Rebekah's School: How It's Going

Thought I'd start this post with Rebekah's 6th grade picture. 

We had parent teacher conferences and therefore were able to go into the building and see Rebekah's art work hanging on the walls. 

Other wall finds include this "I am Unique" sign:

I like airplanes. I dislike cats. I love dogs. I like to engineer. My favorite food is pizza. I like my hair wavy. It boosts my confidence. I like descendants. I want to go horseback riding . My favorite flower is lilac. I want to go to Universal. I love the wind. I like Imagine Dragons. I like to ice skate. I am taller than my mom. I like to dance. I'm related to a princess. I am the youngest. My sister has 4 kids. I have a BF. I like Harry Potter. I like to draw. I want to be a scientist. I have blue eyes.  

And this block she made: planets on one side and a beaker / test tub on the other. 

Mrs. Brindley had all the students write things that make me feel good about school on one side and on the opposite, things I could work on. It's pretty readable, however I will point out the irony of #2 on the things I could work on side "lissining" and #3 being "Spelling," I will say, however, that her spelling has improved tremendously and I am very proud of her progress. 

Here the teacher asked the students to write a letter to the parents about them as if they were Mrs. Brindley.

She is a great kid, she has made some mistakes and gotten some bad grades, (I assume you check powerschool) but overall she is a really great kid. Most of her mistakes come from not reading directions but she has improved and she is getting better grades. Overall Rebekah is a great kid with good intentions and smart too. 

This is her midterm report. 

So proud of her. It's been such a change to get her into the high level classes. She's struggled somewhat now that she has been asked to do more (the regular level class she usually just slides by) but she's rising to the occasion. 

A few days later we went to the middle school for something called an "Informance." Basically it was the teacher's way of letting the parents who may not have any musical experiences see what their student is learning and see ways they can help them. I took a few pictures of The Bee. This one she's right in the middle back. 

Finding The Bee in this one is a little more obvious. 

September

Rebekah still likes a good run through the sprinklers. I thought it was way too cold for this. This is her proving me wrong. 

The only big thing we did for Labor Day. 

Mom told me how to freeze my tomatoes. 

Rebekah being social at school. 

And yes, that's my shirt. 

I often turn the vacuum on while I run errands. The other day I only found one slipper where I left it by the boot bench. Finally found the other one under the couch. The vacuum had to push that slipper down the hall and around the corner, through 2 room spaces, and finally leave it under the couch. That's dedication. 

We were driving home through the park one day and came upon a car show. We had to stop for Don. He does love his cars. 

In my attempt to feed my daughter better, my friend passed along this recipe from Mel's. Rebekah looked at them and said, "are they safe to eat?" I assure her they were, "but they're.... GREEN...." was her response. But she ate one and eventually had another one. 

The other day I got out a water bottle, drank a little, and put it on the counter. It falls over and starts to spill. Me, thinking I'm just accident prone, picked it up and set it right, only to see it fall and spill again. Turns out the bottle was dented at the bottom. Moral of this story: sometimes it's not my fault.  

And, the night sky: 

September Books

Junior fiction that kind of follows the book Little Women. It's pretty good but I'm not sure Rebekah would be that interested in it, not knowing the Little Women characters. 

I should have known from the title before I jumped in, but this book is pretty heavy. The main character was told he would be promoted, "if you survive." Then it goes into all of his horrific war encounters. It's good but one would have to be interested actual war accounts. 

I listened to most of this while I was driving back from Michigan with Don. I was hoping for more, but it did give a brief insight into Galileo.

Not the most readable book. The information was there but it struggled to maintain my interest, and I'm invested in Sherman, the Civil War, and the March to the Sea, so it should have been easier to keep my attention. 

Yes, here it is again. And I think you'll see the next one early next month. Andy Serkis truly brings the story to another level.

Had to stare at this one for a bit to remember what it was. It was okay, but seriously not one I'd recommend. It follows two timelines, one WWII and one modern day. Both story lines seem a little much but it works I guess. 

I'll need to read again to fully understand - maybe again and again. It's hard reading and I don't have much previous knowledge in this subject area. I may revisit this, or another book about the same subject. 

I'll admit right now this book and the one following I didn't finish. I believe my problem with this one was the author tried to make it huge and lost so much as he went on. I finished part one and felt like nothing happened. Eventually I was at a place where I had at least half the book to go and still felt like nothing was really happening. I knew at this point we were going to go into the concentration camps and just didn't want to continue. 

This one I didn't finish because of language and violence. I also felt like the cover and title were way cooler than the author's writing. 

Fascinating, but I felt like it was read by a teenager. However, I learned a lot and my interest was maintained so there's that. 

I almost chose not to finish this one as well but I felt invested in the main character. There's a lot of harsh language and some sexual references / situations. However, I felt empathy with the main character so I continued onward. It's good if you can get over the harshness. 

It's a book about a sports hero. But the title intrigued me so I read. His childhood was horrifying but I continued onward. The way he got his nickname should make people shun him, and yet there he is. He did some incredible things and the author writes them well enough that when I looked it up on YouTube, it was exactly as he wrote it. But I'm somewhat horrified that we cannot have better role models.

Well written history about Anne Boleyn and Elizabeth I. I liked the new angle but I do assume she took some emotionally charged liberties when making the connections between Elizabeth and her mother. However, it was very interesting to learn more about Anne. 

Beach Trip Part 2

That evening we went outside to the front of the hotel and watched the sun set. While we were admiring the view Rebekah found some cool rocks and sticks. 

 

I may have taken too many pictures.

I do love a good sunset over the water. 

We went back inside and finished the old 80's movie War Games. Rebekah lost interest but Don and I hung in there. I use to be a big Matthew Broderick fan. 

The next morning we ate breakfast then Don and Rebekah swam while I packed up the room. On our way out of town we headed to the water for one last visit. 

Rebekah continues to write out her feelings: "I love the boys in my family." I inquired for further information. Apparently it's not just Don and Paul, but all her amazing uncles and cousins too. I'm choosing to believe she loves the girls too but just didn't have the time to write it out. 

Proof that I was here. 

Rebekah cleaned the sand off at the fountains by the beach.

I forced one more selfie. Everyone looks happy. Nice! 

Rebekah wanted a few more pictures. They had an old civil war canon that was used in one of the union ships. 

On our way out we stopped for Pizza. I saw this. "Most sustaining than meat." Nice. 

Beach Trip

Part of this year's celebration was a trip to Lake Michigan. I looked around and found a hotel somewhat close to Silver Beach, of which I've heard much good about. So, Friday after school (weekend after Labor Day) we headed up north. 

Rebekah did rather well on the drive. Guess car travel comes with age. Also helps she was in school all day and ready to sit and chill. 

We got there pretty late that night but started the morning right with breakfast and a swim. Don and Rebekah played in the pool. Here's Rebekah playing catch with water. 

Don wanted to join in, although I think he was less interested in catch and more interested in soaking Rebekah.

We had a small view from the hotel pool area. 

More catch, this time with a ball. 

They're still working on her aim: 

She still likes to climb on dad. 

And, although it's less for Rebekah, they still like to relax in the hot tub. 

Eventually we went out to find the lake. We parked in the town and walked down. Rebekah was in a photographic mood. 

We walked out to see the view and watch the boats come in. 

We had a view of the light house. 

Loving the family time. Everyone is almost smiling. 

Then I asked Rebekah to take one of me and Don. Lost the smile.... Ah well. Don't let it fool you, he seemed to be pretty happy. 

More of a smile here with the Bee. 

There was an influx of Monarch butterflies. Tried to get a shot of one. Middle down by the water line. 

Rebekah in the water. I totally should have had her wear her suit under her clothes, but I just assumed it would be too cold since it was after Labor Day. 

Didn't stop Rebekah though. She's such a trooper. 

She found a baby shell. 

Love watching the Bee play. 

Eventually I told her to just embrace fully clothed lake time. 

We were hungry and went back into town in search of food. Loved the Monarch butterfly stair art. 

We found food. And then we waited. 

And I watched my family watch TV. 

We had an awesome dinner followed by even more awesome ice cream and a mediocre albeit expensive brownie. 

Then back to the water. 

Had fun with our shadows.

I love the Great Lakes. 

The wind made the Bee a bit nervous. 

The light house. 

Bird tracks. 

Love the views. 

My favorite picture. 

I asked for a picture with the Bee. She's somewhat less willing than she is with dad. 

But I like this one. Wish my hair wasn't in my face though. 

Which parent is the favorite? I'll let you decide..... 

But she's pretty cute, I'll take not favorite parent as long as I'm in there somewhere. 

She found a stick that looked like a Y, so she embraced the pun with "why?" 

Eventually we headed back to the hotel to get cleaned up and relax, and eventually see a Lake Michigan sunset.