Busy, busy

This week I got a little busier than I expected. I had signed up to be a room mom for Drew's and Natalie's classrooms. I didn't know how many other people signed up, so I thought I might be a co-room parent with someone. Then I got a call from Drew's teacher about a week ago. She asked me to coordinate and manage the schedule for all the parent volunteers. I was surprised because I've never heard of a parent doing that. I am still in the process of getting it together because I have so many other things going on. We also had a meeting with the parents who wanted to volunteer. Almost every child's mother was there. This classroom shouldn't ever be lacking for help!
This week I also organized the math games for Natalie's teacher. I wish I would've taken pictures so I could refer back to it for organizing my stuff! I got clear plastic scrapbook storage boxes that hold 12" x 12" paper. Her teacher had copied and laminated each theme onto different colored papers. Then I put the papers into the boxes based on the color. I went through all of the games to find out what supplies were needed. I made a list organized by box of necessary supplies. Then I made color coordinated labels using my Cricut and cardstock. I laminated those and turned them into stickers with my Xyron machine, and stuck them on the top center of each box. Then I used my label maker, and made labels for her to put under the latch of each box so it would be visible from the shelf. Her mom used the master list and put a supply list into each box. When a group of kids uses a box, they will look at the list and go over to her supplies and get what is needed. I can't wait for Natalie to be able to use these.
Also, a quick happy things for Natalie. For some reason when they do STAR tests at the beginning of each year (a test to determine each child's reading level), she tests really low. The kids are only allowed to check out books in their reading level so she was coming home with books that she could read in kindergarten. She'd been reading chapter books to me over the summer, so I knew she could read better than the level she tested at. Her teacher noticed this too, had her retake the test, and her score was bumped up 6 points! She's having a much easier time finding books that are interesting to her.
And, I have to give credit where credit is due. Drew had Miss Judi for preschool for two years. She is known at the school for sending students extremely well prepared for kindergarten. Drew has been reading for over a year because the way she teaches really helps the kids pick up on sounds, sound combinations, etc. I was talking to Drew's teacher on Thursday, and she said that Drew is in the highest level reading group in her class. I was so excited! He's been a reluctant reader recently. I'm happy to read to him, but I also wanted to make sure he was understanding everything and that he could still read. It's been like pulling teeth to get him to cooperate. But she said they're reading in groups for 15 minutes each day so at least he's reading to someone! I know a lot of credit goes to Miss Judi for her great work with her students.
Another thing keeping me busy is our activities committee's next activity. We're hosting a Daddy Daughter Dance in 3 weeks. We're trying to make it a night to remember. To help with this I hosted a craft night at my house on Thursday. Shanna and I worked on the take-home gifts for the girls. We're making cardstock dresses with tissue made to look like a tutu, glitter on the front and ribbon at the top of the "tutu". We had help from Kim, Mandy, Michelle and Jenn. (Thank you!) We finished about half of the project. Next we'll get busy working on adding the ribbon, and then we'll start on the new hair bows to go on the little dresses. We still need to work on the invitations. We need to get busy! I will post pictures when I'm done.
When we're done with that we're going to turn right around and host an activity for the adults. It's going to be based on the Olympics. I don't have all of the information memorized yet, but the games sound really fun, and I've heard from several people that it's been a favorite ward activity. I'll post more details after we're done with the dance. We're coordinating our Christmas activity with 2 other wards so we can combine our budgets, time and money on the decorations. We're doing a Polar Express themed activity. We're still trying to hash out the details, but we realize we need to do it soon because once you get to October everyone's schedule is suddenly fuller. We need to get the work done now! If you have suppliers for large jingle bells in large quantities for a low amount please pass along that information. We're going to need to order a few hundred for the 3 wards.
I'm also trying to reorganize my office. Hopefully that will happen soon. I keep starting, and then something happens so I can't finish. I'm hoping that I'll find the time to finish tomorrow. I've scheduled my day being home for the most part so maybe it will happen. I'd better get to bed. More soon!