A Fifth Grader

This one is jumping into intermediate school with both feet.  He's going to a school that for the first time, no one knows him as the little brother.  His favorite subject is social studies and library.  He really doesn't like writing even though he is really good at it.  He is one of the few kids in his class who writes in cursive.  He was really nervous but he ran for Student Council and was elected as one of the 5th grade representatives.  He wants to join the yearbook staff, the bird watching club and the running club.  He is a Boy Scout now and is working on getting his Tenderfoot rank and he also loves being a alter server at church.

An Eighth Grader

Living back in Texas where he started school, it feels like there is no way he can be in eighth grade already.  He's growing up way too fast.  He's a good student in school and I always hear great things from his teachers.  He's settling into his routine at his new school well and making friends.  He's active in Boy Scouts and loves being an alter server at church.  He joined the robotics club this year at school and is looking forward to finding out what "competing" means.

First Day of School

The boys had their first day of school today in our new old town/house.

Ian is now into 8th grade.  He is most excited to not have PE this year and get to wear anything he wants to school.

Evan is in 5th grade and going to a school that his brother never went to.  He is also excited to not have a uniform and is looking forward to getting to walk to school and home by himself.

Last Day of School in VA

((finally))  It seems like the last months of school have taken longer than the first 3 quarters.  It doesn't help that school went really late into June this year too.

We finished off the year with an all school assembly where all the students were marched across to receive certificates of achievement.  It took forever because of course all the first grade students excelled in all the subjects, which makes me think that makes them all average by definition, right?  And then there was a very disorganized CYO track awards give away.  Just another reason why the school needs a CYO assembly just for the CYO sports.

My kids both did really well again in school.  Evan's teacher wasn't there because of a death in the family so the class aide read off all the names while the principal shook their hands.  Evan excelled in everything and it still makes me worried about how he could have done if we hadn't put them in this school because his class was so big.  But they always saw hindsight is 20/20 and I just need to let it go and make sure that he continues to excel at his new school in TX.

Ian also did well.  Middle school was harder for him and a big misstep in Spanish around Thanksgiving really shook him up.  I again wonder if I made the wrong decision putting them in private school and if he would have been better off switching schools and being in a bigger school.  I guess I'll never know the answer to that and I need to own what we did decide and just make sure I am there to help guide him in the future.

Ian's teacher Mrs. Landon said some really nice words about Ian, Evan and the rest of us and made me cry during the ceremony.  I know the boys will be missed a lot at the school and I'm sure the work that I did volunteering will be missed too.  I know Ian is sad about moving because he didn't get to run for student council this year and I know he wanted to do it again.  Evan is sad about moving because he finally has a best friend.  Hopefully they both will be good pen pals to their friends and will keep in touch with them.  We live in an age where keeping in touch is so easy and the world is so small these days that it would be sad for them not to keep in touch and meet up with them again in the future.

My big boy is a TEEN

I can't believe it has been 13 years since he was a tiny little baby that even premie clothes were too big on.

He celebrated with his class.  They had their 7th grade picnic and his classmates were so wonderful that they made it a combined bon voyage/birthday party for Ian too!

Night of the Arts

The boys' school put on their Night of the Arts Fair last night.  The art teacher put up examples from all the kids of all the art that they have been working on all year long.  They also have a contest for the kids to enter art work they do at home.  The band, the choir and the Shakespeare Club also put on their shows.

Kindie Awards

Quick layout that I did using my silhouette while the boys played video games on a snow day.  This layout is of Ian's kindergarten awards ceremony on his last day of school that year (2008).

Geologist Webelos Pin

Last night Evan was awarded his Webelos badge at our Blue & Gold Banquet and he is excited to earn more Webelos pins.  I had him pick out the next one he wanted to work on and he picked Geologist.

I printed off the requirements and we spent part of Valentine's Day at the Natural History Museum in the Rocks/Gems/Geology section.

And in science class, Ian is learning about primates and the evolution of humans.  So while we were there we made a trip down to see the Human Origins exhibits.

Science Fair is DONE!

Ian had his first big science fair this year.  He had to stand with his board for 2 hours last night while judges came around and asked him questions.  Then he had to do it for another 1/2 hour while parents got to come around and see all the experiments too.

Ian's experimental question was what gender has a  higher average lung capacity?  He hypothesized that the boys would have a higher lung capacity.  He built a spirometer from an old 3 liter bottle and some rubber tubing and got some of his classmates to breathe into it.  His experiment didn't go quite as he would have liked and he wished he would have had more time to test more subjects but he took his data and explained it the best he could.

I think we were both danced a little like Sue Heck from the Middle last night after it was announced that they were dismissed.

Catholic Schools Week

I'm homeroom mom for the seventh grade class and for the teacher appreciation lunch all the classes try to get their teacher something they can use for their class room.  Ian's teacher wanted a lamp to help warm up the room a bit.  So we got her a lamp but I couldn't NOT arts and crafts it up a bit and make it more personalized from the class.

So I had each of the kids sign a sheet of white paper and I scanned it and printed it all out on some vellum and then taped it to the inside of the lampshade.  Now when she turns on the lamp, she will see all their names.

Plus she can always remove the stuff from inside if she decides she doesn't like it or if she wants to change it out.

Not only did the seventh graders have to get a gift for their homeroom teacher but they were also in charge of the middle school religion teacher.  For her we made a prayer jar, I'd love to take credit for the idea but I found it on Pinterest when searching for religious gifts.

All the seventh graders then wrote a prayer intention and put it in the jar.  I was pretty impressed with how much thought they put into their prayer intention and they really seemed to like the idea of having someone who would pray with them for something they felt in their heart.

Now hopefully we won't have a snow day so that I can get these things out of my living room!!