School 2012-13

So the girls are all in school again! Krista started started the 7th grade and boy is she LOVING it! She started school a week later than the younger girls so we made the most of it! She had her friend Karina come over for a make over day! Krista got highlights put in her hair (she was lacking a bit in self esteam) and then I gave both girls a facial and make up and hair tips. The girls then did each others make up and hair and mani-pedis to get ready for their first day of school! American Leadership Academy now has a middle-high school campus open and they bus 7th-12th students from our San Tan Valley Campus over to the Queen Creek High School campus, making it so much nicer not having to drive her to and from daily! She is taking band and choir and is really enjoying the new friends she's made. Unfortunately she is not doing basket ball this year due to their having practice at 5:30 in the mornings! She was a bit saddened, but has realized she is so much happier when she has more sleep!

Brianna is in the 5th grade and has her first male teacher. Mr. Cook is something of a giant compared to Brianna, but a gentle one to her. She has had several emotional breakdowns due to life in general and he's been a HUGE help getting her back on track! He's even invited her to ride his horses and meet his wife and baby girl. Brianna loves singing and playing with her American Girl Dolls and being in charge while practicing babysitting. She is starting to do more cooking and baking and totally enjoys being crafty!

Deandra made it to the 3rd grade. She had an AMAZING teacher last year, and was super excited to move on. Unfortunately, she didn't mesh with her teacher and went from an A-B student to a D-F. Well, after LOTS of attention and several visits to her teacher, the principal, her 2nd grade teacher, other parents, other teachers, and the principal yet again, we FINALLY were able to have her moved into a new classroom where she is THRIVING again! She is happy and willing to do her homework, and excited about reading and doing math and she actually smiles again! Her grades are back up and everybody is happy! After her first day with the new 3rd grade teacher I asked her how it was and her reply was “My teacher SMILES at me! She LIKES me!!”

Amanda is in the 1st grade and isn't so sure she likes doing her homework. She doesn't like having to remember her spelling words or having to read out loud every night, but she LOVES all her new FRIENDS! She is everybody's sweetheart and helps to make everybody happy. I miss having her home during the day because she is Cameron's buddy. They play so well together and she loves being a little mommy to Alea. We are all happy she's having fun in school and we look forward to her enjoying her homework one day, too!

Cameron. What can I say? He is ALL BOY!! He loves riding his bike, chasing our dog-Pepper, being loud, dirty and getting into the tools. He enjoys helping daddy mow the lawn and using the blower to keep everything cleaned up. He is also an AMAZING big brother. If Alea is upset over anything, he's the first to respond! He brings her toys, hollers that she “needs a booby” and snuggles her. She in turn follows him everywhere, plays cars with him and looks for him EVERYWHERE when he's gone to play with his friends. Boy does he love his friends, too! We have gotten to know Ricky and Tommy Paterson pretty well, and they are all boy, too! Cameron enjoys playing with Sam Sam the Borba Man as well! Thank goodness for good friends so he can have some boy time when daddy can't play!

Alea is walking and jabbering and loves unloading the dishwasher. Even when it's not clean. She gets a good nap in when Cameron has his down time (he gets to watch a movie). He wears her out! They play cars and chase each other around the house and he takes things from her and she takes things from him. She talks non stop-just like her sisters-and does Not like being at home alone! She thrives with her brother and sisters around!

To get us into the taking lunches from home mode-I started making homemade hot pockets. Ham and cheese and pizza seem to be the favorites! Make up a whole bunch every 2 weeks, put in ziplock bags in the freezer and let kids grab and run for lunches every day! Very nice that they have microwaves for the kids to use at school everyday!!