Paw Prints and the Princess

Aug 19 - notes to our teachers

Zoe girl - that’s what we call her ;). She is a girly girl and it just stuck!  Zoe is my true 1st born rule follower - totally terrified of getting in trouble!  She also likes to be in charge - of her brother at least!  Zoe is empathetic, kind hearted, and a great lover of people.  She is an introvert for the most part and enjoys small groups or one on one situations the best.  She has a harder time in large groups on the playground for instance.  She is an excellent student and God has gifted her with an incredible brain.  She scored a perfect score on her practice STARR test and very rarely brings home less than mid 90’s grades.  Zoe loves math!! I never have to ask her to do her homework and half the time she is reminding ME of things!  She is ultra responsible!  Part of what makes her so bright though, is that she is a perfectionist and has incredible work ethic.  She totally gets this from her Daddy and always shoots for the stars. Along with this perfectionism though, is a very strong need for structure, and routine.  Zoe does not enjoy when her day changes on her and likes to know the “plan” for pretty much everything before it happens.  Very much Type A.  She is already worried about leaving a whole day for REACH (though she loves REACH itself) and is nervous about getting everything done she will miss.  Any assurance you can give her would be most helpful! She also gets emotionally bothered when others at her table or near her are consistently disruptive or distracting.  Zoe is extremely organized and absolutely loves helping in the classroom and loves to get up and “teach” the class if allowed.  She wants to be a teacher when she grows up! One of her favorite days last year was when her teacher allowed her to get up and teach an art project Mrs. Tucker had taught her.  I asked Zoe what I should tell you in my letter and she said "I LOVE  to ask LOTS of questions because I want to know every detail and make sure I am doing it exactly right!"  Bonnie Altimore was SO patient with her million questions last year and she thinks Bonnie hung the moon!  Zoe is also very watchful of peoples feelings and never wants anyone to feel left out.  She wears her heart on her sleeve. 

As far as her likes - Zoe loves friends and pretty much asks me for a playdate every single day of her life!  As Im sure you have noticed, she and Ella are good friends.  Sydney Davis is another one of her people.  Zoe loves her family with every breath and that includes all 4 Lake Highlands grandparents that you will be meeting in the coming weeks.  Lexi is our 1 year old golden doodle and Zoe simply adores her.  

Zoe’s other interests include art and dance.  Mrs. Tucker comes to our house every Monday to teach art to her and a few other girls.  Its Zoes fave day of the week.  If she is ever having a down day, just grab Amanda.  Zoe is right at home with her.  Zoe will be doing choir this year too which she is excited about! 

Chaser - That is what many family and friends end up calling him.  We named him very appropriately.  The kid loves to RUN!  He is quite proud of his 2 Turkey Dash wins and is already talking about how he needs to practice for this year’s Dash.  Really, though, its not just running.  Any time of game, competition, challenge - if he thinks he can do it, he is ALL in.  He loves the thrill of the game and will work hard to achieve his goal.   Thankfully, this also applies to his school work and in pretty much all areas of life - except cleaning his room - which he miserably fails at on a pretty consistent basis.  He also cannot spell to save his life.  He gets that wonderful trait from me I’m afraid.  Chase loves all his people big - our rather large Lake Highlands family.  Justin and I are both LH grads and both our parents live here and are very active with the kids.  You will meet Pappy, Loli, Gigi, and Pops within the first week of school as Justin and I are headed OOT for our 15 year anniversary.  Chase loves puzzles, card games, and chess.  He loves all sports and water-sports like wake boarding and surfing and is playing soccer, baseball, flag football, and tennis this fall.  We are not those parents that push him do to one million things (at all).  He just loves it and thrives on being active.  He plays hard, and pretty much does most things to his very best (except again, as I mentioned, cleaning).  Chase is a very happy, easy going kid and is generally perfectly content to go with the flow on most things.  He is flexible and does not mind a last minute change in schedule, or just seeing where the road takes him.  He loves his friends and is fairly outgoing and generally kind to others (thank you Jesus). He loves to laugh and is always drawn to people who provide smiles and giggles.  Some of his best buddies are Bridge DeJean, Evan Morgan, and Owen Morris- who also happens to be in your class.  Chase is also a perfectionist to some extent, especially in school and always wants to please his teachers.  He expects his work to be be perfect and gets very frustrated if he messes something up.  We like to make cards for friends/family for certain occasions and I cannot even count the amount of times he has started over because he was not satisfied with how it looked.  He made a 80 something last year on one paper and when he brought it home, he pulled it out to show me and he looked like his cat had died.  Side note - we dont have a cat, but a sweet golden doodle named Lexi who wakes Chase up every morning and puts him to bed every night.  He adores her.  Chase is also completely mortified of getting in trouble.  He had a sub last year and got mixed up in the cross hairs of a couple other boys in the cafeteria.  She wrote him up in his folder (first time ever) and he was so very upset that Mrs. Ray was going to think he caused trouble.  He is a tender hearted guy and only needs a gentle reminder or quick conversation about expectation to get back on track.  He does not respond well at all to sternness, even from me or his Dad.  Also, if he is every super cranky, or just not acting his normal, please feel free to give him a snack.  Sometimes I think he gets low blood sugar and “hangry” Chase is not a happy camper and there is no getting out of it without food!