2 weeks old

I took Gabrielle for her 2 week checkup yesterday. She now weighs ... (drum roll, please...) 9 pounds, 11 ounces and 21 3/4 inches. She has gained nearly a full pound since she was born. The pediatrician said that at 2 weeks they just expect them to have regained their birth weight and added a couple of ounces. He kept saying what a great baby she is and how well she is doing. And it's true. She is a great baby. She eats well, sleeps well for a newborn and is a sweet baby. She fusses but rarely really cries.

My family is in town now from Arizona. It's so nice to have them here. Since they are here, we will bless Gabrielle on Sunday in sacrament meeting. I'll add some pics of Gabrielle with my family tomorrow, but I need to go feed her and try to get to bed in an hour.

Ella's dancing

Ella loves to dance. (So does Michelle.) There's a song in Spanish that they especially love to sing and dance to. Ella gets really into it, shaking her bum. I wish I had a video, because the pictures don't do it justice. Here she is.

Ella wanted me to include this silly picture of her stuffing her face with chips. It has nothing to do with this post, but it made her happy to have me post it.

first days of kindergarten

Michelle started kindergarten yesterday. School actually started today, but they had a special first day for kindergarten only yesterday. Parents attended with the children (Alfredo went since Gabrielle is only 2 weeks old now). This week school goes from 8:15 -11:00. Next week there is no school so they can do kindergarten testing. Then they will start full day kinder on September 8.

Michelle and Ella before Michelle left for her first day. She looks cute in her school uniform.
showing off her backpack
on the Jackson sign in front of school this morning
lined up ready to go to class... Mom felt a little choked up but so proud!

Michelle made a calendar in kindergarten yesterday. She already knows how to write most, if not all, of her numbers. But her teacher taught them a song about forming letters and she came home and could sing the whole song to me. I was impressed that she had learned the whole song already.

She is so excited about school. I know she will do great. She was expecting to have 2 teachers, Miss Jennifer and Sra. Dahlquist, and was a little surprised/disappointed to have a different teacher Mrs. Pereda (I'm not sure on the spelling). But she likes her. I'm not sure if her teacher will be her teacher all year or is just a sub. But for now, I'm glad that Michelle is happy and enjoying school and excited to learn. We made a "school survival kit" for her teacher (thanks for the idea to Alyson and her friend Darcie!) which Michelle said her teacher loved.

Eight Things (tag)

I wasn't actually tagged by Shannon or Aly, but this looked fun, so here I am doing it.

8 Things I'm Passionate About:
1. My family
2. The church
3. My service and activity in the church
4. Teaching/education
5. My children's education and learning
6. Reading
7. Scrapbooking/recording family memories
8. Learning

8 BOOKS I've read and enjoyed (this is way too hard for me as I read so much, here are just a few I've liked):
1. A Tree Grows in Brooklyn
2. 3 Cups of Tea
3. Expecting Adam
4. Not My Sister's Keeper
5. The Covenant by Beverly Lewis (and the rest of the series)
6. Twilight series
7. The Covenant by Naomi Ragen
8. A Wrinkle In Time

8 Words/Phrases I say often:
1. I love you.
2. Please stop that.
3. That's enough.
4. You're my angel.
5. I love you more than life.
6. You're silly. That's silly.
7. Calm down.
8. Just a moment. I'm feeding the baby.

8 Things I want to do before I die:
1. Travel with Alfredo
2. Get something published: a book or article(s) for kids.
3. See my children married in the temple, having kids of their own.
4. Get my master's degree (and maybe a doctorate?)
5. Retire with a nice retirement after 25-30 years teaching. (I'll only be 52 after 30 years of teaching! Not bad.)
6. Go on a safari in Africa
7. Learn to speak Spanish fluently
8. Spend time in Costa Rica with my in-laws (I've still never met them)

8 Things I've Learned over the past year:
1. Lots of ways to be a better math teacher.
2. More about World War II and the holocaust (I read a lot about this)
3. I'm not as patient as my mom or as I would like to be.
4. Several new recipes that my family likes... so I can make them ahead and freeze them.
5. I'm learning how to style my daughters' hair better. I'm still not great, but I'm improving.
6. I love blogging!
7. The Lord takes care of us. Things don't always go as planned or hoped for, but if we follow the teachings of Jesus and listen to the Holy Ghost, we will be okay.
8. I'm good at being pregnant and having babies. :) When my body decides it's ready to have a baby, there's no stopping it. LOL!

8 Places I want to see:
1. Costa Rica/El Salvador
2. Hawaii
3. Alaska... on a cruise
4. Africa
5. Tonga
6. Spain (I've been to 8 other countries in Europe, but not to Spain)
7. Italy (again)
8. The rest of the US that I haven't seen

8 things I currently want/need:
1. Alfredo to find a new job
2. a longer maternity leave
3. more sleep
4. for Michelle to love kindergarten
5. to see my family (hooray... my mom, stepdad and sister are coming Wednesday.)
6. a new camcorder
7. to know how to use my camera better
8. to say thanks to all my friends and family for all the kind things/help people have given me and my family at the end of my pregnancy and birth of Gabrielle

8 People to tag:
Anyone who wants to....

math mumblings

Last night we had a barbecue and had some of our good friends over. Alfredo did an awesome job barbecuing and we had a lot of fun. (Thanks Alfredo!!! You worked hard.)

While we were all visiting, talk turned to school and even to the math program used by the local elementary school. Teaching math has changed a lot since any of us were in school and I know that many parents are surprised and even sometimes upset by some of the changes. I tried to explain the reasoning behind some of the changes. Even after the barbecue, thoughts kept tumbling in my head about teaching math (as I've mentioned before, I am passionate about teaching and bringing up education is one way to get me going... I try to shut up before I drive everyone crazy, but don't always succeed). So here are a few random thoughts about teaching math.

First, since our nation is so caught up in multiple choice testing right now, here's a little multiple choice test for each of you readers to take.

1. How did you feel about math as a kid?
a. I hated it.
b. I tolerated it.
c. I loved it!

2. How well did you do in math as a kid?
a. It was my worst subject. I was terrible at math.
b. I did pretty well, but I didn't REALLY understand it or like it.
c. I was a straight A student in math and I totally got it.

3. When you got to high school or college, how many math classes did you take?
a. I couldn't even pass basic algebra or geometry.
b. I took the bare minimum to graduate/get my degree.
c. I took as many math classes as I could.

4. When you reached higher level math classes (advanced algebra, trig, calculus), how did you feel/do?
a. It felt like I had accidentally walked into a third year Russian class, and had never taken Russian before.
b. I did okay, but I had to spend hours and hours studying and get some extra help.
c. I loved the challenge and did well.

So, I would guess that most people picked A's and B's. My mom was a math major in college and taught high school math for several years. I always did well in math because I was good at plugging in the formula or memorizing and using the algorithm. But honestly, despite my mom's background and my good grades, I really didn't understand math. I was just good at following the rules. Then I took AP Calculus and it felt like a foreign language. I didn't have a good enough understanding in why math worked to do well in calculus.

Today, the emphasis in teaching math has changed from learning one algorithm and solving a thousand problems using that algorithm to understanding how math works and finding a way to solve problems that works/makes sense to you. Most of my students end up loving math.

NCTM (National Council of Teachers of Mathematics) has done a ton of research on what works and have developed a five strand approach to teaching math: Understanding, Computation, Application, Reasoning, and Engagement. Good teaching does all of these things. It DOES teach computation and kids should learn their facts. But it ALSO helps kids (adults) to understand how and why math works, to be engaged in difficult math problems, to be able to articulate their thinking and apply math to real life. Someone said that their child's teacher said "It isn't about getting the right answer." I would amend that to "It isn't JUST about getting the right answer."

A few more thoughts:
1. Of course, kids need to be able to do basic (and advanced) computation... +, -, x, and division. But if a child can do 15 problems correctly, is it really a good use of time to make them do another 45? And if a child CAN'T do 15 problems correctly, are they suddenly going to if you give them 45 more? (NO! If they get it, they get it. If not, they need to be retaught.) So today you'll usually see less problems on worksheets.
2. There is a stronger emphasis on rounding and estimating. I think this is good. How often do you REALLY, in real life, have to do long division or add up a bunch of multi-digit numbers without a calculator? Yet, I"m always estimating. As I grocery shop, I estimate how much I'm spending. As I get ready, I'm estimating how long it will take me to get to a certain place and what time I need to leave. I sometimes even estimate when I cook (although usually i follow recipes carefully). If I need to figure out an exact answer, I usually use a calculator. I can Add or divide but I rarely do. If I need to know what 472 x 31 is, I'll either grab a calculator or I'll think well, 500 x 30 =15,000 and 450 x 30= 13,500. So it's between there, about 14, 250.
3. If kids love math as young kids (or science or reading or whatever) they are more likely to be willing to put in hard work and keep trying when problems are difficult. Engagement (in any activity) is a huge part of people's willingness to put in an effort to succeed.
4. Most of us were taught one standard algorithm how to add or subtract. That is just the algorithm that someone decided should be taught. It is not always the easiest, fastest, or most accurate. In fact, other algorithms are taught and have been for years in other countries. Teaching kids more than one way to solve a problem helps more kids to find success. I shared this last night, but the standard way we were taught to subtract with regrouping has 52 ways you can make an error. But there are other ways that are less error prone and work just as well.
5. Programs are only as good as the teachers who use them. NOOO program out there is fail proof or can make up for poor teachers. But poor programs and some school's/district's insistence on using them can seriously hinder good teachers.
6. Again, facts are important, but they are less important, in my opinion than critical thinking skills, reasoning skills, etc. I would rather have a child be able to explain why his way of solving a problem works or be able to see how a skill learned in school is applicable to his life at home than have him be able to do 100 multiplication facts in 5 minutes, but not really understand what it means. (That was me as a child!)

I hope and believe that if math is taught well using these newer methods, then most kids would answer my multiple choice test with C's and B's, not A's and B's. That has been my experience.


SORRY... probably most of you could care less about all these ramblings about math. :) But at least getting them down, gets them out of my head so I can think about other things.

my beautiful girls

Just have to say how much I love my three beautiful girls!!!

sleeping beauty.... aka alfredo's twisted sense of humor

I've been trying to get the girls back into a school sleeping schedule the last couple of days. Yesterday, I got them both up early. Ella played hard all day and never took a nap. So last night when we were eating dinner her eyes were looking glazed and she was chewing pretty slowly. Suddenly her head fell forward and she was OUT! With a potato chip still in her hand. That is the sleeping beauty part. I told Alfredo we needed to get a picture of this. So with his twisted sense of humor, he decided it would be funny to get a beer and make it look like she'd been drinking. He ran across the street and borrowed a bottle from our neighbor (since we don't drink and don't have beer) and snapped a couple of shots. Of course, Ella WAS NOT drinking, just tired. But that's my husband for you. Quirky, strange sense of humor. But I must admit, it did lead to a couple of funny photos.

the winner is...

I inputed the info on Gabrielle's birth into the Expectnet game (see the link to the left). My friend Brenda from work was the closest in her guess. (I was second.) If you're interested to see the results, click on the link and it will show you the results. :)

she's so big for a newborn

Gabrielle surprises me. She is so big for a newborn baby and so strong. She tries to hold her head up already. And when you lay her down she always curls onto her side. She is so sweet.
She had her first (sponge) bath today. She didn't appreciate it very much.

Michelle's last day of preschool

Yesterday was Michelle's last day of preschool. She starts kindergarten in just over a week (the 25th). They had a swim/outdoor party for their last day which was nice because Michelle didn't get sad that school was over. It was a fun way to end. Michelle has LOVED preschool and will really miss her wonderful teacher, Mrs. Barnett. She is so excited for kindergarten and tells everyone that she's going to an English AND Spanish school. She seems much more interested in learning/using Spanish lately. I'm so proud of her and all that she has learned. She'll do great in kindergarten. We love you Mrs. Barnett!

Sweet Gabrielle

Gabrielle Aaliyah Panameno finally came! She was born at 3:34 AM on Monday, August 11. She weighed 8 pounds, 13 ounces and was 21 1/4 inches long. She's a big baby... almost a pound heavier than we expected. (Michelle was 7 pounds 15 oz. and Ella was 7 pd. 11 0z.)

I had contractions off and on Sunday evening (but I'd been having them off and on all week). At 11, I went to bed to see if I could sleep/if they would continue or stop. At about midnight, I woke up from fitful dozing and was having contractions still. I got up, showered, walked around and decided I should wake Alfredo and head to the hospital. We left a little after 1, dropped the girls off at Janene's (they were wide awake and excited) and got to the hospital about 2:15. By then my contractions were only about 2 minutes apart. After signing in and everything, they examined me and said I was dilated to a four. We were a little disappointed, but oh well. By 3:10, the contractions were right on top of each other and I really thought I would need an epidural. They thought maybe I was dehydrated and gave me fluids to see if that would slow the contractions down. I told myself to wait 10-15 minutes before asking for an epidural. I had Alfredo help me onto my left side. Within minutes, I felt like I needed to go to the bathroom. I knew this is often a sign that you're ready to push, but since I was only a four about 40 minutes before, I figured that couldn't be right. So Alfredo called the nurse and I told her. She checked me and sure enough, I was a 10. They didn't expect that and started busily calling the doctor and preparing for her birth and making me breathe through contractions which became increasingly difficult. My water broke and there was meconium in it which worried them so they called the NICU. Soon it was obvious that Gabrielle was coming, so they called in a resident because the doctor still wasn't there. (When they'd first called him, I'm sure they figured it would be several hours until I delivered). So the resident delivered Gabrielle. She was born about an hour after I was first examined. Pretty quick! But we did make it to the hospital this time! :) And while Gabrielle's 1 minute Apgar score was low and she had swallowed a little meconium, by 5 minutes her Apgar score was a nine. I was able to hold her about 10 minutes after she was born and she nursed immediately and has been nursing well ever since. Her sisters adore her, especially Ella. Here are a bunch of photos. My three sweet girls
me, a few hours before going into labor, 40+ weeks pregnant
gotta love my hair... I don't ever look pretty after giving birth, don't know how some people can... this was about 20 minutes after Gabrielle was born

going home
going home
Alfredo with Gabrielle

books for back to school

My sister and I both have children starting kindergarten in a few weeks. She mentioned on her blog that my nephew Evan is a little nervous. Michelle is way excited, but will probably be nervous and shy at first too. I thought maybe reading some books about kindergarten and school would be helpful. Here are a few that I know and like, plus a couple more that I'm going to check out and read to Michelle.

First Day Jitters by Julie Danneberg This cute story has a surprise at the end. It helps kids know that everyone is a little nervous the first day.

First Year Letters by Julie Danneberg

Miss Bindergarten Gets Ready for Kindergarten by Joseph Slate (there's a whole series about Miss Bindergarten and kindergarten)

Ms. Bitsy Bat's kindergarten by Pamela Duncan Edwards

I"m Telling You Dex, Kindergarten Rocks! by Katie Davis

First Day by Joan Rankin

Brand new pencils, brand new books by Diane DeGroat... cute story

Wemberly Worried by Kevin Henkes (I like Kevin Henkes books!)

Many of these are obviously for kindergartners, but a few would be good for 1st-4th graders too. I read First Year Jitters to my 3rd graders every year.

don't kill me

Two nights ago, Ella didn't want to go to sleep and was screaming that she wanted to get up out of bed. Alfredo handled it all very well and told her she had to go to bed and wouldn't let her come out and play. So then Ella started yelling loudly, "Stupid mommy, don't kill me. Stupid mommy, don't kill me." Where she picked this up from, I really am not sure. I wasn't even in the room. But she was loud. Alfredo joked that we'd have a knock on the door from the police in a few minutes because the neighbors could probably hear her. Ella is a feisty one. She is sweet and smart and beautiful, but when she's mad, watch out. She has a temper.

looking back...

After we told Michelle and Ella that today we have been married seven years, Michelle really was interested. She wanted to see wedding pictures (she's seen them before) and see my wedding dress and asked a lot of questions about our wedding. She even wanted me to put my wedding dress on... I complied with her request, although, of course, I can't zip my dress up at all right now. This caused me to reflect on our wedding day and on why I love and appreciate Alfredo so much.

Ever since we started dating, Alfredo has bought me flowers. Often red roses, but not always. He buys them for most special occassions but also from time to time just because. Along with flowers, he always buys beautiful, sentimental cards to express his love. (For those who know how funny he is, you may be surprised to hear that he's never bought me a single funny card.)

Here's a wedding picture of us. Speaking of flowers, Alfredo is quite talented at arranging flowers. He did all of the bouquets, boutinniers (probably spelled wrong), and the flowers on our wedding cake for our wedding. As well as the bouquet for my bridal pictures. Along with being talented at arranging flowers, he is also good at decorating. He is the one who has done most of the painting, arranging furniture and decorating of our home. Most of the nice things we have are things he has purchased. (Just one funny example: We have about 6 different shower curtains, most with matching floor mats. He likes to change them every couple of months.)
Here are a couple of scrapbook pages from our wedding album. I know that since it's a picture of a scrapbook page that it isn't super clear. Sorry.
We were married in the Salt Lake Temple. It was a beautiful day. It was windy which kept it from being too hot and it started raining just a little while after we finished our pictures. We had a luncheon at Marie Callendars with a really nice program and ring exchange since none of Alfredo's relatives could go to the temple with us. Then we, of course, had a reception. But we only did a line for an hour (or maybe an hour and a half, I can't remember for sure) and then had dancing for the rest of the evening. We used to go Latin dancing quite a bit before we got married and for the first year or so after. Anyway, we had a DJ and spent about half of our reception dancing to all kinds of music. Our reception was fun!
Here's a picture of us today, seven years later. I had Michelle take a few, and this is the only one I'd dare show. I look HUGE (awful, whale-like) in all of them. This one was taken farther away and with Ella draped across us, I don't look as bad.
Here are some other things I love and appreciate about Alfredo:

1. He is hard-working.

2. He is a great dad. He loves his girls, and they love him.

3. He is funny. There are moments when I don't appreciate his humor, but most of the time I do.

4. He has been so sweet and concerned about me the past couple of weeks. We don't have a cell phone (I know, I know... we're the only Americans that don't. Crazy us!) and so he's been really careful to let me know exactly where he'll be and how to get a hold of him. He's offered to cancel plans to stay home with me on evenings when I wasn't feeling that great. He calls often just to see how I'm feeling.

5. He is always so willing to help others in his family or his friends.

6. He is handsome.

7. He is a good cook. He doesn't cook that often, but he is a great cook.

8. He does a lot of housework. On his days off, he usually cleans the house and takes care of the girls while I work.

9. I have two beautiful girls because of him. I can't imagine my life without Michelle, Ella and Alfredo.

10. He loves me.

I love you, Alfredo! Thank you for being the great husband and father you are!

four days?

See that baby countdown ticker to the left? See what it says... four days left! Hooray. Obviously, that's not a guarantee that I'll have her in the next four days, but we're getting close. :) I'm excited to see her and hold her and watch my girls interact with her.

And I'm happy that I was able to work this past week and get my classroom ready and really feel prepared for my class to have a sub for the first 6 weeks or so. Today I've thought of about 3 or 4 things I should have/wish I had done. My plan is, if this baby doesn't come tomorrow, to go to school on Monday and meet my students. I have a doctor's appointment Monday afternoon, so I'll have to leave before the school day is over, but at least I'll be able to meet the kids and help the sub and maybe finish up a couple of last minute things that keep popping into my head. This has been a lot of work! But I did it!

We have a new principal this year. We were all a little nervous about that, but so far we really like her. We'll see how things go as the year progresses, but so far, she seems open, humorous and to the point. She made us laugh quite a few times, which seems like it will be a good thing. But she also got right to the point and didn't have our meeting drag on and on. Plus, she gave us nearly the entire week to work in our classrooms....Certainly no one is complaining about that, especially me!

Alfredo and I went out to dinner and a movie last night to celebrate our anniversary. Our anniversary is tomorrow... 7 years! But since tomorrow is Sunday, we decided to celebrate yesterday. We went to Cafe Madrid...it was our first time going there. It was a nice cozy little restaurant. The food was really good. We had a nice time. Then we went to see the Mummy. I'll probably do a post dedicated to Alfredo tomorrow, but just want to say I love my husband!

July's Reads

Letters from Rapunzel by Sarah Holmes (children's)
Miss Julia Speaks Her Mind by Ann B. Ross
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
The End of the Alphabet
The Kommandant's Girl
The Nazi Officer's Wife
The Prodigal by Beverly Lewis
The Revelation by Beverly Lewis