Just wanted to let everyone know how Jon is doing in Kindergarten. I went to his school's open house Monday night. I got to meet his teacher, Mrs. Smith and the inclusion teacher, Ms. Race. Jon showed me where some of his other classes are as well. He loves PE and music.



He is doing wonderfully with academics. Jon is right where he should be. He loves to listen to books on tape, and follows them word for word. (As long as it's just him, and not the whole class.) There is a computer game that he plays that helps with letters, and letter sounds. Apparently, he does this game better than many first & second graders!

Jon is making new friends, and is having tons of fun! He will give feedback on stories read in class, and participates in all aspects of the class! They say his comprehension in amazing. This isn't really new news, but it's great to hear from a kindergarten teacher!



Having said that, he won't sit still! (Big shock, I know!) He has his own desk, and won't stay in it. The teachers have already figured out that he learns best while wandering the room, but also know that he has to learn to sit. They try to give him some freedom to roam, and will be working on it throughout the year.

We constantly remind him to behave at school, listen to the teachers, and stay at his desk. However, we all know that he's not exactly thinking about what Mommy told him that morning when he runs around the room! He's not going to stop, & think "oh yeah, I promised Mommy to behave today. I'd better go sit down." Yeah right! He does, by the way, know what it means to behave. In case anyone starts wondering. I ask him everyday what it means. He will list it out for me: listen to the teacher, no bad words, stay at my desk, no running around the classroom, do what the teacher says. The list was slightly different during summer, and I never told him about changing the wording. He figured out the "new" meaning on his own.

Jon's interests have also started expanding. He still loves cars, of course. Now, however, he loves airplanes, trains, computer games, and anything outside. He keeps telling us that he wants a train set. Luckily, I still have my old Brio set (I was told that I should have it tested for lead, it being so old.) Plus, I had found a cool set right after his birthday that was on clearance at Toy R' Us. It's a train that goes around a zoo, complete with animals. And, it looks like it will connect to Brio!

Jon being Jon, he starts saying he wants a train set every time he sees anything that reminds him. I keep telling him that he needs to tell Santa, and that if he doesn't run around the classroom too much, Santa might get him one! (When did I become one of THOSE moms?!?) Sometimes, I will come into the office, and find Jon telling his Lowrider Santa all the things he wants for Christmas! I can just see him wanting to go from mall to mall, making sure he constantly reminds Santa of his wishes!

Anyway, I didn't mean for this little update to go on forever! I tend to do that, when it comes to Jon. (Just ask my co-workers!) I'm liable to bore the snot out everyone, so I had better go eat my lunch. I hope everyone has a wonderful rest of the week! I love you guys!

On Sept. 15, we took a drive to Dallas to visit with Charlie's former boss from Sara Lee. They were in town for their son's soccer match. While there, we went to the Sixth Floor Museum. It was a museum to chronicle Pres. Kennedy's assasination, and events leading up to it. Jon liked looking at the pictures of the cars and airplanes.
One of the strangest things was to see people outside taking pictures. There are X's in the street in the 2 locations where Kennedy was shot. During breaks in traffic, people would stand on the X's to have pictures taken. That just seems a wee bit strange to me.
I thought this picture was cool, in that it looks like Kennedy is looking at Jon. He was in a bit of a mood, and kept saying "Mommy doesn't want to take my picture." Oh, and according to Jon, President Kennedy is riding in a low rider! Imagine that!

We stayed the night in Arlington. The next morning, we drove to Fossil Rim Wildlife Center in Glen Rose. It is far better than the place we had been going to in San Antonio. The scenery is prettier, the animals are more spead out, and they have giraffes roaming around. It was cool to see giraffes so close up, without a fence to block the view. There was one picture I didn't post, of a giraffe eating from a guys hand in front of us.

Jon was bouncing from one side to the other, not wanting to miss anything!

When there were no animals, things got pretty silly!
He's taller than a cheetah, but not quite as tall as a zebra.

At the petting area, they don't allow food. Instead, they provide brushes. The animals love it, and they don't over eat.

I know I've posted pictures like this before, but it still makes me laugh to have a zebra stick it's head all the way into the van!

What a beautiful animal!

This young giraffe was cute! It was very curius about the cars.

We just had to have a zebra try to eat the van! This time, it went for the mirror. If you look closely, you can see it's teeth reflected in the mirror! Of course, Jon cracks up when he sees this picture!

This shot might seem shocking. However, we were going about 5 mph, and Charlie had a super firm grip on Jon. He didn't even try to go out any farther than this. That doesn't mean I wasn't nervous, though!

Fossil Rim is part of a Cheetah conservation program. They have quite a few of them, spread out amongst several enclosures.

The rhinos have a huge area to roam. They have 2 separate enclosures for them, as well.

Fossil Rim was a great place to take Jon. It's a 9.5 mile drive through the park, with a cafe & gift shop in the middle. While there, you can almost forget that you are still in icky-yucky Texas, it's so pretty!

After getting back home, Jon & I were working on a puzzle we got at the gift shop. Jon coughed, and started crying and screaming. We could not figure out what was going on, and Jon was too upset to say anything. Everytime he'd cough, he'd cry more. We were about to take him to the emergency room. We got Jon into the van, and started driving. Jon calmed down enought at that point to let me know his ear hurt. I was afraid he may have burst an eardrum. I took him to his doctor Monday, and discovered that there was a lot of fluid putting major pressure on the eardrum. That's what was causing the pain when he coughed. Anyway, we're almost through with this round of anti-biotics, and his ear feels much better. He'll being seeing his ENT next month, and we'll find out if the right ear needs a tube. (The left ear had one put back in last Feb.)

While waiting in van while Charlie ran into a store Saturday night, Jon was climbing the front seat. He would walk his feet up, then jump down.
We went for a bike ride in Hershey Park this last Sunday. It's our favorite place to ride around here. Jon wanted to ride his tricycle. After a while, he rode in the trailer just long enough to have some snacks. Then, it was back on the trike! The the end of the ride, Jon had peddled almost 1.5 miles!

Charlie started doing sit-ups while waiting for Jon & me to catch up. When we did, Jon wanted to try a few!

Jon was only allowed to go off the path when Daddy did. The grass got to be a bit tough to peddle through!

Going down a hill, with feet up!




On the way back, Jon didn't want to sit in the trailer, but was too tired to peddle. Charlie asked him if he wanted to ride the tricycle. Jon thought this was great fun! That is, until the tricyle fell out of the trailer, and Jon fell backwards! Oops! Luckily, he ended up with just a light scratch on his back. Jon was much more willing to ride in the trailer after that. Now, we are looking at the bikes that attach, so that Jon can ride or peddle. He seems to have outgrown the trailer we have. When did this happen?

Jon's first day of kindergarten!

I went out with the kids, so that I could get pictures of Jon leaving for his first day of school. Jon is waiting with his friend, Eddie. They sit next to each other on the bus, and play together quite a bit after school. Eddie & Jon don't get to see much of each other at school, since Eddie's in 1st grade.
Well, there was no bus. There was a bus, but it came 10 minutes early, and on the other side of the street! There is always a back up plan. Luckily, Ms. Betty had gotten back from her bus run, so she was able to take the kids to school. None of them minded one bit!

As you can see, Jon sure didn't mind! He has always loved riding in the day care vans.

Jullianna & Jon really did hold hands all the way through the day care! They were excited to see each other after their first day of kindergarten! She goes to the school that Jon would be at, if he wasn't in the special education program.

Since then, Jon has started getting into the whole kindergarten thing! He's making friends at school. We've heard about a Kyra and Nicholas. Other than a few issues with not staying at his desk, Jon is apparently doing very well.

The Smith Family Reunion was tons of fun! Thanks to Dianne for getting it all together!
I tried to mostly post pictures that I don't think Daria got, although I know that there are some posted that we both got. I can't wait to see Daria's pictures!

The cousins waste no time in starting play time! Baxter shows Jon how to look through the kaleidoscope. Summer works on a 3D puzzle.

I love this picture of Kristin!

Gayle & Dianne chatting.

Jon goes to Great-Grandma for a hug!

Baxter & Jon work on a puzzle together.


Each of the kids got to take a turn ringing the lunch bell. These are actually in reverse order. Baxter went first, and Jon went last. All of them had fun doing it, though!

Jon shows off his climbing abilities.
A quiet spot to read. Anna the monkey!

Jon & Baxter heading back from lunch.

One generation of the Smith Family Tree!

Jon didn't know what to make of this huge dog.

Looking at the jellyfish at Monterey Bay Aquarium. Susan decided to give Jon a ride.

Watching the kissing penguins.

4 generations!

My gorgeous sis, Daria!
A brotherly chat.

A pair of Ottos.
Grandma, Daria, and Candice enjoying each other's company.
Byron created fantastic designs on each of the shirts. Here, he's doing Summer's shirt.
How Summer was able to comprehend any of that with everything going on around her, I can't quite figure out! Daria & Grandma share some thoughts.

What a cute couple!

Byron drawing on Baxter's shirt.


Daddy created his own lounge chair!

Jon got all dressed in his new swim suit, and didn't even get wet! We ended up too busy to make it to the pool. That's okay. We were having too much fun elsewhere!

Byron & Stanford

Helping Stanford to fly the kite.
Byron finally got to fly his kite!



Walking to lunch.

The sounds of my childhood.
Jon just fell in love with Susan. But then, we all did!

A Daddy moment.
What a beautiful couple!
Jon played the violin for a long time. He was completely exhausted, but didn't want to stop!

Jon playing the concertina.

Mother-Daughter musical moment.

Video of Jon playing the violin.