Ben Graduates from Middle School

In the fall we will have another high schooler!  And, boy oh boy, is this kid ready for it...even if I am most decidedly NOT ready.  He has been counting down the days since Christmas. 

On May 24th, after completing a successful 8th grade year, Ben and the other Mountain Ridge Middle School 8th Grade Class "Continued" to high school.  During the Continuation, Ben was able to be a part of the ceremony and lead the pledge.  In addition, he received his third gold medal, completing all four years at MRMS with a 4.0 GPA.  Wow! 

We couldn't be more proud of Ben, and while the GPA is impressive, it is his character that makes us the most proud.  Ben is a caring, compassionate, thoughtful, inquisitive, helpful and determined young man.  He shows a maturity in decision making and strength of heart that is hard to find in many adults.  We are so excited to see him jump into the next level of growth and see what directions he will go!  

The Bits: May 13th Through May 22nd

Moving through May:

Josh participated in the middle school's Grizzly Challenge club this spring.  They get to use the school's climbing wall and other high ropes obstacles, some which allow him to work on and beat his own times and others that build teamwork with other students.  It's a really neat club! 

It fills my heart that Josh's first temple trip was with his 2 big brothers and his dad.  It was a beautiful way for my handsome men to start their Saturday!

The last Soccer Saturday of the season!  We lost every game this season, but the boys were adorable and always played like champs!

Date night at Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2!  We laughed out loud which drowned out the sound of snoring coming from the elderly lady next to me.

Mother's Day!  I am so thankful to be the mother of these amazing boys.  They make me proud every single day.

Luke and Ashton on their last SITW Perimeter Hike.  Ashton has become a treasured friend for Luke this year!

National Junior Honor Society induction night!  These intelligent, kind 8th graders have now passed the torch on to the next class.

Forest Day at SITW, like Field Day, but in the forest!  Games, team building, archery and more!  I love that they took "Sharks and Minnows" to a whole new level in SITW style: "Aquatic Invertebrates and External Pollutants."  It was a game that is fun as well as educational by describing how forest ponds stay healthy (or get sick!).

May 18th.  Grrrrr....  Six days to Summer Break, folks!

Feeling so loved!  I received this pretty award for being chosen as Volunteer of the Year at AIES.

And they're off!  Don't let the "after" smile fool you, that was pretty much the worst hour of all of our lives: Luke's, mine, Dr. Frost's and the ortho techs'.  Special props go to our amazing orthodontics team at Pine Top, who were BEYOND patient with my sensory sensitive boy who put up the fight of his life.  Congratulations, Luke!  Your pearly whites are beautiful--and round 2 will definitely be done by Invisilign. 

Making the best of an annoying winter's May day.

Our PTO Board had a wonderful luncheon doing what we like to do best, talk and talk and talk and eat and eat!  These women are so special to me and make my job so much easier by their competence, intelligence, humor and support.

Luke, Ashton, Cohen and Nathan: SITW buddies with one week left at this special school!

Trek Prep Hike success!

Chop chop!

Heavy snow once again pulled these beautiful giant bush-trees down.  Adam and the boys spent a good deal of time on Saturday trying to get them propped back upright because I just can't bear to lose them!

KGB Agents Ben, Thomas, Will, Leo and Atharva tried their best at the Clue Room for Thomas' birthday, but were ultimately defeated by the CIA.  Bummed-out faces for the photo notwithstanding, they had such a great time!

Zac was sick on Mother's Day and I didn't get my after-church photo, so we had a little re-do a week later.

Ruby fell asleep like this and was snoring away so happily that I didn't have the heart to move her, even if it looks so terribly uncomfortable.

Sixth grade awards day and Josh earned himself a gold medal for his 4.0 GPA this year!  We are not only proud of his academic success, but even more, his great character.  Love you, you incredible kid!

And with all the annoying parts, this is why I love my "unpaid" job.

Weeks in the making, Ben's brainchild is at last brought to life: backyard Monkey Pegs!  What will my Ninja Warriors want next???

The Bits: May 1st Through May 12th

May's Bits begin:

Ladybug release into the greenhouse at SITW!  Happy May Day!

Speaking of School in the Woods...I had to add this picture of Luke, Will and Nathan in their wikiup at the end of April, because they had to take them down at the beginning of May to make way for the next group of naturalists coming in the fall.  (sigh....)  I say it all the time, but this school is such a special place!

Luke earning his last required belt loops for his Bear at Pack Meeting.  Luke is now done with all of his Bear requirements and ready to move to Webelos when he turns 10, but won't likely receive his badge until we start Scouts back up again at the end of the summer break.  Dang summer birthday!

Sadly, there was an attempted kidnapping at our school in early May.  It happened at the end of the school day, when the last of the stragglers to leave were walking home.  Thankfully, the boy (4th grade like Luke!) knew just what to do and kept himself safe, but the whole thing hits too close to home.  It was especially unsettling for us because the school is very close to our house, so it basically happened in our neighborhood.  You had better believe our kids have been required to stick extra close to home, and the "stay with a buddy" rule has been extra emphasized since!  Anyhow, the press contacted me as the PTO President and asked if they could interview me briefly.  Okey dokey....  They shared about 8 seconds of a clip of me on the nightly news, talking about safety discussions we have at the PTO meetings.  The boys were totally thrilled about my 8 seconds of fame.

Zac was inducted into the ThesPian Society (not Thesbian) while I was in Provo, and I was sad to miss it, but Dad was awesome and took some good pictures for me.  Congratulations, Zac!

ALSO while I was gone (dang it!), Ben had his last meet of the season, the Front Range League Middle School Track Meet.  Most of the schools in the city are represented, and there are some FAST kids out there!  It was a thrilling day for Ben.  He took 1st Place in the 8th Grade Mile, crushing his old PR of 5:24 with a 5:08 (what.), and beating his close friend and favorite training buddy, Caleb, by only .02 seconds.  It was a PR for Caleb, too, and Ben's close friend Will PRed with a speedy 5:35.  So fantastic!  Ben also took third in the 800m; Caleb took first, which made Ben feel a little less guilty about sniping Caleb's lead in the mile.  Plus, Ben raced with his 4x4 team.  They took 5th, but look at that picture in the bottom right corner--Ben with the other 4x4 anchor leg runners.  Hahaha!  He was a full head-and-shoulders shorter than some of those guys, and while he couldn't catch any of the runners in front of him, he didn't let anyone pass him after he got the baton and held his team's place.  His school, Mountain Ridge MS, ended up placing 3rd in the meet.  Well done, Ben and all the MRMS runners!  SUPER proud of you and the hard work you've done this season!  5:08--for real??!!

Teacher Appreciation Week ahead!  The week leading up to this was just crazy-busy-packed: Women's Conference with its awesome fun, but late nights; traveling, which is tiring; Mormon Prom and feeding the kids dinner; baking and icing and packaging 108 of these darling cupcakes; finishing up the hand bouquets, hosting the "It's Great to be Eight" baptism preview at our house; and just living all the rest of this big, busy, wonderful life.  It takes a lot to get me truly exhausted, but by the time I went to bed on Sunday the 7th, I was tuckered out physically, spiritually and mentally!  Zzzzzzzz....

The 6th grade end-of-year band concert was so great!  The kids have grown greatly as musicians this year.  Josh was recognized for his Superior rating at the Solo and Ensemble Festival.  Bravo, Josh!!  Also, I really like the friends this kid has picked; they're nice, funny, respectful and cool.  In general, I'm impressed by all of the friendships the older boys have settled into.  They've made some pretty excellent choices in pals.

The hand flower bouquets came out SO darling!  Totally worth the hand cramps from gluing 720+ hands into bouquets!

Frappuccino Happy Hour at Starbucks this week!  The boys love it because I am actually willing to buy them a Starbucks drink.  They've declared this Midnight Mint Mocha (creme-based, which means it's sans the mocha) the best Frappuccino yet!

It's like Bill Watterson was able to see into the future and directly into Luke's head whenever it's homework time.  It's been better this year, in general, but Luke still gets distracted SO easily that it takes about 5 times longer than necessary to do.  Plus, homework with only two weeks of school left is extra torturous.

Look who we spotted on the School in the Woods website!  Famous!  *In our house at least.

I walked out of the PAWS meeting at Mountain Ridge (PAWS is the MRMS parent organization), and who should I see featured in one of the IB learner character trait posters hanging on the wall???  BEN!  Who is, in fact, very principled.  You rock, Ben!

I mentioned to my sweet neighbor that Adam was traveling for work, and shortly afterward her husband showed up at our door with a tasty dinner for us all.  We had full bellies as well as full hearts from the kindness of our friends!

The view from Adam's meetings in Portland.  Not too shabby.  Although Adam did say it was the first sunshine they'd seen since he arrived.

Just a little "thank you" from the Conlins that I sent in to the teachers at School in the Woods, since the school doesn't do anything to recognize Teacher Appreciation Week other than send an email reminding us all that it has arrived.  We love those teachers so much!

Ben's last band concert!  It makes me sad to think this is the last time I'll see this kid wailing on his trumpet.  He's decided to drop band for now, because he wants to take advantage of some of the other elective opportunities in high school, and with one period taken by Seminary, it cuts down his options.  The 8th grade band played beautifully!  They've become such skilled musicians over their three years, and it is a pleasure to hear them play, Ben especially.  Hoping that one day we will have an encore!

I'll take a dozen!

International Tour Day is our favorite day of the year at our school, and one of the things that makes our school so unique.  Tommy had a hard time falling asleep the night before from his excitement.  This year he went to Poland to try bigos and make a cutout paper craft, Thailand to weave, World Soccer to...well, play soccer, and China to make a paper dragon.  He also stopped by the station where I was volunteering in India at the end of the day and got a henna dragon tattoo.  I had so much fun helping at the henna station!  We also had an amazing lunchtime performance by the totally excellent hip hop group, The Reminders--so uplifting!  What a great day!

Zac took his first AP exam, AP European History, this month.  It was a HARD class--and difficult to get a good grade in, but Zac really enjoyed the class even if it pulled his grades down.  I think it's hilarious that the class bought commiseration tees, and the tees--hahahaha!  They earned them!  Now we're reeeeeeally hoping for a passing score (between a 3 and 5) to have made this journey worth the trouble.