Brain Dump

Haven't done one of these for awhile...

1.  It snowed this morning.  And, no, I don't have any pictures.  Wyatt had just headed off for the bus (still dark).  Tate, Gunnar and I started our schooling around 7:30, and as soon as it was light enough to see out the windows they both noticed it.  GIDDY!  Sadly, it didn't stick down here, but all the hills are beautiful.

2.  I did get pictures of Gunnar, who finished his fifth grade math this week.  He was being silly.  And I - obviously - wasn't paying attention to context.  That's a globe, not a halo, behind his head ;D

We'll go ahead and start his sixth grade math on Monday.  I'm not rushing him, really.  He just zips through it.  I figure that this way, if it gets harder later, we'll have plenty of leeway to slow down.  Whatever.

3.  Tate is working on writing descriptive paragraphs.  I was going to publish his account of his first time up in the CAP plane, but then this morning he wrote this.  (I corrected his spelling, but that's all.)

The vehicle stops; Grandpa picks up binoculars.  Our guide scans the horizon ceaselessly, watching.  The far-off hills form a ridgeline in the distance, with groves of trees, clumps of brush, and rocks speckling their slopes.  Smaller rises and clusters of trees are on one side, a flat plain preceded by a hill covered in trees to the front, and a slow, gradual hill system on the other side.  And somewhere, somewhere out there, is my deer.

4.  Wyatt, well, Wyatt is doing great too, though I don't have anything to show you.  He got an 88% on his Biology exam (Mendelian genetics) and he's got the Punnet Square figured out.  Woot.

5.  And, Wyatt and Tate have both been promoted to Staff Technical Sergeant, at CAP.  I'm really proud of them :D  Though there was a bit of a bump in the road...  To promote they have to pass four different exams - an aerospace exam, a PT test, some other kind of written test (I forget what they call it), and a drill test.

Guess what is the hardest for Tate?  If you're a HoH mom you'd probably get it... the drill test.  They're in a room that's a big concrete box, the drill instructor shouts the orders (which often distorts his/her voice), and they must keep eyes straight forward - in other words, no lip/face-reading.

This is not a wildly successful strategy for the hearing impaired, KWIM?  

It took him three tries.  And I think they have to be on separate occasions (not three tries, the same night).  And the cocky young cadet officer who gave him the test, misplaced the record.  (Good thing Tate emailed the squadron leader to see if all his documentation was in order... it wasn't.)  So he emailed the cadet officer about it.

Now if that young gal had a clue (about anyone but herself) all she would've had to do was tell Tate that she would take care of it verbally... just go tell the squadron leader Tate passed.  Simple, right?  But her breezy solution was that Tate could just take the drill test over again.

Oh, flippant young princess, I think not.

I try not to be a helicopter mom.  For the most part, the boys "fight their own battles."  And Tate never asks for special treatment.  He never complains.  He just sucks it up.  Even when it isn't fair.  Or even close to fair.  And so sometimes I will be the Mother Bear advocate for him.

I spoke with the squadron leader.

Actually, they found the documentation, which is great.  But that wasn't really the problem.  Paperwork gets misplaced.  It happens.  It was the attitude of the cadet officer that didn't cut any ice with me.


Whew.  Switching gears...

6.  Maybe, just maybe, I'll get some time soon to do some quilting.  In our little chapel, we have THREE moms who are expecting.  And - in a weird coincidence - all are expecting their FIFTH.  Amazing. :D

7.  All day I've been glad to be home, because Tate and were going to be going to Children's today.  We had two appointments scheduled on consecutive Thursdays, but the audiologist was able to accomplish everything in one - yay!  I just realized I didn't post about Tate getting a new hearing aid - he did!  There's good news and bad news about that, but I'll save it for another post.

And now to look through my fabric... :D