All About Brett
Found this in my drafts folder...was quite sure I had posted it. Here it is again for your enjoyment.
Aaaahhhhh....lazy days of summer vacation mean hours to spend reading Calvin and Hobbes wherever you choose. This is the birch tree in front of our house. What a great place to enjoy a favorite book.
Before I get ahead of myself, though, I have lots of catching up to do with Brett's life. There may be some bragging involved, but hey, I haven't said much about this awesome kid for several months.
During the school year, Brett was involved with his school choir, the Normandy Troubadours. Here he is after the Veteran's Day concert. I loved the sound this choir put out. They had a great director, Mrs. Pelletier, who coaxed a clear sound out of them and even had them singing parts. Brett did have to be at school every Tuesday morning at 7:45 for rehearsals...and he did it. I would wake him up if necessary, but he was largely responsible for getting himself to school. What a good kid.
On December4, 2008, Brett earned his Bear badge. Here he is pinning on my Bear pin. I was so impressed that he earned his badge 6 months before his birthday. I like these scout leaders!
Speaking of Scouts...
On May 8, 2009, we had our Pinewood Derby. Here is Brett's entry, Yellow Bolt.
Here is Alex, sizing up the competition. I think there are 17 cars on that table.
And here is Brett with a 1st-place ribbon! His Yellow Bolt won every race it entered. Steve was especially proud since he worked on the car with Brett. None of us expected a sweeping win, least of all Brett. I'm not sure he knew what to do with all that attention. His win was even announced in church the next day.
Two days later, on May 10, 2009, Brett had a couple of friends over to celebrate his birthday (which is really May 12). They went miniature golfing and played the Wii.
Here is the cake I made to celebrate a decade of life with us. I love that Brett appreciates fine things like a chocolate mousse cake.
May 27 marked the last day of school. There was much rejoicing in the house and many awards given at the 4th-grade Awards Ceremony. The boys' school uses a program called Accelerated Reader (AR). After reading a book, the child takes a multiple-choice test on what he's read and is given a score for that test. Every trimester, the kids in 4th grade set a goal for how many AR points they will get. Brett aimed for 12 points his first trimester, then 14 , then 14 again. We learned about halfway through the year, that some kids go crazy with their reading and try to get as many points as they possibly can. Each trimester, the school awards the kids who've earned the most AR points. Brett decided that in the third trimester, this award would be his. He quickly figured out that the Harry Potter books would give him lots of points, upwards of 40!
The day for awards came...and Brett far exceeded the competition. He got a whopping 210 points; the next closest was 140 or so. He received the AR award for 4th grade for the third trimester as well as the award for the most points in all of Normandy for the trimester. He also got awards for getting straight A's this trimester and for getting all A's and B's for the school year. What a smarty-pants!
On June 3, Brett performed at a piano recital. He had the tough job of going first and did very well. (While he played the piece "straight" for the recital, sometimes at home he'll transpose this into a minor key. It messes with the musical part of my brain when he does this and I wonder if that might be his motivator.)
Aaaahhhhh....lazy days of summer vacation mean hours to spend reading Calvin and Hobbes wherever you choose. This is the birch tree in front of our house. What a great place to enjoy a favorite book.Before I get ahead of myself, though, I have lots of catching up to do with Brett's life. There may be some bragging involved, but hey, I haven't said much about this awesome kid for several months.
During the school year, Brett was involved with his school choir, the Normandy Troubadours. Here he is after the Veteran's Day concert. I loved the sound this choir put out. They had a great director, Mrs. Pelletier, who coaxed a clear sound out of them and even had them singing parts. Brett did have to be at school every Tuesday morning at 7:45 for rehearsals...and he did it. I would wake him up if necessary, but he was largely responsible for getting himself to school. What a good kid.
On December4, 2008, Brett earned his Bear badge. Here he is pinning on my Bear pin. I was so impressed that he earned his badge 6 months before his birthday. I like these scout leaders!
Speaking of Scouts...
On May 8, 2009, we had our Pinewood Derby. Here is Brett's entry, Yellow Bolt.
Here is Alex, sizing up the competition. I think there are 17 cars on that table.
And here is Brett with a 1st-place ribbon! His Yellow Bolt won every race it entered. Steve was especially proud since he worked on the car with Brett. None of us expected a sweeping win, least of all Brett. I'm not sure he knew what to do with all that attention. His win was even announced in church the next day.Two days later, on May 10, 2009, Brett had a couple of friends over to celebrate his birthday (which is really May 12). They went miniature golfing and played the Wii.
Here is the cake I made to celebrate a decade of life with us. I love that Brett appreciates fine things like a chocolate mousse cake.
May 27 marked the last day of school. There was much rejoicing in the house and many awards given at the 4th-grade Awards Ceremony. The boys' school uses a program called Accelerated Reader (AR). After reading a book, the child takes a multiple-choice test on what he's read and is given a score for that test. Every trimester, the kids in 4th grade set a goal for how many AR points they will get. Brett aimed for 12 points his first trimester, then 14 , then 14 again. We learned about halfway through the year, that some kids go crazy with their reading and try to get as many points as they possibly can. Each trimester, the school awards the kids who've earned the most AR points. Brett decided that in the third trimester, this award would be his. He quickly figured out that the Harry Potter books would give him lots of points, upwards of 40!The day for awards came...and Brett far exceeded the competition. He got a whopping 210 points; the next closest was 140 or so. He received the AR award for 4th grade for the third trimester as well as the award for the most points in all of Normandy for the trimester. He also got awards for getting straight A's this trimester and for getting all A's and B's for the school year. What a smarty-pants!
On June 3, Brett performed at a piano recital. He had the tough job of going first and did very well. (While he played the piece "straight" for the recital, sometimes at home he'll transpose this into a minor key. It messes with the musical part of my brain when he does this and I wonder if that might be his motivator.)
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