Rescued

from Kevin’s notebooks a week or two ago; he did this shortly after school started.

A note from school

Mom and Dad’s reaction to this was pretty mild; think the teacher is over-reacting.  Did get wound up that he might have been using his muy expensive bow to poke kids, but, he denies that and it was his violin bow in any case.

Was at the school the day after and saw the asst. principal; he confirmed that this was a big ado about nothing…

“Hello Hutsells & (name removed)”,

Unfortunately Kevin & Ian made a couple bad choices today during class, after I had already talked to the entire class about not disrupting instruction when learning new music.  So the boys sat in the main office today for the last 10 min. of class.  Using bows to poke other students is, of course, not the purpose of bows, so that was ultimately the reason they went down to the office.  Tomorrow is a new day, and I will remind them to make better choices tomorrow.  A new seat assignment is possible.  Thanks for your understanding.”

Fall School Photos Part 1

I’ll scan the two boys photos that we ended up purchasing in tomorrow and post them, but, I grabbed these from the photographers web site.  We won’t be ordering them, but, you can see them here.

 

This boy invariably takes a great photo

This boy is hit or miss, but came through pretty good this time.

and this boy will get a chance to take pictures at another studio so that we have some decent ones.  Oh well…as Meat Loaf says, two out of three ain’t bad.

Algebra 2

As previously documented in this space, Kevin’s performance in the Algebra 2 Honors course this year hasn’t been quite up to expectations (should point here, to be fair to Kevin, this is a honors course for 9th graders…he’s one of about 20 8th graders taking it).  Did finally end up meeting with his teacher; she’s very nice and asked if there’s anything that she could do and it’s really not that.  Kevin just needs to buckle down and:

a)  write out all of his work.  One memorable night in September (as his parents were figuring out just what was going on with his grades) he was sent back to his room to rewrite his homework.  Kevin’s tendency is to try and cram 60 problems, with steps, on one side of a piece of paper.  Believe we have this under control now.

b)  write down his work.  Kevin was losing points left and right because he would do the problem and just write down the answer.  He knew this wasn’t acceptable; have no concept why he kept doing it until his concerned Mom and Dad started bearing down and checking everything.  This doesn’t happen any more.

c)  stop the carelessnesss.  Having 60 problems on one side of the paper leads to writing so small that you mistake your negative sign for a dot or something and make a small critical error that kills your problem.  We’re trying to teach Kevin techniques to check his work, but, it sounds like that he just doesn’t have time on his tests to do that.  For now, he’s forbidden from checking his work in the back of the book for homework; he has to bring it to Mom or Dad first and we’ll check it.  I’ll tell him he has 1 or 2 or 3 wrong and we’ve been making him go back and figure out where he went astray.

Is it getting better?  Slowly….for the first time this year he hit the maximum on his homework grades (which should be easy points) and the downward slide seems to have stopped.  When I work through the problems with Kevin, it’s not that he doesn’t understand it.  Which I guess is what has made math this year so frustrating for Mom and Dad (and by extension, Kevin….)

Europa

As most readers of this blog know (not the hottest spot on the ‘web), Kevin was offered a position in the Blue Lake string orchestra that will be touring in Europe next summer.  After some hesitation, we have sent in the paperwork and he’s on his way.

Last year Kevin was ‘invited’ to take an international trip with People to People, a group started by Eisenhower and has all the former president’s somehow endorsing it.  Went to the presentation and wasn’t overly impressed and the cost seemed way out of proportion for a 2 week trip.

The cost for this trip is about the same; but, it includes 4 weekend practices, and week at Blue Lake before the tour and a midwest mini-tour afterwards.  So, we perceive more value here….we’ll see how it ends up.

Kevin is in full-on raise money mode; before this, he was getting tired of videotaping games for me (which I’ve always paid him for).  Now, it’s I’ll tape, I need the dough!  We’d like Kevin to come up with about 20% of the funds…..we’ll see how this works out.  He’ll be sending out letter seeking donations and will try and to some yard work around the neighborhood to raise some funds.  Maybe play his viola at the mall or something, hah!

Don’t know where they are going yet; heard that France and Germany are almost definite.  Not sure if a parent will head over to see some of the concerts or not (we’ve discussed Suzanne heading over and me and the boys going somewhere warm for vacation).   Wonder how exactly Kevin will do with those French/German host families and what they might serve up for dinner!

Travel

November (and the last part of October) means almost weekly flights to West Virginia.

Will try and get some blogging in tomorrow night; need to knock out a few of the other outstanding subjects.  Looking forward to some nice fall colors on the flight into Charleston.

Grabbed the image above from a new site I found, Flightaware.com.   Found it because someone linked to this image……

Oops!

Words from the crowd

About once a month I try and bring the boys lunch at school and eat with them.  Lunch, for the last year, has traditionally been General Tso’s Chicken for Christopher and a double cheeseburger kids meal for Matthew.  Everyone is always impressed that Christopher is eating the chinese food, and the kids always ooh and aah at the kids meal.

Always enjoy this time with the boys; it’s nice to see the kids I’ve coached in soccer in the past and it’s always neat to see which ones decide to sit at the table with the three of us.

This time, two of Matthew’s bestest partners in crime sit next to us.  We’re talking, they are admiring Matthew’s Bakugon toy, and I’m asking them what they are going do out at recess.  Kickball of course!

“Mr. Hutsell, did you know Matthew is awesome at kickball?”

“Oh yeah, he kicks it so far!”

Soccer – Fall Game 8

Less than 24 hours after the Game 7 loss the Dragons were back on the field to finish up the season.  Last time we played this team it was a zero – zero tie because the other team’s goalie stood on his head and we had trouble generating chances with just 3 on their 5 (their whole team would retreat to play defense).

This time we decided to play 4 up and just leave one back on defense.  Worked out better, we won 2-0, but, caused us some anxious moments as the other team had a few 2 on 1 breakouts.  Matthew had a turn in goal and did well; Christopher played some offense but mostly was back on defense, especially near the end when we were making sure we would hold on to win.

Soccer - Fall Game 7

A brisk but sunny day greeted the team as they marched on to the field.  Coaches knew that a win here would win the division for the season.  We made the decision not to tell the boys that, but, to just continue the message that play hard and not be goofy.

Other team completely outplayed us in the first half.  They, as we knew from the first time we played them, are very physical, lots of pushing going on.  The ref, sadly, isn’t calling anything….there are some fouls that clearly need to be called and aren’t and the yelling at the ref is getting louder and louder.

At halftime, trying to motivate the kids, we tell them…hey, this is it, this is for the championship.  Start playing like it.  Second half is better than the first, we have our chances, but, they score a goal after pressing us into our end (Christopher, who isn’t the only one to blame, backed up too much towards the goal and screened the goalie).  Had a chance on a penalty shot late in the game; the kid blew it right over the top of the goal.  End of game, a 1-0 loss.  As we lined up to shake hands it was clear that the other team knew from the start what this game meant; they could barely say good game for jumping up and down celebrating.  And they earned it and deserved to be happy.

Our kids, in the second half, did what kids, or even adults do…..if the ref isn’t going to call the fouls, you take matters into your own hands….ended up sending in a protest about the referee (who, turns out, is Kevin’s age….should never have had someone that young referee’ing that game)….

Cross Country – Epilogue

Kevin finished 4th in the Open Race to end the cross country season in 13:14; that was 11th among the Okemos boys team (the top 7 were in the other race).

Not quite sure what to think here.  Kevin is frustrated with his results, he may have actually slowed down a bit compared to this time last year.  He tried, and succeeded, all summer to run a 6:20 pace for 2 or 3 miles but never got close to the 12:40 time that would have translated to.  Never broke 13 minutes this year; best time was 13:02. 

Last winter Kevin ran at least once a week; last summer he ran 2 or 3 times a week……am pretty sure he won’t be doing the winter running and will have to go back to the drawing board on the summer training after track.  Next year he’s running 5k’s at the high school…think that might be good for Kevin because he has the endurance but, just not sure what he wants out of it at this point. 

Coming Attractions

Mainly a post to remind me of things I should write about

• Blue Lake International
• Algebra 2 Strikes Back
• Soccer Games 7 and 8 (a loss and a win)
• End o’ Flag Football
• Musical
• Cross Country postscript
• Matthew’s friends chime in
• Iphone photo dump

Deja Vu

Names altered to protect the innocent, but, this exchange occurred on Kevin’s Facebook wall….

I remember annoying the tall girl in middle school….that ended up well I guess!  Your cast of characters includes AM the aforementioned tall girl and JIL and JC two other facebook friends.  I believe they are all in orchestra; AM ran cross country with Kevin and Suzanne reported that they were walking and taking together at the football game last Friday….

AM:  You little butt. I dont like you. QUIT SCARING ME. I feel I alwasys have to look over my shoulder. Thanks Kevin thanks.

JIL likes this.

JIL:  Lmao.! its so funny when he scares you though. lol.!

AM:  NOOOOO!!!!! JIL.Your on my death listy jk... hahahhaa :)

JIL:  lol. but you have to admit that it is pretty halarious! haha. you get that imma kill you kevin liook on yur face!!! haha.!! omgg. soo hows dork-a-stra?

AM:  lolz I had to look at that 50 timnes cause I thought you meant Kevin WHen you siad dork-e-stra :))))))))

JIL: lol.! hahaha.! wow alex. yur so mean! haha. but that was funny(=

JC:  kevin is kinda creepy smtms lol

AM:  I knowww!!! sorry kevin. WAIT NO IM NOT SUCK IT UP YOU WEENNNIIIE!! yea whos scard now. ::)))

JC:  YEA JC

Kevin:  your welcome

Kevin:  thanks a lot JC

Wiley Danger

For most of September I’ve been biking back and forth to work, and dropping the boys at school each way.  As it’s gotten cooler, the biking has dropped off, but, I’ve still tried to walk down to the school each afternoon and get the boys and walk home.

Wiley loves this plan.  There’s only one thing in the world (scrambled eggs) that Wiley loves more than a walk; you pull out the leash and harness and he’s prancing around ready to go and absolutely a pain in the ass until that harness is on and we’re on our way.

For the most part, Wiley is a good walking dog; he’s out about 10x as smart as the Beagle…we never ever get tied up around poles, which was a constant problem with Magenta.

What keeps Wiley from being a perfect walking dog is his reaction to other dogs on the walk.  He goes absolute bat shit crazy nuts when he sees one.  He barks, he whines, he pulls, he wants nothing more to be friends with the dog.  At times, we’ve let him stop and be friends with other dogs, and he’s pretty calm once that starts, but, getting to that point is a challenge, and I usually choose to avoid the dog encounters.

Today, I’m heading down to Bennett Woods and I see, on the other side of Hulett, a kid (maybe in high school, not sure) walking his dog right where Wiley and I are going to be going.  Look at the kid and dog, and see that it’s a pit bull, and make the decision we’re not going to try and be friendly….I’ll keep Wiley down on the grass near the road while the boy and pit bull are up on the sidewalk and get by them as soon as I can. 

This strategy goes well; hold Wiley tight and we’re past them and heading away and another dog encounter is behind us…….until the pit bull slips loose of whatever collar the kid had on him and charges us!

So, you have one dog, Wiley, who is all excited and happy to have a friend come up unexpectedly (think Happy Happy Joy Joy) and you have another dog, who very clearly wanted nothing more than to rip Wiley’s head off…..the pit bull’s first move was to lunge at Wiley’s neck. 

So begins the Wiley dance….I’m pulling Wiley to one side of me and the other, trying to keep him away from the pit bull.  The boy is trying to get his arms around the pit bull and away from us….the pit bull is doing his level best to get at Wiley, and Wiley (Happy Happy Joy Joy) keeps asking “why can’t we get along?”

Happily, the pas de deux (French, woo hoo!) comes to an end, the boy gets his dog (after I’m introduced pit bull to my shoe trying to get him to back off) under control and Wiley and I clear the area.  A busy stressful time….hope we don’t run into those two again; have never seen them before on our walks…..

Generic Update Found Here

….blogging from West Palm Beach this evening.  90 degrees when I landed; quite a difference from the 40 when I started….

Soccer:  Two games this weekend.

Flag Football:  Some not-so-team-friendly behavior by one of the taller boys at the last practice (“you’re a loser!  Shut up!) had Matthew on the verge of quitting, but, think we have that under control now.  Game Sunday, but he’ll only be there for a half before he bolts to get to soccer.

Math:  Starting to turn around (got an A on the last quiz) but lack of effort is still a huge problem.  Hard to meet with the teacher when the problem is 100% Kevin, but, we’re getting closer, maybe having him there for the meeting will work……

Reading:  met with teacher, seem to be heading in the right direction.  She shared an evaluation of him with us; very interesting how strong he is in comprehension/ retention and how not strong he is in sound identification.

Saw this on the wall as we walked to his classroom

Haircuts:  All boys got one this week; Kevin just a little, the boys a lot.  And Christopher is all into Gel to make his ‘hawk!

Running out of steam

Previous reports have documented that Kevin was trying to hold onto the 7th spot in cross country; we’re sad, but not particularly surprised, to report that Kevin is now running 10th or 11th and has slowed down considerably (he’s 20 to 30 seconds slower in the last two races).

One mitigating circumstance might be that’s he has been a little sick, but, the main culprit is just lack of effort.  He’s not running on his own and he’s not running in practices since musical started and it shows.  Today he has a meet and he absolutely has to finish in the top 7 to have any chance to run in the top 7 in the season ending meets next week.  Will be surprised (pleasantly surprised, but surprised) if he pulls it off.

Soccer – Fall Game 6

Won 2-1; I have video of the two goals, and you can go over to the dragons website to see it, but, the boys aren’t part of the plays.  They played ok, although both boys (and every boy on the team) had to be talked to as they came off the field in the first half for just not playing like they should be (Matthew takes these criticisms particularly to heart and defends himself to his coach (me) and others (his mom) two hours after the game (I told him he needed to pass the ball…he said he was trying!). 

Final games next weekend; the big one is Saturday against St. Johns, if we win, we win the division.

Christopher cuts loose

Set the boy loose with the Iphone camera/video device during last weeks football game; 180 pictures and 20 videos later he was done!  Finally went through with Christopher and weeded out the best of the day’s work.

 

The pictures had 3 main themes…this series features Wiley the Springer Spaniel.  Wiley is great around other people, and would do well at games, except that he’s just goes crazy-stupid-nuts around other dogs

 

And then there’s Wiley and Kevin…..with Kevin stepping in at one point and taking a picture of Christopher with Wiley

 

The plant series of pictures…..all taken on Kevin, Christopher, and Wiley’s journey to the woods behind the flag football fields

Last, but not least, Mom and Dad watching Matthew

 

And a random Christopher inside photo….Bacon….mmmmm

Christopher did take two videos that we deemed salvage-able.  Wiley shows his stuff and Dad does some video taping.

Flag Football Pictures

I upload the video of the other kids for flag football; it’s nice when other parents take pictures and I can grab that in return.

Cutting back for extra yardage

These two are of the same play

More action under center

getting ready to make a play on the ball

Skyin’ for the INT (didn’t get it on this play though)

Getting ready to take the flags away from his buddy Sam

Soccer – Fall Game 5

The first of the 2nd games against the previous four opponents was Thursday night; we squared off against Grand Ledge, the team we lost to on opening night.  The team seemed a little bit skittish about it (“we lost to them”) and we had to point out to the boys just how poorly we played the first time out….

Learned an important lesson Thursday night…..don’t schedule 6:30 pm starts for October games.  At the end of the game, with the rain, it was dark dark dark.  The township police were closing the park down for the night as we pulled out of the parking lot!

Anyway, we won, 3-0.  Both Christopher and Matthew had assists on goals; Matthew’s was a thing of beauty…you can watch him dribble past 2 players and pass the ball by the other 3 players on the field to set up his teammate alone in front of the goal.

Videos are here.  They all start with ‘Dragons05’. Matthew’s assist is the first Bryce goal, Christopher’s is the third, although I think both boys are on the field for all three of the goals if you want to watch.

Still need to post about Kevin’s running (not going so well) and get Christopher to help me go through his pictures!

Flag Football Highlights

The rest of the highlights of this weekends flag events are here….missed one Matthew TD in the early game due to rain.

The highlights, of the highlights, for me were:

- you can see it after the pass he catches for a touchdown; Matthew, that turkey, has started to high step his way into the end zone (when he has time….)!  Suzanne laughs at this, Dad has yet another talk with Matthew about acting like you’ve been there before…..

- and I included the last highlight just so you can see the look on Matthew’s face as he comes all the way across the field to track down the runner who’s streaking down the sideline (Matthew did get him 2 yards before the end zone).  His eyes never come off the runner…..

The video is here.

Weekend Update

Not much happening this weekend….only two flag football games on Sunday.  The first one was a loss, and I think Matthew had a touchdown….the second one was a rout, and Matthew had at least 3 of them, and an interception, and just was all over the place.  Crowd comment I enjoyed the most (from a friend who Matthew played soccer with in the past):  “Looks like Matthew’s good at flag football as well”…after his 2nd touchdown of the 2nd game.

Video later (ah, what the heck, video now…the master of the spin move is back!).  Maybe some pictures if the other parents come through as well. 

This week is my first full week at home (no trips by plane planned) in 2 or 3 weeks….am looking forward to catching up!

Coming Attractions:  A Kevin running update; a post about Christopher’s photographic adventure with my Iphone, and 2 soccer games this week.