Leaping into the future.

First, thank you to everyone who has prayed, sent letters, or just wished us well during the last month.  This has been a really, really difficult and uncertain time, and without your support, we wouldn't have managed.  

It seems appropriate to share today that we are finally ready to "leap" into a new future.  I am thrilled to say that all three of the big kids are finally enrolled in new schools for 2012-13.  

After a lot of work on the school's part, the Diocese of Camden has determined that Sacred Heart High School will remain open.   Luke registered as part of the Class of 2016 on Saturday.  He will take the general scholarship/placement exam on March 10, and we will be making arrangements for him to take the proper testing for Math and Foreign Language.  Based on the curriculum at Notre Dame, he should be able to test out of Algebra I and Spanish I, so he will take the exams in June and see where he scores. If he could skip those classes, that would be great, because it will free up spaces in future years for a wider choice of electives.  He had the opportunity to sign up for activities as well, and has opted to join the Choir, the Good Samaritan and Drama clubs, and the Forensics (debate) team.  He's a little uncertain if he'll like Forensics, but is willing to give it a try and see how it works out. Honestly, though -- if there ever was an activity where Luke would excel...it's debate!!

Unfortunately, Notre Dame did not receive a reprieve.  The Diocese determined that they were going to keep to their original plan, despite the very strong presentations that the Notre Dame School Board presented.   Because of our school family's commitment to keeping the children together, they voted to create an independent Christian academy.  Thanks to the hard work of the new Board, we now have a new home for Celia and Matthew.  They will be attending Edgarton Christian Academy this fall.  Last night was the first opportunity to enroll students, and the response was overwhelming.  Based on the parents I saw at the information/registration meeting last night, at least half of each child's class has already registered for ECA.We found out that ECA will continue with an Advanced Math program like Notre Dame's. Matthew is very glad to be able to continue with it. Math is one of his favorite subjects, and he was really unhappy to discover the other school we looked at did not have a similar program.  He was disappointed to learn that would mean basically repeating this year's math program, so being able to continue moving forward is great news to him.  Celia has decided that she is willing to go to ECA because there is a 2-piece uniform option that will comfortably accommodate her tube; she was not impressed that our other alternative was "jumpers only."  I laugh to think that it's "the wardrobe" that makes a difference to her, but can definitely see the practical consideration she was giving the clothing options.

We're all still a little nervous, but we're finally excited and hopeful for the future.  Luke set his sights on Sacred Heart three years ago, so I'm happy he is able to follow his dreams.  Celia and Matthew are happy to be with their friends.  I know not all will choose to make the transition, and am certain there will be new friends to make as well, but I am definitely reassured that they are going into a place where, despite so many changes, will still have so much stability.  We are still planning to homeschool Jude -- you can follow his progress and catch up on what Damien is doing  at Adventures with Jude (and Damien) -- and will likely opt to use a homeschool option for CCD with Matthew and Celia.  While Neal and I are pleased with the schools overall, we are definitely happy to see the tears give way to excitement, and glad that everyone is finally looking forward to September. Fall will bring an adjustment for all of us, but I am sure it's going to be great future for everyone. 

Then and Now

Luke needed to turn in two pictures for the school yearbook. The 8th graders are asked to submit two lookalike photos for a section called "Then and Now".  The idea is to pick a photo from when kiddo was little, and then re-create it as closely as possible so everyone can see how much they've grown.  Luke's photos:

Then - November 2002.  Just over 4 years old and barely two months into preschool,  he is sitting with Henrietta who is about 3 months old.  She and her brother were new to our household; Luke named them Toby and Henrietta after his favorite things on earth -- Thomas the Tank Engine trains. Toby was a Tram Engine and Henrietta his coach.

Now - January 2012. He's 13 1/2 and heading to high school.  Henrietta and Toby turned 9 last fall, and the beloved trains have been handed down to his little brothers.  (That doesn't stop him from playing with them, though -- now he builds "Thomas set-ups" for them.)

Las Fiestas del Año

Luke had a project for Spanish class. The task was to build a working-hands clock (it didn't need to keep time, just the hands had to be moveable) that had a Hispanic culture theme.  He decided to focus on Hispanic holidays.  The idea that emerged was to use the 12 "hour" sections on a clock to correspond with a particular month, and illustrate a holiday from that month. 


We started with a trip to Home Depot.  I forgot my credit card (it was in the diaper bag after a trip to duPont), but between the few bucks in my wallet, a couple dollars' worth of change in my pockets, and the three bucks in Luke's wallet, we managed to get the supplies we needed without another trip back.  We got a 2x2 piece of plywood for the face, and some colored duct tape, nuts, washers, and a bolt to make the hands.


We put two coats of primer/sealer on the board for a base coat, and then started decorating.  The blessing of deciding to homeschool Jude is that we had a lot of the arts and crafts supplies already in the house. We did need to make a Michael's run for a few things (like Tacky Glue because Elmer's wasn't adhering things right) but the bulk of the supplies we already had.  

Starting our layout...

We didn't necessarily do things in the "correct" order -- it was pretty much an "easiest to hardest" progression. Here he's working on December - La Fiesta de Virgen de Guadalupe (Our Lady of Guadalupe).





 

Putting together January -- La Fiesta de los Tres Reyes Magos (Three Kings' Day).  

 He free-hand drew the  silhouettes of the Magi on their dromedaries, and cut them out and painted them black.









 
He opted for white stars to be the night star, and a gold star for the guiding star.

Slowly we managed to make inroads on the project. By the end of Saturday, he had about half of the clock put together.

 

Sunday involved the trip to Michael's.  He stayed home and did more work while Matthew and I went out.  By Sunday night, we were about 2/3 done.  We changed gears and got die-cut numbers because the pipe cleaner ones weren't sticking properly.

Today, we finished the project.  He has a doctor appointment on Thursday - the day it's due - and won't get to school until lunch or so.  The plan is to take it to school tomorrow, so that even if he isn't in the building, at least his project is.

You have to find the humor in a felt Salvador del Mundo (Savior of the World) sporting google eyes.  He tried to make each section unique, and hadn't used those yet.

 
 Almost done.  The sections were finished, now we just had to build the clock hands.  They're made out of doubled over duct tape, and anchored with a carriage bolt and nuts.  We put a nut and washer between each of the hands and the board, to help the hands to easily clear all of the things glued to the clock face.

The finished clock:

 ¿Qué hora es?   What time is it?

 

 

 A la una: enero- la fiesta de Los Tres Reyes Magos 

(January - Epiphany, or Three Kings' Day)

 

 

 

A las dos:  febrero/marzo - la fiesta de Carnival; una fiesta antes de miércoles de ceniza.   

(Februrary/March - Carnival - a fiesta before Ash Wednesday)

A las tres: marzo/abril - Semana Santa; la fiesta celebra el muerto de Jesús 

(March/April - Holy Week, celebrating the death of Jesus)

A las quatro: abril - el Día de Los Niños/el Día de Los Libros 

(April - Day of the Children; a festival dedicated to the honor and well-being of children.  In Mexican heritage areas of the US, it is also celebrated as a day to read to your children -- "Day of the Books")

 Los ninos del mundo

  (Children of the World)

 

A las cinco: mayo - el Día de Las Madres 

(May - Mother's Day)

 

 

 

A las seis:  junio - el Día de San Juan Bautista

(June - Feast of St. John the Baptist. In Puerto Rico, statues of San Juan Bautista are carried to and immersed in rivers.)

 

A las siete: julio- Los Sanfermines y el corriendo de los toros 

(July - The Feast of San Fermin and the Running of the Bulls in Pamplona, Spain)

 

 Our pipe-cleaner "torito."

A las ocho: agosto - la fiesta a El Salvador del Mundo. 

(August - the feast of the Savior of the World, patron of El Salvador. It's a week-long festival culminating in a re-enactment of the Transfiguration.  A statue of the Risen Jesus is lowered into an opened globe, and raised back up again in gleaming white robes.)

 Our googley-eyed Jesus ascending

A las nueve: septiembre - la Independencia de México (el Grito de Dolores)

(September - Mexican Independence Day.  This is a depiction of the church where the revolution began.)

A las diez: octubre - el Día de la Raza; Colón descubierto el mundo nuevo 

(October: literally, "Day of the Race", Columbus discovers the new world.)

A las once: noviembre - el Día de los Muertos

(November: Day of the Dead, or All Soul's Day.  Families remember their deceased loved ones, many visiting cemeteries and eating picnic-style meals there.)

 

 

Ornately decorated skulls are common motifs for this celebration.

A las doce: diciembre - el Día de la Virgen de Guadalupe

(December - Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas and Empress of Latin America)