Awards Night

Violet's school held its 8th Grade Awards Ceremony on Thursday night, an event that takes the place of a graduation. About half the students are invited. Violet was given an award for earning As throughout her junior high years in science. 

(She also earned straight As in PE, Yearbook, English and History, but since she has been taking most of those subjects at her independent study site, it didn't count for awards night.)

She made it through junior high! She didn't love it, but she did enjoy life much more once we made the move to the independent study school.

It was nice that Grandma and Grandpa came out in support, despite the ceremony length. It was SO packed, too! Standing room-only in a huge auditorium.

Violet's best part of junior high was becoming friends with these two girls. Lea and Sofia have been very good for Violet! They are now chatting often on their headsets while playing their favorite video games, and they have frequent plans to meet up for boba and swimming this summer.

Day in the Life - Spring 2024

 It's been a few years since I've attempted a "Day in the Life" post, but with this year being *interesting* with Violet's schedule, and knowing Cora's high school life will be over before we know it, I thought I should document our "normal life" here for posterity.

5 a.m.: Sebastian thinks I should wake up, walking on me, purring, pawing at my face and licking my cheek. Maybe I didn't feed him enough last night before bed? He eventually desists.

5:20: I hear cat noises, and it sounds like Seb is annoyed at Evie. I ask Stace if he's going to get up, as his alarm goes off at 5:30 and he always give Seb a bit of food when he gets up.

6: Stace says goodbye with a kiss, and says, “It would be cool to stay home and hang out with you today. But it’s also cool to go to a good job.” Amen!

Seb is now at my feet, and both kittens are up purring by my chest. I guess I’m awake for the day? I finally doze off again.

7:15: I can sleep in today because I only need to get Vi to school this morning. I feed the kittens dry food and close them in Vi’s room. I get my coffee, go outside with Seb to get some early morning sunlight, and then return to make sure Vi is getting ready. I warm up a pumpkin chocolate chip muffin for Violet's breakfast.

7:55: As we leave for school, Vi exclaims about Winston, “He’s on the table RIGHT NOW."

8:15 I'm back home. I make more coffee, and read my Bible devotion in the backyard. It's a quiet morning, kind of.

We currently have bird wars, with the crow (on our wall here) being attacked and shouted at by a mockingbird.

I feed the kittens their wet food, feeding Evie in Vi's room and Winston in the hall, so he doesn't steal her food.

9: I leave to get Violet. She only goes to yearbook class in the morning, and then she goes to science class later in the day. She doesn't come out for a half hour, because she remembers that Wednesdays I'm normally late to get her because I'm taking Cora to school for a 9:30 Late Start Wednesday beginning. But today, Cora's schedule is even later, so I was on time to pick her up, but I forgot to let Violet know. Sigh. Students at Vi's school aren't allowed to have their phones out, which generally is good, but I wish I could have contacted her in this case.

9:35: Vi and I get back home. Cora is up - she has a weird school schedule because of state testing, which she isn't doing, so she starts at 10:30. I make her a breakfast taco - bacon, scrambled eggs and cheese in a corn tortilla, and put together her lunch. The eggs are from Colleen and Rigo's chickens - aren't they gorgeous?

10:15: Cora and I leave for her high school. One nice thing with the testing schedule is the reduced traffic, since we're not on the road with the junior high across the street starting, too.

10:26: I drop her off at my preferred spot, on a side street just before the high school, so I can zip back out onto the road. Taking her into the school parking lot adds a lot of time in traffic, time I don't have today because I'm off to an appointment.

10:45: Since I had a painful calcium buildup on my shoulder, I was approved for physical therapy. My shoulder no longer hurts, but I figured it would be good to see what stretches and exercises I can learn. I get checked in to SCOI PT, and Svetlana the therapist assesses my mobility and shows me several stretches to work on. I make a follow-up appointment for two weeks later, and we agree that she would be releasing me from care then.

11:40: I head to Trader Joe's, not too far from SCOI, to get a few groceries.

12: Back home, Violet is ready for me to take her back to the junior high for her to see her friends at lunch and then have science class.

First, though, she needs to tell me about Winston, and how he had bacon grease on his paws from jumping on the kitchen counter and checking out the grease jar.

12:15: Violet is back at school, and I have an hour or so to get some blogging and tidying done at home, including cleaning up the kitchen counters. Ahem. I put away the groceries and realize one of the cans of hard cider I'd bought was somehow pierced, and had leaked all over the cardboard box and grocery bag.

1:45: I pick up Violet and bring her home. 

2:10: Violet works on her school work at the dining room table and I make her a sourdough grilled cheese sandwich. She has algebra, English and history classes at home through an online platform. I do some ironing and clean my room.

3: Violet is done with her schoolwork. She puts away her clothes and hangs out with cats.

3:30-4:30: I chop a bunch of veggies to prepare for dinner, while Violet plays her video games in her room.

4:30-5: I have an online zoom board meeting with the Parent Advisory Council for Cora's school. I'm the vice president. We discuss the upcoming Teacher Appreciation Week and how the PAC is going to organize a lunch for the teachers and staff.  

Violet comes out after my meeting and tells me, "Winston looks funny."

"What’s he doing?"

"He’s small," is her answer. A week ago, she said something similar, that Winston looked sad, because he's so small. He does have pretty short legs for a 7-month-old male cat. But he has so much personality, I wouldn't agree that he's sad about it.

5:15: I finish up dinner and Stace comes home. We're having a meal from his healthy living plan that we really enjoyed a month ago, with ground turkey, veggies, and Asian seasonings. We have one lettuce plant outside that provides wraps for us, while Vi makes some white rice for her and Cora.

6:45: Stace and Violet leave to take Vi to youth group, while I leave to get Cora from school. Chicago rehearsals finish at 7 this week, as they are about a week from opening night. I bring her dinner in the car, as we're off to her final vocal lesson before the show opens. We basically never have Cora eating in the car on the way to things, so this is atypical.

7: Cora comes out and we stop at Circle K to get Cora a drink.

7:15: Cora has her vocal lesson with Carla, who she's been seeing since last June. Carla is an amazing teacher, and she's helped her SO much with increasing her range and improving her singing skills. They touch up the songs Cora will be singing as Velma in Chicago.

8: Cora and I go home. It's been a long day for her, despite the late start.

8:10: Ow!! Winston is grabbing Cora’s feet. He loves playing with our feet, and especially with Cora's.

8:20: I leave to get Violet from the church. Colleen and I chat near her car while we wait for the girls to come out. The group has a Bible lesson most weeks, but once a month they have Game Night. That was this night, and the kids played laser tag together.

8:40: They come out happy. "It was fun," Vi said. With a complicated handshake routine and laughter, they say goodbye.

9: We're back home and Violet gets in the shower. Cora has already showered while I was gone with Violet.

Cora is sitting in the playroom at her computer, watching videos and coloring in her Critical Role coloring book.

10: Stace and I start heading to bed, and he and Violet work on some Wordle games in our bed.

10:15: Violet goes to bed, and Cora is in bed not too long after. Sometimes she stays up "too late," but she's 17, and I'm not policing bedtimes.

There you have it, a "normal"ish day in 2024, in our family with a 17-year-old and almost 14-year-old.

Week in Review

 

We attended our last Open House at Violet's junior high, and went around seeing the TWO teacher she has there, along with old friends who taught Cora and Violet in past years. This is Ms. Mathis, Vi's science teacher.

Several cool experiments were set up in the science lab, so Vi and Stace gave them a go.

We also visited Mrs. Davidson, Vi's favorite teacher, who teaches yearbook. Violet will miss this class and teacher! Cora loved her too, and had her for history.

The big question we got all evening was, which high school will Violet attend? And she's come to a decision - she'll go to the school she's zoned for, where her friends will go, where Cora went last year. 

Cora was pretty disappointed, and my mama heart was touched to see it. I love the bond my girls have, and we all do wish it would have worked out for them to have that single year of high school together. But, it just was not to be. 

I could see pros and cons for both schools for Violet, but in the end, she would have only had one year with Cora there, had she chosen Cora's current school, while she'll likely have four years with her girlfriends.

Here's a photo of our back stone fruit trees. Fingers crossed for a good crop!

Earlier this week, Stace and I saw a comedic murder mystery in Newhall, and we all had a family dinner at Stone Fire for our March birthdays. 

Our front nectarine trees are also covered in blossoms. 

Earlier this week, my right shoulder started hurting badly, in a spot that I'd noticed some funny twinges over the past two months. I made an appointment with the local orthopedic specialists, and an X-ray showed this little calcium deposit. They gave me a medication, which has helped a lot. I'll do physical therapy as well.

Also this week, Violet and I went to another art show opening at the local gallery. They seem to change shows every six weeks, with a celebration each time. Violet went to Teacision with her school friends, and then to one of their houses. 

Week in Review

While I was out with the ladies, Stace took Violet to the archery range. She still enjoys archery, though for the time being she's stopped her mounted archery.

From the car on the dirt path to the range, they spotted this bad boy. Yep, that's 100% a rattlesnake. Notice the larger diamond-shaped head and rattle!

Violet doesn't just shoot arrows, she throws them. All good for her PE credit hours we need to track at home with her new schooling situation.

Speaking of school, it's going very well, but Vi has had a ton of algebra to do this week to get caught up to where the Learning Post algebra course is. She's been a bit frustrated but she's getting through it. Thankfully the English and history assignments are easier.
 

Living his best life! Seb got height AND the bean bag when we stacked cushions up to get them out of the rain this week. 

Cora took a rest day this week, following the extreme energy output required for Puffs (or any show run). 

Here's the completion of the beautiful bird puzzle Aunt Patty and Uncle Bill gave us when we went up to visit in September!

And, we didn't get a photo, but JT, Jim and kids came up for lunch Friday to return Violet's camera that we accidentally left in their car when they came out to see Puffs. We met up at the Indian restaurant and enjoyed their filling and fabulous lunch buffet.

Week in Review

Violet was having a hard time in school. She was doing well, grade-wise, but really deeply disliked being there all day. She missed quite a bit because of tummy aches and other illness, to the point that Stace offered her $10 if she made it through a full five-day week.

Spoiler alert: she didn't! We ended up making a significant change, and she's now enrolled in the district's independent learning program. 

She takes two classes at her junior high still - yearbook and science - and will still be on campus to see friends. But the other classes, she's taking at home on the computer, with a teacher checking in with her weekly. So far, it's going well and seems to be a good move.

Cora was asked to take part in a short film project for an acquaintance's college film class. He was making a Western music video set in the late 1800s. Luckily, we were able to make my old vintage prom dress and a fitted brocade coat of Cora's work for her outfit.

Here she is, ready for filming. Ain't she purdy??

Stace wanted to get a photo of the girls when Cora got home, all made up nicely. 

Love seeing them laugh together!

 Violet and I took another Quigley walk, and it was warm enough that I was mindful of snakes.

Now, we basically never come across snakes, but I had mentioned to Violet that we should be aware. And boom! This little guy was on the path. He was actually pretty small, so not scary whatsoever. No rattle either.

Nature Time

Violet has had a sluggish start to her 8th grade year, missing a couple of days a week with illness and upset tummies. She just doesn't like school, sadly.

But she does like going to Quigley Canyon, and when weather allows, we're going frequently. She loves being in nature, looking for interesting flora, fauna and geology.

She found this lovely big bit of quartz.

 

It is a peaceful place, unlike junior high school.

Can't make them out, but this hollow in the oak tree was full of bees.

On one of the days she was home early from school, we met up with Stace and had coffee and lunch at Havana Savannah, one of my local favorites near his work.

Back to School

And just like that - summer was over and Violet started 8th grade, and Cora began her junior year.

Violet didn't love school last year, especially her first semester, but she said she was ready to get back to a routine. She had quite a boring summer, so it was nice to have her OK with going back to school. 

She's still taking yearbook, and her friend Leah is now in the class with her. She has a few of the same teachers Cora had, too.

Cora started her first day at the new high school, and it went well enough. She's not a super social kid, especially with people her own age, but things went OK. New campus, all new teachers (except for Jarod!) and a couple of thousand new faces. She's taking algebra II/trig, English 11, U.S. History, ceramics, theater and stagecraft.

The traffic around her new school is atrocious - the high school is directly across the street from the area's junior high, and though the starting/ending times are staggered, it's still one main road in and out for them. Ugh, I miss the traffic patterns at her old school, that's for sure. We'll have to figure out a system.
 

Seb also had his first day - of sitting in this box.

I turned around and caught him in the playroom, surrounded by new school supplies, squeezing himself into the box for Violet's new tall black boots. 

This was Violet after her registration day last week, with her new books and her look of "Why a photo, Mom?!"

And I wish I'd taken a photo of Cora at her new school on registration day, but I forgot.

End of Junior High

Annnnnd, that's a wrap!

Junior High is in the books for Cora Rose. What a strange experience for her - two years of junior high, but only six months in normal school, with six periods a day, hanging out with friends at lunchtime. We're certainly glad she was able to return at all this year - two months of hybrid school, with two half-days per week on campus, was better than staying online for all of eighth grade. But really, we're all glad this situation is over, and we can only hope the fall is much more normal for our older students.

In a normal world, Cora would have had an 8th grade awards night, a Magic Mountain trip with all her classmates, and an "8th Grade Bash" after school one of the days this week. (And, Stace and I would have been able to go to an Open House sometime in May and meet her teachers and see some of her work.)

As it was, the awards night was a YouTube link. We had to force Cora to watch - she was a bit down about the whole thing. Regardless, we're proud of her - she got awards in several classes for earning all As in both 7th and 8th grade. 

On to better times! She's excited for high school, and she'll be a part of Show Choir and a member of the fall musical. She also will take two advanced classes, and has, ahem, a good amount of homework to do this summer for them!
 

Another Return to School!

The girls were definitely due for haircuts - they both had slight trims at the end of summer, well over six months ago.

That's better!

We finally returned to church, for the first time since Christmas Eve and the second time since the world shifted last March. L.A. County's Covid numbers are low enough that the sanctuary reopened in March. We chose to sit outside, far enough from other people that we could take off our masks.

It filled my heart to look over and see Violet snuggled into her sister's lap. If you know Cora, you know she's not a snuggly kid, but she didn't push her sister away. Seriously, these two hardly ever fight anymore. I love their relationship!

On Monday, Cora made her long-awaited return to her junior high campus. All year, the district has had a block schedule for junior high and high school, with three longer classes per day. She starts at 8 and ends at 12:15 - and now, on Mondays and Tuesdays, she goes in-person. (Everyone is online only on Wednesdays, and the second half of the alphabet is allowed to attend Thursdays/Fridays.)

It's not anything like last year - no brunch or lunch to hang out, her good friends aren't there the days she's there, and you're supposed to keep your distance and wear a mask all day. But, considering we feared she wouldn't make it back to her junior high at all before promoting in June, we'll take it!

She said it's definitely a better learning environment to be in the classroom, with fewer distractions. But she does miss her friends. I'm hoping hard that the district will relax a bit, and allow the students who want to attend in person, to attend every day instead of two days per week. 

We received the wonderful news that Violet's district will return to a normal, full-day schedule on April 19!

Violet has been creative again, lately. Here is her painting of a dragon's eye, surrounded by scales, and a seawing dragon, in the ocean.