News del Mercado: Grad and Dad

Well, Karissa completed middle school. She's the only one of her siblings who decided to go the TAG route (Erik and Austin have been invited, but have declined), so we won't be having much to do with East Middle School anymore. We were almost thinking that we'd never end up going back at all, after the abrupt end last March. Then the school district got their plans together and she was able to go back in person for a few months. There was lots of quarantining involved in those 4 months of in-person school. Karissa had to twice because she was near someone with covid at some point during the school day. She had a little cough at the very end of the school year and had to quarantine for a few days until we received the negative test results back. Despite all that and the fact that she really didn't focus well with the virtual parts of school, as many didn't, she completed the 8th grade and even was able to participate in the school play put on by the choir. I can't believe that Mrs. Mason was able to make it work with all the kids that were quarantined even up to the very last week of school, but she did! The play was Aladdin Jr. and we got the link for it the day school ended. Karissa was cast as Babkak, Aladdin's best friend. She did such a great job and had a lot of fun with it. She's also the one who edited the play. I won't post it here because it's an hour-long, but here are some still shots I took of the recording.

Aladdin's three friends: Babkak, Omar, and Kassim

Omar, in the middle, had a green shirt on that made her invisible on the top with the green screen behind her!

Aladdin's in the middle

Genie on the side

A little trick in You Ain't Never Had a Friend Like Me

Graduation was just a drive-thru with a quick stop for some pictures. They divided the 8th graders in half by last names. With their certificates, they got gift bags, a sign for the yard, and a T-shirt with the high school they will be going to next year. Since the high school is 3 in one, known as PCEP (Plymouth Canton Educational Park), the kids are randomly assigned to the high schools by a lottery, or they go to where their older siblings go. So, Karissa will be at Salem, like Victoria. She will also be in the Arts Academy. There are 4 academies at PCEP: Arts, STEM, Business, and International. Each has about 70 kids who were accepted into their programs and the 4 core classes are related to each academy. For instance, Karissa's classes will have a lot of art projects related to the subjects of science, history, and English. Not really math, obviously, but I'll see how they work that out. She's required to take electives that relate to the arts, like orchestra, which she's taking. One of the nice things about the academies is that they make the very big campus seem a little less big because they have those core classes with the same kids. She'll also be in the color guard. She's been enjoying the practices for that already. Look out, Salem Rocks, here she comes!

Olivia and Karissa

We enjoyed celebrating Jason on Father's Day. We didn't do anything really different to celebrate him besides some yummy meals and he had fewer meetings for church that day, which is always welcome. I made French toast for breakfast and his favorite chicken cordon bleu for dinner, with a nice salad and rice pilaf. He wanted rootbeer floats for dessert. The best part of the day was that we brought Victoria's friend Sarah to church, as she has been wanting to come for a while. The talks were amazing and Sarah was very impressed by them. She's actually been before, but it's been a while and recently when she and Victoria talk about church, Sarah says she wants to join our church! So, we have to take it one step at a time. I invited her to come over after church after she assured me that her dad wouldn't mind. We did Family Home Evening and our family activity of Select and Draw with Sarah and really enjoyed it. She and Victoria painted before taking her home to celebrate with her dad and family. Hopefully, she can come to church again soon!

Here's what we gave Jason, the hard-working dad in our home: a hairdryer! We only have one and it's technically his because he uses it, not me. Well, his teenage daughters fight over it much of the time, so we got him another one and they can keep one in their bathroom to share, or still use his, but it makes for more opportunity for one to be available. (No one uses it for very long, but it always needs to be used around the same time). We're hoping to get him a new suit soon. Just need to find a sale!