VSAA and Eliza

Well, the day has finally arrived and we received the letter telling us whether or not Eliza made it into Vancouver School of Arts and Academics.

She did not. However, her cumulative scores allowed her to be put on the waiting list for our zip code. Basically that means that if any student who made it in who also lives in our zip code cannot attend for any reason before February 2013, they will offer the spot to the top person on the wait list. Eliza is #2 on this wait list. So, while we're a little disappointed right now, there is still hope that she will get in. 

She doesn't know any of this yet. I've left the letter in her room as per her instructions to be read by herself. I think once it's explained, she'll be proud, because to even be #2 on the wait list is a great accomplishment!

Happy 16th Birthday, Beks!

Today it has happened! (Or rather yesterday, I'm a day behind). Our first sweet 16 birthday. As much as we'd like to have had grand plans to celebrate, the birthday girl was a little too busy to do that properly. In fact, we were all so busy (I had a Relay for Life meeting, Steven had a work function), that we gave her our birthday gift the night before her birthday because we wouldn't actually all be in the house at the same time in a conscious state on her birthday. Much like it was on the day of her birth, seeing as how we weren't at home and for the most part were not in a conscious state. LOL 

For her 16th birthday, Steven and I gave her a purity ring. We'll have her birthday dinner of corned beef and homemade mac n cheese on Sunday night, the first night she'll be home since last Monday! She's had Follies (choir show) this week with dress rehearsals on Tues. and Weds. and then the show on Thurs., Fri. and Sat. We'll be going to see her tomorrow night. 

The new Martorano birthday hat. :o)

No other exciting news. But here's a few pics of Eliza modeling a new hat I'll be selling soon. 

Enjoy your day!!!

A Taste of Spring!

Not much happening in and around here. But thought I'd share some pics of Selah's new Rapunzel wig hat. She had a slight Princess identity crisis figuring out if she was Cinderella or Rapunzel. :o)

Ethan is working hard to pull his D in math up to a C and is back to being a single guy. We'll see how long that lasts. Bekah is excited about so many things...turning 16, going to Disneyland with choir (she wouldn't let me chaperon, how rude! LOL) and Follies. Eliza is waiting to hear back from VSAA about whether she's been accepted or not. And Selah just continues to run circles around us all...literally! I think that's all the major upcoming events for March! You're all caught up! :o)

January 31, 2012

I received an email from Eliza's teacher that she would be receiving the Panther Pride award for her class for the month of January (the equivalent of student of the month) and so I made my way to the school for the assembly this morning. January's school theme is cooperation. To my surprise not only did Eliza receive a Panther Pride award, but so did Selah for her class!

On stage with their awards

Eliza - for putting forth strong effort everyday                       Selah - for consistently setting a good example in class and always working hard

The girls together. Selah is holding up her December Panther Pride award, too. 

Mrs. Skinner told me that the reason Selah received 2 in a row was because last month, Miss Sisson wasn't there and the principal had asked Mrs. Skinner to choose a child. Of course she chose Selah as she adores all the M children! Then this month Miss Sisson chose Selah not knowing she had already been chosen. When Miss Sisson asked Mrs. Skinner what she should do, Mrs. Skinner said, "Nothing. She deserves it!"

That's all the news from here! :o)

January 20, 2012

Here's a quick link to our other blog where you can read about our Relay for Life kickoff last night!

http://ravensrascals.blogspot.com/2012/01/friday-fun-with-ravens-rascals_20.html

January 18, 2012 AKA Ethan's new glasses!

First, here are a few pics of the only fun the kids were able to have with the snow. It's now 4:30pm and all the snow is gone. We're back to our rainy weather. :o)

And the moment you've all been waiting for...Ethan's new glasses finally arrived! Steven took him to pick them up at lunchtime today!

Without Flash

With Flash

Tomorrow will be the first day of wearing them to school. He's very self-conscience, but also admits that everything is so much more clear now! :o)

January 16, 2012

Hope everyone has had an awesome week! Ours has been fun and busy!

On Saturday, we celebrated our 8th annual LOTR Day. We had 9 watching LOTR on the big screen in the main theater and 4 watching Star Wars episodes 4, 5 and 6 in theater 2. Our friend Stretch (co-host of this annual event) had perfected the sound quality the night before so it was awesome! And this was the 1st year we watched it on blu-ray. Add to that the projector bulb wasn't on its way out and it was a very successful showing! We're shooting for the final improvement for next year...High-Def!

The crocheted Gandalf hat made the rounds.

See See being goofy.

That special Orc delicacy...deep fried Elf ears courtesy of our friend, Doug.

Theater 2

Ethan's glasses still have not arrived, so no pics of those yet. 

The kids had today off and were treated to some snow this afternoon. Selah was really excited. It didn't stick, but it was fun to watch fall!

I saw the eye doctor this morning. I took Bekah with me to help pick out new glasses for me! The dr. did find that my optic nerve was swollen in my right eye as well as there is a hemorrhage in there, too. So, I will have a field of vision test on Monday and after that, we'll get some more pics of my eye scheduled and take it from there. He said based on my history of psuedo-tumor cerebri (14 years ago), that this could actually be the "normal" for my eye, but since he doesn't have any previous pics to compare it to, he's erring on the side of caution ordering these other tests and I'm ok with that! On the plus side, I have no headaches or any other symptoms that would suggest this being anything too serious. :o) We'll keep you posted!

We're heading to the VSAA meeting tomorrow night to learn about the application process for Eliza.

Wednesday Update: Following is a pic of the snow we had last night. It was enough to cancel school today, but it is currently raining so I'm guessing the 2+ inches we had will be close to gone by noon.