Author: jclawver

Summer lovin, happened so fast

Kevin wants to be all do-ey and create-y this summer, which I fully support. But I am not sure what I can do to be all do-ey and create-y too. Normally, I would throw myself into (finally) decorating our room. But it’s a rental, so I don’t want to spend that much time or energy on it. Same with the yard and gardening. Maybe I’ll take up splatter painting!

Almost paradise, we’re knocking on heaven’s door

My MIL has a set of really cool two-sided 5×7 picture frames. I’ve coveted them ever since I first spotted them. I have a hard time picking which pictures to display, (and so I don’t display any) but with these two-sided ones, you can have twice as many available for viewing! And the 5×7 size is perfect for the professional pics we’ve had taken. I’ve been googling for ages for frames similar but haven’t ever found any. Until now. Lookie, from Bed, Bath, and Beyond:

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Do you see how awesome these are? Can you image how good a pair of these would look in my room? And they are even situated for regular 5x7s and sideways ones.

BUT! Why is there a white line painted on the glass? Booooooooooooooo.

Parenting Highs, Max edition

  1. A couple of weeks ago Max participated in the State Science Olympiad competition at Kennesaw University, just north of Atlanta. Max was able to participate because he and his partner took first place in his event, Simple Machines, in the district competition (which had over 30 schools participate) and his school won the Overall First Place trophy. The Friday before the competition, Kevin took off from work, we pulled Brian out of school, and I canceled my appointment with The View (just kidding! One of my New Year’s Resolutions was to stop watching the show; one of the best decisions I’ve ever made) so we could go to the competition with the team. There were 16 members and a dozen or so adults and we were in high spirits, though most of us didn’t really know what was going on. We left Savannah early in the morning so we’d have time to visit the Atlanta Aquarium, which was right on the way. YAY for good planning. See pictures here.\
    The next morning, the competition started early and lasted all freaking day. There were 61 teams, the largest group in Georgia’s history and the largest group in the country, participating in 18 events. Max and a partner participated in two events, Simple Machines and Large Number Estimations. They didn’t place in either event, nor did any of his teammates. Not that we cared, we were just thrilled to be there. (I am not really sure how this Science Olympiad thing is supposed to work because everyone is paired up with a partner. Some of the events are projects, like Bridge Building or Water Rockets, in which it seems natural to have a partner, but some of the events are simple question-and-answer time. Max said he didn’t agree with his partner about a single thing during the Large Number Estimation event. It seems weird to have that extra, need-to-agree element.) But anyway, we were really happy to be surrounded by over a thousand kids and adults who valued education and participation.\
    A side note for my MIL, who homeschooled her two youngest kids. There was a homeschooling group that participated for the first time. I wasn’t sure if they had competed at a local level before being invited to the state competition. I didn’t want some group just jumping to the big game without earning it, you know, so I was keeping my eye on them a bit. They ended up placing in two competitions, and proved they definitely deserved to be there! 🙂

  2. Tonight was the school’s Spring band and chorus concert. (Max is in the chorus.) Both groups sounded so much better than the Winter concert from Dec. I am not sure if it was simply the extra time to practice or if it was the song selection. The audience, and principal, demanded an encore from the chorus and almost half of the audience got up to dance, with encouragement from the chorus director. It was fun and raucous, where appropriate, and the kids had a really good time and it actually made me tear up to see Max singing his heart out.

  3. The school district introduced a fun day of “hands-on learning experiences” honoring the top two performing fourth and fifth grade students on the CRCT Social Studies portion from each school. (The CRCT is a standardized test given to Georgia students in grades 1-8 each year.) Guess who was one of the kids invited? Yup, that would Max. Also, there is a fun day for the top scoring boy and girl from the fourth and fifth grade for the Science portion. And Max was invited to that too! His genius has been documented once again!

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Categorized as Max

Happy Birthday to me!!

I’ve been an adult for half of my life now. That’s kind of a scary thought, and you’d think I would be further along in my quest for personal awesomeness. But whatev, I’ve got some episodes of The Vampire Diaries to catch up on so I don’t have time to over-analyze. Cheers!

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Categorized as Jen

This is me blogging \0/

Sunday we drove up to Hilton Head. I had never been before, but had heard all sorts of fabulous things about it. We visited some museum and went to the top of the lighthouse. While having lunch, we saw dolphins!!! I’d always heard how busy restaurants are on Mother’s Day were, but not in Hilton Head. We let the kids play at a local park and then visited some other harbor and checked out one of the beaches. It was a nice town, but nothing to rave about, honestly. Kevin said it was “too sanitized and lacked character.” It was a fun day and I won’t waste time pining for a visit, so it’s all good.\
The kids had the most fun at the park:

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I saw some shade and made Kevin take a picture of us without squinty eyes:

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There are more pictures here.

After that we headed home and the kids gave me the presents they made in school. Lots of coupons for chores and pictures of flowers. Last week Brian asked what my favorite sport is. He asked, “Golf?” I said no. He got really upset. He practically started crying and said, “Mini golf?” I agreed, just to calm him down, and he seemed happier. When I got my presents, I finally understood what that crying was about. He made a card at school and it listed all sorts of info about me- my name, eye color, favorite hobby, favorite sport, etc. He wrote golf for that last question and didn’t want the gift ruined by being wrong. How sweet, funny, and charming is that?

My birthday is a week after Mother’s Day. I think Mother’s Day gifts should be something smallish, like a book or a candle, whereas birthday presents is where the real action should take place. Kevin has never followed this though and usually reverses the gift giving priority. He went all out for Mother’s Day again 🙂 I can’t really complain about getting presents though.\
This morning, Brian was writing sentences about fish, dolphins, sharks, and whales as homework. He wrote about the fish we had to leave behind in Va. He wrote, “We youst to have fish…” Youst!! Isn’t that the cutest thing ever?

Awesome is genetic! \0/

Brian is reading, which makes me heart sing. I’ve never been so proud. He is adding and telling time. He is also learning to tie his shoes, which is a big deal in these days of velcro. He can open the van door, buckle himself, and close the van door; brush his teeth, even though he doesn’t like to; dress himself; put the clean silverware away. He’s been doing these for a long while, but it’s always great to see what a non-baby he is. He can open the upper cabinets in the kitchen and a couple of times I’ve mistaken him for Max, because he’s grown so tall. He is a real little person, who can do many things, follow instructions, and has opinions. YAY! I probably told you already, but he won the “Flying Hawk” award which is awarded to one kid per class for representing integrity, honesty, and other touchy-feely themes.

Max has been on fire at school. The Media Project he and his 3rd grade class did last year won its division at the international level. Meaning, it went to the regional competition, then state, then US, then Int’l and won them all. This year, as a big 4th grader, each student worked with a partner to create a project, instead of doing one project as a class. He and his partner created a story about a guy who falls into another dimension where he has to fight through various video games to get out. It was funny and fun to watch. 🙂

Earlier in the year he tried out for the Science Olympiad team. There are only 4 kids from his grade selected, and he was one of them. Twice a week he’s been going in early to work with a partner on Simple Machines. At the district competition a couple of weeks ago, he and his partner took first place and his school won first place overall! They get to go to the state competition in Atlanta, for an overnight trip! Kevin is taking the day off, and we are pulling Brian from school so we can all go.

He continues to be active with chorus and the Art and Philosophy Club. I’m still on a high from his participation in the Spelling Bee, where he did well. He’s earned straight A’s on his last two report cards and he also received the “Flying Hawk” award. What are the odds that both of my kids received it?? Outside of school, he was recently promoted in karate, continues to write for ficly.com, creates comics in his spare time, and he and Kevin gave a joint presentation at the Telfair Museum last month.\
🙂