Back to School Milestones

This is a big year of change for my children.  My son is moving upstairs to the Upper School to start 6th grade, and my daughter is entering Rhetoric (high) school as a 9th grader.

Today was Meet the Teacher Day, which is like an orientation or prep day for the first day of school tomorrow. This day was quite different today from what it was like when our kids first started attending this school. When the kids were in the lower (elementary) school, they stayed close by my side as I introduced them to their new teachers. They gladly posed for lots of cute pictures in front of their new cubbie lockers, and I made full scrapbook layouts chronicling this special day. When they moved up to the upper school for 6th grade, they kept a few feet away from me throughout the orientation. My daughter would only allow a picture in front of her locker when no one else was looking, and my son refused pictures entirely.

This year is my daughter's first year in Rhetoric (high) school. As soon as we stepped out of the van today, she completely dissed me until it was time to return home. I took no pictures, introduced my kids to no one, and barely met any of their new teachers.

It's all good, though, because we relish new adventures, and I enjoy watching them embrace exciting changes on their own. If I were to consume myself with sentimental longings to keep them tiny, I might miss those moments that make them mighty.

Bring it on, middle school and high school!

2nd Track Meet

So our little track & field novice, who still insists on competing in the tall person events, just finished 1st place in all 3 of her events at her 2nd track meet ever.

While I love to watch her sprint and jump, I'm much more impressed by the integrity and loving kindness I saw displayed by these teams while I was volunteering out on the field today. When the girls weren't racing against each other, they were caring, sharing, and making friends with their competitors. It's not so much about who wins the race but about how well they love others with grace.

 

I enjoyed helping run the stopwatch and cheer my head off for our runners. After the meet, we were asked to bring Lily home, but we brought her to our house instead for dinner.  I had nothing planned, but my girl insisted she and Lily would cook dinner.  She ended up spending the night, and they made pancakes for breakfast, too!

Note:  If my daughter invites you over for dinner, she may talk you into helping her make dinner, and you will have so much fun you will never know you just blessed me by doing a chore I dread. 

I promise I tried to serve our guest as Southern hospitality requires, but my daughter makes household chores so much fun, maybe her next guest will beg to clean our bathrooms!

School, Cute Kids, and Crazy Critters

Middle School
One week I was rejoicing with surprise over how much I had been enjoying parenting the middle school years, but the following week, I realized that we just hadn't reached the difficult stage yet, which apparently begins in 7th grade. So we're donning our Ephesians 6 armor and constantly examining God's word for wisdom and truth. We moms are committed to praying each other through these middle school years, but given the trials that I sense await us around the corner, I thought a before and after picture would be amusing. Here is our before pic taken after only 17 days of 7th grade. How old and worn out will we each look by the end of the school year?

We're already seeing lots of mood swings and friend drama, but she still loves her friends dearly and goes to a lot of effort to decorate her friends' lockers.  It must be the top love language for middle school girls.

Kinderbuddies
The kinderbuddies program is very popular at our school.  Each 4th grader is paired up with a kindergarten student and serves as a big brother/big sister to help the younger students in their transition to school.  In our son's case, two boys are assigned to one younger student because our kindergarten enrollment is down this year.  They officially meet once a week, but they look for each other throughout the school year to wave, smile, and offer encouragement. Our son's class attended their kinderbuddies' flag pinning ceremony last week as well.  During their weekly time together, my son will read books to his buddy, teach him things he is learning in 4th grade (like the bones of the body as shown in the picture below), or help him with a craft. 

 

While driving my son home from school one day this past month, we had the following conversation:

Introverted boy: Sometimes I wish I was the only kid at school.

Me: [Gasping while mentally planning therapy sessions for him until remembering that introverts just need a little downtime after being around lots of people all day.]

Less than two minutes later.....

Introverted boy: I can't wait to go to school tomorrow because I get to read to my kinderbuddy and hang out with him. He's so cool. I sure do love my kinderbuddy time.

Introverts may need their quiet and their space, but they love others deeply with beautiful sincerity. I'm so glad I married one.

4th Grade

Based on his grades, the feedback I'm getting from his teacher who sings his praises, how much he loves his teacher, and pictures being shared on the class website, I think my son enjoys school more than he lets on.  He still thinks homeschooling is better, but he sure seems to have a lot of fun there, no matter how strict people say it is.

Mrs. Gardner's 4th grade class

His best friend Ben isn't in his class this year, but they play on the same football team and see each other at recess and lunch.  They still get together often during the weekends, too.  Here are a few recent outings of those silly guys together.


Middle School Teachers
Our new science teacher is every students' favorite. She's a huge blessing to the school, and I'm doing my best to keep her encouraged.  She's hands-own, organized, and so spunky.  I found this little pun on her classroom wall the other day.

 I hope they also do a lot of laughing in that class like we did in STEM GEMS.

Teachers need all the love and support they can get.

So, I've been trying to love and support another of our daughter's teachers with anonymous gifts and encouraging notes each week.  The gifts usually involve her favorite color and her favorite food.  I'm also trying to get to the school when I can to help her with lunch duty, so she can have a few moments of peace and quiet during the lunch period.  We take the 7th and 8th graders outside to the field house (and field) to release some of their energy and their noise.

My first day helping at lunch felt like a scientific investigation. For that day's sociological research study, we tested the validity of perceived stereotype vulnerabilities associated with 7th and 8th grade subjects with regard to student engagement, degree of respectful behavior, mode of emotional release, inclusive tendencies, and cross cultural, cross gender interactions as complex macro-nutrients are infused into the bloodstream during a brief period of release from the containment area while also being exposed to solar radiation and the scent of well used turf grass. (AKA - Middle School Lunch Duty )

School Pictures
While I know it can be very self-defeating to compare oneself with others and strongly warn against it, I still think it helps give our kids perspective when we share how much worse life was for us at their age or for children in other parts of the world. Out of all my tales of suffering and woe, nothing made my daughter feel better about her situation quite like showing her my 7th grade school picture when she wasn't happy with hers. The feathered wings had her in hysterics. :-) #anythingtomakehersmile #noshameover40 #awkwardyears
 

7th Grade - Daughter (L) vs. Mother (R) - She has her dad's smile!

Guys' Turn - Our son is in 4th grade, and I think his dad is in middle school in this photo.

By the time our kids are seniors in high school, let's hope our daughter doesn't have 80's hair like mine, but I imagine our boy will look like a Bop magazine pin up poster, as did his dad.

Crazy Critters

When the critters play hide and seek but forget who was supposed to seek, I have to find them both.

Orwell likes to do what Muffin does. He sits in Muffin's cage, hops around the house, and even eats Muffin's leafy greens. He has a plethora of resting positions of his own, but this pose is the quintessential bunny sprawl, likely copied from Muffin as well. Now let's see if he makes his ears lop for his next ape trick. #CopyCat

They also both seem to enjoy yoga and/or Pilates. Here is Muffin's latest pose.

 

The vet told our cat he was getting a little pudgy, so it looks like Orwell has started the couch to Christmas tree training program.

I buy my husband's cat all his food, litter, multiple deluxe scratching posts, litter box, toys, etc. I let him live here even after he destroyed all the carpets, expensive area rugs, leather sofas, recliners, chairs, bar stools, etc. which I spent countless hours shopping for to find just the right match for our new home. I even just bought him blue soft claws with shiny sparkles for his next spa day instead of getting him declawed. I organize play dates for him with his pal Boo. I discipline him gently and hang out with him all day long. I even let him take a portion of my husband's affection which should all belong to me. The cat sheds hair everywhere, but I'm the one to clean it all up. I even let him sleep on or under my luxurious sateen bedspread. But this cat still despises me. I try to be nice to him and play dumb cat games with him, but all I get in return are claws in my skin and sinister hissing. So how fair is it that I am also the one who gets to take this cat to the vet?  He recently got a boatload of shots, so I continue to be his arch enemy. 

 Orwell got a manicure earlier this month. He's trying a new color this time. How does blue sparkle work for him? Since my husband loves this cat so much, and I'm always scolding the cat, I jokingly call this the manicure that saved our marriage. (This soft claws were the last straw between the cat and me.  If he didn't stop ruining everything in the house, he would have to go. He still scratches, but these claw covers keep him from piercing so much.)

Two little critters sitting in a (cat) tree

 One is as curious as can be.

Field Hockey Surprise

Our daughter's middle school field hockey team is having an amazing season.  After two years of no wins and I think no points at all, they are having quite the winning season. I'm sure she's glad she picked a winning season to experience this new sport.

Record: 5 wins, 1 loss, 1 tie

Goals For: 11

Goals Against: 2

Nana & Pops surprised our daughter by showing up at her field hockey game last week. When she saw them, she turned her fierce factor up a notch and scored her first goal ever (as she is a rookie player). 

Nana & Pops must have inspired the entire team because they delivered their best game yet winning 4-0. That makes 3 wins in row after only one loss which was almost too close to count. Go Lady Knights!  Nana and Pops treated our girl to Yo-Lo yogurt to celebrate after the game.

On a side note, earlier that day before I knew Nana and Pops were coming, I posted the following sarcastic update on Facebook:

For those who view me as traditional or non-rebellious, I have a confession to make. Except for a summer study abroad experience and various short-term mission trips, I have lived my entire life in the South and was raised with deep southern traditions. Yet today, three days AFTER Labor Day, I've been to 10 different venues, including a Bible study comprised of respectable, southern, Baptist women, while wearing....(wait for it)......WHITE capris pants, and I wore them on purpose.

So, when Mom arrived wearing white Capris as well, I had to laugh!

On another side note: 

Since the kids call my mom "Nana", I found this random historical fact to be especially interesting.  Nanna was the name of the moon god and patron god of the city of Ur when Abram lived in Ur with his polytheistic family. When Abram beheld the glory of the one true God (Genesis 12), however, he knew in an instant that there is no god like the one true God who possesses all the attributes the Chaldeans looked for in many gods. He discovered that this God is good, loving, and just and calls mankind into a personal relationship with Himself.

Then this week, there was a game that none of us could attend due to piano lessons and a football scrimmage for her brother and a leadership dinner at church that I had to attend.  But much to our surprise, "Grandma Susan", a family friend and her former childcare giver when I worked part-time during her first few years of life, showed up last minute surprising us all.  What a gift from God her unexpected arrival and perfect timing were.

Playing field hockey as a 7th grader and a rookie has been quite the learning experience for our daughter, especially as she learns to play the other supporting positions which are essential to helping the forwards push the ball in for a score when all she really wants to do is be the forward who scores.  The prized positions are reserved for 8th graders who need more playing time to get ready for the more competitive varsity team next year. Her time will come.   She did get to play forward when Nana and Pops attended, since the starter was out that day, so I'm glad she got to score when she had her time in her favorite position.

There is also a difficult personality on the team who God is using to refine her.  This player shares much in common with our daughter.  Both were competitive gymnasts. Both are rookies. Both are driven, fierce, competitive, intense firstbornswith a tendency to boss others.  This girl has three younger siblings, however, and is an 8th grader, so her tendency to boss our girl around is more extreme.  Still, our daughter recognizes that part of what bothers her so much about this girl is something she sees in herself, and I'm praying she will remember how it feels to be on the receiving end. At times, my daughter's humble confessions and wisdom in recalling Matthew 7:3-4 about pointing out the speck in another's eye when you have a plank in yours, and just the way she is learning from this trial have amazed me.  Then there are other days when she's throwing fits, and I just have to remind myself that mood changes are all apart of adolescence and that the mature side of her will win in the end. 

I've been referencing the verse below with her as well as a reminder that we all have to work our way up in life, learning and experiencing all the different roles of a team or an organization before we can get the role we want or effectively lead others. Through these trials, she must cast off her frustration and give her worries to the Lord until He chooses to lift her up.

⁶ Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, ⁷ casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-8, ESV)

Field Hockey - Season #1

Our daughter decided to play field hockey this year instead of volleyball. She thought it would provide better conditioning for basketball, and I suspect she also wanted to build friendships with other girls in the school.  While she's never enjoyed soccer or running, sports that best equip girls for field hockey, she certainly has the energy and drive for field hockey. During field hockey came, she received the award for Most Aggressive, which perfectly describes our fierce and tiny but mighty little girls.  Given how many injuries she had as a gymnast who consistently pushed herself too hard, we wondered what we were thinking putting her out on a field with a bunch of girls donning sticks and one hard ball.

It's been brutally hot during practices each day, but she kept pushing hard anyway.  Her face would be beat red and her clothes drenched after practice each day, but she gives her all with passion in whatever she does. That's just how she is, and I understand because I'm the same way.  But she pushed herself too hard.  She came home sick from school the week of the first game complaining of stomach ache, nausea, headache, and sore throat.  So I took her to the doctor, but the swab did not indicate strep.

I told her she needed to rest during her first ever field hockey game that week, but responded as I have for most of my life, "Rest? Who needs rest? I can rest on Saturday." She played hard despite her condition until the last third of the game when the coach (whom she minds better then me apparently) pulled her out.  They lost that game by one point, but they played really well, especially as a middle school team playing against a JV team for an elite private high school that owns almost 150 acres of practice fields. Our Varsity team beat their Varsity team, however, 2 to 0.

She is experiencing some girl drama on this team and is much too hard on herself, but after seeking God's word together over the issues, she is learning to love and pray for those who frustrate her or say mean things about others.

The second game took place yesterday against another JV team.  Our school's middle school field hockey team hasn't scored a single point in two years. At that second game of the season, they played an older JV team (Cape Fear), and won 3-0. Now that's the way to stop a losing streak. Go Lil' Lady Knights!

A talented photographer who is the father of one of the Varsity players and of one of my former students came early to take photos of the middle school game.

Our daughter (#23) gave up competitive gymnastics over 14 months ago, but flying through the air must still be in her system because in over half of the action pics taken at the last field hockey game by Mr. Lindsay, she doesn't have any feet touching the ground.

 

From what I have heard and can tell already, her coach is amazing.  He is much more concerned about their hearts for God, their character, and their relationships than winning games, yet he has been building strong players who are unstoppable by the time they reach Varsity level (9th-12th).

Back to School Again

Summer officially ended on August 3 when we spent most of the day at school for orientation.  The kids and I rotated between classes listening to talks from each of their teachers.  Our son still has just one primary teacher and assistant teacher with different teachers for art, Latin(?), P.E., and band. Our daughter has a different teacher for every subject this year plus two electives, creative writing and art.  Both kids seem pleased with their teachers and expect to have another great year.

I left orientation feeling better about our school than ever before.  The new science teacher who will be taking over the STEM program I started and hopefully expanding it as well is gifted, enthusiastic, and on board with the STEM methodologies I value so much.  I am very excited about working with her and am thankful for the skills she is bringing to our school after teaching AP classes at one of our public school district's best high schools for math/science.

There is still much room for improvement in other aspects of the middle school, however, so I have already begun advocating for more changes, while hoping and praying my voice does not cause my children to be treated unfairly by teachers who disagree with any change or additional work whatsoever regardless of how much it could improve the educational experience, love for learning and passion for God for our students.  It's hard to be the voice, crying out in the wilderness so to speak, speaking on behalf of the parents and the administrators as I share what a select few do not want to hear, even if what I'm saying is motivated out of sincere love for the school and students.

I will say that given our political/cultural situation in which the nanny state and in many ways the global state have replaced god in almost every aspect of society, it's worth every penny just to be around people who share a Biblical worldview and understand the source of my concerns for our nation.  I don't know how much longer our school will have the freedom to teach from a Biblical worldview or to incorporate classical and complete history that presents a big picture view of life and culture instead of the revised texts that indoctrinate students to accept a socialistic, progressive mindset.  I don't know who much longer it will be until great classical literature texts that challenge students to think critically and stand for truth and justice will be banned by the government, but I'm thankful for a school that equips students to stand as bright lights in a dark and dying world as long as they are able.  When the government exceeds it's clearly defined limits under the Constitution to the point of demanding that our school to compromise it's values, the school will shut down before it will submit to what is wrong.

This video explains in better detail the concerns I'm alluding to with respect to the progressive educational system's attack on morality and efforts to produce a unified, submissive, Marxist generation. Conversations I've tried to have with recent college graduates who are not rooted in God's word support every last accusation in this video. They cannot think on their own, reason logically, or even recognize rational thought if it hits them over the head.  I'm glad our students are learning the art of rhetoric, but I doubt they'll either be allowed to use those skills or find someone who is intellectually capable of engaging in a thoughtful exchange of ideas without calling them unjustified ugly names. At least our students will not have fear because there is power in being able to support your position with truth.


In fourth grade, students get to choose between chorus and band.Our son's voice is lovely like his dad's, but he wanted to play drums in the band. So now he is taking both piano and drum lessons each week.  Weekly lessons are required to be in the band, but given how much I respect his drum teacher (who is also a bi-vocational pastor who has taught theology and now teaches apologetics and rhetoric at our school), just having this man influence my boy is worth the time and cost of drum lessons.

Ready for the 1st day of 7th and 4th grades

Our school celebrated it's 20th anniversary last weekend with a family carnival night followed by slide show presentations and various speakers. Our son's teacher and my favorite high school math teacher bravely volunteered to sit in the dunking booth.  Here are pics of our son's sweet teacher going down.

Here is a picture of son's 4th grade glass with teacher, Mrs. Gardner, and assistant teacher, Mrs. Boyd.

2016 Summer Camps

The kids were very busy with various summer camps this summer.  They did not get to experience a cousin camp in Oklahoma however, since we were just out there in May for a wedding, and I think the grandparents are worn out from all the wedding planning and with a new grandchild to add to their weekly childcare duties.  I don't think my husband's parents ever got a break from having kids in the house between having their last child leave and their first grandchild born, but at least now the kids in the house are grandchildren, and they can spoil them if they want to! :)

Our son's first camp was a full week of all day basketball camp located close to his dad's work.  They went to/from work/camp together each day and went out to lunch together a time or two.  After the frustrating Upward season of not really getting a chance to learn new skills or play competitively, this camp was a good way to provide some of what we had hoped he could have gotten in Upward. He played hard all week and got into better shape, which he will need for football which starts next week with two hours of practice very day. Since my husband always took him to camp, I have no pictures to share.

That same week our daughter went to a 3-day science camp three hours/day in downtown.  Since it was closer to drive to my office than back home and traffic is terrible in our capital city, I should have worked at my office while she was at camp everyday.  I did that for the last day or two, though. She doesn't get as excited over hands-on science as her brother does, but she loves being around lots of people, so she had a fun time.  The older kids don't give demonstrations for parents, so I have no photos.

The following week was her brother's turn to attend science camp.  He was bored at first because the teacher was new and slow to get in the groove. Plus, he already knew plenty about electricity and magnetism (the themes), but it got better for him as the week went along.

One of our daughter's favorite camps of the summer was Kid's Rock Camp at an exclusive private school.  She used birthday money from her grandparents to help pay for it since it was so beyond our budget for her that summer. It was comprised of a small group for girls who formed a band.  They got to learn different instruments, recorded several songs in which the girls rotated between different instruments and vocals, and composed a song.  My daughter suggested they write a song about our home state, and that song was one of my favorites from their performance for parents and family.  She fell in love with bass guitar that week, so she started taking guitar lessons this past month from the same instructor who led this camp.  She's using my Ibanez acoustic guitar for now, but if she makes good progress and practices diligently, we may consider buying her an electric guitar.

Speaking of new instruments, our son is still taking piano lessons, but he just started taking drum lessons from our theology, apologetics and effective next week, rhetoric teacher at our school.  Lessons are required to participate in the school band which starts in 3rd grade, and piano is not a band instrument, so he chose drums.  How I wish we had sprung for a basement with this house where the sound doesn't carry as much.  Now we have to fit three music lessons into our kids' schedules along with field hockey practices & games every day for 1-3 hours for our daughter and football for two hours every weekday for our son.  Throw in Bible study two nights a week, monthly mother/daughter discipleship meetings, church youth group, and IMACS one night a week for two hours, and there is no room for STEM or even homework this semester.  I hope our kids can wing it again without studying. The moms of my STEM students gave me grief about taking a semester off, so I'll try to at least squeeze in some lesson planning this semester so I can teach a program that I can be proud of in the spring.

In July, our daughter traveled to Liberty University for camp with her church youth group.  She loved staying in the dorms and feeling like a college study for a week.  It was a great time of growing closer to the Lord and getting to know the other girls from our church better.  They all go to different schools, so it's almost an entirely different group of friends.  She's gotten to know some of them during weekly Bible study this summer.  She was the youngest participant at camp and in summer Bible study, but she is a lot like I was at that age, tiny but mature for her age, preferring to hang out with older girls, but only the girls who are positive influences so as not to grow up too fast in the wrong ways.  I wish I had pictures to share from her week, but phones were not allowed and she didn't think to take a camera.

Last week, our son experienced overnight camp for the first time ever.  This camp is a very special place for many people. My college roommate met her husband there while they both served as camp counselors during our years as roommates.  They got married at that camp, and our son will be baptized there next month.  All of us bridesmaids spent the night in a cabin together the night before the wedding.  It is such a peaceful, rustic place.

My college roommate and I taught classes there last fall. She still teaches her art classes there, but the distance was too great for me to continue with my STEM classes, so I had to back out for the spring semester.  I have too many jobs in too many different venues, and continue to find myself overextended. It's hard to say no and to give up great things, but this camp is truly a wonderful place and I miss teaching in that cabin in the woods where deer would greet me at the door each morning.

To get a top bunk, campers need to get there two hours early to get a low number as selection of bunks is on a first-come, first-pick basis.  Our boy didn't care where he slept, so we arrived only about 15 minutes before check-in began.  Praise God for giving us an easy-going second child as we had so much to do that afternoon. Here he is beside his bunk after we put sheets on the sagging mattress and duct taped a fan to his bed frame.

Here we all on the front stoop of his cabin ready to say good-bye.  Each cabin has a name, and cabin teams compete all week long. He stayed in the Conquerors' cabin.

My shy little boy is getting bolder and more outgoing. He was proud of himself for jumping off the high dive without a moment's hesitation.  He also rode the zip-line and jumped high up off the water blob.  Archery was another fun activity for him.

The camp posted hundreds of photos online to give parents a peak into their week.  Our son must be camera shy because we only saw him in a few of the photos. Staff pics are shown in the following collage.

We dropped him off on Sunday afternoon and picked him up Friday evening.  I sent him a care package with a card, candy, toys to share with his cabin mates, and letters from his sister who wrote him a letter to open each day of camp.  Then she wrote him a letter every day he was at camp, telling him what we did each day and including funny photos to let him know he was missed while he was gone and to keep him updated on all the happenings back home.  She's such a great sister.  These pics below show him at the assembly (he looked SO handsome when we picked him up - freshly showered, hair neatly combed, a sight for sore eyes!) with a church friend and pics of him in the van on the way home opening letters from his sister.  Nana sent him a card while he was at camp, too.

The camp sent us home with the schedule shown above so we would know what he was doing at any given hour while away. Just reading the schedule makes me tired. After teaching kids this age only a few hours a week, I am amazed at what these counselors do all day long all week long for these campers. They also gave us a summary of Bible lessons covered each day and a family devotion to do back home that corresponded with his lesson that day, so we could all study the same passages at the same time.   He was very tired when he got home with a bit of a cold, but he had fun and wants to return next year.

This week his sister is running around in record heat for our area (110-115 degree heat index at times) for three hours every morning for field hockey camp. She worked hard, hydrated often, and received lots of prizes and gift certificate to Omega Sports for being awarded "Most Aggressive Player".  Based on this video a former student (now in college) sent me while helping out with the camp this week, she has also been providing musical entertainment during the water breaks.  This girl....she may be new to the team after playing volleyball last year, but she doesn't have a shy bone in her body.

After I drop her off, I've been taking our son 45 minutes through rush hour traffic to the opposite end of a neighboring city for Digi Camp.  This camp is held at another exclusive private school which sits on 135 acres of beautiful land in a prime location.  (We're surrounded by private schools that cost between $22-$26K per year for K-12...so given that parents are willing to spend that much for schooling, I guess it's no surprise that goods and services in our area are priced well above the cost for the same items in neighboring cities.)  At this camp, he's been working with Mindstorm Legos and Minecraft game figures to produce a stop-motion movie. He said the hardest part was trying to fake real life physics for real characters when they were using paper figures with very different masses.

It's been a fun summer, but it's gone much too quickly.  Orientation is next Wednesday, and school starts back next Thursday. So long summer!