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!! 

Hamster, Allergies, Homework, and More

It looks like we may be saying good bye to another one of Kara's furry friends.  Last Wednesday, Kara realized that Sunny had somehow slipped out of her cage. We are still not sure how she did it.   How we got her in the first place was because she was a bit of an escape artist.  When one of the girls at our favorite pet store was trying to clean her cage, she jumped out of her hands, and into a shelving unit.  Kara, being a hamster whisperer, was able to successfully get her out.  Since Sunny looked just like her first hamster Sonic who had died about six weeks before, Kara begged to get her.  Sunny was a great little hamster, but it has now been almost a week without any sightings.  I also looked back on the blog and she was 7 or 8 months when we got her back in Dec 2012.. That would make her very close to 2 years oldl, which is the life expectancy of a drawf hamster. We do have some hope though, hamsters are known to reappear after being missing a few days.    

Another thing we have been dealing with the last few weeks is Kara has developed quite a severe perfume allergy in the last few months.  It got so bad that she was having allergic reactions pretty much every single day, pretty much everywhere she went.  People wear scent everywhere! .  Her doctor had a really good suggestion.  She said that if Kara was wearing a fashion scarf, she could discreetly cover her nose and mouth whenever she was starting to have problems breathing.  It is definitely better than wearing a face mask to middle school.  We found several colors of light flannel that would make great scarves on sale at JoAnn Fabrics. We had planned on getting right to work making them, but then her older sister gave her all of the scarves she no longer wears.  Some days are better than others, but the scarves definitely do help a lot. 

Adding to the chaos  this week is it is the last week of the quarter.  My son is not found of doing homework.  Because of his Aspergers, he really does not like to write.  He tends to put off homework as long as possible, so this week he is overloaded with work he needs to get finished.  I am getting a refresher coarse in Biology, American History and Algebra 2, to make sure he gets everything done.  One thing our school is doing different this semester is they are now having quarterly midterms, instead on only at the end of the semester.   He does test very well, so that should help his grade if he does not get everything done. 

If the lost hamster, allergies, and last minute homework was not enough, this week is also our 2nd Robotics meet.  Depending on how we do, this could mean the end of the season, or a trip to States. We have one of the most competitive states for Robotics with the more teams than any other state.  Since we did not do so well at our last meet, we might not have a chance to move on.  I guess we will find out this weekend. 

Well I better get back to it.. I know Kyle  is in the other room trying to avoid doing his English assignment.   Sigh...  Only one more quarter until summer break!