Scott started school on August 27th-the week before public school went back. He is now in 4th grade and they moved all the Resurrection teachers around to different grades this year. He actually has Mrs Oltmanns who has been the head Kindergarten teacher for about the past 25 years. She is a real sweety and says believe it or not, the 4th graders don't talk as much as the Kindergartners! Scott thinks he is missing out with the other 4th grade teacher, Mrs Clar who Allison had for 6th grade classes. The other 4th grade has some fuzzy animal, and unfortunately, Mrs Oltmanns is allergic to furry creatures. She told Scott maybe they could get a fish! He was just excited to get back to school and see his friends again and have his very first locker. Not to mention that his class is now located on the second floor(big kid stuff).
Allison waits a few more days before starting her career as a high school student! She has been busy with Field Hockey practice twice a day and a scrimmage too. She even went off on the school bus for an away game(neither team scored!). Apparently they are trying to get her some new hockey equipment-the last set fell apart(and it was brand new!). Allison said it melted in the heat and all the straps unraveled. Friday Aug 28th we headed over to her school for a long day of orientation and Field Hockey practice. The Freshman class and the parents all crammed into the newly half refinished gym(floor and bleachers). Unfortunately no air conditioning or even vents! Yuck. The Mt Hebron 45 y.o. middle school turned high school is undergoing renovations that should be done by the time Allison is a Sr. The community has been fighting for years for a rebuild, but the county budget opted for remodeling. They sure could use it-they still have old chalkboards on the walls, overhead projectors in the classrooms and tiled walls in the hallways. At this time, they are rebuilding the Auditorium and the music rooms as well as the English dept. classrooms. Allison has a few classes out in back in portables. While the parents sat through an orientation last Friday from the school principal, Scott Ruehl(a post Mt Hebron HS grad), the kids rotated through their class schedule in hopes that come Monday they would be able to find their classes in the maze of construction. We also enjoyed a taste of the marching band's program. One of Allison's Resurrection classmates has joined the HS Marching Band and is looking forward to a trip to Disneyland in the spring. Allison is going to be busy with English, Earth Science, Geometry, Piano, Spanish and US History. She is also going to be in shock when she has to start school at 725am. Gone are those days of roll out of bed at 8am and school starts at 9am like Scott.
Meanwhile, Tom spent the week working out in LA. again. I will be glad when he is not travelling-I can sure use some help especially next week with our new school schedule-especially that 7am drop off!
Besides finishing up the last minute school supply shopping and clothes shopping for Allison, I had to run into old Ellicott City and pick up my repaired stained glass window panel. I made a matching set of stained glass window panels a few years ago and Tom hung them next to the front door with a matching window panel. One of my panels took a tumble out of our front window this summer when we were on vacation. Our neighbor's daughter was coming in and out the front door to check on the cat and the gerbils, and it fell out when the door was slammed shut(thanks to heat and humidity the door swells). Tom vows to put in more brackets and seal it this time. I could have taken another class and made a whole new panel for the cost of the repair! I also spent the day doing yardwork-soon we will be raking leaves! The Halloween decorations and even Christmas stuff is already showing up in the stores!
We enjoyed our last summer weekend with a pool party at our neighbors house. I managed to mix up some great salsa using the fresh tomatoes from my garden for the event. We had plenty to eat and drink, and the kids had a great time in the pool(a bit too chilly for me). The evening was cut short around 8pm when a tstorm rolled in. We had a few hurricanes floating by off the Atlantic coast that set off some rain storms but nothing serious(no tornado warnings this time!).
On Sunday we decided to enjoy my discount tickets from the Girl Scouts for volunteer service to attend the State Fair. The kids really enjoy visiting and petting all the animals, checking out the 4H projects, riding a few rides and playing a few games, not to mention eating the corn dogs and deep fried oreo cookies! But I also introducted them to Horse Racing! I have been a bit fascinated with Maryland's horse racing history lately since I read Seabiscuit(finally) and I really wanted to catch a live race. The Timonium race track is right on the grounds of the State Fair. We actually caught our first race on the back stretch in the parking lot. You can practically reach out and touch the horses. We headed for the grandstand in the afternoon and 5 mins before post time, Tom put down a few dollars on two horses that the kids picked out. They walk the horses out in front before loading them in the gates and number 8 and 9 were their two choices. Who knew they would both take 1st and 2nd place! I guess our kids can pick em! Too bad we didn't know ahead of time, we might have wagered more than a few dollars! Overall it was a fun experience to see the beautiful horses run so close. Almost as exciting as the pig races!
So off to school on Monday for Allison our new High School freshman and back to school for Scott our 4th grader. He already has a summer book report due and test scheduled for Thursday. And he tells me he wants to sign up for the Environmental club and gymnastics. Not to mention my Girl Scout Troop(think cookies!) and Scott's Cub Scouts.
I think I am the only parent that doesn't look forward to the start of school! It usually means more work for me! Kathleen