Back to School: The First Days and Beyond

After the longest summer, we had the slowest and strangest "back-to-school" weeks around here.  

Will started middle school at Kinkaid way back on August 22, before Harvey was even a hurricane. 

First day of sixth grade!! 

I love this Kinkaid shirt. The back says "Get TUF - Talons Up Falcons!"

Will went to school for three days before Harvey hit, then had about ten days off, and then went back to school for an additional two days before Henry started.  

Henry had 15 weeks of summer vacation this year. You would think after 15 weeks, he would be ready for school, but he was not. He was so sad about going back to school that we made happy face waffles for breakfast one morning to try to cheer him up.

After a two-week delay, Henry finally went back to school on September 11. First day of fourth grade!

Will left for a sixth grade field trip to Mo Ranch before Henry even woke up for his first day of school.

At Mo Ranch, the kids did ropes courses, kayaking, swimming, learned about water ecology and reptiles and so much more. It was an opportunity for the kids to get to know each other outside of the classroom setting and make new friends. Will came back with so many stories to tell!

Will was gone for four days and three nights, so Henry's first week of school was pretty quiet. He helped me walk Ruby after dinner most nights.

After four days at Mo Ranch, the sixth graders were exhausted and didn't have school on Friday. Will's day off was relaxing -- our big outing was a visit to a bookstore and lunch out! 

Back-to-school means back to homework and busy nights. All middle school students at Kinkaid were issued laptops this year, and it has been a really positive experience so far. All the assignments are posted online and Will has several web-based assignments each week in addition to traditional work. He knows exactly what he needs to do and just comes home and does it.

I took these photos on a Friday evening (before Mo Ranch) when he wasn't supposed to have any homework. His French teacher gave two assignment anyway, and he just sat down and got to work! French is one of his favorite classes so far, but I also hear a lot about band (he's going to learn the trumpet), science and math, as well as the cafeteria food, which is apparently delicious. So far, Kinkaid seems to be an excellent fit for Will. He is settling in, making friends, and loving his classes, and best of all, he is truly challenged.

Henry did not love going back to school for the first few days, until he got to art class. We finally have art and music at WUES this year, and it has made a huge difference in Henry's outlook. Instead of dreading a writing or math lab, ancillary time is a true break and creative or physical outlet for the kids. Fourth graders also switch classes, and the first day of "switches" was last Monday. Henry loves switching and getting to visit different teachers! His favorite switch so far is science with Ms. Inman (Will's fourth grade homeroom teacher).

Fourth grade is chock-full of projects, and they have started already. Henry decorated his science journal with a photo of a sea turtle and one of him at the Houston Arboretum with Ruby. He's got a big grin because he actually loves projects! (It lets him be creative!)

Another science project was to make a scientist doll. Henry chose a marine biologist, or course. I helped cut out the felt and do some stapling, but he did the rest by himself.

Henry also had to do a book review; he chose Fablehaven, which is his all-time favorite novel.

And finally, we are doing some ISEE prep.

It's been a memorable start to the school year, but I think we've finally hit our stride! 

The Last Weeks of Summer, Take 2

Harvey came to Houston right before school was set to begin, so we ended up with two extra weeks of summer vacation on top of an already long summer break. Fifteen weeks plus three days = way too much summer!!  

Gene came back from Singapore to sunny blue skies and mild temps. Everyone was really glad to see him

and not just because he brought presents!

He had a long layover in Tokyo so brought us chopsticks and candy

and t-shirts!

Will really loves sushi and sashimi so this shirt is just perfect for him.

Sushi night = time to try the new chopsticks!

  

Here's a peek at how we spent our extra days of summer vacation, courtesy of Harvey:

Puzzle time -- Henry picked up a 1000-piece puzzle, and we are still working on it!

We had some friends who flooded pretty severely during Harvey, so we took their three boys for a couple of days before school started. I had five boys with me at the science museum. It was exhausting but also so much fun! It helps that they all get along really well. 

Will went back to school two days before Henry did, so Henry and I spent one morning at the Houston Arboretum with Ruby. Our first true cool front came in in early September, so we were itching to get outside.

The park was beautiful, though the mosquitoes were out in droves in the forest.

On the Friday before school started, we had our friends' kids again (but not Will as he had school), so we took advantage of another gorgeous day to go to the zoo!

My boys don't normally want to ride the carousel anymore, but we had a four-year-old with us, so the big boys were all for it!

We also toured the Lego exhibit again too.

And I'll leave you with a picture of Ruby on the outside table. It is one of her favorite places to warm up!

This was a summer to remember, for sure!

Harvey

Two weeks ago, we were getting some pretty clear warnings that Tropical Storm Harvey would like come ashore near Houston and then stall out in our area, dumping inches and inches of rain. Houston is prone to flooding and having lived through both Allison and Ike and the more recent Tax Day and Memorial Day floods, we knew to take the threat pretty seriously. We stocked up on water and made sure we had plenty of pantry staples and batteries and flashlights. We said goodbye to Gene, who was off to Singapore, leaving just before the storm hit. And then we waited.

Friday was a quiet day, with little rain, but that's only because Hurricane Harvey hadn't come ashore yet (as a Category 4 hurricane). When it hit the Rockport area a little after 10pm, it was devastating. And then on Saturday the rains started in Houston. And they didn't stop for days.

Torrential rainfall that continues for days on end is terrifying because you don't know what will happen. We heard of friends whose houses were taking on water on Saturday night. Our street looked fine, but this is Houston and you never know. Bayous spill over their banks, streets don't always drain properly, rivers crest and houses flood. So many houses. The rain continued for four days. We had a few breaks on Saturday and Sunday, but it rained nonstop on Monday. And then, on Tuesday evening, the rain finally ended and we saw blue skies for the first time in days. It was the most beautiful sight ever.

We are so lucky that our house didn't flood. Our street never even flooded. But still, we moved small furniture and important items (wedding album, baby books, etc.) upstairs and moved most things out of the lower cabinets, just in case. Prior to the storm, we did all the laundry and scrubbed the house, just in case we lost power. We stored water in bathtubs and bottles and containers. It was stressful, but we are some of the lucky ones.

We had no damage and our biggest concerns were a dead car battery, minimizing water usage (our wasterwater facility wasn't functioning) and boredom. Much of Houston was not so lucky, and even now, one week after the rains stopped, homes in the western part of the city are still underwater and may be for weeks. In other areas, recovery has begun and driving down the streets of Bellaire, Meyerland and Braes Heights, the sidewalks are piled with wet carpet, drywall, couches, mattresses and everything else destroyed by the water and muck. Houston has a long way to go, but the only good thing about this storm is seeing the outpouring of love that this community has. People are helping, everywhere, and it is amazing to see.

Here are some of the photos I took during Harvey. They are nothing like what you see on the news, because we are not in a flooded area. Most of Houston is fine, but over 100,000 homes have damage, and that is just a mind-boggling number.

Harvey prep:  filling up the bathtubs just in case the water supply was tainted

Freyja really likes to drink fresh water but she fell into the bathtub and couldn't get out! She learned her lesson

and decided drinking from the kitty water fountain was okay.

I took these photos early Sunday morning, at the end of a night of torrential rainfall in Houston. You can see that our neighbors left their cars on the street! They were lucky that the street didn't flood. At one point, the road was covered, but that was as bad as it got. We did see street flooding down the block and other areas of West U certainly had streets that turned into rivers.   

Tornado warnings sent us into the pantry and powder room

No walks = bored dog

Hurricane Harvey meals -- we used up our fresh foods first, then moved on to the freezer and saved the pantry goods for last. We never lost power, but again, with a massive storm, you never know. We lost power for five days during Hurricane Ike.  

Astronaut ice cream

The boys kept forgetting not use the upstairs toilet (with no wastewater facilities, we were told not to use the upstairs bathrooms) so I wrapped it up. 

This is what our week looked like:  games, puzzles, books.

The sun finally came out on Tuesday evening, and I have never been so happy to see blue skies. The rain was over, but the hard work of recovery was just beginning.

We were finally able to get out of the house on Thursday. Streets in our neighborhood were clear and some businesses were opening up. We visited one of our favorite indie bookstores, Murder By the Book, where I picked up Isaac's Storm by Eric Larson. It's the story of the devastating 1900 hurricane that destroyed Galveston and killed over 6000 people. It was a timely and heart-wrenching read. 

And then we went to Little Matt's, where the owner was giving out hugs and quarters so the kids could play as many arcade games as they wanted. I love our local businesses that opened up; many, like Local Foods and Crave Cupcakes, were giving the proceeds to local relief organizations.

Ben and Jerry's was open too.

When the first evacuation centers opened, there was a call for supplies, including crayons and workbooks, so the kids helped me bag up items to donate to the shelters. It was something small we could do to help.

We packed up games to take to Twain Elementary, stuffed a box full of books for Books Between Kids, and loaded up clothes and backpacks for a clothing drive for Herod Elementary. We took all our leftover water and towels to a drive at Evelyn's Park and loaded up pet supplies for a drive for the humane society. One of the kinder teachers at West U lost everything, so we gathered up gift cards and cash to help her start over. 

On Friday, the boys and I volunteered at Kids' Meals. We packed up breakfast bags (others were making lunch bags and snack bags) for distribution to area shelters. 

The need in Houston is so great right now. If you're reading this from afar and want to help, two of our favorite local charities are the Houston Food Bank and the Star of Hope Homeless Shelter. Mayor Turner has also set up a relief fund, and the Alley Theatre sustained significant damage and needs help. Houston has a long way to go, but the citizens in this city are pitching in and everyone is helping out.  #HoustonStrong