Last Day at Cain

Today was Ben's and Maddie's last day of school at Cain Elementary. Next year, Maddie will be at school with Jon, and Ben will be home schooled.

This was the first time this year I was able to meet them for lunch and they were excited that Will and I joined them. Usually I was having to be at the other school picking up Jon and Will at the time Maddie and Ben had lunch. This time, Will was at home with me, and Jon went home with a friend for a birthday party.

These two were all smiles as they were going into summer, but Maddie was a tad bit sad at times because she didn't want to leave her teacher, Mrs. Wilson. Both Maddie and Ben (with Mrs. Craft) had just the right teacher for them this year. It has been a great year!

Ben's and Maddie's Field Day

Ben and Maddie were excited that I signed up to help with their field day. What we didn't realize is that I wouldn't get to see them much while I was "working". I was assigned (with Will helping me) to the snow cone stand. Neither of my kiddos ended up AT the snow cone station while I was there, though. I was sad that I didn't get to interact with them while I volunteered, but we will just put it under the "lessons learned" column. Both of them had a blast and I did see them just before lunch. They loved having an all-school play day with water slides, water balloons, games, and treats. Both kids' classes arranged for a pizza party, too. Will was a great helper and we did have a nice time staying cool with the ice... and I enjoyed watching a pair of bluebirds all morning in the school's garden.

Jon's Field Day

Who enjoys going to school on Memorial Day?! Last year and this year, Memorial Day was a bad-weather make-up day for Innovation Academy. Both times, the school make the most of it by making it a really fun field-day -- with family invited and a cookout for lunch.

Jon and I were the only ones who went this year while Allen and the other three stayed home. Jon definitely had a blast playing games with his friends and wrapping the school porch with yarn.

Day at the Capitol

Immediately after the AHG Ceremony Monday night, our family hopped in the car and headed to Waco. We spent the night at my parents, then got up Tuesday morning to head to Austin for a Day at the Capitol with American Heritage Girls. Though the event was set up by AHG, our Trail Life boys were invited to attend, so we made it a family affair. Two other families from our troop attended, too. The day was packed, but we didn't get to do all that we would've liked to do, so our family is planning to head back someday for the rest of the tour.

The six Kaisers got to the capitol around 9:30 and we headed to the the 10:00 legislative session to hear some discussion on the floor.

As the AHGirls headed downstairs for the next activity, we stopped for an [unscheduled] photo with Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick (our troop was in the very back on the right... I can see a few of us, but the shorter girls were all hidden.)

Eventually, we ended up in a lecture hall where we listened to some speakers and the kids learned how bills are turned into laws. Troops visited assigned congress and house representatives' offices to share info about AHG and Trail Life. Our team visited seven offices and, eventually, some of the kids got more comfortable with speaking to strangers about our scouting programs.

After lunch, we posed for a scheduled full-group photo, and Allen took all the boys (our 3 plus 2 other brothers with our group) to go be more active while the gals and leaders went back to the lecture hall to listen to several dynamic speakers.

Toward the end of the day, all the AHGirls recorded a "Happy birthday, AHG" video to send to the convention.

(Maddie and Rebekah are toward the front of this photo, to the right of the left-most poster, behind the girls in the light blue t-shirts.) Our troop walked around the capitol building a little bit before heading outside, picking up some trash on the grassy areas around the building, then going back to our cars to head home. It was a LONG day, but we really had a good time and I know the kids learned more about our government. It was definitely worth the "unexcused absence" that Ben, Maddie, and Jon will get since we missed school today.

Awards Ceremony

Tonight was the end of a really busy scout season for me... well, it's ALMOST the end. At least the hard part is over for a couple months. I am so thankful that Tony and Amanda Black stepped up to put the end-of-the-year ceremony together because it really is a lot of work. My end of it included getting all the badges and patches ordered from AHG plus a few other companies, figuring out the seating and standing arrangements for the girls and leaders, and writing the script as I was the master of the ceremony. Tony polished the wording, helped the girls practice and line up for photos, clean up from the senior dinner at church the night before, set up a couple hundred chairs, set up and run the sound system, decorate exquisitely, clean up, and SO much more. Amanda called me last night to come see if I "approved" of how they were setting up the auditorium. I thought it was an odd request since I thought they understood I trusted their judgement. When I arrived at the church, I realized Amanda had set it up so that Tony would be there when I got my first look at the amazing stage. (He would be at work when I planned to arrive this morning). Tony had a 6-foot diameter AHG logo made that was beautiful... and a HUGE surprise that I loved!

 Maddie was a Tenderheart scout until tonight. Her unit sang some songs for the ceremony and earned the PRAY award -- a Protestant religious award for scouts (not just AHG). She also earned her Sacagawea level award with eight other girls. Here she is beaming as one of her leaders, Karen Graves, stands with her after giving Maddie her badges.

The ceremony went very smoothly, the girls were all so proud of all their badges they earned, and our leaders and volunteers did a great job with this year.

I am ready for a rest, but I have loved working with this families and their daughters!

Climbing the walls

Yet ANOTHER Trail Life campout ended up cancelled due to the crazy amounts of rain -- not just rain, but lots of lightning, tornado drills, and mud -- we have had this spring. Instead of skipping a weekend altogether, Allen and Adam planned a last-minute adventure to Dallas to a rock-climbing gym. I tried to get everything done before the weekend that I needed to do so that I could go, too, but, in the end, I stayed home to get a bit more done and to recharge before our crazy week coming up. Allen took all four kids and they all had a BLAST learning to climb safely. They had enough fun, that they've asked to do it again.

I stayed home and ran a few errands, finished preparing for the AHG ceremony, and took some "me-time" to do my nails, read a book, and catch up on some Castle episodes while I worked on Laundry Mountain. It was a good day for me, too.

Almost prepared

Will has been really frustrated with school this year. And he somehow manages to make sure WE get frustrated with him about doing his school work. Overall, the school isn't quite the same fit for him that it was the first two years at Innovation Academy. Each year the school struggles to get standardized testing scores up, they get further away from what we loved about it. We had a place for all four kids at IA for fall, but we were planning to [most likely] home school Will and Ben next school year. Will has been upset enough THIS year, that we gave him a chance to be homeschooled now, but only after he finished the long-and-dreadful math placement test that would let me know which level of Singapore math to order for him.

Today, we got THE call from the school. Sadly, none of the stories from the teacher, principal, Will, or the other boy match up so that we know what happened. What we DO know is that the boys were goofing off too much and the other boy got hurt. The principal had seen Will one too many times for "little" things and considered this situation to be, in her words, "assault". This is the shortened story that doesn't include all the tears and fights (at home) and constant frustration... but we saw it coming.

Rather than Will being suspended and "suspension due to assault" being on his permanent Texas school record, we told the school we would withdraw him tomorrow. When I emailed the mom of the other boy to apologize, she indicated that her son (who is a friend of Will's who has actually been to our home several times) said they were goofing off and that he wasn't really hurt. I'm glad of that part. Today, when he got home, he finished the math test. It turns out that the book we need is the one I found unused but at a used-book sale last fall. I planned on letting it be a practice book when he got to it. It just so happens that that is tomorrow.

The biggest problem with our new homeschool-now plan? **I** am tired of school and ready for it to be summertime. Now to figure out how to inspire the new teacher. Will seems happy with the results, but I just wish he had gone about it the "right" way.

Colonial-themed Family Camping

This weekend was a busy one as we had family camp for our AHG troop. I have been busy all week preparing for it, making sure the campground was ready, hauling in firewood since we've had SO much rain and everything was wet, setting up schedules, arranging the volunteers, and making stew for our group dinner. I forgot how much work it was to set it up, but it got done and everything went smoothly -- including the perfect weather!

Friday night, families arrived to set up camp. There weren't really any other plans for the evenings, so the kids got to run and play and the adults visited. We had a family come teach about Colonial living and the kids enjoyed sitting around their camp learning about the different types of camping gear they saw.

Saturday morning, we began the day with unit devotions. Our oldest girls led the devotional for the Explorers, and leaders worked with the younger girls. For breakfast, some of the Explorers worked on a few basic outdoor cooking skills. Allen and I were able to take a walk and get a photo of a bird I haven't seen around here (camp is about 2 miles from our home). I think it is an indigo bunting!

After devotions, several dads led the way as we cleared trails around the camp. We did that as a service project and "thank you" to the camp to help them get ready for the church camps they run in the summertime. An hour and a half later, the trails looked awesome, the kids were all sweaty, but they were proud to see the work they accomplished.

Next up were the Colonial lessons. A local family beautifully wove scripture into history lessons. All of us were together learning about government, politics, family life, education, and etiquette at the dawn of our country.

After lunch, the boys went and learned what boys back then would've learned - tin-smithing, military drills (re-enactments), farming and business. I didn't get as many boy pictures because I was with the womenfolk most of the time.

Meanwhile, the girls were making peas porridge and churning butter, sewing a waist-tied pocket, and learning about the different layers of proper clothing. With Dutch-oven cooking, wool-combing, stitching, and ending with seven or eight different games, the girls had a blast and got quite a bit of badge work done.

We ended the day with a full-group stew dinner that the girls helped set up, serve, and clean up, then we headed to the campfire for s'mores and skits that the kids all made up. During the free time, it made me SO happy to see all the kids playing together so well. The boys taught the girls all the military drills they learned, and the girls convinced some of the boys to participate in the songs and skits they created.

Overall, there were about 75 people there for the evening activities -- most of them were kids, but they all had a parent or grandparent or two there with them.

Sunday morning there were not too many of us left at camp. Several leaders and AHG families are involved in other ministries on Sunday mornings and didn't stay (or left really early). Those of us still there enjoyed a worship service together. One of the dads gave a message and one of our introverted girls coordinated the worship music.

The weekend could  not have gone more smoothly (except for an injury with the group of boys getting too rough with the stick-weapons) and the weather was perfect. It was a lot of work, but TOTALLY worth it since all the families had such a great time!