Memorial Day

Happy Memorial day to all. I was watching some specials, in tears. How easy to think of today as just a day to play, no school... We must remember what it is about!

A/C out . . . again

Our guy came out on Thursday to recharge the freon, and Sat pm it was hot again. He came out today, Memorial Day morning, took a look, and pronounced our coil in the attic out..... He recharged again hoping it will get us a little through, but it was just leaking into the house. He had a sniffer thing and when he came into the house, it went off. I wonder what I am breathing. So~~~~~possible Thursday at 6:30 AM (did I tell you it is VERY hot in a second story attic in TX in the summer) he installer will be here to do the job. .......can you say CHA-CHING!

CELEBRATE

After only 3 years, and much hard work, Sara has graduated from the ESL program today. In the state testing, she had to make a 670 or above and she made........670! She will no longer need ESL classes! She will be monitored for 3 years to make sure her grades stay up and does not need to be readmitted to the program but with an average of 95 overall, I see no problems in that. Since Sara is no longer officially in the ESL program, I can no longer be the parent representative for the ESL assessments on all the children in the two schools that the teacher covers.....I guess I am out of a job that I really enjoyed. Maybe it is off to PTA.

Those left in the reading assistance program~~~~are you ready~~~the "american" kids that just don't,according to the teacher,apply themselves......no longer the "chinese" kid that is learning the language and left them in the dust! Please do not take this the wrong way, I am just amazed with Sara.

OH YEA....the ESL teacher also told me that Sara should be in advanced Language Arts next year! Way to go babe!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SON

Today is my son Bryan Christian's 26th birthday. How fast the time has past. We sent up prayers to him.....our angel boy.

ROCKET DAY

Today was launch day for the homemade rockets in Ruth's science class. They are constructed from plastic soda bottles. The first one contains water to make the launch pressure, the second holds an egg and a parachute that did not often deploy upon their return to earth. Unfortunately, Ruth and her partner punctured the launch bottle and they could not get the pressure to launch, but it was a beautiful rocket.

Stormy day...really

First~the cat is now in the hosp for unknown illness, hoping she makes it.



Second~need to take out a second mortgage for car maintenance. Our Honda Odyssey has PAX tires and so it is 250/ea for new ones, and add on top the maint time....OUCH



Third~this is what Ruth and I saw in front of us when I took her to the Dr. .... and we were driving towards it.

AWARDS

Today was 7th grade awards ceremony. Unlike in lower grades, there is only one award per the 5 teachers. Sara got an award from her reading teacher for best student.

Band trip

PACKED AND READY TO GO...

Sara's band had an out of town competition and in order to get there in time, they had to leave at 3 AM!!!! I was so lucky that one of the band m0ms, and also the mom to one of Sara's good friends, is a chaperon and so Sara, along with another best friend, spent the night. This also meant that the mom would bring Sara home at 1:50 AM that night....totally exhausted. I could not stay up that long, so Jeff did and she was "like a zombie" going up to bed. They got first place. After the competition, they went to a huge water park-Schliterbahn and spent 8 hours playing. I got the lowdown on the boys and girls checking each other out in their swimsuits.....I AM SO NOT READY FOR THIS! I did get the girls new swimsuits, from the Jr. dept, to make sure everything was covered, though I thing she should have worn a very long shirt over everything......wow....I sound like my mom!

moving day

Most of you know, Jeff's new job is a 3+ hour drive from home, and a night shift. We both decided it is best for him to get an efficiency closer, so now his commute is about 2 minutes. We rented a U-Haul and the move was on. We had almost enough to furnish it completely, but did buy a new mattress and another arm chair. Things are coming along well and the girls like the pools there, as long as the workout room. The girls took time in the Uhaul and at the end of the day, they (we) were exhausted

NASA

Ruth and her 6th grade team headed down to Houston for their overnight fieldtrip to the Johnson Space Center. This is Ruth and Morgan, who I have carpooled since kindergarten, ready to leave.

Ruth's Confirmation

Today Ruth was confirmed in her faith and became a member of the church.

Ruth with Pastor Mike.
Ruth with her mentors that held the classes for her group.

The actual confirmation.

The group of kids in her group along with her mentors.



Waiting with her friends to begin. Ruth, in the striped top, looks a lot like her friend Niki next to her.....guess why hehehe

ANIMALS

Jessie the guard dog.....OH, I'M SCARED!

Right after this picture, Cooper went for a haircut. He was getting too hot. Now the dogs look a lot alike!

I hope Jeff was finished with her sandwich before Puff decided to jump up and clean the plate!

JR Nat'l Honor Society

Today was the ceremony inducting Sara to Jr. National Honor Society. There were so many kids, both 8th and 7th grade. I found I had to teach Sara how to shake hands. It was very funny~first she did not know what hand to use. Then, when she shook my hand, it looked more like a bird trying to fly, and I finally said to let go of my hand at some point......we laughed so much. In the end, the correct hand was used, she did not look like she was trying to fly, and it did not last 30 seconds. She was nervous, but it was beautiful.

DISTRICT TRACK

Sara had a 3 day district track meet. She was doing the 1 1/2 mile and the mile. Thursday on the 1 1/2, she came in 4th out of 30. This is a picture of her blowing past another team to the finish line. She ran great.

On the mile, their fastest runner found out that her torn hamstring was NOT healed and hobbled across the finish line to be taken to the field house for medical attention. Sara got her foot stomped by a runner as they took off. Most of the girls wear "spike" shoes and it really hurt, so she also hobbled across the finish line in 7th place....poor girl.

They had entirely too many girls squeezed at the starting line and on both runs, they had to restart because a girl went down. I also noticed that there was a lot of pushing during this meet....the pressure of being best in district.

The 8th graders boys and girls came in first. The 7th grade girls came in 5th~~~~and Sara was upset because and also felt the upset from her coaches.....pressure from everywhere.

National Honor Society

Today Sara got her letter of acceptance into the National Junior Honor Society. This is based upon grades, character, and community volunteering. She will have her induction ceremony on the 22nd-another chance to wear her new fancy dress. There were only 2 selected from her team to receive this honor.

EASTER

We had our annual easter egg hunt. Since all of the kids but ours are in or finished with college, there is more cash in the eggs than candy. Niece Angie got the most this year and Marc got the least....better luck next year! Note the ice chest on the chair....we have to create artificial places to hide the eggs. Since Marc is 6"++, we actually had one thrown up into a huge tree....of course he just jumped and got it!

We also had the croquet competition. The game I play, well, I was very very lonely at the back.....I need to practice more I guess.

My sister Lisa brought cup cakes and let the "kids" ice and decorate them. They had a blast and were very creative.

The spoils of their hunt....time to check it out.

Happy Adoption Day Ruth

We celebrated the 12th anniversary of Ruth becoming our daughter on 4/2/1998. I took her shopping and she picked out some cool clothes.

yuck

The flu is back and I was the first down...after a good 24 hours. I did manage to pull off a great b-day party for Ruth. Updates later. Looks like Ruth has something too.....STAY AWAY!!!

Ruth's birthday party

Ruth's birthday party was so much fun. To begin with she had a frog shaped cake-from Kroger's. They painted letters for their first names and they added jewels. I later attached a ribbon of their choosing to hang them to their walls.

We, I mean they, had a lot of trampoline time. They did some at night with all the lights out wearing their glow-in-the-dark bracelets and necklaces. Good it was almost a full moon. It was so funny to see just their jewelry bouncing up and down. They had dodge ball on the trampoline. They painted sun catchers. They ate a LOT of junk food, but for breakfast it was donuts, with milk, juice and fruit.

I was surprised they were quiet by 12 and not up until 8. Most of these girls have been friends since K or first grade. They are such wonderful girls, as are their moms that I like to visit with.

15 years later

Aren't we cute!