Dallin spent today mostly on a bus. He had to travel with kids from the other middle schools in the area to set up for the Regional Science Fair. The story of how he got here is kind of interesting...
Dallin is a good student. Most teachers like him. In fact, I've never known of a teacher who didn't like him to some degree... until this year. His advanced science teacher (who shall remain nameless) just doesn't like him. It's taken me all school year to really believe this. Dallin began complaining in the first marking period that he was holding him after class, being overly critical of his work, giving him lunch detentions for things like forgetting to have a note signed, etc.
As a rule I do not interfere with teachers. I tell my kids that they will meet all types of people in life and fair or not, they must learn to deal with the situations. Dallin's frustration has been enhanced by the year-long science fair project required by all the students in this class. The constant criticism of his project left a sour taste in his mouth. He even received a C+ on the only objective portion of the project - the oral presentation.
Needless to say, we didn't have high hopes for the results of the science fair (it didn't help that his project fell into the largest competitive group - physics). Imagine our surprise when his name was called in the group to receive recognition. Then imagine how shocked we felt when he was still standing there as they were giving out 1st, 2nd, and 3rd! He won second place! He returned to his seat next to me with a stunned look on his face which quickly turned to a scowl as he said, "Are you kidding me? Now I have to go to regionals with Mr._____!"
We both laughed and I apologized for obviously not believing him about how biased this teacher really was. You might say that he achieved this award because his teacher was pushing him to reach his potential. That would be believable if he had offered any form of congratulations or appreciation for Dallin's work. Instead, the next morning after they read the winners over the announcements Mr. ____ promptly gave Dallin...
lunch detention.
Tomorrow is the Regional Science Fair in Philly. While we don't expect any grand awards, I'm really proud of Dallin for handling a tough situation and doing such a great job!
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Science Fair
Monday, March 30, 2009
Flowers
From now on, my flower pictures will be on my flower blog, but here's just one more of the crocus after rain the other day. I have so many things popping up all over my yard - Spring is finally in full gear. Trees will be blooming soon and the sun is coming up as I wake up each morning. Ahhhh, I love it.
Zoey and The Ball
We love our dog, but she can be a beast. French or not, she's still a bulldog. Earlier in the day our neighbor was talking to Ed about playing with Zoey. He was shocked at how strong she was (I believe he said she almost pulled his arm out of the socket), but noted that she had a great disposition. Our response... she may be lovable, but she does not naturally have a great disposition. She loves people and kids, but takes a lot of work when it comes to obedience and other dogs.
Another neighbor has a new puppy and wanted to introduce it to our dog. We are very cautious about allowing Zoey around new puppies as she likes to pin them down and show them who's boss. Over the course of several meetings, they are now playing and having fun together, but only after Zoey established without a doubt she was in charge.
The neighbor with the new puppy called us Saturday after spotting Zoey and a stray basketball in our yard. She said, "I can't believe what I'm seeing, but your dog just attacked and destroyed one of your basketballs in no time flat. I was afraid she would eat or choke on the pieces."
It's probably good she saw this after our dogs became friends. Zoey knew she was in trouble as soon as Ed went outside. He made her sit by the ball and pose for a picture. We love her, but sheesh, I can't wait until she is old and lazy!!
Spa Night
Ahhh.... relaxing!
They felt refreshed and beautiful!
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Braces
I keep forgetting to post a picture of Taylor with her new braces. She looks great and I love the bright colors she chose for the brackets! Her front teeth were SORE for the first few days, but she's doing much better now.
Happy Spring!
The first flowers of the season are blooming in my yard! This year I was very careful not to get distracted by their beauty and drive in the grass! Happy Spring!!!
Hank Hits a Milestone!
My car (Hank) has finally reached 100,000 miles! I don't really love cars... but I think my Honda is great. It has plenty of room, it's reliable, and it's broken in for the kids. No stress, no payments, and many miles to come:) Hopefully Hank will carry us for at least another 50,000 miles!
(The picture's not great because I was out visiting teaching and realized it was going to roll over before I got home to my camera. I took this with my phone and it's not too bad.)Saturday, March 14, 2009
My Little Girl is a Young Woman!
Ice Skating
Our family decided to go ice skating on Taylor's birthday (the day after her party). We've been meaning to go for a while and it fulfilled one of Cami's "life dreams" (her words... she's fairly easy to please in life in general).
Everyone did great... except Ed. However, he did get the hang of it by the end and I was proud of him for being such a great sport. Cami was thrilled every time she made it around and kept telling me how proud Aunt Heather was going to be. She popped right up every time she fell, until the very end when she realized her knees were very sore. You'll see the picture at the end - poor baby.
We all enjoyed it so much we decided to go back soon.
Getting our skates on.
Taylor and her friend Bethany.
Ed and Cami held tight to the wall at first.
Dallin was going pretty fast - notice the blur. Cami got braver as time went on.
This picture doesn't show it very well, but her knees were purple for a few days.Happy Birthday Taylor!
Taylor had a fun birthday party with some friends. They had pizza and ice cream, played "protect the president" in the basement, and watched High School Musical 3. They also painted their nails and did a lot of screaming and laughing. It was a fun night!
Do you like Ed's wrapping job on the red and green box? Nice.
I think Cami was sneaking bites of ice cream while waiting to sing!
So many cute girls!!
Jenna and Jill with Taylor in the basement.Date With Dad
Ed really wanted to do something special with Taylor for her 12th birthday. He asked her to go out to dinner at PF Chang's (just the two of them) and gave her a special gift. He got her a beautiful locket and put a message inside. I'm sure different pictures will fill it over the years, but for now it's full of her dad's love.
Monday, March 2, 2009
You Have to Believe!
A SNOW DAY!
Sunday, March 1, 2009
We're Moving On...
This post is long over due. Ed's last day of work was Friday. He was notified a few weeks ago that his last day would be the end of the month. The terms of the separation were changing day to day and I wanted to post once we knew our situation.
First of all, this was not totally unexpected. He spent the last year integrating Fast Track into Medidata. Once that was complete, he could either take on a new role or move on. It's a long story, but let's just say it's better if he moves on. It's disappointing and a relief at the same time.
He will continue to work as a consultant for several more months (it gets complicated), but is free to look for another job beginning this week. He was really sad to leave so many good people in Conshohocken. He has had an amazing experience over the last four years. People would always ask me how I could stand having a husband who traveled so much and was so busy in his job. The answer was always simple: He's happy. He loves what he does while he's at work, and he makes sure he loves being with his family when he's home. It would be much harder to take if he were leaving to go and do something he hated.
Ed's office planned a goodbye lunch for him and he was touched by all the expressions of gratitude. We ordered a crowd favorite - chocolate, carmel apples. Ed also ordered some key chains with the Fast Track logo on one side and the Medidata logo on the other. Ed's not fond of goodbyes and it was a tough day.
So, we're looking for our next adventure. We hope it keeps us here in our home and close to our friends. Whatever it is, I'm sure we'll enjoy it together. As his wife, I'm so proud of all he stands for as a husband, father, and professional. I know great things are waiting for him and our family.
First Dance
Now that Dallin's 14, he gets to go to dances. Ed and I teased him until he was having nightmares about us following him around taking pictures of him dancing with each new girl;) Ed did have to go with him (as the bishopric member from our ward), but I declined and didn't even send a camera with Ed (it took some restraint). Dallin had a good time and wasn't too embarrassed by his dad. This is a picture of my boys before leaving for the dance.
Dallin's Birthday
Dallin had a great 14th birthday! Grammy was in town, his friends came over for a party, and Ed's parents came for his ordination on Sunday.
He was shocked that he got an Xbox 360! I have been telling him no way for a long time now. I gave in.
Some of his friends having pizza.
Singing Happy Birthday! (I guess gray is a popular color right now:)
Get ready to blow out those candles!
This is what they did to his room when he wasn't looking!
The culprits!
