Is it Summer Vacation Yet?

I can see the end of the tunnel, but  we are just not quite there yet. The last week has been spent making sure Mr. Homework Avoider, caught up on his work.  Memorial Day weekend was not the kick off to summer for us, it was instead being spent trying to get him to finish his Independent Reading Project.  He had a packet of 3 pages front and back filled with questions and short answers.  There was a ton of writing involved, and it  looked a bit overwhelming.  The assignment was to be done as he was reading the novel of his choice. Each worksheet  was supposed to be for about a third of the book.   He chose a 462 page fantasy book called The Amulet of  Samarkand.  He did not quite do the assignment in the way he was supposed to.  Since he loves reading  and writing not so much, he read the entire book in a short time and ignored the reading log. The entire quarter, I tried to get him to work on his packet.   Finally, he no longer had a choice. The assignment was due, and it was a BIG part of the quarter grade. I kept telling him to just get it over with, and then he would have lots of free time.   He didn't listen.  He tried to avoid doing it the entire weekend.   He finally finished at 8 p.m. on Monday night. All I could do was smack my forehead when he admitted to me that I was right when he finished. It really was a big relief to have it done.  If only he had listened to me a few days earlier!   Last night I helped him with his 2+ page Reflection Letter about how much he has grown as a student this year.   I had to laugh to myself at his answer to the question about what  habits do you need to change.  In his letter to his teacher he said, he really needs to just do his homework right away, and not let it pile up to the point that it is overwhelming. Now if only he will listen to is own advice!!   As of right now English is all caught up, and most likely done except the quarter final. Whew!  We have just one assignment left  for Biology, and about four left for History. As he sees the pile dwindle, he is becoming more excited.  He finally realizes that the sooner he is done, the sooner his free time can begin.   The goal is to be done with it all by this weekend.  I can only hope!! 

Juggling Plates

It's that time of the school year when schedules are abundantly full, and you are being pulled in all directions trying to get everything done.  With three teenagers this time of the year often feels to me like I am running back and forth juggling spinning plates on sticks, and if I don't keep up all the plates will come crashing down.  Spinning plates is a good description my life, because I frequently  feel like I have too much on my plate at one time.  

Our Shining Star

This last month of school is flying by.  As it is every school year, May is packed with end of the year concerts, events, and awards.  This week Kyle and his Robotics team were recognized by the school board and given a Shining Star award.  They brought in the robot, and gave a short presentation about the team and how they did this year.  We were glad that they give out the awards first thing, so we did not have to sit through a long meeting.  I was a little worried when each of the team members went up and shook the hands of the board.   Kyle does not like to shake hands with anyone. He did okay though.  He shook everyone's hand with his left hand, so he did not have to look at them straight on.  He was in the middle of the line, so he just followed everyone else.  I gave a sigh of relief when he shook the last hand, I am sure he was too.  

Here is a close up picture of the robot.  It was able to open it's arms to pick up the ball and then shoot it through a goal that was several feet above the ground.   It did have some technical problems from time to time, but when it was working well it was a lot of fun to watch.  I think it reminds me for Gary the snail from Spongebob Squarepants. 

Besides receiving awards, we had a lot of other things going on this week too.  Kyle got new lenses for his glasses.  Kara had an Ortho appointment, and now has to start wearing bands on her braces.   Today we had a new family member join the family.  I will be posting about her soon.     

The Week of Birthdays

It was Kyle's birthday this week.  We had a nice day, but I have very little proof of it.  He absolutely refused to smile in every picture that I took.  This one was at Fridays where we went to dinner. He was so excited that he got to have the steak with lobster, since it was a special occasion.  Normally he would not have been able to order it, since it costs almost $20.  

This is the face that I got when he posed with his Portal Birthday Cake. He would not even give me even a teeny little smile.  I saw him smile a lot that day, just not when the camera or phone was out.  He better watch out though..  I AM going to get a smile out of him again.   

Someone else had a birthday this week too.  Do you remember this guy?  Lucky turned 4 months old today.  He is considered to be a full grown mouse.  He is still super sweet and loves to be held by Kara.  He likes it when she sits him on her shoulder. He will play in her hair and sometimes hide in her shirt.  He normally does not sit still very long, so I really lucked out with this shot.  

Isn't this picture the sweetest.  She had given him a seed, and he was snuggling and eating it at the same time. If mice could look happy, I think this is what it would it would look like. 

Kyle's birthday means that we are now in the final stretch of school.  Only a little over 20 days are left.  Even though it doesn't seem right that summer is right around the corner, when it feels like winter just ended, we are looking forward to summer break.  I hope that I can get Kyle to do the homework he has been ignoring the last few weeks.   We will be having banquets, concerts, dance recitals  and all the other end of the school year events in the upcoming weeks.  In just a little over 20 days, Kristina will be a Senior.  I am not really ready for that.  When did she grow up?  I still remember that sweet little girl who was so excited about going to school.  I have a lead on a photographer for Senior pictures.  She is also  finally going to take drivers ed, so she can take the classes before she turns 18.  There is just so much more we need to worry about now, and a lot of things that cost money.   We will get through it though, we always do!