Hayden's 5th Grade CAT test scores

I got Hayden's 5th grade CAT test scores today. Here is the breakdown:

TOTAL BATTERY: 99th percentile, 9th stanine, grade equivalent 12.7

Vocabulary: 98th percentile, 9th stanine, grade equivalent Post-High-School
Comprehension: 89th percentile, 7th stanine, grade equivalent 10.3
Spelling: 89th percentile, 7th stanine, grade equivalent 8.9
Language Mechanics: 75th percentile, 6th stanine, grade equivalent 8.5
Language Expression: 83rd percentile, 7th stanine, grade equivalent 10.9

Mathematics Computation: 99th percentile, 9th stanine, grade equivalent Post-High-School
Math Concepts: 99th percentile, 9th stanine, grade equivalent Post-High-School

Study Skills: 93rd percentile, 8th stanine, grade equivalent 11.2

Science: 73rd percentile, 6th stanine, grade equivalent 7.9

Social Studies: 79th percentile, 7th stanine, grade equivalent 9.1

So I'm really thrilled with how well he did, and I'm so thankful that he took the test without a lot of anxiousness and anxiety this year. Great job, Hayden! Go Hayden, Go Hayden, Go Hayden!!!

Now just 5 more weeks of school, and he'll be ready to start 6th grade. Hooray! I can hardly believe my first baby will be in middle school. (sniff, sniff)

Life

Life sure is full right now! Hayden finished his CAT test this morning, and we got it mailed off at the post office. I'm anxious to see how he did this year. He didn't have any of his usual anxiety about taking the test, and he said he felt very confident in how he did, so I hope he is happy with the results. We should get them around this time next week. I have no doubt I'll be fine with however he does on it, but he usually has a fair amount of anxiety about it, so I hope he does as well as he hopes he will. He said he was glad we supplemented with Our Nation and Science Horizons, both public school textbooks, because he felt like the topics on the test were fresher in his mind by using those as supplemental reading. I'm glad. He was very non-chalant about the test-taking process this year, so that was good to see. I gave him the option of dropping the supplements next year, but he said he wanted to continue them 'cause he felt better about the test as a result. That's good. That's all I wanted for him, was to relieve that anxiety. He has always scored well, so it was really about taking his self-imposed pressure off by supplementing.

I'm waiting anxiously for news about my mom. She has not been well at all, literally wasting away at home. She is seeing her old doctor today, as we speak actually. So I'm hopeful that he can get her moving in the right direction again. They think her kidneys are failing, so we'll have to wait and see. She has had severe diarrhea for over a month straight and isn't eating. Now she is so weak that she doesn't get out of bed and is sleeping all the time. Prayers are welcomed and appreciated! She is 74 and had a stroke last Halloween. It's really been a struggle since then. She was rallying after months of therapy, but then her health began to decline pretty rapidly, and she just hasn't come back from it for whatever reason.

Now that the CAT test is behind us, we can sit back enjoy the rest of our spring break through the end of next week. That will be so nice! I have lots to do here at the house, though, catching up on household stuff.

I did a little scrapbooking this afternoon, and that was fun. I'm getting ready to take the kids to baseball practice, so I guess I'll be throwing a frozen pizza in the oven when we finally get home!

I have to say that the new Digiorno Pizza & Breadsticks combos are fabulous! I added some extra mozzarella to both when I made them last time, and it was sooooo good. The crust is soft and delicious, and the marinara sauce is wonderful. I'm so glad I got to host the House Party! It was fun, and I like trying new products.

Groupon Recommendation

Have you heard of Groupon? Several people in one of my coupon groups posted about it. It's available all over the country in major cities with more being added all the time. I signed up for the local Groupon group about a month ago, which had a message that deals would be starting soon, and the daily deals just started last week. It's the coolest thing! They find local merchants who will offer deep discounts in exchange for a minimum number of buys from the group. They negotiate the discount and post one deal daily to the group. They give all the details of the deal and indicate how many people have to agree to the purchase for it to go through. If you "buy" into the deal, then at the end of the day, Groupon lets you know if the deal went through, and if so, they go ahead and bill your credit card that you have on file. If they don't get the minimum number of participants, then they tell you that, too, and you are not charged. When a deal goes through, you get a confirmation email and a link to immediately print your discount voucher. I did one the very first day for a local frozen yogurt shop. I got $6 worth of frozen yogurt for $3, and my voucher is good for the next 6 months. You can buy as many of the deal as you want, but the deal disappears in 24 hours when a new daily deal is posted. I've seen deals on yoga, pottery classes, restaurants, and museum memberships, and all kinds of things. There's really something for everyone. And if you refer someone who buys their first deal, you get a referral credit in your account to use towards your next group buy. It's really neat! Here is my referral link if you want to sign up and check it out:
http://groupon.com/r/uu1332262
Enjoy!

Busy, busy!

I've been SOOO busy getting things prepared for next school year, which begins in late June for us. At the same time, I'm keeping us on schedule to finish up the last 7 weeks of this school year! Hooray! I need to start prepping Hayden with the Spectrum Test Prep so he'll be ready for his CAT test, which he'll be taking in just 2 short weeks! We'll be starting off our 2-week Spring Break with testing, and then the remainder of the days will be our break time. I can't wait! I've put on a few extra pounds the last couple of weeks for some odd reason, so I'm hoping to get out into the fresh air and get more active again. Winter was LOOOOONG this year!

We had a great time at Busch Gardens on Friday. The weather was just gorgeous. Although it was busy because of it being Spring Break for public school kids, the lines didn't take long to get through. The kids only waited about 15 minutes for each ride. Hayden took along a friend, so I had somebody to ride roller coasters with for a change! I got really sunburned on my arms, though. I knew as soon as we got out of the van that we would need sunblock, and then I realized I hadn't brought any. Bummer! I was at Harris Teeter yesterday getting pizzas and breadsticks for our DiGiorno House Party, and I spotted some Gold Bond Ultimate lotion with SPF 15 in it on sale, so I grabbed some of that and I figured I'd just keep it in the van for next time we're out in the sun like that.

Our DiGiorno Champions House Party was fun. We did it as a luncheon so it wouldn't take up the whole day. We had mostly people from church and one of our friends and her son. Everybody had a great time visiting, and we all loved the pizza and breadsticks. The cheesy breadsticks were surprisingly good, and the marinara dipping sauce was really delicious. I would definitely buy it again. It happens to be on sale at Harris Teeter right now for $6, and I had $4 coupons in the party kit to pass out to everyone, so that was cool.

I got my Sonlight order placed on April 1st, but I have not seen a shipping confirmation yet, so I'm assuming they are a bit overwhelmed with their initial onslaught of orders! I can hardly wait for "Box Day!" I'm really looking forward to changing things up with some new material.