For Halloween, Paul and Nathan both dressed up in their Top Gun flight suits.
On 11/2, I went to Reid Park Zoo and the Reid Park Rose Garden.
We went to a NASCAR race in Phoenix on 11/7. This is the first time we got to see the championship race in Phoenix. Kyle Larson ended up winning that day, but of course we did not stay until the end because Paul wanted to beat the crowds.
Tulla turned 15 on 11/9. She can't hear very well, but she is still getting along as crazy as ever.
Nathan did his Fun Run at school on 11/10. He was out of school 11/11 & 11/12 for Veteran's Day.
I went to Sabino Canyon 11/17 and 11/19 to see the Fall colors. I took the tram up and hiked down.
Nathan had the whole week off for Thanksgiving Break. 11/24 we all went to the Desert Museum. Thanksgiving Day, 11/25, we went to the Phoenix Zoo. Nathan was able to see a turkey that survived Thanksgiving dinner at the zoo.
I went back to Sabino Canyon on 12/2 to catch more of the Fall colors. Again I took the tram up and hiked down.
Grandma and Grandpa and Carol Lambros came to visit us for Nathan's birthday. They decided to rent a car and do a road trip. I think they left 12/8 and arrived at our house 12/10. The following day, 12/11, I attended a funeral for my friend Wendi Miller at church whose dad passed away. 12/13, I picked up a birthday cake that Nathan wanted who I had my friend Kelly Price from church make. It was a tank cake and Nathan loved it. She did a great job. Nathan also had a dentist appointment that afternoon, but that evening we celebrated his birthday a couple of days early. Nathan turned 12 on 12/15. My baby is now a pre-teen! He is also about as tall as me now. We all took the wagon ride at Winterhaven on 12/16. They didn't have the Winterhaven event the previous year due to COVID-19. It was nice to be able to see it again.
Nathan had a half day on 12/17 ending the 2nd quarter. Unfortunately, he just missed honor roll this quarter, the first time he has ever not been on honor roll. He had a 89.2 GPA. He got a 88 in History/Geography, 86 in Science, 91 in Math, 90 in Latin, 91 in English, E (exceeding the standard) in Art, M (meeting the standard) in Music and M in P/E. He got great remarks from his teachers on his report card, though. His English teacher who is his homeroom teacher said he is a pleasure to have in class. His Latin, Science and Art teachers also said he is a pleasure to have in class. His History teacher said he uses class time constructively. It was partly his Math grade that caused him to miss honor roll this quarter. Right at the end of the quarter she put in a grade of 65/100 for Q1 & Q2 notebook check. I am not sure why she put both quarters all in Q2, but I guess that his notes were sloppy and not very detailed. His take on it, and I tend to agree, is why does it matter how his notes are if he performs well on the tests and in the class in general? He at least knows what to focus on in the 2nd semester to keep his Math grade up. He is a very intelligent boy, but he lacks neatness and organization. That's just the way he is. He also rushes to be done with his work which sometimes means he makes careless mistakes. I think he is bored and not being challenged enough so he is not putting forth his best effort. He hasn't liked this school for awhile now so he really wants to change schools. The problem is that I am not sure changing schools would help. I keep trying to tell him that school, like life, is not always going to be fun. There will always be problems to deal with. There will always be people there who you don't like or don't get along with. This is the 3rd school he has been at. He attended preschool at Kid City Christian Preschool which is part of Casas Christian. He had some minor behavioral problems even back then. He went to Sonoran Science Academy for Kindergarten. Academically, it was challenging, but he really excelled. He didn't really like his teacher or some of his peers, though. We changed him to Leman Academy the following year because we learned about the Muslim background of Sonoran Science Academy. This is Nathan's 6th year at Leman. There has been a lot of turnover there. We had some concerns from the beginning. For example, I think they have too many students there and not only is there not enough physical room for them, but I don't think they can handle that many students. Bullying has been a constant issue. In fact, Nathan punched a couple of boys last year because they had been bullying him and the administration was not doing anything about it. Each year, we have felt that the school has degraded. Nathan and his peers are not doing as well on the standardized testing compared to their earlier years. They have changed Principals and staff a lot. Kids have left and new ones have come. Nathan had an 8 year old in his 6th grade class the first semester. He was not getting good grades and he was having behavioral problems. He was removed from the class this semester. Not sure if he is in a different 6th grade class, if he got demoted to a grade level more appropriate for his age or if he left the school. They decided to move around several of the students in middle school this 2nd semester. We think that is odd to do mid-school year as well. So, Paul and Nathan are considering switching him to Legacy or another school next year.
Nathan got great marks again on his Character Attributes Report for Q2. They were all the same as Q1. C for Caring, E for Citizenship, E for Perseverance, C for Respect, E for Responsibility, EE for Trustworthiness and C for Best Effort. C is Consistent and E is Exemplary.
On 12/18, I had choir practice at church for our Christmas Cantata the following day. The next day, everyone went with me to church to see our Christmas Cantata. We went to lunch at Cheesecake Factory and then they hit the road to return home before Christmas.
Paul, Nathan and I decided to return to Winterhaven on 12/21. This time we walked it so that we could see it better and get better pictures. The Christmas Vacation house was awesome and a great new addition was the Grandma Got Ran Over By A Reindeer house.
Christmas Eve we went to my church and then Christmas Day we just watched Nathan open up his gifts (nerf guns, Lego sets, Pug shirts, Nintendo Switch games, etc...).
Nathan and I went to Reid Park Zoo on 12/28. He was getting pretty bored during the Winter Break after grandma and grandpa left so he actually wanted to go to the zoo with me. We had a great time.
12/29, Nathan had his 12 year wellness doctor appointment. He is 4'11 (59.4 in). He is in the 56th height percentile. He is about the same height as me, but will quickly surpass me. He weighs 101.5 lbs and he is in the 71st weight percentile. His BMI is 20.3. I expressed some concern with his weight. He has put on quite a few pounds in the last couple of years. He has gained over 40 pounds since his 10 year visit. He's grown 7 inches since then, too, though. The doctor said they like to see the height and weight both be at about the same percentile, but she is not overly concerned about his weight at this point. However, we know that he needs to cut down on the candy and sugar. I yell at him all of the time for eating that junk, but Paul keeps buying it for him. I warned that it is not only his weight that we have to worry about, but we don't want him to get diabetes like Paul. We don't eat a lot of meals together at the table and we eat out a lot, but he does like Greek food, salads and healthy food, too. He also spends too much time on electronics. Again, that is something that Paul and I disagree about. Paul doesn't see a problem with the amount of time he spends playing video games. After all, Nathan wants to be a Computer Programmer some day. But I would rather see him drawing (which is he so good at), reading or better yet being active outside. The problem is that he does not like nature and hiking. One of the reasons that he doesn't like it is because he gets a lot of mosquito bites and we think that he may be allergic to them. The bites get very big and hurt. We brought that up to the doctor as well. She said we should consider bringing him in the next time that happens or showing her photographs of the bites. If it is an allergic reaction, she suggested possibly going on a daily allergy medication like Zyrtec. Everything else checked out fine at his appointment.
New Years Eve we were all in bed long before midnight. We wanted to get a good night's sleep in order to head to Phoenix early the next morning. We decided to go to Wildlife World Zoo on New Year's Day. We ate dinner at Grimaldi's and picked up Portillo's on the way home.
I turned 47 on 1/2. Everyone says I still look youthful, but some days I really feel my age. My knee had been hurting for like a week prior to my birthday. Fortunately, it seemed to be much better in time for my birthday. We went to church and ate at Cheesecake Factory for lunch.
Nathan had to return to school on 1/3. Paul actually had the day off work so he and I had a rare day together to ourselves so we decided to go to the Desert Museum.
