The Moon Has Five Neighbors And Other Stories

WORD COUNT: 8,580

So today was Sarah's parent-teacher conference … more specifically, Martha and I met with Mrs. Braasch while Sarah and Jeffrey, whose teacher Mrs. Johnson we'd met yesterday, were outside playing before first bell at Longfellow. And the news we got about our daughter? She's doing very well for where she is in second grade; she is an avid reader and a great helper; today's quote comes from an assignment her class did regarding facts about the moon (heck, I don't remember learning about the phases of the moon myself until high school) and the five neighbors – I had to ask what this meant and then figured it out with Sarah's teacher. Most likely it's a reference to the Sun, Mercury, Venus, Earth, and Mars; with all they've been learning, it's a lot to take in. And we got to take her first nine weeks' folder home, the back cover of which you see on top today.

Then we met Michelle with her daughter Sammi out in the parking lot, both still extremely broken up over Adam's death (of course, who wouldn't be? For more details, please see Monday's entry “I Looked At The Window And Saw Brain Falling” another – misheard – Sarah-ism, no less!) And thank God we could be there for a few minutes for and with them … anything we can do, please don't hesitate to ask. The kids' spelling is fantastic, we reviewed it with them this morning, and they did their daily reading time with us, Sarah out of Amelia Bedelia and the Surprise Shower (ISBN 9780064440196) and Jeffrey out of Diary of a Spider (ISBN 9780062233004) with Martha before school started. It was a fuss getting them out of bed today, but thank God I won't have to do that again until the next parent-teacher conference that early!

Last night after Jeffrey's Cub Scout meeting – I was amazed that learning the motto, the promise, and other items required for earning his Bobcat badge is NOT what our son is furthest behind on; indeed, I'm told he's ahead of the game as we've worked with him quite a bit – I met Martha and the kids and they wanted to go to Subway. Martha sent me in with the kids and after about five minutes I was so wishing she hadn't; by the time we got through the line and everybody got what they wanted, I found I had forgotten to order dinner for me, but I said to myself “stuff it” and fixed myself breakfast for dinner at home! (Saved some money that way too, so I won't knock it too much.) Oh, and if anybody wants to get our son Jeffrey a present for Christmas; get pants for he is outgrowing them very quickly indeed. How long before I have to (literally) look up to the kids?

David