4.0 to End Jorja's Highschool Career

Stockton coached diving at Pepperwood for Nate. I think he had fun doing that. Mike went to the cabin. He went by himself with no Bear. It is a short trip and he has projects he wants to do. He said the tree removal guys did a great job. Last time Mike was there the tree removal guys were looking at removing some of our backyard neighbor's trees because they were crashing into power lines. They told Mike they would remove any he wanted. They did that and got rid of some branches of trees Mike had cut down, for no cost. He was pretty happy about that. Jorja got her final grades from her senior year. She earned a 4.0. Nicely done Porge!

Bear freaks out when he sees deer out the window. Stockton thought it would be funny to see him chase the deer. Luckily he came back soon. I didn't like him going into the Taylor's yard. I don't want them to get mad at me. They love deer and hate dogs.

Adopted Sisters

Jorja had a hard day today. She texted me from school saying, "I can't do this mom. I have a D+ in history" She had been working on her history papers over the weekend. Her teacher told her she just needed to have them in at the end of the quarter. He doesn't remember that. He said the highest she can get on anything is a B-, which leaves her grade in the toilet. We texted back and forth for awhile trying to figure out a solution. Later that day she texted, "I can't do ap classes I'm sorry. I literally can't do them." That is not true. She can. She has just missed so much school and been so sick. We texted for awhile longer then she said, "I'm actually crying in class right now I can't do this." It was a hard day. The quarter ends on Friday, so everything is intense right now. Jorja stayed after and talked to her Chemistry teacher. Usually that class has been an easy A for Jorja. She texted me and said the highest grade she could get was a B. That surprised me. Still, I just want Jorja to get out of this quarter with decent grades. It has been so rough. Jorja stayed after school to find out who made it to finals for the student body office elections. I brought her work clothes when I picked her up and she changed in the car. She had to work from 3:30-10:00. Except she didn't get off until 11. She works way too much for how tired she has been. I have been trying to convince her to say she can't work past 9. She doesn't want to do that. I never let Maysen or Stockton have a job because I was worried it would interfere with their grades. I wanted them to get scholarships and thought it would pay more in the long run to have a scholarship then a part time job. Both Maysen and Stockton got excellent scholarships. Fingers crossed Jorja will be able to figure something out as well.

I got to talk to Stockton today! This calling every p-day is amazing! I love talking to him. He was sick though. He has been sick since Saturday. He said that everyday he hopes he either wakes up better or super sick. If he was super sick he could stay home and recover. He has felt awful, but not enough to stay in bed all day. Riding a bike when he had the chills wasn't super fun though. He also had problems with his bike tires again. I talked to Stockton for two hours. While they were at the gym for basketball, while he was doing laundry and while he was fixing his bike tire. He was super embarrassed about dropping two phones at the same time into the toilet. So, Stockton has had better weeks than this one.

I met my cousins Heather, Jordyn and Markell for dinner. It was awesome! We laughed and laughed and laughed. We were so loud. Whoops. We stayed until we realized the restaurant had closed. I hope we get together like this more often, because I loved every second of this. At one point one of the girls said something about her divorce and the others gave her fist bumps. I said, "Wow. I don't fit in here." Or something like that. I was the only one not divorced at the table, and it was weird. Heather looked at me right away and said, "Who here has a mom?" Hahaha! I laughed so hard! I know I have written this down before, but when I was in Idaho there was a ton of people in my grandparents' kitchen. A phone rang and Mike picked it up. The caller was listed as MOM. Mike held up the phone and said, "Who here has a mom?" Everyone started saying, "Not me, not me, not me" There was not one person in the room that had a mom. Heather was there when it happened. We all started laughing hysterically and pointing at each other saying, "You don't have a mom!" We were crying from laughing so hard. Jordyn's mom came in right after it happened and said, "This is the saddest thing I have ever heard!" Which made us laugh even harder. The second Heather said that to me I started laughing so hard. Anyway, Markell is the only one of us that has a sister. I will have to adopt Heather and Jordyn as my sisters from now on. Haha.

Markell and I had our food served in a pineapple

 Markell & Jordyn

 Stephanie, Heather, Markell, Jordyn

Lt Col

Here are Jorja's grades. She did fantastic on her 2nd quarter grades considering that she missed half of the quarter. She worked really hard to get her grades up. Looks like she is in a hole again. Doesn't help that she missed three full days of school last week. Ugh.

Jorja went after school to the mall with Hailey to help her pick out Sweetheart shoes. Today was Traven's birthday and he was having a surprise party. Jorja dragged Hailey to that. Hailey didn't know anybody, so it was really nice of her to come. Traven helped out a lot with Jorja's surprise party, so I'm glad Jorja went to his.

The best, best, best news of the day is Brett found out he is being promoted to Lt Col! This is a big deal! Brett thought it was a 50/50 chance he would get promoted. The people who choose don't even talk to Brett or anyone who works with Brett. They go just from paperwork they come across. This was the best chance Brett had of getting promoted. So happy this happened for him!

End of Quarter

Today is the last day of the quarter. I checked Jorja's grades before I got her up. She wasn't doing too well. She had a C+ in math and a lot of her grades had dropped. I told her about it when she woke up. She was devastated. When she went to bed she had all As and a B+ in math. She checked right before midnight. Jorja finally got up and was able to get to school after first period. She was sad to miss student government. I am so tired of her being sick. I know she doesn't like it either. Mike was worried she is going to make this a habit. I told him that today was obvious that she was sick. She has just been sooooo sick for sooooo long. It is sad. I texted Jorja around lunch time to find out how she was feeling. She said, "Sad mostly." Dang it. This quarter has been rough!

I went to lunch with Jacqui Scott and Megan Okerlund. It was great. I picked up Megan and then we headed to Treehouse to pick up Jacqui. Ashley is working there, so she dropped off a car for her. We talked and talked and talked. It was nice to be with them. It seems like it has been so long! Jorja texted me to let me know that her math teacher is going to let her retake a math test that she took at the beginning of the quarter. That is so nice! He gave her a review sheet that will help her. She was also planning on going on a date with Traven, but he had to change it until later in the day because he had a soccer game. I got worried that she wouldn't be able to study for her math test. No worries. There was actually a Corner Canyon/Alta girls basketball game that he needed to go to. That was nice because he cancelled, not Jorja and she was able to study for her test. Stockton helped her for a long time. I'm going to miss that. He is so good to her. I tried to get a picture, but it didn't work out. I did get a picture of baby Amy though. Mike and I ran down to Matt and Sam's to pick up some of the cabin sheets they had. Amy just got out of the bath as we were leaving. She's adorable.

Amy

Jorja stayed after school today to audition for Region and State in Theater. She was supposed to perform at 3:45. I was almost to the school to pick her up when she texted that she hadn't even gone yet. I waited in her car until my toes were frozen. She was finished almost an hour later than she thought she would be. She thinks they did okay. They couldn't perform their entire scene because of how late the auditions were going. Right when Jorja and her two friends got up, they told them that the rest of the auditions would be shortened. Jorja had a few lines, but her two big ones were cut. She wasn't too disappointed with that, especially since she just memorized them last night. Anyway....after studying math until close to 10:00, Jorja left to go to a student government sleepover. I hope she doesn't stay up too late. She promises she will be home by 8:00 to take her math test. Let's hope. Today was super hard for her to get up. The exhaustion that comes with mono is no joke.

I found the picture! Mike had it on his phone.

I love how close Jorja and Stockton are. Best friends. We're going to miss him.

Senior Dinner Dance

Jorja had two finals she was really worried about today. They would basically determine her grade. She studied hard. The first final was in biology. She has had a B+ in that class for awhile. Her teacher still needed to put in their grades from when she dissected a pig, her book she made and one other thing. Anyway, Jorja scored more than 100% on her biology final. She also was one of the few people to turn in the dissection write-up online. Her teacher gave all those kids extra credit. She went from a B+ to an A. She now has 107% in biology. Nicely done Porge!

I checked Jorja out so I could take her to the eye doctor. She has been complaining about her eyes for awhile. The doctor recommended that she use daily contacts, at least for a little while. The other contacts have been irritating her eyes. I'm not sure what the cost difference is on that. Hopefully we can be able to swing it. Her prescription got worse as well. Her eyes are now different, so she will need to make sure she puts the correct contact in each eye. Jorja and I went to Zupas before I brought her back to school. She wanted to do a little more studying for her math final. She said it went well. I hope so. That grade isn't in yet, so hopefully her A will stand.

Maysen walked over to Brother Rich's house and met with him for about an hour for temple prep. She said she learned more in that lesson than she ever had before. Nice.

Today was the first day we could mess with the kids schedules. Stockton had to stay after school to take a CAD certification test. He passed. Mike picked up Jorja from school and took her to Chick-Fil-A. She changed into her clothes in the car, much to Mike's dismay. The window for changing classes opened at 3:00. I was on it the second I could. I was able to get all the classes she wanted. She now has a math class. Her seminary class is now where her Chinese class might move to, depending on if she passes the AP Chinese class. At least if she does, her schedule won't get messed up. Whew! I'm relieved.

Madison applied to Chick-Fil-A today. She dropped off her application as Jorja was getting off work. They asked if she would like an interview right then. Nice! Madison's mom took both of the girls back to Madison's house. Jorja would love it if she got a job there too. Jorja didn't get scheduled for next week. Kind of weird. She is so stinking busy during June with three camps. (Girls camp, Leadership camp, Trek) This next week she has nothing. Hopefully they don't schedule her during something we really don't want her to miss.

Stockton had Senior Dinner Dance today. He bought his ticket almost a month ago. Stockton has never been to a school dance. This dance is a stag dance, and only for seniors. He asked his friend, Nate, weeks ago if he wanted to go with him. So, today Stockton texted him about what time to leave. Nate ended up texting that he thought they should just meet there. Stockton was disappointed. I felt so bad for him. Mike and I convinced Stockton to go anyway. He was nervous because he thought everyone would be in a big group. We told him he could come home if he wasn't having a good time. His plan was to go to the dinner and leave right after. Too bad the ticket didn't have any information on when things were planned. We were pretty sure the dinner was first though.

 Stockton

The second Stockton was out the door, I was on my knees praying. I remember reading a talk by Sister Nielson where, well actually I'll just put large snippets of the talk below.

One of our hymns teaches us that "angels above us are silent notes taking" of each one of our actions. I'm sure that is true. And when we keep our covenants, they are doing so much more. The Prophet Joseph Smith declared that if we "live up to [our] privilege," the angels will not be able to be restrained from being our associates. Our "privilege" includes our covenants. Our covenants are a privilege. Therefore, as we live up to our covenants, the angels will not be able to be restrained from being our associates. We could also say it this way: As we keep our covenants, we can ask for angels to help us. Literally!

It was during Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's April 2010 general conference address that I first learned this truth. Elder Holland was giving counsel on how to guard against temptation. The one question I most needed to have answered at that time in my life, and which I took to that general conference, was not related to that subject, but part of Elder Holland's prescription for success was exactly what I needed to hear. He said "Ask for angels to help you." He said it with such clarity, and yet he said it in a manner that implied this was something we all knew! But for me, it was an entirely new principle. I wanted to call out, "Wait! Wait! What? You mean I could have been asking for angels to help me all this time?" Without intending to sound too dramatic, I can say with all candor that Elder Holland's six words changed my life: "Ask for angels to help you." That counsel changed my prayers. It changed my understanding of the very real help from heaven that is always available to us as we keep our covenants. I started to ask for assistance from those on the other side of the veil from that moment on! Now, I'm not talking about praying to fantasy angels with wings to magically fairy-dust our problems away. I'm not talking about praying to angels. I'm talking about praying to our Heavenly, in the name of Jesus Christ, for those on the other side to be "dispatched" (Elder Holland's word) to assist us. Perhaps a departed loved one could be sent to help you with whatever you need.

......President Joseph F. Smith declared: "When messengers are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not strangers, but from the ranks of our kindred [and] friends . . . In like manner, our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters, and friends who have passed away from this earth, having been faithful, and worthy to enjoy these rights and privileges, may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine Presence messages of love, of warning, of reproof and instruction to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh."

Anyway, with this thought in my mind, as soon as Stockton was out the door I was on my knees. I prayed to Heavenly Father that Stockton would feel peace, that he would have a great time, that he would feel like he belonged. I prayed that my mom would be with him and help him through any anxious moments. I prayed that tonight he would make good memories.

Mike, Maysen, Preston and I were downstairs playing Starfarers of Catan when we got this text from Stockton.

 Shortly after, Bryce Johnson sent us these next two pictures.

(Bryce and Becky had to chaperone)

 Stockton

Stockton ended up staying for the entire thing. He had a great time. He said he was so nervous going down there. He sat in his jeep for awhile and watched other people going inside. Finally he thought, "I trust myself" and he went inside alone. He saw some Maggie (I think), who was another sterling scholar, and she invited Stockton to sit at their table. He met new people. He stayed for the dance and had a great night. I'm so proud of him. I'm proud he was brave enough to go into an uncomfortable situation. I'm proud that his fellow peers think so highly of him. I'm thankful that my mom might have been there with him. I know she loves him. She would be so proud of who he is today.

Stockton's Seminary Graduation

Stockton had his math final today. At the beginning on the semester they were told they had to take the final during 3rd and 4th period, no exceptions. Stockton's math class is 6th period. His engineering classes are 3rd & 4th. He had an Engineering Certification test he was supposed to take at the same time. He will have to make that up tomorrow after school. Ugh. So close to being finished!

Maysen and I walked over to Brother Rich's house today. Brother Rich was the first counselor in the Draper Utah Temple presidency awhile ago. Bishop Waddoups likes to have people have temple prep lessons with him. How awesome is that? Brother Rich lives one street away. I walked with Maysen and then came home. She was there for about an hour.

Jorja had her ballroom swing test today. They were assigned partners and had to choreograph their own routine. The boy Jorja was partnered with didn't want to do that. He wanted to just wing it. That didn't end well. Jorja was worried about it, so she talked to her teacher to see if she could redo it after school with a different partner. Her teacher assured her she was fine. When the last group was going, Jorja asked if she could be a backup dancer. Her teacher said yes as long as she didn't get in the video. A boy named Zane said he wanted to dance with her. So, they made up their own dance to the Happy song. Madison recorded it. It was funny. I love Jorja. She always makes me laugh.

Jorja came home with the school newspaper. Exciting! Evan was also in it for being a Hawk Hero, but I forgot to take a picture of that. Evan is awesome. He's my favorite.

School paper

Jorja went and took her geography final again. She only got a 75%, which gives her an A- in the class. She isn't going to submit her final because then she will have to take the bus. She is planning on retaking this class in the summer. I think this time she will take it more seriously.

Jorja had a student government party. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go. She has a biology final and a math final tomorrow. In the end, she decided she would regret it if she didn't go for a little while. We were getting in the car and I asked for the address. It was at one of the kids' houses, so I assumed it would be close by. It was in Herriman! That is 30 minutes away! I dropped Jorja off and she was able to get Kenzie to give her a ride home. This is the only picture Jorja took there.

Jorja & Travin

Stockton had seminary graduation tonight. I was hurrying to get home in time. I called Stockton and told him he would need to meet us at the stake center. We would be there, but there was no way we could get home until 6:00. Mike and I both got to our house at the same time. I saw him running up the walk right as I pulled in. Stockton called before we left. No one was there. It took awhile, but we found out the time was actually 7:00. Annoying because in the bulletin it was listed as 6:00. We had Stockton come home and Mike made him us hamburgers before we headed out again.

I like how they do seminary graduation by stakes now. When Mike and I graduated, it was the entire school. Which made it almost as big as high school graduation. We even had to have a seminary graduation practice. I remember they had one ward come up and show how you were supposed to grab the diploma with your left hand and shake with your right. They chose our ward to do that. I thought it was super funny because Phil Leatherwood was our bishop and he doesn't really have a right hand. So, the one group they had practice actually couldn't do it that way. Anyway, I forgot to take a picture, but luckily I caught Stockton in his church clothes a few days later.

Stockton

Stockton stayed up pretty late writing an essay for the Smith family scholarship that was due tonight. He also helped Jorja with her math. She is having a cumulative final tomorrow and is really worried. Mike helped Jorja a lot too. She feels pretty confident about her biology final. One more day. All the super hard stuff will be over in one more day. Sooooooo clooooooose.........

Good Hair Guy

I hurt my back awhile ago. I hurt it while I was exercising on the rowing machine. I didn't exercise for a week hoping it would heal. I went exercising yesterday and was in so much pain by the end of the class. I have hurt and hurt all day today. It is annoying because I always have lower back pain. I'm use to it. Now I have upper back pain as well and it is just too much! Anyway..... I took Maysen to the dermatologist this morning. We were at Walmart after and I saw this bin. I took a picture and sent it to Stockton. An entire bag of these things for $2.48. They tried to sell him one in Florida for $3. Glad he walked away from that purchase.

Maysen and I went to Little Caesars and bought three pizzas. We took them to Preston's school for a party they were having. We ended up taking Preston home with us. He was quite happy about that.

Jorja had to stay after school for woodworking. She texted us to get her, but then texted to come in 10 minutes because she was talking to 'good hair guy'. We came anyway because it would take longer than that to get to the school. When we arrived she asked if she could stay until 'good hair guys' parents picked him up. I texted back 'geography'. She still wanted to wait. My next text said, "We could get you later, but there would be a super high chance you will be taking the bus in the fall. Your choice." Immediately I get a text saying, "I have to take the bus if I get an a- in geography? But geography doesn't count!!!" My next texts were "Yep. If you lose your 4.0 you are taking the bus." "YES IT DOES!!!" "It is graded and will affect your gpa." She came quite quickly then. How does she not realize this???

Jorja is allowed to take one sheet of paper with notes into her class. She wasn't sure if that was the case and didn't want to be accused of cheating yesterday. She spent today working on notes. She also has a Chinese final presentation tomorrow, and finals in biology and math on Friday. She is so stressed. Too bad Isaac called her. He always calls at the worst times. It was not a good conversation. Afterwords she almost had a panic attack. I snapped at her. I was mad. The doctor told me not to baby her when she starts to spiral like that. It wasn't nice of me, but she was able to get her breathing under control. I can not wait for summer!

Stockton's Recognition Night

Today was such a great day! I took Jorja to Chick-Fil-A after school for her second job interview. She got the job! She is pretty excited about that. My dad took Preston to diving which was so nice. There was no way we were going to be able to get him there. Mike stopped by Walmart and picked up Stockton's graduation pictures we finally printed out. I love how they turned out!

Stockton's graduation pictures

Alta had their Principal Recognition Night tonight. It is pretty much the only time academics gets honored, so it was great. Also long. Really long. I remember not getting a great seat when Maysen had her night. The school has a reception for about thirty minutes before the ceremony. I snuck into the auditorium and saved three seats. I was glad I did! I also picked up a program on my way out. Immediately I noticed something wrong. I'll get to that later. Anyway, Stockton was honored, a lot. It was well deserved too. He was one of eight 4.0 kids. Each of the counselors said a little bit about the 3.9 students they were over. The principal talked about the 4.0 kids. It's too bad Alta doesn't have valedictorians anymore. Eight isn't an unreasonable amount.

 Stockton getting a box and a plaque for his 4.0

Stockton was surprised how many people cheered for him. He said, "I got Nate Brown level cheers." He also laughed when they said he was 2nd in the state diving competition. He was actually 3rd thanks to Camden having an insanely good meet that day!

This is part of the program that was wrong. All the Sterling Scholars that are printed here are from last year. I couldn't believe it! I wanted to say something to the principal. I was waiting for him, but then other people came up to talk to him. I wondered if he knew about the mistake. I guess I should have made more of an effort. He didn't know. He announced last years Sterling Scholars and was quite embarrassed when he realized what happened. He said, "Okay, all the Sterling Scholars come up and get your rope!" It was kind of funny. I was wishing he would have the kids say their names and category as they came up.

The rope is really cool looking. We didn't think he got a rope for Sterling Scholar. It wasn't on the list. I picked up all six of Stockton's ropes awhile ago. They were $6 a piece. It was much cooler to be awarded the rope, plus it was free! He also got a yellow/silver rope for the Honors diploma, which is the highest diploma offered.

Sterling Scholars getting their ropes

 Stockton receiving his hawk medallion

A few days later Stockton was called out of class and asked to go to the office. He was in the middle of taking a math test. Good thing those tests are easy for him. Alta had reprinted the program so if we wanted one with his name in the Sterling Scholar spot for a scrapbook we could have one. That was nice of them to do.

At the end of the super long ceremony the principal had the Sterling Scholars come back up and be recognized. That was nice. Too bad they didn't mention that Addie Wray won the entire thing! That is a huge deal!

Jack, Amber, Maggie, Lydia, Nate, Rachelle, Emma, Hannah, Anna, Addie, Stockton

It was pretty funny how loud people cheered for Stockton. As he was walking back after receiving his Hawk Medallion someone yelled, "I like your sideburns!" The Affleck's were sitting behind us and commented that Stockton looked like a rabbi. Hahahaha! We were wondering what was in the box the 4.0 students were given. Stockton thought it was probably laffy taffy. It wasn't. It was a watch! Alta High School and 4.0 GPA Award are engraved on it. How cool is that?????

Jorja, Mike, Stockton

 Jorja, Stockton

 The Watch

We went to Iceburg after to celebrate, then home to bed. Tonight was so cool, but it was LONG! I am TIRED! Stockton sure is amazing. It was nice for him to be recognized for all of his hard work. So many people came up to him and congratulated him. As Madison would say, "He was the star of the show!" Hahahaha

End of Quarter Torture

Maysen had graduation rehearsal today.  One more day of high school for her.  After rehearsal was yearbook signing.  I happened to look at Skyward to check on the kids grades.  The end of the quarter is always awful.  This quarter is no exception.  Let me back up.  We were getting messages from Stockton's French teacher that the last day to accept passports was Friday, May 20th.  Stockton had an A in French Friday morning.  On Saturday he had a B+.  I couldn't believe it.  I was just sick.  I didn't know what to have him do.  I wrote to his teacher to ask if he could turn in a passport on Monday since school ended up being cancelled on Friday.  I was so worried.  I decided to fast about it.  Yes, I know that this isn't a big deal, but it is to me.  Until his 4.0 is gone I am going to fight and claw with him to keep it.  Well, Sunday I said my ending of fast prayer.  I had my phone next to me and before I even stood up I checked my email.  That was weird, because I don't check my email from my phone that often.  I have no idea what I was thinking. Anyway, the first thing I saw was an email from his French teacher saying he scored a double I4 on the APPL test so he was getting an automatic A.  I couldn't believe it!  I was so happy!  Well, today I again randomly checked the kids grades.  When I clicked on Stockton I fully expected to see all As.  Wrong!  He had an A- in AP World History and a B+ in Robotics.  I wasn't worried about World History because I knew it would end as an A, but Robotics?  Really?  His last project he got 60/100 on.  This was done last week.  Stockton told me everything was working until it was time to present.  Then the motor broke.  He and his partner spent the rest of class frantically trying to fix it.  They came in during lunch and then stayed after school.  I couldn't believe this was what was going to ruin his 4.0.  He manages to pull As in calculus as a 10th grader, but this is the class that trips him up?  I was just sick to my stomach.  I prayed all day about this.  I asked for a miracle.  I know this is a stupid miracle.  I didn't care.  I was thinking, this doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things.  It's not like I'm asking for my mom to stay alive.  This miracle isn't going to matter to anyone or drastically change any giant plan.  I didn't know how his grade would be saved, but until there were no options left I was going to hope for the best.  Oh man did it make my stomach hurt though!  I texted Stockton and let him know. I asked him if he could go talk to his teacher and see if there was anything he could do.  Stockton went and asked his robotics teacher if he would sign his yearbook.  He did.  Then the teacher asked Stockton if he was going to take his class next year.  He is.  He asked him how he liked the class this year.  Stockton said he liked it but was wondering if he could check his grade.  His teacher pulled it up and then told Stockton he would raise it to an A- if he came in and cleaned at 8:00 on Friday.  Stockton then asked him about a grade that was never put in. (Stockton submitted an assignment three times, but somehow it never got taken care of.)  The teacher put that grade in and it moved his grade up to an A-.  His teacher said now if he came in and cleaned on Friday he would give him an A.  Hallelujah!  I hate the end of the quarters!

In other news, Mike got a root canal today.  Have I mentioned I hate his teeth?  I sure hope this ends his problems.

Lots of As

Maysen and Stockton didn't have school today.  First quarter finished on Friday.  Stockton got straight As.  Maysen did too with the exception of math.  She was .16% away from an A.  Dang it!  Still, super awesome report cards.  When the grades were final, Stockton looked at me, let out a breath and said, "Fifteen more to go!"  Good luck Stockton!

Math Retake Score

I got home late tonight after a stake leadership meeting.  I checked Skyward before bed.  Maysen's math retake grade had been posted. She was so scared to take this test!  Her original score was 84.  If she scored lower, her teacher would take the lower grade.  Such a scary thing to do right before grades are final!  A B+ is a good grade, it would be sad to go lower than that!  I was in shock when I saw Maysen's grade.  I took my laptop downstairs to show her.  She scored a 94! Incredible! Maysen said, "How did that happen?"  Haha!  Wow!  I couldn't believe it!  I was so proud of her!  What a risk she took. Granted, she studied hard and worked with her teacher to figure out what she did wrong before.  Her grade is now an A-.  She is .14% away from an A.  Notice the decimal there.  She is so close!  If she gets an A in this class she will probably get a 4.0.  I hope her teacher bumps her up a little.  We'll see. Regardless, I am incredibly proud of my little girl!

All A's

Maysen and Stockton both earned straight A's this trimester.  They have been perfect this year.  I have no idea how Maysen pulled off an A in French.  She has been worried about that class for a month.  Not obsessively, but it has been in the back of her mind.  She was frustrated because she thought she would get an A-.  She said she could have taken an easier class so she could keep her 4.0.  I tried to explain that getting one A- wouldn't wreck her chances to get in a good college.  She was surprised when I told her I only earned one 4.0 in high school.  At least I think I only earned one, maybe two but not more.  Anyway, last Friday both Maysen and Stockton won arrow cards.  Those things are like gold at the end of the trimester.  They basically give you extra credit in a class of your choosing.  Maysen gave it to her French teacher.  He gave it back to her today and told her she earned an A without it and she should save it for another class.  Wow.  Unbelievable!  I am so proud of her for not giving up and for working hard even when she was discouraged.

Stockton asked me to check his grades before school.  I had checked them yesterday and he had all As. I checked this morning and he had two A-.  What?  Stockton was shocked as well.  In his English class he was .1% away from an A.  He was .2% away from an A in his PE class. I told him to ask his teacher about extra credit in English.  That was the first class of the day.  He was so close, you never know.  (Later I realized that he should have asked if he could have extra credit for participating in the spelling bee, I bet she would have been okay with that.)  Stockton came home with a big smile on his face.  I said, "Did you get it?"  He said he did.  He talked to his English teacher.  At first he didn't think she would work with him, but soon she came up to him and said that she found somewhere she was able to give him an extra point. Nice.  Stockton then gave his arrow card to his gym teacher and was able to get an A in that class as well.  Wow.  I am so proud of both of them.  I'm proud that they work hard and that they will find ways to fix their problems without my help.  They certainly are growing up!

Jorja and Preston also gave me proud mom moments today.  They had parent teacher conferences.  Preston was first.  Of course he is doing great.  Top of his class and loving school.  He loves his teacher and is so happy there.  Mrs. Moon said she was so excited that he will get to be in Chinese next year.  Me too!

I am kicking myself for not audio recording Jorja's conference.  Miss Liao and Jorja had an entire conversation in Chinese.  Jorja sounded confident.  You could actually hear her speak!  Their conversation was on how different animals sweat.  I only understood frog.  Jorja said, "Frogs don't sweat because they are awesome."  Maybe I'll talk her into telling me her part of the conversation, but it was so cool to hear her talking to her teacher.  It is hard to know how Jorja is doing in Chinese.  I have no idea what to go by.  Her teachers and nothing but praise for her.  After Jorja talked with Miss Liao, she was sent away so they could talk with me.  Well, so Miss Liao could talk in English.  She is not allowed to use English when her students are around.  Mrs. Todd said that Jorja had come leaps and bound from where she started.  She said she raises her hand more and talks louder.  At the beginning of the year Jorja was usually picked to be in groups towards the end, because she was so quiet.  Mrs. Todd said that now she almost always gets picked first or second.  She said she thinks the kids are realizing how smart she is.  Miss Liao was blown away when she found out Jorja started Chinese in the middle of second grade.  She had no idea.  How awesome is that?

Anyway, it was a pretty great day to be a mom.  Well, everyday is a great day for that . . . just some days are more enjoyable then others.

After school we went to Max's birthday party.  It was an Planet Play. They take the Pass of All Passes, so that was pretty fun.  We did Go Karts, Miniature Golf, Bowling, Laser Tag (lots of times).  The kids had the buffet.  Stockton was just wandering around the buffet picking up what he wanted and eating it right there.  I told him to get a tray and eat in the party room.  When he got to the room, he had his food on his tray!  I said, "Stockton!  You were supposed to put your food on a plate and then put the plate on your tray?"  He looked at me and said, "Really?"  Oh boy.

Max's cupcakes

 Stockton's food.  The buffets win with him.

We had a really fun night and stayed until it was almost bedtime.  The plan was for Stockton and I to leave around 5:30 so Stockton could go to diving.  Stockton was having so much fun that I hated to pull him away. We decided to skip diving for today.  A fun way to celebrate getting a 4.0.

Little Pirate Porge

Mike has been working on his booth for the fall festival. He has a cool green screen and the kids have had a great time taking pictures with it. This one of Jorja is my favorite so far. It is suppose to storm on Friday. I hope not, Mike has worked so hard on his booth. He's hoping to drum up interest on his movie making/technology classes. If you have any extra room in your prayers, pray it doesn't rain on our parade!

Pirate Porge

Maysen reminded me about a cute story involving Preston. Maysen brought home her gym clothes and lock because the quarter just ended. I was hoping she wouldn't have gym again (they switch every quarter and you don't find out until you go to school that day -- drives me CRAZY!!!) I even wrote an e-mail to the principal asking Maysen not to have PE. But, she does. So we will try it one more quarter. Anyway, I needed Maysen's lock to send back to school with her. I couldn't find it anywhere. I searched all the logical places. I was about to give up and go to the store to get her a lock when Maysen asked Preston if he knew where a red lock was. He said yes and took Maysen to his car that he rides on. The car has a secret compartment - low and behold it was there! Why don't I ever think to look in Preston's hiding places? When will I learn?

On another note, report cards came out today. Maysen had all A's. Her lowest grade was 94% in Gifted Math. She's pretty hot stuff. Stockton and Jorja did excellent as well.