My son, the want-to-be-smurf

Another AFS year is winding down.  In addition to hosting Falco this year, I was the liaison for J. I met with him once a month or talked to him on the phone.  He has been a challenge, but it turned out OK.  He goes home on 26Jun.

 

Our garden is coming along.  We have potatoes, tomatoes, squash and zucchinis coming up right now. the Peas drown, the cucumbers are not liking the amount of water that stays in their pot (I need to drill some more holes). This weekend, a friend gave us 12 pepper plants.  I need to get them planted this week.

Rocket wants blue hair.  We have tried this coloring.  it is like glue in your hair.  He did not like it all and moved on to semi-permanent hair coloring.  that did not work.  We have done some more research and we are going to have bleach his hair and then put the coloring on.  Since we are on vacation next week, we will be doing this in July.  So much work to make him happy.

He had his physical today.  He is 5 feet 2 inches tall- that is 62 inches or 157.48 centimeters tall.  He is 145 pounds (65.77 Kilograms).  Basically, he is at 97% on the growth charts- meaning he is tall and heavy.  I am working on the weight.   He also had to get 3 shots today.  I expect he will be napping later today and he will be grumpy.  One of the shots requires a follow up shot in 6 months, so we will be back at the doctor's on 27Dec for the follow up.

Next week, we are off camping with the boy scouts.  Yep- I am camping too.  No internet or cell phone coverage- YEA, work can't find me!!!!  We are going here

http://www.sleepingbeardunes.com/

It is up in Michigan- about 6-8 hours from here.  The boys and leaders are also going to spend 2 days on this island

https://www.nps.gov/slbe/planyourvisit/northmanitouisland.htm

While the kids and leaders are there, I am cabin camping with E and one of her daughters.  I think this is going to be a great time for all of us- the entire week.  I am looking forward to sitting on the beach, staring at the water and doing NOTHING related to work or housework.  Note, the boys do all the cooking. 

Let the count down begin. Pictures will be posted some time after we get back.

Love and hugs,

Deb

Basketball update

All 3 of the boys lost their tournament game.  It happens.  Interestingly enough- all the moms were happy about this.  The bleachers in the gym were not comfortable at all.  We were all ready to be done.


Rocket is in Basketball skills camp through tomorrow, then we have 2 weeks off before Boy Scout camp in Michigan, then 1 week off before football camp (yes, I am letting him learn American football), and then 2 weeks off before junior band camp.  that will be the last camp for the summer. He will then have 3 weeks until school starts.  I think it is a good balance between camps and no camps.  Of course, he thinks he will be laying around the house doing nothing on the no camp weeks.  HEHEHEHE- that is so not happening. 

One picture of the wild hair after swimming Monday night.  He looks so tired!

Love and hugs,

Deb

not much happening here or I am falling down on the picture taking job

the first week of summer vacation has come to an end.  We are starting the second week and Rocket has hit the ground running.

Last week, he did basketball shooting camp and basketball league.  He and 2 of his friends wanted to be on the same team for basketball, but they were placed on different teams.  This picture is from Friday, when Rocket's team played the blue team.  The red team played before the green and blue team, so the boys hung out as they could around the games.  Rocket's team has a 3-1 record, the red team has 3-1 record and the blue team has 1-3 record.  The boys have one game today and then go into 2 days of championships. 

Interesting note on the boys, Red and Blue are both older than Rocket by almost a year.  Notice that Rocket is the tallest.  Rocket will 12 in August and I can really see the teenager he is becoming.  And, I can see the teenager in his behavior.  We had a hard week of behavior issues last week.  I know that it is related to the change from school to summer and the lingering affects of the adoption process.  This is always a hard time of the year.  Last Friday and Saturday, he told me that he did not want to be part of this family any more and he did not love anyone.  I was exhausted and I did not handle it well at all.  we are both in a better place as of Sunday.  My one linger concern is that he will not tell me what is bothering him the most.  Until he can get to the point of actually telling me what he is feeling or what is the biggest issue, he just explodes.  Right now, due to his behavior on Saturday, he has lost access to his computer and his IPad.  he is not happy with me at all.

Saturday morning, before the storm of emotions hit, we went to the symphony.  We loved it.  It was superhero themed. One of the best performances we have seen at the symphony.  They had the children's theater of Cincinnati performing a play in the front while the symphony played.  The kids did great, the music was great.  it was so engaging. 

After this, we went home and had to cut the grass.  Rocket was supposed to cut the front on Friday, but he wanted to wait until Saturday. We got home, we changed clothes, and then we headed out.  I cut the back grass while he does the front.  I have 2/3 more to cut than he does, and I have more obstacles, and the front is all flat.  Usually it takes me 30 minutes to cut the back, while the front takes at most 15 minutes.  I finished the back and then went out front to help Rocket finish the front.  In the 30 minutes I had been in the back, he had done 4 rows in the front- he was less than 1/4 of the way done.  I finished it all, made him sweep up grass on the sidewalk and driveway.  He had no clue why I was mad- at least that is what he said.  It was a long afternoon.  this is when he decided he wanted out of this family.  He even went so far as to take one of our family pictures out of the frame (in his room) and put the picture on my bed. 

We had a discussion about being in a family and how our family is a team. if one person does not do their part, then the other person has to do it all.  Because of not doing his part, he lost privileges of having the I Pad and computer. 

He was much more helpful on Sunday, so I think he just needed to get it out of his system.  He also took the picture back and put it back in the frame in his room.

If this is what the teenage years are going to be like, it is going to be a long struggle. I am hopeful things don't go like this all the time, perhaps it will only be in June when the change in schedule and anniversary comes around that things will go south for a few days.  I can hope and pray.

Me and the boy

One of the basketball games.  I think this is Wednesday.  Rocket is the shooter. 

Rocket is basketball skills camp this week during the morning, so no pictures from this week's camp.  the weather has also turned hot and humid, so I don't think he will be going outside to play after camp.  I am going to try to get him to the pool for some swimming this week just to help cool down after camp and to help wear him out some more.

Love and hugs,

Deb

end of another school year- how did that happen

Well, another school year has ended.  Rocket made it through, barely.  He has a lot of work to do this summer to stay on track and be ready for next year.  School ended on 02Jun, but before we get there, let's look at what else we have been working on.

I started painting the hallway.  the one wall comes out into the living room and this is the wall the piano is on.  this is after one coat of paint.  It is amazing to me that blue is so much brighter than the yellow.  Wait till you see the finish walls later in this post.

I also picked up this blanket ladder that a friend made for me. 

Rocket's quilt looks really good on it.  I have a plan for the ladder, just have to implement it.

Rocket is working on one of his merit badges for boy scouts, so we have tadpoles living on the back porch.  They will eventually be grey tree frogs.  He has to care for them for 30 days.  I actually like looking at them.  there are some that will be frogs soon.

The little black things along the water line are the tadpoles.

this is the yearly photo with Me-Me.  Rocket is so much the young man now, I don't see anything of the little toddler I brought home 10 years ago. How is even possible that it is 10 years?

Last day of school donuts-  a treat after school, after waiting for me to write PTO checks for an hour and missing play time with friends at the all school picnic.

Later that evening, it was pool party with friends and pizza.

Silly boy

Having a good time with friends in the water.  I think they were in the water 3 of 4 hours of the pool party. 

Saturday, we finished up painting the hallway

This is the finished product- no lights on at the end, and it is still so much more brighter to me, and it looks larger to me as I walk down the hallway.  The color is called Tahitian breeze, it is supposed to be a color of the ocean.  I am liking my tropical colored house

Finally, Sunday night, one sleeping Rocket.  He is HUGE compared to how little he was 10 years ago.  I am not sure I am ready for the teen he is becoming.  But, it is another adventure, so we are off and running.

Rocket has a number of summer sports camps this year.  I am hoping to get pictures over the next few weeks to show you.

Love and hugs,

Deb