Reading and Band Flashbacks

After Luke started 3rd grade he decided he wanted to read all the Sunshine State Books. Every year, the state selects 15 books (one set for grades k-2, 3-5, 6-8). They are chosen for "their wide appeal, literary value, varied genres, curriculum connections, and/or multicultural representation." Luke was moderately interested and making progress and then he heard about "Battle of the Books". Apparently, if a student has read all the books, they may get selected to represent their school in the Battle. I don't know how many kids are selected from each school, but I told Luke that my guess was that 5th graders would have priority. However, he was motivated to try and we certainly appreciated that! To have a chance, he had to read them all by Christmas break. He did them one better and read them all the first quarter. Some of the books are short, some are long. It was a lot of reading. He spent hours, almost daily, with a book in his hand. To prove you have read the book, you have to take a test each time you finish one. He successfully passed each test. He was the second kid in the school to finish all 15 books; he was justifiably very proud of himself. The librarian gave him a necklace and he got a dog tag type plastic charm to represent each book and a final star to indicate he read them all. He wore it to baseball practice (his teammates were unimpressed) and school. At school, he did receive some awesome positive feedback, with several kids and teachers congratulating him. It was a big deal and we are very proud of him.

Proudly wearing his necklace.

Marching Band season is finally coming to an end. I volunteered to work concessions for another home game. It was actually the same week as the suicide. It was sad. Every time I walked by the band, kids were crying. 

The band participated in a showcase that we all went to. There were only 5 bands playing, but it was a beautiful night and we enjoyed going. They have a bigger competition in a few weeks that I am looking forward to. I love watching marching bands! 

On Friday, his school played an away game at Winter Haven High School, my alma mater! It was strange to see on the schedule. Winter Haven is over an hour away and not in the same district. I am not sure why they were on the schedule, but I was excited for the match-up. Originally, the kids were off from school and we were all going to go early and see family. Then, it turned into a hurricane make-up day, so Jack took the bus with the band and the rest of us drove down after school (well, we picked up Luke and Kara a little early). Because of traffic, it took us about an hour and forty minutes to get there. We went straight to Marta's house and she had pizza waiting. Then, we all went to the game. It was WHHS's homecoming, so the bands played pre-game.

It was really fun, and a bit surreal, to be at the stadium where I spent so much time playing with the band watching my son do the same thing. Band was a huge part of my high school life and the source of many happy memories. I couldn't help but think of high-school Kori and how she would feel about being there 27 years later with her own family. I believe she would be absolutely thrilled with how life turned out! It made me feel grateful for Thomas and the life we have created. 

Jack's band where my band once stood.

After the show, we moved to the away stands.

We were happy that Marta, Elizabeth and Travis came to the game too.

The next day was Lake Nona's homecoming parade. Originally, Luke had a baseball game at the same time. But, while we were in Winter Haven enjoying beautiful weather, there was a massive storm in Orlando that flooded the fields, so the game was canceled and we all went to the parade. It was very short, but we enjoyed it. Well, except for Jack. He said it was not fun. He isn't really enjoying band. It is super time-consuming and he doesn't like the commitment. He is on the fence as to whether he will do it again next year. He will see how the rest of the year goes.

The parade ended at Boxi Park, which was decorated for Halloween.

They were playing Sweet Caroline.

In other news, Luke, Anna, and Kara all had straight A's the first quarter. Jack had one B, which caught him by surprise. Oh, and on Wednesday, I had to go to Mayport for work. I could have spent the night, but decided to just drive up for the day. It was about 2.5 hours each way, but I listened to a book and the drive was not bad. On the way home, I decided to drive by our first house. The neighborhood looks about the same, but the area around it was unrecognizable. So much growth!

We  owned this house from 2005-2007.