We built a new blog to chronicle our move. It is www.dtkc.wordpress.com
We gave the address to K's school class and to lots of family and friends. I'll have to come back to this one once we get settled.
We arrived last night in New York City. The apartment is on the 10th floor and it is packed.
Saturday, October 27, 2007
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
Jonah and the whale
K has been reading the bible a lot. Tonight it was Jonah and the whale. She wanted to know if the story was really true and was everything in the bible really true. I'm never sure how to answer these questions. We talked about different beliefs and what people thought. She really likes the Jonah story, she seems to reread that one a lot.
After we watched the movie Moses this summer, she wanted to know why God didn't talk to her. Then we went to see Evan Almighty and she thought it was cool that God talked to him. She really enjoyed that movie.
K got up water skiing this past weekend!! She went about 50 yards (and would have gone longer if Grandpa had been driving instead of taking pictures!). She wanted to try and really gave it her all, she had 3-4 times of not getting up too. She also went tubing and had a "wild" ride. That was fun. She was really enjoying herself. This was the last weekend I think because it was still hot. From now on it will be too cold to get in the water, plus we won't be going down there again, it's a long drive.
After we watched the movie Moses this summer, she wanted to know why God didn't talk to her. Then we went to see Evan Almighty and she thought it was cool that God talked to him. She really enjoyed that movie.
K got up water skiing this past weekend!! She went about 50 yards (and would have gone longer if Grandpa had been driving instead of taking pictures!). She wanted to try and really gave it her all, she had 3-4 times of not getting up too. She also went tubing and had a "wild" ride. That was fun. She was really enjoying herself. This was the last weekend I think because it was still hot. From now on it will be too cold to get in the water, plus we won't be going down there again, it's a long drive.
Monday, September 03, 2007
School
K started school last Thursday. She started 2nd grade so she officially skipped first. On Friday she rode the bus. She loves it so far. We decided to start here so we would have the acceleration part done for future schools. I did not think I could homeschool with all the work finding a place and now moving. We've been looking and trying to sell ours since April. I have to sell a lot of stuff to move back into a small space.
But we started her mostly because she wanted to go. She was so excited when we said she could go. We talked about homeschooling but she wasn't interested. She wanted to try to go and ride the bus and take her lunch. I think it will be a good experience for her even if it is only for a month or two. I've been thinking of it as a 4 week day camp since she didn't have the opportunity to do any camps or classes this summer. We were too busy looking for a place to live. She had to fill out a poster about herself and one spot was for her 3 wishes. Her one wish was to go to New York and have fun and not have to look at apartments. I think emotionally this whole process has exhuasted her. When you are moving, you want to move and get it finished. It has been dragging on for 4.5 months now. I've been reluctant to take on two house payments and our house is just not selling.
But we started her mostly because she wanted to go. She was so excited when we said she could go. We talked about homeschooling but she wasn't interested. She wanted to try to go and ride the bus and take her lunch. I think it will be a good experience for her even if it is only for a month or two. I've been thinking of it as a 4 week day camp since she didn't have the opportunity to do any camps or classes this summer. We were too busy looking for a place to live. She had to fill out a poster about herself and one spot was for her 3 wishes. Her one wish was to go to New York and have fun and not have to look at apartments. I think emotionally this whole process has exhuasted her. When you are moving, you want to move and get it finished. It has been dragging on for 4.5 months now. I've been reluctant to take on two house payments and our house is just not selling.
Still here
I guess I have been consumed with moving and haven't had time to write. We finished in the corporate apartment in White Plains with no house/apt. We came back and did a week in TN at my parents' lake house with my sister and her family. That was great fun. Then back to NYC by myself for a week with the kids staying at grandparents' houses. Then all of us back up for 3 days for the final push. I think I have seen more of the NYC housing market than anyone should ever have to! We saw houses and apartments in Westchester County, Long Island, Queens, Brooklyn, New Jersey and Manhattan. We finally decided on Manhattan. Tomorrow D should sign the lease for an apartment in the city. It's not available until the 15th. Of course our house here has still not sold. The housing market has plummeted in the Midwest. It's going to be rough for awhile but hopefully our house will sell and we can't live apart forever!
Monday, July 23, 2007
Debate
Here's the debate. We love the city and we love living in the city. K keeps saying I want to live where we don't have to be in the car all the time. We loved our apartment building when we lived here from 2001-2004.
The city has 2 gifted only schools which are supposed to be awesome. One you have to apply for kindergarten and you have to live in Manhattan. C would qualify. I'm not sure he would score high enough on the test or do well with the interview but I could give him a shot. He would have a hard time b/c the cutoff is dec 31st to start Kindergarten at 4.5 and his bday is dec 29th. But the interview and testing would be right after he turned 4 so I'm not sure maturity wise he would do too well. I'd love to give him a shot but we have to live in Manhattan.
The other gifted school accepts at kindergarten and at the other grades by attrition. K could apply here. You have to live in the 5 boroughs to apply. I emailed the director, who knows if they will have space. There are a couple other gifted type schools she could apply to also.
All of these applications would be for fall 2008 so I still have to do something for fall 2007 so I need to live in a good school district so I have the option of doing that. Homeschooling is an option too.
Sounds OK right? Back to the city... we cannot afford our apartment building anymore. The rents in the city have gone up about $1000/month since we left. So, we can't find anything to match all the criteria - mainly a good school district and some space with more than 1 bathroom. And if I homeschool, I'll need a little bit of space. We are looking at 2 bedrooms now or 1 bedrooms with a dining room converted to a 2nd bedroom if we want a doorman. I'm not sure we can live like that and I'm not sure I want to do that. We have to sell our car to move in the city and I'd like to explore the area more, there's so much to see educationally for the kids but that's hard to do when you have to rent a car every time. I think we would just do it once a month or once every two months. We many be at a different time in our lives now but I hate not giving the kids a chance at these schools.
The other reality is that even if I were to get in both these schools, I would have kids in 2 different schools and they are on opposite sides of Central Park which is actually a big deal. It takes a while to get across because you have to walk or go by bus so it'll take 15-20 minutes. I'm not sure I want them in different schools. I'm not sure we'll even be able to get them to school on time every day.
I'm in the circle of debate...
The city has 2 gifted only schools which are supposed to be awesome. One you have to apply for kindergarten and you have to live in Manhattan. C would qualify. I'm not sure he would score high enough on the test or do well with the interview but I could give him a shot. He would have a hard time b/c the cutoff is dec 31st to start Kindergarten at 4.5 and his bday is dec 29th. But the interview and testing would be right after he turned 4 so I'm not sure maturity wise he would do too well. I'd love to give him a shot but we have to live in Manhattan.
The other gifted school accepts at kindergarten and at the other grades by attrition. K could apply here. You have to live in the 5 boroughs to apply. I emailed the director, who knows if they will have space. There are a couple other gifted type schools she could apply to also.
All of these applications would be for fall 2008 so I still have to do something for fall 2007 so I need to live in a good school district so I have the option of doing that. Homeschooling is an option too.
Sounds OK right? Back to the city... we cannot afford our apartment building anymore. The rents in the city have gone up about $1000/month since we left. So, we can't find anything to match all the criteria - mainly a good school district and some space with more than 1 bathroom. And if I homeschool, I'll need a little bit of space. We are looking at 2 bedrooms now or 1 bedrooms with a dining room converted to a 2nd bedroom if we want a doorman. I'm not sure we can live like that and I'm not sure I want to do that. We have to sell our car to move in the city and I'd like to explore the area more, there's so much to see educationally for the kids but that's hard to do when you have to rent a car every time. I think we would just do it once a month or once every two months. We many be at a different time in our lives now but I hate not giving the kids a chance at these schools.
The other reality is that even if I were to get in both these schools, I would have kids in 2 different schools and they are on opposite sides of Central Park which is actually a big deal. It takes a while to get across because you have to walk or go by bus so it'll take 15-20 minutes. I'm not sure I want them in different schools. I'm not sure we'll even be able to get them to school on time every day.
I'm in the circle of debate...
All time low
I've hit an all time low with the housing search. We seem to be all over the board and we have not found the right place. I'm not sure I know what the right place is.
I'm not doing anything with the kids. I brought those math books for K but never have time to work with her doing them. I'm ready for this process to be over. The kids have been troopers and I've been trying to give them some fun things but we've been doing a lot of trekking - either by foot or car to see apartments/houses.
There are so many options here and the place is so big with so much traffic to get from place to place. I can't seem to decide. I really need to decide on the city vs. the suburbs b/c searching both is exhausting!
I'm not doing anything with the kids. I brought those math books for K but never have time to work with her doing them. I'm ready for this process to be over. The kids have been troopers and I've been trying to give them some fun things but we've been doing a lot of trekking - either by foot or car to see apartments/houses.
There are so many options here and the place is so big with so much traffic to get from place to place. I can't seem to decide. I really need to decide on the city vs. the suburbs b/c searching both is exhausting!
Wednesday, July 18, 2007
The apartment
We are living in a temporary apartment in White Plains. It's nice. Today it is stormy, lots of rain. We have been looking at places to live. It's crazy, exhausting and awful. K & C are good and then horrible. We're going to a movie today so that should help, something fun for them.
I went to two schools yesterday and talked to them about acceleration and K. This move is going to be very challenging. D said it will test my ability to be flexible. I usually like to plan things out but with this whole process, I've been unable to plan and that's hard for me. It's character building...
I went to two schools yesterday and talked to them about acceleration and K. This move is going to be very challenging. D said it will test my ability to be flexible. I usually like to plan things out but with this whole process, I've been unable to plan and that's hard for me. It's character building...
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Swim Pictures
K finishing a race!
K in the water, hanging on the block, for backstroke
She did a great job with swim team this year. I'm very proud.
Tuesday, July 10, 2007
Math Workbooks
I bought some Math workbooks today. K scored poorly in Math on the Iowa first grade assessment. She said there wasn't any Math, just a bunch of questions about money and she doesn't know money that well. That's my fault. She likes to do adding, subtracting, multiplication so we spend more time on that. So, I bought 1st and 2nd grade Math books for her to work on in the car. We are driving to NY this week. I've always hated Math workbooks but now realize that she needs to understand how questions are asked on standardized tests. Montessori uses math manipulatives so it is completely different. I spend more time on real life word problems. You want to take that Gymnastics class and it's 100 for 8 weeks and this other class is 100 for 10 weeks so which class is cheaper type things.
I don't think 1st and 2nd grade are the right level but I want to make sure she has covered everything in them. Also, she needs some repetitive work with math so this will help. She'll love it.
I don't think 1st and 2nd grade are the right level but I want to make sure she has covered everything in them. Also, she needs some repetitive work with math so this will help. She'll love it.
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