More writing from Peter

Maybe one day I'll think it's silly that I write all this down. But...for now I don't think so. He is just the smartest little boy I know. He is our fact man. If anyone can't remember something we ask Peter. He remembered a remote character's first and last name from a movie we saw over a year ago just a few nights ago. Not uncommon for him. It's just one fun thing about this kid. Anyway, here's what he knows about dinosaurs.

Dinosaurs lived 52 million years ago. They died from the biggest volcano erupshin that almost filled the entier land. The king's arms were so short that he couldnt scrach his neck. He was the scaryist and bigest carnvor. The kind had two claws on each hand. He had at least 100 teeth he was a ferce enamy of all the other dinosaurs. They are 1000 of different colors. All the other dinos have protecsins to protect them from the king.


Another time he wrote about all different animals:
I love monkeys because they go bannanas and they are funny. I love alagaters because they're scary and camaflash in theyr habtat. I love sharks because they are fast and cool. I love panthers because they are sly and fast. I love orcas because theyr gigantic and amazing. I love blue whales because theyr thonge (tongue) is the size of a elafaint itself and they're blue. I love dragons because they breth fire.

He only got a 2/3 on it, so when I went in for his conference I asked his teacher about it. It seemed okay to me for a first grader. She said for anyone else they definitely would have received a 3 but for him she held him to the original direction, which was to write facts about one animal not one fact about lots of animals.

Another paper that made me chuckle:
I help when I moe the lawn. Moing the lawn is fun and eazy. But I can't do it alone. Here are some rules to moe the lawn.
1. Do not put your hand underneth walle going.
2. Be carful.
3. Moe your lawn only becuse the peple who own the lawn miiht get mad.
(It was news to me he was mowing the lawn...apparently with Dad's help.)


Then he randomly writes things like "The Moon News":
On December 2, 2014, the moon was not out. The night before Halloween 2013, the moon was an unusual color. It was yellow or orange and black clouds around it. It was scary A LOT!

At school he wrote:
In my culture I have certain things...like a house, shelter and food. I celebrate Veteran's Day.



On thanksgiving braek, i visited my mom's side in Virginia, mary etta lane. I played with my Grandma's legos. She has a big red ship. I usualy use it and make armes with swords, bow and arows and a little guns. Flying ships armed with guns, wheels on the bottowm for take off. it was all at her house. At the lunch there was so much food we had to eat on Friday and Saturday.

Study, Study, Study

Jillian wrote this poem and did the accompanying drawing. If you can't read it, it says "Study, study, study. That's how it's always been. Never taking a break, always staying inside. Never going out in the afternoon. Such a busy day." When I read I looked at her and said "Really? Is this how you feel?" She just laughed and said, "No, not really. I just made it up." So hopefully she doesn't really feel like this. Then Peter made his own version. It reads "Lisson, lisson, lisson. That's how you learn and get things right. Like 8+8=14. If you weren't paying atention, you wouldn't get that right." Bahahaha. One day I think we are all going to have such a fun time with this.

Our Nutcracker

Kids make everything fun. And they're smart too because it makes me want to buy them things at Christmas time. Like the $3 nutcracker in the Target section by the front door. Lucy named him Pistachio. Here is the write-up Peter did about him.

My name is Pastashio (Pistachio) Nutteiy (Nutty) Gertsch. My nicknames are nutcraker, Golden Cap and my favorite story is the nutcracker. My favorite song is the dance of the sugar plum fairies. I once saved a little girl from the rat king and his army with my army. She saved me when the rat king was charging at me. She throo her shoe at him. That was quit(e) nice. Right? 

Funny Peter-isms

Some fill in the blanks from schoolwork...

My face is peach. (Haha, I think they were asking for some sort of emotion or facial expression.)

I ride my bike to exsuresize. (Haha, creative spelling.)

Learning Compassion

One of the awesome things about being a parent is getting to watch your kids minds and hearts stretch and grow. This year Kevin and I tried hard to do several service projects so the kids would be prompted to think outside of themselves and feel the joy that comes with helping others in this season that surrounds Christ's birth. One night Kevin and I were discussing a friend's family in a way that we thought was discreet, but I guess Jillian picked up enough of what we were saying. The father and husband has essentially decided he is leaving the family. The wife and mother pleaded to make it work but her husband really isn't interested in that. Anyway, the next day Jillian came up and told me "I think we should have a sale." "What type of sale?" "I think we should have one of those sales where you sell things outside of your house. Then we should give the money to that mommy you were talking about. Because if her husband is leaving, how will she take care of her kids and have the money they need?" Phew! Blew me away. In a perfect world, we wouldn't have to have conversations with our kids about alimony and child support. But I'm grateful that Jillian is starting to view the world in such a way that she sees others hardships' and tries to think how she can alleviate them. 

Peter tends to be very sensitive, though you wouldn't know if by the tough front he puts on. He'll cover his ears if he hears something mushy being said about him because he feels awkward. He'll also react in a silly or rejecting way, oddly, when he feels vulnerable. So in an effort to contribute to helping others, he threw us a note down from the balcony. It said "From: Peter, To: Family. I've got an idea. We can give a little money on Wednesday. Tell me if it's a good idea ." When we didn't fully get what he meant, he shouted down from above "When we go to the store, we can give money to the person outside ringing the bell!" Yep, good idea. 

Things Dad loves about Peter

My kids have a great dad. Anyone who knows him, knows that. For Christmas he gave the three older kids "Things I love about you." Here is why Dad loves his boy:

Very smart
Good at playing ball
Helps me with yard work
Makes me a better person
Great memory
Independent
Talented and artistic
Great dancer-you've got moves
Great smile
Fast runner - like a cheetah
Creative
Not afraid to stand up for what's right
Deep love/concern for others
Hilarious sense of humor
Awesome reader
Great laugh

For the record, Mom seconds all of these reasons why you're wonderful, Peter!

Clever

Does everyone think their child is wildly clever? Because I think mine is. Well, I think all of them are, but right now I'm writing about Peter. He's at that age where he's starting to write tons and it is FUNNY! He wrote his teacher the funniest note and told her to fill it out. Here are the particulars, with her answers:

Your name sheet

Name

Natalie Winslow

Grade

------

How hard is it being a teacher? 

Yes   or    No 

Your favorite sport game

football and basketball

Doctor's Name

no doctor

Favorite basketball team

Duke Blue Devils

Favorite Game

Connect Four

Phone Number

----------

Home number 

----------

All of your family's names

Kathy, Will, Rebekah, Charlie, Jackson, Nash, Theo, Clint, Brittni, Brooklyn, Sarah, Kyle, Hannah, Nate

Age

:)

She said he was persistent about the phone number. WHY wouldn't she write it?! And why didn't he have a doctor's name to write down? He also told me that when the Duke Football team came to talk to the kids and the kids were getting autographs, he asked if the players could please write their position in addition to their names and numbers. Ms. Winslow said "'Now you're just being particular, Peter.' But really she thought it was genius." WHO IS THIS GUY? 

I love his teacher, by the way. She is a first year teacher and has so much energy and love for the kids. I think I expected her to be more nervous having other adults around but she is very comfortable in her skin and welcomes parents and grandparents in the classroom, even to take a turn teaching a science lesson. She genuinely enjoys each child and has funny stories for all the parents when we come in for parties and involves her own family members in getting to know about her students when she can. She plays music in the class when the kids are waiting to be called and says that Peter gets very into it. Peter and his two friends, James and Heath, are enamored with her (She's beautiful and athletic. She even played college soccer.) and collaborated to write her a love note, signing it with "Remember we love you, and their names." Peter is also not shy about making suggestions. He mentioned they should watch the movie "Freebirds" before Thanksgiving and they did. He told Ms. Winslow we had Polar Express and they watched that too. I love that she is open to ideas and feedback from first graders!