10-1/3 (and so much more)

It seems that Jacob is getting to an age where a lot of stuff needs to revolve around him.  He's getting older and has a lot of stuff going on, be it school or sports.  We had a busy weekend, and most of it was focused on him!

Everything started Thursday, which was thankfully my Friday.  The boys had a half day on Friday, so I took the whole day off--partly because their half day ends before noon (so it's pointless to work) and partly because I had a million things to do and needed that time desperately.  Thursday night was Jacob's long awaited placement night for basketball.  He'll be playing on a team starting in January, and it's pretty much his focus all the time, whether he's talking about his sneakers, wanting to get out and play, or its role in his inevitable rise to the NBA (sigh).  Practices and games don't start until after the new year, so any glimpse of it was huge for him and placement night had been on the calendar for a while.  It turned out to be a bit of a non-event as the action only lasted about five minutes, but it was good to see him out there.

Dribbling - you should have seen him do it backward!

Footwork

Shooting

He seemed to do pretty well.  His shooting was a little weak on the one side, but overall he did fine.  It wasn't a tryout, so it's not like he's at risk of not making a team, but just an opportunity to properly place him on a team that needs him.  Of course, he was eyeing up the talent around him and ended up hoping he wasn't so good that he wouldn't be on the same team with a really good player he saw across the way.  Leave it to him!

I'd been spending parts of my evenings over the course of the week trying to clean up the house.  It had gotten to a bit of a critical point where it desperately needed multiple levels of cleaning - decluttering, dusting, vacuuming, and carpet cleaning.  It was gross and needed cleaning no matter what, but it was extra necessary because we had secret plans for some company over the weekend.  On Thursday night I stayed up extra late just to work through a number of projects - baking, photographing (and ditching) Carter's artwork, and general decluttering.  It was a long, productive evening that had to happen so I could set myself up for success in the morning!  See, our plan was to have a surprise super-belated birthday party for Jacob.  If you'll recall, he turned 10 back in June, but due to our schedule, other family's schedules, and lots of big family events this summer, there just wasn't a time to have a party.  And it dragged on without finding a suitable date (and giving up for a while, I suppose), but it popped into my head a few weeks back that we should surprise him.  And just last week he grumbled a bit again about never getting his cake, so I hoped we could pull it off!  Part of the late night was having to wait until he went to bed to bake the cake!

On Friday morning I worked my butt off to start cleaning the carpets.  I first tried some Resolve, which worked reasonably well but then a little too well in some spots, leaving some areas lighter than others.  I decided that after I picked up the kids and went to their parent-teacher conferences, my afternoon would be spent with the carpet shampooer.  I hate that thing.  But in the end, it did the trick...even if having fans all over the living room for the rest of the day was a bit of a pain.  I guess I can wait a little longer to get it done professionally!

The parent-teacher conferences were about what I would expect.  Both teachers are very happy with the kids.  Jacob is a bit of a talker at the wrong times and may not be challenged quite enough, and Carter needs a little work on appropriate interactions when classmates frustrate him and a little more strength in his fine motor skills (primarily writing--which I already knew).  But overall they're both age-appropriate, good kids.  Whew.

Friday night I had to decorate the cake.  I knew the next morning would be busy, so I had no choice but to stay up (late once again, since Jacob takes forever to fall asleep) and get it done!  I knew he wanted a Raptors' cake, and knew which logo to use, but beyond that I hadn't thought about it too deeply.  I just had to jump in and do it!  Well, after stashing the cake in the basement for 24 hours (wrapped and in my cake keeper), I almost destroyed it when I put the second layer on and realized I'd be better off flipping it over to deal with the dome.  I generally don't cut off the domes because it's a waste of cake, and I quickly realized the dome would be better on top than in the middle, but it was so stuck on the frosting in between layers that it cracked in half when I tried to lift it off!  Luckily I was able to reposition it and quickly frost it, and in the end the crack wasn't too visible!

My plan to incorporate the logo worked reasonably well.  I was thankful I had bought a backup pouch of black, because the one I had from Carter's birthday gave me all sorts of trouble (it wouldn't flow and eventually it broke open in one spot!), but once I started using the new one, things flowed a lot better (literally).  And I think the end result was pretty good!

I wanted to incorporate some red, but I liked the top as is and didn't have much faith in the tube of red I had left, so I opted to just do his name on the front...

...and his age on the back!

Yup, he's officially 1/3 of the way through.  No time like the present to party then, huh?

The sides looked a little empty so I did stars.  They're not great and could almost have passed for maple leaves, which would have been appropriate for the Raptors, too, so I left them.  Luckily we had a small audience for this one, so I wasn't stressing out!

It was a late night and I could only sleep in a little because we'd had a long ago scheduled Saturday morning appointment with Jacob's therapist.  I wouldn't have even gone, but it was our last appointment before she goes on a two-month medical leave, so it really was important and that was the only day we could fit it in.  Upon returning to the house, Craig and Jacob went out to Dick's for a winter coat and to Wegmans for a couple little things, and that provided the perfect opportunity to get things ready!

I had started pork in the crock pot first thing in the morning, and then I got going on the rest of the food--a casserole, roasted potatoes, green salad, and Buffalo chicken dip.  It was all very smooth and was well underway once my parents arrived.  I also hung up three basketball lanterns I got at Party City while Halloween shopping--two by the fireplace and one over the dining room table.  Fun, no?

As for the boy, he was pleasantly surprised when he came home to discover a mini party in his honor!  Of course, mini it was.  Craig's parents were supposed to come but a work meeting ran over so they ended up not being able to make it.  The only other attendee was my cousin Lori, his godmother, but you know, it was a really pleasant, low-key time together.  I didn't have to slave in the kitchen, everyone enjoyed the food, and I felt at peace in my clean house, so I'll take it.

Jacob loved the cake and was excited to finally blow out the candles...four months late!

Small crowd or not, I'm glad we finally got Jacob his day.  Once my parents left, we had a very nice, low-key evening.  Even Jacob mentioned today how nice it was.  I didn't even do dinner.  Everyone snacked or had cake for dinner, we watched movies, and the boys even used the clear living room floor to play!  Jacob made a Lego football field, and Carter got creative with his Hot Wheels tracks, taking a cue from the instruction book to use a paper towel tube and cups.

Sunday was a busy day.  We started out with church, came home for a quick lunch, then headed out to the open house at Aquinas, the other school Jacob is considering.  Originally he really wanted to go there, but changed his mind somewhere along the way, possibly when I told him that khakis were part of the middle school uniform.  My prediction for this open house was pretty spot-on.  I knew the facilities would be better, but I wasn't sure the student experience would have the same impact as Bishop Kearney's "houses".  Aquinas has a beautiful, brand new cafeteria.  They had a classroom with 3-D printers.  Their gym was newer and their fieldhouse was immaculate--better than many colleges.  The classrooms were older, much like BK, but it seemed like more care had been taken to update the furniture and fixtures.  They offered up some fun science demonstrations, also like BK, and took it to the next level with a pig dissection!  The students seemed equally eager to talk up their school.  The classes are probably double or triple the size of BK, though, and no mention of programs to help new students adjust.  Those seemed to be two big minuses for Jacob, who almost seemed a bit swayed by the time we got to the fieldhouse.  But at the end of the day, he was still on Team BK.  I can't call it much besides a gut instinct, which is interesting to see from your child.  I said that there seemed to be more of a "warmth" at BK, and he agreed and said he just felt at home there.  I guess you can't really argue with that.  Even still, we may have him take both entrance exams just in case scholarships at Aquinas provide an opportunity we can't pass up.  Worth a try, anyway.

Our last stop of the day was at the Garden Factory, our usual rainy day, last ditch pumpkin place.  And sure enough, it was a cold, rainy day, and Jacob asked why it's always bad weather when we go there.  The answer, of course, is that it's a perfect spot to go when the weather is crappy since it's all indoors.  I didn't know, however, that it was clearance price weekend, so we made it out extra cheap!  But not before a little fun...

Carter was banned from the really fun activities thanks to some not-great behavior when we picked him up from Sunday School, but we did allow for some cotton candy!

And yes, even when he's frustrating as heck, I'll always take a hug from my boy.

When it came time to pick a pumpkin, Carter was picking up every little pumpkin that caught his eye, and eventually he was double fisting and looking like he was starting a new pumpkin workout...

Total goof ball, that kid.  We ended up with one big pumpkin and one little one (a total of 20 pounds), a couple pounds of Autumn Crisp apples (they were cheap and sounded good), and a 99 cent annual that I just couldn't pass up:

I love these flowers, and for a buck?  Yes, please!

All of that was less than $6 total!  Not a bad trade-off for not having a huge selection of pumpkins!  

Of course, whether or not we will actually get them carved remains to be seen.  We have busy evenings to start the week, and it looks like either carving or my work costume (guess which one) will lose out.  I guess we can't have it all--birthday party, clean house, picture-perfect Halloween--something's gotta give!  It was a full weekend, but a good one.  And now the next one can't get here soon enough...but first, Halloween!

How are we here already?

The private school thing has been a discussion in our house pretty much since Jacob was born.  I went to private school from Kindergarten through 8th grade, but public high school.  Craig was nearly opposite--he had a stint or two as a kid, but high school marked his sustained private school experience.  As such, we've had different perspectives on it all along.  I got through public high school just fine and still got into a good college, I argued.  Craig countered with how important his experience was for getting his academics on track after some challenging public school experiences.  We could go back and forth on pros and cons forever.

Our district isn't great.  It's fine, particularly for the ages the kids are at now, but admittedly the middle and high school options aren't ideal.  Could a typical student get through just fine?  Sure, and we've known many who have.  It's not like it's a city district, but it does border it, and due to the lower cost of living on our side of town, it tends to be a first stop for those looking to escape the city.  As a result, it's a large, diverse, and sometimes challenging district with relatively low ratings.  But, so far it's been fine for us.  So, for the last many years, we've left our discussion at, "Well, when he gets to that age, we'll see what kind of student he is and make a decision then."  Little did we know a few years ago that private high schools here start with middle school programs at sixth grade.  So, if he's going to change schools and be in a high school building anyway, then maybe he should only have to make that transition once.  So, here we are.  The time to decide has come.

It turns out that private school does seem like a better fit for Jacob.  He's done fine in public school thus far, but as he gets older and the work gets more demanding, I think he'll do better with a smaller setting, closer relationships with teachers, and a good moral compass.  He needs challenging academics and strong sports.  Ultimately, I just think he needs to be "seen", and the odds of that are greater in private school.

Initially Jacob wanted to go to Aquinas, which has a fantastic sports program in addition to great academics.  They have gorgeous football/lacrosse field, too.  But it appeared something as simple as khaki pants (gasp) as part of the uniform were enough to make him leery, and since his lacrosse obsession has given way to basketball, he shifted to Bishop Kearney, a smaller school.  Neither school is particularly convenient to where we live, but people clearly make it work across the county, and busing is available (although it will likely make for an early morning).  I don't particularly savor the thought of those early mornings, or buying uniforms, or paying tuition, but deep down it feels like this is something we need to do for him.  And if all else fails, we give it time and change to something else.

When I was in college, if you wanted to live off campus you had to start securing your housing the prior fall.  Thinking that far ahead (or dealing with all that extra craziness in general) never appealed to me, hence why we lived in dorms for four years (also, dining halls and bathroom cleaners).  Similarly, private school involves a heck of a lot more advance preparation than public, but avoidance and procrastination are not an option this time around, so already we're making plans.  Fortunately I happened to see an ad on Facebook last week for an open house at Bishop Kearney on Sunday, so I immediately added that to our calendar.  I then figured I should also check on Aquinas, and sure enough, theirs is set for this coming Sunday, so once again, our Sunday will be spent touring since we need a means of comparison.

The Bishop Kearney open house was interesting.  Craig has a couple connections at the school from things he's done there through work, so it's comforting to have some eyes on the "inside" as we enter the middle school era.  The school is older--a typical mid-century high school building with select, minimal updates.  Not in a bad way, mind you, just very simple and unflashy.  Jacob still liked the gym despite its age, which was a big win.  We met some teachers during the course of the tour who all seemed really nice.  The entire sixth grade is smaller than the number of kids in Jacob's classroom (one of four or five in the grade) right now, which was a pleasant surprise.  They all stick pretty close together that first year, then have the opportunity in 7th grade to branch out to advanced classes if needed, which Jacob was happy to hear because he gets bored easily right now.  His standardized test scores in math came in better than 90% of the state, so I'd have to think he'd be a candidate for moving up.  Remember when his low math grade in 3rd grade was the thing that moved us to start medication?  Yeah, that's why. 

What was especially intriguing to all of us was that each student is assigned to one of four "houses" within the school, to give them a smaller "family" to help get them accustomed to the school.  They stick with that house through graduation.  Everyone seemed very proud of their house and somehow it doesn't seem competitive or negative in any way, so that was cool.  Jacob really liked the sound of that a lot to help get settled.  We saw some classrooms, the chapel, the cafeteria, the band room, and a few other things--including a science teacher doing some really fun experiments!  We also got a tour of their dorms, which are on the top floor and exclusively for the very competitive girls' hockey team that draws players from across the continent.  The space was beautiful, with rooms twice the size of my college dorm rooms.  They had a workout facility, dining room (with chef), and coaches' offices right down the hall.  It was really awesome.  Jacob wants to make friends with them someday, but I warned him that there is probably no chance that boys are ever allowed up there!

While the school doesn't seem to have lots of bells and whistles (well, aside from a program that gives everyone a laptop in 8th grade that's theirs to keep upon graduation), we really liked it a lot.  It seemed very warm and the students seem happy.  I think it would build great character in Jacob with the community service and other programs they have.  The jury's still out on where sports would fit in for him, but hopefully that would be an opportunity for him, too.  And just in case basketball doesn't work out, we found out that they're hopefully starting a boys' lacrosse team soon, which would take care of one of our initial concerns when he first wanted to go there.

So, I think if we committed tomorrow, he'd be thrilled.  It really is his top choice.  We have the entrance exam on December 1, so that's coming quickly.  But coming sooner is the open house at Aquinas, choice #2.  My prediction is that the facilities will be much nicer (which will be tough for Jacob to say no to), but that the social situation won't be as enticing as BK.  That's just a guess, and maybe they will surprise us.  AQ is a really good school and they've had some good philanthropic support, but I've never gotten the warm fuzzy vibe, so we'll see.  He'd honestly be lucky to go to either, so it's really just about finding the best fit.  And who knows, maybe it's laying the groundwork for Carter's future, too!

It'll be an interesting journey, to say the least. 

Giraffes and Zebras and Naked Mole Rats, Oh My!

In a quest to maximize the decent weekend weather days we have left, we headed to the Seneca Park Zoo this morning.  The less time we have at home for the boys to fight about something random, the better.  We'll have enough of those weekends over the winter when it's too cold but not snowy enough to go outside, so we might as well do what we can now.  Mind you, the kids were less enthused about going that I'd have hoped.  Not entirely unhappy, mind you, just sort of neutral.  Oh, well...but in case you're wondering why they're not in any of the pictures, it's because they were losing interest after about 30 seconds at an exhibit and I was left taking pictures without them.  Sigh.  Oh, and I forgot it was a Zoo Boo day, so almost everyone else was there in costume and getting candy.  Yet the kids didn't care, so I guess that was good.  We still don't have costumes anyway.  It's on the list.

The zoo is in an interesting transitional phase.  A new section just opened but the old main building is in the midst of getting torn down to be replaced by a whole new building that's much more welcoming, modern, and up to animal care standards.  I love zoos and cannot wait for that to be completed so we can get our orangutans back and even get gorillas!  But in the meantime we can be excited for our new additions: giraffes, red pandas, zebras, ostriches, and naked mole rats!

All of the animals from the main building have either been sent to other zoos or have been moved elsewhere around the zoo.  I love the poison dart frogs, and this one happened to want to cozy up to the glass for a picture!

The color is just so amazing.  The yellow ones were gorgeous, too.  So striking every time I see them.

The snow leopards and new red pandas have brand new, modern enclosures.  The snow leopard was pacing in one tiny section, but now has a hill and a pond and lots of toys.  So much better than the fenced in concrete area before.  

The red pandas are so stinkin' cute.  They were both resting, but at least this one was awake.  So fluffy!

And this one took a snooze in the hammock...

We laughed at the raccoons (did they just pull them out of someone's yard?), but then we heard the docent say that these two came from some show at Disney World.  Fancy!  They were snuggled up pretty cute, though.

Both of the polar bears we'd had for years had passed away over the last couple years, but recently a new bear arrived, Anoki, who was born at the zoo back in 1996.  She's very pretty, and it was nice to see a bear in the exhibit again!  Fingers crossed she gets a mate someday soon!

The lions were having a lazy morning, but how handsome is this guy while he sleeps?

The fall colors around the zoo were pretty, and it was nice to see the upper level of the observation bus back open, since it had been closed for a long time.

Note the lioness snoozing in a favorite nap spot on the front of the bus!

 The baboons are always interesting, and today was no exception.  One was playing with a shoe (apparently one of their favorite enrichment items), and a few seconds after I took this picture, this one stood up and jumped, reaching all the way to the top of the windows.  It was pretty nuts and didn't seem to have a purpose.

Next it was on to the new African Savanna section!  Bill the rhino has a lovely new bachelor pad!

Inside the building, there's inside viewing space for the rhinos, giraffes, zebras, and ostriches, along with some small spaces that I assume will someday house insects or reptiles.  There were a couple bird enclosures.  This buffalo weaver bird was pretty cool.

There were some ducks and other birds to the right, and the tree ahead has the small display cases that aren't yet filled.  The inside giraffe viewing is to the left.

 They had some cool fish, too, and I was particularly taken with this colorful one...

This picture doesn't do the shiny golden color justice on this one...

Outside was another large area for the giraffes, zebras, and ostriches.  The giraffes and zebras were all busy eating.

My favorite!  They're so pretty...those eyes!

That neck!

There's something cool about zebra butts, how all the stripes converge.

Such a big, beautiful space for them to roam together!  There's also a store over there.

 One of the cooler aspects of the new section is that it goes right into Seneca Park and you can see parts of the park that weren't visible before.  It actually makes for a much prettier walk, especially this time of year.

It was drizzling a bit by this point after being picture-perfect lovely (though cool) when we arrived.  I wandered back through the buildings since the animals had moved back inside.  By this point you could see the new naked mole rats moving around a bit.  They're almost impossible to get a picture of, but here's one.

They are incredibly ugly but I have a soft spot for them because our "mascot" at work is a naked mole rat!  See, the University did some naked mole rat-based research a few years back and there were some stuffed animal versions floating around.  During one of our office clean out "garage sales" (i.e., everything is free to whoever can use it), a couple of them were hanging out.  A co-worker just had to adopt one, and when she left our department, she left Harriet in our care.  She gets dressed up for holidays (currently sporting dorky glasses and a fake nose for Halloween, along with her tiara) and is a fun little conversation piece.   

Thanks to the rain, the giraffes had moved their eating inside.  Such a big, beautiful area.

I caught another view of Anoki on the walk toward the front, and Carter was convinced she was rubbing her butt on the rock.  I don't actually think she was close enough :)

We stopped in to get an underwater view of the very active sea lions.

Someone had pulled out their keys because the sea lions like shiny things.  This one was very interested!

By the time we walked out, the sun was back out and we grabbed a quick lunch/snack before heading out.  I wish the kids would have been more into it, but I'm glad we went.  

Super Sunday

It's not often we skip church.  Once in a while if we're all extremely tired, or someone's sick, but for the most part it never happens.  Our one odd exception tends to happen once in a while in October when we're running out of weekend days and we happen to get a Sunday with lovely weather.  Sometimes you just have to sacrifice one church day they'll probably forget in favor of family memories they'll talk about for years.

So, on Sunday morning, despite being tired from our cold tournament day, we headed out to Stokoe Farms for our annual visit.  It was supposed to be around 60 and partly cloudy, which sounded pretty good compared the 40s and rain that was in the extended forecast for future weekends.  Plus it was nice to know we could get it out of the way and not have to rely on weather or worry about things that might get scheduled in the meantime.  So, off we went!

As usual, we had a blast.  We started off with the hayride to get further into the property.  We figured we'd hit up things that get long lines as early as we could!

Of course, Jacob got sidetracked at the sports thing, which is always his favorite.  This year basketball was his focus!

Carter and I walked toward the slides, with a quick pit stop to see the peacocks...

I wish I could have gotten a picture of the female.  She's not as flashy but she was pretty!

...and feed the goats!

He pulled that can right over when Carter didn't crank it high enough!

Carter loved this random slide out in the soybean field.  That drop is apparently really dramatic as every kid had a reaction to it!  Carter did it over and over!

He then exhausted me by wanting to do the big slides over and over again.  We did the tube slide once, but then had to race on the racing slides probably a dozen times!  I wasn't cold anymore by the time we were in the midst of that!  I finally did let him do one round without me, so at least I caught this...



But then we were back at it, so here's a first-hand view!



After that we met back up with Craig and Jacob, and the boys ran off to do the slides together!

Not too often they want to do anything together!

The races were hotly contested!

After the boys slid for a while, I convinced Jacob to ride the Beeline with me!  It's my favorite thing there (and everyone else's, judging by the line), and I've been waiting for a kid to be ready.  Next year Carter will be, but this year Jacob got brave!  I had to try to capture it!

We checked out a few animals--no piglets this year, but I always love an intense moment with the emus...

We checked out the little goats and laughed as they tried to butt each other off the bridge...

We headed back around to the front and the boys climbed the hay bales.  This was the closest I could get to a brotherly love shot...

And I guess they're brothers, since this is what I got when I tried to take individual pics of each of them...

No alpacas this year, but the giant white camel was pretty cool...

Carter did a big slide while Jacob went to the jumping pillow.  Cool shot, I think...

We took a snack break, at which point the boys rediscovered the cow to "milk" (or to water, as Carter was more appropriately calling it).

Teamwork!

Ready for more fun, I convinced Carter to take one cheesy picture, because I'm not sure we've ever done this particular one before.

He and I rode the pedal go-karts and Jacob played some volleyball.  It was starting to get close to the time to leave, but we took a quick look at pumpkins on the way out.

Ahhh, Craig's phone camera being awesome again...

We figured we couldn't get through the line to pay in time, so we had to pass.  We were in a time crunch because it was time to get to Jacob's lacrosse practice, his last one before a little break.  I think the coach just wanted to get the kids together to go over what went well and what didn't the previous day, before their memories faded.  Since we were already south of town, we all went straight there.  Carter and I killed a little time getting lunch for the three of us (I brought a sandwich for Jacob).  By this time the weather was perfect.  I don't know why it wasn't like that the day before!  It was only around 60 degrees, but the sun was out and it was so pleasant.  Even without my coat I was warm!

I was worried about keeping Carter occupied the whole time, but his Wendy's Kid's Meal did the trick!

Captain Carter!

Look at all my jewels!

I took a little doze in the sun, and before we knew it, practice was over.  I wish I could say we had a blissful evening, but I botched dinner (I thought I had an ingredient and I didn't) and we ate late.  The next morning I realized that I never got to Carter's school folder and he had an optional project to do over the weekend.  Then we were running late so we missed the bus and I had to drop him off at school.  Suffice it to say the end of the weekend and the start of the week weren't as smooth as our Sunday fun, but I'm glad we had a good weekend since it seems the early fall weather has given way to the cooler stuff.  Boo.  But at least we got one of our most important fall activities checked off the list.  Now for Halloween costumes and pumpkins...one of these days...