I wanted to start with Steven, since he's been "up to" the most over the last few weeks. The other day at the bus stop, one of the other moms was talking about the book, The Overscheduled Child--I told her it sounds like I need to read it! 
School is going by in a blur. Steven's already finished with his 1st Quarter of Middle School. He LOVES school. He says middle school is the best! He loves his teachers and is doing really well in his classes. He says the best part of this year is that there's not as much homework as elementary school because they give him a chance to do most of it in class. Also, they have lots and lots of fun at school!
After coming home and practicing trombone and finishing homework, Steven goes to Savior of the World Practice on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Our stake is putting on the Savior of the World play/musical Nov. 30th and Dec. 1st. It's really an amazing production about the Savior's birth. Steven is playing the part of Nathan, a shepherd boy. He has a couple of solos and some speaking parts. It's a huge time commitment, but we're really enjoying the experience.
Finally, to make money, Steven's been raking leaves for neighbors. They've been very generous, and although he tells them he's doing it just to be nice, they insist that he put it in his mission fund. We have great LDS neighbors!
We're looking forward to January when most of these extra activities will be over. Last Saturday, we had a window of nothing to do, so Steven really enjoyed just being a kid playing video games and watching TV!
School is going by in a blur. Steven's already finished with his 1st Quarter of Middle School. He LOVES school. He says middle school is the best! He loves his teachers and is doing really well in his classes. He says the best part of this year is that there's not as much homework as elementary school because they give him a chance to do most of it in class. Also, they have lots and lots of fun at school! I had to go spy on him the other day just to see if it's as fun as he says it is. Each quarter, the PTA puts on a Way to Go Lunch. This is an incentive lunch that 30 kids get to participate in during the lunch hour. All quarter, kids earn tickets for good behavior. At the end of the quarter 30 tickets per grade level are chosen to eat at the front of the cafeteria with all their buddies watching. 
Fast food restaurants around Auburn donate a bunch of junk food for the kids to eat--McDonald's cheeseburgers, shakes, sausage McMuffins, apple pies, Arby's sandwiches, pizza, etc. They get to eat as much as they can stand! Steven didn't win one of the spots, but because I was helping out, they let me give him some of the food.
Fast food restaurants around Auburn donate a bunch of junk food for the kids to eat--McDonald's cheeseburgers, shakes, sausage McMuffins, apple pies, Arby's sandwiches, pizza, etc. They get to eat as much as they can stand! Steven didn't win one of the spots, but because I was helping out, they let me give him some of the food.The week before last, all of the 6th graders got to go to Round Table Pizza for all-you-can-eat pizza because they'd met some incentive goal in their class. Steven and his friend, Zac, took this seriously and ate all they could--17 pieces each! I told him I wouldn't let him go anymore if he was planning on doing that again. I couldn't believe he was able to play basketball after school that day.
This leaves time for extracurricular activities. Steven wants to try everything to see what he likes. His morning starts out at 6:00 a.m. (ouch! His mom and dad are NOT morning people!) He leaves for Jazz band at 6:30 a.m. His band teacher is Mr. Paustian who was also, ironically, Steve's band teacher in Idaho 20 years ago! He plays trombone and really enjoys it.
In school he's taking the regular classes--English, Math, Science, plus an Industrial Arts elective. He just informed me that he's been asked to be the Student Representative for his class next quarter, so his elective will be the Leadership class.
After school from 2:30-4:15, Steven's been participating in 6th grade basketball. He played forward, so he got lots of practice rebounding. This is the first time he's played on an organized team, so it's been a learning experience for him. The coach kept calling him Stevie for some reason--I hope that doesn't stick!
After coming home and practicing trombone and finishing homework, Steven goes to Savior of the World Practice on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday. Our stake is putting on the Savior of the World play/musical Nov. 30th and Dec. 1st. It's really an amazing production about the Savior's birth. Steven is playing the part of Nathan, a shepherd boy. He has a couple of solos and some speaking parts. It's a huge time commitment, but we're really enjoying the experience.On Wednesday's, he goes to Scouts. He's been working on the 1st Class Rank Advancement and really enjoys going every week and going on the campouts.
In addition to all of these obligations, Steven still finds time for a social life. On Thursday, he went to a skating party at Auburn Skate Connection with the other 6th graders. He was excited that he won a skating race.
He also likes to walk Leia while his buddy, Zac, walks his dog, Scuppers. (Sorry if I spelled his name wrong, Johnson's!) On Saturday afternoons, he goes to Puppy Obedience Training to teach Leia to be a good doggy!
Finally, to make money, Steven's been raking leaves for neighbors. They've been very generous, and although he tells them he's doing it just to be nice, they insist that he put it in his mission fund. We have great LDS neighbors!
We're looking forward to January when most of these extra activities will be over. Last Saturday, we had a window of nothing to do, so Steven really enjoyed just being a kid playing video games and watching TV!
3 comments:
Steven's life sounds just like Austin's. Maybe I should read that book as well. Looks like they do some really fun things in Middle school.
Welcome to middle school, Steven. :) This sounds like all my students! But I bet his teachers aren't as mean as I am...I make them stay after school to finish projects (but that's usually because they are goofing off in class, and Steven wouldn't do that!) :)
Wow, I'm tired just reading about all of his activities. But aren't you glad you have a great kid that has varied talents and interests?
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