Have You Missed Us???

WALLACE NEWS

Taysom~

Becca reminded me this past weekend that this is the last Thanksgiving in which there is no doubt that we'll have Taysom with us... It is some what sobering. Most of the time, I don't even think about the fact that she is a senior and will be leaving for college in just nine short months... but when it hits me, I get a little teary eyed.

School has been kicking her butt this year. She is taking Sewing, Calculus A.P., French III (weighted), Lit. and Comp. A.P., Chemistry II (weighted), Touch of Class (vocal ensemble), and "We the People" (constitution team). I admire her ambition. With that said, where did she get it from? I took four classes my senior year and made sure they were the easiest possible classes that would fulfill the requirements. She is hoping 2nd semester will bring a little breathing room. (Her "We the People" will switch to a regular government class.) She is trying to decide what major to pursue, but she is leaning toward something in the medical field.

In addition to school work (and there is a ton of it), she has re-taken her ACT (and scored a 30!!!!), is working on college applications, continues to work on personal progress, and tries to fit in some social interaction. We went and had senior pictures taken a couple of weeks ago - here is a sneak peek.

Tucker-After all of that worrying about injuries during football season, it wasn't until basketball open gym (the week after football season ended) that Tucker actually sustained an injury. He was going up for a lay up when he got shoved from behind, propelling Tucker forward. His right hand "ran into" another guys nose. Tucker ended up with a torn ligament (ring finger) and the other guy ended up with a severely broken nose. Tucker's finger was extremely swollen for a couple of weeks. The school trainer said that it probably won't be back to "normal" for 8-10 weeks.

Even with an injured finger he made the JV team and will be playing Varsity when needed.

First game is Wednesday. (I am so excited!!! This is my favorite sport to watch!)

Since I don't have the football pictures back yet... here's another picture for you to enjoy... Fabio...

~The "girls"~

Ilah-

Ilah makes my day every morning by waving to me as I leave for school. She is the last to leave the house and has even started doing the morning kitchen clean-up/dishes to earn extra money. She bought herself a cell phone! (Yep - she is a tween.)

This is Ilah's first year of middle school. There are good things about middle school and bad things as well. She is sick of the girl fakeness and drama. On the good side, she tried out for the school musical (Annie Jr.) and made it! She is one of the orphans. Play practice is in full swing. We are looking forward to the performance February 3 and 4, 2011. Anyone want to come? :)

A couple of months ago, she bought a mouse. I told her that she could keep it as long as I never smelled it... Well, does anyone want a mouse. I don't think there has been a day that I haven't smelled it, complained about it, wished it was dead... you get the picture. I am NOT an animal person.


***Side note*** I took Snoop into the groomer. She asked me if I had noticed any changed in Snoop's health. I replied by saying that he was just getting older and slower. Trying to comfort me, she said that although Schnauzers generally slow down/age quicker, they hang on the longest - I'm sad just typing this :(




Henry-


Our youngest is a latch key child (remember that term?). He comes home to an empty house and lets himself in with a key :( But he handles it just fine. In fact, by the time I make it home, he is usually sitting at the kitchen table doing his homework. He likes to get it out of the way so he can play "Adventure Quest Worlds" on the Internet with his good buddy Ian. They call each other and put the phone on speaker and play for what seems like forever.)


In addition to his fantasy world on the computer, he also loves to escape by reading the Percy Jackson series. About a month ago, I walked by his room on a school night around 11:00pm. He was still up reading. I told him he needed to go to bed immediately. He pulled the book down, revealing his tear stained face begging to be able to finish the book. He had to find out what happened to Zoe, the huntress. I knew how that felt and had to let him finish the book that night.

Recently he made All City Singers. I can not wait until the All City concert December 13th. That is when I really start feeling the Christmas spirit. What will I do next year when my kids are too old to be involved in this???
He is also trying out for the advanced math team at his school. He'll find out if he makes it toward the end of December. He's our little nerd. (as I am typing this he is cheering about black holes...)

Last week Henry and Ilah created mazes in their bedroom with traps made out of string, duct tape, etc. The goal was to sneak into the other's room and steal something that had been selected earlier. If they were able to make it through the maze and capture the item without waking the room's owner, they won. Neither one succeeded, but check out these pictures to see why.