First Day of School

The first day of school for 2009-2010. For some reason I never get good pictures of the first day. I don't know if it's because it is so humid in August here, or if it is because we are trying to do this and get to school on time. But, these are the best I could do.

Bryant is 10 and is starting the 5th grade. He is at the same school where he started K. We tried to move to another school last year, but when we did not get a spot, I felt certain that God was leading us to stay put through 5th grade. If you asked him before school started what he was most excited about this year, he probably would have told you not having to tuck in his shirt this year. Last year the 5th graders did not have to follow that rule. Bryant is in a combo 4th/5th grade homeroom, but his academic instruction will take place with 5th graders. It's a complicated system that the principal concocted. I hope it works.

Ann Bennett is 7 and is starting 2nd grade. For the first time in her life she is in a girl heavy class. She has a fabulous teacher/assistant combo. She is also in a 1st/2nd grade combo. (There are only 2 combos in the school and both of our kids are in them.) Her combo class is going to be great. They have taken a lot of independent workers (code for a higher ability group) in each grade and placed them together with few, if any, children with known behavior problems. I think she will have a really good year, and I'm happy for her!

Just to give you an example of what most of my pictures looked like, I thought I'd throw this one in to the mix. What's funny to me is this is how I wore my hair at her age, but I never fixed AB's hair like this. Hers has always gone to the side with a bow -- at least when I had it my way! But, she has decided that she likes it like this. I'll have to look for a pic of me with my hair just like this, but mine was not as fine as hers. In that way, her hair is more like Sandy's.

I wish that at the end of the day we were excited about the year, but with all honesty, we are feeling very shaky. The school is attempting to address behavior more aggressively this year (as they should), but it seems that in so doing a very negative environment has been created. Ann Bennett ended her day with a tantrum, and Bryant asked me to move him to another school or home school him. The only good thing about a bad first day is that day 2 has to be better! At least they were able to wear more color this year (any solid color shirt with a collar), and Ann Bennett can accessorize with belts, bows and jewelry. That always makes you feel better!

Last Day of Summer

EVERY year since my children started preschool I have been ready for school to start. When they were preschoolers, I loved their preschool so much, and they were so happy there that we were delighted when it started. Last summer you might have heard me say there was nothing like summer vacation to make you appreciate public school. But, this year, I am just not ready for summer to end. We have had such a good summer! We decided not to have Bryant considered for all stars this summer, and I think that was the BEST decision we have made in a long time. It slowed the pace of our summer, let us all get some much needed sleep and really set the start of our summer off right! But, today was the last day of summer vacation. Ann Bennett spent the morning with her very good friend who will be moving to NY next week. Bryant, AB and I went to the beach this afternoon with our friends the Colemans and the Brownings. I had my camera and never took it out! The beach was gorgeous. The waves were a little rough, but the boys are all big enough and strong enough swimmers that they can boogy board just fine. The girls played in the water and sand for a long time, and I even had a little time to sit and chat with my friends. It was a great afternoon. Bryant always likes to end the summer with putt-putt, so tonight the whole family went to play. It was a really nice way to end the summer. None of us are really ready for school to start. This age has its challenges, but it is mostly a lot of fun!

Bryant and Carey in the basketball challenge -- Carey smoked him!

Bryant wearing AB's sunglasses and being silly. He's going to love me for posting this one!

As Carey says when he gives the score, Ann Bennett is "having fun." But, she and I both made a hole in one on the first hole, so we each won a free game! The funny thing is that the very first time she ever played putt putt, the same thing happened on this very hole. After that, she took the max for every hole. She's making progress, but for now, she's having fun. And, with our free games, we can go practice some more.

So, that's how we spent our last day of summer. I really hope next year is as much fun as this year was!

Girls Gone FAB

From the time Ann Bennett was tiny, like maybe 2, she loved the princesses and dressing up. She especially loved "Cindelella." For a while she even went through a phase where she called herself "Ann Bennett Cindelella princess." Even as a toddler she always had a purse. She loved (still does) shoes and accessories. Teaching toddlers and having a 2 yo niece reminds me of this stage -- as do all the blogs I read of younger girls. About a year and a half or maybe even 2 years ago she decided Cinderella couldn't be her favorite because she wears Carolina blue, and recently the princesses have become a bit uncool in her age group. But, she has struggled against this. Earlier this year she told me that she didn't like princesses any more, but she was on the verge of tears while saying this. We talked about how it seemed like she did like princesses but most of her friends didn't really like them. I told her it was OK to still like them even in her friends didn't. But, the period of all things princess and fancy seemed to be fading. Don't get me wrong, she still loves her shoes, accessories, nails, lip gloss and recently hair stuff, but the princesses seemed to be fading away.

Anyway, this week, I saw the newest version of dressing up. It seems a little like a trendy, hip, slightly sassy princess version. Notice they also dressed up Allie. In this picture, they are wearing the very first set of princess dress up clothes Ann Bennett had. Somewhere in this house I have a picture of a preschool Bryant in these clothes. He'd kill me if I ever found it and posted it, but trust me it was funny. It also only happened once.

It's funny how as Ann Bennett gets older her play seems more familiar to what I remember as a child. I never dressed up a dog, but our poor cat, Daisy, was tormented by the dress up clothes. Allie did NOT like the dress up! I don't have a great picture because she kept moving around trying to get this stuff off!

And just so you can see what the previous princesses looked like, here are a couple of pictures of Ann Bennett and Anne Catherine 3 years ago (obviously in the "cheese" stage). These are the oldest pictures on this computer. I'd have to work a lot harder, but I bet I could find one very much like this even earlier. Just so you don't have to do the math, the girls were 4 in these pics. (These two are "birthday buddies" as they say. Their birthdays are only a week apart.)

Letters Home!

I really didn't think I would get a letter home from camp Trinity, but my B surprised me. In my mailbox today was the following letter.

Monday 1:37PM

Dear Mom, and Dad
I already miss you.
Today we played metec ball
for share shops and crazy softball
during free swim. Because everybody
had to take a swim test. It is rest period
right now. We also won the cleanest
cabin award.
Love you all the way
to the moon and back,
Bryant

While this might demonstrate just a wee bit why I think he needs some work on his writing skills, it sure makes me feel good to have a little love in writing from my son. Carey thinks he is pulling our leg on the cleanest cabin award, but I don't know. B has always been competitive. Perhaps if I institute a competition for the cleanest room I'd be more successful! For now, I'm just happy to have a letter.

New Post Below

OK, someone has to tell me if it is possible to rearrange posts. I wanted the post about B going to camp to be the top post, so I posted the one about his nose first. But, apparently, since I started the one about camp first, it is listed as an older post. Is there any way to flip these? Either way, be sure to read the post about Gone Camping.

Gone Camping

This afternoon we drove Bryant to his first week of sleep away camp. He is at Camp Trinity, http://www.trinityctr.com/campt/. (Someday I'm going to learn how you do that fancy thing where you can just click on the words and go to the link.) Anyway, it is an Episcopal affiliated camp that is about 2 hours from here. It is at the beach, and from what I hear it is an old fashioned camp. The kids play a lot. They swim and learn to sail some, but they have a lot of games and general silliness. We knew that one friend was signed up for this week, but after he was accepted, we found out that a slew of kids from here are going to be there this week. In his cabin are 3 kids who were in the toddler class with B at preschool. Bryant doesn't remember one of the guys because they have not hung out since preschool, but the other 2 guys are really good friends. And, there are 3 girls from his school there and another girl he knows as well.

Anyway, we got him settled in his cabin -- made his bed, put his toiletries away, etc. It was time for us to leave, and I asked B if he wanted to walk us out. He said yes, and my wonderful, precious big guy gave me the best hug on that porch. He told me he was going to miss me, and he even admitted he was just the tiniest bit nervous. Fortunately, there are a bunch of kids he knows and families I know. I felt completely comfortable leaving him there. If I had not felt so certain, it would have been much harder to leave. I KNOW he is going to have a great time. I KNOW he will learn a lot about being away. I KNOW camp is where so many of us really begin our personal relationship with God. I just HOPE he brushes his teeth, changes his clothes and MOST of all I hope he doesn't mess up his nose again! Tonight's group activity is dodge ball. I have not heard from the camp yet, so I'm hoping this means his nose is OK. I am pretty sure evening activities are over and they are moving into the camp fire time.

Long story short, my son is away for a week of camp, and I cannot wait to hear all about it and have him back home.

Broken But Not Beaten

July 8th, Carey and Bryant went to the baseball park for some batting practice. Carey was throwing balls to B. B squared around to bunt and somehow missed the ball. Instead, the ball hit him in the face. They both knew instantly that the nose was broken. He dropped to his knees and said take me home. Carey was really flipped out, but the doctors didn't even want to see him immediately. That Friday, July 10, we went to see the ENT. She confirmed it was broken and that Bryant would need some surgery to repair it. The tricky part, as is always the case for the Sassers, is that we were leaving town on Sunday for a world series baseball tournament. It is really the biggest event of the travel ball team. Long story short, we decided to let B play in the tournament. His nose was already broken. If he got hit in the nose again, it would hurt, but they would just fix it when we do the surgery the following week. By waiting until we returned, it also meant one of Betsy's, our ENT, partners would have to do the surgery. We all decided that was OK. Bryant had to wear the face mask on his batting helmet, and he hated it, but he didn't have a choice. And, you know what? He had a great tournament. He made some great plays, slid into many bases head first, hit the ball and had a really good time with his team.

The picture at the top of the post is right after he came home. He was diligent about keeping ice on his nose. If you look very carefully, you can see that on HIS right, the bone is sticking out a bit at the top. You can also see on his left that the swelling or something was pushing right up into his left eye. The left side of his nose was also indented? It felt and still feels like it was flattened a little. I'm writing most of this so I remember later. Sorry.

Just so you can see the black eye and swelling. A lot of people asked him about it.

Mini golf in Myrtle Beach. This was a cool course. Some of the holes were in these huts. It also kept us a little drier than the group that played another course! Dylan, Hunter, Bryant and Duane. Every time we go to MB, Bryant wants to play putt putt, but we rarely have the chance. It was nice to be able to indulge this request!

Back home after surgery, with the "cast." He did really well with the surgery and anesthesia. He was really itching and not happy that he could not scratch his nose, but that was about all. The anesthesiologist gave him a benadryl, and the nurse warned that with the anesthesia and the adult dosage of benadryl that he would be very sleepy all day. He wasn't. He did not even take a nap until very late afternoon.

Finally, just so you know he's back to normal, this is what I found on my camera after driving to GA. Apparently B was entertaining himself with taking pics on my camera. This one made me smile. Surgery to make sure his nose is fixed so he can contort his nose like this!