DBS had a spring concert tonight. We had to break it into two concerts this year, K-2 and 3-5, which is better than the no concerts from the past two years. The K-2 concert went off without a hitch, but the 3-5 concert the following week had to be rescheduled when our music teacher tested positive for Covid. The concert was pushed back a week and now on a Friday night, so not everyone could attend.
The music teacher introduced him to the band before the show started and he was a shining example of how practice pays off. They were impressed with him. We’re all pretty impressed with him. The boy who would barely do his own elementary school concerts is now happily helping out six years later. 💗
We wrapped up Lex’s birthday weekend with a trip to the Boston Museum of Science today. It was a beautiful day for a road trip. We got there by mid-morning, explored the museum, watched the cool lightening show, had some expensive cafeteria food, and generally enjoyed ourselves immensely.
The wave machine and a beautiful view of the water.
I want a plant wall like this! And someone to take care of it.
Earth
A little (digital) arctic friend.
Today’s forecast…. lightening!
So much lightning.
Crazy man in a cage, with lightning!
Eve, pretending to be Pluto.
Give this man a hand.
Family portrait. :)
We spent a lot of time on this engineering challenge.
The beautiful side of Boston.
Beautiful Boston with some silly people too.
Dinner at the OG!
We had a great day and we’re all looking forward to a no-plans today tomorrow! Hallelujah for three day weekends!
This handsome fellow had a birthday recently. He is thriving in all ways. We had a quiet birthday celebration with just a few gifts — cookies, books, Legos, and money — just what he wanted! :) Here are a few pics of my favorite 17yr old!
Spring brings concerts and plays as well, which Lex has been rocking. He had his spring concert, a district music festival, the high school musical and the middle school musical – both of which he ran the lights for. He even went in early before the spring concert so he could program nice lighting for the concert.
Spring concert
Dinner after the district concert
Lex and the light board
He won a few awards this spring too! At the spring concert he was given the Spirited Percussionist award, in celebration of Armand Zildjian. It came with a nice certificate, a personal note from a guy named Damian Poludin in Texas who manages (runs? is in charge of?) the award. It also came with a check an a cool laptop backpack with drumstick holders for percussionists. It’s pretty cool. He was pretty proud of himself. I am too!!
Yesterday I got a text from Eve saying “Lex just won an award.” I was confused because it was the middle of the school day. Lex replied, saying it was a “come to this college” book award and he was mostly just excited for the book. Apparently they announced a bunch of “college awards” over the loud speaker. So random! :) When I got him he showed me the certificate and note that says he can get his application fee waived and qualify to apply for an annual scholarship. Yep, definitely sounds like a “come to this college” recruiting award. Sadly he didn’t actually get a book. They gave him a paperweight instead. I’m not sure what the deal with that is. I told him to ask the counselor, but he said no. :)
Getting his award at the concert
<3
Thanks RIT! :)
I’m so proud of this kiddo. I miss the tiny baby and curious toddler (though I don’t miss the tantrums!), but I love seeing how well he has grown up and how happy he is with life in general.
Most weekends we do not much of anything, yet somehow still stay busy. This weekend my friend texted me on Saturday morning and asked if I wanted to take a day trip. I deliberated for a moment and then said, Yes! Of course! So we headed down to an independent bookstore that I’ve never been to before. Apparently it’s very popular and known. It was beautiful. We stopped at a deli for lunch then moseyed over to the bookstore.
“Nothing is written in stone.”
An inviting doorway.
“The Art of Repurposing”
On Sunday Eve and I went to a Sci-Fi/Fantasy Expo with her friend and family. Eve has wanted to go to a cosplay event for a few years now and we finally found a good starter expo. Not too far away, not too huge, not too expensive. Eve wore her Toga outfit and had a blast! We wandered the vendor section, attended a “how to make comics” session, admired all of the cosplay outfits we saw, had lunch, and went home very tired.
The price of admission — a photo for mom!
Twinsies!
One of the vendors gave Eve a free sticker.
Who you gonna call?!
Darth Vader!
We got home just in time to start a visit with Mema and Tom! The fun just keeps on coming!
Today we went back to school without masks. Almost two years to the day of when the world shut down. Three months of remote schooling, a full year of distanced/masked/isolated learning, and now, three quarters of the way through year three, things are starting to look normal again.
I stand outside the library door each morning, greeting the students as they come up the stairs. This morning I was lifted by the happy smiling faces everywhere. I was hesitant about not wearing a mask into the building (it felt so weird to walk in maskless!) but my reserves cleared away as more and more smiling kids walked by. One girl said “I just can’t stop smiling!” We all commented throughout the day on the missing teeth, changed faces, and even a nose ring (on a teacher!) that has all been hiding behind the masks. It was a normal, yet somehow surreal feeling today.
Every day I want to write here about what’s going on. I want to document and remember. Yet somehow, every day turns into every night and every night creeps closer and closer to the next day. I seem to never have the time to visit my favorite blog. My memory sucks and things will be lost, but I wanted to be sure to document the feeling of today. At least in my corner of the world. Relief. Joy. Connection. Smiles. It has been a long two years.
After almost exactly two years with no live events, Lex and B’Lake attended the FRC New England Regional event this past weekend. They had a great time, helping their team take home second place overall and the Excellence in Engineering award! Lex worked on the mechanics of the robot, named Hedy Lamarr this year, and the scouting program. B’Lake led the scouting efforts. Scouting is important to better understand your competition and to help you form powerful alliances. It’s something the team hasn’t done well in the past and wanted to focus on this year, and that they did!!
The Grasshopper’s robot hard at work, scoring points by putting “cargo” into the “upper hub.”
Two very tired boys, home from three days of excitement!
They were even nice enough to manage text conversations with all sorts of family as we peppered them with questions and comments from the peanut gallery (our homes). The boys both had sore throats and scratchy voices when they got home. However, they are already thinking about the next match later this month!
Not to leave Eve out of this post, she was reinvigorated to join the team! When we went to the event back in 2020, Eve got excited to join the team and help with the “outreach” (swag, bling, social media, etc.) side of things. The Grasshoppers are EXCELLENT at the tech side, but not so much at the other side. Teams that are much bigger have impressive social media support, recruiting activities, and community involvement — all of which garner them rewards at the events! When we got home in 2020 she and I worked on creating buttons for the team (most of the other teams had them) to hand out to their alliances, and some signage. All of which has since sat on the shelves in our mudroom for the past two years! The team was happy to have the swag for this event though.
At the beginning of this season Eve went to a meeting and decided it wasn’t for her. However, watching from the couch at home, she got re-inspired. She started sketching mascot ideas, signage ideas, and how to promote the team. When she saw the award for Best Imagery, she thought “I can do that!” So she decided she does wants to join the team after all! We’ll see if her motivation carries through to actual action next week. :)
Eve come home yesterday with a few forms to show me. She started pulling them out of her bag and announcing them — course planner for next year, course selection sheet, and a drivers ed application. DRIVERS ED?!? I was NOT prepared for that.
I have been bugging B’Lake to bring home an application so he can take drivers ed this summer. Lex got his license and I was prepared to do the next two in order. The idea that Eve could take drivers ed this summer NEVER even occurred to me! Of course, she will be old enough and could have her permit in time, but in my head it was one kid at a time, not two at once!
Also, Lex and B’Lake are at a FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) meet this weekend. They left with their team after school this afternoon, which means they were packing and prepping last night and this morning. This is the first time Lex is off on his own. Not really on his own, of course, but not with parents or grandparents. They are staying in a hotel and taking the bus to and from the competition. Unfortunately (for me) FRC isn’t allowing non-team attendees, so I can’t go watch.
Lex joined the team his freshman year and we went to our first FRC competition in March 2020. Two weeks later the world shut down and all further FRC competitions were cancelled. We all really enjoyed the competion and were bummed that we couldn’t attend any more. Last year the season was all virtual, which wasn’t much fun for Lex. This year they are back in person and able to hold the competitions, even without an audience. I’m happy the kids can do this, even if I can’t be there to watch. :) Luckily they will be livestreaming it, so if you want to follow along, you can do so here: https://www.thebluealliance.com/team/95
I’ll be watching and cheering them on! Maybe my buddy, who can’t possibly be old enough to take drivers ed this summer, will watch with me.
Eve did a thing! The high school does a play called “the One Act” each year. It’s a play, not a musical, and a smaller cast. Eve and two of her friends joined this year. She had a really good time with rehearsals. The final performance was tonight. It was a really funny show!
Eve is in the middle, in the black tank top, and the one on the chair with the semaphore flags. 😂
