potty dance. I grabbed his hand, told his teacher I was taking him to the bathroom, and we RAN some more to the building. It was a long way. I'm glad we made it!

On the way to the bathroom he asked me what the signs said. I told him and he told me that he has the best Mom and Dad in the world!

And when we got back we joined up with Jim (Dad) again and we congratulated James some more.

His friend George found us and brought James to his Mom to introduce him.

He said, "Mom, this is my friend James!" She told us that she has been hearing about James all week. Likewise! James has been talking about George and Pokemon (later blog entry).

Proud Dad!

Proud Mom!

Our Baby did great!

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New kicks!

Can you believe they make shoes like this?! James was so excited! Insisted on getting these. I was grateful because he was also eyeing the $50+ skechers!

 

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School Lunches

James hasn't wanted to try the school lunches yet. Honestly, I'm okay with that.

Last Friday's lunch: Ham rolls, white cheddar slices, Ritz crackers, mini Chocolate donut in Black Lego box, strawberries, and juice pouch. Snack- pretzels.

Monday's lunch: Ham rolls, grated white cheddar cheese (James says he prefers the "strings"), mini cookies, Cheetos, yogurt stick, and juice pouch. Snack (not pictured)- rainbow Goldfish crackers.

Today's lunch: Peanut butter heart sandwich, yogurt stick, apple slices, apple cider, and surprise Starburst in heart box. Snack (not pictured)- pretzels.

I freeze the yogurt sticks and juice pouches. We put re-usable ice cubes on top of the cheese, meats, and whatever else needs it. (Have I already mentioned all this?)

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Saturday Thrills

 

 

Grandpa Roger sent Angry Birds gummies! WOW!

 

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Spanish

It's catching on! Somehow he found the video series Pocoyo on Youtube and in Spanish! He wanted to watch it! He told us that they watched Pocoyo in his classroom.

 

Seriously, don't know how he found it on Youtube... I think he can secretly spell/type.

 

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2nd Day, School routine

James' 2nd day of school was much like the 1st day of school but it was just Mom picking him up.

The Learning Ventures program was playing inside, in the library. Several of the older kids were playing board games and the smaller kids are in the background, playing on the bean bags. You can barely see James by the window.

He reported another great day! And even said he learned a new Spanish word! Baño! Bathroom. That's an important one!

It's also important because the teacher told us to expect next to no Spanish coming home. She said kids might be reluctant to speak Spanish at home. So I'm glad he's giving us words :) :) :)

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First Day of Kindergarten, Part 2

Both Jim and I picked up James from his after-school daycare program. He ran to us excitedly and told us he had a great day! Yay!

 

 

Not a scratch on him :)

We went out to dinner to celebrate his first day of Kindergarten. James confessed that he did cry once. He said he thought he lost his teacher and so he cried just for a little bit. We were confused by what this meant, and was he really lost? Well, we did the best that we could about telling him to ask for help next time.

And then we went out for an ice cream cone. Quite the celebration!

James called his Grandma Rose from the car. He excitedly told her about his entire day.

And he also called Grandma Laura. It's so nice to see him hold real conversations with his Grandmas, and to hear again that he had a great day!

He told us that he made two friends today. He doesn't know their names. He was playing with one of the friends at the after-school daycare so maybe I'll ask the boy tomorrow about his name. It was cute because the boy told James, "Goodbye Friend!"

Each day James will carry home a folder with handouts, homework, or artwork from the day. These are today's handouts.

"I survived the First Day of Kindergarten!"

"My first day of Kindergarten..." James said this is a picture of himself holding an envelope. !

 

The weekly newsletter from Señora Kennedy.

Westood newsletter.

 

And finally tomorrow's lunch. My sister Kristina gave me tons of little lunch tools from her time in Japan. I made tiny peanut butter sandwiches, cut out cheese shapes with space-themed cutters, and put fruit on toothpicks. Tomorrow's surprise in the black Lego box- a gummy worm! Tomorrow morning we'll put ice packs on the food to keep it cool. I freeze his juice pouch (not pictured) and that helps keep everything cold too.

The goldfish crackers are for his morning snack. That gets packed separately in his backpack pocket.

It is fun (so far) to be all cutesy with these lunches!

We are so grateful that James had a good day! He didn't say too much about his day, except that he had THREE recesses :) We know there is a morning recess for 15 minutes and then an after lunch recess for another 15 minutes. I would guess the third recess is the after-school daycare time. Whatever, he loves recess. Typical kid who says that recess is the best part of the day!!!

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First Day of Kindergarten!

Sneaky made a surprise visit. James didn't even notice him right away!

 

First, he had to show Dad that he DID grow up to be a big boy today!

He was showing his Dad that his legs look longer :)

I guess we have held the First Day of Kindergarten to be a very important day. A day that he is truly, truly a big boy and can do so much!

Finally, he spied Sneaky!

Wow!

"Five dollars because I'm five!"

James chose his lunch for today. Peanut butter heart sandwich, strawberries, juice pouch, and a surprise in the black Lego box (five gummy bears).

The Sneaky surprise hit a couple of birds with one stone. Or however that saying goes!

1. It brought us some excitement and James was thrilled!
   
2. It asked James to take some great pictures. (Sometimes he doesn't like to pose.)
   
3. And it asked James to leave Blankie behind. (He had already agreed to this but it was nice for him to hear it from Sneaky!)

Sneaky will take great care of Blankie today!

New Lego Ninjago backpack. Super cool! And notice his tag. His name, his address, and his bus number. It's supposed to stay on his backpack all year.

 

 

 

It was sprinkling when we went outside to the bus stop. NO problem!

James met several kids who are also going to the Spanish Immersion program. Three kids in SI, and then one 5th grader at the Intermediate program. Same building.

Look, there's the bus!

And then everything happened so fast! I snapped pictures and we waved goodbye. There was no time to cry!

A quick wave goodbye and he really didn't look back :)

Looking both ways before he crosses the street!

Our across-the-street-neighbor kids agreed to take care of James. I am so grateful. They said they would make sure he found the Kindergarten area. They were so sweet.

They held his hands going to the bus. Awwww!

Bye James!

I'm so excited to hear all about his day. I'm sure he'll have a great first day!

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