Catching Up

There have been many blog-worthy events in the past month or so, but for some reason whenever I think about writing about them it seems like a chore. This gets me back to a topic I keep re-visiting, and really need to address…that this blog is not the best outlet for me to record the happenings of life anymore. I do so like to go back and read about past events and I love that we have a historical record of these years, but I just don’t seem to find the time like I used to. I’m not quite sure the reason but I do know that it’s true. I know that if I found the time more regularly, then it wouldn't seem so taxing when I think about how far behind I am in posting. I’ll try to work on being more regular about writing, and hopefully get back to a routine.

So now to catch up….

Keely had her acting debut in the first annual drama club production at Beech Tree Elementary, ‘You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown’. She played Sally in one scene, and participated in singing throughout the play. There were many children participating, and to be fair to everyone they promised a speaking part to anyone who wanted one. That meant lots of kids playing each character. As an example, Keely was one of five or six Sallys. They practiced for many months, each Monday and even added morning practices for the two weeks prior to the performance. It was a cute production, the kids did a great job. The only trouble was that the sound system was not too great and it was hard to hear some of their lines.

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Quinn ‘graduated’ from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts with his Arrow of Light ceremony. This was our first time at one of these events, and it was even more special since Quinn was a major participant. The ceremony was very ritualistic and serious, and Quinn enjoyed himself and seems excited about taking scouting to the next level. He is now a part of Troop 875, which meets every Monday evening and goes on camping trips once a month. While cub scouting was a family affair, boy scouting is up to the child. Quinn goes to meetings on his own, and makes a choice to participate as much or as little as he wants. It helps that his best friend and his older brother are in the troop, and he knows a good amount of the other boys. He looks so young though in comparison – he was one of the oldest in the cub scouting pack, and now he’s on the opposite end of the spectrum as one of the youngest. So far, he’s enjoying attending the Monday meetings and looking forward to his first camping trip coming up in a couple of weeks. He missed the March campout due to Odyssey of the Mind…

Speaking of that, James coached Quinn and four other 3^rd, 4^th and 5^th graders in an Odyssey of the Mind problem. I roped him into it, and in retrospect if I were him I would have been mad at me. The team was definitely a challenge, but he’s a good sport. Thank goodness he has the patience of a saint. They met once each week starting after Thanksgiving and ended up with the competition in March. Their problem was ‘The E-Mail Must Go Through’, and they had to send and receive three e-mails, one with an attachment, and each had to pass through a spam filter. They learned a lot and had fun, the most important part. I’d say it was our first and last experience with this program, but who knows – maybe Keely will want to participate.

I made a New Year’s resolution to increase my volunteer time, both at work and personally. So far, that’s only panned out personally. I am now a part of our neighborhood’s newsletter committee, and that’s been fun. Without the team that stepped up, the community newsletter would not exist anymore and we’ve improved the format and distribution so it’s already been a big success. I also volunteered to be a part of the team running and executing the Fun Fair at the kids’ school. I ended up on the Café committee, taking care of selling food and drinks at the event as well as running the Bake Sale. James got roped into another volunteer slot here – he sold hot dogs for four hours. We met a lot of nice people through the committee and it’s nice to help out. Coming from a school that required volunteer hours, it’s nice not to have to do it but to be able to choose where we want to help out. It was also a fun day for the kids. They played and ran around with their friends the whole time, and Keely even one a basket full of spa sleepover supplies. Very fun for her!

We had a family decision to make in March. Both kids will be attending new schools in September. Quinn will be matriculating to middle school. He chose to attend Poe, our neighborhood school. Because he was in the advanced program, he could have gone to the Center school, Glasgow MS but he didn’t seem at all interested in that school. He set his mind to Poe and didn’t look back. Quite honestly, I don’t see the difference since he will be in all Honors classes at Poe and the choices look the same at both schools. We attended the open house and it seems like a good school. There are only ~900 students in three grades…unlike Glasgow with over 1,200. He’s a bit nervous, and it will be quite different for him – only 11 of the 5^th graders from his school are moving on to Poe so he will not know a lot of kids. But his two best friends are going on with him, so that will help.

The more dramatic decision pertained to Keely. She is only allowed to stay at Beech Tree this year because her brother is grandfathered as a 5^th grader. The boundary adjustment that took place last year is in full effect, and to get her to stay at Beech Tree we would have to fill out a form applying for a transfer and state a hardship – the most viable option being child care which is obviously not really the case for us. With the transfer, it would also mean no transportation for two years. There would also be no guarantee she would be able to stay for 5^th grade. For a lot of these reasons, and because we feel that she will be fine, we decided not to apply for a transfer and accept her placement at Mason Crest. This new school in our neighborhood opened this year, and we’ve heard great things about it. Keely knows many of the students there because they made the switch from BT at the beginning of this year. The teachers are supposed to all be fabulous – the principal seems great too and it’s a brand new facility. She will be able to attend for two years, and then matriculate to middle school with a lot more of her peers. Her biggest issue was her friends. Her best friend has applied to stay at BT, and that’s her biggest issue. But they will play and see each other lots still…and she will still be playing soccer and doing Girl Scouts with the same friends. In sum, it means more friends for her and since she’s a social butterfly, I know she will be fine. We had a few teary nights, but she’s now adjusted to it and hopefully she’ll be fine in September when school starts. She also will most likely be in the AAP class – if she doesn’t get accepted into the program, then we will make an effort to have her placed as a guest. This has been a huge factor in her motivation – I don’t like that she would be in a class with all of her friends (not to mention a lower student teacher ratio at BT) but at MC, we are more than willing to have her join the AAP class. She really wants to excel in that class and I think that overrides her desire to be with her friends. After all, it is school and learning is the most important thing.

I think that about catches us up…with the exception of our recent trip to Florida. I will cover that in a separate post.