Working Hard at School

The kids got their first semester report cards shortly after they started back at school in January. They all did great. I went to an awards assembly at the school where Caelan was recognized for being a class Spelling Bee winner as well as receiving Silver Honor Roll (I wasn't sure if she was going to pull that off because she had a little trouble in Science this semester, but she did it). Megan was honored with a Silver Attendance award (only missing 2 or 3 days of school) and she also got her class Roadrunner Award. One child in each class received the award for the entire semester. It was a given to a child who demonstrated leadership and hard work and who went out of their way to help other and make good choices. I was pretty impressed that Megan got that. She has surprised me in school - I wasn't sure how she would be because in many ways she is our strong willed, push-the-envelope kid, but she has really been great in school: quickly learning and performing really well on all tests, being very respectful and also being a good friends and leader in her class. Ben didn't get an award, but he got all A's and one B on his report card. He brought home his standardized testing scores and was way up there (90th percentile and above). He's a great student too.

Speaking of the Spelling Bee: Caelan got to go to the District Spelling Bee. It was held at the Moriarty High School Performing Arts center. I went with the little boys to watch. The boys were just being too busy and noisy to stay in there (mostly Austin), so I took them into the little foyer right outside the doors. That way I could open the doors and peek in every so often to see when it was Caelan's turn. That is just what I was doing one moment when I turned around and noticed Nathan right by the fire alarm (which ridiculously enough was exactly at his hand level). It was like slow motion - me saying, "NOOOO" just as I was running towards him, but I got there barely too late and the alarm went off. I went out to the front so I could try and find someone to tell. I noticed buildings and classes across the street evacuating. They didn't evacuate the Performing Arts Center because I told them is was just my little son who pulled the alarm, but the fire department had to come out to reset the alarm and the Spelling Bee had to stop until the alarm stopped. It was pretty awesome. Nathan cried the whole time: partly because it was so loud and partly because I think he realized he was the one who had caused it to happen. Needless to say I don't think that will happen again. Good times.