A Day in the Life: Shining Star

 there are no words to describe how proud i am that our oldest has officially "moved up" from middle school to high school.  he has grown so much since he first started in 5th grade.  i remember being so worried about him; how was he going to find his way around? how would he remember his locker combo?  ...well, i had every reason to worry.  his grades dipped for the first time in his school career; his teachers said he was unorganized.   lol, yet, somehow he was able to pull it all together and end his first year in stellar fashion.  after that, he was back on track.  he made high honor roll, was inducted into National Junior
Honor Society and made Student of the Month more times than i can count.  then he got to 8th grade.  dun dun duuuunnn...

though he has continued performing to high standards, he came up against his first real academic challenge - Advanced Science - Living Environment.  it was one of two 9th grade Regents courses that he took this year.  all of a sudden, it became apparent that his natural talent for getting good grades wasn't enough to get him through.  he actually had  to*gasp* study!!  i'm happy to say that, though it was a struggle for him, Tau came out triumphant.  not only did he start developing study habits, he also passed the Regents!!  wooohooo!!

there are many reasons why i'm happy.  besides the obvious reasons, i am ecstatic that Tau has learned that, when faced with a challenge, you don't turn and run -you face it head on, step by step.  this is only the first life challenge that he has really had to deal with so far, but the way he handled it has me confident that everything that my hubby and i (and the village that raises him) have instilled in him has stuck.  i celebrate him and all those who have helped to get him to this point - my husband, his grandparents, aunts and uncles (adopted and blood-related), his god-parents and all the rest of our family.  we couldn't have done it without you.  we should all be proud of our shining star.

A Day in the Life: Proud Mama Bear

my 14 yr old in the middle (and his little brother who couldn't stand not being in the pic too, lmao and my middle son was the photographer)

today marked the beginning of my oldest son's graduation activities.  he is a few weeks from graduating from 8th grade.  it is totally mind-boggling that the little boy we had back in 1998 could be the same young man in the picture above.  if i hadn't watched it happen, i would never believe it.  as i watched him collect his graduation tassel for being a graduating National Junior Honor Society member, i couldn't help the wave of pride that washed over me.  those who know me (and my mate) know that getting to this point was no easy feat.  it is a major milestone for us.  it has required getting over hurdles and growing up quickly but here we are...  getting ready to watch our "little" boy head off to high school.  i can't help but be a proud mama bear...