The Sentimental Soup Label

When I was a little girl, my Granny was always saving soup labels to send in for school.  At any given time, there might be a stack of them in the napkin holder, or in a basket, in her kitchen.  I can picture her, in my mind, with her favorite pair of scissors (and we knew better than to miss with her favorite scissors!), going down the seam in the label and pulling it off.  

When my Granny passed away, there was still a very large collection of soup labels at her house.  Even though Jason & I were out of school, she still continued to save her soup labels.  I remember taking them from her home and putting them in a collection box at Berea Walmart.  It was one of those bittersweet moments because I knew she'd be happy that they were going to a school, but also sad because I knew this was the last time that I'd ever be donating labels that SHE had saved.

Now that my kids are in school, I am slightly obsessed with saving box tops and soup labels.  I nearly have a fit of rage if I see that Brad has tossed something in the trash that had a box top that wasn't clipped.  I buy name brand instead of generic, just because I can get the box tops.  I buy Campbell's brand SpaghettiO's instead of the popular Chef Boyarde because Campbell's has labels for education. 

This morning, in the shower of all places, I started thinking about soup labels and my Granny's faithfulness in saving them, even when she didn't have to.  My Granny - as I have said so many times before - was an awesome person!  It's no wonder that I love to clip the box tops and soup labels...it's a sentimental thing for me, as well as a great way to help out the kid's school.  This is one of the many traditions my Granny had that I really hope to carry on.

So before you toss your next box top or soup labels for education in the trash, think of me, and think of my Granny, and know that sometimes, something as simple as a soup label can have a deeper meaning!!!

One Month Later...a School Story

We are officially a month into school and we have survived, although there have been moments that have made me question survival.  The first night that Leah and Logan both had homework was a disaster.  Not just a disaster but a disaster with a capital T!  It took us over four hours to finish both their homework.  Leah had homework in every subject but one...Logan didn't have a lot of homework, but what he did have was hard for him because he had never done it before.  This blog is a story of our first month into school and some of the highs and lows along the journey...enjoy

LEAH

Leah is in the 5th grade now and the 5th grade is proving to be a difficult grade.  There has been SOOO much work and so many tests.  Within two weeks, no joke, I think they've had more tests than she did the entire 4th grade year (with the exception of their weekly spelling test).  I really do feel like I am going through school again...I'm just hoping "this time around" that I can retain the continents, what latitude and longitude are, and what the cuticle on a plant is for.  The thing that is really troubling me, though, is MATH.  What has happened to simply adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing?  I distinctly remember the MAD MINUTE tests that Mrs Cox used to give us in school.  We learned our multiplication and daggone it, we knew how to use it.  It seems that Math has just gotten blown way out of proportion with all of these "fancy-smancy" ways of doing things.   Go back to the basics!!!  Everyday Math is what Leah is supposed to be learning, but in my everyday life, I have never needed to know the prime factors of something...or whether a number is composite.  The EVERYDAY MATH that I use might involve fractions when I am cooking in the kitchen, addition, subtraction, multiplying for sure, and division...I need to know how to use a tape measure and ruler, but I don't need to know how many factors the ruler has.  

Leah is a smart girl, but sometimes always seems to lack the responsibility and motivation to carry through with something.  Overall, though, she's doing pretty good.  She makes me proud even when I don't show it.    My hope for this school year, for her, is that she can learn to be more responsible for herself and her school work and take pride in it.  Next year, she'll begin the middle school journey!!!  I'm planning on trying to enjoy this last year of grade school with her because she is truly growing up in a hurry!

LOGAN

Logan's start to school has been quite an entertaining adventure.  What Leah's year has been in stress has been balanced out in laughs by Logan's year, so far.  BELIEVE IT OR NOT, he has been able to get in the treasure box every week to get a prize for being good.  I, personally, find it hard to believe, because I know what a little rascal he truly is.   

Logan has adjusted a lot better than I thought he would, considering that he'd never been away from me.  Don't get me wrong, every morning we still go through the same ole' questions of 1)  Why do I "HAS" to go to school  2)  The reason I hate school is because of centers...Centers are dumb  3)  I hope we don't have PE

Logan is learning his letters and doing really well as far as I can tell.  I can give him letters and he will sound them out and tell me the word.  Simple words like pop, hog, log,...but I'm super proud of him.  He still can't buckle his seat belt, but we are working on it.  He still doesn't wipe his own butt, but will in time, I know...I am much more easy going with Logan than I was with Leah, just because I know that if he can't do everything that the other kids can do, it will be OK and he will do it in HIS own time.  

I'm sure that his teacher wonders about us though.  From sending in a box of Hamburger Helper in his "H" letter sound box to him putting his favorite food was SpaghettiO's on his "All About Me" poster.  She probably thinks that we are the most redneck family ever!  

One of the things that has been a "highlight" of Logan's first month of school is that he gave away one of his books from the book order!  The funny thing is that it is the book that we'd ordered for Leah - a dinosaur book.  Oh dear me.  We still haven't got that book back, and I don't think that we ever will...sigh.  At least he was willing to share with other kids, right?!!!  

MOM

I am adjusting pretty well to having two kids in school, I think.  Logan only goes 1/2 a day and that isn't really a lot of time to accomplish much but I am enjoying it.  I have been home with the kids for 10 years...I was ready for a few hours of alone time!   Things are hectic at times, and I get frazzled over Leah's school work, but overall, I think I am doing OK.  My house is not any cleaner than it was before, I'm not fixing anything fancier for supper than I did before, and I sure as heck haven't started exercising like I had planned to, but that's alright.  We are all three on a new adventure...Leah with the rigors of 5th grade, Logan starting Kindergarten, and Mom adjusting to having time to do nothing!  

So far, we are doing well...one month down, how many more to go???  I don't even know...just taking one day at a time and trying to enjoy the journey!!!