First Day of School 2013-2014

The first day of school has come.  And the angels sang.  To say it has been a long summer is an understatement, but then again I think I feel that way every year.  This year Matt started Bitburg High School, Nate had his last first day as a middle schooler at Spangdahlem Middle School, and Danny started the same middle school as a 6th grader.

There are a few things to get use to.  Both schools use a block schedule which means their classes are longer but they only see all their teachers every other day.  Also Matt's high school has less students than his 8th grade class, which he has decided he really enjoys.  Both schools have really dedicated teachers with a more of a family feel.  We are excited for this new year.

Danny's 5th Grade Promotion Ceremony

Danny finished fifth grade this year with a big promotion ceremony. He has really worked hard this year and is looking forward to middle school. 

We had to have one last picture with Mrs. Castanoñe.

Night at the Museum

This year Nate was in Pre-AP Social Studies class.  For a final project the Social Studies department did a Night at the Museum where each of the kids had to choose a Texas Historical figure to research, dress up as, and talk to visitors as if they were the person.  I requested that Nate pick someone who wore a suit since everything else would be packed by that time.  He was able to do Lyndon B. Johnson (yea for presidents that wear suits).  He did a great job and got a 100% on his project.  

Good On Nate

Nate has two personalities, his home persona and his school persona.  At school he is quiet and studious.  At home he likes to push buttons and be in the middle of things.  I have gotten the opportunity the last little while to get a peek of his school persona.

I received a call from the principal at Luna Middle School asking me if I was the mother of Nate Holmes.  After I had a little heart attack, she told me that she wanted to let me know personally what a unique son I had.  It seems Nate had found $20.00 and turned it in so someone could claim it.  After the required waiting period, Nate was called back in and told that the money was his since no one had claimed it.  The principal explained to Nate that he had three choices:  he could keep all the money for himself, he could donate part of the money to the Military Brats Club that were doing a fundraiser to send care packages to deployed military members, or he could donate all the money.  Without a second thought he donated all $20.00 to the Military Brats Club.  He explained to the principal that his dad had been deployed and he wanted to make the experience easier for his classmates than it was for him.  The principal was so impressed that she nominated him for a Citizenship Award in the Northside Independent School District.  

While I was at the school this last week I got to interact with a couple of the teachers that Nate has daily contact with.  Not once but twice I was told what a wonderful son I had.  How he was a well mannered, intelligent young man.

So proud to be his mommy.  

Matt's Choir Competition

This last week Matt participated in his UIL Choir Competition and I volunteered to be one of the parent chaperons.    

It started with practice at the middle school with their choir director Ms. Koppe.  Then we were on to the bus and off to O'Conner High School.

The Men's Choir is made up of 7th and 8th grade students.  They sang three prepared songs, one of which was acapella.  The boys were amazing.  

Then they had a sight reading potion of the competition were they had 6 minutes to learn a song without accompaniment or singing.  Amazing again.  And I wasn't the only one that thought so.  All the judges gave them the highest mark available.  But the big complement of the day was when after the sight reading portion was done the lead judge approached Matt and shook his hand.  He told Matt to continue to be the leader that he was and not let he friends down.  He was the only one that the judge spoke to.  

Crazy Hair Day

As part of Red Ribbon Week, Galm Elementary had cray hair day.  When you are a boy whose mom insists on the clean cut look there is only a few options for you.  Luckily, there is green hair color and hair gel for this style.

Real Men Sing

Matt belongs to both the 7th/8th grade Luna Men's Choir and the Glee Club Choir.  This last Friday he participated in a "Real Men Sing" concert.  This concert bring together Men's Choirs from five middle schools in the district so they can hear what each other is doing and increase participation of boys in choir.  After a 45 minute concert there is pizza, soda, basketball, and a chance to make new friends.

Natural Bridge Caverns Field Trip

The fifth graders at Galm Elementry went to the Natural Bridge Caverns last week.  They have been studying rock types and formations so this was a fun field trip for them. 

This is a pancake formation

These are donuts formations

Dan's friends Corben, Coby, and Josh

First Day of School 2012-2013

This year we have an 8th, 7th, and 5th grader.  Matt is enjoying his last year of middle school and is the big man on campus.  Nate has figured out middle school and is enjoying football.  Dan is in his last year of elementary school while being involved in everything.  I can't believe this picture was taken just a couple months ago because they have already grown.

Football Season

Football season has started this year with both Matt and Nate playing.  This means crazy times in the Holmes' Household.  Between practices 4 days a week that go until 6 pm and both boys playing games at the same time in different places, it keeps Doug and I busy.  Both boys play wide receiver which at this level of play means they do a lot of blocking.  

Our solution has been that one of us takes home games for a month while the other takes the away games and then we switch the next month.  Matt number is #33 and is in the top two pictures.

 Nate is #24 and has been in some really good plays that include him putting his head down and blocking in the picture below.  

Football

As stated before, Matt is playing football.  He plays on the 7th grade B team for  his middle school, the Luna Longhorns and is loving every minute of it.  In fact one of his favorite things to do when being picked up from practice to list the hits he took, the injuries he has recently sustained, and the aches that he is feeling.  Silly me, I thought they would be playing flag football but this is Texas and they play full tackle, must have pads and mouth guard football.  I have decided where football is concerned I have a split personality.  I'm proud of his determination to do something that is difficult and requires a lot of work while at the same time I'm worried about my boy being hurt.  But usually the proud parent overrules the worried mother.

Matt is #33 and his coaches love to put him in because he doesn't care how much bigger the other kid is he will keep hitting him until the play is called and smiles while doing it.

It's All About Nate

End of May beginning of June it all seemed to be about Nate.  From school to Scouts we seemed be on all Nate all the time.  

First, Nate received his Webelos rank at the May pack meeting.

Then he received his Arrow of Light.

Then it was on to the Boy Scout Court of Honor where he received his Scout Rank.

Finally it was Nate's Fifth Grade Promotion Ceremony

Here he is singing with the Lobos Choir.

Posing with his promotion certificate with a friend.

Saying goodbye to his teacher, Ms. Dockery.

Nate's Award Ceremony

Nate continues to excel in his school studies.  This last nine weeks he was awarded for perfect attendance, A-B honor roll, and the Character Pillar Award in Fairness.  We are so proud of all his accomplishments.

Nate's Christmas Concert

This year Nate has been involved with his school's choir.  So with the holiday season comes the Christmas Concert.  He was so excited because there were speaking parts and he was the one with the most lines as Rudy the Soda Shop keeper. 

It was really pretty cute with the Grinch even making an appearance and Nate did a great job.

Nate's Award Ceremony

At the beginning of the school year Nate made a goal to receive A honor role this year and that is what he did during his first nine weeks of school.  He was presented with his A Honor Roll ribbon along with Perfect Attendance and Character Pillar of Respect Award at Langley's award ceremony.

Matt's First Middle School Party

Luna Middle School held a party for the 6th graders to celebrate surviving the first 6 weeks of school.  In typical pre-teen conversation I found out that it was cool, there was music to dance to, and food to eat.  He got his face painted and overall it was a good time.  Wish there was more to report but I guess what happens at a school party stays at a school party.

Back to School

Ok....so it's almost been a month since my kids started school.  But start they did just days after returning from our epic vacation.  I was a smart mom and bought all our school supplies before the end of July, so we were set up that way.  Everyone had a new backpack and lunch box.  Crayons, pencils, notebooks, binders, folders, pens, markers, colored pencils, erasers, and scissors were all labeled and ready. 

This year I have three boys attending three different schools.  Matt attends Luna Middle School as a sixth grader.  His first week he hated it.  He figured that he was never going to figure out how to get to all his classes with just five minute passing time, that his locker would never open on the first try, and that his back was going to break under the weight of all the books.  The second week looked up as the pass time between classes seemed to be long enough but the locker was still giving him trouble.  Finally, by the third week of school he decided he could stay as thing were definitely looking up. 



Nate is the big man on campus as a 5th grader at Langley Elementary.  We decided to keep him in this school although it is further away and I have to drive him this year.  We weighed the convenience of having him go to the neighborhood school with Danny against him having to attend yet another new school.  He has friends from last year, has joined the school choir, and is running for student council.

Dan is a third grader at Galm Elementary and is very excited to have gotten the nice teacher, Mrs. Ripps.  He has a group of friends that he enjoys being with and are the examples to the rest of the class as to how they should be doing things.  He also continues to attend speech once a week and has a teacher assistant that is in the class three days a week to help him and a few other students with their work. 

It is really nice to be able to attend most of the same schools in the same school district for two years in a row.  I don't think I will ever take that for granted again.

School is Out

This year I am especially excited for school to be out. This is the first year in three that we are not moving and we can actually enjoy some "down time". Now in a week I will probably be asking when school starts again, but for now I'm enjoying not having to wake up at 5:45 am, make lunches before six in the morning, and doing two hours of homework a night. (This school thing is hard on a parent.)

With the end of school comes the award ceremonies and for Matt another promotion ceremony. (The boy has now promoted from 3rd grade and 5th grade with a ceremony. By the time we actually make it to his high school graduation we will be old hands at this.) Nate was recognized for having perfect attendance and he made A-B Honor Roll which has been his goal this year.



At Matt's promotion ceremony he received his certificate of promotion and a Gold Presidential Award. This award is earned by receiving a commended score on the math and reading portion of the Texas Achievement Test and having a 90% average in both subjects for the year. (Or being a mister smarty pants.)



It has been a harder year for Danny. Since he was in kindergarten I have been trying to get him help with his speech. I have hit numerous walls and have had quite a few battles, so I was so happy when we moved into this school district and help was so willingly offered. Danny qualified for speech and reading help. Although, his teachers were very diligent and helpful Danny was still not progressing as hoped. At that point we choose to have him tested for any learning disabilities. We found that through testing that although Danny has many great skills that help in his education that his brain has difficulty organizing itself for instant recall. (A great example is like when you are doing so many thing that you have to stop and ask yourself what you are doing in that particular room. Danny's brain is always asking what it is doing.) Armed with this new information we are confident that we will be able to help him more next year in 3rd grade.



For all the successes of the year we celebrated with our traditional ice cream. This year the boys choice was Dairy Queen Blizzards. I am so proud of all their hard work.

School Awards

The boys new school district gives out awards at the end of every grade period instead of all at the end of the year. I love this idea since it gives the boys tangible goals to strive for through out the year. The first grading period Matt received A-B honor roll, Nate received perfect attendance, and Danny received honorable mention. Nate's school had an award ceremony that I was able to attend. We are now striving for A honor roll and A-B honor roll.