We had Eve’s holiday concert last night. Alan was sick and didn’t attend. 😢 The kids and I showed up early to help sell raffle tickets. The kids had a great time walking through the crowds, hawking tickets. Then Eve took her place and the show began.
Tag Archives: Videos
Rock Star!
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!
Lex rocking the snare drum:
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!!
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!
Back to work
Have I mentioned lately that I got a job?! Yay! I’m pretty excited about it!
Today while Lex was at camp, Eve and I spent the day in the library! I met with the out-going librarian for awhile, spent some time rearranging the furniture, met with a finance guy to talk about retirement savings, and spent a lot of time discussing the fish with Eve.
It seems I have inherited a fish tank with six South American Cichlids. I tried to pawn them off on other teachers last week, but no one wanted them. Eve and I did some research today and learned that this breed (is that even the word for fish??) is “toothy and agressive” and doesn’t play well with others. In fact, it tends to eat other fish unfortunate enough to be placed in the same tank. We spent some time yesterday at the pet store and I mostly walked away with a confirmed feeling that fish are creepy. Eve is pretty excited about the fish tank though, so I guess we will learn.
It is such a big and amazing space, and I have no grand vision for it, so I think I’m going to have to just spend time there over the next few weeks and see how it feels. We did some rearranging, created a separate drawing center and reading center (which were combined last year) and Eve was full of advice about what to do. At one point I asked, “Do the tables go here?” to which she replied, “It’s your library mom, they go wherever you want them to!” She’s awesome!
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. :)
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?! :)
This year we had a birthday party at the rock climbing place. Lex invited a bunch of boys and it was so much fun!
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!
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!
Belt Tests!
Lex and I had belt tests last night. Lex tested for (and got!) his solid blue belt and I did my first belt test and got an orange belt. Lex hasn’t tested since last October (an admitted oversight on their part) and he was very happy to be testing again!
Lex did several katas on his own. He is soooo brave!
The weapons katas no longer “count’ towards their belt progression, but they are encouraged to show them if they know them. Lex brought it!
Eve is taking a break from karate this month while she’s doing Girls On The Run (they are on the same days and she was exhausted after doing both for awhile!) so she didn’t test today. She was mentally ok with it ahead of time, but kind of fell apart during and after the test. Turns out seeing Lex progress without her was harder than she expected. We talked about ways for her to catch up and I *really* hope she gets back to karate next month!
The kids’ belt test ran long, of course, so we ate a super rushed slice of pizza for dinner then hurried back to the dojo for my belt test! Fortunately there were only seven adults testing, not nearly 50 like the kids, and we were all very low belts, so the whole thing was over and done with in 20 minutes, not the two full hours that the kids’ test ran!
Eve and Lex, once settled after our rushed dinner, were happy to watch me and cheer me on. Lex wanted to make an iMove of it, but the iPad is old an out of space (sooo sad!), so he just made some videos on my phone. He is a funny photographer!
That’s me on the far left, and my buddy Mike right next to me.
This is my first kata that I had to do all by myself!
I earned my first new belt! :)
I was so spaced and rushed (and hot!) after Lex’s test that I forgot to get a picture of him in his new belt. He took a picture of me in my new belt, but he didn’t get the belt in it and I look terrible, so you all don’t get to see it! :) But we got them and we are both very happy and ready to get started learning new katas!!
A Birthday Weekend
We had a long weekend full of birthday fun for this growing girl. Thursday night we went out to a fancy dinner at Jesse’s. I encouraged her to pick somewhere other than the usual Panera Bread. :) I think we were all happy with her choice!
The were pretending to be rock hopper penguins.
Friday Aunt Rosy came to town and stayed in a hotel with a pool! Eve invited our neighbor to come along and we enjoyed pizza and swimming at the hotel.
On Saturday Aunt Mandy joined the party crowd. She and Alan took Eve out for a birthday lunch and bike shopping! Eve has been riding a series of yardsale bikes these past few years and although she loves them, we decided it was time to get her a new “from the store” bike that was just her size.
We hung out, played, relaxed, cooked, ate a delicious dinner, then did presents and cake.
On Sunday everyone went home, I took a nap, and this happened! She has been wanting to color her hair for weeks now and has been asking me to take her to the store to buy purple hair dye. It never happened, but she mentioned it on her birthday list and Aunt Rosy delivered. I’ll have to dig up an old picture of Aunt Rosy with her orange hair sometime!
So that was Eve’s 9th birthday, plus her friend party from a few weeks ago. I feel like we’ve been celebrating all month and guess what just came in the mail?! A birthday present from Joyce. Let the celebration roll on!! :)
The Cat and Dog Show
We have been thoroughly entertained by the cat and dog show around here lately. Nuoska is so interested in Daisy, but Daisy is taking her sweet time warming up to him. She isn’t scared of him, in fact she has been inside more than usual and is staying near him and the rest of the action. Nuoska really, really wants to sniff her bottom! She’s not so sure about that. Sometimes she lets him get close, but other times she keeps him at bay. Last night she even went over and rubbed up against him, which was sweet, until he turned and started trying to sniff her butt! LOL! Dogs! Whenever they are interacting it is fascinating to watch. Eve bought Daisy a big bag of catnip in a pillow, which Diasy has been loving. That probably mellows her out a bit. Right now she’s sleeping with her head on it. They crack me up!
Nuoska was being really bold and naughty this morning! He was relentless with her! Usually when she hisses, he goes into the other room for a few seconds before trying again, but this morning he was persistent. Lex and I took him out for a walk and he was totally crazy! Naughtiest walk ever! (in the two days we’ve had him so far! :) ) Maybe it’s a sign he’s getting comfortable with us and more bold in his environment. :)
At family meeting today we are going to vote on a new name. These are the options so far. What do you think?
Ninja boy breaks a board!
Lex got his turn on Wednesday when he brought a friend to karate.
Homeschooling – trial day one
Yesterday was our first day of homeschooling. Our trail attempt to see how it goes.
I hadn’t told the school yet, thinking we could just try it first, and Lex said he didn’t want people at school to know, so the plan was to just keep him home. All went well until his teacher responded to my “Lex won’t be in school today” email with “I’m curious as to why. Yesterday he told [his para] that he was going to be out and that you were going to home school him for Tuesdays. Is there something that happens on Tuesdays he is avoiding?” BUSTED! So I sent her a whole reply about what we are thinking of doing. I said I wanted to chat with her in person, but we were going to try one day and see how it went. I got no reply. Now I don’t know who she has told (other teachers? principal?) or what anyone is thinking. So much for keeping it on the DL!
We started the day as usual, then when Eve left for school, Lex and I headed down to the basement. I thought it would be good to have some separation and I was concerned if we did schooling upstairs we would feel like we spent the entire day at the dining room table. Downstairs we began school with a discussion of how the day would go and a plan for what he wanted to learn.
His first question was “How does a prism split apart light?” Using a prism, the info that came with it, plus two different science books, we did some experiments!
Lex learned that each color moves at a different wavelength and when it hits a medium such as water or glass the waves refract (bend) at different angles, thereby causing the light colors to separate. Refraction was a new word for him.
We did some other exploring with the prism and the water as well.
We had a snack break in the morning too, with some reading, of course! After lunch we had some outside time (shoveling the driveway!) and then went back downstairs to look at his second question. “Why are the 7 colors of light what they are? (red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet)” This question took us to the Internet for some research. We learned that Isaac Newton first discovered that you can use a prism to split white light into a spectrum. He grouped the visible spectrum into seven colors because he thought there was a significance to the number seven and linked it to seven octaves, seven days of the week, and seven bodies in the sky. He thought they must all have some significance and relation. He also named them the names we use today.
That led us to wonder if all colors we can see (pink, teal, tan, beige, etc) appear somewhere in that spectrum or not. Turns out that they do not. The colors in the visible spectrum are colors made with just one wavelength. Shades and variations of colors require multiple wavelengths. We had a long discussion about that. On Wikipedia we found a drawing that Newton did mapping the colors to musical notes. Lex said, “Hey, I can play the rainbow.” So he did.
I don’t know why the audio has the static noise.
Lex wrote up his notes from the morning and afternoon sessions.
While we were doing experiments in the small office he noticed that his voice reverberated off the bass drum every time he spoke. That got him curious about sound vibrations and he suggested we add that to the list for future study. While he was reading about Newton he paused and asked, “I wonder why they call it octaves, when there are just seven notes? Oct usually means eight.” We added that to the list too. In bed last night he remembered that he had been learning Python (a programming language) with Alan, so we thought it would be fun to have Alan take a day off and they could learn about Python all day. Alan doesn’t know about that yet, so we’ll see. :)
Overall I think it was a successful day. He struggled a bit in the evening because one teacher sent work home for him with Eve, plus he was trying to get his Weekly Write done early, plus he remembered (at 7pm!) that he was supposed to read three chapters, answer some questions, write a summary, AND lead the discussion in his reading group today. He went to bed feeling very overwhelmed. We talked about the fact that he will also have to keep up with his regular school work, but we can allow some time during a homeschool day to work on that as well. At bedtime I asked if he thought homeschooling was still a good idea. He said, “YES!”
Ninja girl breaks a board
It’s buddy week at karate again! Bring a buddy, break a board.
Hehehe… it looks like I used the exact same title last time too!