Hi, Dad again. Yes, I hijacked this blog the last 3 weeks, but even though I'm not really a writer, I thought I needed to share that story with everyone. I hope you don't mind.
I do have my own blog that I normally use for that kind of thing, so I will do my best not to crossover too often. THIS blog is supposed to be all about the kids. It's been a while since I've really talked about them, so allow me to fill you in.
We will start with the youngest. Miss R turned 2 a couple months ago. Need I say more? She leaves a wake of chaos and destruction in her path wherever she goes. But that's what two-year-olds do. Have a huge pack of older siblings, her vocabulary has started to include some... uh... colorful phrases. Nothing obscene, but some of the slang terms the kids learn at school are just... weird...
Mr. L is almost 4. His favorite thing in the world is a game for the Wii called Super Smash Brothers Brawl. It's kind of like professional wrestling, only with cartoon characters from old (and new) Nintendo games. Of course we don't let him play for very long, maybe 20 minutes a week. He's at that age where we want to start pumping his head full of letters and numbers and all that stuff they used to teach on Sesame Street before it was taken over by Elmo and fairies. We still watch it, but we're thinking he's just about ready for pre-school, probably more ready than we think.
Which brings us to the grade school kids.
We just finished parent teacher conferences, so I have to brag on them a little. Hope you don't mind. Miss G was making the teacher crazy. No matter what she did, Miss G was just bored. So, they started sending her next door to the next grade up for part of the day. Now Miss G is bored with THAT material. The don't normally take kids her age and bump them up a grade or two, but they might make an exception in her case.
Mr I is making his class crazy too. His teacher likes to do these speed tests, to see how quickly the kids can do math problems or word matching, things like that. Without fail, Mr I will be the first one done, causing many groans among his class mates.
Miss D has been at the top of her class as well. They are having trouble finding reading material for her reading level in the grade school.
I am amazed at how well "the little guys" are doing. I don't know what we're feeding them that gave them these mutant brains, but it's sure not genetics from their father.
Thing brings us to the "big kids".
Mr D is halfway through his Junior year. With Band and ROTC and all the other stuff he has going on, he is carrying straight A's. We're at that stage of his high-school career where we are having to worry about SAT tests and college applications and all that "fun" stuff - which also happens to be expensive. He gets a letter every day from some college somewhere basically begging him to go there. He got an acceptance letter from West Point, and he hasn't even applied there yet! He's on track to write his own ticket to any college anywhere.
Which brings us to Miss C, who took her full ride ticket to NMSU. Like any college freshman, she kind of cut loose her first semester, but after a rocky start, things have settled into a routine for her. She's kept her grades high, but she's also working part time. She had some issues with boys and room mates, but her boyfriend lives up here now and she moved to a new room, so it looks like all that is behind her. I'm really proud of the way she has stepped up and is carrying her own weight while still keeping her eyes on the goal.
Miss N is still struggling to figure out her purpose and direction. An old family friend found us online and our families got to talking. She and their one, a grade school buddy, renewed their friendship and it seems to be growing into something more. I don't know if this is a "real" deal, but at least it has given her something to look forward to. Keep her in prayer that she can find some way to start moving forward.
I'm sorry I don't have more pictures and videos to share right now. We're headed into that time of year with all the concerts and stuff, not to mention wrestling, so there are tons of photo/video opportunities coming up.
