Extra Extra - Read all about it!

It's been AGES since I've updated. This is forever long and I put it in the order it would have been had I posted each one when they happened. So the most recent is on top. No pictures cuz I'm at work. Maybe one day. ;)

FIRST DAY
The first day of school sure came up quick. Summer flew by - must have been all those days going to swim twice a day! LOL! Why is it that each year it seems the days get shorter and shorter and the years go by faster and faster???

So G is in 3rd grade. Still in the dual language program w/ Mrs F as her teacher. This was T's 2nd grade teacher. He walked with us when I walked G to class that 1st day. He's taller than Mrs. F is now! I should have gotten a pic of that! But I didn't. She was happy to see him. G is happy to be back in school - and see her old friends and have that routine again. She's particularly happy see Noah P b/c they have a "secret romance" you know. *wink* She couldn't wait to see if the fire was still burning after all that time away during the summer I guess! haha! (sometimes I wonder if the romance is so secret even he doesn't know about - *grin*)
We got our eyes checked before school started and G is now in bifocals. She was so happy to wear them to school - but then no one noticed and she was bummed. Nothing like being a drama queen and loving to be the center of attention, right?
She has a great hair cut too - we cut all that chlorine dried hay off, so it's shorter in the back (up to/past her hair line) and comes down to her chin in the front. It's CUTE! She doesn't do the best job in the shower though at getting either the shampoo IN the hair or OUT of the hair - not sure which. Or maybe she uses too much conditioner b/c a lot of the time her hair is so stringy and dirty looking. So I have banned her from using conditioner and threatened to come scrub her from head to toe if she doesn't start washing herself better. Also - I told her to COMB her hair after the shower and not go to bed w/ it uncombed and wet - and once it's combed - we/me/dad puts a LITTLE BIT or the biosilk in and combs again. So far - it seems to be helping w/ the stringiness.
We finally got her on a bus - her and T - it took about a week to get it worked out b/c it was a giant MESS. I've never HAD such issues w/ transportation and up until last year my kids have always been bus riders. And I think b/c they weren't last year - that was the biggest issue! It was a huge pain in the patootie! So she rode the bus FINALLY Thurs and Fri of this week. Left her binder w/ all her homework on the bus Thursday afternoon and had a meltdown at the school when she couldn't find it (b/c she thought she left it there - she rides 2 buses - 1 from her school to anotehr, then from that school to home - her and T both do this b/c of the academic programs they are in). She also noticed the bus driver wears bifocals. *grin*
We have rid her legs of hair too - but we didn't shave. We nair'd them. She had furry legs and was getting embarrased to wear shorts or skirts - was constantly complaining about it. Her legs were BAD! She wanted me to do her arms too - but I drew the line at that! I figured 8 yo was too young to use a razor. And w/ the nair - I can control that - we'll do it approx every couple weeks or so - as the hair gets long enough. She LOVES having fur free legs. LOL! She told her daddy when he picked her up from dance that night and her pawpaw knew that night. She didn't tell anyone at school the next day - although she told me she was. I guess she decided against that one? LOL! She's liking school though - although she thinks her teacher yells too much. lol! And she wishes she was a car rider and not a bus rider!
Grace also started dance again. She's taking a higher level jazz and hip hop class again. She was going to take a clogging class as well but those shoes were 78 bucks so we decided to drop the class this year. She can also take next year and get the same benefit. But it's still kind of sad b/c she's a great dancer and so enthusiastic about dance. I would relaly love to be able to hvae her in more than one dance class and gte her more well rounded. She's done ballet and tap - though we may do that again at some point to increase her skills - and clogging seemed fun to learn. Oh well.

T is in 7th grade this year - still in the MAP program but this year he's not taking spanish. (I have noticed a great improvement in his spanish though - he does speak it more around the house and he understands it more when he's reading it.) He's got honor band again, still playing trombone; and athletics as his electives - then his core classes are all pre-AP or MAP. Like his math is high school level. Like D is in high school 9th grade taking preAP algebra - and T is taking high school algebra - they both have the SAME book. Interesting! (which is helpful b/c D is having a hard time grasping some things b/c his teacher apparently doesn't like to teach - she thinks the students shouldn't ask questions - they are pre-AP and she already be able to understand this stuff. Ugh - I don't like teachers like that. But this way - T can help D w/ his math! LOL!)
So for athletics - T begged and begged and begged to try out for football - which was really annoying to me b/c all summer he went on about basketball and tennis, and then at the beginning of the year he mentioned track. But then it seemed everyone was going to do football. This is a kid who's NEVER played football except in the neighborhood - and not very often at that! I could have sent him to football camp over the summer! They had them! Grrrrrr! Also - we didn't get his physical done over the summer b/c *SOMEONE* never brought a form home and I couldn't get one from the school until school started. So I got one the thursday before - but couldn't get T in, until the Tuesday AFTER school started. Got his physical but the doctor felt like his abdominal aorta was too noticable (you could feel it and hear it too much). It didn't matter that the kid is a walking skeleton and has virtually no fat to HIDE the aorta. I had the same issue and every skinny person I KNOW and have seen does too! So he wanted an abdominal ultrasound before he'd release him. Ugh. So we could't get him in until Thursday. That was $320 also btw. Great. THank goodness I work for the people that provide my insurance and the places I'm required to go b/c then I can do payroll deduction on these big bills cuz time after time I'm coming up w/ these severl hundred dollar bills and while most of the time I can pay it - sometimes I just can't! And the beginning of school has eaten up ALL my money! Anyway - did the ultrasound and had to wait for the result. I was worried too b/c she spent an AWFUL large amount of time on his right kidney area and it looked NOTHING like his left kidney. (the aorta looked great btw! lol) By that afternoon - I got a call from the doc that his physical was ready and all was good! WHEW! But I was stuck at home waiting on the cable guy to come fix my internet line, and was waiting on my mother in law to brng the kids home before I could go get the physical! Grrr! T couldn't start football practice until he turned in his physical! Needless to say - he couldn't start practice until Friday - almost a full week after everyone else. And practice is really tryouts. For A or B team.
Fast forward a week and where are we? We still don't know what team he will be on b/c they only have 1 spot left on the A team. They had it narrowed down to 8 boys and T was one of them. Then by Thursday afternoon, it was narrowed to FOUR boys - T still one of them. WHAT????? This is the boy that has never played football, started practice almost a week late, and then was told today that he was one of the hardest workers out there on the field! (he said he felt proud when the coach said that!)I didn't want him to try out for football b/c 1) he's never played, 2)he never told me he'd wanted to play and never showed any interest at all, 3) he always complains of back pain or other ailments - ie: he's a whiner, 4) he's so SKINNY and just doesn't have the "build" for football - even the doctor told him that and tried to talk him out of it! The deal was he could try out but he couldn't complain. lol! And he hasn't! Until today - when he thought he'd broken his arm. And he had a big knot and bruises on his arm according to "dad" (I havne't seen it since I'm at work! *boo hoo* My baby is hurt! and I can't help!) After a couple hours of ice on and off, and it not getting any better and not the best range of motion - off to get it xrayed. No fractures. WHEW!!!!! Just bruising. Thank goodness!
Other than football, he has band and his other classes. Band and football eat up all his extra time. He has some band activities coming up to plan for - they had a parents meeting Thursday night and we need to buy or pay for several things including a clinic in November and a trip to Dallas in the spring. All total - $200. Due now. *sigh* But he seems to enjoy school. So far football has cost me like $30 (plus the ultrasound and physical and now the xray and urgent care visit). T also has glasses again this year. He required the most new clothes cuz he's only grown 15 feet since last year. haha! He's 5'8" tall - at 12 yo. (and 115 pounds) He wears a size 11 shoe. His dad wears a size 10.

D started high school. I officially have 3 kids in 3 different school but what really hurts - D started high school! AND it's the SAME school *I* went to! Okay - so they've change it a LOT since I went there but still.....! That makes me feel old. But really - I don't feel old. It doesn't FEEL like it's been that long since I graduated. Then I look around or listen to the "young'uns" and yeah - I'm getting "old". *sigh* He hasn't grown hardly at all - so he didn't really need any clothes at all. THANK GOODNESS b/c his supplies are killing me. Oh - he's the only one in the family that doesn't need glasses. Lucky!
He's taking his 4 core classes - history, english, algebra, biology - all pre-AP. He has 2 dual credit classes - one is a computer class, and then spanish. Then his 1 elective is theater. Theater is his passion when it comes to classes (unless they were to have a video gamer class - then that would over take it probably! Or Dungeons & Dragons). It has a $25 fee. Both his dual credit classes are free tuition b/c they are on campus but we did have to buy the books. We couldn't get them online b/c they needed to come w/ the access key disk - to access WebCT. So we ended up spending almost $400 in books. This was an unexpected cost. *sigh* Frustrating. I don't know why they can't just sell the access key disk separate from the book - so people can get the book wherever they want. It makes it so I can't even resell the book privately after this class is over - we'll have to take the books to the bookstore for book buy back and get their price only - which is always lower than what you can get privately or even online if you sold it. Again, frustrating. So we're getting free tuition but getting taken for w/ books.
Initially he was really struggling w/ all his books (which really, he doesn't carry textbooks except his dual credit books) and notebooks for all his classes and at one point tried to carry TWO backpacks! (1 was a side satchel kind) It ended up being a bigger pain than he thought it would be. Now he's figured out how to pare things down and is back to 1 bag plus his lunch. They don't have lockers and don't allow rolling backpacks - in case you were wondering. But i was checking other kids out - and VERY few had stuffed to the gills backpacks so I knew it had to be a D issue and not a teachers-requiring-too-much issue.
He started seminary this year. It starts at 5:50AM and ends at 6:40 and then I or someone else drives him - and the other kids - to school. He's been less than thrilled about seminary as he's not an early riser for one - what teen likes to get up that early anyway??? But also b/c - as he states it - "I'm not a very pious person". We'll see how this year goes.
He's already joined 2 clubs at school - book club that meets on wednesday afternoons, and drama club that meets on thursday afternoons. After he gets picked up on thursdays - he's anxious to get to the public library for his weekly game night of D&D. The first day of the 2nd week of school however he was already talking of dropping his clubs b/c he had so much homework! lol! But he's struggling thru right now - we'll see how things go. I've already told him the 1st thing to go will be D&D, then his clubs. (he said seminary, then the clubs, then D&D - yeah, right, my boy!)
D is funny too b/c he thinks the kids at school are weird. He has seen a drug dealer (or what he thinks is one - he thinks he observed an "exchange") and 2 lesbians kissing. There is a girl at school that dresses as a boy. Not just in boys clothes but wants to be a boy. One of the girls from his theater class last year and is in his class this year hangs w/ a group of kids that are "emo" and I guess she is too. Or tries to be. He says he can be around them for like 5 minutes and then has to leave to go find someone else to be around b/c they are weird. He doesn't get into the the activities other teens do - he doesn't want a cell phone at all. (fine by me - I wasn't offering him one anyway!) He comes home and tells me about his day and the things that happened and the people and I think it's cool! T does the same thing. (though w/ T I don't know as much about the people, just what's going on academically or w/ football or whatever) I love that!!!!


SWIMMING
G stayed at swimming all the way thru the last meet on August 9. That was the city champs meet - where they actually get medals and ribbons and truly COMPETE. All summer they've been timed but it wasn't really competition. More like self competing than anything. Also - no one had really been DQ'd before either. This meet - you had better have gotten it right b/c there were judges there.

The previous meet coincided w/ the state meet (which we didn't go to). It was our first experience in a natatorium too. Also - the first time my dad went to one of the meets. (or the first time my family, really, went to pretty much anything my kids do. My dad being a trucker is usually never home - but he was between jobs at the time so it was great that he got to go! My sister lives too far away - as do I w/ her kids. My mom is.....well, my mom. She never went to any of my functions either, or my sisters. My mother in law goes to most of the kids stuff, but not the ones that last all day - lol) So she competed in the 25 free, 50 free (didn't do so hot in that one!!!), 25 back (again, not so great), and 100 IM (she did AWESOME! although she did a 1 handed touch on the breast stroke and she kept looking to see where she was compared to the others! lol!) It was her 1st IM and we were really impressed!

So at the last meet (on the 9th), she competed in 5 events for her age group (7-8 yo, which btw, it's really cool IMO that she's at the top of that age group b/c I think it really helped her. If she was 9-10 yo, she wouldn't have done as well given that she would have been competing against older girls.) She competed in the 25 meter freestyle, backstroke, breast-stroke, and butterfly; as well as the 100IM. Oh btw - the kids would medal in 1st-8th place, and get a ribbon in 9th-16th place. There were *I think* 16 YMCAs competing and HUNDREDS of kids - age 12 and under. (the older kids competed in the AM, we were competing the afternoon) My dad also came to this one btw which was super neat! She was SO thrilled w/ this and still talks about it to this day about how her pawpaw came to her meets and that makes her so happy. And also - this one too was in a natatorium - different place than before - I really like those natatoriums! Much nicer than a YMCA pool! ROFL!

She improved her times on ALL of them. I lost the sheet (DANG it) b/c while I have her times for that meet on those things - I don't have the times fro the previous races to compare. I do know the free was a SLIGHT improvement. She came in 16th place. BARELY got a ribbon! There were 5 heats (if I remember correctly on that one) and there are 8 lanes - (the heats mean that there are more kids than there are lanes, so heat 1 races 8 girls, heat 2 races 8 more girls, heat 3 races 8 more, etc etc. They are usually grouped by times as well. If they don't have a previous time, they are grouped together. And then all the times are grouped in similar clusters - so the faster kids race each other and the slower kids race each. If that makes sense. I don't know if "NORMAL" swim leagues do heats this way - I don't believe they do? - but this is how the YMCA where I live does them)

For the breaststroke - she was disqualified due to her kicking (flutter kicking I believe), though I think she improved her time by 9 seconds! Butterfly she improved by I believe 8 or 9 seconds as well (and placed 7th) and then backstroke was an improvement by like 5 seconds (placed 9th). (I really need to try to get the previous race times to compare!) Each race though you could tell, she was getting a little worn. And she was I think tired b/c it was a long day. We'd never been at a meet until 4 or 5PM. So we were worried about the IM - whether she'd have the *energy* for it! Also - she got dq'd in the breast for the kick - so I was worried she'd get dq'd in the IM for the same thing. There were 7 girls swimming so I knew if she could make it - she'd at least medal. She was DETERMINED to knock 10 seconds off her time. And dang if she didn't come close. I do remember her previous time being 2:43 or somewhere around there (in the 2:40s) and she came about 2:36 area. (I remember thinking about it b/c you needed 2:26 to get to state and I was thinking that she had improved that much more! When she had first did the time trial for state - she was right at 3 minutes) But her coach told her she had gotten DQ'd for the breast again but this time for her arms for something stupid that didn't make sense. I couldn't figure it out. My dad ended up having to leave and dh was ready to go - she didn't have anymore races. But I wanted to wait for the official results. So we waited about 15 more minutes and then checked. She was NOT DQ'd and got *4th* place (out of 5 - 2 girls did get dq'd)!! WAHOO!!!!!

So - out of FIVE races - she got TWO medals - and TWO ribbons!!!! She wouldn't get them that day and we expected to get them the next day at the swim team party. We went to that - where we got the swim team photos, and the YMCA trophy for participation - and learned that the ribbons/medals would be in the following week.

After TWO weeks and a few phone calls, we finally got the medals and ribbons and Grace couldn't be prouder! And I couldn't be happier swim is OVER!!!!

SUMMER SCHOOL
D finished summer school w/ a middle A. Of course. So before actually starting high school - he already has a high school class out of the way. Way to go D man!!!!

MEXICO
Okay, so I have tried and tried to get T's pics from Mexico done in a way that they could be viewed online - and I could post a link here or clip there or something. THis would prevent me from taking up tons of space b/c there are TONS of great pics from Mexico! And these JUST from the digital camera! I have YET to get the regular cameras (FOUR of them) developed! I tried to even make a "movie" on photobucket, w/ music and text and all that - and then photobucket ate it or something JUST as I was almost done - and I'd spent HOURS on it. I was SO frustrated - I almost cried. So for now - I give up. There are some really really great pics so hopefully one day I'll get those up - but for now - trust me, on the pictures. beautiful. Timeline wise (from the top of my head (I'm at work) - T's not sitting right here and I haven't been able to get him to blog about his trip at ALL) he arrived on 7/5 in Puerto Vallarta and travelled to Tepic w/ Mike and Pati. They spent the weekend getting ready for vacation bible school and went to church on Sunday (and he had a very difficult time understanding!).

Then VBC happened M-F in the morning w/ the midafternoon free to do stuff about town or at home. (not sure what all they did). The 12-13, they went to El Roble to donate some items, have a doctor clinic, have a church service and for other service reasons. These people spoke a different dialect and were very very poor. (great pics to show that) I can't remember the dates and order of the things they did. But they went to Ruiz for a day or 2 (??) to help build an addition onto someone in need's home. (again, very poor) It was great to see pics of Tony building something! (they were "white day laborers" ROFL) They also got to take a trip out on a lake to a cabin overnight to go fishing and relaxing. Got some great pics of Tony w/ some nice fish! (but he didn't actually CATCH any - Mike did all the catching - LOL!) Apparently though all the bugs were really bad so he didn't sleep well and didn't enjoy that trip too much. He got to go to downtown Tepic and see the sites (Tepic has like 300K people, and is a fairly modern city). He learned to make tamales (of which he hasn't used that skill!!! *sad*) He read The Alchemist (A recommended reading book for middle school) four times! LOL! He came back home on the 21st. We missed him SOOOOOO much! Oh - and he came home w/ a HUGE stack of letters and envelopes to mail for one of the missionaries at the church. It's pretty expensive to mail from Mexico and it takes a few weeks to get to the destination - but it's only .42 and takes a lot less if mailed w/in the US! LOL! So hey - that's what we did! It was seriously a very large stack of mail!!! And T brought back a LOT of mexican candy! ROFL!