Notes from Week One

Well, we did it! We survived the first week of school. Becca seems to be enjoying her classes and even survived her first quiz in Latin. She has a pretty tough schedule because she brought some college hours in with her AND she's a part of the Honors College so her classes are structured for a higher standard than typical gen ed classes. There will be no room for a typical goof-off first semester for her. She stops by my office almost every day after chapel (yes, Harding still has chapel every day) and I think I see her more now than I did her senior year of high school. Plus, I don't have to wait up for her at night. Her RA gets the pleasure of doing that. :-)

Noelle got thrown a curve ball with her schedule. The drama teacher moved to another school so Noelle's English teacher is now teaching drama and they school hired a new English teacher. At first she was apprehensive because it was a fifty-some-odd-year-old man instead of a twenty-something woman, but then she learned he used to be a gymnastics coach. Athletic ability impresses Noelle so she gave him a chance. So far she hasn't stopped raving about him and says that the concepts of English make more sense to her than they ever have. WOO-HOO!! She really likes her classes and teachers and has the same lunch break as her whole group of friends. Life is good in the tenth grade!

Emily was very nervous about starting junior high but she called me on the first day and told me that it was great. She remembered where all her classes were, was able to open her locker and -- get this -- even liked her school picture enough that she wants to order some. She knows someone in all of her classes and also gets to have lunch with her friends. A lot of her church friends who have been at Harding Academy have transferred to Searcy junior high this year so she has even more people to hang out with at school. All is well!

Caleb is in fourth grade and has really enjoyed this week. He gets frustrated because we make him read more at home than what his teacher requires, but that's just tough. I'm a librarian. What does he expect? In a couple of weeks he and Daniel will resume going to Tae Kwon Do on Tuesday and Thursday afternoon so that will give him a little more structure to his time. I really like the self-discipline that's encouraged in the boys' Tae Kwon Do program. It makes him want to do well for the right reasons, not for a grade.

Daniel is having a great time in third grade! He has already finished two books and is eager for more. He is eagerly anticipating getting an "I majored in vacation" t-shirt like the one Corbin Bleu wore in High School Musical 2. Maybe so, who knows? If Wal-Mart doesn't sell out before payday we'll see if we can find one.

Speaking of High School Musical 2, I should let you know that it has viewed five times in our house since last Friday. Emily just said, "No, six! We watched it this morning." I have the say the storyline is cheesy, much of the singing is nasal, and I haven't either liked either of movies upon their first viewing, but the music is a lot of fun and I can see several of the numbers making their way into Harding's Spring Sing productions. Besides, would you rather have your teenagers watching Troy and Gabriella or Danny Zucco and Sandy Whatshername from Grease? We tried watching Grease last night and -- oh my! -- I'd forgotten just about everything about it. I can't believe my friends and I watched that when we were in fourth or fifth grade and knew all the songs by heart! We turned it off after about 20 minutes. Emily is still appalled that we even tried to watch it. Maybe I'm doing something right as a mom after all.

Hope everyone else had -- or has -- a good first week too!