Refresh. Regrow. Renew.

We had our "Meet the Teacher" night for our sweet girl who is growing up way too fast this past Thursday. Tiffany has been so excited these last couple of weeks to meet her new teacher, we have even been painting a small wood box to give to her new teacher, but when we got there she got teary-eyed and was scared to talk to her. It was really strange because Tiffany is so eager to talk to people about anything to anyone. I really liked her teacher and I know Tiffany will also. I am now beginning to feel the Kindergarten moment and it is a year too early. Because we are sending her to private school for the PreK program and there will be no change when she starts Kindergarten next year, I feel as though my baby is going off to school for the first time. We have car lines, detentions, report cards, lunchrooms to contend with this year. What am I supposed to do with that? I feel overwhelmed with all this information and in addition to that, this university model school gives me the added responsibility of educating Tiffany two days a week. I am excited about playing an interactive role in her education but I can't help but worry about my ability to teach her well or maintain some level of organization so she can effectively learn.

It's All Too Much!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkgV5yMw19o&feature=related

There is an interesting project that I have been working on. I recently met a woman on myspace who is doing really great work in the Czech Republic. She teaches English to the Czech students and has a project to help teach her kids. Its the Flat Stanley Project. In the book, Flat Stanley, Stanley was sleeping in bed when a bulletin board fell on him and made him flat. In addition to many other wonderful adventures, Stanley was put into an envelope and mailed to family and friends who took him to different places. The project is to make a flat version of yourself and send it off to people who will take pictures with it and mail it back to you. I had never heard of it prior to this awesome woman who is having kids from Czech and the US do the project to help the Czech kids learn English. What an awesome idea! Tiffany and Benny both made flat versions of them selves and they are currently on their way to the Czech Republic, I included the pictures below. The woman's name is Awesome Amanda (my title for her) and is a missionary so if you are looking to give financially to someone, I believe that she is worth it so check her out here.

Flat Benjamin, who obviously required a small level of assistance.
Flat Tiffany. She asked that flat Tiffany have pigtails and flowers on her dress, so that was my contribution. She didn't think she could do fingers but I think hers are excellent. Just before this, she got a cut on her lip so the circle on her mouth represents that boo boo. You may also note the brown spots on her face, these are in fact oversized freckles. She cracks me up!
Tiffany and Flat Tiffany