Back to School, Part II

Alice and Emily started back to school the week after the little ones.  During that week, we went up for instrument try-out night.

Alice chose a clarinet as her instrument. 

And Emily was delighted to pick the saxophone as her band instrument.

On the night of open house grades 5-12 came out to have pictures taken, be assigned chromebooks, grab schedules and visit lockers and classrooms.  Since this happened on a Thursday, and both of my 'babysitters' had to be there, we all went to stand in several long lines, but got ice cream for our trouble.  Billy joined us part way through, and after checking out the new school, took the three little ones home while we finished waiting in line.

On the next Monday, the big girls started back to school.  My babies, who are now in middle school!! 

At the time of writing, we are well into October, but I'll be backdating it for continuity.  They are earning good grades and made some good friends, which makes my momma heart happy.

later days

Optimist Day at Burchfield Park

During one of our summer swims, Rachel clued me into this amazing event, scheduled for the end of August.  With a slightly cloudy sky, Alice opted to stay home, while the rest of us went to enjoy a beautiful day.

We hadn't even made it from the parking lot to the registration line when Alice called, panicked and changed her mind that she wanted to come after all. So, Billy left the 5 of us to go grab Alice, and we registered, and I totally did not take into account that all of the registration goodies were now going to be carried around by yours truly, since the car was now absent.  We were able to finagle Emily's hoodie into a kind of bag that I slung over my shoulder.

The next part of my story is a sad one, so I'm including no pictures, in hope in time that the sad memories will fade. 

We headed up to the fishing pool that they had installed, so that the kids could all catch a trout that they had seeded.  The line was fairly short, and my crew was up fast.  Emily was the first to catch.  They gave her a bucket, but her fish was such a fighter.  It escaped her hold, the bucket, her hold, landing hard on the pavement every time.  It was still trying to escape while on the hook during her picture.  We were both feeling this awful and brutal empathy with this fish who should have, by all means, escaped and live another day, slowly dying. By the time it was finally decapitated, Emily was in tears, and I was barely keeping it together, let along helping my 3 other children with their catches.  Luckily, as we headed down the hill, we were joined by Billy and Alice and all of our moods improved.  Well, mine did, as it always does when Billy is near, and I think Emily felt better too.

Next up was compound and traditional bow shooting!

As we continued our day, we found other fun.

At the hot dog lunch, we ran into so many people that we knew!

The kids really liked the Lego robotics table setup.  Nearby were some yard games, so that you could play while waiting for your turn to run the robot.

Once everyone had their chance with the robot, we headed over to the kayaks.  Alice, Emily & William all rowed alone, the twins had fun in a double.

At one point, William got to close to the boundary, and ended up floating across.  He had to be 'rescued' though he remained in his boat and had on his life vest and was in very little danger.

As the grand prize drawings came near, everyone started gravitating back to the starting area.  Grace waited very patiently for her turn to ride the bike, while the rest of my crew checked out the golf tent, dunking booth, or hung out with Daddy.

I am pleased to report that Grace met her goal of learning to ride a bike without training wheels this summer. I am so proud of her!

It was a lovely, well done, event.  We had great weather and enjoyed all the offerings that the optimist club put together.  I hope to return next year, but we'll probably skip the fishing.

later days

edit: publishing this post closer to the date of the event, for the sake of continuity. 

Alice Answers Her Birthday Survey: 13-years-old

So, It is (mid) October, and I'm just now getting my blog squared away from August. Needless to say, we've been busy!

Without further ado, Alice's survey:

I am 13 years old.
My favorite color is: pink
The coolest person on earth is: Me, Myself, and I
The thing I do best is: Socialize
If I could change my name, it would be: Alasur
My favorite toy is: My Cozmo
When I grow up, I want to be: A anesthetics doctor, or a pet groomer
I like to watch: YouTube (duh)
My favorite song is: Imagine dragons
My favorite book is: Percy Jackson
3 words to describe me are: Amazing, Talend, Aerodynamic
When I was little, I used to: be like: An itty-bitty softy baby ono
My favorite season is: Winter
The food I like most is: Mash potatoes (and gravy)
One food I really don't like is: Barbeque sandwiches
My best friend is: Willow
For my birthday I want to: Go to the ice-cream store in my pajamas
My best memory is: Me getting stuck with stickers covering my feet and mom/dad pulling them out with tweezers

later days 

I'm adding this post closer to her birthday, for the sake of continuity. Alice Edit: "Mother it's been 2 months."

You can check out her answers from last year here.

Alice turns 13!!!!

We have a teenager in the house!!!!!!

My little, bitty, baby, first born is now almost as tall as I am!  Alice turned 13 this year.

One final picture as a 12 year old:

Cake for breakfast!!

She turned 13 just days before returning to school, but we were able to sneak in one final trip to the ice cream shop (they closed for the season the next day!)

For her birthday, Juliet bought Alice a pinata.  We filled it with some tasty candy and strung it up in the back yard.  I only got in two pictures before my phone died. = (  

So, here is missy Grace:

And William's swing took it down, but didn't open it up.

I hope our Alice enjoyed her special, low-key day.  And may her 14th year be her best one yet!!

later days

You can see pictures from last year here.  And read her survey answers here.

Note: Written a few months later, but posted closer to the event date for the sake of continuity.

Back to School, Round 1

Once the big girls returned last week, we dedicated ourselves to getting things ready for school (after one last trip to the swimming pool.)

Meet the Teacher night was on Thursday, and Grace and Juliet have Mrs. P, who was Emily's teacher.  They got to pick their own spots, at least for day one, and Juliet had her fingers crossed that Kennedy would pick the spot next to hers.

William has Mr. C, who was Alice's fourth grade teacher.  I think he's going to do really well in his class. He also saw that he was one of the library helpers, according to the 'job' bulletin board.

The principal snapped this awesome picture of us at the ice cream social/meet the teacher night!  I was impressed that everyone was looking toward the camera and she caught an Alice smile!

One day, Avia needed to go to Meijer, and invited anyone who wanted to go, and they got a donut.  Once Alice signed up to go, I joined as well.  My donut was good.  We saw this M&M display at the QD.

And then, when Emily and I were shopping for a grill cover and school shoes for her, we found this M&M display!

The teachers came by in a scavenger hunt on Friday, and brought goodie bags.  They were able to mark off 3 items from us: "school shirt," "bike," and "all the siblings." = )

And then, the day finally arrived!  First day back to school.  We always walk the first day, and today was no exception.  Emily joined us this morning too.

The twins dressed the same, down to swapping socks, with a few exceptions to help their teacher. = )

They came home happy and tired, here's to a great school year!  The big girls will start next week, in their new district.

later days

William Earns 7th Kyu

Last Friday, William tested for his 7th Kyu belt!  He did very well, and we are sad that it will be his final belt level, at least for now.

 

Between the start of school, and Alice and Emily going to a new district, I will not be able to commit to an extracurricular activity, in the opposite direction.

We have loved the program and would absolutely recommend it to anyone nearby!  We will miss the dojo family that he had, and maybe one day, he can return.

later days

Murder Mystery, Year Four: Ancient Rome

It's only a year between our annual parties, but it felt so long since the last time we had partied with our favorite murder suspects!

This year, I changed the porch into a seaside Roman venue.  The wind was the one thing I hadn't taken into consideration, and it made keeping things upright a challenge.

A week or so before the party, I cleared all the patio furniture from our porch, and took inventory of my table situation.  It looked good, but the week of the party Sarah found me an even better 4th table for free on Craigslist, so I was swapping out tables "at the last minute."

The new guide was not as comprehensive, so I had to make my own timetable for the food, and we totally skipped the fried dough, but the tuna steaks, drumsticks and hamburgers came out pretty well! The ancient roman cheesecake was good, and of course we had caprese salad, hummus and naan, olive, grapes and dipping spices with bread.  

Billy helped nail up all of the curtains so that they didn't lose any length by using a bar.  We ran lights, and put down all sorts of bedding and cushions, since we were sitting on the ground.  Cali, Emily and Grace helped display all of the greenery and curiosities that I found during the year.

The background refused to stay taped down, thanks to the wind, so we ended up taping, taping and taping some more.

Billy and I moved our table once everyone sat down.

Matt: Licentius Caeser - son of the late Caeser, Juliana: Rotunda Immaculata - member of the virgin temple, Scott: Maximus Testosterus - miliary mind, Jessica: "Clepto"patra - queen of a distant land, Jared: Bogus Fortunatus - leader of a new religious movement, Tami: Flotilla Submergia - wealthy widow, boss of a shipping company, Billy: Harangus Adnauseum - stoic politician, Deb: Mercedes Accelleratti - widow of the deceased and Nicole was a detective/bystander named Roma Tomatus

This was our first year with a different publisher, and overall, it was not as good, but we enjoyed the Pritchards during their inaugural murder investigation!

The names were really funny.  And, despite William helping me draw the names at random, some people continued to play the same role (sorry Deb!)

The murder this year was (highlight below to reveal text):

*Me!!!  I got to be the first female murderer. *

We didn't like that instead of reading our own denouement, we had to pass our manuals and read one another's.  It was a bit of a letdown.  We'll be returning to the publisher that we have used in past years for the next party.

The children, I think the final count was 12, were very well behaved, and we did not see much of them, as they had food and entertainment inside.

 It was a wonderful time, and I look forward to doing it again next summer!

later days

You can read about some of the other people we've killed off here:

Year 3: Hawaii

Year 2: France

Year 1: Mississippi Riverboat