The New School

Tucks football team had their first scrimmage this Saturday, they did very well. I was so proud of him!

Praying after the scrimmage, as they do after every practice.

Tuck reminds me so much of his big brother, Mitch. Same stance...

Tucks new school is not only academically excellent and just a happy place to be, but it is also very pretty. I love all of the palm trees, they line the street out in front of the school. The school is too big to put in one photo or even a few. This is only one side of the building.

The front entrance of the school, a fountain Oma would love!

A Happy Day

Tuck and I woke up early this morning and were able to squeeze in Starbucks before school. He giggled over his vanilla bean frap and bacon egg and cheese sandwich. The Coffee Shop is less than 2 minutes from his new school (one of the fabulous benefits of Calvary!). I felt right at home just because of it's proximity to the school. We talked and laughed and as I dropped him off he told me how wonderful his day would be, all because of a half hour, having coffee, with me.

It is always the little things.

It made me think. What would our life be like if I could simplify it? Eliminate some of the big responsibilities? We would have lots more time for things, like early morning chats over coffee. Those are the important things.

I need to make a list and a plan.

The first week...

Tucker and I are on the home stretch. This is the last day of school for the week. It has been a flurry of driving back and forth across town at least 3 times a day (darn those school books for jumping back in his desk when he is trying to go home). We have had football practices and homework and exhaustion on both our parts. I am very glad for the break.

We will still be at the school Saturday for football photos and Sunday for church, but maybe we can keep it to just one trip a day..... Maybe.

All said, I love the school. Tucker's teacher likes him and is very kind she does things like helping him with some multiplication problems he was unsure of and a thousand other things. She takes extra time with the students and really cares about them. He started testing her in the beginning of the week, flipping pencils and such, but I think we may have it nipped in the bud. We will see. When he was at football practice last night one of his coaches said "I heard about you in school, don't make us give you extra work at practice". It shocked Tuck that they knew all about it. He assured them that he had changed his behavior. I told him their eyes are everywhere. All in all it has been a pretty good week but I just need to get used to the busier schedule, and all of the driving. I do feel like I am living in my car right now.

Did I mention it is still in the 100's every day? You step outside and get hit by a blast of hot wet air, kind of like living in a sauna :).

Calvary Football

Tucker made the football team at his school. I am so glad! I love football and it has been such a big part of our lives.... My life. Before his first practice we went to the stadium and watched some of the high school guys practice on the field.

His school has wonderful fields for all sports. So we are back to the school for practice 3 nights a week and games on Saturdays. The miles on my car are adding up daily, the poor thing is getting worn out and needs some serious work. I just hope that it can hold on for a little while longer...

Loving School

Tucks school experiences have bee a struggle to say the least. The public schools down here are okay at best, but for Tuck the first 4 years of his educational goals have been a battle. He is bored in class, so he chats with his classmates, he gets in trouble, I go to the school for a chat with the counselor, teacher etc. Over and over and over. The fight to put him in more challenging classes is a battle I finally surrendered. Only after a hour chat with the principal who told me the problem was not that he needed more challenging classes, but he was ADD and just needed medication (Tuck may be a smart alec sometimes but is not ADD).

This ended his public education. I took him out of school and home schooled him for the last 2 months of the school year. That was a great experience but difficult when you are single and work full time +. Tuck was lonely, so this year we started the private school. The last 2 weeks have been a flurry of testing, shopping, registering, and burning through a check book. The school is very academically challenging and has a top ranked football program. Both of these are super important to us!

I picked Tucker up on Friday from his first 2 days of school. He told me all about his day, how they play mental math games, and read everything (including the Bible) in class, and have PE every day (not just the once a week at public school) and language and music and Spanish and art and history. He is busy all day long and is not the first in class to get his work done anymore. The work is more challenging for him. He told me his behavior is lots better because everyone is so well behaved and quiet in class that if he talked, he would be the only one. So he behaves. Brilliant!

I asked him how he liked his new school.

He loves it..... And he is not bored....

Gardens

Well my late planted garden has produced 2 huge zucchini and banana peppers, I consider that success! If even half of the tomato plants produce I will be freezing tomato's until Christmas.

Tucker is officially back in school. He came to me a couple of weeks ago and said he would like to go to school. He does not think he is disciplined enough for home schooling but he didn't want to go back to public school, somewhere else.

I found a wonderful private school, he tested for it and made it in with flying colors. A couple of heart wrenching huge checks and the monthly obligation of what amounts to a second mortgage and he will be starting tomorrow. He has great teachers (we met them at orientation yesterday) and the school has music, art, and Spanish for 5th grade. These things do not exist in the public schools down here, unfortunately. This school is southern baptist so he will be getting a dose of religion as well. They have a top notch athletic program and have one of the top football teams in the area. Tuck is ready to go.

You can check out the school here, but the website does not come close to doing it justice.

www.calvaryacademyshreveport.org/