The proud parent thread
post all your bragging in here!
I'll start with my oldest boy (middle child) just getting his first 1st place in swimming at the first meet of the season this morning. 25 freestyle. he won by loads, and it was the one race I didn't get to see because (a) I was sorting out a mix-up at the blocks and (b) he was so damn fast :D He also got a 4th in backstroke. Hebe (oldest) got a 3rd and a 2nd. Pretty rocking :)
SSGT James Bell USMC
SGT Jonny Bell USMC
Nuff Said.
Awards day at school last week.
lil Griff- best creative writing
lil Pete- best artist, most improved science, christian character:cool:
I just walked into the living room, and my daughter (9 months) was air-drumming to a Glass Hammer DVD.
woah! That's so cool Flint. @ 9 months...imagine that!
I just walked into the living room, and my daughter (9 months) was air-drumming to a Glass Hammer DVD.
Or....it might have been gas :(
She is gonna be scarey good. You've just found the excuse you need to buy every percussion dodad you ever fancied.
Got a call from fencing camp last night. Lil' Pete shredded some boy who knocked her out of a tourney last summer.:)
Championnship week.
So far, my boys got 17th and 33rd in diving (out of 47)
Hebe got in the points (top 16) with her medley relay team and she took 5th in the butterfly and 11th in the breaststroke. She has another year in this age group.
Hector got a 5th with his medley relay team, 9th in the butterfly, 14th in the 50 free and 15th in the 25free. Points all the way.
Thor was not last in any of his events, did not get lost at all, always had his goggles, and came home with two heat winner ribbons! He has another 3 years in this age group ;)
Hebe dives tomorrow.
My kids rock :D
A twofer
Eldest daughter finished her freshman year of HS #1 in her class (of 967)
Youngest daughter graduated eighth grade and was valedictorian of her class. Maybe even more impressive is that she gave the valedictorian speech to about 600 people - and nailed it.
Wow. You guys are right to be proud.
nice one, darlets :) #1 out of 967 -Blimey!
My oldest, daughter, graduated High school, cashed in on a few scholarships, was on the distingusished honor roll her entire HS career and is going to Neumann where she received several more academic scholorships - totalling about $28,000 a year. Middle son did very well on the golf team and made his first honor roll in 10th grade. Youngest son - a perennial D/F student while living with his mother came to live with me in March and made honor roll with all A's and one B (in freakin Gym - apparently he didn't wear the right color shorts) Oh well, I am very proud of all my kids and their accomplishments.
Apparently cellar kids are awesome kids!
Lil' Pete got another silver over the weekend, losing the final to the club owner.
Lil' Pete got another silver over the weekend, losing the final to the club owner.
Foiled again!
I'm so proud of my son sometimes it hurts me, literally hurts my chest.
Hebe just placed 7th in the 50y breaststroke 11-12yo group -she's still 11 and there were 54 swimmers so that's pretty damn impressive. If she can shave a second or so off her time before March, she'll get to go to State championships. :D
Not really bragging, per se, but my grandson is just so cute. His mom let us copy over her digital archive, but due to technical glitches it took longer than expected.
He's about 9 months old, so no track meets, art classes, judo, etc. Just a shayna punim (pretty face).
Absolutely friggin ADORABLE!
Makes me want grandkids too. Of course, since my oldest is only 13, I think I better wait a while. ;)
But damn, I'm gonna be a good grandma.
As for my own kids, let's see . . . daughter's competitive cheer squad has had 3 competitions so far this season, each time earning 1st place.
And these are real 1st place results too. I tell you this: sometimes in these competitions they set it up so teams are the only one in their particular category, so technically they're gonna get 1st place even if they all fall on their faces. So it's necessary to say this. 1st out of 5 or 6. They are really, really good.
My son's wrestling season hasn't started yet and he's not done anything much in scouts this year. But . . . um . . . well, his grades this quarter don't totally suck, and that's an accomplishment for him, I guess. :rolleyes:
He's a pretty good wrestler, though.
He is extremely cute Rich.
Personal bests for Thor and Hector at swim championships today -places for Hector in all three individual events, for Thor in two. Hebe swims tomorow. Thor really rocked it out and blew his coaches away, as he hasn't really come close to his PBs at any of the dual meets this season :D
Hebe was 5th in breaststroke -as seeded- and blew everyone away with her IM -dropping 4 seconds (5%) from her PB -almost unheard of at this level, placing 13th after being seeded 20th. She just missed the places in the fly, but still finished 5 above her seed.
best Championships so far.... very happy parent here ....very happy kids, makes all the chorine hair and meals in the car worthwhile....
At the elementary school they had a teachers vs. fifth graders basketball game on Saturday as part of a pancake breakfast/bake sale/fund raiser thingy.
Young Master Dallas went for a rebound against his former 4th grade social studies teacher. She ended up with a twisted ankle and was driven to the emergency room by another teacher, and the teachers forfeited.
Wait for it .
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That'll teach-er. <moan>
Oldest just graduated first in class from the first of many Navy nuke schools. :D
That's awesome Qice.
There's nothing like seeing grown kids doing well.
Minifob finally made the transition from a crib into a big-boy bed last night. He got a little waffly right as we were giving hugs and kisses, but I got him his set of plastic tools to hang onto, and he was good.
This morning when he woke up, he was so pleased. He excitedly pointed at his quilt and cried, "Look! This is blue!"
Outstanding, Clod. :thumbsup:
wtg Minifob! Blue is good. :)
awesome, clod. I'm proud too......
darlet #1 has been receiving her college acceptance letters. Among others, she has been accepted to Notre Dame.
Sweet! Well done darlet1.
Wow & congrats to her . . and you!
darlet #1 has been receiving her college acceptance letters. Among others, she has been accepted to Notre Dame.
Neat! What a great time in her life. :)
Congrats to the darlet, and condolences to the dars who receive the bills. ;)
My son Lee is outside right now changing the
valve cover gasket on my engine.
He's a mensch.
I just learned that my 5th grade girl was the runner up in the school geography bee. Awesome. Especially considering there was no studying for it.
Look at all the proud parents :D
Great glatt, most kids can't find their school these days. :haha:
...but the glattlet will never be Miss South Carolina
In the 5th grade geography bee, when in doubt, the answer is Ontario. (Or Lake Ontario.) She encountered 3 different questions with that as the answer.
My little girl, asleep at the computer. Well, she had a busy day...see some of her handiwork below.
That is too cute Flint. We should all embrace our days so completely.
My swimmers both dropped time in the 50 breast in the Junior Olympics yesterday. Hector came 13th after being seeded 22nd, and Hebe took bronze and missed a state cut by less than half a second. They did good. :)
Excellent, Monster!
This was a good weekend for proud parents in my house.
My 2nd grade son had his final game of the indoor soccer season. His team finished the season undefeated. They play soccer together at recess every day at school so are light years ahead of their opponents at passing to each other and staying in position on the field. It's a little embarrassing going to the games, because it's so lopsided.
And my 5th grade daughter went to a chess tournament at the U.S. Chess Center on Saturday and won both her games, earning two points for her school's team.
Medals all round this weekend for the beestmonsterlets -even Thor who, at first, got DQd and then reinstated so came in 8th in the IM. His first high position in an individual event -he dropped 50 seconds off his time from last year.. hebe took 3rd in the breast by a whisker of a second from the top two, Hector took 5th in the IM. They mostly placed in the points in all their other events too.
First dive meet of the year tonight -two firsts and a third for the beestmonsterlets -unexpectedly awesome. :D
And I forgot to mention that Thor -one of the youngest thirdgraders was runner up in 3rd/4th grade spelling bee, and the girl who beat him was the one who came second to him in the classroom preliminaries :lol: No great surprise to me, though -he has that sort of a brain. Although I didn't hear about it until way after the event -he forgot to tell me and invite me to the final :rolleyes: :lol:
My 3yo daughter spelled the word "germs" and drew a picture of a mean germ, and of a boy with a germ on his hand.
..you might want to provide some more interesting bathroom reading in future, though. The soap label can get tiresom after a while.
MY GIRL ROCKS!
Not only did she blow the rest of the 11-12 girls out of the water in the breaststroke -finishing half a length before #2, she beat all the 11/12 boys, all the 13/14 girls, all but one of the 13/14 boys and all the 15-17 girls. By several seconds. That's 58 kids her age and older.Only one 14yo boy was faster by half a second, and the four 15-17yo boys by 2-3 seconds. They're like fully grown men swimming for their high school teams, damnit!
:D
Thats awesome [strike]monnie[/strike]
:thumb:Wow, that's fantastic!
Sweet!! Awesome news, monster. :)
thanks. She did go. she's all "meh" about it. She really has a shot of winning the league in this stroke this year. I think she knows that and doesn't want to jinx it. She's so awesome :)
Which Olympics is she targeting? :)
oh 2016 I should think. Question is, will she be an American by then? ;)
My 3yo daughter spelled the word "germs" and drew a picture of a mean germ, and of a boy with a germ on his hand.
Actually I had drawn the original picture demonstrating that germs are on surfaces, they get on our hands, and then when we eat food they could get in our body by going in our mouth. She came back later and showed me her picture of a mean germ, a boy with a germ on his hand, and then he is sad because the germ made him sick. And under the mean germ she wrote the word germs! The "S" has an arrow showing you where it goes, she said.
They all did good at the swim meet today, but Hector is the total star.....
Butterfly is his 2nd best stroke, he's good at it. He has a good personal best for 50 fly -43.xx seconds. When you're a kid, you expect to beat your personal best on a regular basis. When you're good, taking off a secong is awesome. Even a half second is celebrated.
Today he swam a 40y fly (our pool is only 20 yards) -starting from the side, not blocks- in 30 seconds. Calculating that up to at 50yard time means HE DROPPED 6 SECONDS! SIX! Without a start from the blocks! He came in second out of maybe 30 -and he just aged up so was swimming against kids up to two years older than him.
He so rocks. :D
My 10th grader scored a 28 on the ACTs, 99th percentile.
[cheapshot] Must take after Mom. [cheapshot]:lol:
Sorry Spexx, I couldn't resist the opening. :blush:
[cheapshot] Must take after Mom. [cheapshot]:lol:
Sorry Spexx, I couldn't resist the opening. :blush:
In looks, too (good thing).
Swim and Dive Championships this week:
Day 1: 8 and Under dive ....Thor was 8th out of 46, scoring 11 points for his team.
Day 2: 11/12 dive sucked nuts.l that is all. No divers in last place this year and no diveds DQd, but that's all I have good to say about it.
Day 3: 8 and under swimming Thor was placed (top 16) in all of his events (in the case of the 25 free there were over 100 swimmers). Each place earns points for the team. He so ROCKED IT!
hebe and Hector Swim tomorrow
Lil Pete just got back from fencing camp. All week long we were hearing about this annoying highly rated older girl talking down to the rest of the fencers. Lil lost every bout to her all week, culminating in a phone call where we broke down her game and talked solutions for the final competition. Lil kicked her butt today with the girl's coach directing, sweet victory! The week also re-motivated her to clean up her footwork and showed a college coach she'd like to fence for what she's capable of. Nice work kid!
beautiful! Way to go, Lil Pete!
So awesome that she took on the challenge and did what she needed to win.
I liked that she gave up a couple early touches, but did a little self-talk to put her head in the right place.
Thor got his first ever first place in an individual swimming event tonight (25fly). he blew 11 seconds off his personal best with a time so awesome that he would have taken third if he'd swum that at tri-county Championships in march (when in fact he was DQd for an illegal kick) This season he has rocked with three seconds (to a kid on his team), but he owned the fly.
Hebe also took first in both of her individual events, but that's sort of a given right now. She also rocks, but tonight belongs to Thor.
poor hector had croup and got two shots today (one in each arm), so he was understandably slower than usual, especially in the Fly. But I'm proud he tried -i gave him a free pass to duck out, and he didn't take it.
Three cheers... uh, nine cheers. :D
Congrats to the kids, Mon. And a special shout-out to Hector for competing when he didn't feel good.
Lil Griff's scoring streak ended at 7 games. 0-0 tie with a couple bare opportunities missed by both teams LG set up a beautiful corner but good d held. Both teams left the field heads high.
SHUTOUT! Goalie Hector didn't let a single goal in to help the team achieve their first win of the season -against one of the other in-house teams -the one his good buddy and classmate is on. they gave him the game puck all taped up with pink tape -the color of the day- and the date etc written on it. He's pumped!
That is awesome! WTG Hector! :)
Cellar kids be ROCKEN !!!!!!
Pics , I call for Pics !!!
Goalies, have great smiles, no teeth.
Griff, 7 is pretty damn good. :thumb:
I didn't take pics tonight. But I took some last night when they were slaughtered on the U of M ice...... i'll see if I can work out how to download from the new camera.....
...and you've met him ...he's such a little dot inside all that gear!
My oldest son (the one who came back last winter) got a JOB!!! and he LIKES it... He has also been called in twice for other people, and has worked 7 days in a row. He was also told he "works too fast,a nd should slow down". He is a dishwasher. nothing fancy, but its a job! I have had 4 people he works with tell me he is doing great, and is such a good worker, including his boss.
Little steps, but this moma is proud anyway :)
AWESOME! Been there done that - The dishwashing bit ;)
Good job, Jaydaan! Good job son, too--but you know he wouldn't be making this same progress without your tough love to see him through. :thumbsup:
Damn, Jaydaan, it's working. it's fucking working. :jig:
I remember how torn up you were trying to decide what to do, and Mama, you done good.
Hebe just got a state cut in the 50 breaststroke. Sadly, she ages up before State Championships, but she still did it!
Just for the hell of it, you can slot her time into the results of the state meet.
yarly.
This is going to be a big jump. When swimmers turn 13, they stop swimming 50s in everything except freestyle, and the 100IM also goes. So not only do half her events require faster times -they other half disappear off her agenda altogether. Including the 50breast which is her best event. and the 100IM -her second best.
ah well. onwards. she did it. :D
she's too young to drink, silly! ;)
[COLOR="PaleGreen"]so i guess i'll have to have hers.....[/COLOR]
Swim Championships this weekend. All three kids placed to score points for the team in all three of their individual events -Hector after a mad dash across Michigan from a hockey game to squeak in minutes before his first event......
They racked up: 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th, 7th, 13th, 16th, 16th
....and the second place went to..........
Thor! In the 25y butterfly. You rock, son, I is proud. :D
Pico learned a new trick. He high fives now!
What.
Lil' Pete just won our division's Junior Olympic qualifier for foil then competed in the JO Qual for saber. She had never fenced saber before. She lost all but one of her pool bouts learning the weapon as she went. She then won every direct elimination bout and the tournament under the watchful eye of a college coach who made it generally known, as he could not talk to her, that she could have a spot on his team. She was sooooo happy on the phone. :) She should be talking to her old coach even as I type this. He will be pumped.
Excellent, well done that girl!
College team FTW! You go, Li'l Pete.
:thumb:
....She lost all but one of her pool bouts learning the weapon as she went....
And psyched her opponents into a false sense of complacency. Clever girl, that one.
Lil' Griff's drumming on
Carol of the Bells at the Christmas concert was most excellent! A junior boy playing drums on In the Pocket truly stole the show though, my God such talent!
My 4-year-old tilts his head back and puts eyedrops in his own eyes. This kid is braver and stronger than any kid I know. :mg:
That's awesome. My 10 year old can't even swallow a pill.
My 4-year-old tilts his head back and puts eyedrops in his own eyes. This kid is braver and stronger than any kid I know. :mg:
I can't even do this.
Alrighty, listen up, my kids are awesome.
Thor scored his first goal ever, after 5 years of soccer and three of hockey. It was in indoor soccer and I DIDN'T SEE IT. But I am proud. I didn't see Hector's one and only goal either -it's almost like a superstition -they won't score if I'm watching....
I didn't see it because.... I was watching Hebe perform a judged Cello/voilin duet and then swim on Saturday... and swim some more today.....
She got the highest award from the music judge and then....
6 personal bests out of 7 races and a Junior Olympics cut for the 200 Breaststroke, despite just aging up. And not namby-pamby personal bests, either. She dropped 9 seconds on both of her 200 yard races (>5%) and whole seconds off all the others (at this level, 100ths of seconds are celebrated.
How cool is that! Jr. Olympics? Does that mean she has made the cut?
yes. although it sounds somewhat cooler than it is. It's actually below States, but at this age group, the JO times are fast and not much slower than States.
She just last night took even more time off her freestyle and beat her bestfriend/arch rival/nemesis for the first time :D
I can't tell you how sweet it was for me because that would make me evil
(but the kid is a beatch of the highest order who puts hebe down at every opportunity -Hebe wins, it's luck of the lane or because Whiny swallowed water/suffered goggles failure.... Whiny wins and brags. Whiny is older and faster in free and back, Hebe is faster in fly and breast. Until now bwahahahaha) (she also creamed her in the breaststroke, but that was a given, the free was a huge (pleasant) surprise)
I shouldn't be so amused, they're just kids..... karma will get me somehow
I usually do okay on the karma front, but a couple weeks ago I did the leap in the air yell, which I usually refrain from. Lil' Pete went to a just for fun team fencing tourney where she was the anchor and the (adult) anchor of an opposing team argued every touch and spent the day coaching his student how to steal touches by being an asshole. It was a fencer directed for fun event so he was spending his day intimidating teenagers including LP. So when they fenced, Lil' Pete cleaned his clock at anchor and knocked his squad out of the tourney. hmmm... maybe she was just the karma enforcement tool on that one.
Hebe's (rec level in a rec league) soccer team had 4 players at the start of the game, so forfeit to the travel team opponent and play a scrimmage game. A 5th player showed just as they were about to start, so they didn't mix up the teams, just played 4 and a goalie per side. When another player made it, they moved up to 5 and a goalie. No subs for us. 10 subs for them. our girls played the full hour and played their hearts out. Many shots on goal (other team's goalie was very good). Down 2-0 at half time -let me tell you that's bloody fantastic. When they have a full roster, they're usually down by more than that against the travel teams (why are they playing in this league? maybe they like winning more than trying ;) )
anyhoo, only 4-0 down with about 5 minutes to go, they were really tired and let in one more. At which point they would normally bring on an extra player (mercy rule) but.... And they kept on playing like troopers. A sixth goal crept over the line right on the buzzer. 6-0 sounds like a horrible loss, but it wasn't. We were so proud, and I was especially proud -head coach was not there, asst coach had lost his voice,Hhebe assumed a captain role and directed play on the field AND had 4 or so accurate and hard shots on goal from behind the center line. She rocks!
Daughter, I am not disappoint.
(We were in the middle of a snow storm and our schools are off this week, the other team is from a different city, so their schools are not off and they had so far to travel they most likely traveled before the storm to be on the safe side. Also regular rec and ed games are cancelled for poor weather, people tend to forget that doesn't apply to indoor winter season which is run by a private enterprise)
(why are they playing in this league? maybe they like winning more than trying ;) )
My brother was telling me yesterday, that he watched Freddie Garcia get pounded at Yankee stadium a couple years ago giving up a ton of runs but making an impression. He kept his head up threw quickly and had no mound meetings. He threw 8 innings in a losing effort and never looked like a loser. There is a life-lesson in that which Hebe has apparently figured out early.
...and she still isn't awake :lol:
Finally.... Hebe won a Championship event. 100 breaststroke. She's been competing for 6 years, has been top seed many times, had many seconds and medal positions, but this is the first win. And she got the cut she needed to go to the next level championships next weekend. She called Beest to tell him the news. First she told him about the cut (if she'd have got it last weekend she wouldn't have been eligable to swim today, which was sort of the plan... but she didn't, still short by 0.04 of a second....), and then she said "and I took first place". Me, i was all "she WWWOOONNNNNNN!!!!!!" :lol: She's pretty proud of herself, though :D And so am I. Even if it means I have to drive 80 miles to wait 4 hours for one race next Saturday......
Zing 2 set a school record for the 400m last night.
excellent! What was her time?
...wait this is swimming? The 400 IM? Or indoor track?
then the time will be meaningless to me. But still a fantastic achievement :)
yeah, same goes for swim #'s I have no idea what it means but if the kid is improving :thumb:
No pool records for us, though. Records is teh dogsbollocks.
End of Season for Hector's team. The were runners-up in the house championship game, but then Hector was awarded the SomebodyorOther memorial trophy for the "Peewee Goalie with the Most Heart" for the goalie who worked hard and always gave it that little bit extra. Son, I am proud. You earned it.
Thanks, guise -nice to see you back, xoB
Zing 2 set a school record for the 400m last night.
Finally remembered to ask Zing 2 her time.
400m in 59.6 seconds.
Finally remembered to ask Zing 2 her time.
400m in 59.6 seconds.
Awesome!
My 3200 meter relay team held the HS record for 20 years. My mom and I always said, though, that the 400m is the toughest race: full out for a full lap. I ran it, but liked 800m better!
Good on Zing 2.
And Hector is the bomb!
Finally remembered to ask Zing 2 her time.
400m in 59.6 seconds.
Wow! Is there a record board somewhere?
Wow! Is there a record board somewhere?
Yup. She'll have her name and time up in the high school field house.
cool. And Zing is such an appropriate name for a runner, too
Me again. Sorry. Middle School Swim Meet. Whole team were awesome and dropped time all over the place. Star was Hebe who won the breaststroke by over second. She's my hero. She could never win the damn thing, but now she's got a taste for it....... The high school swimmer timing in her lane said "that's faster than me!"
Excellent! Hebe's planning to swim in HS, right?
Yup. And her coach-to-be was at the meet and I introduced them
Summer swim and dive season is here! Hector took first in the dive last night against a strong team, and Hebe and Thor both took third. Then today, at the swim meet, Hebe and Hector took first in all of their events and Thor got a first in his relay and 4th in the 50 free -and he's one of the youngest in the age group! Partciluarly stunning were Hector's victories -his diving has always been somewhat erratic, and two of his first places were in his individuals -one of which was the backstroke -easily all my kids' worst stroke. After 6 months off. Unbelievably Awesome. Very proud and especially happy because our team won against a team which has a few parents who sneer openly at our tiny neighborhood pool :D
Minifob earned his white belt! :)
Aww...how cute! Hmm...just curious. What's the order of the belt color? Is this Taekwondo?
Yes, it's Tae Kwon Do. The order is
No Belt
White
Gold
Orange
Green
Purple
Blue
Red
2nd Brown
1st Brown
Black
They also do "stripes" on the end of each belt (made of colored electrical tape) to designate partial completion of certain belt requirements, and to give the younger kids a more ongoing sense of accomplishment. To earn the white belt you have to be able to recite the student creed and class closing routine from memory, and demonstrate proper form on a few basic kicks and punches.
My girl has decided she IS a swimmer. It's summer vacation. She gets up at 5:30 and does a 2-hour long-course practice for high school swimmers... then she goes to our summer pool and does a 75 minute practice with her summer team... then she coaches for two hours as an assistant to her stroke coach. And she's happy the whole time. And excited, and yabbers about how awesome the drills were en route between the two pools. And goes back to the pool later in the day for recreation splashing. And then for Dive practice.
But more than that.... She had her first big win 6 months ago and hasn't looked back. That was great. And she's been winning events at our dual meets -which is cool -she just aged up so some girls could be 18 months older..... But as I was looking over the times today, I saw that she was the fastest in the pool every meet, every stroke she swam. She's 13.5 and she's beating 17yo boys in the fly and the free (breastroke is her stroke, so we kinda expect that there....). that's pretty fuckin awesome. She didn't swim the backstroke race. (She's crap at that, comparitively ;) )
So, do we get reduced citizenship fees for potential Olympians :)
That's awesome, monster! If she makes it to the Olympics, I will actually watch them for once.
Thanks. And I'm impressed with minifob's first belt! (I posted then read back...) ...but how does he hold his uniform closed, pre-belt?
The uniforms have two pairs of little ties for the inside and outside flap. The belt doesn't hold together very well anyway, the kids are always having to tighten or completely re-tie the belts during practice.
Minifob earned his white belt! :)
Great!
I remember when my son earned his orange belt. I got those professional photos with the rapiers. I remember the pride. I'm happy for you both.
Championships for Hebe. 4th in the 200IM, 5th in the 50 Breast and 7th in the 50 fly. And her medley relay team was 3rd. Not too shabby for her first year in the 13-14age group :D
My son holding his son. Both are first children.
Congrats Chris and son and son of son!
Chris, that is wonderful, wonderful.
thanks, :)
schweet! congrats gramps and dad (and mom).
Zing #1 now successfully installed at college. Zing #2's move-in is next Monday.
Which means next Tuesday Mrs. Z and I are empty nesters - :sniff: with a little :) too.
Awww, I bet that's kind of bittersweet.
When older bro went to college he cried and mom and dad cried when we left him there. It still chokes me up.
When they took me to drop me off, after everything was unloaded into my room, I was like "OK see ya be careful going home thanks for everything I love you so much...where's the party?"
Might be birth order. We had a very similar experience with Zings 1 & 2.
Zing #2 took 5 AP courses in her senior year. We just got mail that she has earned a certificate of AP Scholar with distinction from collegeboard.
Excellent. Does that involve money?
Wow!!! Lots to be proud of at the House of Zicato!
Aden was awarded best forward at his club footy presentation day, and Mav has been nominated for one of the big clubs for training and development over the next month.
League of course. None of that sissy pingpong. ;)
CASI!!!! You're back! And I still haven't sent that email. :(
I am...I was going to text you while I was on holiday, but didn't want to confuse the issue with different mobile numbers....(now that is a really crap excuse from me).
Did you get the text I sent you explaining my slackness?
Did you get the text I sent you explaining my slackness?
No. When did you send it?
probably about two weeks ago I think. It pretty much just said sorry I'm a slacko and I've been thinking of you and hope you're having a nice time. The usual stuff. ;)
Where are the chatter police? :cop:
;)
Where's the emoticon for slap on hand?
Lil' Griff 1 local power house with 4 straight state championships 0. Very much a team effort.
Excellent. Does that involve money?
No. No money, but looks good on a student resume.
In other news, Zing #1 is in her second year of college and is already a junior. It's the result of a bunch of AP courses and a couple of summer courses.
My son is going to be speaking for a group called
Cruizin not Boozin
He wants to help stop someone else from making the same mistakes he did.
Video story
hereThat's awesome, classic. You have much reason for pride, right there.
That is wonderful, awesome, touching. Bless his heart. :heartpump
You must be so very proud.
My son is going to be speaking for a group called Cruizin not Boozin
He wants to help stop someone else from making the same mistakes he did.
Video story here
change one person's trajectory--WIN.
Outstanding, classic, and give my hearty congratulations to your son.
thanks all.
We are working on his speech now. Its a lot harder to do, emotionally, than either of us expected.
Good work there, very heavy message.
Good for him, Classic, and you. That takes courage. You're right to be proud.
Sorta related but off topic for thread, I may be getting a little one with a TBI in my classroom. Someone closer to his district might get him but I'd like the challenge so we'll see.
Challenging, but very rewarding, I say. I really hope it works out for you Griff.
Sortaaside - Things have been happening here that have astounded me. And I mean in just the past couple weeks. The type of things the "know-it-all" docs & all said would NEVER happen. Can't wait to stick that in their face next meeting :)
Sweet. Outa be a thread for that and Clods Austimass-kicking food program.
Couple of pretty joyful kids here this weekend, Lil Pete got her class rank and Lil Griff won her field hockey final all is well for the moment.
Congrats Griff and the grifflets.
Mine has turned to VERY nervous. 3 more speeches booked in less than 2 weeks and another at a rather prestigious local university pending. Apparently he is in demand at the moment.
Can I borrow this thread for a moment? I'm not a parent, but I want to use it as a Proud Aunt thread because I don't want to start a new thread.
My nephew, recently graduated from Univ of KY, and having completed Officer Candidate School, will be commissioned in the Marines as a Second Lieutenant, tomorrow. He will probably be a pilot (I'm unclear as to if there's a "second" choice and if pilot is set in stone...but that's been the path.)
You can see what an accomplishment this is, and you can imagine how proud we all are of him. He's a neat young man: smart, funny, good-looking, strong. It's hard to believe he's the kid who was dubbed Monkey Boy because he climbed everything in sight when he was little.
Having a proud aunt is one of the best things in the world.
Thanks Lamp. That was very kind of you to say.
STATE CUT! Hebe's going to State Swim Championships! She swam a 1:08 in the breaststroke -dropping another 3 seconds!
Well done, Monkey Boy!
And well done (again) to Hebe!
We hired a tutor for our daughter to help her with the trombone. The guy's really good. I knew he was in a military band, but today my wife heard him casually mention to our daughter that he played for the President earlier today.
SHUTOUT!!!!!!!!!
yes, I know, ..........but this time it was Thor! His first!
OK, they were playing the girls and he got really lucky, but ya know, he still stopped 4 and now he has a shutout under his belt he can feel like a real goalie. And he was the first of the two team goalies to get one. Which is confidence boosting, and that's what he needs.
they were playing the girls and he got really lucky
:eyebrow: how old is this kid?
but in this context "shutout" is no good. ;)
go Thor go!
Beeeeeeeaaat Odin!:D
Lil Pete just heard back from her #2 school, as they are on rolling admissions, she's in in if she wants them. As a Dad, I'm more excited by her 56K over 4 years academic scholarship offer putting her school costs ballpark with a certain blue and white state school.
Baffled.
But you seem pleased, so - Yay Li'l Pete!
That wasn't my clearest writing.:) She is applying to colleges and just heard back from her first. They are offering her $14,000 a year in academic scholarships to go there. This puts the price tag of this private college on about equal footing as our state's largest public institution. This school is presently her 2nd favorite, but we won't hear from #s 1 and 3 for a long time due to differing admissions processes.
Excellent for her. My daughter was in what sounds like a similar situation. She went to the private school. Bonus for Dad - Its about 15 minutes from home.
Thanks Classic. I'd been told/read that it could work out this way. My Sis-in-Law has been railing against private colleges. Its nice to know she got it wrong even if I'll never say a word.
Hooray for scholarships! The private colleges I applied to offered me 1.) no scholarship whatsoever, and 2.) a whopping $500 per year. My dad just laughed and laughed as he shuffled me off to the state university (which, in their kindness, did give me a completely free ride, so there was that consolation.)
Thor got the MVP award for his team in this week's tournament. So proud (and surprised but pleased and grateful). I almost cried. He's not a major goal-scorer, he's not better than the other goalie, but he does try so hard and he's improved no end in the last few weeks so it's lovely -and very confirming for him- to have this acknowledged so publicly.
Good for Thor! That's quite an honor. That's what sportsmanship is, trying your best and working hard.
Our state is undergoing YET ANOTHER BUDGET REDUCTION. It's been rough, very rough. One area that has taken a beating is the funding for public schools. Ironically, our state constitution says that education is a primary responsibility of the state. Yet, there are cuts and more cuts.
A short while ago, I got a call from the school office where SonofV goes to school. I picked up, and it was SonofV. He said there was going to be a protest march, and he read me the "mission statement". He then asked if it was ok with me if he went.
You betcha!
He's Time's Person of the Year!
I'm very proud of SonofV!
http://www.myballard.com/2011/12/14/ballard-students-protest-possible-budget-cuts/
http://www.king5.com/news/local/Seattle-student-walkout-to-protest-education-cuts-135576903.html
http://today.seattletimes.com/2011/12/seattle-students-planning-to-walk-out-today/
UPDATE: 5 p.m. Hundreds of students from Ballard, Roosevelt, Ingraham, Garfield and Nathan Hale high schools left classes Wednesday afternoon and walked or rode the bus to the University of Washington’s Red Square. There, they held a rally along with UW students, chanting slogans like “We’re the future of our nation, no more cuts to education.”
Seattle school administrators released this prepared statement:
“We certainly appreciate our students’ involvement and interest in the state’s current funding issues, especially K-12 funding. We are proud of our civic-minded students. However, we encourage our students to stay in class… Discipline is up to the principal’s discretion. Typically, absences are excused with parent/guardian permission.”
I told SonofV that he *will* be marked absent, that is the price he pays for his civil disobedience. I will send a note with him to school saying that he was absent with my explicit permission. He was really amped when I saw him this afternoon.
I understand the school district's position, and I support it. I have a long consistent record of "encouraging my student to stay in class". I support his learning, and today, class was outside, on the road, in Red Square with hundreds of his fellow students, making themselves heard, making a difference.
Do you realise he is now Time's person of the year?
Do you realise he is now Time's person of the year?
Our state is undergoing YET ANOTHER BUDGET REDUCTION. It's been rough, very rough. One area that has taken a beating is the funding for public schools. Ironically, our state constitution says that education is a primary responsibility of the state. Yet, there are cuts and more cuts.
A short while ago, I got a call from the school office where SonofV goes to school. I picked up, and it was SonofV. He said there was going to be a protest march, and he read me the "mission statement". He then asked if it was ok with me if he went.
You betcha!
He's Time's Person of the Year!
NOTED!
So post Christmas concert, Lil Griff's band director approached us, "The boys don't want to here it but 'Lil G' is the best drummer in the school right now." 10th grade girl sounded awesome playing teh jazz. Super proud Dad.
Thor scored his first real goal. :D
I don't count the one from the tourney in Canada where the other team were so bad our team lined up all the poor players who never scored before and had them scpre.
He scored this one with his butt and the other team objected, but it counted. :lol: Then he broke his stick and got a penalty (the only one of the game) because he didn't know you have to drop a broken stick immediately. We got the stick replaced because it was brand new and broke at the joint -clearly not glued properly.
But just to reiterate
Thor scored!
(And we did not total the car on the icy roads, unlike many other unfortunate travellers this morning..... two cards in one month would have sucked)
How the heck did he score with his butt??? :lol:
Well, he was going for the rebound, but fell so it rebounded off his butt.
A goal is scored when the puck completely crosses the goal line and enters the net. A goal may be disallowed under the following circumstances:
the puck is directed in by an attacker's high stick (above the crossbar), or when the puck has been directed, batted, thrown or kicked into the net by an attacking player other than with a stick (angling one's skate so the puck deflects off it into the goal is allowed).
Butt dial , butt score , Ehh
Congrats !!!
Then he broke his stick and got a penalty (the only one of the game) because he didn't know you have to drop a broken stick immediately. We got the stick replaced because it was brand new and broke at the joint -clearly not glued properly.
I played in an adult league with a guy who didn't know that. Newer sticks are not worth a shit, a few years back I played with an old school Christian ash stick and I could bust up opposing players sticks at will, I think I paid $13 for it back in 1986.
But anyway, this is my daughter graduating from Wright State University in May.
WSU is a great school. My friend works there and LOVES it. Congrats to your daughter. :)
Congratulations to your daughter!
I guess I'm officially an old buzzard. I congratulate your daughter on her degree. But I shake my head and sigh at flip-flops worn to college graduation.
I guess this would actually be a proud godfather message.
I found out this weekend that my goddaughter cut her hair for Locks of Love - the non-profit that makes wigs for kids undergoing chemo etc. And this is the second time she's done so.
I think it's really neat for a girl in today's society, that places so much emphasis on looks, to go through the effort of growing their hair out just to cut it off.
I know a young lady who has done that a couple times. It's a thoughtful and compassionate thing to do. Good for her.
[size=4]GOOOOOAAAALLLLLL![/size] Scored by number 15, Thor Beestmonster, using his stick in the manner intended after being in the right place at the appropriate moment. He snuck it out from the goalie before he had it firmly enough to get a whistle. :D :D :D
:jig:
I bet he was thrilled!
hard to say -he promptly got benched for refusing to come off the ice when called :lol: (yes he was) as were we. It's been a long time coming. We all deserved it.
I'm not sure if this goes here. Lil Pete got a letter from a private college last night offering her an even larger academic scholarship than her first choice school has offered her. She did really well on her SATs and her class rank is pretty high. I think what is happening is that 2nd tier private colleges really want these kids in their programs to keep their numbers looking good. I guess what I'm saying is that if your kid did well in high school and wants a particular program that is available at one of those schools, don't be put off immediately by the price. Lil' had her interview with Middlebury a couple nights ago. They will not give an academic scholarship because all the kids who get in there will be top students. They will give need based scholarships instead, which makes sense if you want a diverse group with uniformly high expectations...
Congrats to you all - I'm sure that was a team effort. Good Luck Lil Pete!
Thanks! I put that up mainly because a dwellar, I can't remember who, wrote that academic scholarships don't exist and only need-based scholarships are available. I just wanted to note that the lack of academic scholarships isn't universal. You just have to look.
Thanks! I put that up mainly because a dwellar, I can't remember who, wrote that academic scholarships don't exist and only need-based scholarships are available. I just wanted to note that the lack of academic scholarships isn't universal. You just have to look.
Both my nephews are getting through Purdue with nearly 100% academic and other type scholarships - they worked really, really hard to get them. Their high school years were
BUSY.
That's awesome, Li'l Pete.
I need to start really paying attention to this. Second tier private schools, eh? Maybe they are an option to the in-state public universities that are getting less and less government support.
If you get great SAT scores paired with good-enough grades (admissions officers understand that sometimes the brilliant don't want to be bothered with schoolwork below their level, and the valedictorian often isn't the brightest kid at the school,) there are going to be several good schools that want to give your child a completely free ride. The trick is, it depends on who needs to recruit what type of student that year to fill out which programs, and you have to be flexible rather than starting out with your heart deadset on one particular school. But I hear sometimes it's hard to convince teenagers to be flexible. :)
When I was trying out my potential new gym yesterday, I met one of the moms from Hebe's winter swim team in the locker room. She told me that she was so glad that Hebe and another high school swimmer came back to swim meets with the younger kids once their swim season was over, because they showed the little ones what was possible, and were also so nice and friendly to them it really gave her daughter a desire to be just like them (they are both breaststrokers, as is her daughter). She called my daughter a "wonderful role model"! No-one ever called me that -maybe the spell is broken! the fruit can fall away from the tree. :lol:
Nice! I have similar hopes. :)
I bet that's really nice to hear.
When I was trying out my potential new gym yesterday, I met one of the moms from Hebe's winter swim team in the locker room. She told me that she was so glad that Hebe and another high school swimmer came back to swim meets with the younger kids once their swim season was over, because they showed the little ones what was possible, and were also so nice and friendly to them it really gave her daughter a desire to be just like them (they are both breaststrokers, as is her daughter). She called my daughter a "wonderful role model"! No-one ever called me that -maybe the spell is broken! the fruit can fall away from the tree. :lol:
That is stellar. :)
No-one ever called me that -maybe the spell is broken! the fruit can fall away from the tree. :lol:
Congrats, Monster. That's a telling story right there.
I suspect you were looked up to more than you know. We seldom know the ripples we make as we move through life.
Living through my kids accomplishments at the present ...
My daughter will graduate from college this spring. She is currently doing her student teaching.
Her first quarter review was yesterday from her classroom supervisor.
"She is ALWAYS prepared. She is quietly confident and always treats the students with respect...
She exudes professionalism in all areas ... Excellent Job!
She has exceeded my expectations in all areas. It is obvious she is ready for her own classroom."
Amazing doesn't quite cover it. She totally rocked this! I'm incredibly proud of her!
Oh and we got her final Praxis grades back yesterday as well. She passed ALL of them on the first try -
Every one - even the one which will allow her to teach ANY grade K-12.
Vicarious pleasures are sometimes put down, but when it comes to kids (and grandkids) they can't be beat. ;)
Amazing doesn't quite cover it. She totally rocked this! I'm incredibly proud of her!
Be sure to tell HER... preferably in front of others.
Thanks Lamp. I have and I do - repeatedly.
I gotta be careful though as son1 is still in college and takes academics more as I did. :(
which means he is struggling. He has Anatomy, Chemistry AND Physics this semester. Next week he has tests in all three classes.
OMFG - I just hope he survives.
Thank you all, I am so very proud of her. Now, where's that fall..... :rolleyes:
Max has inherited his fathers love of fishing. Not sure if it's really nature. Might have more to do with nurture, but who knows.
Anyway, he's got his head in the paper with a whiting he caught last weekend for a fishing competition he participated in.
http://quest.newspaperdirect.com/epaper/viewer.aspxPage 20. :) Mine just comes straight up to the page.
Ah.... which paper? :blush:
Shyte. I must have put the wrong link. Let me check it.
Thanks Griff. The article doesn't mention anything about Max. I think they've just gone for the cute vote to get people sucked in. lol
His father is very proud. I'm just happy they enjoy going fishing together. Max is actually quite outstanding for his age. He pulled that one in all by himself. He didn't bait the hook though. :)
Awesome - Give him a slap on the back [strike]of the head[/strike] for me.
That boy is serious about fishing. Very cute. :)
some of us are still waiting on a good more specific link *please*
Can anyone blow that thing up? I don't have photoshop or anything on this computer.
Here he is in action today.
He caught more fish than his father!
Oh the shame... :rolleyes:
[ATTACH]37623[/ATTACH]
OMG - Thats awesome!
You should commission a painter to recreate.
OMG - Thats awesome!
You should commission a painter to recreate.
I agree.
Have you been eating his catch?
OH yes, he's always very proud when we eat his fish, although he has to have the lions share. He's a little trooper. :)
That's awesome. I agree about getting a portrait made, or just get a really good quality print framed. So cute.
Isn't there a program that does that digitally?
My daughter plays trombone in her middle shool's wind ensemble band. It's the best of several bands in her school. They just went to the District XII Band Assesment today, where a panel of judges grades the performance of each band in the district. They got a perfect score. That hasn't happened for a middle school band here since they started doing these assesments in the sixties.
She has really worked hard at this, has improved tremendously over the last year, and sounds great. When I hear this band, I have a hard time remembering they are kids.
You can do it in photoshop, but I don't have it.
I'm sure I could download a similar program for free, but I probably wont.
I need to take the good camera down and get a sharper pic. This one is a little blurry, but it's still a nice snap.
My daughter plays trombone in her middle shool's wind ensemble band. It's the best of several bands in her school. They just went to the District XII Band Assesment today, where a panel of judges grades the performance of each band in the district. They got a perfect score. That hasn't happened for a middle school band here since they started doing these assesments in the sixties.
She has really worked hard at this, has improved tremendously over the last year, and sounds great. When I hear this band, I have a hard time remembering they are kids.
That's awesome glatt. I used to play in the brass section when I was in school. Our band was pretty terrible, but we had fun.
Our choirs on the other hand, were awesome!
I always wished I played a musical instrument. That is so cool! Good for her! My uncle and nephew play trombone. It looks like it would be hard to be precise. It must take a lot of practice and talent.
Re portraits from photos.....
This is a painting from a photo of my kids and their friends:
If you ever need an artist, this is who I would recommend commisioning, especially of there's water and nature involved in the pic. He's in the US, though.....
http://www.johnmegahan.com/index.php
And no, I don't own this picture, but one day I might......
That was the last wrinkly swim suit Hebe ever owned -that was the first summer of competitive swimming.......
Wow! He really caught their image. That's beautiful.
oh, and wtg glattlette, the judges at those things are so hard to please!
Here he is in action today.
He caught more fish than his father!
Oh the shame... :rolleyes:
[ATTACH]37623[/ATTACH]
noodled around with this *wonderful* picture...
What do you think? There's a local photo printing shop that makes among other things photoprints on canvas. This is what I had in mind, painterly like.
[ATTACH]37971[/ATTACH]
I like the idea. So I thought I'd try my hand at it too. This is the "oilify" filter in gimp, with the pole deselected so it doesn't get obliterated.
[ATTACH]37976[/ATTACH]
Here he is in action today.
He caught more fish than his father!
Oh the shame... :rolleyes:
[ATTACH]37623[/ATTACH]
Betcha' goin' fishin' all o' da' time
Baby goin' fishin' too.
Bet yo' life, Yo' sweet wife
Catch mo' fish than you.
Many fish bites if ya' got good bait,
Here's a little tip that I would like to relate.
Many fish bites if ya' got good bait.
I'm a goin fishin', Yes I'm goin' fishin,
And my baby goin' fishin' too.
I went on down to my favorite fishin' hole
Baby grab me a pole an' line.
Throw my pole on in, caught a nine poun' catfish
Now ya' know I brought him home for suppertime.
Provin' any fish bites if ya' got good bait,
Here's a little tip that I would like to relate.
Many fish bites if ya' got good bait.
I'ma goin fishin', Yes I'm goin' fishin,
And my baby goin' fishin' too.
Baby brother 'bout to run me outta my mind,
Say, can I go fishin' wi' chu?
I took 'I'm on down to the fishin' hole
Now what do you think that he did do?
Pulled a great big fish out da' bottom o' da pond,
Now he laughed and jumped 'cause he was real gone.
Many fish bites if ya' got good bait.
I'm a goin fishin', Yes I'm goin' fishin,
And my baby goin' fishin' too
Put him in da' pot baby put him in da' pan
Honey cook him 'til he nice an' brown.
Make a batch o' buttermilk, Hoe cakes Mama
An' ya' chew them thangs an' ya' chomp 'em on down
Singin' any fish bites if ya' got good bait,
Here's a little tip that I would like to relate.
Many fish bites if ya' got good bait.
I'm a goin fishin', Yes I'm goin' fishin,
And my baby goin' fishin' too.
Play da' blues...
Betcha' goin' fishin' all o' da' time
Baby goin' fishin' too.
Bet yo' life, Yo' sweet wife
She gonna Catch mo' fish than you.
Many fish bites if ya' got good bait,
Oh Here's a little tip that I would like to relate.
Many fish bites if ya' got good bait.
I'ma goin fishin', Mama's goin' fishin,
And the baby goin' fishin' too.
I prefer conceptual artists like Rothko. Here is the image with "Average Blur". It's deceptively simple - only the combination of sky, sand and water could combine to make this particular hue.
Because it occupies the same space as the original, it forces you to recall the original, to try to recreate it in your mind. But the deep expanse of joyless color is in many ways the opposite of the original, expressing an existentialist pain. Is the boy still there in your mind? Or does the power of the art wash him away? Each of us will react differently.
Enjoy.
Whooooaaaaahhhhhhhh :bong: duuuuudeeeee
Dude! Seriously! My mind is BLOWN man.
Rothko. Yeah, he was cool. :artist:
Yeah, he was cool but he was an Abstract Expressionist and not a Conceptual Artist.
I knew dat. All my electives were art history and literature.
But AE is a concept. ;)
Ah see I didn't take art history but I hung out with people who did.
Heh. I'm not the one who corrected you. ;)
Is Rothko the guy who sold the inside the egg shell egg scrambler, and the pocket fisherman?
[ATTACH]37980[/ATTACH]
Yes he is. And he really really worked!
Here, I Rothkoised it.
[ATTACH]37981[/ATTACH]
I think you Seurated it. But Rothko made a really good seurat knife! ;)
Serrated it? With my Ginsu filter.
not my kid, but I admire him for his convictions.
Apparently Swimmer Girl is also Polo Girl. Not only did she rock the JV game, hardly out of the pool the entire game, winning all 4 sprints and scoring two of the eleven goals (in her second game ever)...... she then stayed on the roster for the Varsity game, played pretty much a whole quarter and SCORED A GOAL -one of the 7. In her thrid game ever.
(side note -some of you may remember her swim coach doesn't want her to play polo because she should swim all year and it may ruin her strokes...... swim coach's daughter is also on the varsity team, swim coach's husband played and is very "high up" in both worlds...... they were watching the wwarm up and were impressed by number 12. "who is that they both asked. When revealed it was SG, swim coach looked sad and didn't say much more other than words to the effect of "I'm not surprise *sigh*" :lol:)
side side note almost derailling the post.... I read Michael Phelps' biog a couple of years ago. Before I knew coach and husband. Banana Lady read it when she was here this week -they are both mentioned several times! Now I have to reread it :lol:
[size=1]Translations:
JV = Junior Varsity = second team. Most freshmen will be on their school's JV team.
Varsity = top team.
Sprint = start of each of the 4 periods, one swimmer for each team races for posession of the ball, which is dropped at the halfway line
goal = gooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooal! ;) [/size]
Brilliant! I bet polo is a blast to play.
I know this doesn't really compare to a lot of the other achievements by our wonderful kids, but I'm still a proud parent.
Last night, Maxi had his first real 'sleep over' at one of my friends houses. My friend has her grand daughter staying with her for the last week of the holidays, and her and Max have been playing almost every day together. Yesterday, Imahni was here and when it was time for her to go home, Max just lost the plot and became inconsolable so Lyn (nanny) suggested Max come back to their place for a sleep over. I was surprised when he said he'd like to do that and asked him many times if he was sure, whilst reminding him that I wouldn't be there, but he was adamant.
So anyway, he slept all night and had a lovely time, so tonight they're swapping houses and Imahni is coming here for a sleep over. I hope things work out just as well here. :)
Should this be in the ooh ick thread? ;)
lol I wouldn't think so Zen. They're only little kidlettes!
Reminds me of another story from the festival I went to.
The Critical Incident Team's main job turns out to be looking for stray children. There were a few youngies that were AWOL for an hour or two. The funny one was when a parent visited the First Aid Tent one morning to report that her son had not come back to the tent the previous night.
"Oh, how old is he?"
"Sixteen".
"Congratulations!" [High fives] "He knows to use condoms, right?"
:lol:
I just found out today that my son and I will be speaking with the First Lady of PA
in conjunction with MADD at his HS.
I just found out today that my son and I will be speaking with the First Lady of PA
in conjunction with MADD at his HS.
you must be a proud parent indeed. Way to Go!
thanks V - It is gonna be a special day indeed - one way or the other.
[SIZE="1"](just got some of my minions working...finally)[/SIZE]
Yeah, good stuff classic. :)
Thanks Ali. I'm actually starting to get a little nervous.
I just found out the press is coming and apparently a few dozen people I know well.
I've no trouble speaking in public, but this will be a first .... EEK!
You'll do fine classic. Just imagine them all naked. ;)
Congrats Classic!
You'll do well, the fact you were chosen is a positive indicator :)
thanks - I actually just wrote a few things down and practiced my flow and timing.
I've NEVER prepared before. I usually just let the conversation flow...
Now that I'm being timed and have no Q & A at the end - its just different.
I have another speech this Monday with him that I'm gonna use as practice.
Wait, what about him? What does he need to do to prepare and how does he feel about it?
He is well prepared. I've already written his speech, many months ago.
It's been revised and updated several times.
Its six pages and he reads it. He cannot handle doing anything "off the cuff"
FTR - we've been speaking to groups at businesses, AA meeting, Colleges, Universities,
Detention Centers and Elementary, junior & High Schools for months. We've done groups from a few dozen to over 400.
We've been on the radio locally and partnered with a local Arena football team.
I'm not worried about him at all. His shit is set. I'm the wildcard.
ETA -
How he feels ...
This all started as HIS THING. He wants to do it. He loves to do it. He wants other kids to learn from what he did.
He doesn't want them making the same mistakes he made. He wants kids to know what he was like before
so that when they see him now they realize the ramifications of driving impaired - even just once.
it just takes "once", don't it?
break a leg man!
More water polo goodness. Aqua Girl played both JV and Varsity Games Tuesday and tonight. Tonight 3 JV goals and she got to Sprint in one periond of the varsity game AND WON! (That's where they race for the ball at the begining of the period). And she's named to the Varsity roster for the tourney this weekend.
She is strong and amazing! Yay!
monster! Did you know you had these great genetics?
She is. And her eyes are burning :( (it was a home meet)
monster! Did you know you had these great genetics?
no idea. beest and I are doughy lumps...... We just put them in water from birth becasue I got freaked out about all the toddler drowning stories and didn't swim brilliantly myself...... (I wanted water births, but ended up with c-sections)
(I wanted water births, but ended up with c-sections)
And your daughter's been subconciously trying to correct that ever since! (Hector too, he's just gone with frozen water... And Thor, well, ah, he makes messes that have to be cleaned up with water, right? ;))
He is well prepared. I've already written his speech, many months ago.
It's been revised and updated several times.
Its six pages and he reads it. He cannot handle doing anything "off the cuff"
FTR - we've been speaking to groups at businesses, AA meeting, Colleges, Universities,
Detention Centers and Elementary, junior & High Schools for months. We've done groups from a few dozen to over 400.
We've been on the radio locally and partnered with a local Arena football team.
I'm not worried about him at all. His shit is set. I'm the wildcard.
ETA -
How he feels ...
This all started as HIS THING. He wants to do it. He loves to do it. He wants other kids to learn from what he did.
He doesn't want them making the same mistakes he made. He wants kids to know what he was like before
so that when they see him now they realize the ramifications of driving impaired - even just once.
Well? How did it go??
Well ... long story short, since I am nowhere near as gifted as others here with written communication.
I did zero prep. I had five bullet points written down. I was the 4th speaker - immediately following the First Lady
(who was VERY nice). We also got to meat the Attorney General, Jim Whelan and a few other prominent politicians.
The first speakers had professionally prepared speeches . They were well thought out and well practiced. I was wingin' it.
They also happened to discuss 3 of my 5 points before I even got to the podium.
I was nervous as hell - this wasn't a normal group for me. There were about 50 people and I knew many of them.
I got up there and halfway through my speech noticed that the parents of the "other boy" (the ones who are suing my son)
were in attendance. Fukkin assholes.
I got emotional a couple times and had to pause - not a rare occurrence for me.
Anyway, I finished really strong and there were many in the audience reaching for tissues.
I got a rousing applause from the crowd.
Unfortunately, the woman that followed was as exiting as dry white toast. :(
Many people came up to us afterward to congratulate me and meet my son. He got a great photo-op with the First Lady.
She was shaking his hand and he just gave her a nice hug. She was genuinely moved.
Funny part is that the security detail protecting her got pretty nervous. Gotta love the meatheads.
Suing your son? I must have missed that. Jesus Christ that's cold.
Well done to you though, sounds like your piece went just fine. And well done to your lad too. What a brilliant kid to try and bring something positive out of what happened to him. You must be so proud of him.
*hugs to both*
@ Monstah: Expect we'll be seeing your lass in the 2016 Olympics then aye? :)
thanks Dana, I'm extremely proud of him right now.
Suing your son? I must have missed that. Jesus Christ that's cold.
Yeah, we never got that part of the story, that I know of. Was this a friend in the same car, or another person in a different vehicle? No pressure to discuss it if you don't want to, was just curious. I'm proud of everything your son has chosen to do with his new path in life, and I'm proud of you for supporting him in all the ways you do, especially the not-public ones. You're a good dad, classic.
I think Class shared that part with me off board. I think sometimes we don't understand all the pressure on him and his kid. Good on you Classic.
thanks guys. Yeh the other boy ...
/backstory/ the one that drove my son to the party and subsequently got kicked out after a fight with the young man who hosted the party ... over a girl and then woke my son up and told my son to drive because he was "too drunk" to do so.
He suffered a minor concussion and was released from the hospital after 2 days.
He went back to school that fall, played football, lacrosse and hockey. He graduated and went to college where he is doing well. /end backstory/
... is now suing my son for PERMANENT physical, emotional and mental "damage."
Anyway, my son and I made it into a local newspaper and our message was spread.
Trying to focus on the good.
thanks again. We have about 15 speeches set up in the next 2 months. Its gonna be a busy prom season for us.
I'm sorry classic. There is certainly enough to deal with. But you and your son are doing good things and I think that's wonderful.
Thanks.
The family has turned into assholes. OR - - - we didn't realize they were assholes until now.
I speak not only for my family, but many others as well.
They've done some other really bizarre things unrelated to this.
The mother is definitely certifiable.
On the other hand, I've learned that even a moment of MY time spent on them has been wasted.
I don't have the desire nor the energy for them. Thats what asshole lawyers are for.
I have given ours enough ammo to sink them 50 times over.
They will not benefit from this - one way or the other.
He suffered a minor concussion and was released from the hospital after 2 days.
He went back to school that fall, played football, lacrosse and hockey. He graduated and went to college where he is doing well. /end backstory/
... is now suing my son for PERMANENT physical, emotional and mental "damage."
The
Fuuuuuuuuckkk????
get in line. When someone can explain it to me and make some sense ...
even after battling this for almost a year ... smh
Imma esplain it to you real simple.
Greed.
Lawyer on percentage.
Assholes.
QED.
If you're still not convinced, add extra assholishness.
How exactly do they justify bankrupting my family again?
Oh, add in "and sleep at night" for extra credit.
OK, focusing on positive stuff...
My daughter is graduating from college - next month :eek:
with more honors than I can recall. She's always winning some damn thing lately.
She said to me in a call last night -
"I've got too many medals and stuff. They won't be able to see my dress" :eyebrow:
Really? Really. Thats what she was concerned about.
Well that and she was disqualified from being valedictorian because she took 2, yes two,
classes during her sophomore year summer from another school to save money.
"I've got too many medals and stuff. They won't be able to see my dress"
:lol: Nice.
[thinks about time zones] What the heck are you doing awake at this hour, C-man?
[thinks about time zones] What the heck are you doing awake at this hour, C-man?
Applying for jobs! Trying to get a jump on the Monday email alerts I get of positions available.
Hoping that being one of the first to apply helps. Sadly, it hasn't yet.
My congratulations to you classic. You are truly a good dad.
thanks, and to add to the list...
The state chapter of the Brain Injury Association would like to do an interview on/with him for their next issue.
He is Very happy and now nervous. :)
[thinks about time zones] What the heck are you doing awake at this hour, C-man?
Damn 5:45 came WAY TOO FAST this am.
It was a triple coffee morning.
I'm a parent, and I'm proud, but I'm proud of my COUSIN, C, who got to meet the President at the White House!! I have the picture and everything!
wooT!!!!
There is a special hell for the other boy's parents, classic. You are a good man and a good dad and you will come out on top in the end. You're right not to think about it. That's what asshole lawyers are for. Congrats to your daughter!
Actually, now I think about you did mention something, but that part slipped my mind. Assholes.
Major congrats to your big little girl for acing the honours board :p And to your lad for having the sheer bloody gumption to do this scary ass stuff and do it well enough that people clamour to hear what he has to say.
As we near the end of the regular Polo season, The Junior Varsity and Varsity teams are going to tournaments in different places this weekend. Swimmer girl has been playing on both teams (over that last two weeks, she has participated in 16 games!) Just got the roster, and she made the Varsity team. Good job we left space on that letter jacket! (She didn't want to, but -superstitious though I pretend to be- that's too expensive to fix, i figured she'd get there eventually ;) ) She worked hard for that spot and truly earned it, so I'm very proud of her.
....and she made it. post-season roster announced today. She's a little bummed that tomorrow is JV night where the JV players are honored and the JV game is played last and now she's officially Varsity, she won't be allowed to play or get honored. But hey, it's their last game and not hers. She gets it. And she'll get extra swag. And I get to get broker :lol:
Cool thanks. Intent is a little while away, but she's already had one recruitment letter for swimming
...I understood some of that. Congrats :)
approximate translation:
It was a game of two halves, but at the end of the day, the girl done good...
;)
ahhh, ye shouldda said :P
This time... Thor!
There were 5 14up boys in the pool trying and failing to play gutterball because 2 on 3 is so uneven (gutterball is kind of like polo but the only rule is hold the ball on the gutter at your end for 3 seconds to get a point) .... so we (the parents on deck) said "ask Thor to play". And they did. And he was in like a shot. He's 10, it was kind of a charity move -both of his siblings had whole bunches of friends at the pool tonight but none of his were there..... he totally held his own! With high school polo players. Ok being little and there being no rules, he could get away with some stuff that wouldn't go down in polo, but I'm thinking maybe we found his sport..... (he has been taking polo classes so he's not a total newb)
It's not the size of the dog in the fight....
I was surprised to see how much tecnique he had picked up from the classes, whenever I watched he has just hung on tp the side and splahed the coaches.
Congrats to grad and to dad.
agreed! Congratulations to all!!
What stylish lenses that young man is wearing! ;)
I noticed that too, but while I found the nosepiece and temples stylish, I couldn't find the lenses at all.
Congrats Spexx. Last one or are you just starting?
Our family is quite happy this week, as we are celebrating my G-son's graduation
from the Mt Hood CC Fisheries Program, with a B+ grade point.
It's been a long haul for him... starting with problems during Middle School,
and dropping out of High School. He came to live with us, and first got his G.E.D.,
then a couple of years at Community College, then two years in the Fisheries Program.
He has worked weekends at one hatchery for $, and volunteered for 5 weeks at another.
So his credentials for employment are quite good at this point.
He has already applied for a couple of Oregon Fish & Wildlife hatchery positions,
and his waiting to hear back. He's anxious to make some $ and start living on his own.
So, we are very proud of him, and hope he finds employment right away...
Outstanding!
My congratulations to him for his persistence and accomplishment!
So ima guessen he likes the fishes ?? ;)
Good things are worth worken for ,,,
Good on him and good on ya'll for helpen him !!!
Congrats to all of you Lamp.
<snip>
So his credentials for employment are quite good at this point.
He has already applied for a couple of Oregon Fish & Wildlife hatchery positions,
and his waiting to hear back. He's anxious to make some $ and start living on his own.
Woot....Wooo...Woot
Sam leaves Tues morning for his first job with Oregon Fish & Wildlife !!!
It's a "temporary" position, but his foot is in the door.
He will be stationed mid-way between LaGrande and Enterprise, OR.
That's a-waaaayyyyyyy....... out there in the eastern boondocks of Oregon,
near the Washington and Idaho borders.
No cell phone and no internet :eek:
Good for him. That disconnect from the virtual world will probably lead to some very interesting insights. I hope. I'll be interested to hear his take on it. How long will he be there?
Good for him. That disconnect from the virtual world will probably lead to some very interesting insights. I hope.
I'll be interested to hear his take on it. How long will he be there?
Me too !
It's classified as a "temporary" position --- through the end of fishing season;
but can be extended or transferred as needed by the ODFW and their budget.
Good for him. That disconnect from the virtual world will probably lead to some very interesting insights. I hope. I'll be interested to hear his take on it. How long will he be there?
I guess he should have a blog, then, eh?
Today, Minifob dove in and swam half the length of the pool all by himself!
This is after only 3 lessons with the most awesome swim teacher ever. Prior to these three lessons (that is, a week and a half ago,) Minifob had severe anxiety about any water higher than chest level, and wouldn't willingly put his head under water.
That's awesome.
My daughter's 7th grade class had an end of year pool party yesterday, and every kid had to pass a swim test before they were allowed to use the big deep pool. She said most people passed the easy test, but there were a handful who struggled and failed and were stuck using the kiddie pool. (Some didn't even try to take the test and just jumped into the kiddie pool.) It's got to suck being in middle school and wanting to join the fun at the big pool and being publicly shunned like that. I'm always pleased when parents teach their kids to swim. You don't need to be a Hebe or a Phelps, but you should be able to swim a lap or two if need be. It's a life skill.
Yeah, I grew up in a pool (we didn't have one, but my best friend across the street did and we saw each other literally every day.) Being a strong swimmer is a basic safety issue, in my mind. I don't need him to do the butterfly, but I do need him to not panic and drown in water that he could have stood up in if he'd just tried to put his feet down. Of course, if either kid does want to be a Hebe, I wouldn't mind one bit. :)
It really is all down to this swim teacher. His specialty is kids with anxiety or other special needs. He just started his own swim school, so we got in early--in another year he'll be charging twice as much, I'm certain.
I'm going to be an interloper amongst the parents now :p
I am a very, very proud auntie :)
On Friday we went to see the finals exhibition for Amelia's art&design course at college. She's passed all her modules and exams with flying colours and distinctions all round and is off to one of the best design courses in the country (at Uni of Northumbria).
Her exhibition won 'Best in Show' for her course, and took the prize for 'Most Creative Display'.
Unlike most of the students who placed their work on the walls and tables, Amelia elected, with the help of her Dad, to build proper exhibition falls to hang from the ceiling. It looked really professional.
Here she is with her display. Can't do the lamp justice I'm afraid. I am not a great photograhpher. Take my word for it, it's bloody lovely. Wouldn;t look out of place in a high class design studio. It twists around and plays with light and form. I'm so impressed. I knew she was talented, having seen odds and sods over the course, bt seeing it all laid out and her design boards and such. Wow. Dead impresed. And dead proud :)
IMG_0643
[eta] the little piles of gambling chips on the display are actually her business cards. I grabbed a few, so at some point I'll take a proper pic of them.
Woot....Wooo...Woot
Sam leaves Tues morning for his first job with Oregon Fish & Wildlife !!!
It's a "temporary" position, but his foot is in the door.
He will be stationed mid-way between LaGrande and Enterprise, OR.
That's a-waaaayyyyyyy....... out there in the eastern boondocks of Oregon,
near the Washington and Idaho borders.
No cell phone and no internet :eek:
Last Sunday, Sam drove down to meet us in the small town of Wallowa.
We spent the weekend sightseeing the Wallowa River canyon and valley on down through Enterprise and Joseph.
It was good seeing my G-son as a young man on his first real job,
and he was very happy showing off his ODFW rig and telling all about what he has been doing.
It was a very good thing...
Really great. I envy his career!
Dana - wow.
Makes me a little sad to think she is a year older than Abigail, but then Abs never had her flair anyway.
It's so obvious she is good at what she does and delighted with it too. And lucky to be in a family that doesn't suggest she goes and gets a nice office job and stops messing about ;)
She does your whole family proud - and you are right to be proud of her.
Looking forward to great things in future.
(And yes, she is beautiful, but her talent will last longer)
Lamp, good for him.
Some people need to feel their way round the edges of life. He's worked out where he is now.
Ha! advising her to go get an office job is sooo not my Bro's style.
One thing that really moved me, aside from the realisation that our little Flodge is all grown up, was when Mum told me that Amelia is hoping, once she's finished her degree, to collaborate with her Dad on something. She wants to work with her dad on a design project. I can imagine that working really well. He's so talented and capable and she has taken all that on, and then mixed it with her mum's drive and focus.
Lovely to see them together, they're such good friends.
@ Lamp: how marvellous. You must be so proud of him.
Just as an aside, the other thing that really makes me proud of Meels is her work ethic. Something which, frankly passed me right by. She works so hard ather college course, and also works several evenings a week and at weekends saving money for university and little luxuries. She's made herself damn near irreplaceable at the restaurant where she works, they're gutted she's leaving for Uni in September.
Ha! Found some more pics from that evening:
This is, i think, one of my favourite ever pics of Amelia. Shame that her Dad is too blurry to make out, and that her Mum is only just edging into shot, but it's such a nice shot of Meels. 18 Years old and the whole world to explore
This next one is Sophie, looking ever so elegant and grown up (14!)
And Sophie again, still looking elegant, but caught off guard and showing her kid face :p I like this one because she looks so sweet.
And the two girls doing joke model poses: (shame about the reflection in their eyes. Both have dark eyes in real life!)
Doesn't seem five minutes since they were fighting in the living room - Soph being told off for biting Amelia - Meels being told off for winding Soph up. :p How can that be such a long time ago?
Stunning.
I thought those combinations only came in films - smart, hard-working, talented, gorgeous.
I hope Auntie Dani is going to snaffle some original work now, to set aside for her frail old age... Snaffle some for me while you're at it - we can go on Cash In The Attic as crazy old crones together.
lol I was thinking of asking her to take a commission on something :p
I'm so impressed by them both. They're such nice girls too.
I mean, they're our martin's girls, so I'd love them whatever, but as it happens they're complete sweethearts.
hahahahahah. hahahahahahaha.
Very good :p
I'm sure Dwellars are tired of my postings about my G-son,
but today I came across a pic that even I had not seen before.
This was Sam's first Sturgeon out of the Clackamas River in downtown Oregon City.
I think he was enjoying himself...
I'm sure Dwellars are tired of my postings about my G-son, --snip--
I'll call your bluff on this one. I believe the answer is no.
--snip--I think he was enjoying himself...
I agree with you completely on this one!! Awesome, and that's an impressive fish!
Amelia got her final results through for her exams :) My heart skipped a beat when I got a text message saying 'all D1s!' but then I remembered, her course is marked differently to a-levels lol. D1 = Distinction +. Which is the highest grade available.
Girl done good. I am so proud of her.
Awwww, Lamp. Such a happy photo, well worth sharing.
Dani I had exactly the same reaction on skim-reading your post.
Ridiculously my stomach dropped a little!
Marvellously accomplished, well done her.
Summer Swim Team End-of-season party:
My son wants to come to Otters to swim because Hebe is there (oops)
My daughter was so disappointed when I asked for babysitters from the Swim Team and Hebe didn't answer. We'll definitely be in contact for swim coaching
Hector is our hero, he can fix anything (broken play structure for a 4yo)
We needed a name for a Contessa in our story and Hebe was perfect, the kids were so happy
We're coming back to Otters, my kids are so happy they'll be on Hebe's team again (oops again -we're (sadly) moving on, but haven't told many yet)
:grinnylov
What? Hebe is notta hotter otter?
um....no.... prolly not any more.... they can't coach her at her level -they can't send a coach out of state to a meet for one swimmer..... she might "represent" them at a couple more local meets at the end of this year, but she has accepted she needs to move on. And -shock horror- has chosen "The Enemy" as the club she will go to. Assuming Beest and I are able to sell our kidneys to pay for it. :rolleyes:
This is a stupid thing to be proud of, more like I am amused by it.
You know that addictive little game Temple Run, available on your portable device of choice? Minifobette can break 3,000 meters on that thing. Pretty damn good for a 4-year-old.
Cute. Max used to play that game too, and he was much better at it than me. I'm pretty hopeless though. The big boys started him playing it. The trouble is, now he always wants to play someone's phone, or ipad or pod. It's annoying. lol
He also loves playing 'Minecraft' on xbox. The most pointless game ever if you ask me, but he loves it.
Thor's into that. he prefers the PC version, though
Lil Griff got a call from her cousin tonight, they need a drummer! She has been getting a lot of opportunities and positive feedback lately. A happy teenage girl, unbelievable. :cool: Of course, Dad is on the hook for some new kit...
I love Minecraft too, and so does SonofV.
This is a stupid thing to be proud of, more like I am amused by it.
You know that addictive little game Temple Run, available on your portable device of choice? Minifobette can break 3,000 meters on that thing. Pretty damn good for a 4-year-old.
I do now.
23 MB, daaang.
Ok... now I'm irritated. 3000 meters? How many coins? I am confusing swipe/turn/tilt/lanechange. Time for a little break I can see.
:)
She doesn't care about the coins, she just runs. But over time she's unlocked everything, including all the 25,000 coin characters. So clearly she's racking them up anyway.
We get to begin at the beginning. Beans is learning to grab at her toys, and her accuracy is steadily increasing. Yay!
[ATTACH]41840[/ATTACH]
Chocs, it's like the beginning of a wildfire; a spark and some tinder, nine months later a glowing ember, a few months after that a really nice warm glow, then in three years you'll be frantically beating at the flames with rugs. If you have a second one, you'll just be running as fast as you can from the flames. A friend with three kids tells me that at that point the kids are just dancing on your smoking corpses in the living room.
MY advice? Give up now and learn to enjoy the heat.
Savor these adorable minutes, you'll think they last forever and then one day she's walking down the aisle.
A friend with three kids tells me that at that point the kids are just dancing on your smoking corpses in the living room.
So, what happens when you have four kids? Are they smoking your ashes on the back deck? :eek: (Okay, sometimes it felt that way ...)
Seriously, Choc, congrats - it's such a wonderful time for all of you. Look at Beans, bringing those hands to her midline, going after those toys! And it just gets better from here ... so happy for you. And foot's right, keep your eyes open and the camera handy 'cause the next time you turn around she'll be wanting you to go to New York with her to that expensive place (what is it, starts with K) to shop for a wedding dress ... :)
So, what happens when you have four kids? Are they smoking your ashes on the back deck? :eek: (Okay, sometimes it felt that way ...)
I suspect they will eat your corpse.
You're fine with two. Divide and conquer - One with mom & one with dad.
When that third one enters the equation .... LOOKOUT!
Yeah, that's my kid on drums.
[youtube]65G3JPDTbkI[/youtube]
right off the bat, those drums are taking charge!
The Rocky Theme? Interesting choice for the winter concert. :)
Wow! Nice work on the drums!
The Rocky Theme? Interesting choice for the winter concert. :)
Well she is from Pennsylvania. :)
Thanks, you can or rather cannot hear her smack her own paw right at the beginning of the solo. I thought she was gonna tank or something but it was just one beat.
intentional, probably. psyching up, getting the adrenaline flowing. you remember the thread about the self-harming-for-performance athletes, doncha?
:rolleyes:
Your kid is playing the part where the rabbit bites its own head off. I love that part.
Awesome.
Zing 2 has landed an internship with one of the big accounting firms.
I'm not proud of this but it belongs here. My 21 year old son (the magician; yes, I said magician) is living with a Ben-Gal cheerleader.
And he's dating a Puerto Rican young lady who works at an establishment called "Cheeks" I believe.
I'm so proud.
[YOUTUBE]Bg5g4H-VSg0[/YOUTUBE]
Beans thinks she can walk -- she'll be five months old this weekend, and has a long way to go before she can stand, let alone really walk. But she loves walking all around the house like this.
What's the old adage ?
If you love something, set it free. If it comes back, it's yours.
Sam has been assigned to working out of the Nehalem River hatchery in northwest Oregon.
He is tagging returning winter steelheads with radio tags and then chasing them up-river
with directional a radio receiver to monitor their travel rates and distribution.
For a fishing addict, bushwhacking into remote holding places
on a "wild" river is close enough to being his perfect job.
Oh, Beans is sooooooooo cute!
and that's a good looking boy you've got there Lamp.
(the fish is kinda gross, but the kid....cuuuuuuuute!)
Minifob learned to ride a bike today!
Yay for minifob!
Max had his first day of kindy today. Its been awesome. :) I am going to pick him up soon. I guess this lovely peace and quiet will be shattered then. :S
Bike riding and kindergarten, two big milestones!
Wow, Kindergarten already. Is he 5 now? Man, how time flies... how did he like it?
In the Southern hemisphere, school "summer vacation" is from October-December. (Which I learned not from Aussies, but from Argentinian computer programming contractors at an educational software company who kept screwing up our default school calendars in their code.)
He's actually just coming up to 4, so still 3. Over here, they have kindergarten the year they turn 4, then Prep, then grade 1 and so on. Prep is full time school in the place of pre-school which used to be a 5 day fortnight program centred more around play than learning. It's all about using those early years for greater learning. Not sure if I'm on board with it or not, but I guess I will have a better opinion after Max completes Prep next year.
He loved his first day. Can't wait to go back next week, so that's a win for all of us.
The big boys are back at school again now too of course. Aden is in yr 12, so last year of formal schooling for him. Hopefully he'll follow through with his plans and get into the uni course he wants next year. Mav is in yr 11 and so far is most impressed with his new subject, Film and Media. So anyway, everyone's doing well except Eva who is teething and driving me nuts. :(
Ah, that makes more sense. Here, "pre-school" refers to optional private programs (unless you're in special ed but that's different,) and includes infants up to age 5, essentially the same as daycare. Then Kindergarten is the beginning of the public school system, and you must have already had your 5th birthday in order to begin.
Wow, so that means kids are turning 7 in their first year at school? Is kindergarten full time over there? I didn't realise there was such a difference. I thought we were the country who was running behind with educational programs.
Kindy is optional and not government funded in so far as you have to pay $20/day for the program, but they do have early childhood teachers in the education programs. We decided to put Max in because he's quite bright and might be better off in that environment a couple of days per week now that Eva is here and taking up a lot of my time in one way or another. Also, we wanted him to socialise a bit more with kids his own age. He spends way too much time with teenagers and almost none with little kids, which at times is not so desirable.
As an example, Aden was annoying Max a few days ago (tickling him or something silly) and Max told him to 'F**k off Aden!'. I'm pretty sure he learned that from Mav. Not that the big boys swear a lot, but kids Max's age only have to hear it once to learn it.
Kindergarten is full time over here, and they go straight from kindergarten to 1st grade. So we start at 5 and graduate from 12th grade at age 18.
The kids here finish mostly at age 17 in our state (Qld). So they start Prep the year they turn 5, then do years 1 through to 12. I think they start a year later in the southern states, so they're mostly 18 by the time they finish.
When I was a bairn we only had play-school. Which was all play and no school and only twice a week.
And we were not allowed to start regular school until our 5th birthday. Bearing in mind mine is in July, I effectively missed out on a whole year of school. Didn't hurt me though - I always wanted to do everything Laura did, and could read and write and do numeracy up to and including tens and units by the time I started.
In England, children who will be five in the school year starting in September start school then. Those whose birthdays fall after Christmas attend half-days until the New Year. We have all our Reception intake for 2012/13 at school all day now.
Much of the education is "child-led learning". They have the freedom to choose what they will do, but there is an educational element in all the activities. Tiger always just wanted to go outside and run around. It was up to me to encourage interaction, imaginative play and discourse. I think I have helped him some in socialising and feeling safe in his environment. Also in listening and accepting compromise.
But the bigest single change has been the switch in the way the school teaches phonics. Which I knew wasn't working for many children 2 years ago. But the evidence was against me. And after all I am an LSA, not a qualified teacher.
Since the switch, his reading ability (middle of the class I'd say) has just improved so much. He's at the right level comprehension-wise, but his sounding out and blending of sounds is so much better. He even attempted to sound out the names of two Chinese illustrators the other day. He came as close as I would to getting them right.
I co-teach the advanced phonics group. We're less about sounds and more about tenses, suffixes, mnemonics etc. Blimey, it's hard keeping up. I don't have perfect grammar myself, although my spelling (bar typos) is better than average. Better than the average at school anyway - teachers and TAs check their spellings with me (yeah I'm boasting - I don't have much to be proud of!). But learning the rules? OMG. I absorbed them via voracious reading. So the exceptions never bothered me. Now I am coming across them all the time and having to figure out whether they are real exceptions ("No not in this case. Just because.") or known variations ("Well that one is because..")
Bloody mongrel language.
Why do all babies respond when you say, "Oh really?" to them. lol Eva is the same. I think it's just the tone of voice that gets them suckered in. hehe
So cute!
Thor is an Academic Games State Champion :D
I'm not familiar with Academic Games. What is it?
Zing #1 has been admitted to the Masters program in accounting at the college of her choice.
http://agloa.org/
His team are returning StateChampions in both Equations and OnSets (elementary school level). But get this... the teams split into subteams of 5. If one subteam wins, the whole team are champs. His subteam "Princess Zelda" won! They fucking won!!!! He needed this break more than anyone has eever needed a break. He didn't go to States last year because he just wasn't mature enough, It was touch-and-go this year, but we promised......
Wow...go you clever kidlettes! :) Well done all round.
I looked over the web page. It's a great idea - give academics a chance to shine.
Congrats to Thor. Love the team name.
Middle school daughter made the cut for the high school marching band next fall. I've got mixed emotions. Proud of her and happy for her. But sad that we'll be stuck here for much of August while she's in band camp. That's when we usually head up to Maine for vacation. Still, she's thrilled, so I'm happy for her. I guess it also means we'll be going to all the football games.
What instrument does she play? Does the school buy the instruments or do you have to? What about uniforms? How often do the practice? Does this explain all the "this time at band camp" stories? Should I not have reminded you of that? Is band camp really camp with tents and fires and stuff?
Sent by thought transference
I honestly don't know most of those answers.
But she plays trombone. We initially rented a trombone for a year, but I thought that was a real racket, so I bought a nice used one off Ebay for less than we had paid for a year in rentals. That was a couple years ago. Then a neighbor had an extra one kicking around, and it's been on a permanent loan to us. It works out well, because she can keep her good one at school, and use the neighbor's for practice at home. A trombone is a little on the heavy/bulky side to carry back and forth to school each day. It's a mile walk.
She's pretty good for a kid. When her tutor comes over once a week, he sounds amazing, and I make the mistake of mentally comparing her to him. This guy plays routinely for the President. He's in The US Army Band, so it's not a fair comparison. Anyway, she's good. This marching band is the top of 3-4 bands at this particular high school, and one of the best in the region.
My dream is that she practices a lot and gets really good, and gets a scholarship to college. She's probably not that good, but I can dream.
at the high schools here, the kids who play instruments -be it orchestra, band or marching band- have to go to "camp" for a week prior to the start of the year. Here, they go to Interlochen, I think
http://camp.interlochen.org/summer-arts-programs
many kids go to music camp for a week in the summer. Blue Lake is where all the Ann Arbor kids go. except ours.
http://www.bluelake.org/
A week at a YMCA camp is also not uncommon
http://www.annarborymca.org/programs/camp-al-gon-quian/about-camp-al-gon-quian.php
Very Addams Family ;)
i guess it's whao families witth two working parents need to do in the 13 week break.
Y'all got some great kids. Smarts. Talent. And i hear many of them are quite funny. :)
Somebody is doin' stuff right.
OOOh i missed Zing1's news! Fantastic!
Band camp for glattina!
Lil Griff walked into band this week and the director pointed across the room at a kit with a wonky bass drum and said, "Fix that." She then proceeded to take it apart, fix the leg, put it together, and tune it. She was pleased with herself. She'll be the drummer for Les Miserables this Spring. :)
Congrats to Lil Griff. :thumb2:
Congratulations to Thor, Zing #1, glattina, and Li'l Griff. It's a good week for kid news, ain't it?
Let's hope so, she's taking her SAT this morning.
Congrats to all the wonderful cellar kids and their parents for their guidance.
Yes - so much great kid news. Congrats to all of them and to all of you hard-working, caring parents.
Let's hope so, she's taking her SAT this morning.
SAT on Sat.
Coincidence???
She sat ze SAT on ze SAT Sat
I predict a score that's fat.
[YOUTUBE]rg-dkaiBNPk[/YOUTUBE]
Our Anna Beans is 5.5 months old. Accomplishments now include: rolling over from front to back, conversational laughing, trying to break out of her booster seat, and testing gravity by throwing a ball off her walker tray and watching us pick it up.
Somehow I missed this until now. What a great laugh!
And "Booster Bust Out" Holy cats, you guys don't stand a chance. She's way too smart. Just stay on her good side.;)
Lots of good news for all the Cellar kids! Congrats everyone and best wishes!
Just saw the vid too ... Oh my how adorable.
I'll toss mine in - Son1 Got a hole in 1 last weekend at ball golf. Like a legit hole in one.
Whoa!!! that's so cool! Please pass on my awestruck congratulations.
An update on Sam's peripatetic career with Oregon Fish & Wildlife.
Last summer, Sam started chasing radio-tagged salmon and steelhead returning in northern Oregon's coastal rivers.
(
http://www.cellar.org/showpost.php?p=850480&postcount=433)
Now he is chasing radio-tagged steelhead in the Hood River of north-central Oregon,
which drains Mt Hood in the middle of the Columbia River Gorge.
The town of Hood River is THE center of wind-surfing, microbreweries, and several computer "data farms".
... lots of computer-techies and even more sun-chasers and with more $ than they can spend.
In this first year, Sam has found more places to catch fish than most sport fishermen get a life time.
He is still quite nuts about fishing, and so after a day's work in ODFW uniform,
he changes into his "civies" and goes back out on the river to fish for himself.
I notice that with more $ earned, he is moving up in the price of his equipment... he's now up to "Simms waders".
The perfect job for him. It makes me happy that there are people out there living the dream.
What glatt said.
Good stuff!
How awesome would it be if they homed in a a cluster of radio signals thinking it was a fish conclave and instead it was just a fat bear lazing around in the sun.
:D --- I'll pass that along to Sam
Our family is now 40% lifeguard. wtg Hebe :D (I can't be "proud" anywhere else, she's too cool for that, but she gave up her Spring break to do the training.) And yes, she's that old. She drove home too... :eek: :lol:
She DROVE? How old is she now? I'm thinking 14 ... am I that far behind?
They start 'em at 14yrs 9 month here. and they can go on the freeway straight away. :eek:
Wow. It's 16 here, and with hindsight I think very few 16 year old males should be trusted with a car. Hebe is probably up to it, and that will make life easier. Go gurl. :driving:
Yes, but that's 16 Celsius, over here it's Fahrenheit, so at 15 it's Fahrenzeit!
Try the Schnitzle, I'll be here all veek!
'Merkins near Michigan, be afraid. Hector will be on the road next winter/christmas break :eek: :lol:
Hebe drove us all to the airport and back tonight. busy freeways, night/dusk driving, multistory parking, with barriers and ticket machines.... the works.
(only shaved a few years off my life)
How awesome would it be if they homed in a a cluster of radio signals thinking it was a fish conclave and instead it was just a fat bear lazing around in the sun.
bwhaaahahahahahahahahah!!!
wow. driving.
wow.
that's... that's some tradeoff, those years, y'know. I'm so glad all is well. Congrats to her for driving and for being certified as a lifeguard. lifeguarding paid most of my young adult bills and it's great work. good luck to her!
How awesome would it be if they homed in
on a cluster of radio signals thinking it was a fish conclave and instead
it was just a fat bear lazing around in the sun.
bwhaaahahahahahahahahah!!!
I just spoke with Sam, and passed this along to him.
He said I should tell you that for two days he followed one around, up and down the river.
Sam said he thought the fish was crazy.
A fisherman had caught one of the tagged fish, and put the tag into his backpack.
That's priceless. :smack::haha:
My son is influenced too much by M's parents...they listen to shitty new country music, and then he comes home singing the crap.
One day he started singing one of those terrible tunes...rather than beat him into submission by playing "Seasons in the Abyss" by Slayer (as I have before), I said, "Son, you need to listen to some real country music." So I put on The Essentially Johnny Cash. And he dug it.
The last time we were in the car together, he asked if we could listen to the Man in Black.
See that pip on my collar? ;)
Be calm, Syc.
Earworms happen.
I'm singing Ding Dong the Witch is Dead just because it's all over the news.
Not the song, just the title [being discussed as it's racing up the charts after Thatcher's death].
My son is influenced too much by M's parents...they listen to shitty new country music, and then he comes home singing the crap.
One day he started singing one of those terrible tunes...rather than beat him into submission by playing "Seasons in the Abyss" by Slayer (as I have before), I said, "Son, you need to listen to some real country music." So I put on The Essentially Johnny Cash. And he dug it.
The last time we were in the car together, he asked if we could listen to the Man in Black.
See that pip on my collar? ;)
Get some Merl Haggard and Willie Nelson into him and he'll be fully inoculated against pop country.
Or go the other direction with the worst you can find.
This is what cured me:
[YOUTUBE]DndK5hZBgu0[/YOUTUBE]
Of course, this might work too:
[YOUTUBE]dgkGvgfUIos[/YOUTUBE]
You build a simple progression.
[youtube]_tmzxM_XvQA[/youtube]
[youtube]WD73o7S9UaE[/youtube]
I played Queens of the Stone Age one time when we went to Topeka and back...he enjoyed that too.
Now I just have to make him a Mizzou fan instead of fucking KU...
Nice work Clod. :) I'll have a slice please!
I'm proud of my boy. I have no idea where it came from, but he's on a huge AC/DC kick right now. Last weekend we went camping with Boy Scouts, and I let the boys in the back seat control the iPod for the drives out and back. It was mostly hard rock the entire way. Well, that and Barenaked Ladies. They just kept playing the into to a live song over and over again so they could hear the band being introduced and snicker at the name. Oh, to be 11 again.
It's part of teenageboyhood. There's a law about all hockey and swim workout/pump-up mixes including Thunderstruck and at least one other ACDC track.
I just spoke with Sam, and passed this along to him.
He said I should tell you that for two days he followed one around, up and down the river.
Sam said he thought the fish was crazy.
A fisherman had caught one of the tagged fish, and put the tag into his backpack.
That is very, very funny.
M: "Kiddo's nurse called...his head and stomach are hurting."
Me: "I suspect so...he ate a double croissan'wich this morning."
M: "Oh...I don't let him have that."
Me: "Oh now you tell me...that little shithead got over on me!"
M and Kiddo are going out of town tomorrow. M is going to a convention in Dallas...she's dropping Kiddo off in OK City to visit her mom. He's dawdling around in packing for the trip. I hear M yell, "Do not make me get Terry up here!"
Awww...I'm being used as a heavy! :)
this is the proud parent thread. for those occasions when they meake you proud. general blogging-type-crap is somewhere else.
what? He's new toit, he needs to learn. :p:
Actually, I'm quite proud that he got one over on me and that I'm now used as a heavy.
Zing 1 has landed a TA position during her graduate work next year.
Zing 2 has an intern position coming up for a major firm.
:notworthy
That's wonderful, Pete!
Lil' Griff is on the Gettysburg trip she organized for Herstory Club. :)
i bet she is having a great time. so many great cellar kids around! :)
My third son is graduating fom U Pitt this weekend. Today he was inducted into the Beta Gamma Sigma honor society for the College of Business Admin. He was honored for his work as a career counselor as well. Tomorrow is the University Convocation. He plans to write the four exams to get his CPA this summer before starting with Price Waterhouse Cooper in DC in September.
He's always been a smart, sensitive kid with all sorts of interests. And a self-starter. He went through a lot when his older brother (my second son) was manic and targeted him. I'm very happy for him.
My congratulations to him... and to you.
I do remember some of your posts from earlier times.
See, with time and effort, things do turn out well !
:thumb:
Excellent, ortho, makes a mama proud. :thumb:
Congrats to you and #3 son Ortho... well done indeed!
Zing1 graduated with a BS in Business/Accounting today.
In three years.
With honors.
wow, what a happy thread! congratulations to all the proud parents for having such good reasons for being so proud!
Congrats to her & Mom & Dad. Y'all done good.
Yesterday, I went with my son to a Catholic church for an adult confirmation service. He is 24 and decided he would get confirmed in the church, something his mother (my ex) really wanted him to do. I'm not a Catholic anymore and have only been in a church a couple of times in the past 30 years or so, mostly for weddings or funerals. We were never hard core church goers when the kids came along. We did the baptism thing and the first communion thing as our parents expected it but we hardly ever went to church. Now my ex is a big time Catholic and goes to daily mass and volunteers at her church. Funny thing is that of our 5 kids only this son and one other practice Catholocism to some extent. My daughters don't and one son is a big time Protestant to the point of believing in the literal interpretation of the bible and creationism and stuff like that. I think the Naval Academy did that to him.
It was a big deal, the Cardinal was there and about 10 other priests, a choir, an organist and a horn section. There were 150 adults getting it done. I sat through the first part up in till the actual ceremony and then took some pictures and a video of him for his mother. After that they went back into mass mode and had the incense and everything and communion and lots of kneeling and singing so I went outside and sat in a garden with statues of Jesus and Mary all around. I read a book on my tablet that I have been trying to finish. It was real peaceful. After awhile it was over and we went home. Even though his church is not my thing I was proud of him because he took the time to do something he wanted to do, studied for it, etc. I felt I should be there for him.
My G-son, Sam, called today with his first negative experience on the job.
Sam is currently stationed near the mouth of the Deschutes River,
a legendary fly-fishing river in central Oregon,
Part of his job is to check the fish that fishermen are landing.
Wild salmon can not be kept, only hatchery fish may be kept,
identified as those with their adipose fin clipped.
He identified one of a fellow's fish as wild, and the fellow started arguing with him.
It started getting heated, so Sam said he told the fellow he was not going to argue with him.
A State trooper was called in, and the trooper told the fellow he was not going to argue with him, either...
A $435.00 ticket was issued for keeping a wild salmon.
I am so proud of my youngest daughter and her husband...
They have taken their two daughters to D.C. for the March on Washington.
Hebe just passed her driving test :D
Congratulations on the increase in your insurance premiums! ;)
Girls don't cost so much. :) Make sure she gets her good student discount as well. I'm assuming she is, since she's so driven in the swimming department.
Girls don't cost so much. :) Make sure she gets her good student discount as well. I'm assuming she is, since she's so driven in the swimming department.
Yes, but she's driven by her mom, that's the whole reason she needs her own license
Congrats to Hebe! Now she can run errands and pick up/drop off her younger siblings. :D
Congrats Hebe! How exciting.
Congrats to Hebe! Now she can run errands and pick up/drop off her younger siblings. :D
Not yet, sadly, she has to wait until she's 16 for that.