Our local elementray school is Henry Elementary. It is walking distance from our house and is located on a beautiful piece of land that is spacious and well-maintained. There are many devoted staff members at this school and a number of devoted families, as well. BUT... the school is struggling. Struggling with a limited funding pool that has to make the impossible decision between having a full-time principal, lower class sizes, and adequate supplies for the teachers and office requirements. Struggling with a number of children whose parents are unable or unwilling to support their children or the school. Struggling within a school district (TUSD) that has the worst $ to student ratio in Arizona due to declining enrollment and a slow to respond bureaucracy. Struggling within a state that is now coming in dead LAST in funding per pupil in the entire country... LAST (I'm so sad and embarrassed to live in a place that devalues children and education so much).
For the 2009-2010 school year, Emmett and Harrison started attending Henry Elementary. Emmett is in the kindergarten class with Ms. Woolen. Harrison is in the ABLE program with Mr. Bob, Ms. Donna, and Ms. Arlene. Our family has quickly become an integral part of the Henry community. This community is in an important transition time, looking to bring a smaller, near-by school into the fold. We are hopeful that the new resources, new devoted families, and new staff members will help revitalize Henry so it can reinvent itself. Kirsten and I are hoping to help with this by bringing energy, devotion, good ideas, steady attendance and attention, and most importantly a focus on the tenets of attachment parenting with all the children we encounter and all things sustainable. Please send us energy for this thankless and seemingly insurmountable effort. Also, please consider sending paper and glue sticks for the classrooms... we have three months left in this school year and are just about out, with no additional funding in sight for at least another 5 years.
The boys awoke at 5:50am Christmas morning to a pile of gifts beneath the tree and stockings stuffedd full. Harrison spent most of his time dumping his stocking, refilling it, and dumping it again. The boys received trucks, cars, pencils, special drinking cups, and various cooking utensils, including a lettuce knife and cutting board shown below. Emmett made us fruit salad and egg salad (with his new egg slicer) for breakfast. It was an enjoyable, although very early, morning.
Kirsten made a delicious standing prime rib for dinner. I made Mascarpone AuGratin potatoes from scratch (new recipe, was yummy!). Dinner was eventful, thank goodness I'd had a glass of wine. Harrison wasn't overly interested in eating so he was content playing with the salt shaker. Somehow no one realized the salt shaker was glass, until he dropped it and it shattered all over the floor. Being that we live in Florida and it was about 85 degrees outside, everyone was barefoot. So, while Papa and Emmett went right on consuming large amounts of prime rib, Grandma braved the glass shards and grabbed Harrison. She handed Harrison to me while Kirsten went for the shopvac. When I sat Harrison on my lap, copius amounts of babypoop squirted out of his diaper and all over my lap and him, so Grandma went to get me shoes. I went to wash myself in the shower and change clothes, Grandma cleaned up Harrison, Kirsten shopvac'd the dining room. Of course, when all this was through, Papa and Emmett were still eating :) Thankfully, they had saved a little for us all to finish our meal!
We attended a nice gathering just before Christmas at Aunt Vickie's new house in North Port. Grandma and Papa were in town already, so they joined us. The boys enjoyed playing with all of Kirsten's cousins and their second cousins (I think that's what they should be called?)
