Everett is 13

Happy birthday to our sweet Everett! He is 13 years old today. Last month Justin ordered Mark Rober’s new robot subscription boxes, Everett was quite intrigued. After Justin’s loss of employment we decided to let Everett take over the subscription as his birthday gift! He was very excited about a gift that lasts all year with a surprise every other month. Everett tried very hard to organize his own birthday party but neglected to inform the mothers, so that did not happen on Saturday. I made him bulgogi for dinner and a delicious strawberry jello birthday cake. We wrapped up the day watching videos of Everett throughout the years. 

Justin went to the marching band meeting on Monday the 20th. Phew…marching band is NO joke. It costs about $500 for the season. Sectional practices start in June, every Tuesday until band camp, which is mandatory attendance starting 31 July until school starts. Phillip tried out for drumlin the next day and made it for first row drumline. Phillip is a little intimidated with the schedule and requirements, but I believe this will be good for him to commit to since he is not into sports at all. Right after Phillip’s audition both boys needed to be at EVMS for the final concert of the year. We listened to the orchestra, jazz band, and band. I am amazed at how much growth the students make from the beginning of the year to the end. The concert band won a superior at band festival, kicking an 8 year drought. 

Justin was able to take Evelyn to see Stephanie Lee for her medication Dr visit, then on to see Nina. I must say it is very nice to have him running the errands for a change. I stayed home to catch up on photo editing. Amelia left around 5 in order to sing with chamber choir at graduation. She will really miss some of her choir friends leaving this year. 

Let’s loop back to Monday, I am working on a green screen project with my students. The real lesson is learning how to make a PowerPoint slideshow which is the structure for their video. Josie’s class was in my classroom on Monday. I noticed two boys acting furtive, went over and confiscated the iPad. Guess what I found on his camera roll? Photos of his penis. One boy dared the other to take the suggestive photos, the other boy willingly complied. The boys were immediately sent to Mr Obert and expelled for the rest of the day. The parent’s response? Eh, no big deal…they were just playing around. The rest of the staff were all quite stunned, on what universe is that ever ok? What is happening in their home where that is remotely ok, who is modeling that? I felt quite overwhelmed all day and into the rest of the week. It’s hard to make eye contact, all I see is his explicit photo. I am glad the boys were banned from technology for the last two weeks of school. I brought our dress up bin from home for the students to use while making their green screen videos. That was a mistake. I think most of the items were shredded, ripped, torn, mangled, and abused to the trash can. One student slammed a doll so hard its face ripped in half. He got to wipe tables until school was over each day. Besides the general chaos, we had a great time making videos. I enjoyed watching the students take an idea, build it into a framework, and then make it happen. 

• Oliver’s group was hilarious: he found a spray that promoted hair growth. His friend sprayed it on only to turn bald, they even made a bald cap. Oliver sprayed it and also lost his hair. Hilarious
• The 4th grade girls who made a saga about horses, lost orphans, and a ranch. They had like 20 different scenes!
• Evelyn’s group went back in time to meet Da Vinci. Mona Lisa was sad because she really wanted purple hair, that’s why her sad visage is recorded as such
• Save the Kiwis 
• The duck and the tardigrade

The creativity blew me away. Excellent job students. The last week I showed the students how to take their video and use “Do Ink!” to insert backgrounds and other effects. 

Friday Josie and I went back to school at 5 pm as volunteers in the art room for the 5th grade lock-in. Students had to score 20% higher on their iSATs in order to attend. Heidi and I helped set up and manage the projects in the art room. That was exhausting after a full week of school. I enjoyed painting, modeling clay, making bracelets, and visiting with the students. Somehow the boys went on a last moment YM camping trip without parental supervision. They (I) forgot about it until 30 minutes beforehand. The boys shoved clothes into bags, nabbed sleeping stuff and a loaf of bread for dinner. They made it with a certain amount of stress…it was only one night.  

The older kids had a temple trip for the afternoon at 2 on Saturday. Both boys were exhausted after camping, then temple, then a party. Paula organized and planned a neighborhood gathering on Saturday. We had a taco salad bar this year. Just the normal folks came, ourselves, the Ostlers, the Freemans, and Ellie. The dogs had a great time playing as everyone chatted and kids played. I wish more people would come. It’s nice to meet everyone. Justin and I were asked to talk in church Sunday, which I mostly forgot about until before bed. We were given the topic of Jesus Christ…just a little broad. Brother Cherry said after sacrament the topic scope was intentional allowing us creative license. I took the creative license and narrowed my thoughts on testimony of Jesus Christ. We both used Elder Bednar’s most recent talk as inspiration.