Five in Three and One at Home

My kids have now been in school for over a month. Yep, this is the traditional back to school post, just very late.

Karebear is in her last year of high school. To make her last year fun she has chosen to take two photo classes (film and digital) and do a photography internship.  She also gets to interact with preschool kids as part of the child development class she has. It's a good thing she has these classes to balance out her Calculus class which she swears "will be the death of her". I'm so putting that on her gravestone; died doing calculus. She is staying busy with teaching a class every other day as part of the freshmen mentor program. She is a co-vice president for the NHS. They worked hard to try and have an induction ceremony "that wasn't lame"

Karebear was elected  a senator and has taken on setting up for and participating in a lot more school events. I'm just glad to see her stepping out of her comfort zone and trying some new things, such as participating in the Powder Puff football game. She is finding out just how much fun high school can be.

Jolly J is a Sophmore. I can't believe she will be 16 in just a few months. I love that she is very diligent to get her homework done. She rarely asks us for help and has fantastic grades. She is also a senator. She decided to continue with ASL this year and hopes to learn more with this new teacher. Last years teacher checked out pretty early in the year and unfortunately nobody learned much. She continues to stay busy with karate twice a week and private flute lessons.

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Jolly J  is also taking a photography class. I think I may not have to take another picture this year. I don't know why but love this recent photo she took.

Minnie is glad to be through the first couple of weeks of 7th grade. It's always hard to adjust to not having classes and lunch with many friends.  She is trying out playing the flute and has been making quite a few items in her sewing class. Her latest creation was a neck pillow. She brought this home and said how at first it didn't seem very comfortable, then she realized she had forgot to stuff it.

Tator is in 3rd Grade. She was excited to get the teacher she wanted and loves the class rewards system, especially since she recently got  a timer. She carried this with her on recent school wide 1K run. The first thing she said, when she finished was, "I ran it in 8 minutes."

Bud Boy is in first grade. He is in the same classroom as last year. School seems a lot longer but playing basketball  (joys of the big kids playground) at recess makes the day go faster. His teacher rewards different tables each week by letting them eat lunch in the classroom. Each week he has been anticipating when it was going to be his tables turn and was pretty excited when it finally happened.

That leaves just Princess at home.Each morning she has to pack a backpack, too. If you're really lucky she will even help an older sibling pack there's as well and brings all sorts of items for them to eat for lunch. Much to her sisters avail she has taken a liking to some old cassette tapes (yes you read that right) that are filled with songs all about colors and shapes. Since this is the only thing our van will play, expect the radio, she insists on these tapes played over and over and over as we run errands and drive siblings places.

I get asked a lot how it is with just one at home. I am learning how to entertain a toddler again. I REALLY enjoy nap time. My house is quiet and I get a few hours to do something uninterrupted.