Celebrating Quarter 1

The kids made it to the last home volleyball game.  It was against a school that has year-round volleyball, so they were quite good.  I think of the three games played, we won only one set, but the sets were exciting because we were cheering hard for each point.  It was House Shirt night and Henry was tasked with keeping track of all the Rountree shirts.  

Wednesday was Picture Day at school.  It was a very good week for outside pictures.  The photographer had the kids sit next to a pumpkin for their pictures.  Caroline was not a fan because the yearbook comes out in the spring.  Not pumpkin season.  We keep checking the website to see how they turned out, but so far nothing has been posted.  

We took Benson out one evening, looked up, and saw a hot air balloon.  It seems to be a thing here - hot air balloons.  Benson spied it and immediately started barking and lunging towards it.  I'm not sure what sort of depth perception he currently has, but he wasn't anywhere close to that balloon.  

Thursday was our last day of school before Fall Break.  In my class, I had three different kids come up to me by 10:30 a.m. asking how much longer because they wanted to go home and take a nap.  I know....we all do.  One more hour.  Report cards were emailed that afternoon and the kids did quite well.  We went out for ice cream that evening to celebrate.  The following morning, Todd took the kids to Krispy Kreme.  You get a free glazed donut per A (up to 6 donuts).  The rules state: donuts are only for A pluses and A's, no A minuses.  Henry was pleased they did not look closely at the grading scale, so he got a full box of 6.    What we learned from this experience was that book smart does not translate to opening-a-donut-box smart.  Two out of three ripped the top in half to get to their donuts.  We'll add Opening Boxes to the Life Skills lessons we do over the summer.  

Friday evening Henry had a pasta dinner with the cross country team because Saturday morning was the State Competition.  It was up in Greenville again at one very big school.  I remember driving there last year and there comes a point where the roads get very hilly.  The course was rough.  Very big hills, not a lot of flat course, and it was a late morning race, so it was sunny and warm.   Henry pushed himself, but no PR this time.  

Both boys and girls teams won third place overall.  

We celebrated the end of cross country, and their report cards again, with a Chipotle dinner.  Todd had a catered Chipotle meal at work a few weeks ago.  It came with a lot of food, so he put in an order for our family.  The kids were quite happy as Chipotle is a favorite.  So far, it has been dinner, breakfast, and dinner again.  

We had church at the Civic Center this morning.  It was our Fall Family Fun Festival.  It was supposed to be outside, but the rain pushed everything in.  We all sat in lawn chairs and worshipped together.  They had hamburgers and hot dogs and then lots of things for the kids.  Josiah, our kid at heart, wanted a balloon animal so I walked with him into this area where they had all the kid things.  He waited in line.  I waited with him.  When the lady made him the balloon dog, she talked to him like he was four.  Make sure you give your dog a name.  I think she thought he was special.  Josiah just enjoys his youth.  We did not stay for the trunk or treat, because we've aged-out.  

On our drive home from church, Henry suggested we play a game.  We had to go around and say why we loved each other.  He went first.  I love you, mom, because you're my mom.  Alright.  Descriptive.  Each round, we picked who we talked about and why we loved them.  The kids started with Todd and I.  When it came time for them to say why they loved each other, they said:

Josiah and Henry love Caroline because she speaks loudly so we always know what she is saying.  She knows exactly what she wants and she'll do whatever it takes to get that. 

Henry and Caroline love Josiah because he is so good at not having anyone speak for too long by using the phrase, 'shut up.'  He loves air so much that he wants to savor it.  He says 'shut up' so no one uses up all the air.  

Josiah and Caroline love Henry because he is so confident about his looks and his smarts.  They love how popular he is at school and how kind he talks to his friends and they wish he would reflect that at home.  

It was a real love fest.  

We have played games, we completed some projects.  Josiah had friends over to make another film.  We are excited to have another day off tomorrow.