Memorial Day weekend festivities

Typical Memorial Day weekend with an added twist. Friday night Emma and I met Steve and Rob at a local park. They were playing a round of disc golf and we needed to deliver 5 slabs of ribs to them. Emma watched in fascination as the Buit Boys played. They even let her throw a couple of discs. She really enjoyed it.Ribs at Buits were wonderful as usual. Steve and Rob cooked over 200 lbs on the pit. Good friends, good food, good times.Cameron busted out his guitar and played background music as we talked with friends. He is very good.Sunday was the Indy 500. Todd and I went for the first time in... we can't remember when. It was a great time. I remember when the blow up doll behind the wheel would have been a real woman obliging all of the men who would be holding up "Show Me Your Tits" signs!The singing of "Back Home Again in Indiana" and the releasing of the balloons has always been one of my favorite parts of the race.Seriously? An FBI camper. Those weren't there "Back in the day.""Ladies and gentlemen, START YOUR ENGINES!!!"

Summer Vacation

Pher was done with school on Monday. He had 1 final to take and then he was out the door. He came home from school, packed a backpack, jumped on a bike, and he took off for the woods to camp alone. He made it one day and one night. At that point he went to Zeke's house. He hasn't been home, and truth be told, that's OK. He did not call us to tell us he was at Zeke's. I did some super secret Internet investigation. He was using his cell phone for both calls and texts. Then the kicker... he was on Facebook. I knew right then and there that he was at Zeke's and fine. One of his posts mentioned spending the night in the woods and being sore from the ground. He also mentioned the bugs.

Cameron and Emma finished school on Tuesday. Cameron wanted to skip. They were doing NOTHING all day long. Finals were done on Monday. The entire school had a 'free day,' but I made him go anyway.

Wednesday was the first day of summer vacation. When I pulled in the driveway I saw this...
When I came in the house I saw... a mess, and no I did not take a picture of it. It would be too embarassing to post.

The kids and I had a chat and things were better on Thursday and Friday.

A boy and his phone

Napping Cameron. Phone on his chest... just in case an important text comes in. Funny stuff.

Last day

Today was Christopher's last day of high school. He wore a t-shirt and this wall hanging turned into a wrap-around skirt (These pictures were actually taken in Cathy and DJ's backyard. No last day of school pictures taken.)...
He also tried to bring the ukelele. Needless to say, by the time he and I were done with our ukelele power struggles, the instrument was in two pieces. I had a death grip on the neck. He had a death drip on the neck. He added his strength to the body and SNAP. Just like that, it was pointless to exert any more energy into the struggle.

He went to school in his skirt (just to try to get a reaction from the administration and he did not get it). He took the last final he had. He came home and packed a backpack. He headed for the woods somewhere in the Fort Wayne area. He lasted 1 1/2 days in the woods. From the scattered information I've gathered, the bugs got to him. Like Cathy said, "He's ALMOST and Eagle Scout so he ALMOST made it in the woods."

Life is going to be hell for him if he decides to continue with his 'walk-about' plans. His decision. His problem. Not mine. I'm not going to take it as my problem. He can't make me!

Happy Birthday Cameron

Yesterday was Cameron's 15th birthday. In the middle of the day I received this text from my sister...
"I love Cameron! I texted him happy birthday and he texted me back to tell me he was in school and can't text. **** Just ignore me then, kid!!! ****"

Funny stuff...

Last night I overheard Christopher and Cameron discussing Cameron's texting hobby.
Pher: So, you had a couple thousand texts last month?
Cameron: More like over 8,000 (sounding rather proud)
Pher: Why do you need to text so much?
Cameron: It's how I communicate (still proud)
Pher: What do you possibly have to say that would take over 8,000 texts?
Me (from a different room): L.O.L.!!!!!

Senior Prom

So, Pher blew off his Junior Prom. He also blew off his Senior Prom. I was told by our neighbors (who had two boys go to the prom this year) to be thankful that he didn't want to go. It cost them a small fortune!

Regardless, just another Mommy moment that came and went. Another photo opportunity missed. Instead of attending the prom, Christopher and the band he belongs to (Mungen) played at O'Sullivan's Italian Bar. I know, I know... he's only 19. In the state of Indiana, at the age of 18 a performer may be in a bar as long as they are providing entertainment to patrons. This goes for musicians and dancers. Thank God he did not choose the latter.

So, on the night of what would have been our firstborn's Senior Prom, he was performing with his band at O's. Anyone that knows us well knows that this was our hangout when we turned 21. The bar does not draw the crowd it did 'back in the day' but it does draw some. Those that were in attendance seemed to enjoy themselves. We did tell our friends (the ones we hung out with at O's) about the performance. A few of our closest friends came down to visit the bar for old time's sake and to see Pher. This is not exactly how I intended to spend the night of his Senior Prom, but it worked, and we ALL had a great time. Thanks to all who came out. We love you all.

Head on the rock

So, I left work exhausted one evening last week. It was one of those busy, hectic, chaotic kind of days. A day that makes your head spin and drains your brain. I left work and drove home on 'auto-pilot.' All I could think of was that I wanted to get home.

And then...

I was 1/4 in our driveway when I looked up and saw the head on the rock. It startled me. I actually blinked to clear my eyes and double-check what I was seeing. Yup a head on a rock in the garden.

Texting Plan

I wonder how many parents have opened their wireless bill to find it being in the thousands of dollars. I know of one family right off the bat. Our good friends received a $4,000 phone bill shortly after their 15-year-old son got his cell phone.

Fast forward 3 years to our family. If it weren't for the "unlimited text" plan we would have received a similar bill. Between March 29 and April 29 Cameron Adam sent and received 8,441 texts. I had to call Verizon to make sure this was accurate. The representative assured me that the information is not only correct, but he also walked me through navigating the Verizon website. He took me straight to the page that shows me exactly when texts were sent and received and also who they were to and from. The kind representative also showed me where the tools are for setting phone controls. He was such a nice young man. Customer service phone etiquette dictates that when a customer and the Customer Service Representative are ending their call, the CSR is to say, "Is there anything else I can do to assist you?" "Oh no young man, you have been very helpful to me and I truly appreciate the time you took to teach me how to navigate your website and the useful information you taught me." Click.

Cameron and I had a talk this evening. He tried to convince me not to be alarmed since it is all under the unlimited plan and did not cost any additional money. I didn't buy it. As a matter of fact I told him that I had FIFTY some-odd pages of data that itemizes every single transaction on his phone... including all of the free messages sent and received during the school day.

I then told him that I will continue to monitor his activity, and if it continues he is going to get a surprise one day when his phone will not work Monday through Friday between 7am & 4pm. He tried to dispute this, but I yelled "SURPRISE!" at him. He tried to say something else and I yelled, "SURPRISE!" and walked away.

Oh, and when I was walking away I was thinking to myself, "I am so grateful that this technology was not available when I was a teenager!"

Confiscation

Cameron does not talk on his cell phone. He texts on it, and texts, and texts, and texts some more. He sends texts. He receives texts. This is the new way for kids to communicate.

Friday when I came home from work, Cameron looked down trodden. I asked if he had a good day. His reply was an abrupt, “No, I did not have a good day. I got my phone taken away today.” I smiled inside because I knew it was only a matter of time before it happened. I asked him what happened. Turns out that he “received” a text and he was reading it when the teacher came up and took his phone.

The phone was taken to the office. School policy states that a parent must come in to the school office to request the phone. I agree completely with this policy. Too bad for Cameron that his phone was confiscated on a Friday. I told him to suck it up and learn a lesson from the mistake.

Sunday in church I wanted to tell Todd something (it was during the collection so don’t think I wasn’t paying attention to the pastor). I had received the information I wanted to tell Todd via text from a friend. I reached in my purse, grabbed my phone, opened it, and I proceeded to scroll through texts.

Cameron leaned over to me, pointed to my phone, and politely said “No texting in church, Mom.”

Duly noted Cameron, and thanks for not confiscating my phone.

Academic Superbowl

Maple Creek Middle School participated in the Academic Superbowl this morning at Northrop High School. The kids are selected by teachers to participate on the ASB team. Practice started in January. The kids have met Tuesdays and Thursdays after school. Every year there is a different academic theme. Last year's theme was the Vikings. This year's theme was the 60's & 70's. The team consists of four squads (Social Studies, English, Science, and Math). Each squad has a captain. Cameron was Captain of the Science squad. He didn't really have a choice. Last Tuesday he said they picked captains and everyone on the Science squad pointed at him. He shrugged and accepted the position with the typical Cameron humbleness... "I'm clearly brilliant!" (Insert Cameron smile!) After the four squads had their respective rounds of 25 questions, all four squad captains participated in an interdisciplinary round. This round consists of 25 questions from all 4 subjects.

MCMS finished first in Social Studies, English, Science, and Math. They finished second in interdisciplinary. This just goes to show that those four squad captains are smart and respected by their respective squads, but they need their teammates to succeed.

I'll post pictures later.