Playing catch-up: Mom goes to San Diego...for school!

This past fall has been eye-opening and hard for me as I've taken on new and challenging responsibilities at school, in addition to finishing up online courses and projects for my CA teaching credential.  I often have to take one day at a time and hope that things will get easier so that I can look ahead more and feel better balance. 

One highlight of the job, though, was going to a Professional Learning Community (PLC) conference in San Diego with other projects teachers from our school district in October.  I waffled a little bit about the opportunity because I was worried about missing a week so early in the school year when we were trying to get new things going, but my principal and district leaders were very supportive and encouraged me to go!

We stayed in a beautiful hotel in San Diego and attended 3 very full days of classes, speakers, and break-out sessions.  Having evenings free to enjoy the hotel and different places to eat was a lot of fun, too.  It was a great experience for me and I really enjoyed getting to know the people I went with, too!

First Day of 12th and 8th grade!

We were all up bright and early for the first day of school on August 15th.  This year Rhiannon will finish high school and Wade will finish middle school.  There will be some new opportunities, too--Rhiannon will serve as band president and take an online psychology class as part of her schedule, and Wade is trying out cross country and robotics club.

I have to remind myself that Rhiannon and Wade are growing up, turning into strong, independent young people who are good humans, too.

I'll admit, though, sometimes I still see this when I look at them!  The time sure goes by fast!

Another "last day"

We made it!  Last day of school!

Last day of 11th grade for Rhiannon!  Last day of pre-calculus and AP bio, hurray!

Last day of 7th grade for Wade!

Last day for Wade at the Murray Middle School, China Lake Campus!  (Wade will start at the brand-new middle school built next to the high school, starting in August)

Last day for my first full year of teaching!  (I can't technically count the year Rhiannon was born since I finished 9 days before the end of the school year, and I can't count substitute teaching with its inconsistency)


The kids and I had a pretty quiet afternoon, very relaxing and chill.

Jason came home earlier, too, about 4 pm, and after dinner he set up his hammock in the backyard, complete with a hammock stand.  It's fun!

Tomorrow we will begin the first day of summer vacation with golfing (Jason and Wade), chilling (Rhiannon), and helping decorate at a high school graduation event (me).

On Saturday I hope we ALL sleep in!  Welcome, summer!

First day of 10th and 6th grade!

The next school year has begun after a super-fast-and-fun summer!  10th and 6th grade, here we come!  Both Rhiannon and Wade did a great job getting up and were ready for the day by 6:00 am!  We rushed out to the backyard to take our traditional pictures before I took Rhiannon to the high school for her band class (which starts at 6:35 every day).

Cuties!

She loves that "Hello" shirt--super soft and comfy!

And if you're an Avengers fan, you can imagine how Wade felt about his Jarvis t-shirt!

Rhiannon and I saw the most beautiful sunrise on the drive.  As soon as I dropped her off, I zipped into a parking lot so I could capture it!  

After I got home from that, Wade and I killed a few minutes before we had to leave to get him on base to Murray Middle School.  Most days he will catch a ride with our neighbors, but I told him I wanted to take him on the first day!  Wade was so excited that we left 5 minutes earlier than we planned and got to the school so early we had to sit for a few minutes.  (Classes start at 7:20; students are allowed on campus at 7:00).

The rest of the day flew by while I waited for their school day to end.  I messed around on Facebook, got groceries, and went to a disaster preparedness class offered on the base.

Wade walked in the door happy and content at 2:30 pm; then I left to pick up Rhiannon and some friends at 2:40.  

Rhiannon already had Spanish, chemistry and history homework.  Wade's only homework was to get his mom to fill out school paperwork.  They both said it was a good, fast day, with no problems.   YAY!!!!!!!!!!!

Just for fun, here is something I made yesterday when I found myself with a bunch of extra time in the morning.  It was fun to see how much the kids have grown each year!  11 years of first-day-of-school photos! :)  We love these kids and know they will be successful and happy if they try their best, work hard, and show kindness!

Last day.

Today was our last day of summer vacation.  It was a nice, normal, boring day.  I tried a new muffin recipe and made a double batch of them while listening to the kids laugh upstairs.  Rhiannon graciously took it upon herself to help her brother coordinate his outfits for the week (HAHAHAHA! What a sweet sister and what a PATIENT brother!) and weed out some t-shirts that were now too small.  I've taught them well:

Rhiannon:  "I had him try on all his shirts and lift his arms up.  A lot of them looked like crop tops and had to go."

Then we jumped in the van and went to the allergist for Wade's monthly shots and had a "last day of summer" lunch doing drive-thru at Arby's.  We watched an episode of the Flash while we ate and then all did our separate things for much of the afternoon:

Mom--napped and relaxed
Wade--watched videos about video games
Rhiannon--Facebook

We came together to make the kids' lunches for the rest of the week and then dinner (grilled chicken salad).  I'm smiling thinking about our after-dinner conversation--the wonders and virtues of deodorant, and how Wade had to put on deodorant AT LEAST twice a day.  Before he leaves for school and after he changes out of his PE clothes.  He was pretty happy to add Old Spice Swagger deodorant to his school supply list for his PE locker, haha!  He also asked about Axe Body Spray, but Rhiannon said that wasn't a great idea because from her experience, boys practically showered in it and were too overpowering.  So funny!

Now we are waiting for Wade to finish with Boy Scouts so we can have a quick family swim before bedtime, get father's blessings, and go to sleep!

And just like that, we're ready for another year.  Everyone is feeling pretty good--we're mostly in shock that it's here already and are just going through the motions, though.  Didn't 5th and 9th grades end a few weeks ago???

Wade's last month of elementary school--a big giant post!

Boy, oh boy, did Wade have a busy, amazing 5th grade year!  His best school year yet! It all came together in May.  

Buckle up, folks--this is a long post!

Wade joined me for one more Battle of the Books year.  We met nearly every Wednesday at lunchtime, and Wade was an important member of that team.  I thought he'd joined because his mom was one of the leaders and he didn't want to make me feel bad, but I learned after it was all over that he mostly liked having a list of books to work on instead of aimlessly wandering around the library trying to find something to read.  His favorite book was There's a Boy In the Girls' Bathroom, by Louis Sachar.  (Read it--it's good.)  

We took the kids to a local battle and then went to Bakersfield for the county one.  Out of over 500 kids, Wade was on one of the finalist teams, woo-hoo!  

This was a great experience--I will definitely miss it!!!!!

On the last week of school, the 5th grade had a "moving on" ceremony.  This was exciting in more ways than one--Wade received academic and physical excellence awards, and then he passed out on the risers in the middle of a song!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!   That was pretty scary, but we got a lot of help from kind Richmond staff, and Wade was okay after a few minutes.  Jason jumped up to go help him behind the stage, and then I went back after some time had passed.  (I knew I'd be a basketcase and also that Jason could handle it.)  Wade wanted to go right home after that, but we knew people were very worried about him and wanted to see that he was okay!  Here he is afterward with friends and his wonderful teacher, Mrs. Kyte:

Wade with Carson

Cheyenne, Abby, Carson, Wade, and Nick

Wade's "second mom" Mrs. Kyte

Maricio was the first one to see Wade as he came outside and wanted to make sure he was okay!!

Wade's 4th grade teacher sent me some fun pictures she'd taken at the school assemblies thru the year, too:

Reading a million words

Doing a funny walk across the red carpet.  Wade was the first kid to make it to 7th grade Accelerated Math.  His friend Nick was the second and last to make it!

With his buddy and neighbor Nick getting ready to lead a flag ceremony.  Nick was student council president; Wade was vice-president.

An All-Boy student council, and they did a GREAT JOB!  Nick was pres, Wade was vp, Carson was secretary, and Tucker was treasurer.

Wade always led the school in the Pledge of Allegiance and the school pledge at each monthly Super Star assembly.  He was pretty happy after a couple months when the huge group was able to follow along with him at the same time.

There were so many other activities going on--basketball party, 5th grade swim party, BOB pizza party, middle school field trip, and many more.  We knew it had been a good year for Wade because he really didn't want it to end!!!!

No more elementary school for us--crazy weird to say that, but we know Wade is ready!

The End of Freshman Year, and surviving Finals (barely)

Well, on May 28th, I, Rhiannon Cushing, barely finished my freshman year of high school. It's weird to say that, because at times it's hard to believe I actaully made it. Haha I make it sound terrible, but all in all I think I did alright. I finished 23rd of 371 people (not too shabby) and I hope to get even farther than that next year.

I have fantatsic friends. Seminary was a BLAST and even though waking up at 4:50 got tiring, I made it work. My teachers were great, it's a good way to start the morning, and I strengthened lots of friendships in church and strengthened my faith as well.

I made new friends of course, but my band of friends at lunch stuck together very well. There are about 10 or so of us and we've known each other since 6th grade. We all have good taste in music, love to play charades (and aren't embarrassed when people walking by stop walking just to stare at us) and share lots of things in common (i.e. all pretty smart, classes in common, and sense of humor)
I wouldn't say that we don't fight or anything because we debate about all kinds of stuff (sometimes too much, in my opinion) but we are usually very respectful of each other's opinions. I think that's a good way to be, and I hope next year we won't drift apart or anything.

My class (2018) is one of the worst Burroughs High School has ever seen. Because of the fact that there are two kinds of people in my class--A and B kids that care about school and know it matters, and D and F kids who couldn't care less. I know that's super harsh but that's just how it is.

This made it so that two of the easiest classes I've ever had in my life, World Geography and Health, also became the hardest to get through. If I didn't have some of my super good friends in there with me, I don't know what I would have done. Mrs. Barnes was my Geography teacher and she was awesome but the people in my class were INSANE! Health was a different story because both the teacher and most of my classmates were absolutely horrid. UGH. Enough said. Finals in these classes were fine but I just about cried from happiness when both of them were done.

I really liked Cadet Band. It was super small (15 kids) but we got along pretty well and Symphonic Band is going to be great next year. My teacher, Mr. Austin is cool and I got to help him with 8th Grade Auditions this year. It was really fun and made me look forward to Band next year even more.

P.E. got interesting about a month before Christmas break. I had a few good friends in there, a good teacher named Mr. Pearce, but a drama-loving manipulator "friend." If that isn't the definition of bad times waiting to happen, I don't know what is. (Maybe Health for three more years? mhaha Just kidding) My good friends helped me, and when I started having my bunion foot problems Mr. Pearce was AWESOME, but I'm glad to be free of my "friend." This year was the first time that sarcastic-mean Rhiannon got her claws out--I once left PE shaking I was so mad. I confronted this person multiple times and they just wouldn't give up trying to snare me in their traps. I think if this person tries again next year I'm just going to straight up ignore them. Which is harsh, but I am DONE.

Then on to my Honors classes. They were mostly stressful, but the pluses were good people in the class, having lots of my friends with me, making new friends, learning more than I would in a normal class, and a weighted GPA. Whoop whoop.
Honors Bio was the most stressful out of the three. My teacher didn't update our grades too often, I took the hardest tests I've ever had in my life in it (I got my first D on a final, that was "tons of fun") and the first semester stuff just wasn't interesting to me. Not my favorite, and I'm glad to be done with it, but the people in there were awesome.
Honors Geometry was better. I liked my teacher Mr. Menard and there were lots of sophomores in my class that I liked getting to know. Pretty much everyone in that class I ended up knowing/being friends with. Some of the tests were stressful, sure, and I had lots of HW but it was fun being in the class.
Honors English was AMAZING. I loved my teacher Mrs. Wilson, and I'm really not bad at English. I didn't enjoy reading Huck Finn, but that was really it. I'm a good essay writer and that class wasn't hard at all.

I MADE IT. YES. hahaha All in all, I didn't do too bad. I would like to move up in my class rank, and it's going to be very different next year because I'm taking way harder classes, which will cut down on my free time and add lots of unneeded stress. Symphonic Band, Spanish 1, Honors Modern World History, Chemistry, Honors English, Honors Algebra 2, and PE. Wow that's going to be interesting.

Yay Freshman Year!!!!

Last Day of School pics

Someone (okay, ME!) was very excited on May 28th!!!

There's a story behind this picture!

      There was an assembly at Richmond about art. The guy there told us a little bit about structure and perspective. Then he said he worked for Marvel, and the whole room went crazy. He told us he wrote comics for Iron Man, Deadpool, Hawkeye, etc. Then he drew pictures of superheroes and gave them to kids (He drew about 4.). The last one he drew he gave to me, and the superhero was IRON MAN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    

    -Swadey Boy

Richmond Tigers are Number One!

Wade finished up a tremendously exciting basketball season with his 5th grade team the first weekend of May.  Their team won the St. Ann's tournament that weekend, beating out 7 other teams.

Their school principal, Mrs. Glennon, came to every game and was a wonderful supporter.  At a school assembly later that month, she praised the kids on their sportsmanship and skills and said that, to her knowledge, it was the first time Richmond had ever won that tournament and brought home the trophy to the school.

WOO-HOO!

The secret, besides the boys' efforts and good attitudes, was their coaching duo, Mark and Becky Anderson.  Friends of ours and members of our stake, they focused on teamwork, fairness, playing hard, and having a good attitude.  

One example of this was the awards ceremony at the end of the tournament.  Coaches had to choose MVPs from their team, but they let the boys vote instead.  Miguel, Nick, and Tucker were chosen--and they were right on the money there.  Wade would have won the Best Defensive Player if such an award existed--he was SO GOOD at sticking to his man and not letting the other kid do ANYTHING but try to get away from him, hahaha!

Wade learned so much and had a BLAST doing it!

Excited to bring home the trophy to their school!  There's a story for me about Usman holding that bigger trophy in the middle.  Throughout the whole season, he hadn't been able to make a basket yet.  Well, the last game, he made this HUGE basket.  I told Coach Becky that no matter what the score had turned out to be, that made the game for me, especially since it was the first and only game that both his parents had been able to attend.  FUN!

Coach Mark, Wade, Jacob, Miguel, Nick, Coach Becky
Elijah, Usman, Tucker, and Dillon

Before the championship game!

Mrs. Knehans, one of our 5th grade teachers.  So cool of her to be the mascot! :)

Wade with one of his best friends Jordan, the Monday after the tournament.  Check out the sign! :)

We're still here

We're still here.  Just super, super busy with last-month-of-school activities, group projects, basketball games, volunteering, youth conference, business travel, and getting the pool open and ready. I got to speak at stake conference, too!

A longer post will happen later.  For today, just two things:

First, a tender mercy.  Tuesday was so crazy.  After an already packed day, that afternoon I had to have the kids in two different places at the same time on opposite ends of town.  I knew I could figure it out, but I was so, so, so tired all of a sudden.  I rested my head on the table for just a moment to calm the crazy, and right at that moment the phone rang.  A friend was calling about carpooling to one of the kids' activities and it helped SO much!!!!  I realized I could ask for help (!) and asked another friend to help get Wade to and from--she helped me so much, too!  Such a tiny thing, but that kindness opened up the evening for me and gave me the strength and sanity I needed to get people where they needed to be and then steal an hour of precious prep time before my institute lesson that night.

Second, our family has been playing this together as much as possible lately, a card game called Dominion:

Uncle Brett introduced it to us last summer, and our friends the Littons brought their set over a few weeks ago and played with us.  We liked it so much that Jason bought it, along with an app for different game scenarios.  It is a T-O-N of fun.

A nice break in the middle of all the chaos! :)

Wade's first basketball game

Jacob, Aidan, Nick, Wade, Elijah, Usman, Dillon, Coach Becky, Tucker, and Miguel

First game of the season--Wade's 5th-grade boys team won 25-9!   It was a spectacular game--we were shocked to see those boys play that well together!  They were a T-E-A-M!

We love his coaches, Mark and Becky Anderson from our church (3rd ward)--they have done an OUTSTANDING job at practices focusing on skills, passing, teamwork and sportsmanship. Those 9 boys made few mistakes during the game and looked like a well-oiled machine--it was scary cool to watch, haha!!!! Wade made one basket, a perfect "swish"!

Wanna know what my favorite part of the game was, though? It was when Wade was racing back to the other side of the court and started pumping his arms up and down to get the crowd excited. HAHAHAHA! Too funny!

Who knows what the rest of the season will be like, but if this team plays the way they did that night, they are going to have a ton of fun!

5th Grade Field Trip--Riley's Farm

Riley's Farm was the perfect spot for Wade's big 5th-grade field trip.  I am so thankful for his school teachers and staff and volunteers who put it together!

This place is about 2 hours away (3 if you have to follow the school bus like I did as a chaperone).  We had gorgeous weather!  The kids were great!  And even though the grounds were P-A-C-K-E-D with several other school groups, the experience and rotations were managed very well.  I probably loved it so much because it reminded me of another favorite place--Mount Vernon from our Virginia adventure!

The guides were fantastic--all spoke in a colonial, British accent and kept the kids very engaged.  They experienced what it was like for colonists and got an appreciation for why the Revolutionary War started in the first place.  

I was so glad to be there with Wade and his friends.  It was a neat place, and I hope we go there again as a family so that we can enjoy the good food they make there!  My sweet friend Christian Speredelozzi rode down with me and Becky Anderson, and she bought us both these HUGE, delicious apple pies.  Becky and Christian were great company--they kept me laughing and talking so that my 6+ hours driving didn't bother me one bit!!!

I've been on a lot of field trips, and this was probably one of my all-time favorites.  We were down and back in a day before it got dark, the kids were well-behaved, I had wonderful adults helping me with our large group, AND Riley's Farm exceeded expectations!

Link:  Riley's Farm

Where's Waldo/Wade?

Geez, I've got a lot to catch up on from the past few weeks!  This post, however, will be all about Wade.  He has been a very, very busy boy!

Over the past month or so, Wade:

1.  Got a hair cut.  After the haircut he looked like he grew a foot taller--weird!  He misses his longer hair and curls, but he likes the cut, too.  (Oh, and his braces were taken off temporarily--he's done with the palate expander but has to lose about a gazillion baby teeth still, so they gave him a break.  The nice thing is that he's paid for!)

2.  Did a fantastic job with 3 other friends in an ensemble recital.  The left piano had a damper pedal stuck during their performance, so we couldn't hear those two boys as well--their piano teacher felt so bad about this that she asked the boys to perform at her ward's talent show next weekend.  Another chance to play a fun song!

3.  Completed the 6th Grade Common Core Accelerated Math library--this is a big deal because he's the first kid to do it this year!  Woo-hoo!  (We had yummy Bacon-Wrapped Little Caesar's pizza to celebrate!)

4.  Made the school's 5th grade basketball team!!!  We encouraged him to try out "for kicks," saying we'd be happy  no matter what and that he needed the exercise!  He went to 3 or 4 practices/try-outs, and then found out he made the team.  The really fun part is that 2 of our neighbors (and Wade's buddies) across the street made the team, too.  He practices twice a week and is learning SO MUCH with Coach Mark and Becky Anderson (some dear friends of ours--Mark is in our stake presidency and Becky does Battle of the Books with me).  The team's first game will be next Wednesday night!

5.  Went on his first for-realz Boy Scout campout.  The only proof I have of that is his packing list:  

Yep, I made him pack ALL of that, and he probably used a 1/4 of it, hahaha!  Jason was able to go and be one of the adult leaders--they both had a good time!

We are proud of Wade for trying new things and doing his best!  Way to go, buddy!

Wade Cushing, Richmond Spelling Bee winner...

for the second year in a row!  Way to go, Wade!!!  He competed against one of his best friends, Carson Taylor, in the final round, and won on the word "marathon."  Wade will get to compete at the district level on January 28th!

Wade's final elementary school Christmas program!

Wade and the rest of his fifth grade group participated in the school's Christmas program.  They always do a unique version of the 12 Days of Christmas, Ridgecrest style.  Enjoy!  Wade was a raven squawking and a desert flower. :)

Way to go, Wade!!!

On the last Friday in September, Wade had a big day.  He helped with two of his school's Super Star assemblies as a member of the new student council, and he was chosen by his teacher as one of her Students of the Month.  I was subbing for Wade's class that day, and so I didn't get any pictures taken of those events, but it was super fun to watch him at the front of the assembly, handing out certificates, and realizing that he was one of the recipients!  He's anxiously waiting for our trip to McDonald's tonight so he can cash in on his award from his teacher. :)

Way to go, Wade!

Wade for VP!

It's a busy week for Wade. His official campaign for student council vice-president starts today!  Should be lots of fun....I hope.  :)

Erasers to pass out to his hopefully future constituents

T-shirt--hopefully I can peel it off of him and wash it every other day. :)

Our favorite part:  "My name is Wade Cushing and I approve this message."

Posters:  they allow you to make 7 of them.  :)

He gets to give a speech to all of the 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders on Wednesday morning, and then the election is on Friday.  His speech is pretty short but it includes quotes from Spiderman and Napoleon Dynamite, so it's good. :)

Vote for Wade!

First Day of School! First Day of School!

So last Tuesday we all woke up and had to get the kids back to school.  WHERE DID THE SUMMER GO?  It never ceases to shock me!

Rhiannon is in high school, 9th grade, and Wade is starting his last year of elementary school.  They both had pretty good first days--Wade is riding the "Big Men On Campus" wave, while Rhiannon had some panic attacks over the homework load that started right away.  Thank goodness for priesthood father's blessings from their dad and a patient mom, haha!

We are so proud of these kids--they are going to have a great year!

Here's Rhiannon's schedule, for posterity:

And Wade has Mrs. Kyte!  We will need to get a picture of Wade and Mrs Kyte together--the Welcome Back Night the night before school was just too crazy. :)