So far, this school year is going very well for Brevan. Knock on wood, life seems to be fairly smooth sailing for this guy lately. Can I hope that the roughest teenage years are behind him?
This is the condition of his phone right now. It happened about a month ago when he tripped while getting off the bus. He knows better than to assume his parents will buy him a new one. Responsibility is just no fun.
Brevan would have his Boy Scout Eagle award except for one problem . . . he can't stick to an exercise routine for long enough to get the Fitness merit badge. Seriously! He has tried several times and hates exercising enough to put off his award. He finished his large Eagle project this last summer. He helped develop a wooded area behind a local elementary school that is being used as an outdoor classroom. An area of the trail was in need of a retaining wall to hold back the dirt and water. These pictures show the finished project, after the concrete had been poured and the retaining blocks were held together. He also bought mulch and added it to the area.
Other news in Brevan's life:
He has been saving up for a laptop for the past year. He has about $400 saved so far, and almost lost most of it due to an incident the last week of summer. I had taken my kids all over the metro area for many reasons (orthodontist, purchase school supplies, etc) and was very ready to be done. I had to make one more stop at Target before heading home. After getting what I needed, I walked out to the van and loaded the items in the trunk. I heard Brevan and Brynlie arguing over who would sit in the front passenger seat and was about to lecture them when a lady got out of the car parked next to us. She said that while my kids had been pushing each other out of the way, the van door hit into her car door. I had to give her my insurance and personal information before I could get back in the van and give the kids my dreaded glare. As we drove off, they tried to blame each other for the incident. I told them they would both be paying for the $500 deductible our insurance would charge us for the door repair. Brynlie realized she would have to give me the $100 she earned from babysitting, which meant she wouldn't have any money left to buy a phone when she turns 12. Tears were shed and I was called a mean, unfair mom. A week later I got a call from our insurance, saying they would cover the cost of the repair because I wasn't asking to have any repairs made to our vehicle. Brevan and Brynlie were just a bit ecstatic at the realization that they wouldn't have to give me all their money. We have a new rule that Brevan gets to sit up front on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays while Brynlie gets to sit up front on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
Life as we knew it was severely changed with the start of early-morning seminary. Brevan fights going to bed at 9:30 - 10:00, yet has to get up at 4:45 am so he can leave the house by 5:35. This also means his mom has to get up by 5:00 to help him get out the door. Most days he gets a ride from a kind neighbor who is already driving her daughter to the church every morning. After the first day of seminary, I had this realization: I have 12 more years of getting up with seminary kids. Heaven help me! I need a full 8 hours of sleep in order to function at a normal level, yet my husband is a night-owl so I try to spend time with him after the kids finally get to bed. My years of getting 8 hours of uninterrupted sleep seem to be over. On the bright side, I am so proud of Brevan for getting up every morning to attend seminary for an hour before going to school at 7:00. He has a great teacher, Brother Cotton, and they are studying the Book of Mormon this year. I'm kind of jealous that he gets this opportunity!
Brevan has set his life on attending the Missouri Academy. Attending this early-entrance college program would be perfect for him, except for the fact that I'm not prepared to send my oldest child off to college in a year-and-a-half. He would be attending Northwest Missouri State University during his Junior and Senior years of High School, taking Science, Math and Technology college courses in place of the required High School classes. If accepted to the program, he would finish at the age of 18 when he would receive both a High School diploma and an Associate of Science Degree.
Brevan suddenly has a very busy schedule since he added Debate and Robotics Club to his extra-curricular activities. He spends Tuesday and Thursday afternoons practicing for the upcoming Debate tournaments, and he spends Wednesday afternoons with his Robotics group, where he was asked to be the programmer. He is loving both of the clubs, which seem to be adding to his happiness lately. He is also still taking piano lessons once a week.
Academics are always very important to Brevan, so he is still maintaining a 4.0 average. What an awesome kid!
1 comment:
It is way cool that Brevan has high goals and is willing to work hard to achieve them. He is a great example to all of us!
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