Lex got a surprise belt test invite the day before the rest. He was so proud that the instructors thought he was ready.
He looked great out there!
Demonstrating his kata.
He demonstrated a weapons kata as well. I love the nunchaku in the belt!
New belt!!
This afternoon he participated in a Foam Weapons Sparring class. He loved it!!
Sparring
After a rocky start to “band camp” (“this one time, at band camp…”), Lex ended being a rock star!
He had been hesitant about it all summer and we frequently discussed why I had signed him up and what would happen if he didn’t like it. He agreed to go though and give it a chance. Monday morning he was less than excited and ended up in tears. We stood in the main entry to the high school (where the camp was), got him checked in (barely) and ended up in a corner with me talking him down. Ugh. Like a kindergarten drop off all over again. One of the teachers running it, who also happens to be the middle school band director and a great guy, came over and said, “This must be Lex!” Hahaha… I think he was prepped! He and another teacher were amazing with Lex though and got him on his way. She texted me mid-morning and said that he was doing great! I love it when teachers send that little update.
Lex came home Monday and said it wasn’t the best thing ever, but he’d go back again on Tuesday. Just DON’T sign him up again next year. By Thursday he was telling me about their plans for next year, and by Friday he was rocking the house! They had a concert Friday afternoon to show off the things they learned. It was so much fun. Amazing what a group of middle school kids and a few music teachers can accomplish in five short days!
He looks so little standing up there with all the big kids! He also looks angry, but really it’s his focused face.
Lex rocking the snare drum:
Eve wore her grumpy pants to the concert and spent most of it like this. That’s what happens when you eat nothing but Goldfish all day! Eventually she managed to eat her sandwich (from lunch!) and regained her sense of humor. Thankfully!
I love his dancing! He knows this song well:
Lex did a surprise solo!! I couldn’t believe it! A bunch of kids did them and the director said they were going to make up the solos on the spot. I leaned over to Alan and made a joke about Lex never doing an solo…. but he did!!
It was fantastic! I was soo proud of him. He was rocking and rolling and dancing and he got sooooo many compliments after the show! He just looked so darn happy to be there. It was amazing!!
The grand finale. Lex is in the back. You can just barely see his leg and red sneaker to the right of the directors leg. I think he was smart to chose percussion. He has lots of room to move and dance and do his thing.
They ended the week with an ice cream social and people kept coming over to him to congratulate him and compliment his performance. Even some students did! We enjoyed our ice cream then went home and crashed!
We went in for Lex’s 11year well child check up today. No surprise, he’s a well child! The inurance only covers one per year (of course!) so they end up getting farther and farther from his birthday each year. He did have to get some vaccinations, which he handled like a champ! By his standards. There were some tears, but he used some deep breathing techniques and got through it. I was very proud of him. We opted not get the HPV vaccine this year. Maybe next year. Maybe not. We’ll see .
He is 57.5″ and 114lbs. Growing right 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.
5th graders enter the gym to great applause. Everyone else (all the classes, plus 5th grade parents and families) were already seated.
There were a lot of awards to sit through. Fortunately everything moved along pretty quickly.
Lex won an award for “Most Improved Musician.”
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.
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!
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!
Each kid got a little “diploma” saying they successfully completed 5th grade.
Good bye elementary school!! I’ll have to dig up his “first day of school” photo and compare them. Later.
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.
She wanted to make sure Daisy was in the picture with her. :)
Eve got very excited that Daisy looked at the camera too. :)
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! :)
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!
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.” 😄
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. :)
Morning presents.
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?! :)
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!
Packing up goody “bags” for the rock climbing party.
It’s party time!!!!
Happy Birthday Lex!!
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.
Presents time. (I think Alan just said something funny. Love the look he’s getting.)
Hey, there were a few Colliers there too! :)
Alan decided to give it a try too! He’s a natural, of course.
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!
Eve decorated the dog with lovely dandelions.
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!
Lex did a great job with thank you notes this year! Not only was he prompt, with a little encouragement from me, but he wrote clever and funny things too!
Is it weird to post his thank you notes online? Some of you may recognize some of these. 😊
The best part though is that he did them with no fussing or arguing!! That’s what I’m thankful for!! Maybe I should write him a note! 😄
You are my heart and I’ll love you forever. More birthday fun to come, but for now, adorable pictures of my growing boy. <3
