Around Here...Its Catch up Time

Ok, so its finally time to catch you all up on what's been going on around here in these parts of Camachoville in the last few month or so, but there has been so much going on with all the boys that I'm going to tackle each one at a time. This post might be a little late and a little long, but I need to get these events recorded. Its been a big year for all my boys.

Christian
Around here...Christian has just finished up a very difficult Junior year. He took his normal 6 periods which included 2 AP classes, plus a zero period and an independent study Health class. A crazy 8 classes total this year. It has also been a year of an emotional and time consuming curriculum in his Humanities CORE classes. The push for getting ready for college has set in as well and is his current course of action for the summer. The stress is far from over.

But it hasn't been all work and no play for him either. This has truly been such a busy yet exciting year for him, his music and his expanding band playing along with his cousin Jordan (the drummer).  He's been able to find a variety of venues and opportunities to play in the last few months and we've never been so excited to see where he's headed.

Chris has had the opportunity to perform as a solo act at the Guitar Merchant in March which he got a good response from and helped him gain some confidence for his other gigs.  He then had the opportunity to play again at the Pablove's Benefit this year not only in a beautiful duet with his friend, Leah, but he also reunited to perform with his former "Big Brother" band which he had performed with last year at this same event. That had also been Jordan's first performance ever so this was his return to this stage.

Chris and Jordan have found that they are not only super close as cousins, but they work really well together as musicians and have been trying to expand their musical chops together by having joined a band earlier this year, and now have recently split off together to build their own band along with Junior, a former band mate/friend. They've been in the process of writing and co-writing their own originals and have taken a couple of opportunities to do some 'open mic' nights at The Rack in Woodland Hills to get some practice and feedback to perfect their act. They have some gigs coming up this summer they're working on as well so we're all really excited to see where this all goes for them.




Danny
Around here...Danny had a tremendous 8th grade year both socially and academically and it ended amazingly for him as well.  It was so gratifying to see that because of his good grades, he was invited during the last week of school to attend his 8th grade picnic, a recognition ceremony, and a formal 8th grade awards ceremony and of course his Culmination ceremony.

During the recognition ceremony he was awarded 5 certificates of distinction and Danny was so proud of himself as he went up to receive each one.

At the 8th grade Awards Ceremony, we knew he was going to get some kind of an award but didn't know which one, and we were proudly surprised to find that he had been chosen by his teachers to be awarded two separate awards- The Optimist Award and the Lynn Stern Memorial Award. We were beyond proud and he was happy to see first hand just how well hard work pays off.

 His 8th grade Culmination ceremony was short, sweet and beyond emotional for me. Danny so ready for this day. He looked soo handsome, felt great and he showed it. His beaming smile as he proudly held his certificate said it all, and he let us know from his seat that he knew he had accomplished something big for himself, and it turned me into mush to say the least. He is ready and very excited about going to Cleveland High School along side Christian at least for one year together and we can't wait to see what he'll accomplish while he's there.

Mikey
Around here...our little Mike also had a great last year in elementary school. His teachers made it possible for him and all his classmates to have a very exciting 5th grade year that included class elections, plenty of fieldtrips, an annual project, a 5th grade Disneyland trip, a 5th grade hockey game, and a beautiful band recital in which he played the saxaphone and performed a song he co-wrote with 2 friends. They fit in A LOT of events and made tons of last year memories together.

One of the projects Mikey took on for himself was to once again join the spring drama club to do a play called Starship (about a bug who wants to be a human starship ranger)  in which he played the role of Tootsie Noodle. We were once again taken by surprise to see Mikey's personality shine in this role which included beautifully singing a ballad with his love interest 'Mega Girl.' (wink, wink). He really does well in drama and his drama teachers loved what he did with his role. We can't wait to see what other roles he'll take up in the years to come. He's an artist in the making.

At CHIME, the 5th graders participate in a 'Step Up' ceremony of sorts as they cross from elementary school to middle school which he'll be attending next year. They have a wonderful tradition of allowing the children who wish to do so, to say end of the year speeches to express there feelings about there experience at CHIME and Mikey was one of those kids. He was funny, articulate and took a chance to thank his teachers and his friends for all the great years he's had so far at CHIME and that he was looking forward to having 3 more years to go.


Ok, so there it is. I finally feel like I caught you all up and in good conscience can move on to our summer activities ;) Time is going by so fast that its hard to keep up with everything that's going on, but we're trying to enjoy every minute we have together.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you're all enjoying your summer too.

From my corner to yours...see you again soon!