Proud
I am very proud of this boy. He's ready to be a big bad forth grader.
He worked very hard this year. He came home and did extra work every night, for the first semester. He learned a bit of organization and a lot of responsibility. He matured a great deal this year. He wrote thank you notes to two teachers and his counselor this year, thanking them for helping him have a successful third grade year. I emphasized to him though, that HE gets credit too. He did the work.
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Summer Vacation!
It is here! We are on summer vacation! So far, we've spent quality time on the internet, and played lots of video games. Ah, this is living.
The boys are going to do summer school for the first time ever this year. The school will pay them cash for attending, which is just the motivation they needed. Jared and I will both be working summer school as well. Although, Jared's summer school is one week less, and half days only. Sheesh. It hardly seems fair.
We are just two months away from our vacation. We've been doing our weekly vacation theme nights. This last Friday we had a National Parks themed night. We grilled sausages, had chips and soda with them. Ate smores for desert. We watched a tv show about Cuyahoga National Park, played some badminton, and topped it off with ice cream. It was a bit of a hodge-podge of nights. I'm trying to decide on what kind of tv program we can watch for "colonial Philadelphia" night. We can dine on some of Martha Washington's favorite recipes.
Anyway. Summer Vacation. For one week, pure bliss.
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Parents of the Year
Today, Alex and Jonas were each awarded "Student of the Year" for their grade level. Only one kid in each grade got this reward. Six kids out of 401 students. Two of them live HERE. Caleb's grade level did not give out this award. I should make that clear.
Jared and I have decided, that makes us Parents of the Year. We're doing something right.
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Treasure Hunt
The boys and I spent our morning mowing my grandparents' farm. This process, usually includes the boys mowing while I wander around and look for treasures. I've come away with some license plates, old buckets to use as planters, a table, and much more. Now, mind you, this is stuff that wasn't quite valuable enough to be sold at the sale, but if you look at it in a different light, they are treasures.
Today, I was rummaging through a small shed, in search of buckets specifically. One bucket, when I picked it up, a mouse ran out. I knew the shed had wasps, but the mouse, he surprised me. Perhaps I surprised him as well. I stopped looking in that shed for today.
While at the farm, the boys have chin up competitions. Caleb is the champ, with three so far. I think we need a chin up bar when we build a house.
I took a new lens with me, to take "artsy" shots. The boys were very patient with me. Very patient.
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Cat person
I now know, how people become obsessed with their pets. I remember growing up, it was rumored this one weird, crazy lady had hundreds of cats. I have no idea if it is true or not. I was a teenager, hearing it from other teenagers. Anyway, the point is. I really like this cat.
He came to us in the late fall, tiny and skinny. He even won Jared over, who had declared NO MORE PETS. It was a time, when we were at our lowest emotionally. Well, I was at least. Money was tight, so tight it was pretty much non existent. There were problems with the house is Riley. Problems beyond the fact it wasn't selling. Work was hard to find. No solution in the future. But, we had our family. The kids were happy. And we had this new kitten. If we hadn't relocated, we wouldn't of gotten this wonderful kitten. Oh, the family is great too!
I'd bring him inside, and just pet him for hours. If I came home grumpy from work (I know, shocking I would be grumpy), Jared would bring me Harry. I spent hours, sitting outside on the deck, petting him. When I take care of the dogs in the morning and evening, or burn the trash, I carry Harry around. He greets me first thing in the morning. He greets me when I come home from work. He keeps Dagny company all day long. He's even made friends with the other stray cats, of whom we are NOT feeding or keeping. He tolerates Ladybug.
He calms me instantly. He purrs nicely in my ear. He cuddles under my chin when I pick him up.
I really like this cat.
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Privacy
Some interesting things happened over the weekend. Both things happened to Caleb. But, that's as much as I feel I can say.
As the boys are getting older, the stories I have to tell here, seem more and more private. The fact that I've had a blog is no secret from them, or society. Caleb will often tell me "do NOT put that photo on your blog." I try to respect that. Now, with facebook, I feel I'm even more out there in the public. I am facebook friends with some of Caleb's friends (if they ask me, I always say yes). Perhaps he doesn't want his friends reading about him. This is not a hard blog to find.
It is interesting, this generation of kids. They have grown up with their photos on the internet. Parents post things about them on social networking sites or blogs. They have a very public childhood. I personally, don't think this will hurt my boys in anyway. I hope that they enjoy going back and reading about what we did, and seeing the photos. I remember talking it over with Jared, before I started blogging to make sure he agreed.
But, now, as they get older, and are more active on the internet perhaps I need to be even more careful. I already don't talk about work. I am running out of material. I'll think of something I'm sure.
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News worthy
Our local school district has decided to go to a four day school week next year. There are strong opinions on both side of this issue. As a parent, I am looking forward to having a three day weekend with my kids. As a salaried employee of the district, I am looking forward to a three day weekend. I am not a teacher. I have not thought it through from a teacher's perspective. The superintendent said that 90% of the teachers were for it. I know there are positives and negatives.
This decision has caused at least four news crews that I know of to visit the school. Exciting stuff.
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Happy Mother’s Day
Happy Mother's Day to my mommy! Happy Mother's Day to my mother-in-law! Happy Mother's Day to my Grandma! I'm one lucky lady.
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The dented beast
That is what Caleb calls his trumpet. His uncle put the dents in it. I've offered to get them taken out, but now he loves them, and wants to keep every last one.
He had his spring concert Thursday night. Jared stayed home sick from work that day, and couldn't attend. No problem though, as I carry plenty of cameras, and can video the entire performance. Except my batteries died. No fear, I carry back up batteries. They died after half of the first video. You can't even see Caleb. It was a combined performance, 6th through 8th grades. He's behind the drums. You can totally see him in the rest of the performances. He also had a solo. I didn't get any of this recorded. You'll just have to take my word for it, that he rocked.
Here's my half a video:
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Valley Forge Night
Tonight, we celebrated the Valley Forge portion of our vacation. We debated walking on ice, barefoot, but decided against it. The weather was not the greatest today, but it just added to the authenticity. I looked it up, and the soldiers at Valley Forge received regular rations during that rough winter. The rations consisted of meat and vegetables. So, tonight's dinner was beef stew. Surely they made stew at least once. Surprisingly enough, all three boys LOVED the stew. Two asked for seconds. I may have to make that again.
Following dinner, we had a shooting contest outside. Frankly, we're not much of a gun family. We do own two air soft guns, thanks to my wonderful brother. We also had targets, thanks to that same wonderful brother. I got some posts and ropes from my grandparents' farm, and put together quite the shooting range.
We followed our shooting contest (the winner really isn't important), with a game of poker. I remember visiting some historic sight when I was in Philadelphia at the age of 15. The soldiers played cards. I don't remember where we were, but I remember the cards. No numbers. So, poker it was.
Jonas can now tell you what state Valley Forge is in, what they ate, and perhaps even who the general was. It was a successful theme night.
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