The first day of school my kids were sooo cute...

Sorry for the delay... Here are the pictures of the kids' first day of school. Keep an eye out for some photobombing in the background.

Scouts are you watching???

Von Hanks did an incredible job filming the kid's game on Saturday.

Here's a few shots of Hayden. He's #20 with green socks pulled up high.

This is Hayden getting a hand off and a run up the middle.

This is Hayden playing left defensive end and blitzing.

Here is Hayden running again. He had to make a little adjustment as you can see.

Watch Hayden in action.

THE COACH AND HIS SON

It was a great day for our family. I had the opportunity to watch my boys play a sport that they both eat, sleep, and breathe---FOOTBALL. Jim never gives himself enough credit for his ability to motivate these boys. He knows how to bring those boys together and get them amped up for the game. He is a great coach and leader to these boys!!

Jim was asked to be the offensive coach for the day because the other coach was going to be out of town. I was so nervous because he was the man with the plays. He was so awesome. He was able to get those boys down the field and score a touchdown in the first 3:00 minutes of the game.

They (the whole team) were just outstanding. There are no words to describe their ability to play as a team and the power they had together was awesome. Hayden plays both OFF/DEF. He is an animal when it comes to his blocking and running. He was about to make an 70 yard touch down but step out of bounds at the 5 yard line but he was able to make a come back when he recieved the kick and ran it down the field without anyone touching him. His tackles were incredible. Whatever you ask Hayden to do he does. He leaves it all on the field.

My boys loves the game what more can I say! They won their game 28-7. What a way to start the season. It was worth getting up at 5:45 am to be ready to leave at 6:30. We had to be there at 7:15 for warm ups and the game started at 8:00. What a SATURDAY MORNING!!

Hayden is #20 with the GREEN socks.

IT IS NOT JUST ABOUT THE SUMMERS OFF...YOU HAVE TO ACTUALLY TEACH!

Why does the school send home an info packet asking your child's strengths and weaknesses to help place them in a class for next year if they are not going to take it into consideration!!!!!

Before we moved to Washington I research all the schools in the area to find schools that were compariable to the schools in California. My eyes were opened when we started> Test scores do not tell you anything about the curriculum. My kids were a year ahead than what was being taught. I figured that this was an easy fix and that the teachers would be so excited that my children had already learned these things.

I was so wrong!!! Hayden's 3rd grade teacher told me, "That I was no longer in California and I was going to have to learn the "Washington Way".

Obviously he did not care to help my child excel. I had several meetings with this teacher that were never positive. They were always about how disruptive my son was( he was bored) and that he was not doing well in their reading program. This was hard for me in understand because he was at grade level or higher in his class in California. I tried finding solutions but with no positive reinforcement. I went to every conference he wanted with the same negativity towards my son. Finally after my 5th conference in 2 months I looked at him and told him that if he had nothing to tell me that was positive or that an improvement had not been made then we were done. I was not going to have any more conferences with him and that I did not want to speak with him any more. All references about or towards my son would now need to be with the principal. He never called me in again. There never seemed to be any more issues.

My disdain for this teacher still exists and now my poor Delaynie has him!! I went immediately to the principal and asked for her removal from the class. I explained my reasons and my concerns. If anyone knows me I love being in the classroom and going on field trips. It is very important to me to be involved and know what is going on in the school. My meeting was useless. The principal at our school is useless. He said he would look into it and get back to me this afternoon with his decision. The answer---AT THIS TIME WE WILL NOT BE ABLE TO MOVE HER OUT OF THE CLASS BUT WILL EVALUATE THIS MATTER AT A LATER DATE.

This was not the answer I was looking for. I even stated on my request form that she was not to have a male teacher. This should have been an easy fix. There are two females teachers and him. How hard is it to give one of the other teachers to us!!!! I did not even take her to the Meet and Greet this afternoon. I refused to even step a foot into his class. I think I have a legitimate reason for not wanting her in there. I believe as a parent we know our child and ourselves best to have better judgement than the principal(yes our principal chooses the classrooms for all the children without the input of the teachers, how does he know each child...HE DOES NOT).

Now the dilemma. Do I keep her home and home school her for the year and return her to 4th grade next year? Do I go to another school and hope that it is better? I do not even want her to go on the first day. I just want to keep her home. It has nothing to do with the kids in class. She has lots of friends which makes it even harder. It has everything to do with this teacher. He should be retired. I am not the only mom upset. There was another mom in tears that her child was in that class. Why do schools keep teachers like this??? I do not understand.

Our education system is a wreck. We need principals that are leaders and find teachers that can captivate children with learning. We need people that want to teach and want to motivate our youth to be strong,positive role models. How can this happen when you have a teacher that does not want to help students excel or help students who struggle. Teachers want robots that are all just the same. This way they do not have to work. There job becomes easy with no pressure. This is not to say that there are not GREAT teachers out there. I know many excellent teachers that love what they do. I applaud those individuals!!!

I just want what is best for my little Delaynie. This teacher is not what she needs. She needs a teacher that has a love for teaching, wants to see the positive in everyone and wants to see growth with their students. How hard is it to make this happen for my child. Harder than I thougth.