Mon. 1/28/13 :: Academy Bound

Our school district will have a few different “academy” options available for high school students next year. Most of them are programs within the existing schools and focus on a specific area of study.  To be honest, I’m not sure how many of them were available in the past, since high school curriculum wasn’t really on my radar.

One is definitely brand new this coming year though. It’s tech oriented and will have courses that will blend subjects together, focus on student-led group projects, and include job shadowing to give a more real-world interconnected education. It will be a 4-year school (as opposed to the 9th-10th/11th-12th split that the other schools have) in its own building and will be limited to 150 students per grade level – pretty significant considering that the regular high school in our area has 600 per grade and the senior high has 1500 per grade.

There were required informational meetings before you could apply. The school will definitely have its drawbacks – no organized music program, no official sports, the location is quite a bit farther from home, not being able to easily transition back to a regular school if it doesn’t work out for you, being guinea pigs for a curriculum that is still being written and an “open concept” facility that is still under construction – but Matthew was really excited about it. His excitement dimmed slightly when he learned that his friends would not be applying, but we went forward with it, knowing he still had the opportunity to turn it down if he did get accepted.

Admissions were determined by a lottery, distributed by gender and current school. When the initial notifications went out last week, we were disappointed to learn that Matthew hadn’t gotten in and was 21st on the waiting list. Then I got a call this afternoon that they had a spot for Matthew if he still wanted it, but Matthew was still at school taking a sax lesson. I was excited for him, but a bit anxious about how he would react, knowing he’d had some reservations.

I picked him up at school and we chatted a bit about his lesson as we pulled out of the parking lot, and then I gave him the news.

He was over the moon. No hesitation at all. Excited to share with his friends, he immediately pulled out his phone to post “I GOT INTO THE ACADEMY! WOO-HOO!” on his Facebook. :)

When we got home, Kaylee and Mark were there to congratulate him and were all over me about not taking a photo of him getting the news, so we decided to fake it! LOL

Here’s Mark coaching him on how he should look…

And Kaylee gives her input…

I told Matthew I was having trouble getting an in-focus shot, so he offered to help by doing a self-portrait with his phone…

His admission required him to do an electronic acceptance from an email sent to his account. After deciding that trying to do it through the phone was too risky, he booted up his laptop and made it official.

Congrats, buddy! Hope you love The Academy!

Sun. 1/27/13 :: Feeling Futuristic

I always hang a calendar on the wall behind my desk so that I can quickly check what day of the week a certain date falls on (or vice versa) as I’m planning and organizing stuff. In the past, my only requirement had been that it have nice big numbers these old eyes could read while I was seated at my desk. Artwork I enjoyed was a plus, but the main thing was the numbers. Last year Mark had found me a three-month view one and I fell in love with added range. So when it came time for a new one, I definitely wanted the same type.

It turned out that the one I was using had absolutely no identifying marks on it anywhere, so we couldn’t tell who the publisher was or where we might have gotten it. We checked all our usual spots (and some not so usual spots) and had no luck. I looked online and found some with the same concept, but none with a design I liked as well. A few weeks ago, I finally gave up and just ordered this one from Amazon.

I’d been using for a week or so and had mostly gotten used to it. Hadn’t noticed anything odd. But eagle-eye Kaylee is a bit more observant than I am.

Do you see it?

…

…

How about now?

So today is apparently some sort of time warpy wormhole kind of day. LOL I wonder if I’ll have lots of déjà vu on Tuesday? ;)

Sat. 1/26/13 :: She’s a Star

Mark’s pal Ronald McDonald was appearing at our local McDonald’s today, so Mark took the kids over there for lunch and the show. Kaylee came home with this strange sparkly star-shaped rash on her cheek. ;)

Fri. 1/25/13 :: We Heart Photoshop

Almost immediately upon arriving home from school today, Kaylee announced that she was bored and wanted to make her Valentine box for school. So we went and found a shoe box, and I let her take over my computer and dig into my digiscrapping stash to make a design for the top. With a  refresher of a few basic instructions for using Photoshop, she was off and running.

She quickly had a design she was happy with, but apparently this was an exhausting process. ;)

:)

Thur. 1/24/13 :: Morning Foggier

Today’s fog is much less picturesque. If you like gray pea soup, today is your day.

Wed. 1/23/13 :: Morning Fog

There was a large isolated patch of fog settled over the park this morning. It was so pretty with the sun shining through it. I wish I’d taken my camera with me when I drove Kaylee to school. As I approached one particular intersection on my way home, I could see someone walking in the distance, and the backlit silhouette in the glowing fog was really cool. :)

Tue. 1/22/13 :: Balancing Act

The kids have each had one of these giant plastic balls for a few years. When sorting through some of the chaos in Matthew’s room recently, we came across his. He decided he didn’t want it anymore and gave it to Kaylee. Suddenly, what’s old is new again, and she has been constantly playing with them, which usually involves sitting on them in some form.

I know it’s somewhat common to sit on a large fit ball, but I don’t think those who do normally also use a ball as a footrest. Not the most stable configuration. ;)

Sun. 1/20/13 :: Birthday Take 2

We’d originally picked up this pie planning to have for a family birthday celebration at lunch before Matthew’s friends arrived yesterday, but the timing didn’t work out, and Matthew decided a pie and cupcakes in the same day was a little much anyway, so we saved it for today. Mark insisted we still put the candles on and sing to Matthew again. I’m not exactly sure what the look on Matthew’s face is all about, but it’s a pretty safe bet to assume it was in response to some crazy comment from Mark. ;)

Sat. 1/19/13 :: The Big 1-4

The boy turned 14 today! :)  He celebrated by having a couple of friends over for a few (very loud) hours of Magic The Gathering. Happy Birthday, Matthew! :)

Fri. 1/18/13 :: Hello, Knit to Meet You

These sweaters needed to dry flat after washing, and I had to bend the arms to fit them both on the table. I found it entertaining that they appeared to be greeting each other. Yes, I am easily amused. ;)

Thur. 1/17/13 :: My, What Distorted Eyes You Have!

Kaylee had been using this ruler for her homework and started playing with looking through the magnifying section. :)

Wed. 1/16/13 :: In the Bubble

Matthew rinsing his medicine syringe plunger. He was fascinated when he discovered that the water formed this bubble if he held it with the rounded end directly under the stream. I should have shot video of this, since it was actually much cooler than the photo shows.

Tues. 1/15/13 :: Idling at the Drive-Thru

Waiting in line at the pharmacy after picking up Matthew from D&D club. I find the permanent “both lanes open” sign ironic considering that the outside lane has been out of order for several months.

I tried to snap a picture of Matthew while we were waiting, but he was not cooperating. We’d given a friend of his a ride home as well and they’d decided to ride in the very back, which made it a bit easier for him to hide from me. So I snapped a cheesy self portrait instead. :)

A-HA! Gotcha! :)

Mon. 1/14/13 :: Girl Scout Cookie Time

Mark snapped this shot of Kaylee to post on his Facebook  to try to help her sell some Girl Scout cookies. It’s her second year, and it’s lots of fun to see how excited the girls get about cookie time. :)

Sun. 1/13/13 :: Pre-Bizarre Feast

Another photo by Mark. He took the kids to lunch at Fuddrucker’s on their way to Bizarro’s regular lecture this afternoon. More quiet time for me. :) Matthew really enjoyed the lecture. Kaylee decided maybe she’d stick to the kid-oriented ones from now on. ;)

Sat. 1/12/13 :: Bizarre Kid Magic

Bizzaro did a guest lecture for the Young Magicians Club this month and Matthew was called up to help demonstrate. He and Kaylee both really enjoyed the lecture… and it looks like the whole group had fun!

(Photos by Mark. I stayed home and took advantage of having the house to myself to get all kinds of super-productive things done be a big lump and watch a few hours of mindless TV. :p)

Fri. 1/11/13 :: Happy Girl at the Park

A quick trip to the park playground after school today. It was fairly warm but really windy (my issue) and someone with a dog showed up (Kaylee’s issue), so we didn’t stay long. I let Kaylee pick which photos to post. She picked these two in which she thought she looked happiest. :)

Thur. 1/10/13 :: Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Mark and I went for flu shots yesterday, and the kids had theirs this afternoon. The kids are always a bit apprehensive about shots, but this year wasn’t too bad. We gave them the heads up about it last night, with Mark promising them a reward if they stayed calm and didn’t complain. Kaylee was still pretty nervous but did well. Matthew was happy that he managed to not freak out about it at all this time.

Kaylee chose to get a milkshake from McDonald’s on our way home from the doctor as her reward. Matthew, who is better with delayed gratification, opted to have Mark take him to see “The Hobbit” as soon as they can work it into the schedule.

The pose above was Kaylee’s reaction when I told her to show me her war wound. ;)

Wed. 1/9/13 :: Time for a new clock?

Actually, this is a new clock – my gift from Santa. I haven’t figured out quite where to keep it yet, since it requires a crisp edge to hang over. For now it’s on my desk shelf/drawer, which is a little inconvenient when I actually need to open the drawer. I’m sure it should inspire all kinds of deep thoughts about the meaning of time and so forth, but right now it’s just pretty darn cool.

Tues. 1/8/13 :: iConcentrate

Matthew, curled up on the couch, intently studying a new game on his iPhone. He was being more cooperative than Kaylee (who kept sticking her foot in front of the camera), so I snapped a few pics before I reminded him that video games aren’t allowed on school nights. ;)

Mon. 1/7/13 :: Imagine This Face in a Book

This is a total cheater pic. I completely forgot to take any pictures today. This one is an extra from yesterday that I just like. Kaylee spent almost the entire day today in her room reading “Aliens on Vacation”. It’s one of the Texas Bluebonnet Award books for this year. The kids have to read at least five books from the list to be eligible to vote for their favorite, and this will be the first year that Kaylee has done it. She was never interested in trying before, but she really developed a love of reading this past summer. I’m so proud of her and so glad she’s excited about reading! :)

Sun. 1/6/13 :: Wii Race

Family game night – Sonic Sega All-Stars Racing. Intense competition.

I’m happy anytime I don’t come in last. LOL

Sat. 1/5/13 :: Updating

Temporary setup while configuring my new computer. Just a few little software updates to start out with…

Fri. 1/4/13 :: Sock It To Her

For some unknown reason, Kaylee was playing with the Mungi Bands she got for Christmas and… a sock. She struck up a pose when I pulled out the camera.

Mark decided to jump in on the next shot.

Kaylee was not happy about having a co-star. ;)

Thur. 1/3/13 :: Ornamental

Tonight is the last night our Christmas tree will be up.  It’s huge and sits right next to my desk. It will come down tomorrow to make room for the invasion of my new computer. We have gazillions of ornaments on the tree, and I decided to try my hand at snapping shots of a few that were in range of my tripod. I still need some practice with these settings; these shots are what came out best. :) 

Above are two out of the dozen or so felt ornaments we have that my mom made. We always had similar ones on our tree growing up, so besides just being really cute, they feel very much like “home”. :)

Next, a third felt ornament is having a polka-dot-elephant party with one of the huge plush ornaments from our Rankin/Bass Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer set. Mark is a big fan of those holiday specials. The snowman is also from that set. The metal and stained glass angel is one of the many many angel ornaments I have from a past obsession with them. I have enough that I once did a 6-foot tree entirely in angels. (We don’t have enough stuff-free space to set up two trees anymore.) The purple glass guy hanging below the elephant is Grimace of McDonald’s fame, a gift from Ronald McDonald, who Mark works with from time to time. :)

The fake stained glass drummer below is part of a DIY set that I did to help pass the time in my hotel room while working on the road for Ericsson. I think it was in 1991. If my memory is correct, I did these while working on a project in Wharton, TX. The town made national news when it was hit with severe flooding a few days after I left. The acrylic reindeer is one we picked up at the mall years ago. It just looks really cool when the light hits it right. :)

The Big Mac is another from Ronald McDonald. Kaylee received the candy cane star at a Girl Scout gift exchange last year. The Packer ornament was a gift from my dad who was a HUGE Packer fan. It was a little good-natured dig at Mark, who has become a die-hard Cowboy fan since moving down here in '91. I always hang it low on the side of the tree nearest my desk so that I can see it while I’m working. :)

Finally, we have our two “baby’s first Christmas” ornaments. We actually received two different ones as gifts for Matthew (both Noah’s ark themed – must have been big that year), but had to hunt down one ourselves for Kaylee and had a heck of a time finding one.

That’s it! Fourteen out of the approximately 7,352,687 ornaments that hang on our tree every year! :)

Wed. 1/2/13 :: Chocolate Map

More oh-shoot-the-day-is-gone-and-I-haven’t-taken-a-picture shots. ;)

We’ve had a tradition the past several years of each having a piece from a box of assorted chocolates every evening in December leading up to Christmas – sort of our version of an advent calendar. Not all boxes of chocolate are created equal, and some years we’ve run out and had to buy a second box. This year for some reason we ended up with half the box still left (I suspect it was mainly due to skipping nights here and there due to late schedules or other sweets), so the chocolate has spilled over into the new year.

In any case, choosing chocolate is serious business… ;)

Tues. 1/1/13 :: The Way It Goes

So here we are again. Another new year. Another fresh start. Restarting this blog has been on my mind for a while.  I took far too few photos last year, let far too many moments slip by unnoticed.

There were a lot of moments I could have captured today… the kids playing Wizard101 head-to-head (now possible thanks to the new laptop we got Matthew for Christmas… and his birthday… and…) … Mark watching his new Spiderman movie, insisting the volume be cranked up for the full movie effect (although I don’t know how photos would have captured the noise level of the battle scenes)… Mark making his annual batch of kumla… and forgetting that you can’t put potato peels down the disposal… Me getting sprayed in the face with potato water as I attempted to plunge the clogged drain… The mess when it became clear that plunging wasn’t going to work and we had to disassemble the drain pipes. Ah, yes, our new year got off to a rockin’ start! ;)

But the habit of grabbing the camera isn’t back yet, so instead you get these (hastily shot with blinding flash) – the result of me remembering as the kids were headed to bed that I hadn’t taken a picture and asking them what I should take. We had just finished a game of Uno, in which Kaylee had declared herself the winner, in spite of coming in last…

Yep. Siblings at their finest. One more week of winter break to go.

And that’s the way life in the Jensen house goes. :)