New School Year!

Hooray! It's a new school year, and it's off to a great start.

CC has been a bundle of nerves the last few days. She had trouble sleeping; she complained of stomach pain; she barely ate anything. She's starting at a high school where she doesn't know anyone at all, and the campus has multiple buildings that she'll have to navigate to get to her classes. But when I picked her up at the end of the day, she was all smiles. "I made two friends!" she squealed. One of them even has her same major -- Costume Design -- so they'll be taking classes together for the next four years. She only experienced half her eight classes today, because the school has an A/B day schedule. She'll have the other four tomorrow. But she is feeling much more comfortable now that she knows a few kids and is more familiar with the buildings.

Sweet Pea had her outfit planned out for weeks (discussed at length via a huge group chat with other 7th grade girls). She was up early, fully packed and ready to go an hour early. She didn't even bring the schedule I printed out for her, because she already had her classes memorized. After school she couldn't wait to tell me all about which classes she had with which friends and how her teachers were. But I know it was still a really big day for her, because after school she also had two hours of cirque. By the time I picked her up, she was in tears over multiple perceived slights (which is what happens when Sweet Pea gets overtired).

Little Man rolled out of bed and, in typical Little Man fashion, wore the clothes he slept in to school. "What?! I just put them on last night. They're clean!" 

He was happy to report that he has recess with one of his best friends, which is great news. And he's really excited about the robotics class he's taking this year. He told me about his plan for school this year: "If I do all my homework, and all my projects, and do well on all my tests, I'll get good grades!"

Um ... yes. That is literally how one gets good grades.

Little Man and Sweet Pea have all the same classes and teachers, but not at the same time. This is the ideal situation for me -- they will have the same projects and homework and teachers, but they won't be talking for each other (Sweet Pea) or teasing the other (Little Man). They also happen to have almost all the same teachers CC had when she was in 7th grade, and those were the best teachers she had in all of middle school. So I'm very thankful for that!

Goodbye to Middle School

It's official -- we have a high schooler! CC had her "promotion ceremony" on the last day of school, and she was all smiles. She wore a dress (actually a romper, but it identifies as a dress) that she picked out at Altar'd State, which is all the rage for teen girls. She loved the dress, and woke up early to curl her hair. She was preening all day!

Grandpa and Grandma came to her ceremony too. My dad would have as well, except for the house flooding issue which has resulted in no guest room or bathroom at our house. Since there are many big end-of-year events to attend, he asked the kids which ones they thought were most important, and they picked the baseball game and the two big dance recitals.

Afterwards we hosted her close group of friends at the pool for a little party, and they had a blast. It was definitely the easiest party I've ever thrown together, so all the moms and girls agreed we should do it regularly during the summer.

All five girls are going to different high schools next year. Scarlett is going to the high school we're zoned for, that I always assumed CC would attend. Clara's family is very spontaneously moving to a different part of town this summer, so she'll be at a different high school. Patricia and Vanessa live further away, in different areas that have their own high schools. And of course, CC will be attending the fine arts magnet school that she was accepted to.

They're all promising to keep in touch, and I hope they do. They're a sweet group of girls! I'm so glad that CC had a good support group of close, supportive friends to help her through the challenging middle school years.

Field Trip

It was probably CC's final field trip (I don't think high schoolers take field trips?), so I definitely had to chaperone again. This time it was a 3-day trip to the North Carolina Outer Banks, so it was a LONG drive, but it was a really fun and interesting trip!

Oddly, I was not chaperoning CC's group. She was rooming with her friend Patricia, so Patricia's mom was their chaperone. Since they didn't need two chaperones, I was given a different group of girls to watch. But I was able to enjoy many activities with CC, and steal a few pictures with her along the way.

The first day we visited Bodie Island Lighthouse, which was very picturesque, and we got a nice group photo. Then we headed to Jockey Ridge State Park, which has the highest sand dunes on the East Coast! And because they aren't directly on the water's edge, you're allowed to climb all over them. The kids slid and tumbled and rolled to their hearts' content. CC didn't want to get too sandy, but she had fun meandering around and hanging out with her friends and one of her favorite teachers from 6th grade, Ms K.

That night the kids had a pizza and dance party in a large conference room at the hotel. The kids screamed at the top of their lungs at the beginning of each song. And if you haven't heard 200 kids scream in a confined space ... well, you're lucky. We were all glad to get out of there with our hearing intact.

The next morning, bright and early, we left for the Wright Brothers Memorial. I was really impressed! It was a very well-done museum and landmark. While the park ranger was giving us his talk, a small plane circled above us, then landed at the airstrip right in front of us. The pilot go out and started walking towards us -- it was the dad of one of the students! How cool!

We drove to Currituck Lighthouse, which is beautiful and still in operation. We climbed to the top, where there was a dizzying view. Thank goodness it was such a clear day! 

We also spent time exploring the beach, and touring the wildlife museum next to the lighthouse. 

After souvenir shopping, we ate dinner at a seafood buffet, then went to a fun park for mini golf, go-carts, and bumper cars. It was nice for the kids to blow off some steam.

The next morning we had our final outing: a trip to Jeanette Pier. Employees from the aquarium taught us how to fish, led us through a squid dissection (CC excused herself), explained all about the types of shells found there, and allowed us to roam the beach to find specimens on our own.

The trip had been going perfectly until that morning. But while fishing, a freak accident caused one student to get a fish hook fully embedded through her cheek. We called 911, and EMTs responded quickly and brought to the ER to have it removed. Not 15 minutes later, a student had a severe allergic reaction to the squid, and we had to call 911 again and rush her to the ER, too. She had no idea she had a squid allergy! Thank goodness both girls were okay, but it was a chaotic morning, and we were delayed quite a bit heading home.

By the time the buses limped back into the school parking lot, it was almost 11pm, and we were all exhausted. But it was a good trip, and I'm so glad CC and I experienced it together.

Special thanks to my dad, who made it possible for me to chaperone! Pepere came to stay with Sweet Pea and Little Man, since MJ was out of town for work. They all enjoyed a fun few days and had plenty of treats in our absence. Everyone had a great week! (Except maybe MJ.)

Supplies for Small Scholars

The kids have attended IB schools since kindergarten, and one of the requirements each year is to participate in community service projects. This year, however, was different for CC: 8th graders are required to come up with their own ideas, work with a faculty adviser all year on it, execute it, and create a presentation to explain the entire process.

CC really wanted to do something that involved children, since she loves kids so much. She found a local nature-based preschool that caters to low-income families with special-needs children. The director of the preschool is a physical therapist, and she has a rotation of interns from colleges around the state who work with her. 

Despite CC's shyness, she reached out to the director, introduced herself, and explained that she'd like to do a project that benefitted the preschool. The director provided her with a list of supplies that the preschool could really use, and CC decided to have a drive to collect them all.

CC created a flyer that she handed out around the neighborhood, explaining her project and listing the specific supplies that the preschool needed. We were so impressed by the outpouring of generosity from our neighborhood! Supplies were left on our porch daily for several weeks. We even had to detour on our way to deliver the goods, in order to pick up a last-minute delivery from a neighbor.

The preschool director was so impressed! She was very grateful for the supplies, and she insisted on giving us a tour of the preschool. CC got to see all the farm animals (llamas, chickens, goats, dogs) and meet the children. It was so rewarding to see CC's hard work benefit the preschool in person!

Several weeks later, CC presented "Supplies for Small Scholars" at the 8th grade showcase. It was really impressive to walk around the school and see all the different projects that were completed by the 8th grade class!

CC's Audition

There's a special high school here that's exclusively for fine arts. We've heard great things about it, but it never crossed my mind that one of my kids would be interested in it. But then we learned that they offer a Costume Design program.

CC couldn't believe it! She was immediately interested, even though it would mean saying good-bye to all her friends as they headed off to our local high school, where we always assumed CC would go. But it was worth it to her (and to their credit, her friends fully supported her decision).

But first, she had to be accepted. We took a tour, talked at length to a junior who is in the Costume Design program, and read everything we could find on the audition. CC did her homework and dutifully answered all the essay questions. She was also required to bring in two items she'd made. We were told that last year, one person brought in a scrunchie. Well, there were no scrunchies here! CC brought in two entire outfits, complete with accessories. 

The first one was her Halloween costume, the Queen of Hearts. It included a dress, ruffled overlay (that had been dyed black), headband crown, and several appliques. The second was the dress she was wearing -- a patchwork dress made from many pairs of old jeans she'd cut up.

The dress was quite complicated to make, because it was the first time she'd used a pattern. But the end result fit her like a glove, and now she knows how to incorporate things like darts into her designs, and how to use bias tape for the seams. She finished it off with a purse she'd made out of quilted material left over from the comforters I'd made for Sweet Pea and Little Man years when they were in toddler beds. It was adorable with little silver fasteners she'd sewn on, and the chain strap she'd cannibalized from a toy purse.

She sailed into the audition, supremely confident about her pieces and the additional outfit sketches she was required to bring with fabric swatches and idea inspirations. And she wowed them! She returned to me in the school auditorium with a face-splitting smile, waving the "accepted" slip like an American Idol contestant. 

We are incredibly proud of her, not only of her abilities with a sewing machine, but also because of her hard work to get in, and her determination to be accepted and to try this new school, even though she won't know anyone there. We will be by her side every step of the way, and we hope she has an amazing high school experience. 

**Special thanks to Memere, who helped CC so much with the pattern for the dress. She spent quite a lot of time over Thanksgiving and on the phone, explaining the process!

Cross Country Wrap-Up

Little Man and CC finished up their inaugural cross-country season with their third and final meet. Little Man definitely enjoyed it the most -- he was eager to join the team at the beginning of the season, and he never complained about practices. His times were a little erratic, but he ran hard and seemed to enjoy the social aspect, too.

CC was more of an enigma. She originally wanted to join the team, then changed her mind, then ended up doing it, but complaining the entire time. And although she claimed to be trying her best, her times worsened by over a minute with every meet. That's a ridiculous amount of time to lose in a race that's less than two miles!

But in her final meet, she sprinted her hardest down the final stretch. "Did you see that girl in the red shirt?" she asked afterwards. "I just had to beat her!" And she did.

So that's a wrap! Little Man is already looking forward to next year. CC claims to want to try out for track in the spring, but I can't imagine that's true!

Afterward the season there was a nice sports awards banquet at the school for all the fall teams. MJ and I attended and patiently sat through all the other sports until cross country, which was the final team and also the largest. CC and Little Man were all smiles and definitely enjoyed their moment in the spotlight!

Picture Day

The girls were very excited about picture day this year, and woke up early to have me do their hair. I straightened Sweet Pea's (it looked so much like Hayden's!) and double-French-braided CC's with some loose tendrils in front. They looked beautiful and were very happy.

(Little Man threw an Army jersey on over his clothes and called it a day.)

Middle Schoolers Unite!

All three kids are in middle school together for this one blissful year, and I'm here for it! CC was mostly focused on her outfit and makeup for the first day; Sweet Pea had her bag packed two weeks ago; and Little Man rolled out of bed, shoved his school supplies into his backpack, and jumped in the car with no water bottle or lunch, wearing the same clothes he'd slept in. No surprises here.

Little Man and Sweet Pea have mostly different classes, but the same teachers. This will make it a little easier for me to keep track of their assignments and activities. They both know quite a few people at the middle school, thanks to all the students from their elementary school who moved up to the same middle school with them. And one of Little Man's best friends is in most of his classes with him. It's shaping up to be a great year!

Congrats, Little Man and Sweet Pea!

They're off to middle school! MJ and I attended a sweet "promotion" ceremony at Sweet Pea and Little Man's elementary school today. The kids sang and receited their pledges, and Sweet Pea was recognized with the Music award. Little Man maintained a stoic demeanor, refusing to smile at us the entire ceremony, but afterwards he was full of smiles as he mingled with his classmates and took pictures.

MJ and I said goodbye, and they headed into a party with the rest of their class. After school I took them to Dairy Queen, because Little Man had earned a treat for getting straight As, and Sweet Pea had won a $15 gift card for winning the hula hoop contest at the class party.

After dinner tonight, MJ and I gave them their gifts: copies of Oh The Places You'll Go by Dr Suess, with notes from and pictures of every teacher they've had. Neither Little Man nor Sweet Pea are particularly sentimental, so I didn't think they'd be too interested in the books. But I was pleasantly surprised by how much time they each took, flipping through the pages, marveling over the pictures of themselves over the years and commenting on what their teachers had written.

I love our sweet elementary school, and I've been so involved there over the years that the kids used to think I worked there. It's so strange to think that it won't be part of our lives anymore! After next year, the building will be demolished and replaced with a brand-new facility, and while I'm happy for the incoming students, it's a little sad to thing there will be nothing left of our family's time here.

But like I said several times today, every new chapter of the kids' lives gets better. I'm so excited to see how they learn and grow in middle school. Selfishly, I will really appreciate having all three kids at the same school next year.

We love you, Sweet Pea and Little Man! We're so proud of you can can't wait to see how you bloom in a new environment next year!

Musical Merit

Guess who won the 5th grade Music Student of the Year award? Sweet Pea! She was thrilled, and no one was surprised -- she loves music class, took part in all the extracurricular music activities, and even learned the piano accompaniment to one of The Greatest Showman songs for the school's performance.

Her music teacher definitely appreciated her, and the feeling was mutual!

Daddy-Daughter Dance

It was Sweet Pea's final Daddy-Daughter Dance. And it was MJ's final Daddy-Daughter Dance. How bittersweet! How sentimental! How special!

Sweet Pea commemorated the event by refusing to wear nice clothes or let me do her hair. "Hey," said MJ. "If she's not going to dress up, I won't either!"

So the two of them headed off to the "Masquerade Ball" at the school ... wearing hoodies and jeans. Sigh.

She and some of her (adorably dressed) friends made a cute video with the 360-degree photo booth:

Direct link to video: https://youtube.com/embed/2a5lasmkylM

But then the skies opened up, drenching everyone and shutting down the event. Not to be dissuaded, Sweet Pea and MJ headed out to get ice cream. 

I suppose I should be glad that they had a great time, despite being woefully underdressed!

DC Trip

This year, CC's 7th grade class took an overnight field trip to Washington, DC. I chaperoned, so we were together for all the adventures, and it was really fun! 

The itinerary kept us busy, but we also saw things I'd never seen before in my multiple trips to DC. We did some museums: the African-American History Museum, where the kids took a fun and interesting step class, and the Natural History Museum. But we also visited Arlington and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and had a tour of the FDR, Jefferson, and MLK Jr Monuments, as well as the Vietnam, WWI and Korean War Memorials. We walked by the White House for some pictures, but we didn't get to go inside.

Much like last year's trip to Atlanta, CC had a hard time managing her friendships 24-7 for multiple days without much sleep. I think she's a bit introverted in that way. At one point, I took her to the Museum of American History by herself, just to get a little break. It worked wonders, and she was back to her old self by the time we reunited with the group.

When we visited the Vietnam Memorial, I showed the kids how to find a specific person. We used the name of my dad's good friend, Richard Lanctot, and the kids looked him up in the directory, identified his panel and line, and found his name on the wall. It was a good lesson for them, and sobering for CC to think about the war in such personal terms.

Our last night, we took a dinner cruise on the Potomac. The kids had a great time dancing to the blasting music, singing their hearts out to Taylor Swift songs. The adults enjoyed relaxing for the first time on the trip, and watching the gorgeous sunset!

Our final stop the next morning was the Holocaust Museum. We gave the kids a stern talking-to about behavior before we went in, and they were appropriately respectful. But CC took one step into the first exhibit space, teared up, and said, "I don't want to be here, Mommy!" It led to a good conversation about why it's important to remember events like the Holocaust. But I was surprised that at 12, CC was already so affected by it. I visited that museum in college, and remember it as being a mostly factual experience, not emotional.

Then we headed back home. They were tired (and a little irritable) but mostly quiet. It was a good trip, with a mix of fun and educational experiences. I liked that we had a few hours of free time on the mall to visit whatever museums we wanted to (although unfortunately both the National Archives and the Air & Space Museum had lines that were too long).

Bonus: the cherry blossoms were just starting to bloom! I'd never been to DC to see the famous trees in bloom, but they were beautiful, and we were blessed with gorgeous weather.