More May

 Here we have the only picture I got of the boys' 12th b-day party. They have been so easy on me with this 'friend party-thing' the last several years--they want to cut paths for 'Fox & Geese' into the grass, have Dad play dodge-ball trampoline games, have dessert (this yr a healthified version of red velvet cake w/ cream cheese frosting)/presents & this yr we did a (chicken) hot dog roast. We also did the traditional 'pick-what-you-want-for dinner' thing on another night (they wanted bbq chicken, pickled beets & potatoes--seriously). 

 Since I have very few pictures of Tony's family (whom we miss SO much & are terribly angry they are growing up without us back in good ol' Idaho) this prom picture is totally blog-worthy. This is the nephew that was my 5th grade student when I started e-mailing Tony. In fact, I credit quite a bit to this lad & his amazing mother because every time I wondered if Tony was really for real (he was in Korea & I didn't know him well before we e-mailed for 10 months before actually meeting in-person) & not some stalker-dude I would look at them & think, "they're too nice & normal for him to be a stalker-dude." The ironic thing is, of course, that Tony is far from normal (in the best way possible), but the best news is that he is not at all a stalker dude. Thanks Carson & Dina from the bottom of my heart for helping me stick it out :)

**it gets better…I just talked with Carson & his date is ANOTHER student I had in that same class!!! I thought she looked familiar :) she was such a sweetie then and apparently still is!

  Jaydon getting an award for having the 2nd highest AR points (for reading).

 Jyson being recognized for his Science Fair accomplishments

 Jyson, for being in the play

 Jaydon, honors for the year

Both boys' picture is still on the wall for making the rock wall championship earlier in the year. It was really wild for me to look at it because they have changed so much since then. Wow.

So, I post these academic awards assembly pictures every year, and will continue to because it's part of their history. The truth is that Tony & I despise them. Hear me out (or don't, that's okay too :) To us it's a time when all those kids who are not 'the best' at whatever it is that they're announcing to to feel 'I failed.' And those that are on the stand have the pressure of "I must be here every time! I must be #1, if not I have failed…even though I'm up here & 300 others are sitting." It's a lose-lose & I wince at the language they use & the faces of those children who don't go up--at all. I think it's partly because we have the two boys who compare (as much as I despise those awards, I still cross my fingers in hopes that one won't come home with an award but the other does). And the other part is the research of Alfred Adler and Positive Discipline and Alfie Kohn. Look it up some time. It'll rock your world.

Not often am I truly touched by art (I am not educated enough) but when I saw this during the Adlerian Conference I attended in a Chicago window I melted. Two boys, standing side-by-side, looking up. It spoke to me on so many levels I haven't even discovered them all yet! I want Jyson to recreate it for me.