Unlimited screentime

This is the first summer that screentime has been a real issue.  Lex is SO focused on the computer and it’s all he wants to do.  He was at the point where he would go wander around outside for ten minutes just to earn ten more minutes of screentime.  He was tired of having to quit his game in inconvenient places just because a timer was going off, I was tired of the timer going off and getting reset (despite the fact that we agreed they wouldn’t do that), and tired of policing the whole thing.  I was dreading going into summer with hours and hours each day to debate screentime.

At family meeting this week I brought it up as a problem.  My solution was a screen-free summer, and Lex’s solution was unlimited screentime all summer.  We came to a compromise.  Unlimited screen time AFTER they complete a list of jobs and activities.  Lex loved the idea.  I printed a few samples from the Internet (no idea is original any more!) and Lex made up our version.  They have to do 30 minutes of something creative, one household chore, take care of pets, outside time, and more.  So far things are going GREAT!  We are only on day two, but I’m optimistic!  Lex completes the jobs and (as I was hoping) it takes him awhile to get through the list so he isn’t on the computer at 9am for the entire day.  So far it has been mid- to late-afternoon before he got things done.  I don’t have to remind, he doesn’t have to ask for screen time, neither of us have to listen to (and decided how to handle) the beeping timer.

So far, on day two, this unlimited screentime plan is fantastic!   I hope it lasts the whole summer through!  :)

Miss Eve goes to camp

We dropped Eve off at Girl Scout Camp today.  She is there with two friends from school.  She was so excited!!

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All packed and ready to go!

Her friends came over to our house this afternoon and we caravanned up together. It was great to have her friends and MY friends there for support! :)

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She was so excited! She rolled down her window and said hello to every councelor that gave us parking directions along the way. Look at that smile! <3

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Three eager girls heading to check-in!

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Her GIANT Valentine’s Day puppy went to camp too! :)

We parked and headed to the check-in lines. Fortunately all three ended up in the same camp sight (there are multiple sites with many cabins/tents/treehouses each). We had a little scare with them being in different groups, but when faced with a few panicked mothers the nice councelor fixed the problem asap! LOL!

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Head checks for all the girls. Of course, I checked her this morning! I DID NOT want to be the parent bringing her girl home with head lice before camp even started! :)

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This way to Tall Timbers!

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Eve’s cabin. It is small and HOT!

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Eve got the top bunk because her buddy wanted the bottom bunk. Her other friend is in the other bunk in the cabin, with one other girl who they don’t know. They promised to be nice and inclusive with her! :)

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Her shelves, fully stocked.

It was great having the other families and all the siblings there. The moms helped the girls set up and make beds while the dads/boyfriends/friends chatted with councelors and played with siblings. The girls made name tags, met their councelors (at least two of them, one named Pickles and the other named Hatter — both camp names, I’m assuming!), found the water fountain and bathrooms, and generally settled in. The mom’s laughed, exchanged advice and support, and everyone parted in good spirits.

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Saying goodbye to brother. Neither of them seemed too upset. I’m curious how they will feel later in the week.

I have been texting with the other two moms and that has been fun. I’m very glad to have their support. One’s daughter has gone to visit family for weeks at a time and the other girl goes to visit dad on a regular basis, so I’m the only one with separation anxiety, but they are nice and supportive and giving me gentle loving grief.

Eve will either have the time of her life, which is what she’s expecting, or it will be miserable. The temps will be pushing 90° all week with rain in the forecast for two of the days, though not a cooling rain. I hope she has a great time!

Now we are watching The Martian, a movie that’s not appropriate for her, and staying up late. Lex has karate camp this week so I will have a few mornings to myself again! Hello naps! LOL!

PS.  Since this is the digital age, camp now has an email system.  You can send an email and they will print it and deliver it with the daily mail call.  If you would like to email Eve, let me know and I’ll send you instructions.

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A quick trip to the country

I am so woefully behind on blog posts that I brought my laptop along to Franklin, thinking that without a house full of chores calling my name, maybe I’d have more time (and motivation!) to blog! I even have a topic list! :)

Right now, however, I am sitting on the front porch, with my feet propped up on a milk can, under the beautiful glow of the full moon, waiting for Mema, Tom, and Greg to get here. The kids are upstairs, maybe asleep or maybe still chatting sweetly with one another. I figured I’d do a quick post about the day, then shut down for the evening.

We decided to take a quick trip to Franklin this week, since Greg will be in town and we haven’t been to the country in awhile. Alan had meetings he couldn’t miss, so I took advantage of the extra space and decided to try Arlo on his first long car trip with us. We packed all our stuff in the front seat and put Arlo and his stuff in the back. It worked out really well!!

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We got Arlo all snugged up in the back of the car. I think it’s a pretty nice way to ride. I think Eve wanted to ride back there too. :)

He does not like the car and has trouble settling down. He usually just shakes and pants so hard he gets drool all over the car. I gave him a mild sedative in the hopes of making his trip less stressful. He still had some trouble settling down, but the panting was much gentler and he was able to relax off and on. I think the fact that each time we stopped he easily got back in the car again is a good sign that it wasn’t too awful. As soon as I opened a door he’d jump right in.

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Arlo prefers to drive!

Rosy met us when we got there and I enjoyed my big kids heading upstairs to play while Rosy and I sat on the porch, chatting and overseeing doggie interactions. The puppies were not immediately friends, but they’ll come around!

We took a walk to the pond, of course, because that’s what we do around here. I let go of Arlo’s long lead and he ran like a stallion around the pond. He loved it! Everyone had fun until Lex wrapped Arlo’s lead around his leg (why?!?!?) and got pulled right off his feet!  He fell flat on his back, bumpted his head, and got the wind knocked out of him.  The fun was kind of over after that.  He’s fine fortunately, but we headed home.

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One of many ponds around here.

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Arlo isn’t interested in ponds any more than he’s interested in rivers. He is not a water dog.

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The dogs were not fast friends (Arlo having just suffered a five hour car ride and the effects of minor sedation just wearing off), but after a little time they warmed up to each other… a bit.  (Eddie’s look says, “Really?! Another dog?!”)

I got the kids in bad late, as usual on the first night, and listened to them talk and giggle for a long time. Later I went out to walk the dog and was awed by the full moon and fireflies. I couldn’t resist getting the kids up (they weren’t sleeping anyway!) and invited them out for a moon light walk. It was perfect.

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The full moon tonight is so beautiful. I couldn’t resist taking the kids out for a moon-lit walk.

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Pointing at fireflies. It’s hard to take pictures in the dark!

Eve picked daisies and we discussed fireflies and it was a perfect outing. They eventually fell asleep, late, but that’s ok. We have no plans tomorrow. :)

Moving on up!

Today was the last day of school for this kiddos and the last day of elementary school for Lex!! They had their end of year ceremony and 5th grade graduation. It was so sweet. He has such a wonderful class! It makes me sad that they’ll be separated into different teams in the middle school.

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5th graders enter the gym to great applause. Everyone else (all the classes, plus 5th grade parents and families) were already seated.

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There were a lot of awards to sit through. Fortunately everything moved along pretty quickly.

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Lex won an award for “Most Improved Musician.”

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As he walked back to his seat, his classmates all called his name and put out their hands for high-fives. It was soooo sweet! I didn’t see them do that for anyone else. They all knew about his musical challenges and I think they were proud to see him rewarded for his success. I love his class.

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Where there are words, Lex will read them. :)

When I asked Lex later if he was surprised to win a prize and he said, “Not really.” I laughed at his honest, then he clarified, “I was surprised that it was a music award though.” I love his confidence!

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These two teachers are retiring after 25 and 30 years in the district. They got many standing ovations. Mrs. Torrey, in the white sweater, is Lex’s teacher this year, and Mrs. Shattie , in the blue dress, was his teacher in 3rd grade. Both are excellent, caring teachers and will be missed by many in the district!

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Each kid got a little “diploma” saying they successfully completed 5th grade.

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Good bye elementary school!! I’ll have to dig up his “first day of school” photo and compare them. Later.

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When Lex said, “Mom, will you take a picture of us?” I said, “Oh yes, of course!!” :)

Oh yeah, this little lady moved up to 4th grade today. She is exited. The 4th grade works on an “open-classroom, co-teaching” model in which two fourth grade teachers (in years past they were in individual classrooms) co-teach, sharing the class and work-load. One is an accomplished math teacher and the other a recognized ELA teacher, and they have very compatible personalities. We attended an open house last week to learn more about the model and how well it works for them last year, their first year co-teaching. Eve is pretty excited that all of her friends will be in her class.

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She wanted to make sure Daisy was in the picture with her. :)

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Eve got very excited that Daisy looked at the camera too. :)

Welcome to Middle School!

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I love these two sillies!

We had open house at the middle school last night. We learned what team Lex is on an who else is on his team too. It was so fun. Lex was a rock star! He was so confident and so happy to be there. When we walked into the classroom a boy who was on the FLL team with him for the past few years, said hi to Lex and Lex said hi back and I think he felt super cool and happy that an 8th grader he’s friendly with was there to greet him. He spoke in the group, played the game with the team (and although parents were invited to join in, Lex told me not too!), and so was happy. After the team meeting we hung out in the school for awhile, saying hi to people and checking things out. He showed us the gym and cafeteria, and the band room. I mentioned buying a lock for his locker and he told me no one uses locks anyway. Like a cool middle-schooler! :)

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They gave out team t-shirts and he put his right on! He has some growing to do still! He even wore it to bed last night. :) I think he’s excited!

I really think that extra trip to HMMS helped and, even if he won’t admit it, I think it gave him a lot more confidence tonight. There were definitely nervous looking kids there, but he was not one of them! He was even walking though the halls and jumping up to slap door frames! Like a cool middle-schooler. :)

Today is 5th grade graduation. Break out the tissues!

Math books

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One of Lex’s teachers gave this to him.

Me: “Lex, your book has square roots on the cover.”
Lex: “Yeah, actually they are cubed roots.”

I didn’t bother opening the book.  Clearly I am not “mathy folks.”  😄

Apology Penguin

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Last year when the kids were fighting a lot I made them write apologies to each other several times. I had mostly forgotten about that (though I should probably do it more often!), until today. This morning I was in the shower and they started at it. When I was brushing my teething I heard Eve shrieking and telling Lex to go away. I couldn’t do much about it since I had a toothbrush in my mouth so I just ignored them. When I got done and came down stairs they had separated and were quiet. Eve was in the living drawing and Lex was at the table working on origami. I went to get dressed. When I came out of my bedroom Lex says to me, “Mom, I made Eve an apology penguin!” He was so proud and happy. I asked what Eve thought and he said it made her smile and he was pretty sure she was in the living room drawing something for him. I thought of last summer’s forced apologies and wondered if the kids had been thinking of that too. Whatever they were thinking, they made up and we had a beautiful day together.

For Sale

Our awesome neighbors made these awesome stands for summer play work!  My kids quickly joined in on the fun!   Lex even asked his friend if he was looking to hire help.  😄  His buddy said sure and handed him an origami book.  Lex is a pro though and promptly got his own books and supplies!  Like a chef with his own knives. 

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When business is slow they support each other. 😊

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This picture came out way too dark and I'm too lazy to walk down the street and take a better one! LOL!

Lex’s 11th Birthday!

Hey all. Lex turned 11 last month. I’m still not loving my blogging setup and, well, I guess I’ve been busy too, so this post is a little delayed. I love the boy all the same though and I’m sure he’s fine with the delay. :)

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Morning presents.

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Happy Birthday!! Eleven years old and handsome as ever! <3

I made brownie bars for school and cake for the party, so I asked Lex if maybe we could skip a cake on his actual birthday. He said sure, then asked for cookies instead. How could I say no?! :)

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Candle in cookies, better than cake!

This year we had a birthday party at the rock climbing place. Lex invited a bunch of boys and it was so much fun!

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Packing up goody “bags” for the rock climbing party.

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It’s party time!!!!

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Happy Birthday Lex!!

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Lex had a great time! We sang and joked about how many candles the cake needed and all his friends were so nice and happy to be there celebrating with him.

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Presents time. (I think Alan just said something funny. Love the look he’s getting.)

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Hey, there were a few Colliers there too! :)

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Alan decided to give it a try too! He’s a natural, of course.

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Everyone was all worn out by the end!

The next day we went for a nice walk to the playground. It’s always great when Rosy is around. She drags us all out for fun and exercise!

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Eve decorated the dog with lovely dandelions.

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Lex has mad ball skills! :)

So there’s Lex’s 11th in summary. I love him more than the world and it’s amazing and overwhelming and just plain perfect that he has become the young man he has. I want to keep him in my arms forever, yet also look forward to what the future has in store. Life is good. Happy Birthday my boy!