A Day of Firsts

A few days before school actually started my boys actually started to get their supplies ready.  I would never have done that.  In fact, I didn't get any of my supplies until the same day my semester started.  I even had one more week than the kids.  They were not happy at all that I took their pictures, but I had to have some sort of proof that they know how to organize :)

August 20th was Taylor's first day of 9th grade, his Freshman year.  He totally had "swag"  

He did wonderful on his first day.  He only got lost once.  T tried to tell me that he was 30 minutes late for his science class.  Really?  I finally got him to admit that it was probably more like 5 minutes.  You need to know that this High School is about half the size of my High School.  With that said, I still think 5 minutes is a little exaggerated.  

Since their school is on a block schedule and they attend half their classes on one day and then the other half on the next day.  He had 2 first days.  Total torture...it's moments like this that can bring small pleasures into a parents life.  Anyway, his second day went much better.  

August 20th was Kelton's first day of his Junior year.  I can't believe he only has 2 years left of high school.  These are the moments that can make a parent notice their age.

He did wonderful!  His second day was better because his girlfriend Amanda was in 2 of his classes that day and they have lunch together.  Priorities :)

August 20th was also the first day of school for my truck.  Kelton now has his licence and I finally gave in and added him to our insurance.  OUCH!!  He gets to drive them to school any day that he doesn't have swimming.  When he has swimming he has to be at school by 6:30 am to catch the bus that takes him to Tooele where the swimming pool is.  Life in a small town.

I am very happy that both my boys had a good first day of school and that my truck came home without a scratch.  A very successful day!!

Kelton & Homecoming Week

It is Homecoming week in Grantsville!!!

My wonderful and quiet son Kelton was talked into being part of the male dance team, called the Harriettes (hope I got close to spelling that right.  The dance team is called the Larriettes) for the powder puff game last night.  They have been practicing since Friday and having tons of fun.  I am so glad that he has met so many good friends since moving here and am thankful for his friend Ben who talked him into dancing.

They not only had boys for the dance team, they also had boys as the cheerleaders.  I know none of this is new, I'm just talking my way through the night.  I didn't even go to homecoming when I was in high school let alone any of the football games.  The "cheerleaders" were even doing lifts and I thought it was hilarious that during one of the lifts it was a girl spotting them.  One of the cheerleaders came late and just dropped his pants right in front of us to change into the cheer outfit.  Just as an FYI, white Under Armour is see through.  I feel it is my civic duty to get this warning out there so we are now all prepared to warn our children to not drop their pants if that is what they are wearing.  Also, if you see this happening you now know to look away or you'll see a butt like we did (and we are very happy that we were on that side and only saw his butt).

 I loved seeing these brave boys get dressed and ready for their dance.  They are really wearing the tops to one of the girls outfits.  Kelton told me that he would be wearing this black top with gold sparkles on it and that it hit him just above the waist.  As you can see the top was black and the gold sparkles are the sequins along the top and it did hit above the waist but it was a little higher than a simple crop length, you can really tell on the boys that wore white underneath.

Kelton was "blessed" to have family there to support him in his dancing debut.  My sister Becca came, Grandma Susie was there along with Kenny, Taylor, Seth and me.  I love the pictures that Becca took of her with Taylor and then of the two of us.  I don't have nearly enough sister pictures.

This was an evening full of some of the best people watching.  We laughed so much and had so much fun watching all the high school kids.  It reminded me of my time in high school and (unfortunately) how much I haven't changed since high school.  I sat back and watched the boys showing off for the girls and the girls walking back and forth flipping their hair trying to catch the eye of the boys.  Sitting back and watching was what I did in high school only it was with Michele.  It was so much fun to have a chance to spend that time with my sister this time.  We both had so many fun little moments.  

You could tell all of the boys were anxious about dancing.  None of them could stand still while waiting for their turn to get out and perform.  I loved watching them do their last minute practice moves and see them try to move their hips.  Not all country boys are good at swinging their hips :)

I didn't get the end of their dance.  I thought they were done and stopped filming and then they did their final move.  They all lined up and yelled, "Harriettes (grunt)" and did a final pelvic thrust.  It was great and done only as boys can do it.

They then gathered and stood aside while the "cheerleaders" did their dance.  They were hilarious but not as good as the Harriettes.  I may be biased a little though.

The whole night was so much fun and the girls did wonderful at playing football.  I guess I should at least point that out since it was their game.  I'll admit that I could barely have caught the ball let alone run for a touchdown.  There were some amazing girls that caught the ball and did run the length of the field for a touchdown.  There were others that would just dive to grab the flag and flat out face plant it onto the field.  They were amazing!  

Kelton will be performing again on Friday for the pep rally before the big homecoming game.

Good luck Kelton....I hope you do as good on Friday as you did last night!!

T's Crazy Hair Day

It's time for time to repeat itself and now it is Taylor's turn to have his own crazy hair day.  He wanted to have his hair done in lots of pony tails like how we did Kelton's when he had his crazy hair day a couple of years ago.

Taylor's hair is so much thicker than Kelton's so his pony tails are longer, bigger and look like little palm trees.  He was such a good sport this morning while I was pulling and tugging to get all the little rubber bands in.  He looks CRAZY!!!  hee, hee :)

Taylor Crazy Hair Day 9-26-12

The top view of T's hair for Crazy Hair Day.

Jr High Hi-jinks

I met my best friend Michele in the 8th grade.  She had a very life changing move that brought her to Utah and to EJH for 7th grade, I moved there the year after.  With both of us having children in Jr. High now she wrote about her girls starting 7th grade and how hard and horrible Jr. High was for her.  I warned her on her post that I was going to share some of the fun stuff that we experienced, even some of the embarrassing stuff, to remind her that it wasn't all bad and even if she (us) did turn into Napoleon Dynamite it was okay.

This first part was just how we met. We met in math class where our teacher couldn't pronounce either of our names.  Mine was understandable, Shiflett and Rachelle, was always transformed into Rachel and Sh, Sh, Shif by then I would just answer here and let the teacher give up.  I have never understood why it was so hard to just say my name the way it is spelled! Michele's name on the other hand was just a normal name, however, this teacher always changed it to Micheal Beek.  Somehow this made us always look at each other and smile and then she would grab the roll that he set by the door and would change her absence for the teacher since she was there.  He never did catch on or say either of our names correctly that entire year. Sad!

Our next moment of connection was that we were (can still be) fashion police and would take great pride in commenting on all the outfits that others were wearing.  This was the late 80's and early 90's, there was a lot to comment on.  We were however the height of preppy by helping ourselves to her moms closet and wearing pleated skirts with blazers and loafers.  I even have pictures and may scan them in one day.  I could do that since by the time we had group pictures taken with all of our friends my hair was all one length. At least her "bad hair" was only beautiful thick wavy hair and not my crooked hair.

Michele's parents thought she was crazy the first time I came over and met them.  I had unfortunately taken the advice of my moms gay friend and let him cut my hair in a very modern haircut that wouldn't be popular in Utah for another decade or so. It was above my ear on my right side and tapered down to shoulder length on my left side.  I also let him put Henna in my hair at the same time.  Way to draw attention to an already strange haircut by turning it Bozo red.  In his defense, I did like it because I didn't like the whole following the crowd thing and I did keep my hair that way for quit a while.  I did finally decide to conform a little and cut my hair to one length but kept dying my hair red, just a more subtle red and not quit so Bozo.

I also listened to rock music, didn't watch westerns or know any cowboy poetry...her dad still teases me to this day. Especially about the hair!  I was quickly educated in the art of all things cowboy and still treasure those moments and "lessons".

We had lots of sleep overs, Dr. Pepper and cookie dough!  All of these were accompanied by lot of girl talk. Some nice and not so nice and some that was down right snarky.  As it should be for most all teenage girls.

One of those sleep overs consisted of us and one other friend that I will protect her identity because she was the helpless victim in the story. We were having such a good time and we had decided to sleep on the balcony of my apartment.  In our hast to take snacks out to our "anyone under 13" off limits area, my poor friend didn't notice that we had closed the screen door and ran right through it. She went down on top of the door.  Michele and I were laughing so hard we couldn't even help her up.  I know, we are such good friends to have :)  Once the fits of laughter stopped we quickly figured that we had better fix the door before my mom came home.  We tried to straighten the frame the best we could and put it on the track.  We went to sleep and hoped that it would not be noticeable.  The next morning my mom came out to check on us but we had closed the screen door (not the smartest thing to do when trying to hide a broken door). When she tried to open it it wouldn't' budge and so we woke up to her, not quit yelling but speaking loudly, to us trying to figure out what was wrong with the door.  Instead of cowing and repentantly explaining what happened we all started laughing because we were remembering how our dear friend had looked as she went through the door.  Through peals of laughter we somehow explained what happened and that it was an accident.  After my mom got over the initial anger and frustration of how she was going to fix the door, she started to laugh as well.  Okay, who wouldn't laugh.  Just picture it and think about it, someone going through and taking out a screen door.  It was one of the best sleep overs in my life!

We made friends, tortured teachers (not as bad as our husbands did though), and tortured one nameless girl that we will forever tell stories about.  Jr. High was just the beginnings of what we would bring to High School.  And that will entail a whole series of entries that I could start sharing soon since Kelton started High School (and drivers ed) this year.

New School Year

I can't believe that it is almost the end of August, we have moved back to Grantsville, school has started and both boys are so far loving it in this one stop light town.

Taylor is in 8th grade and doing wonderful.  He loves it so far. We had to drive to Salt Lake to get him his instrument for band, he is playing the trombone. He talked my ear off the entire way to the store (all 40 min.). According to T, his band teacher is awesome, his Language Arts teacher is oooold (he is 64 and this is his last year teaching).  He is able to go to school with one of his cousins and a friend and also found one of his friends that he had from 3rd grade.  So far, so good.

Kelton started 10th grade. He is taking digital photography and already had his first assignment of taking 100 pictures. He is also taking pottery, current issues and algebra II (he is the only Sophomore in the class the rest are older).  He also started drivers ed this week.  He is doing wonderful and has been so excited for school every day.  He also loves walking to and from school each day because we live just around the corner from the High School.

First Day of School 2012
Taylor & Kelton

The Leonardo

My amazing sister was able to get us tickets to The Leonardo Museum.  It is an all hands on museum that focuses a lot on the arts but they also have a section on genetics where they are doing genetic research and an area where you can feel what it is like to be someone who has a handicap.  It was so amazing and most importantly, fun.  All the pictures I took are from the area with all the art stuff you can do.  I also took a bunch of video but for some reason it won't play nice and download from my phone.  If I figure it out I will add it.  

Before I show you all the pictures I also want to add another part that they had.  There is a huge human rights museum that focuses on the Civil Rights movement from the 1960's.  There was a volunteer there at the beginning of the exhibit that explained how the Civil Right movement really was able to move forward and that it was from all the students who had access to camera's.  He talked about how the people in the South would earn $.50 to $3.00 per day and so the people who were working and supporting their families couldn't stop work to put a voice to what they truly wanted and needed so it was the college students that really made everything move forward.  The pictures in the exhibit are all from the 1960's but there are many that look like they could have been taken yesterday.  I have never been to the South so there was much that shocked me when I saw how the African American population lived, worked, and were treated.  I think we all have an idea but until I saw some of those pictures I never truly appreciated how their lives were.  It is an amazing exhibit!!

Below are some of the pictures that I took of our fun.

Kenny and Kelton making a stop motion movie.  I did   record it and will add it later if  possible.

Taylor and Becca drawing pictures on the board that are shown on the large screen in the back.

Grandma Shauna and Kelton on the other side of the table doing the same  thing.  You can see the screen a little better in this picture.

One of the things you can do is watercolor painting on the computer.  This was my attempt at watercolors.  Yep,my art level is still at about 3rd grade.

This interactive exhibit is beautiful!  It is supposed to sense you and move and light up according to your emotions and the carbon dioxide in your breath.  It did that a little bit, it was just more fun to look at than try to make it work.

My men looking at the living exhibit  and trying to make the feathers move.

Taylor at the desk where you draw yourself.  He wouldn't keep his picture.  He wouldn't even let me see it.

Kenny is sitting next to Taylor drawing his own self portrait.  He did a really good job.

Kelton in the room where you could  move and dance and make the animated person the a T.V, screen  do what you are doing.  Once again, I recorded this but can't add it at this moment.  It was so cool.

Taylor in the same room making the  Knight dance.  Taylor even got the animated guy on his head when he tried to do some football move.  I did record him and I even got Kenny when he went in there but will add them when I figure out how.  I even took a turn in there but my mom has that picture, so, to bad but I don't  have it and can't add it.

We had so much fun together as a family, Thank You Becca for taking us.

"Lipping Lizzards"

Annie, Sandy, and Mr. Warbucks (PTC Production)

We were able to go on a field trip this week and see Annie at the Pioneer Theater Company.  We completely enjoyed the play.  The actors did an amazing job.  I was so impressed with how well they all did and especially with how well all the children did.  I grew up watching the movie version of Annie with Carroll Burrnett. I love that movie.  I love the music.  As a child I don't remember some of the songs that were in the play being in the movie but I loved the songs that were in the play and they added so much to the story.  I also never thought anything about the movie other than it being about an orphan who is always positive.  As I waited for the play to start I read the background about Annie and had a much better idea about the messages that were in the comic strip and later the radio show.  Watching the play I realized how political the message is. I also realized how similar 1933 is to today.  This was the perfect time to perform this play.  

I want to congratulate everyone for doing such a wonderful job in the play and for singing all those songs just how I remember them from my childhood.  I'm glad we had the opportunity to see this play and have it remind us that even though our economy is bad this Christmas season that we are still so blessed.

Wheeler Farm Field Trip

I haven't mentioned how much I am loving having the kids home and having them be a part of K12.  We have gone on field trips before on our own but today was our first official field trip with K12.  I was of course running late.  I was worried about being late but it ended up working out perfect because I was able to meet some wonderful moms and their boys.  If we had been on time I wouldn't have been able to meet moms that I could click with so quickly.

We started with a get to know you game where we had to introduce ourselves and then answer a question.  Other people were getting easy questions like what was the last book you read.  My question was, "what person, living or dead, would you like to meet?"  How do you narrow that down?  Of course I stood there like a moron trying to think of something.  I finally answered that I would like to meet Laura Bush....who knows, she is someone I would like to meet but there are so many other people I would like to meet as well.

Each of the boys had to then introduce themselves and answer their questions.  Kelton was asked what his greatest fear is and Taylor was asked what is the worst job.  Kelton is afraid of heights and Taylor said that the worst job is picking up dog poop.  We have been picking up lots of dog poop lately, it must be his favorite part of walking Maggie.

They had a craft activity for us to do while we waited to begin our tour of the farm.  We were to make friendship bracelets.  I messed mine up so bad, it is a mess. Taylor's looks really cool and of course he made his with the Panthers colors.  Kelton refused to make a bracelet, I guess he's too old for this stuff now.  So I gave him the job of texting his dad for me.

Finally....we get to go on the tour and we are heading toward the barn.

They gave the kids "hay rides".  There was no hay but they did get to go for a ride in a wagon that was pulled by a tractor and saw the majority of the farm.  I almost can't believe that they are old enough to just go off on their own.  

After the tractor ride we got to start our tour around the animals.  We saw piggies and rabbits and horses.  They also had chickens and turkeys and sheep.  When we got to the goats I couldn't help snapping a picture of this little bearded fellow.  He is so cute and I guess rare.

This cute little pony is named Snickers.  Taylor just fell in love with him.

We then moved onto the cows and went into the milking building.  They had signs up on the walls that described the different cows and how much it took to feed them.  I was amazed to read how much hay and grains they eat every day.  I was also shocked to find out that they still milk the cows there by hand and that it takes on average 500 pulls to milk a cow.  How does anyone last that long?  

This is the holding area where the cows and goats are milked.

 Our guide explained that the cows and goats have their own milkers and if someone different tries to milk them they will throw a fit.  She said that she tried to milk a goat that wasn't normally hers to milk and it kicked her repeatedly.  She also said that goats are the worst to milk.  Who knew?

Our last stop on our tour was to meet the blacksmith.  He was really nice and patient with all the children (there were a lot of younger children).  He explained how to heat the metal and then shape it.  He made a chain and then started asking the kids how many chains he would have if he connected two little chains he had.  It was fun to see him sneak that math into his presentation.

This was our guide through the farm.

I tried several times to get the boys to pose for some nice pictures, but them being boys, that didn't happen.  I didn't even bother adding the other pictures of them.  I took one of Kelton in front of one of the old wagons and Taylor was inside the outhouse.  They wouldn't smile for nothing.  I thought this one had turned out but they are both pulling faces.  I still like this picture of them but I don't think it will make it as something I would want to give to the grandma's for Christmas.

It was so nice to go and have the boys interact with some of the other kids that they are in school with.  I also got to meet their science teacher (they have the same teacher for science, she teaches for both the middle and high schools), Taylor's history teacher, Kelton's geometry teacher and the High School Principal.  It is really nice to be able to put a face with a name, not so sure they had the same feeling since I am constantly emailing them with questions.

On the way to our car Taylor suddenly asked for the hand sanitizer.  My boys never ask for that, what, you want to "wash" your hands?  I think they might have been switched on the hay ride.  They always tease me about the big bottle of sanitizer that I carry in my purse and now they couldn't get to it fast enough.  I couldn't help laughing.  I've turned them into such city boys :) What makes this really funny is that we didn't even pet or touch in any way any of the animals.  

We were able to end our morning adventure by having lunch at the park with Kenny.  I thought I timed this picture better, sorry guys.  We got to indulge with Jimmy Johns.  I now hate other sub sandwich places, Jimmy Johns has ruined me.  I then went to McDonald's for drinks because they are cheap and so are their apple and pumpkin pies.  We also got to be entertained by the guys at a table behind us that were drinking.  The park rules state that you can't have alcohol on the property, but they were having a nice little Friday afternoon party back there.  I think the rules said that your dogs had to be on leashes and there was a lady there with 2 dogs that had leashes on but she just let them run wild with their leashes dragging behind them.

This has been such a fun day for all of us.  We got to meet so many people and make some new friends.  There was some really good people watching.  Most of all, there was lots of family time.

Wisdom from my 14 year old

This week in school both of my boys have been learning about volcano's and other related topics in their science classes.  I even got them a DVD from the library for them to watch as part of one of their lessons.  I guess that all of this has gotten Kelton to thinking about more than just volcano's because when I picked him up from Seminary today he had this to say:

"Mom, I have been thinking about things and I came up with this cool metaphor.  Our Country (and the whole world) is like a volcano right now.  There is so much tension around and you can just feel it building. It's just like a volcano when it builds up pressure until it just explodes.  If the tension keeps building like a volcano, one day everything around us is going to explode."

~Kelton

Kelton is my son who is more quiet and is always thinking but never really sharing what is going on up there.  I should have been shocked at how he put the 2 together, but it really is the type of thing that Kelton would come up with.  I am completely amazed that he shared it with me and even said I could put it on our blog.  Kelton is also my boy that likes to read the paper and watch the news and he will think about what he has learned and then when he is ready he will come talk about it and ask questions.  He will also share his opinion and he has many strong opinions already formed.  

One of the things about the observation that Kelton made that bugs me is that he has to know about terrorists and suicide bombers and war.  He learns from everything around us that people can't always be trusted even if it's your spouse (news coverage of different spouses killing the other spouse).  He knows that there are other children living in tents and motels because of how the economy is right now in our Country.  He knows that things are different now than they were when he was little and so far nothing has gotten better.  When he talks about everything exploding around us he feels as though one day he will be not just hearing about war, he will be involved in war.

I am very proud of Kelton and how he see's the world around him.  He isn't one of those kids that will sit around and keep pondering on bad news, he likes to look at things in a more positive way.  I'm the one reading more into his comment than him.  I guess I'm doing that because I never had to worry about that while I was growing up.  I never had war cross my mind until I was 16 years old and Operation Dessert Storm started. I definitely did not know that there were terrorists. He was just excited to have thought up such a good metaphor.  I will keep telling him how cool his thought is (because it is) and try hard to keep things light and leave out the doom and gloom.

Our First 2 Days of School

I will start by saying that I am more than overjoyed with our decision to home school our boys. We were surprised by Taylor starting his classes 2 days early. We were not ready for that and it has caused some discord in our home. Taylor has been working his little tail end off with his class load while Kelton doesn't start his classes until tomorrow. Taylor has been sick and it has been hard for him to focus but he has done amazing and has gotten 100% on almost all of his assessments. Kelton is chomping at the bit to get started. He just checked his list of classes and found out he has 11 assignments due this week and he has 3 days to get them done. He will be one busy kid once tomorrow morning has come.

We have had our ups and downs and this is has been a learning experience for all of us. It will continue for us for some time. I know we will get our schedule down but for now we are in a state of chaos and Taylor is feeling somewhat overwhelmed (I don't blame him). He keeps walking through the house saying "assessment, assessment, assessment, all I do is take tests!" It really is what he has been doing but that is how the program knows if he is ready to move to the next level or if he needs to review the lesson some more. I have to admit that I am loving doing his Pre-Algebra with him. Although, I really think what he is doing is just Algebra. His first assignment was filled with some complex equations, I was in heaven doing the work with him, he was hyperventilating. I keep reminding him that I am here to work with him and help teach him.

Our first official 2 days have included lots of coughing, tears, stomping, slamming of doors, naps and good hard work, studying, learning beyond what they though they could do, passing lesson after lesson off, and so far overall success within all of our chaos. I wouldn't change this for the world. I love seeing my boys succeed and see that shine of accomplishment in their eyes.

I do have to admit that for the first day of school this is the first year that I didn't take a picture of the boys. Maybe I should have just for the fun of it. We were all half asleep, Taylor was so sick and we were all in our pajama's. The boys thought it was so cool that they could attend their welcome assembly in their pajama's and Kelton was eating breakfast while he watched his. The next time we have school in our PJ's I will get a picture of it and just say it is the first day. Either way, we all know how our first morning went. I love this!

It's Almost Time for School!!

These boxes came today from UPS and they contain the school supplies for the boys for our "homeschooling" for this next school year. I was so happy that the UPS guy brought the boxes in because I can't lift and I wasn't sure how heavy they would be. He then looked over at me and could see my lovely tube and bag and said, "He can sign." meaning Taylor. So, Taylor signed for his first UPS delivery today. We peaked in Taylor's boxes today and we'll peak in Kelton's tomorrow. As we bring everything out and get into this whole new world, I will keep posting so ya'll can be a part of our adventure.

Another New Adventure

After a few years of talking about possibly home schooling our boys, Kenny and I finally decided that home schooling our boys was exactly what we needed to do. There are so many reasons why we have decided to go in this direction. We have had to deal with so much bullying in the schools (even with their no tolerance policy), there are so many kids bringing guns and other weapons to school now that it's just getting crazy, and, and, and. I could keep going but the rest of the reasons sound so much more realistic so I'm only going to share my paranoid reasons with you :)

I know that right now I get overwhelmed quickly and would probably give in if the boys gave me any kind of a fight with doing their school work, so I applied to have them attend the Utah Virtual Academy. This way I will have someone to answer to and we have to log the hours for the boys attendance. I will have to follow through. All the boy's classes are online and I will still need to take them each year for their testing to make sure they are progressing and meeting the State requirements. It's not going to be all play for them but it will be for me. I am so excited to teach them and be more involved with their schooling.

Originally, I was told that we wouldn't find out if they were accepted until after school gets out for the summer. I wasn't planning on hearing anything until the middle of June at the soonest. I already received their acceptance emails. It is official, we are entering into the world of home schooling!!

I already had set up Taylor's schedule and now it feels even more real because I just got an email with Kelton's proposed schedule. He is going to have to take a pre-test to get the math class that he wants, but he shouldn't have any problems with that. All I have heard about for the past month is how he wanted to take Geometry next year but the school district changed their policy and took Geometry away. That is the math class that they have suggested for him, he just has to take the pre-test and get a 70%. He will have no problem with that.

So, here we go into another adventure. Home Schooling!!! Anyone out there that knows me and home schools be prepared, I will be bugging you with lots of questions as we begin.

T's Award

Last week we received this letter in the mail informing us that Taylor was nominated by his teacher for the "Oquirrh Pride Award". I thought you would be able to read the letter better than this, so I will just tell you the important parts of the letter. To be nominated for this award you had to show certain "character education traits; Caring, Respect, Integrity, Citizenship, and Responsibility." Taylor was chosen for his "fairness/justice." His teacher wrote:

"Taylor has a strong sense of justice. He knows what is right. I have been impressed with how he treats everyone with equality and fairness."

We also had to keep this a secret from T so that he would be completely surprised today. We were so good, I usually give hints, but this time I didn't let one thing slip. I even waited in the car until I knew he was inside before I went into the school to wait for their assembly to begin.

I even made sure to video tape Taylor receiving his award. I was kind of annoyed because the lady presenting the awards had been talking into the microphone perfect for all the kids before T and then she didn't talk into it at first when T got his award. At least you can see him come up and kind of hear why he was present with this award and then you see him pose for the school picture.

This is the award that Taylor received!

This is Taylor with his teacher Mr. Raubenheimer. Mr. Raubenheimer is originally from South Africa and has brought a lot of experience with him as well as a lot of new things for the kids to learn about. He has been wonderful with Taylor and we have seen Taylor's grades continue to get better and better since having Mr. Raubenheimer as his teacher.

We took a few pictures at school of Taylor holding his award along with his other treasures that he received with the award; a water bottle, a pencil, and a band bracelet. None of them really turned out so we tried taking one at home where he wasn't distracted by all of his friends. This one turned out perfect.

Taylor we are so very proud of you and your willingness to treat others the way you want to be treated. You have such a strong sense of right and wrong and your not afraid to listen to your instincts and not just follow along with the crowd. I am constantly amazed at how strong of a personality you have and your bravery to speak our for what is right.

We love you tons and am so proud to have you as our son!!!

Rube Goldberg Project

Kelton had a project that he needed to do for his science class called the Rube Goldberg project. I had never heard of this before and had no clue what Kelton was talking about when he first brought up the whole project idea. I may have had no idea because I might not have been listening in class when I was younger, but maybe I did learn and had successfully forgotten it. Either way, I know that I never had to do a project like this for school.

His project is due today and yes we spent last night doing his project, but in Kelton's defense he did have a partner he was working with that flaked out on him at the last minute and left Kelton to come up with a new project idea and do it on his own. Kenny really stepped up and helped a ton with the idea. He also helped a ton when it came to using up all of my scotch tape and then moving onto Duct tape and it he could use my stapler for something, he ran around stapling things together. We had string stapled to the ceiling and string stapled to tennis balls. You'll see a picture of the duct tape soon.

In order for Kelton's project to work and follow the guidelines set by his teacher, Kelton had to have 8 things happen before the final object of the whole project was finished. I'm not sure if that really made sense. Let me try again, 8 things had to happen all together. Kelton needed there to be 7 things happening before the 8th thing happened; in this case it was to pop a balloon.

After 22 tries, and yes I had to try to film each one, Kelton finally got his project to work. The first video is I think try #20 or something, but it was so funny that I had to add it. It could have just been funny at the time, so sorry if it really was one of those things that you had to be there for.

Here is the actual project. I tried to film it the best I could, please be patient with me as I am still quit inexperienced. What I can say is that I am thankful for digital cameras, it was so easy to just go in and delete all the times that the car flew off in the wrong direction or the dominoes didn't all fall. After 22 tries, here is how everything came together.

At the end of it all Kelton announced that the car had gone straight through the balloon and was stuck in the floor. I'm not sure if you can really tell in the picture but the needle is pushed pretty far into the kitchen floor.

We actually had so much fun doing this project. I truly enjoyed watching Kenny and Kelton work together to make his project work. Taylor was also helping and was sneaking off with the unused dominoes and building his own towers on the couch. He kept knocking them down before I could get a picture, but they were impressive.

I also feel as though I need to thank our silent helpers who didn't even know they helped with this because they were out of town. Thank you to Grandma Shauna and Grandma Chris for providing the balloons and the dominoes. I'll bring the dominoes back this week :)

Science Fair Time

We have known for well over a month that Taylor had to do a Science project for the Science Fair. So, like any good mother, I explained that we had tons of time and not to worry. Once a week Taylor would all of a sudden realize that his project was due sometime soon and have a panic attack. I would once again assure Taylor that we had tons of time and not to worry. We did take some time one evening and do his research. I also printed off the pictures for him to color over Christmas break and he did get those done and ready. There were a few times here and there that we would work on it.

One night after dinner instead of working on his project, we were sitting around talking and somehow Momma's Little Piggy came up and the next thing I knew Taylor was doing the whole Mamma's Little Piggy. See how well we have been using our time. If building food sculptures would count for a science project, we would have been set!

All through this I have been dragging my feet a little because I have never done a science project before. I have never in my life had to use that stupid tri-fold board and explain my project on it. This was all so new to me and I was scared to try to even help. So, now that his project is due tomorrow, we have it done! Man, I work well under pressure! Taylor did a wonderful job on his project and keeping his journal.

Here he is with his finished display. Since I have never done this before I'm not sure if we did enough or if it's just right or anything. I think it looks nice and clean and organized.

Here is a close up of his display.

This is the middle section. The little green part on the bottom is a little note that we added from some of our research that says that all the water on the earth right now is the same water that was here when the earth was formed and when dinosaurs were on the earth. I did not know this, but that is how the water cycle works. It just keeps cycling the water.

This is the side of the board that explains precipitation and collection.

This is the side that explains evaporation and condensation.

Good Job T! I can't wait to see what your teacher has to say.