More teenagers than ever.

Neil is not (as I keep trying to tell people) 14   He is 15.  And kind.  And hardworking.  And he swears just a little.  And in love.  Neil is smitten and he is every bit the gesture boy I knew he would be.  He epitomizes the eighties romantic film.  Of course none of us would wish for our children to meet the love of their life as a freshman in high-school....  Of course none of us would hope for our children to be one of those high-school sweetheart couples.  But.... but.... this girl is really something.  This is a girl that I already consider mine.  They are both so young.  She is bohemian and not a follower and sweet and funny.  I'm keeping her.

Neil is

14.  And I just deleted all the pictures of his cake and birthday dinner off my camera.  Great.  Fucking great.  Let's pretend there is a picture here of Neil blowing out the candles off his (homemade) cheesecake.

We have another child... what's his name... the middle guy...

Neil is cool and calm.  He is loud but not destructive.  He has a girlfriend.  He is a closet swearer.  His sassy side is becoming more and more apparent.  I get emails from the school far more frequently than I would have guessed regarding his potential for disruptive behaviour.  At his age Gene did not have a single complaint against him.  By the time Gus is his age his academic career file may take up a whole shelf by itself.  But, Neil is funny and kind and more apt to help out if he sees me getting overwhelmed by the grind of daily housework.  Gene is very like me by nature, he's a people person although he has a tendency to be a wee bit morose.  Neil is way more Trent, laid back and affable.

Eighties Movies Revisited

I am a fan of the big gesture.  John Cusack standing in the rain with the stereo, forever set the standard.  I did NOT marry someone who is a man of gesture.  He is a man of actualities.  This is a good thing if you are a wife who likes things done.  Stuff built.  Actual stuff.  Fixed.  Dug.  I am such a wife.  But I also want that John Cusack serenade (and if you grew up on a steady diet of eighties movies you know exactly what I'm referring to).  What we have here is a case of Starry-eyed Romantic marries Clear-sighted Steady Realist. I finally figured out that I might want to start seeing the gesture in the completed projects: enjoy the romance of the elegantly executed bookcase I requested, for example.  (Might make me seem less whiny.)   Gene might take after his dad.  Neil is my boy.  Pretty sure Gus will make me and Neil look about as romantic as Darth Vader.  The jury is still out on Bay.  She sure does like her sparkly jewelry though and she has this whole narrative about "weel diamonds".

Neil

12.  Easy.  Noisy.  Kind.  Likes to read!  Busy finding his place in the family.  Busy finding his place in the world.  Might swear when I'm not in hearing distance.

NEIL IS ELEVEN

Isn't "eleven" sweet... Neil is still chatty. And kind. He cares what people think about him. He cares about poor people and black people and people we are at war with. He LOVES President Obama. He is a liberal to the core. He has a distinctly goofy side. Tonight he gave Bay the following advice: "Bay... always be kind to people... even if they are mean to you and ALWAYS be kind to your friends". Bay nodded solemnly. (Seriously... I am not making this up.) We spoiled Neil for his birthday, and I believe that it was the first time we did this. Gene's Driver's Ed class is costing us the best part of $500 so his we warned him that his birthday gift would reflect this expense. Neil is not having a party (after he is in school next year, I expect we can make up for these past two years) so I felt okay in going all out with his present. He wanted a Nerf Gun which we got him. He got that on the morning of his birthday along with his favorite Starbucks Vanilla Latte (bottled) and a bag of Reese's Peanut Butter Cups. Then after breakfast we met Trent at the downtown bicycle store and he got to pick out a very cool, very solid bicycle. He was SOOOO excited. Gene was a little miffed but behaved himself as he oogled the bikes. (If his grades are good he may get one for Christmas.) (Gus wants one too.....)

We had cake and candles at 11pm. (That was when we got water again, having been without for three days... It's been a long, dry and stinky plumbing remodel... but we're almost done.

Happy Birthday Neil... (and Aunt Lisa!)

Neil's deciding....

Neil has heard from at least four sources that the fifth grade teacher is awesome and cool and rad and altogether not to be missed. He had decided that he was going to do one more year of home school but now is back on the fence... Trent is encouraging him to go and meet the teacher. I am encouraging Trent to go and meet the teacher WITH Neil. I've been given the go ahead to set up an appointment. I am 90% certain that Neil will LOVE Mr Rooney (Neil likes to like people) and 95% certain that he will sign up for fifth grade before the end of this month. I told him that I'd like him to decide before summer begins so that the school knows, the home school group knows and I know (so that I don't spend the month of August figuring out curriculum). It will seem crazy to have all three gone to school each day and just me and Bay at home. Crazy. And easy. And lazy. And fun.

Worst Homeschool EVer

Neil wants to go to "real school" (Jesus, I WISH they wouldn't call it that!!!!) He DID say "it's not that I you're not doing a good job, Mom".... (whatEVER... give up the best years of my life... yada, yada, yada....) He wants friends. (WhatEVER.)

Now on the other hand... I WOULD get a whole lot of time to do whatEVER I wanted to do each day... AND I'd get about 30% of my house back to normal use... and I'd get rid of a load of paper.... hmmmm Still, they ARE ungrateful little bastards all the same.

I'm not sure he will go through with it, but I told him he has time to make up his mind. He'd like to be able to go spend a day at school... which might be possible... however I did warn him, that if he did that it would probably be at the fourth grade level but that he'd go in to school next September at the fifth grade level to a different teacher. I don't see much point in sending him to spend a day with the fifth grade at the END of fifth grade because I'm sure he'd go into panic mode with the jump in academics. I may approach the school and see if he could go for an hour before the end of the year.  We've had our share of great teachers, imaginative teachers, dedicated teachers... I am still friends with most of them...  Gene's third grade teacher had a huge impact on me and my assumption that a good student was automatically college bound... and therefore a good parent would consider no option other than a four year college.  Gene may not be cut out for that.  Cathy opened my eyes to that possibility (and she wasn't referring to Gene specifically, but to the assumption that that was the only goal for a caring parent.)

Gus continues to do well... extremely well. His teacher is amazing. Gus LIKES her. (That in itself is amazing... he's not one for a whole lot of willy nilly "liking".) I am starting to think that he was not ready in kindergarten or first grade and I'm sure his speech issues didn't help. But these guys are doing crazy things with him and he is taking off. Like... in leaps and bounds... like if we miss a night of reading I feel awful for the window we are missing... he's progressing that fast. He has the potential to be the first of my boys to actually be a "reader". (Imagine). So, the thought of Neil going to school.... well it doesn't seem so terrible after all. And think of the reading I could do...

Tastes like................

Yes... chicken... although Siri didn't get much of a taste... AND the chicken is still alive...

Neil got chickens. Only two... (because we are a little overwhelmed with our to-do list right now). Poor Neil's been waiting to get his chickens since we moved here... so two is better than us totally laming out on the bargain. We've had them since Monday, and the dogs are just going mental with the smell of them and the sound of them and the lack of opportunity to actually get a good sniff of them! Today Neil and I spent about 30 minutes watching Ginny quiver with the nearness of the birds while we sat next to her smacking her HARD on the nose every time she lunged at the cage. Siri sat innocently by... looking like butter (or chicken) wouldn't melt in her mouth. I was feeling good about them both... Ginny was using marginal restraint and Siri seemed to understand that these little fellas were off limits. Then we made the mistake of leaving the cage outside (INSIDE a pen, mind you...) and Siri (in a moment of canine weakness) dove for the cage and got one THROUGH the wire cage. It was bleeding but it must have just been a nick 'cause she's still here and doing all the normal chickeny things she had been doing (mostly pooping). She's under observation and seems to be fine. (Of course she MAY BE FINE as they both look the same so we may be observing the FINE one anyway.... - looks like chicken...)

Math... home school style

as Neil said... "six and six fell on the floor... picked them up and there were eighty-four"... Guess what WE'LL be reviewing next week... and NO RHYMING this time....

There's frugal....

... and there's TOO frugal... and then there's paranoid. I sent Neil into the store this morning to QUICKLY go get a card for his friend who had a birthday today. I warned Neil to try to spend three dollars OR less... (knowing me I probably went on about this a little... but there's no need to go into that RIGHT NOW...) Anyway, Neil came out with a card that he got for $2.50. I was impressed. He stared to write in it and then THOUGHTFULLY commented... "and mom, the lady in the store she tried to BRIBE me to buy an envelope too..." I said... "Neil! Did you NOT get an envelope". He said "No, I don't need one, but the lady was trying to MAKE me buy one". I went on to explain to Neil, that although I admired his frugal nature... and he was right... you don't necessarily NEED an envelope... you actually get one FREE with the card". He was surprised and then asked me to please stop laughing now.

Testing Ahead

Gene starts Eighth Grade WASL in two weeks. I am so glad that by the time Neil goes back to public school the whole testing mess may be resolved. I know that there will be some sort of test to replace WASL or at least to modify it from it's ridiculous current format. Neil will however, begin ITBS (The Iowa Test of Basic Skills) next week. He has awful pretest nerves, which many people have suggested might be relieved by the routine-ness of the annual WASL. I disagree... Even if it would make him less nervous, is that really enough reason for any kid to spend weeks completing testing that really does not result in tools to help address issues. Nor does it build self-esteem when many children simply can't pass all areas. Gene no longer anticipates passing each subject (many kids do pass all areas, but it's usually a handful per school) and how does it help when after five years of WASL Gene has learned that he more than likely will not pass. Repeatedly doing the test hasn't made Gene a better student and it hasn't taught him anything. (It's true that he doesn't seem nervous about testing.)

So, Neil will do ITBS through our home school group next week. His biggest fear is that he won't know what to do and he won't be able to ask questions. His reading has improved vastly in the last six months, but I think that a lot of his fears stem from sitting down to a stack of papers, and becoming overwhelmed by the amount of language... the actual amount of print in front of him.

My gut reaction is to keep him from this process altogether. However, I believe that because he will reenter public school at some point in the future, it would not make sense to leave him unprepared for any testing. And, I have to admit, that at 10 years of age he should be able to overcome his fears sufficiently gain some faith in himself. His biggest obstacle is his lack of belief that he is actually smart.

Let the testing begin.

I, on the other hand, get to hang out with Bay for two hours a day at the testing center. IN the car. (Great.) I can hardly wait.

Calm....

Things have greatly calmed down since Gus went back to school. However that can also be translated to read that things are completely frigging boring since Gus went back to school. Neil and I get through his work easily in two to three hours. It's enjoyable to spend school time with him, he is focused on getting the job done and loves to be read to. His main goal is to finish early, but who cares? Without Gus, there is a missing element of unpredictability... which is nice... sort of! We don't seem to have those incidents where I turn around and everyone has disappeared, we don't have as much random violence involved Lego guns or sticks. Yes, things have greatly calmed down since Gus went back to school but it is also a lot less FUN.

Gus does NOT like school and is extremely verbal about it. It took all of four days to get to that point. His first words off the bus are ... "well... school wasn't so good today... " or "school is SO dumb..." He has also managed to clock up a record number of sick-room visits due to playground accidents... Last Friday he spent the last hour of school with a HUGE bandage around his forehead for a gash from some playground equipment. He reported that the school have added a "safety bar" to some piece of jungle jim where he got whacked with something. Yesterday I not only got a call from his teacher reporting that the ran into something during recess and put his tooth into his lip (oWWWWW), I also got a call from the nurse saying that during the routine annual vision screening he had a lot of trouble with "his eyes burning" and he really does not seem to have strong vision at ALL! She also added that he was a "very pleasant boy". Jesus... he is SO putting one over on them.... I now have to make him an optometrist appointment to check his perfect vision. Oh, lets see... I guess that will involve taking him out of school for a half day....

Neil's Day

Wednesdays are going to be funky... Gene has late start but Gus has early release. Don't ask why... there is no logical reason for this. I would have to guess that it has something to do with fucking with the poor-all-suffering parents.

So... here's the line up. Trent and I get up at 6 a.m. and have breakfast. (This I LOVE... we never got to have breakfast together "before". Trent always grabbed his coffee and ran, usually on the phone already dealing "with his day" before snapping his seat belt....) So, we have breakfast and this week Gus has been joining us 'cause it puts him in a great mood to have breakfast with Dad without his siblings. Then Trent leaves at 6:30 a.m. , Gus's bus is at 7:30, I get Gene up at 7:50, and leave with Gene at 8:50, back home by 9:30 to start school with Neil. Gus gets home at 1:20.

Kind of a cluster...

BUT, when I got home today Neil had already completed his math for the day. We started History right away because we are learning about the Vikings and Neil was really wanting to get into more Viking stuff (lots of weapons, burning and pillaging for those Vikings... what's not to love?) We ended up making a paper Viking Long Boat and then creating a Diorama for the boat... Lots of tape, paint, scissors and paper AND the HOT GLUE GUN (nothing says "fun" for the boys more than the HOT GLUE GUN... I have to capitalize it cause mostly the boys have to shout it's name.... Bring out the HOT GLUE GUN in our house and the party's OWWWWNNNN.)

Boys

I am writing about GUS again... (this must stop... WHERE are the other children??) Anyway, I'm waiting to hear back from our local school and see what they would propose should he go there in March. Seeing as I never mention the poor kid, Neil is doing great. His reading has taken off... His math is good too. It's been so nice being able to work at his pace. Interestingly, we haven't had any sick days... (except for one for me way back in the begining). First off, it's interesting because they probably have stayed healthier due to being less exposed to every virus that's going around, and also because we would typically have some "sick days" that were just kids "needing-to-stay-home-days" and they don't exist with homeschooling. Gene is down to one pair of pants and two t-shirts... so we need a shopping trip.