Middle School Days

McKenzie is in the Middle School this year and it has been quite an adjustment for all of us. There are "socials" on a Friday every month or so and all of the normal "not in elementary school anymore" but still "not in Junior High" yet things that happen. There are after school activities called Intramurals that the kids can join. These are can be anything from sports to plastic canvas working to art to foreign languages to drama classes and they change quarterly. McKenzie is taking full advantage of these and has something going on after school Monday through Thursday so I just swing by and pick her up after work. Works out well for everyone and she's learning some neat stuff. She also got a new cell phone for her birthday so she lets me know when her activity is over, when she's about to walk out of the building, when she is actually walking out of the building and when she's almost to my car :) Anything for a text I guess. So when I get a phone call directly after school, it usually means something is wrong or changed.

Yesterday, as I was working along, I received one of these calls but it only rang twice and then she hung up. So...of course I called back and this was our conversation. I swear that 12 year old girls have a block when it comes to giving information!

Me: Hi honi, did you just call?

Her: Yes.

Me:.......did you need something? Why did you hang up?

Her: Yes.......oh......I don't know.

Me: Ok well...what did you need?

Her: Um.....oh yeah. Is being 7th in the whole entire school in algebra good?

Me: Uh...Yeah! Are you really 7th in the whole school?

Her: Yes.

Me: Wow! That's awesome!!! I'm so proud of you! Who told you that?

Her: Um....some teacher...I can't remember. Oh yeah, it was my academic teacher.

Lol....this is how most of our conversations go these days. On the bright side though...yay for my daughter!! At the beginning of the year, she was having some issues with some of her classes and having 5 different teachers/subjects was a big adjustment. After coming from the elementary school with all 4's (which is an A+ above grade average at that school) and then getting a C on her first report card....it was definitely a shock. So this little bit of information really made my day and even though she didn't show it in any particular way, shape, or form...it made hers too. :)

She is also taking Spanish and quizzes me every day on the car ride home and makes me try to decipher sentences that she has made up. I have forgotten quite a bit but it actually surprised me how much I have been able to retain. I'm still cool sometimes...

Here and There

Rylee or Alyssa???

So McKenzie had her middle school orientation yesterday. She was at the school learning the ropes for 4 hours and then Rylee and I met her for a parent/student bbq. All of my middle school memories came rushing back and I found it very odd to see some of my friends teaching with our old teachers. Several of them are still there...older looking of course, but the same demeanors. Weird!

Kenzie decided she wants to play the clarinet in band, so we signed her up for a rental, bought a book, and walked out...instrument in hand (which she put to good use when we got home). P.E. also has a dress code, so we waited in line for a good 25 minutes to pay for the shorts and shirt, to then turn around and head over to another line for the actual picking up of said P.E. clothes. Not only was Rylee being a poop-head and throwing intermittent fits, but she also decided to lift up my shirt (for all to see) and proceed to stick her head under it. That was lots of fun while listening to 4 million people yelling and having fun. Ok, so it wasn't really that many kids but it sure sounded like it. It was so strange to see so many people I went to school with, bringing their children to this milestone function. I was thinking, "Man, they're too young to have kids this old....wait a second, so am I!!" I also now understand how my mom used to get so mad when I'd tell her someone had hurt my feelings or had been mean to me. Young girls can be so maddening! Kenzie has some friends that are making her question herself and her pre-adolescent life....it's really hard to just listen to her without piping off with some mean comeback. I have to remind myself that she needs to deal with it in her own way, just as I did. If I had told my friends everything my mom told me to say to them, I don't know that I would have had many left!! I understand those claws and feelings of protectiveness so much better now. Ode to past elementary days (without the words)...

Now, we're just enjoying these last few days of summer break before the kids get back into the routine of school. Rylee is so disappointed that she doesn't get to start too, but she and I will be working in the evenings using a book called Ordinary Parents Guide to Teaching Reading. Since my hopes of being able to stay home and homeschool her are not going to be a reality for quite some time, I will just do it in my extra time (ha!! like I have that). We shall see though, as she is quite excited about learning like a big girl. I found the following succession of pictures in an old file that are just too cute to pass up~









On a funny note, the following will be Mike and I in a few years! (Ok, maybe I'm exaggerating a bit)


The Sharing in Marriage
The old man placed an order for one hamburger, French fries and a drink. He unwrapped the plain hamburger and carefully cut it in half, placing one half in front of his wife. He then carefully counted out the French fries, dividing them into two piles and neatly placed one pile in front of his wife. He took a sip of the drink, his wife took a sip and then set the cup down between them. As he began to eat his few bites of hamburger, the people around them were looking over and whispering. Obviously they were thinking, "That poor old couple - all they can afford is one meal for the two of them." As the man began to eat his fries a young man came to the table and politely offered to buy another meal for the old couple. The old man said, "they were just fine - they were used to sharing everything." People closer to the table noticed the little old lady hadn't eaten a bite. She sat there watching her husband eat and occasionally taking turns sipping the drink. Again, the young man came over and begged them to let him buy another meal for them. This time the old woman said, "No, thank you, we are used to sharing everything..." Finally, as the old man finished and was wiping his face neatly with the napkin, the young man again came over to the little old lady who had yet to eat a single bite of food and asked, "What is it you are waiting for?"
She answered, "the teeth!"

Actually, the whole sharing of teeth thing is absolutely disgusting!!! I won't even share my toothbrush. LOL...funny though.

Last, but certainly not least, this song has been going through my head for days!! I have to pause my music (at the very bottom)to hear it, but it's such a great song and gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it. I think of all of the strong, brave cancer survivors out there...