Academic Awards Banquet

Last night we attended the Academic Achievement Recognition Banquet for North High School. This is quite a big deal. The school has a catered dinner at the Hulman Center, and gives awards to students for various academic achievements. Brenden lettered in academics again this year!! 9th and 10th graders must have a 3.75 or higher to letter. There were only 24 students, out of Brenden's class of close to 600, who did this. Only 9 of them were boys. Not only that, but he took every available Honors, AP or Advanced class, which was most of them. Plus, he did all this while lettering in three sports, and staying active at church.

His schedule for next year is CRAZY hard, so keep him in your prayers over the summer. As a Junior he will be taking AP English, AP US History, Spanish III, AP Calculus, Psychology, CC Anatomy and Physiology (CC=College Credit), and Advanced Physics.





Brenden's letter earned him another chevron for his jacket. He also received a pin for being a member of an Academic Competition Math Team. Honestly, I cannot express how proud we are!! Brenden is an extraordinary young man...all of our boys are, but even his younger brothers look up to, admire and respect him. Inspiring!

Balloon

OK...this balloon is still up in the air, albeit with a bit less girth than when I purchased it. Anyway, it has been floating in the air, for over a month and a half...WOW!

Flowers

We spent the day planting flowers yesterday. We got some Phlox for in the front yard and some roses to plant along the fence. We got three hanging baskets of...something and Rion planted one flower, a Vincas, which he picked out himself. Pretty!

Letterman's Jacket

Brenden just had another chevron, and more embroidery put on his letterman's jacket, so I wanted to post some pictures of it. The "N" on the back, with the lamp in the corner, is for lettering in academics. The "N" on the front is for lettering in sports. He gets a chevron "v" for the sleeve, each time he gets another varsity letter, in any sport. The other sleeve has an "11" for the year he graduates. We had his first name, and each sport he has lettered in, embroidered on the front, and his last name on the back. It's pretty cool!

Baseball

While Russell and Darec were in Chicago, Jerrod had his first baseball game. They have a terrific team this year, it should be a great season! The game didn't start until 7:30 pm, so by the time the game was over, it was dark and chilly, but it was still a good time. Jerrod plays first base and some outfield. He got a couple nice hits yesterday. They won the game 12 to 2. Go Team!!

Darec's Field Trip

Russell and Darec went on the big 6th grade field trip yesterday to Chicago! The bus ride there took 5 1/2 hours, because of some construction that was going on, but the ride home was better. They rode in Turner buses, and watched movies, so it wasn't too bad. They got to go to Medieval Times and Navy Pier! They both said they really enjoyed the trip, and had a great time!! Above are pictures of Medieval Times, and below is Navy Pier.

Wrestling Video

I decided to upload a video I have of Brenden getting a pin. It was hard for him, stepping into wrestling for the first time his sophomore year, no prior training. Even though he got beat more times than not, he had a fun season! He ended up with a Varsity Letter, getting voted Most Improved Wrestler by his teammates, winning the Iron Man trophy for his hard work and dedication, and receiving a plaque for the Highest GPA on the team!

Jerrod's game yesterday was rained out, so I will try to get pictures of tomorrow's game, if they have it. Rain, rain, go away.

Spring!

I had to take a picture of the tree, in my front yard, in full bloom. It looks beautiful, and has really grown in the time we have lived here. I love actually having Spring!

Family Olympics

The boys decided to have a Family Olympics. I didn't get pictures of most of the events, but I did get them doing the "hurdles". It was pretty funny. Darec's picture cracked everybody up, including himself!!






On another note...Jerrod has his first baseball game tonight, as long as the rain stays away, so I should have pictures to post tomorrow.

Brenden's Track Meet

Right after the basketball game, we had to run over the high school for Brenden's track meet. He ran the 1600, and the 800. He did really well! The picture above was taken during the 1600 race. We got to the track right after the race started. The pictures below are of the 800. He passed the guy in bright blue right at the end of the race!

Winners!

Rion had a basketball game this morning at the Y. They normally have 6 players, but were down to 4 today. There are only two teams in Rion's age group, so they face the same team every week. Rion's team, The Sharks, have lost the past two times they faced each other. One of our better players was missing, and the other team had all 6 of their players, but we WON!! Everyone was so excited! Rion shot every basket except for 3. It was a nail-biter. The Sharks were down by 2, and Rion made three baskets in a row to win the game, 28 to 24! It was tough to take clear pictures in that gym...but here are a few.

Reading Counts

Darec came home from school today with some ribbons he had earned over the last month in his reading class. Each student is required to read a certain amount of books, and take an on-line quiz for each. It is a program called Reading Counts. There are a handful of kids who read more than the requirement, and get ribbons for the amount of points they have earned. Darec is up to 500 Reading Counts points! He has earned more points than any other 6th grader...and there are over 250 of them at Otter Creek. We are very proud!


Speaking of Otter Creek, Rion went on his middle school visit today. He will be in 6th grade next year. He said it was "cool" and some girls told him he was "cute". I guess that means he is looking forward to the transition. Hard for us to believe how much our boys have grown. Time flies!

Darec's Track Meet

Darec had his first track meet today. I got pictures of him throwing shot-put, but missed his long jump.











It's his first year ever participating in track and field, but he seems to be having a good time! Go Otters!

Dr. Bored

Jerrod and Rion had appointments at the eye doc today. It took us much longer than I thought it would. We got bored. What else can I say? Oh, I know...Brenden and Darec have appointments at the eye doc tomorrow.

The Boys And Their Sports

We are busy with four different sports in our house right now. Brenden is running track at North. He had his first meet over the weekend, and got his first ribbon of the season.



Babe Ruth baseball practices have started for Jerrod. He hasn't played any games yet. Darec is in track and field at Otter Creek. His first meet is tomorrow, so expect some pictures soon! Rion is playing basketball at the Y, and Russell is coaching the team. I don't have any good pictures of him yet, but I will take some on Saturday. It's a crazy, but wonderful, life we have!

Pasta Car

Jerrod had to build a car using only pasta and glue for his science class at school. This was his design. The body, axles and decorative parts are all made of pasta, and the wheels are made of hot glue. Not only did it have to look cool, it had to function like a car, because they rolled them down a ramp to see whose car would go the farthest. Jerrod's car won "Best in Show" and "Farthest Distance" for his class!

Easter

Luke 24:1-2 "But on the first day of the week, at early dawn, they came to the tomb, bringing spices they had prepared. And they found the stone rolled away from the tomb." VICTORY!! Let us not forget the true meaning of Easter. If you don't know Jesus as your personal Savior, just ask, we would be glad to introduce you! He is everything good in our lives. That is the honest Truth. He gets all the glory, and we are thrilled to be living our lives for Him. We watched a really good movie on Saturday called "Faith Like Potatoes", if you have the chance, you should see it. It renewed our sense of longing to find God's plan for our lives. We had a wonderful church service on Easter morning! The boys colored eggs, and we ate ham and the trimmings for dinner. Russell hid plastic eggs outside for the boys to find. It was so cute to see them all act like little kids again! Thank You Lord, for all You have done for us!