October 2023

October was a busy month of the usual fall routines and extracurricular activities. All of the kids are doing great in school. Amelia and Jack are adjusting nicely to the next level of school. Amelia's isn't too drastic only being in sixth grade, but she is enjoying a little more freedom. One of her friend's gramma works at the school so she and her friends get special permission to eat lunch in her room a couple times a week. Jack is doing well in high school. There is a bigger transition there, but he is handling it. This trimester is almost over so it will be his first time dealing with "finals" but I am sure he will do well. He is growing socially and academically. 

Amelia had two band concerts this month. The first one was zero-hour jazz band, and the other was regular sixth grade band. She says she enjoys the jazz band more because there is more concentration and teamwork within the band. The sixth-grade band still has a bunch of knuckleheads that goof off. The band teacher has assured the band that some of them will not be continuing.

Amelia's FCCLA club had there Fall Conference. Amelia had to dress professionally, her first experience, in black dress pants, a nice blouse and nice dress shoes. She added her "Amelia flare" with two-inch hoop earrings. The club sat through some seminars on what FCCLA is, the different projects it does, and what benefits it could have for the members. Amelia said the best part of the day was missing school and eating pizza. FCCLA also ran a fall social (a dance) to raise money. She said she really enjoyed it. She said her job was to bring supplies to different games/stations. She said she took her job seriously and was running all around. Her group within FCCLA is in the planning stage of creating a family game night; still don't have a lot of details but she is creating a PowerPoint. 

Amelia had a cat-sitting job for about 5 days. A neighbor was worried her kitten (6 months old) would get lonely while she and her husband were away on vacation. She paid Amelia to go hangout with the cat for an hour or so a day. The cat was real nice. Amelia enjoyed the job; it was very easy. Jack was super jealous. 

The boys went hunting with Uppa. This year they went to the Leavenworth area. They always have the best time hunting and spending time with Uppa. This year Jacob got a large doe mule deer. Jack's tag was for a spike but they didn't even see anything, so no deer for him this year. The weather was decent expect for a day or so of rain. It was a lot of driving this year so that was a new experience for them.  

Later in the month Jacob and Uppa went elk hunting up in the Naches area. Jack didn't go because he wasn't feeling well. Anyway, Jacob and Uppa stayed at Mike's house, so the lodging arrangements were very nice. Especially since in the mornings it was down to 18 degrees. Jacob had no luck getting an elk; didn't even shot at one. This hunting trip was a lot of hiking. Uppa sent some beautiful pictures of the fall vistas. 

For Halloween Amelia volunteered at my school's Trunk or Treat with Moana on the 30th. We had a space themed trunk. This was her first year not trick or treating. She was super whiney about it. It doesn't help that all her friends still go but I don't care, trick or treating is for elementary school kids. She still got plenty of candy.

Jack volunteered the Presbyterian's Trunk or Treat on the 31st. He helped serve hot dogs and hot chocolate with the other Scouts. Jacob was just coming from elk hunting so he didn't help. He did somehow convince me to take him and Jack to a haunted house with a group of friends. They went through some scary haunted house and then to McDonalds for French fries. Hanging out with friends is an important part of their lives right now so I try to support positive constructive experiences. 

September 2023

 At the beginning of September, the boys the month off by volunteering at the Tumbleweed Festival here in town. The Tumbleweed Festival is an acoustic music festival that has music like folk, blues, bluegrass, etc. The boys helped in the kitchen. Jack was appalled at the cleanliness of the kitchen. Along with the handling of the food. lol His food handler permit has opened his eyes on how to properly handle food. 

The second week in September Jack signed up for a tennis tournament. It was a new experience for him so were so super proud that he was willing to put himself out there. He won his first match but lost the second. He felt good about his performance and was happy he participated in the tournament. I am so proud that he was also showed great sportsmanship during the entire thing.

This month at Court of Honor Jack ranked up to First Class and got lots of merit badges. He is doing well in High School. He is amazed that students are allowed so much freedom in High School. He has commented several times on how he just walks around with no adult asking him what he is doing. lol I reassure him that is because in High School students are trusted to do what they are supposed to do. 

Amelia and Dad had their special weekend of just the two of them to be together. They camped at the same place as last year but this year they went to the amusement park Silverwood. Amelia overcame her fear of roller coasters and went on all of them.

Amelia has started several new activities at school. The first is she has joined Zero-Hour jazz band. She goes early to school to participate. The other is Family, Career and Community Leaders of America, or FCCLA. That is an after-school group that meets once or twice a week. The mission of the group is to promote personal growth, professional preparation opportunities, and leadership skills. The group does community services and project centered presentations. Amelia is joining with another two girls to create a presentation on family togetherness. Not 100% sure what that entails but I am sure she will do great!

Jacob ranked up to Star Scout this Court of Honor. He let Dad take his car on the Scouting campout weekend to Oregon this month. Unfortunately, the alternator went out on the car just outside of Arrlington Oregon near mile marker 143 on the way home. That is about an hour and half away from Pasco. One good thing is all the Scouts were able to make it home, no problem. However, Dad and Monica, a Boy Scout Council member, stayed with the car. I drove down to pick them up. Moncia used one of her free AAA car tows to get it back to our house. So, it all worked out fine it just took a lot of time to get it done. Jacob has since replaced the alternator in his car, so it is running great now. He also replaced another part that affected the climate control feature of the car. Jacob loves to be able to fix the car himself. He is doing a good job of it too!

We are having his car serviced on Tuesday. When we started driving it longer distances we noticed it needed an alignment. His car will eventually need new brakes but he and Dad plan on doing those themselves. So far we have paid for the repairs. He totally expects to cover the cost but is very appreciative of the financial help we are providing him.

Now that September is over, we are all in the groove of a fall/school schedule. All the kids are doing wonderful in school. The boys enjoy going to the Friday night football game. Amelia has many friends she talks with or hangs out with regularly. We can't wait to see what adventures October will bring!

August 6

 

August

 

Above is the first day of school pictures for the kids. Jacob as a sophomore, Amelia as a 6th grader, and Jack as a freshman. 

In August I believe the kids' favorite time of the month is when I am gone working in my classroom or at the school because that means ALL day long, they play screens. They can be total screen zombies without any interruptions. That is the last two and half weeks of the month.

In the beginning of the month Burton came over for a week. We always love Burton coming over. We all went bowling one day, to the trampoline park, swimming and general hangout time at the house. On a Saturday we drove out to Dayton to watch a meteor shower. Jack had the idea of calling his hunting buddy, Kelly, to ask if we could park on his property to watch it. It was an excellent idea because it was so dark. As soon as we turned the car light's off the Milky Way just came popping out of the sky with such brilliance. The meteor shower was pretty consistent until about 2:00 am so it was about that time we packed up to go home. 

One thing the kids did in August was be a part of the Richland Police Department's active shooter training. They went to our church to run through two different scenarios as bystanders. Our friend is a Lieutenant Detective for the RPD, he said the training was successful and important to the department. He also said it if very helpful to have bystanders as a part of the training. Jacob, Jack and Amelia said they would do it again. They got a breakfast burrito and doughnut as a thank you for helping. The kids also said they liked hearing how officers planned to stop an active shooter and the debrief that happened after each scenario. 

Jacob was slotted to participate in the Order of the Arrow weekend in Scouts in August. Order of the Arrow is a fraternity within Boy Scouts. The weekend includes service projects, a vow of silence for 24 hours, a night alone in the woods and a ceremony of inductions. Jacob made it through the night alone but that was it. He became very nausea and dizzy sometime in the early morning. I was called the next morning to come get him. Now, if you back up three days, on Wednesday, Jacob went swimming with his friend. During that time, he had dove in the water too deep and fast and ruptured his right ear drum. On Saturday it was becoming infected. By the time we got home he was starting to have a mild fever. I immediately took him to Urgent Care for ear drops. Jacob was in bed from Saturday to Wednesday with vertigo. He is feeling better now but still needs to keep his ear dry and no air Pod in his ear for a while.  Jacob will have to redo the Order of the Arrow weekend in the future. Jack has let him know he could go with him. ;) 

Jacob's First Car

Victoria BC - August

For a little family vacation this year we went to Victoria BC for a couple of days. It was the kids' first time going to Canada and Dan's first time in Victoria. We had a wonderful time doing all things Victoria! We went to Miniature World, the museum, went whale watching, ate delicious food and strolled the shops. The weather was absolutely perfect at a sunny 75 degrees with a light breeze coming off the harbor. Everyone agreed the food was the best part of the trip. We ate everything from fresh fish and chips on the docks to brunch on homemade biscuits to high tea foods like crustless sandwiches and mini macrons. It was a fun fast three days of Fisk Family Fun!

 

July

So, I have lost my habit of writing in the blog during the month and created one of writing all of the past month's adventures in one swoop. Instead of always feeling bad about this I decided to embrace what is working for me right now and write an end of the month summary of what we have been doing. This will fit my timeframe and help with Gramma's letters. So here is the summary for July and August, since I missed both of those months, since they are always super busy.

Amelia was busy hanging out with friends the month of July. She regularly had a gal pal over for the day or was over at someone's house. I am glad she is able to have so many nice friends. Really, she is constantly on the phone with one of them now. Usually over Facetime, which is a very cool invention for the preteen girl! She did volunteer at two different Vacation Bible Schools. The first one was a weekend sleepover for Hillspring Church. She was excited to be in a leadership role for the weekend, and especially since she was going alone to do it. She came home exhausted with many stories to tell about the good and sassy kids. The other VBS she volunteered at was at the Presbyterian Church. It was the same theme, so she knew all the games and Bible stories being told. That VBS was in the evenings during the week. Much to her surprise the one sassy girl from the Hillspring VBS was at the Presbyterian's VBS AND in her group! She learned a great lesson in patience those couple of days. 

For July Jack was super busy with Scouts and tennis. The boys went to Boy Scout camp in Idaho this summer. Jack had a great time at camp. He was part of the best/funniest camp skit. It had to do with birds and eggs, not really sure the details but Jack wore his pigeon mask and another boy had on a blowup chicken costume. I am assured, even by the adults, that the whole camp was rolling with laughter. Jack also participated in tennis for two weeks in July. His group this year in tennis not only included a lot of tennis but 30 minutes of athletic training. He did well and took the opportunity to improve his court movement and serving skills. He too helped at the Vacation Bible School at the Presbyterian church. He had fun because several of the Scouts helped so he had friends to hang out with at the same time as volunteering.

Jacob started July off with a fly-fishing trip to Montana with Uppa. Uppa's friend has a house and boat that his friend invited him to. Jacob was lucky enough to be invited too. Jacob caught the most fish but Uppa caught the biggest. Jacob said he really enjoyed himself and of course now needs a fly-fishing pole. Scout camp this year was not Jacob's favorite. He still had an ok time, but it just wasn't as fun as last year's, he said. I told him at least he didn't get pinkeye like last year. Jacob helped with the VBS at the Presbyterian church also. Really, he is the reason they all volunteered in the first place because Jacob needed 6 hours of service hours to rank up to First Class in Scout. He got his hours and is now First Class. He has to be First Class for four months before he can rank up again, which he will do as soon as the four months are up. When Jacob first started Scouts he wasn't really interested in ranking up or Eagle Scout. Now he is two ranks and three years away from finishing Scouts, so he says he might as well get Eagle since it is so doable. It is doable but the casual way he says this is ironic to me because ranking up to Eagle takes a lot of time, hard work and dedication. Jacob just naturally has all of those characteristics; he just doesn't see those as being anything unusual or something someone may have to create a habit around. 

One major milestone for Jacob this last month, which is directly related to Jacob's characteristics of hard work and dedication, was the purchase of his first car! Jacob set his sights on buying a car two years ago at the age of 13. He has spent the last two years umpiring, doing odd jobs and saving like crazy for his first car. He diligently looked on Facebook marketplace and Truck and Auto Auction for different cars he could purchase. He ended up deciding to bid on a 2008 Honda Accord from the Auto Auction. He bought it at the very top of his bidding limit, but he got it. The night he purchased the car he was in the throes of buyer's remorse, wondering if it was the right decision. :) And of course, it was a good decision! It is a very nice car for his first car. Now to clarify, we had said we would match the amount of money Jacob put up, so it was a 50-50 purchase. We could not be prouder of how hard Jacob worked and his financial savvy it takes to save up for this kind of purchase. 

Amelia

Amelia participated in the summer band camp through the school this summer. That means she went to band camp each morning for two weeks and ended the whole camp by performing in the Grand Old 4th of July parade in Pasco. The school district bused, fed the kids breakfast and lunch, and provided instruments the entire time. Amelia really enjoyed herself and even asked if she could move her Camp Ghormley time to July so she could go to band camp the entire time. (We couldn't change it but she only missed 4 days.) 

Now the parade took her by surprise. She came home the first day saying, "Did you know the parade is 2 miles long?" I told her I did, but I didn't want that to discourage her from trying. :) 

Because Amelia plays percussion we weren't sure what instrument she was going to be given. She started with cymbals but since she was gone four days and she was worried about carrying the cymbals for 2 miles she switched to maracas. She did a great job in the parade, but it was long, hot and exhausting. It ended up being 2.7 miles. Not sure if she will be in a parade again but it was a good experience for her. 

Amelia

Amelia went to Camp Ghormley again this year.  This year her friend Miran went too. She had a great time doing all the usual fun camp activities. I think I would have more to share about her camp experience, but Dad picked her up this year so she told him all about it on the way home. By the time she got home she was tired of talking about it. lol 

Tri Tech

This summer the boys both did Tri Tech, the local trade focused high school. Jacob did auto systems and Jack participated in the culinary program. Jacob did a good job in his. The auto systems class was a basic introductory course to fixing cars. Jacob has a little experience in that, so he didn't have as much learning as he did in welding last year. But he did a good job taking in new information. His instructor highly encouraged him to come back his junior year to take the auto systems class during the school year, which offers more learning than the two-week course. And for Jacob to consider the diesel engines course, which is offered by invitation only after the auto systems class.

Jack did a great job in the culinary program. He was the youngest person in the class, being 13 at the beginning but he did an awesome job. He brought him a lot of what he cooked to share with us. Towards the end of the course the head chef asked Jack to run a culinary station as a student-instructor since one of the student-instructors had to leave early. I was so proud to hear that Jack was excelling so well in the course that the head chef asked him to do that. He also obtained his state food handlers permit. Jack wants to use the food handlers permit to volunteer at the church's drink cart on Sundays and Wednesdays, which we think is a great idea! 

Jack

 Another day to recognize Jack this month is his birthday! He turned a big 14! We took him and some friends for pizza and video games at Shakey's. He had  great time spending way too much money on video games. We are so proud of Jack. He is really coming into his own responsible, kind, respectful young man. He loves to play video games, camp with the Scouts, his dog Rocky, food and going to Youth Group. I am so excited to see what his life will become as he enters high school and beyond! 

Jack

 Jack got to go on a school field trip to the Museum of Pop Culture and some zoo in Seattle. He got to go because he was in advanced wood shop. The band at the school go at the end of the year and so does the advance woodshop. This is an annual trip, but it is the first since COVID. Jack had a great time. He had plenty of pictures and stories to share when he returned. 

Jack built two sheds this year in advance woodshop. The second time he joined Mr. Matson told him not to come until all the other students had done their safety test, blueprints and model shed. Once the class actually started building Jack came to help. He quickly realized he had more experience than the other kids and become a leader right away. His experience in advanced woodshop even made him stand out in regular woodshop because kids would ask him questions since they thought Mr. Matson was too scary. As much as Jack enjoyed building a shed, he says he does not want to be carpenter when he gets older. He wants an inside job. 

Jack

 Jack is officially a high schooler now! His school held a short celebration ceremony for his eighth-grade class. We are so proud of how much personal growth Jack has made during his middle school years. He started online (6th grade), then went thru several different in-person schedule changes (7th grade), and finally a year with no restrictions (8th grade). I believe he found his stride this year, becoming more confident in himself. I pray he continues to let his true-self lead him and not get distracted by things that don't matter. 

Amelia

 Happy 12th Birthday, Amelia! 

Amelia had another amazing year and birthday. She wrapped up elementary school, played sports, broke her first bone and has continued to develop into an outstanding young lady.

For her party this year we rented another inflatable with a water slide. She loved it! Plus she had eight friends over, with four of them spending the night. It was a nonstop party for about 18 hours. :)

Jacob

 Jacob torn his meniscus in May. (insert big frowning face) He was playing handball at Scouts when it turned into tackling handball. A fellow Scout took Jacob out at the knees. So we went back to Dr. Perry to have his knee looked at since it was the knee that he had his ACL repair on. We didn't get an MRI but both Dr. Perry and I, thought best for him to limit his activity level to see if it would heal on his own. Jacob got a 4-week excuse note for his PE class and couldn't go on the Boy Scout backpacking trip. It has since healed on its own so we are very thankful for that. 

Jack

 Jack wrapped another great season of tennis in May. He did a great job playing and being a good sportsman. On the day the high school coaches came to talk with the 8th graders at MAC the tennis coach sought Jack out. He wanted to make sure that Jack planned on playing tennis in high school and gave him some dates for him to practice with the high school team. We are so proud of Jack. Tennis is just another avenue for Jack to practice daily habits of excellences, which he is doing very well at. 

Jacob

 Jacob got to go on two field trips in May. His first trip was to a Seattle Mariners game with his marketing class. The class was supposed to get to the field early enough to hear a presentation on business and marketing, but the bus drove so slow they were almost an hour late. Jacob said they showed up half way thru the presentation and had to sit so far back they were behind the speakers so he couldn't hear anything the presenter was saying. He didn't mind that too much because he enjoyed the game. It was his first time going to a Mariners game. He said he liked it. On the way home the bus to equally as long, that he did not like. It was a long day.

However long the day was, he signed up to go back to Seattle for another field trip the following week. This one was a tour of the University of Washington campus and a zoo, I don't remember which one. He said that the bus on this one didn't drive as slow, so it wasn't as bad. I asked him about the tour of the campus, but he said he didn't remember what was said. He did like going to the zoo with all his friends though. 

I am glad he is able to participate in different activities at school. It gives him the opportunity to see new things. 

Amelia

 Amelia is playing softball again this year. She is doing great. Some of the girls from last year's team is on this year's team. She fields the ball just fine and hits the ball each time she is up, so that is good.  I think Amelia would enjoy softball more if there were snacks, but it is good for her to be part of a team. 

Easter

Easter was a joyous event this year because Umma and Uppa were over. Since Amelia is in fifth grade this year this is her last year getting an Easter basket and getting an Easter egg hunt. She ended it with a bang! Amelia participated in the neighborhood egg hunt and found the golden egg! Which let her choose from several baskets of toys. She didn't really need anything, but it was fun to see her find the golden egg. In her Easter basket at home the Easter Bunny brought her a bunch of spa products and a fancy tea drinks she likes. 

Amelia and Jack dyed Easter Eggs with Umma. Those didn't get hid, but they got eaten the next day, which is better. 

Amelia

Since the boys are away one weekend a month doing Scouting stuff, I try hard to do something fun with Amelia during those weekends. This last weekend we went on a "secret adventure." Well, that is what I called it to make it seem more fun. And we included Moana in it. Anyways, we started the adventure by going to Walmart to buy a whole bunch of junk food I would never normally let them get. Then we drove to Prosser to use the gift card Amelia won at the RMEF dinner. That wasn't' much of a surprise since they knew we were going to do that. After that though, we drove down to a local hotel with a very nice pool that I rented a room at for the night. That was the surprise and they both loved it! We swam in the pool until midnight and stayed up to 1:00 eating junk food and watching TV. In the morning we had breakfast at the hotel, which was good, and then the girls went swimming again until it was time to check out. We all agreed we needed to do more secret adventures! 

Jack

 Jack ranked up in Boy Scouts to Second Class this last court of honor. He was proud, we were proud, it was an all skate on being proud. Best of all, Dan has been right there with him throughout it all. Jack chose Dan to pin for Second Class pin, usually it's the mother that gets the pin, but I didn't mind at all.  Both boys and Dan are creating so many special
moments that they will take with them as they get older. 

Jacob

Jacob has started the lawn care for our neighbor, Ms. Mary. He is going to cut her grass for her once a week. He is also picking up work replacing neighbor's sprinklers if they need. He is doing all that along with umpiring and mowing our grass. It is his season to make money, which he is socking away for a car. 

Jacob

To get Jacob more experience driving he got to drive us to Packwood where we would meet Umma and Uppa for spring break. He got lots of experience driving since he drove us through sun, rain and hail on the way! And when I say rain, I mean rain like pour down spring shower! He did good once he figured out the window wipers. The hail was a little scary because we came around a corner on the freeway to find the road was completely covered with hail. He quickly got us out of cruise control and slowed down. He said he was a little nervous about that but he did just fine. Overall, he did great; freeway driving is pretty easy. He said he would rather drive than ride but his butt got tired of sitting. :)

Spring Break

For spring break this year the kids spent most of the week over at Umma and Uppa's house.

The first couple of days they spent splitting and stacking wood. And from what I hear, they did a good job of that. Burton and Dane came over for a couple of days so that was fun for them. I don't know much about what they did but I do know that they all enjoyed it very much. 

Spring break didn't seem to end since Umma and Uppa drove over with their 5th wheel to stay for almost a week. They stayed for the RMEF dinner, plus they wanted to watch several of Jack's tennis matches. They also brought their electric bikes, which the kids loved since they love to ride them. So lucky for us it was like a two week spring break!

RMEF

As a grand finale to the kids' spring break, we all went to the Rocky Mt. Elk Foundation dinner. When I say we, I mean the whole family, plus Umma and Uppa. This is the second year we have went and it was just as fun as last year. The kids may say it is better because it seemed like everyone got something cool. Jack got a nice pair of binoculars. Amelia got a gift card to a restaurant and first aid kit. Jacob was the most excited because he won a semi-automatic .22 and a bunch of swag to go with it. 

The boys were even more impressed with Dad and Uppa bidding in the live auction and winning! Jack so badly wanted to put up his paddle to bid. I told him he couldn't since he didn't have the money to back up his bid. Jacob commented that he thought the live auction was the best because of all the high rollers bidding. He said he wanted to be able to that someday. Goals!

School Spring 2023

We had school conferences for Amelia and Jack. This will be Jack's last school conference since they don't have them in high school. I wish they did have some way to communicate face to face with high school teachers but oh well. 

Jacob didn't have a conference, but he is doing extremely well in high school so far. He is getting all of his assignments completed and he says he understands what he is learning. When Jacob was in middle school, he was in the advanced placement classes but in high school, he isn't. He is now totally aware that not everyone is "school/book" smart and is kinda shocked on how some kids just "don't get it." When Jack complains that getting on honor roll is not that hard or big of deal because "everyone in his class" is on it (Jack is in advance placement classes) Jacob now tells Jack that getting a 3.95 or 4.0 is harder than it seems. I am just glad each boy has created a habit of giving their best on assignments and at school. I tell them they are developing daily habits of excellence that they can take with them throughout their lives. - "Oh mom, with an eye roll!"

Jack, as said above, is killing it at school. All of his teachers say he is doing excellent and raising to the academic challenges put in front of him. He is personable and they enjoy having him in class. They all comment that they enjoy talking with him and he seems genuinely interested in them outside of class. I don't think a lot of middle school students actually talk with their teachers like human beings. 

His PE teacher, Mrs. Gatson was especially complimentary about Jack's conversation skills. During conferences I dropped in to meet her face-to-face and personally thank her for looking out for Jack's best interests. The week before she had Jack call me on the phone to make sure he was cleared to participate in the PE class after being sidelined by his MCL injury. Jack is such a marvelous student in PE she thought he was just saying that he was cleared so he could participate. I wanted to make sure she knew I appreciated the way she was looking out for my son. She could have easily just let him participate but she cared enough about Jack to have him call me. We are so blessed to have such amazing teachers for Jack this year. 

Amelia is doing great in school. This is her last conference in elementary school, wow!! She decided to join me this conference, so it was nice for her to hear all the nice things her teacher had to say about her. Amelia is doing excellent in all subject areas at school. Because her academic areas are no problem for her, she has started participating in leadership at school. During her lunch recesses she collects the recycle for the building and tutors in a first-grade classroom. She enjoys the freedom leadership has let her have by moving throughout the building. 

Jack

Jack has started tennis for the year. He was out the first week and half of practices due to his MCL tear but he did go to the practices. He went to the practices because they counted towards his eligibility to play once he was medically cleared. Lucky for him he was cleared to play about 4 days before the first match and he was automatically placed as varsity one player, meaning he is the best 8th grade boy on the tennis team. He is very proud of himself (so are we) and gets a lot of confidence from playing tennis. His first match he won 6-0. The next match he did not win but he played very well.  The other player was good too, so it made Jack play better as than he ever has. Really Jack needs more players like that to play against so he can improve but that will come. 

The other great thing about tennis is the coaches. There are two men, Coach C. and Coach D., who coached Jack last year in tennis and were his cross-country coaches this year. Jack has built a good relationship with them. I like the way they encourage Jack, and the way Jack listens to them. I can tell Jack feels cared about by these two men because he does not dismiss what they say. I am proud when Jack looks either of them in the eyes, gives them a big smile and thank you as he shakes their hands as we leave matches. My mother's heart appreciates the people who take the time to "see" my son.   

Jacob

 Jacob has officially passed his drivers test for the state of Washington. He said he was nervous about the drive but was confident he would pass. And he did with a 91! He even paid the fee for the drivers test himself, with his debt card. 

Now when he is 16 we will just got pay the fee and get him a picture license. What a crazy thing for him to be driving, time does fly. 

Jack

 Jack has officially shaved! He was getting the creepy little dark hairs on his upper lip so we encouraged him to shave. He was nervous, of course Jack get nervous about new things, but Dad showed him how. Dad had him shave his entire face for practice even though Jack didn't need to. Jack did comment his face felt a lot smoother afterwards. haha  He also said he is a man now so we need to refer to him as one. lol 

Bowling

 The boys have really gotten into bowling lately. In February they did a Scout bowl one Saturday. We have gone a couple other times to bowl as a family. Jack's strategy is to throw the first ball down as hard as possible. While the second ball he gently aims to knock down any remaining pins. Jacob just throws the ball done hard every time. One Wednesday he came bowling with me as a substitute for one of my bowling teammates. He did well. He even saw several of his PE teachers at the bowling alley. One said if Jacob could beat him in score he would give him extra points for his grade. I am not sure if Jacob beat him or if he got the points but oh well. 

Amelia

Just an update on Amelia's broken ankle: Currently, she is in a walking boot. It took her about a week to get use to walking on her foot again but after that she had no problems. She even gets to take the walking boot off when she sleeps. She is back to riding the bus and walking around school with longer distances. The other night we went to the hockey game, so I was a little worried about how much she would be walking on it. But she ended up doing fine that evening with the distance. At the end of the month, she officially should be healed.

Jack

 

Jack was recognized again at school for his academic achievements! We attended an awards ceremony at the school that honored students that have a 3.8 or higher GPA. Jack has maintained a 3.95 all year. We are so proud of his diligence and dedication to his schoolwork. 

Jacob

 Jacob is almost done with his driver's education classes. Although the classes were boring, Jacob's words, he did very well. He passed all his tests the first time and completed his four drives with no problems. Just today he passed the state DOL test and has scheduled his DOL driving test for the end of the month. We are confident that he will pass that too. It is an exciting life milestone for Jacob. We are so proud of him and know with experience he will become a great driver. 

Jack

 Jack got student of the month for January! He is doing so well in school, getting his work in on time, with good quality. We are so proud of him.

Amelia

 For Christmas this year Umma and Uppa got Amelia a box full of paints, paint markers, brushes and different canvas. She has absolutely gotten good use out of gift so far. Our round table in the breakfast nook is constantly overflowing with her projects. Currently, she is painting a box to collect her Valentine's in at school. It is an Alice and Wonderland themed box. She is very creative; I am not sure where she comes up with her ideas. 

Winter Lodge

 The boys and Dad went on their annual Winter Lodge Boy Scouting weekend. They rent the Wohelo Lodge at Fields Spring State Park. The weather was cold but nice. The boys really enjoyed the sledding hill right outside the lodge. Dad said next year they are all bringing helmets for safety. Apparently, the sledding hill was compact snow and ice, which made for super-fast sledding down a very long hill. Other than sledding the boys hung out outside or did rank advancement work in the lodge. Another fun outing for Scouting!

Jack

 Jack's Adanced Wood Shop class was able to deliver the shed he helped build this last week. Jack has been going to a zero-hour class since the beginning of school to build a 9x12 shed. He has really enjoyed building it. He was describing to me how much fun it was hammering the shingles on the roof of the shed when they delivered it. He enjoyed the project so much that he is going to continue to go to zero-hour class to build another shed. I think it is great he is getting the opportunity to build the shed, its real-life skills he is cultivating. 

Mexico

 

Before Christmas this year the Fisks went to Cancun Mexico! OMG it was a great trip! The weather was wonderfully warm and amazing. 

We started our trip at our all-inclusive resort with champagne flutes full of sparking juice. We cheers our vacation in the lobby. The kids were SO impressed by this and the resort itself. Amelia and Jack kept saying the place was way too fancy and it felt like a dream. 

One of the best things about the resort was all the food! We ate and ate. Jack liked the 24 hour room service. We all took advantage of the food trucks, snack bars, buffets and restaurants.

Besides swimming in the pools and going to the beach we went zip lining, snorkeling and to Chizaniza. Each adventure was great in its own way. 

At the zip lining place we did ten different zip lines. Some were so long you couldn't see the end. We cruised thru the jungle at top speed. After we were done with that we got to swim at a centote. That was great because there were platforms to jump from, zip lines to drop into the water from, ropes to hang out and swings to sit on in the water. Jacob said swimming in that was one of his highlights for the trip. We were only there an hour but could have stayed longer. 

Snorkeling was an experience too. None of the kids had ever snorkeled before so they got to try that for the first time. Amelia did great the whole time, just swimming along. Jacob's snorkel was crocked at first so he kept getting water in it and he lost a fin but once he got those straighten out he was good to go. Jack's snorkel was also crocked and he kinda freaked out at first about keeping his face in the water and still breathing. He just had to get over the mental part of that. By the end though both boys were diving underneath the water. We saw a several sea turtles, one huge one, and swam around a shipwreck. All the kids had fun trying to touch the fish we swam around. 

Chizaniza was amazing but the kids said it felt like a school fieldtrip. They did say they would appreciate the experience when they were older. It was an all day trip with stops at a Mayan buffet for lunch, another centote for a swim and an old colonial town to look around in.

It was a trip to remember for sure. Jack said it almost topped Disneyland.  ha! 

One other memorable part of the trip was the leg home. Before we even got close to the airport, there was a big traffic accident. By the time we got close to the airport the highway was a complete parking lot. As we got closer to the airport and our departure time it was becoming clear that we were going to miss our flight. All around us travelers were bailing out of their airport shuttles and taxis, grabbing their luggage and walking towards the airport. Usually this wouldn't be a big deal for us to get out and walk but I had hurt my knee. But after like 20 minutes not moving and being only 2 km from the airport we got out too. Dad and the kids took all the luggage. I kept my passport and wallet and told them to get on the plane if they make it and I will catch up with them eventually.  Off they went, leaving me in the dust. I eventually did catch up with them at the check-in desk at the airport. Apparently, they went all the way around on the highway while I cut across the highway and back parking lots making the trip shorter and faster. 

Well at the airport I had arranged for wheelchair assistance because of my knee so with that we breezed through security to the gate. And at the gate we sat... for the next 4 hours. While all the travelers got out of cars to walk to the airport the flight crew did not, so they showed up 3 hours later, after sitting in the traffic jam. But we were finally on our way, yay! Well not so fast, about an hour into the flight the pilot announces that customs in Seattle will not be open when we get there so they were rerouting us to LAX. Oh man! Once we landed in LAX we had to get through customs and board the same plane. The same plane however was parked a mile away from where it dropped us off! Again I had wheelchair assistance that helped us get through the airport fast. At the boarding gate the attendants announced that the plane needed to take off by midnight or it would have to be grounded. That was at 11:00 pm. At 11:46 we were taking off! Never seen hundreds of people move so fast and orderly. Once we got to Sea-Tac Dad had to take a shuttle to a rent-a-car place because by that time, 3:00 am, all the people who could give us rides had bailed. We finally got to Umma and Uappa's at 5:00 am. It was a LONG leg home. I told them if they can travel through this then they can travel through anything. They kept calm and didn't get cranky, even though it would have been easy to do so. I was so proud of the kids. 

And even with that, the trip was totally worth it!!

Amelia

 

Amelia's class performed an amazing Martin Luther King Jr. performance for her school this year. Amelia was narrator 3. Dad and I got to go to the second performance of three. I was very impressed with the way all the kids memorized lines and added video clips into the performance. Amelia and her classmates even created all of the backdrops and props. This is one of the times I am so happy Amelia is in the Spectrum program. Not every class has the time to put together this level of performance, but the Spectrum class does. I believe it is more meaningful learning going on because of it. 

Jacob

 Jacob is officially in Drivers Education classes three times a week. He is very excited about being able to drive. He completed his first drive out of 5 at the driving school with no problems. I don't anticipate him having any problems passing the academic portion of the class. All he really needs is driving practice and experience. I am a little freaked out about him driving 70 miles an hour down the freeway but with practice he will do great. His dream now is to get a car as soon as possible. :) 

Amelia

  Well on MLK day 2023 Amelia broke her tibia and fibula bones skiing at White Pass. From what I have been told by Dad, Amelia's crash looked like any other crash on the mountain. Amelia was tobogganed down the hill by the ski patrol. The ankle looked fine then so she sat in the lodge the rest of the day. She had to sit in the lodge because this was a Scout outing and they had gotten a ride with someone else. By the time she got home that night, around 8:00 pm, she was exhausted and in pain. 

I took her to Urgent Care the next morning where a quick x-ray confirmed that she did break some bones. We then went over to Tri-City Orthopedics to get a cast put on. She started with a hard splint to help with the swelling but went back a couple days later for a real cast. Her bone is a little bent in but the doctor is confident that it will straighten itself out as she grows. 

She will be in a hard cast for 6 weeks and then a walking boot for 2 more weeks. She has spent most of last week in bed with her leg up. The pain level has been pretty high all week, but she said it is getting better. 

On Monday she heads back to school, so we will see how she does. She has been out of the house twice since she broke it, for a couple hours at the most, and has come home to immediately take a 3-hour nap both times. Healing takes a lot of a person. 

Overall, she has handled the break like a trooper, and I am sure she will recover fully before we know it.