Clown got his braces off last week. Here he is, no cross bite ~
I can't find any good shots of before the braces to show how bad it was. There are a few, but they are gross because he is being a little boy and showing me his chewed up food or whatever. The left front one is still a little wonky, but this was just phase one. When they do Phase two in 5 or 6 years or whenever they decide it is time...then they will clean up the rest of the problems.
Jock is adjusting nicely to his braces. He is also adjusting to public school. No, that is not a typo. You read correctly. He was becoming more and more unhappy with being home schooled. It was not working for him anymore, and he asked to go back to public school. He is in grade eight and started JUST in time to start the last trimester with his peers. They are all going on a tour of the local high school next week. He plans to attend all four years of high school. Like all of my home schooling friends, we re-evaluate here and there and see what is working and what is not. Stud DID NOT want Jock to go to PS, but I tried to get him to see that Jock is almost 14 and needs to have a voice in his academic career and his life in general.
I assume he agreed, because Jock has been going to school every day for a week now. Teehee I would prefer he be at home, but just because that is something *I* prefer, doesn't mean it works for him. I am very excited for him and he has been very sweet. He knows it is not my choice and has been telling me he loves me and hugging me very sweetly the few times I have cried about it. It is just weird not having him around and it feels like a piece of me is missing when the other kids and I go places and do things that we would always do together.
In other news, I am leaving on Sunday for Yellowknife, NWT. A friend lives up there and I have NEVER been there in the 19 years she has lived there! She found a great sale and we each paid half for the ticket. Well actually, she paid the whole thing but I will take my half to her in cash so that she has spending money when I get there:)
I can't wait to go on holiday and go on sled dog rides and cross country skiing...I have not gone Cross Country Skiing since I was a teenager. There is a Caribou Carnival and an Ice Castle and all kinds of neat things! We grew up together in Saskatchewan and try to meet up in Alberta, BC, or Saskatchewan any chance we can. It will be nice to finally see where she lives and just relax and visit.
Pretty much right after I get back, Jock and I leave for a hockey tournament in Phoenix. In June, my parents are flying Princess and I up to Saskatchewan to camp a bit and spend some time with the family. So it looks like I will be traveling a lot this year!
I will try to be better about updating...and now will leave you all with some photos of the some chocolates that I made when I went out the other night with some other home schooling mothers. We go on a "Mom's Night Out" a few times a month and this past MNO, we made some yummy chocolates.
Here is Clown eating the bottom of a Noah's Ark that I made...
Here are some filled butterflies that I attempted. The kids gobbled them up, so they must not have been too bad...they sure are fun to make!
And here is the Lion that I made. I got SUCH a kick out of how his wee face turned out:) There were other animals, a really cool giraffe and a green mint hippo, etc. But the kids and Stud ate them before I could get the pictures I wanted...
Oh yes, there is other news. Since last July when three of the kids went to my parents' in Saskatchewan, we have been moving rooms around and making Stud an office in the old kitchen downstairs. It had been the "school room" in years past and was a great place to do our science and math through baking and various messy projects. Here is what it looked like about a year ago...
This is looking into the room ~
This was IN the room, looking out into our Rec Room...
We took all the counter tops and cabinets out and put them in the garage. Then a friend from church came and did something or other with the plumbing and electric and fixed all the walls. Put texture on them, and all kinds of fun smelly stuff. That was in December, right before Christmas.
FINALLY, just the past few weeks, we have it pretty much how it will be in there, except Stud needs to hang stuff on the walls. He chose the wall colour and put in a new floor as well. He will probably put a door on at some point, so he can concentrate on work better since the kids and I spend a lot of the time out in the Rec room doing our school work.
So this is what it looks like when you look into the room now...
And looking out into the Rec Room...
Next post may be about what the office used to look like. It is slowly but surely becoming Jock's bedroom. His old room will become Clown's and finally Clown will have his own room for the first time in his life. Right in time for his 10th birthday! Cryptic will finally have his own room and all will be as it should.
As I have been trying to post this, Clown has been showing me various magic tricks that he has been practicing. He is going to perform them tomorrow at our monthly "Book Report Lunch" that we do at a local pizza place. Clown is doing SO WELL that he actually got up and recited a poem last month! The first time in his life that he got up and presented something. He had written book reports in the past and Cryptic would read them for him. Now Clown is on a roll and is very pleased about his new found confidence!
So there you are. I will close for now. Hope that everyone is doing well!
