The Homeschool Diaries. Part I

Off and running. Well, at least off and walking. Maybe with a little hop, skip and a jump.

Subjects covered today:

1. Math



2. Social Studies (Geography)



3. Writing (check his blog)



4. PE



5. Reading



6. Science

We haven't completely got our curriculum set in stone. Monday Danny and I go back in to the district office and get some textbooks - so I'm going to be somewhat flexible until I figure out what we are required to do - then I'll work around that.

Withdrawals

I was feeling a little like a yo-yo today. Went to the middle school to withdraw Danny. Went to our appointment with the district homeschool advisor. Back to the middle school to get the principal's signature, BACK to the homeschool advisor to turn in all the paperwork. I'm hoping that all the paperwork is done.

It just better be.

I did have a little contretemps with the middle school principal...When she started throwing around "the 31 years I've been in education has taught me there is no substitute for a classroom education"....I rebutted with "I'm cutting out the middle man". I refused to be drawn into her diatribe.

I Who Have Nothing

I feel a bit like Suzanne did a few days ago -"Yup, Got Nothing". Today her "Blogger's Block" post spoke to my soul. At least she had a link to a fun game (my husband has even been wasting time on it).

I shall not give up, I have a feeling the whole homeschool experience will be rife with blog fodder.

Mental Gymnastics

Okay...maybe not gymnastics....how about a few mental pushups and a jumping jack or two?

I'm gearing up for my appointment tomorrow with the school district homeschool representative. I'm not worried about the appointment - they don't intimidate me, but I am concerned about being ready to dive right into "The Education of Daniel".

Wish us luck.

Feeling Ungroovy

It's Tuesday today. Today is Tuesday. Tuesday it is today.

For some reason it feels like Thursday. Or maybe Friday. Part of that is wishful thinking, part of it is due to the extra day off from school we had yesterday, and the fact that we have no school today either. I am totally off my groove (thank you Suzanne).

I have no grand plans for today - only small trivial ones. Steve is working from home today, so he can spend time with his mother. I think he will be working from home Tuesdays and Thursdays while she's here. I fully expect to be perpetually off my groove. But that's okay as long as I'm feeling groovy.

Rudy, please shovel my snow.

I am not the political pundit that sister Keira is, but I couldn't resist adding a link to Dave Barry's article about the Florida primary.

Public Service Announcement II

Daniel got his blog started. The link is at the bottom of my page "Just One More Mile".

Now, if I can just get him to write entries for it. Sometimes getting him to write is just like pulling teeth.

Public Service Announcement

I added a new link this morning (see bottom of page "A Few of My Favorite Things"). The title is "What about them black holes". If you read my blog regularly you might recognize this question as a family "in" joke. Anyway, Alex started his blog today. I'm hoping to add Daniel later on today - stay tuned for further updates.

I'm expecting great entries by Alex, and what parent doesn't like having a window into the mind of their teenager?

Snow Day

Today was supposed to be the last day of finals.

Supposed to be.

Alex had 2 finals scheduled for today - 3rd year Japanese and College Algebra. There is already no school planned for tomorrow - it is a scheduled day off...so my question is....

Do we save the pecan pie or have it for FHE treat?

President Hinckley

President Gordon B. Hinckley June 23, 1910 - January 27, 2008

Thank you.

Oh, Danny Boy oh boy!

I decided this past week to remove Danny from public school. It's not all their fault, it's not all his fault, let's just agree that the new middle school isn't working well for him.

I expect to be writing many future blogs about homeschooling ups and downs (aka "The Education of Daniel"). Thank you Keira.

Can I have a little pie with that?

Around 8pm last night Alex was wandering around the house looking distressed. I figured he was bored and needed something to do, but that wasn't it. His problem was that he needed to do a project for Monday - for his Japanese class. He finally told me that he needed to make some traditional holiday type food for his class. He said it didn't have to be Japanese, it could be a traditional food from our family. We pulled out the family cookbook and decided on pecan pie. I have his great grandmother's recipe in there - but we used my recipe instead, since I don't ever have dark Karo syrup in my pantry.

Since we had to come home early from church today (Steve and Andrew are on their way to the airport to pick up my mother-in-law) - we just finished making the pie. By "we" I mean he made the crust and the filling with me acting only in a supervisory capacity. It helps that pecan pie is like the easiest pie in the world to make.

Done and Doner

It's 7:15 on a Saturday.

• Garage clean. Check.


• Van parked in garage. Check.


• Grocery shopping done. Check.


• Laundry done. Check.


• Laundry actually put away. Check.


• Dishes done. Check.


• Vacuuming. Check.


• Ordered books from Amazon. Check.

Still to do:

• Nothing that I feel like doing.

My mother-in-law is flying in tomorrow for an extended visit. We were expecting her to be here in 4 weeks, but we got a call this morning letting us know that plans had changed. We've spent the day getting ready for her. We're as done as we're going to be tonight.

I love my mother-in-law - I'm thankful she is so forgiving.

I get by with a little help from my boys..

Help!

You know you were never destined for craigslist riches when you post something for free and get 20 hits in 10 minutes at 10 o'clock at night. Then another 20 or 30 in the morning. True experienced craigslist entreprenaurs would have listed it for $50 at least. And gotten it.

Me, I just want my garage cleaned out so that we can park a vehicle in it. Or maybe I'll start a garage band.

Graduation Day

Tonight is supposed to be the last session for the parenting class Steve and I are taking. I am positively giddy with delight.

The topic for tonights lesson is "Applying Consequences". Too bad they save this one for last - it's way more interesting than, say, "Understanding Child Development".

I was reading last night and came across a great quote about consequences (from the book "Traitors" by Richard Sale):

"....a desire fulfilled is a desire made stronger. By satisfying a wrong desire, you have gained something evil only be lessening your good. You may have more, but you have gained it at the cost of being less. When enough wrong choices have been indulged in long enough, pleasure and fraud prevail over conscience, and that ideal self, the deepest, truest, strongest self of which we all once had an image of, is lost for good."

Is delicious chocolate moose a "wrong desire"?

Time is a precious thing, never waste it.

My husband is at another political caucus training meeting. I think he'll be home before 10pm. 2 1/2 weeks until the caucus. I can't wait until it's over.

"A Genocide of Color"

A little more "Psych" for you, Keira.

Doctor's Visit, Part III

In spite of being 25 minutes late for Daniel's appointment, the doctor graciously fitted us in. In spite of my doubts, it turns out his finger actually IS broken. And it's broken right where he had complained of the pain in the first place. Between his broken finger this month, and his broken finger in September (oh, and sprained finger), I am getting to be quite a dab hand at splinting and wrapping fingers. Our next follow-up visit is....wait for it.....on Valentines Day. Just how I want to spend Valentines.

We stopped by Albertson's on the way back to school to stock up on more ace bandages.

"Forward, the Light Brigade!"

Nature has forced herself upon me in the form of gray hairs. I declared war on her a few years ago, I am now fighting a rearguard retreat - there's no way to win this one.

Oh well, maybe I'll move to Britain where they have a long and honorable tradition of glorifying losers.

In the meantime I shall wear my war wounds proudly (though not grayly).

Book of Records

There are so many times I say "boy, do I wish I had brought my camera". Last night was one of those times. For our combined activity with the Young Men/Young Women we did a "Book of Records". The youth got to compete trying to set a ward record for things like:

• who could stare the longest (16 year old boy)


• who could do the hula hoop longest (14 year old girl)


• sing the highest note (14 year old boy)


• jump the highest (17 year old boy)


• eat the most crackers in 1 minute (boy)

there were a few other categories, but the one I was in charge of judging was:

• who could stuff the most marshmallows in their mouth (15 year old girl. 12 year old girl came in second, 12 year old boy third)

One of my girls challenged me - I was only able to get 6 in - but I wasn't really trying. I don't think I could have done more than 8 without gagging.

The girl that won got 15 in her mouth at once. It wasn't really a surprise, we had pegged her as the girl most likely to win. I think I was most surprised at how poorly the boys did. I'm not sure if it had something to do with not wanting to look bad - or if girls just have stronger control over their gag reflex. The first boy that tried it puked. He did come back 2 more times to try again, but his best was 12.

Yup, I got to judge the contest that involved puking. (warning this clip involves real vomit)

Hey Mom, can I borrow the car?

The theme of today's NYT crossword puzzle was "Teen's response to a parent's 'No" (that clue was used for 3 long-all the way across the grid-answers). As a parent of 5 teens and one soon to be teen, this was a slam dunk. The answers:

17A: But that's not fair

35A: Everyone is going

53A: I can't do anything

In all fairness to my teenages these answers were more likely to be used by me as a teen than by them.

Sick Day

I'm not sick today. Yet. Danny is the one staying home sick. He was miserable yesterday - coming home from the science center, and since he is not one to suffer in silence, we ALL knew it. He finished off a box of tissues during family home evening - we got him into bed early - then Steve gave him one Benadryl in hopes of his nose drying up enough to get to sleep. He was supposed to go to the orthodontist this morning, but I called and cancelled. I feel bad about it, because this appointment was already a rescheduled one because he was sick last month.

After I called his orthodontist to cancel, I called the middle school to report him absent. The school secretaries make themselves felt, even over the answering maching.

"Please leave the childs name, grade, reason for absence, date of absence, your name and your relationship to the child."

For anyone not counting, they want SIX items of information. They are lucky to get four from me.

Substitutiary Locomotion

We spent the afternoon going to the Pacific Science Center today. I saw in the paper a couple of days ago that they were having a model railroad show there - and I am a sucker for model railroads. Alex, Danny and I picked up grandson Kaith and then drove down to the "lazy B" to pick up Steve. We totally scored free parking only a couple of blocks away from the PSC- no mean feat in Seattle.

I'm not sure if the kids enjoyed the trains as much as me. Personally, I would have lingered longer at the trains, but with a 4 year old grandson we went where the wind blew him. Fortunately Alex and Danny are both old enough to go around by themselves. Unfortunately Danny was starting to get sick - so I'm not sure he had a great time.

My husband would love to have a model train set that had all the buildings and landscaping, etc...yea, it'd be great...having him spend all his "spare time" making teeny tiny towns for teeny tiny trains. As much as I love model trains I think we'll have to be content with the one we have.

The Phantom Menace

The topic of our fireside this evening was dating. I'm sensing a recurring theme in my life right now. The bishop used the "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet and laid it out for the youth:

"In cultures where dating or courtship is acceptable, dating can help youth develop friendships and eventually find an eternal companion. Youth in the Church are taught to wait until at least age 16 to begin dating and to date only those who have high moral standards. A young man and a young woman on a date are responsible to help each other maintain their standards and to protect each other's honor and virtue."

So, what part of "wait until at least age 16 to begin dating" do you not understand?

I can take great comfort in the knowledge that my boys have gotten that part down pat. I just wish the pamphlet went a little further and told them when they'd better be dating by so that don't don't end up becoming a "menace to society".

Forever on a Sunday

Alex gave his talk today in sacrament meeting. His talk was fine, then the Stake Relief Society president spoke. Her talk was okay, but just a tad long. Then our musical number - which was the song "Ofa 'i 'api" - which is Tongan for "Love at Home", sung by a trio of Polynesian gals from our ward. Lovely, and they sang the whole song. In Tongan.

Which put us a little late going into the 4th quarter high council speaker. Let's just say, he was a slow starter. I told my husband I was going to get up and leave at 10:15 (5 minutes after we SHOULD be done). He told me I wasn't. Turns out HE left at 10:00 to take Danny home (who was hacking up a lung). The high councilman went not 5, but 10 minutes over. I stayed in my seat the whole time. I refused to be dictated to by genetics. Frankly, the parenting class that we've been going to for the last eternity has had a positive effect on my patience. Compared to our class (which is supposed to be 1 1/2 hours - but often goes over) sacrament meeting seems downright short.

We have a youth fireside tonight - I hope it doesn't go over. After all, Sunday is my day of rest.

Can you spell "SATURDAY"?

I don't remember if they played the song S*A*T*U*R*D*A*Y at stake dances when I was a teenager - but they should have. That's where we were every Saturday night. Every Saturday night. They only have stake dances once a month nowadays, and my boys are never interested in going. This will come as no suprise if you read my blog about dating.

Maybe if they learned a little line dancing.

Weekend Warriors

Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday.
Sooo....what are we doing at our house today? Let's break it down:

• 7:30 slept in a little, but got going and cleaned the kitchen.


• 8:00 made waffles


• 8:15 started my workout


• 9:00 Steve, Alex and Danny worked on cleaning the garage


• 9:15 took my shower


• 10:15 headed over to Stephanie & Cory's to do a little remodeling


• 12:30 home for lunch.

I still need to do laundry, cook dinner, plan dinner for tomorrow, go shopping, attend an Eagle Court of Honor, review the YW lesson for tomorrow...

Alex has a talk tomorrow, so I'll be encouraging (but not really helping) him. I will give him the advice I give all my kids when they have a talk to give. Speak clearly and don't ramble(mumblers and ramblers drive me crazy). I've already given him permission to NOT wear his new retainers during his talk. He still has a tendency to lisp with them in.

Doctor Visit, The Sequel

Daniel had his first follow-up doctor appointment for his perhaps/perhaps not broken pinkie. The good news - if it is broken, it's not broken too badly. The bad news - at least one more appointment. The doctor thoroughly wrapped his pinkie and ring finger together with a splint, and covered the whole thing in some sticky ace bandage stuff. He now has a club instead of a hand - very dramatic looking for something that may or may not be broken.

Knee Jerk Reaction

I had to go to the middle school this morning.

I have a problem with school secretaries. I admit it. I have something against middle school and high school secretaries in particular. I really try to cut them a lot of slack - because frankly given the option between doing their job and having major surgery, I'd have to give it some long hard thought. Yes, I know that they have to deal with teenagers all the time - but then again, so do I. Perhaps the problem stems from the kind of teenagers that they spend time with. The ones that get sent to the office.

Once (9 or 10 years ago), the school nurse at the middle school called to have me pick Nathan up at school because he was sick. The school was only a mile away, so I just put Danny in his car seat without bothering to put shoes on him (he was about 4 years old). When I got to the school I left Danny and my purse in the car while I ran in (I could still see him) - the secretary wouldn't let me check Nathan out of school without picture ID. I explained that THEY had called ME. Didn't matter. I had to run back out to my car, get my purse, get Danny (and then carry him because he was barefoot), show the secretary my ID, then they released my son to me. I mean, give me a break - who would want to steal a middle school kid? They should be grateful that anyone would take them.

Bill of Fare

A couple of nights a week my husband works very late. Andrew works late 5 nights a week. So that leaves me, Danny and Alex. Our dinner menu seems to slide off of the entrees and onto the kiddie menu. Last night it was only Danny and myself. Considering the charcoal rice-a-roni debacle of the previous evening I just wasn't in the mood for even thinking about cooking. I gave Danny a few choices - he picked Shells and White Cheddar. I'm not a big fan of it - but it does have the advantage of being easy to prepare.

Tonight it's just me and the 2 younger boys again. My new philosophy is - "if Daddy ain't here, I ain't cookin'". Just kidding. Maybe I'll make pizza.

Beam Me Up, Scotty

If a tree falls in the forest and nobody hears it, did it make a noise? If a driver screams angrily "move it, you idiot" and nobody hears it, did she really do it? Of course she did.

I had to go pick my husband up rather late from work last night. Boy does 30 minutes make a difference. Andrew or I usually go at around 8:45pm on those nights that Steve works late. But at 9pm the evil road construction gremlins come out and start closing off multiple lanes of the freeway. I wasn't able to leave the house until 9:15pm - so I was totally stuck in traffic, when I really wanted to be home in bed. Times like that it's usually best just to crank up some tunes and go with the flow (or no-flow).

I just want to know when transporter technology will come online.

The Black Death, revisited

I had to take Danny to the walk-in clinic yesterday. He may or may not have a broken pinkie.

We spent over an hour in the waiting room before seeing the triage nurse. During that time we were sitting right next to a family whose teenage (or a little older) son had not been able to eat for 6 days because he had the flu. I think his girlfriend was also sick - she at least kept a hankie over her mouth the whole time.

The triage nurse was very concerned - she dumped almost a quarter of a cup of heavy duty hand sanitizer on our hands and instructed us to keep rubbing, don't touch our faces, use more sanitizer before we left, and wash well when we got home. She said they had had at least a couple of verifiable cases of the flu - and since we were healthy she didn't want us to catch it.

After all that we still aren't sure if Danny's finger is broken - I have to take him back to the doctor on Friday.

Is it too late to get a flu shot?

Daydream Misbeliever

I tried to go shopping yesterday morning while Alex was getting his braces off. I forgot my wallet.

I tried to go shopping this afternoon. As I went to get a shopping cart at Albertsons Danny called from school to tell me he thought he had a broken finger. Put the cart away and picked him up from school. Headed straight over to the walk-in clinic. Spent over an hour in the "plague ward" - that's an hour of my life I'll never get back, never mind the other 45 minutes we were there.

Finally got to Fred Meyer's and did some shopping. With Danny in tow. When I finally got home at around 4:30 I just needed to unwind. I sat down at my computer and got to looking at cruises. At 5pm I figured I'd better start some Rice-a-roni to go with the chicken I had gotten at FM. I started the Rice-a-roni and then went back into my office and continued my daydreaming about a fabulous vacation. I only meant to sit down for a minute, but....a few minutes went by before I remembered. The rice stuff was black and a heavy pall of smoke hung halfway down from the ceiling. I can't believe the smoke detectors didn't go off. We aired out the smoke somewhat, but it was too late to save the side dish. Waaaaay too late.

So what did we have to go along with our chicken you ask? Leftover family home evening treats - cupcakes. Yup, cupcakes and chicken. Fine dining at our house.

Family Fight Night

Family Home Evening.

At our house it's not always quite the success we'd like it to be. When the kids were all young FHE was like herding cats. Getting 3 or 4 little kids of different ages to all sit still for more than 5 minutes was challenging (well nigh impossible at times) - so our lessons tended to be very "hit and run". No we didn't hit the kids with the lesson manual, but the length of the lesson was pretty short. We're talking 2 or 3 minutes.

A few years later - we had grade school kids and toddlers. The older kids were better at sitting for longer periods, but they were also more liable to fight with each other ("he's touching me!") and they also knew how to work the system ("I need to go potty") - especially when we were distracted by the babies.

I think the hardest (emotionally) period was when we had the full spread. Surly teenagers, hyper grade schoolers, fretful babies. Lessons tended to be "hit or miss" - all at the same time. I don't think I handled it very well, but we persisted.

I feel like we sort of get the pay off now. I sincerely apologize to my older kids for the fact that we didn't always have great FHE - but now that we usually only have 2 kids it has become much easier. Last night we even managed to play a whole board game after the lesson. Of course it helped that Danny won - and that we didn't even have to cheat to let him win.

Tis NOT the Season

I know, I know, Christmas is so 3 weeks ago - but my son in law showed me this clip last night. It had us laughing.

Lookin' Good

31 months from start to finish. It was supposed to be only 24 months, but we have a very meticulous orthodontist.

One of Dr. Bourne's favorite sayings is "retainers are forever". Meaning you are supposed to wear them for the rest of your life? He has worn his for something like 11 or 12 years. Probably why he became an orthodontist.

We go back on Thursday to get his retainers. I only hope I don't have to go dumpster diving like I had to do THREE times for Danny's retainer. Of course, Danny was only 10 when he had his retainers, since Alex is 17 surely he could do all the dumpster diving himself.

Looking forward to seeing his smile more often.

Braces Off Eve

This is the last night we will have two children in braces - after having had 2 kids at a time in braces for the last 8 1/2 years. Enjoy.

The Dating Game

My oldest 2 kids went out on dates when they were in high school. I know they both went to prom. My oldest boy may have only gone to his senior prom, but my daughter went her junior and senior year. They also had dates at other times. My next child, Nathan, has never been on a date. he is 22 years old. Okay, granted, he has been out of the dating pool for nearly 2 years while he's been on his mission...

Child #4 (who will be 20 next month) has been on one date. His was arranged - he didn't choose who - he was assigned a date (she was a real cutie - got married a few weeks ago). That was back when he was about 17 or 18.

Child #5 - who came of legal dating age over a year ago (legal dating age at our house: 16) - has yet to ask a girl out. Certainly won't in the forseeable future.

Child #6 - still has 3 years to go.


Not dating definitely has its pros and cons.


Pros:

• I don't have to worry about them staying out late with a girl (and what they might be doing)


• saves money (movies/dinners/clothes/....)


• I don't need call waiting for the phone


• no mood swings from rejection

Cons:

• my boys are not getting any practice with "relationships".


• the last one pretty much says it all. It's a biggie...

I wish I knew of a way to help boost their confidence, it's not that I'm in a hurry for them to date, but I think going out a few times before getting engaged would be a good idea. I am curious as to how long after he gets home it will take Nathan to dive into the dating pool.

This clip is my boys idea of the dating game.

"A one and a two..."

Headbanging, grunge, hard rockin' accordian. Yeah, accordian.

I've had a strange fascination for accordians since I was about 8 years old taking piano lessons. The place my sister Marcy and I took piano lessons also taught accordian lessons, and sold accordians. While I was waiting for her to have her piano lesson I had to sit out in the store(?) area where all the cool accordians were. They had so many buttons, plus the keyboard, PLUS the accordian middle - and every accordian was different. There were some that were very shiny - and to an 8 year old - shiny is the ultimate cool. I had a secret wish to play the accordian - but considering the fact that I'm so uncoordinated at piano it's a good thing my parents never wasted time or money on accordian lessons. Accordian players seem to me to be the ultimate "rub your tummy and pat your head" type of people.

If I had realized how versatile accordians are I might have reconsidered.

Getting Sucked into the Political Vortex

I mentioned in an earlier blog (Chuck Huck) that my husband and I will be having the precint caucus at our home in February. Yesterday I got a fairly desperate call from the chairperson over the local precints - she needs a place for 2 more precincts to meet. Not having an overly large house, I hesitated. Until she told me she was going to have to host TWELVE precincts at her home. She said that the only requirement was that when it came time for the precincts to make their choice they would just need a room - she was probably going to use her garage for overflow. I guess I could let one precinct meet in the living room, one in the computer room (as long as there is less that 6 people) that leaves either my office or the bedrooms.

I'd just as soon leave bedroom politics out of it. It would never seem the same again.

I feel like moving to my own island and declaring myself president for life.

Go BYU!

BYU keeping up their tradition of excellence in music.

And choreography.

I DARE you not to giggle.

GWer's Unite!

Finding treasure at a thrift store is my family's idea of real shopping. Forget the mall - the Goodwill Outlet is our favorite store.

This clip is for the star shoppers in our family: Tia and Keira.

You are the wind beneath my wings.

Closed Captioned

I "mishear" things a lot. You know, when people say one thing and you totally heard something else. It's not that I'm hard of hearing (yet), it's just that I hear some things wrong - especially if I'm not really paying attention. I just hope it isn't a symptom of early onset Alzheimers or something like that.

What was that you said?

I have an early set of hammers?

No, no, it's just me, not paying attention.

I Love Trash (Day)

It's trash day on our street.

I have been around long enough to see quite an evolution in garbage cans. When I was a kid we had the classic aluminum cans. They looked pretty cool when they were new - but I don't ever remember having a new one. Probably because they aged pretty fast. They dented easily and the shininess wore off quickly. We hauled ours to the dump in the back of a pickup and dumped our own trash. During the 80's plastic garbage cans became popular. They didn't dent - you could back into them with a car and they would probably bounce, but they had problems too. The lids had a tendency to blow off, never to be seen again, and if they were really full and heavy they had a tendency to bulge - and they were hard to carry. The later ones of these came out with a new feature...wheels. Nice as long as they lasted. Ours had a tendency to come off. Today's cans are great. The garbage company supplies them. They are rugged, they have a hinged lid that doesn't fly away and the wheels stay on.

I just wish it was recycling day too.

The Future of Flight

My husband is working overtime tonight.

Designing airplanes for a better tomorrow.
I think he's working overtime tomorrow too.

I don't wanna...

Some days I actually like to clean my house.

Today is not that day. I've done the dishes, wiped the counters, started the laundry, folded laundry, made my bed, tidied up the living room, dusted the bookcases, vacuumed (or should I say vac-u-umed) and started more laundry,...this is besides taking one child to seminary, and getting another one up, fed and off to middle school, working out, talking to one of my sisters on the phone, checking my email, reading the paper and working on the NYT crossword puzzle. I feel more like curling up with a good book by the fire with a cup of hot cocoa and a plate of fresh warm chocolate chip cookies. The problem is, the bathroom won't clean itself. And neither will the laundry.

This One's for Sue

How's Lily's geography?

...are you holding out on us?

Superlative Boy II

"In recognition of your outstanding achievements in Social Studies"...???

Evidently this is a monthly award ceremony. Monthly. Each teacher that nominated a student for the award gets up and tells how that particular student showed leadership. Some were specific (food drive, choir manager, etc...) Many were vague (good grades in class, good attitude....) When Mr. Kessler (Alex's teacher) awarded Alex his certificate he stated that Alex was getting his leadership award for his knowledge - whenever there is a question about something in class, instead of turning to the textbook, all eyes turn to Alex. Apparently he writes awesome papers also.

So, basically, Alex gets an award for being Alex.

After they got their awards the kids were invited to introduce any of their family that was there. One mom flew in from UTAH for this award. Yikes. Alex turned it around and when he introduced me he said "That's my mom, I blame this on her."

You go, Superlative Boy.

Superlative Boy

"They keep finding new ways, to celebrate mediocrity," sighs Mr. Incredible.



There is some kind of awards ceremony after school today at the high school. We got a letter to that affect last month - inviting us to attend because Alex has earned a "leadership" award. I'm not quite sure what it's for, and frankly, I don't think Alex knows what it is for either. I'm all for giving pats on the back, when pats are due - but it would be nice to know what it's for.

I'm not implying that Alex is mediocre in any way - he is superlative - in fact, I would go as far as to say he is incredible!

Whistle While You Work

I was complaining to Stephanie about cleaning my office. She suggested that I put on a happy working song. Brilliant!

I'll just go plug in the vac-u-um.