Ryan Is Working!

After many, many months of looking for a job, my son finally got hired on at Hardee's.  He's been working for a couple of months now, and he loves it.  I love that he is not only learning on to be a productive member of society; he is also learning responsibility.  I have told him from the beginning that it is his responsibility to make sure his uniform is clean every day and that he gets himself to work on time for every shift.

The managers at the store love him, too.  He is such a hard worker.  If they have someone call in sick, Ryan is the one they will call in.  He gets paid every two weeks, and as of today, he has blown every cent he has made.  I am okay with this, because right now, he doesn't have a car.  In February, when I get a new car, I am giving him my Sable.  At that time, he will be responsible for paying for gas and making sure his car insurance is paid every month.

The biggest thing he bought himself is an xbox.  He had wanted one for a while now, but I could never afford it.  He got a good deal on a used one, which unfortunately didn't come with any games.  I am thinking that I can get him some Hedgehog games, or something. Do they even make those for the xbox? I guess I'll have to do a little research first.

I am curious to see what he buys me and his sisters for Christmas now that he is making his own money.  He told me the other day that for my birthday, he is buying all of us circus tickets.  Even though it will be my, ahem, 41st birthday, I am super excited about going to the circus.

I mean, they have elephants there!

Chemistry Was Hard For Me, And It's Hard For Ryan, Too

For my girls, learning comes easily.  Brandi has been in the "smart kids" program since third grade, and she loves the challenge of the things they do.  Kasi is in mostly honor classes, and will be inducted into the Beta Club at the end of November.  Neither daughter studies, yet they both do well on tests.

Ryan, on the other hand, has to work really hard just to get passing grades.  I know part of his problem is being un-medicated for his ADHD (if you remember  he was having heart issues on all of the stimulant medicines, and the non-stimulant medications had no effect on his ADHD, so we took him off of everything last school year).  Right now, he is only taking one "real" class, chemistry, and he did pass the first semester by the skin of his teeth.  He has no problem passing his auto mechanic class or driver's ed.

I am worried about him failing chemistry, and if he does, he will have to quit his job.  My only rules for him working are that he gets up and goes to school every day, even after working a late shift, and that he passes his classes.  I am thinking about looking into online tutoring to maybe help him out a bit.  I know if he could find a way for it to "click" for him, he would do well.  That said, chemistry is the only class I ever came close to failing when I was in high school, because I just didn't "get it".  So I can kind of understand his not getting it either.  I am hoping that a little extra help will keep his grade up above failing.

Do any of you have any tricks for learning chemistry that I could pass along to him?

Ryan

A few weeks ago, Ryan attended his first high school football game.  He hated it.  He ended up calling a friend of his to go pick him up, and they went fishing instead.  He just isn't much into organized sports.  He is, however, into cars and fishing, and anything electronic.

A few weeks ago when the transmission went out on my car, he spent two days putting the new one in for me, with some help from his daddy.  I was so impressed with his knowledge of cars.  He took an automotive class in school last year, and is currently taking another automotive class this year.  He is learning a lot, but a lot of the things he is being shown in class he already knows how to do from helping his daddy work on cars.

Over the summer, Ryan spent a lot of time at the lake fishing.  He was there so much that the owner of the lake offered him a job, which he absolutely loved.  Ryan has an awesome work ethic, and always gives one hundred percent.  I think that is why his current boss (he's working at a fast food restaurant) loves him, and constantly calls him into work when they need extra help.

On his days off, he spends a lot of time on the computer.  He doesn't play games online like the girls do, so I'm pretty sure he doesn't play soccer online.  (random interesting fact.....this soccer game is also available in hebrew!) I'm almost positive that he spends his time online downloading music and chatting with his friends.  I don't mind, though, because he is a good, responsible kid, and I am very proud of everything that he does.

My Son Will Be Driving Soon!

My son is going to be seventeen in a few months, and he has been driving me crazy about getting his license.  I keep telling him that he needs to take driver's ed first so that we can get a break on his car insurance.  The last time I got a quote from my insurance company, they wanted almost one hundred dollars more per month for him to be put on my policy.  That's crazy to me.  Thankfully, he is signed up for driver's ed first semester of school this year.


I know we can get a better deal on his car insurance, too.  I just have to find the time to compare vehicle insurance quotes.  He has his own car already, thanks to the generosity of the youth leader at his church, so I might see if her will be better off with his own policy, instead of being added to mine.  I also told him he needs to have a job to be able to pay for his insurance, because I am struggling enough as it is to pay my own bills every month.  I simply can not take on another one.  He has been working at the lake that he likes to fish, but it's not steady work. If the owner needs help, he calls Ryan.  He doesn't work every day, and he isn't very good at saving his money.  I can't really say anything about that, though, because neither was I at that age.


Hopefully by the time he is ready for his test, he will have a reliable job, so he can pay for not only his car insurance, but for his own gas as well.

Ryan And Biology

My kids are getting their interim reports today, and Ryan has been waiting for this day for weeks.  He failed biology on his last report card, and he has been on restriction from his laptop and driving since then.  I got a text from him before, because he was really excited about his grades.  He is doing great in everything, except biology.  Right now, he has 61 in the class.  Yes, that is still failing, but he has brought that up from a 42, which I think shows at least some effort. I will probably take him off restriction, but I need to find a way to help him bring up that grade even more.  I was thinking about looking into online tutors.  I know I don't know enough about the subject to help him myself, but there has got to be someone out there who does and can help him. Plus, doing the work online might be more fun for him that re-reading the same things over and over again in a textbook.

Floors And Driving

We used to rent a house that had hardwood floors throughout, and honestly, I hated it.  The house was old, and the floors needed some work.  I wouldn't even walk on the floors without slippers or socks on my feet.  The floors were always cold, which felt nice in the summer, but in the winter it was horrible.

Some homes look beautiful with hardwood floors, especially when the floors are taken care of.  I bet if the owners of our rental house had some orlando hardwood floor refinishing done I wouldn't have minded them so much.  My mom has beautiful hardwood floors in her house, but I think I prefer carpet.  I like having something soft under my feet when I get out of bed in the mornings.  

Ryan used to love playing with his little cars on the hardwood floors.  He would sit at one end of the room and see how far they would go across the floor when he pushed them.  I miss the days he used to play with his cars.  He's old enough now that he wants to play with real cars.  In fact, he is on a mission to convince me to buy a new car so he can have mine for himself.  I keep telling him to get a job and buy his own car, but that has yet to happen. No one in our town is hiring right now, and I refuse to drive too far to transport him back and forth to a job after I've worked a ten hour day.  Maybe this summer he'll be able to find work close to home.

They All Passed!

 I got Ryan and Kasi's report cards in the mail today.  Brandi brought her's home with her yesterday.  They all passed.  Brandi and Kasi got all A's and B's.  Ryan passed, but by the skin of his teeth.  It's funny.  I just wrote a post about how well he is doing off his ADHD medication, and yesterday he asked me if he could start taking it again.  He feels like he is starting to lose focus, and his end of semester test grades proved just that.  He did well for the semester, but failed two of his end of course exams.  Thankfully, those grades didn;t bring his averages down to failing, but it was pretty close.  I'm not sure what I am going to do about his medications.  He has two weeks off before school starts again, so we'll see.

It was so much easier when they were little, and school was actually fun for them.  Nowadays, the internet is full of games that help little kids learn. You can find all kinds of online math games for kindergarten kids that make learning even more fun.  My kids used to love to play Memory, so I did a search for online memory games, and found this site where kids can play a matching game to discover interesting facts.  My little nephew is five, and he plays all kinds of games on the computer.  It amazes me that kids that age, and even younger, are pros when it comes to the computer. 

I wish I could find sites that offer games for kids Ryan's age.  He's struggling in English right now.  He said his end of course exam in that subject was reading a passage and then answering questions that required him to really comprehend what he had just read.  Now, reading has never been his strong suit, and I am at a loss as to how to help him with that.  The school has taken notice of his struggling and put him in a remedial class for next semester.  He told me he is going to try and get out of it, but I told him not to.  I may allow him to slack in other classes, like history, but English is important, and if he needs to be in a class where he will get extra help, than I think that is what is best for him. 

If only he could see things the way I do.

Choices

I recently made the decision to take Ryan off of his ADHD medicine.  Some of you may know that at the beginning of this school year, he had a severe reaction to his Ritalin.  It caused his blood pressure to skyrocket, and after all kinds of tests it was decided that we would try him on Straterra. This is a non-stimulant ADHD medication, and to be honest, I didn't see a difference in Ryan while he was taking it.  It was, however, keeping him from sleeping. 

So, after weighing my options, I decided to let him go a couple of weeks without taking it to see how he would do in school.  For the first time since he was diagnosed with ADHD he started getting A's and B's.  He is able to focus and get his work done without any problems.  He's been off the medication for a couple of months now, and I have no plans of starting him back on it.

I am not sure if it maturity or the fact that he loves his classes that is allowing him to get such good grades.  The only subject he seems to be struggling with is social studies.  Luckily, he has a few options for next year, and I think he is leaning towards some criminal justice classes.  He has always said he wants to be a mechanic when he graduates, but I think he should be open to other things.  For instance, I think if he enjoys his criminal justice classes he should look into a career as a california criminal lawyer.  I know that requires a whole lot more schooling then becoming a mechanic does, but I believe in him enough to know that if he puts his mind to it, he could be whatever he wants to be.  I'm not sure he would like the prosecuting side of being a lawyer, but he has a knack for defending himself, so maybe becoming a los angeles criminal defense lawyer would be more up his alley.  He might enjoy the challenge of convincing a jury that a person is innocent.

As his mom, I will support him no matter what he decides to do with his life. 

It's That Time Of Year Again

Every year for Ryan's birthday, I throw a Halloween themed bash.  It started about four or five years ago, and the kids always have so much fun.  I was debating having it this year since we are in the apartment, but decided to go ahead with it.  I love decorating the house, and making scary themed foods.

I usually buy decorations when they go on clearance after Halloween every year, so I have quite a bit.  Some of them, however, are getting old, so this year, I want to get some new stuff.  I was looking in a party supply store online and found some pretty awesome things.   We have a little porch outside with a railing about it, and I need decorations for that.  I want to hang things from the hooks we have out there, and these shrunken heads will work perfectly. 

Aren't they great?  I'll probably get a few sets and hang some inside, too.  I also found these little figures that I want to put on the food table.  They're pretty great, too, don't you think?

I have all kinds or bowls and platters that I bought last year, but still have to get plates and napkins.  I usually buy black and orange ones, but I think this year I want to get Halloween themed ones.   I hope I can find some scary ones, and not cute ones.  I mean, ghosts with smiley faces just won't cut it for 16 year old boys.

Visiting The FSU Indoor Practice Facility

My son has recently shown an interest in football, which is pretty funny to me since he is almost 16 and never showed an ounce of interest in sports before.   My sister always says he should play football because of his size, but his interest is in watching it.  Specifically, high school football.

Down here in the south, Friday night games are a big deal.  Restaurants stay open late to feed the hungry crowds after games, and rivalries are fierce.  Since my kids changed school districts this year, they are rooting for a new team.  Or so I thought.  Ryan informed me that he wants to go to a game between his new high school and his old high school, and root for his old team.

Nice.

Some of these athletes have real talent for the game, and they go on to play college football.  Now, I do not claim to know the first thing about any sport, but I do know that college football is almost as popular as regular football.  Places like Tallahassee are taking school ball seriously, and have the FSU Indoor Practice Facility for their players to practice in.   These poor high school kids have to practice outdoors no matter what the weather is, but colleges take their football playing seriously, and having indoor practice facilities makes it easier for the players to practice, no matter what the weather.  I know Ryan would love to visit the one in Florida.  My dad has been talking about taking him to an open practice for our local football team, and he seems excited about it.

Now if we could just talk him into playing.  I am sure that would help him drop this weight the doctor wants him to loose really quickly. Plus, it will give him something to do besides sit in his room on his computer all day long.  

That's One Big Boy!

 

I took this picture several months ago when the kids and I went with my mom to Riverbanks Zoo in Columbia, SC. Believe me when I tell you that this turtle was huge!  He was right up against the fence, and we all got to reach over and touch his shell.  I made certain we all stayed away from that mouth, though.

My son has been having some health issues.  I know, what does a huge turtle have to do with Ryan?  Nothing really, except that they are both big boys.  

Last weekend, Ryan started complaining of chest pain.  He said it was hard to take a deep breathe, and he felt like he wasn't breathing right.  I assumed he was getting sick, so I told him to take it easy and rest.  Monday, he came home from school with a migraine level headache, and all he wanted to do was sleep.  I was trying to figure out what was causing him to feel this way when it occurred to me that he recently started back on his ADHD medicines.  

Tuesday morning I called my doctor, just to see if he could suddenly develop side effects from medications he has been on for years.  When the nurse called me back, she informed me that the doctor wanted to see him ASAP.  Since I was at work I couldn;t get him up there before about 5.  They stop seeing patients at 4.  

This should tell you how awesome my doctor is...he waited on us to get there.  They checked Ryan's blood pressure, and it was 156/94.  Yeah, way to high for a 15 year old boy.  They said it was probably higher the night before, which would have been the cause of his headache and chest pain.  He told me to stop both medications immediately, and to bring him back Thursday morning for blood work.

I wasn't able to get off work, so my mom took him.  When they got there, not only did they take his blood, they also did a chest xray and EKG. They are waiting for the results from the blood work before they decide whether or not to do an echo-cardiogram.  Scared me to death when my mom called and told me.  My doctor also sent a note to Ryan's school asking the nurse to check his blood pressure several times a week and fax him the results.  When he had it checked Friday, it was 112/60, which is a lot better than what it was. 

I can not tell you how relieved I am, since it kind of confirms that it was his medications causing the problem.

That said, my doctor also wants Ryan to lose weight.  He put him on a strict diet, especially watching his sodium, which contributes to the high blood pressure.  He recommended walking, so every day Ryan has been doing just that.  This morning, I joined him in a walk to the grocery store.  It was nice spending time with him without the girls.  It gave us a chance to talk about anything he wanted to.

So, for now, I am waiting to hear the results of all the tests, keeping my fingers crossed that everything comes back normal, proving he is a healthy teenager.

Ryan's Struggling

I never struggled with my grades in school.  There were a couple of subjects that I did okay in, but for the most part, my averages were pretty good.  In fact, if I remember correctly, I placed about 350 in a class of 1200, which isn't bad at all. 

My son is having a really hard time this year.  I just saw his grades for the first semester, and he failed history by one point.  This kills me!  Some of you know how he was struggling with math, and he was able to bring that grade up to passing, which I am proud of.  I think his issue is that when he is focusing on bringing up one grade, he lets the others slip.  I need to help him find a way to do well in every class, and I don't know how to do that.  He already goes to tutoring before and after school.  I told Junior we might need to look into having a tutor come to the house a couple of days a week to work with him, but I have no idea how to even find one.  Maybe I'll email one, or all, of his teachers.

I sat and talked with Ryan last night, and he was pretty upset, which tells me that he isn't just slacking off.  Next year, he wants to go to the technical school, and start working towards his mechanics degree.  I am all for this, but I am afraid he won't be accepted into the program because of his grades.  I know he will be disappointed if this happens.  He wants so badly to have a mechanical engineering career and going to the technical school is the first step in making that happen.  Junior says they will let him in regardless of his grades, but I'm not too sure.  Besides, if he is struggling now, I think he needs more time in the classroom, not under the hood of a car.  But, if this is what he wants to do with his life, who am I to say he can't take advantage of this opportunity?  I'm so confused.  It's just so hard for me to understand why he isn't doing well, since I have never been in that situation.

Any advice for me?

Ryan's Boots

I went shopping today. I know, I must have had some screws loose, because the stores were packed!  Thankfully, most of the other shoppers appeared to be in just as good a mood as I was.  In fact, while waiting in line at one store, the woman in front of me kept up quite a conversation.  I say that because she hardly let me get a word in, but that was okay.  Listening to her passed the time a little quicker.

While in the store, Ryan and I had a little disagreement about what type of boots he should get.  The kid insists that he needs steel toe boots, and I disagree.  He picked out a pair of Wolverine Boots that were really nice, but I can't make him understand that steel toed boots are for working adults, not school aged kids.  In fact, I am pretty sure that in his school, boots like that would be considered a weapon.  

Now, as soon as he graduates, I'll be more than happy to buy him whatever type of boots he wants.  For now, though, he will have to settle for a soft toed boot.  I have no doubt that he will find a pair he loves.

Ryan's Birthday (CHEESE)Cake

Only my son would ask for cheesecake for his birthday!  I don't have a recipe for a home made one, (or the time yesterday) so I ended up making one of those no bake ones.  It was good, but nowhere near as good as the kind you bake.

Anyway, we got him the little mini radio he has been wanting.  Think MP3, only it only plays the radio.  He has an MP3, but he like to listen to the radio (rock station) on the bus, and his MP3 doesn't have a radio option like mine does.  I got tired of him asking to take mine to school every day, so when he found this little radio, I knew it would be perfect for him.  He also had fun spending all his birthday cash, though he didn't buy a swim nappy.  He bought clothes and soda.   Yes, you read that right.  He wanted camouflage pants, so he got those.  He bought the soda because I refuse to buy it for them unless it's a special occasion, so he figured if he bought them himself he could drink all he wanted.  Turns out, he drank so much he made himself sick. 

All in all, I think he had an awesome birthday.

For Ryan

Today is my oldest child's birthday.  He's 15.  Legally, he will be allowed to drive this year, thought I won't allow that to happen.  This is the year he will probably have his first girlfriend, thought I'm not sure I want that to happen, either.  He's growing up so fast...it seems like only yesterday that I found out I was expecting him. What a surprise that was!  He made me a mom, and I couldn't love him more.

Happy birthday Ryan!  I hope you have a wonderful year!

Three Shots

I took a lot of pictures before the party of the food and Brandi and I in our costumes.  During the party, I took, um, about ten pictures.  I was so busy enjoying myself, I forgot all about my camera.  As you can see in these three shots, the kids had as much fun as I did.

Here's Brandi, taking a swing at the pinata.

Here's Kasi, after bobbing for apples.

And my son, acting like a goober, as we were singing happy birthday to him.

Turns Out, He Was Just Kidding

Boys will be boys.  That's all I can say. 

Today in school, the kid decided that he wasn't going to fight Ryan unless Ryan threw the first punch.  That isn't going to happen.

So tonight, the kid sends Ryan a text saying that he was "just kidding" about all the stuff he wrote on FB and in his recent texts.  I don't believe him, and neither does Ryan, but my son has such a good heart, that he forgave the kid and they are going to hang out after school tomorrow.

I talked to the kid on the phone tonight, and told him that I didn't care how they talked to each other in school, I just never wanted to see that kind of language on Ryan's FB ever again.  There was a lot of yes, ma'am's, so I hope he got the message.

After all the stress this kid caused me this week, I really want to tell Ryan not to be friends with him anymore.  But, I know how hard it is to be a teenager, and i really want him to make his own decisions.  And this week, he has proven to me that he can make the right ones, so I am going to trust his judgement.

For now.

Here Comes A little Mini-Rant!

Ryan came home from school yesterday and asked my permission to fight one of his "friends".  I, of course, said no.

It all started a couple of weeks ago when one of Ryan's friends claimed to have slept with his girlfriend.  Ryan and another friend didn't believe him, so the kid told them to ask his girlfriend, so they did.  The kid was lying, and got mad at Ryan (not the other friend) for asking the girlfriend.

Following me so far?

That night, there were a bunch of public wall posts put on my son's FB by this kid, called him a red neck mother f**ker, a**hole, and a whole bunch of other language that was ticking me off.  So, I did what any mother would do (I think) and called the kid and left a message on his cell phone telling him to never use that language on my sons FB again or I would find a way to get in touch with his parents and let them know what he was doing. 

I know kids will have disagreements, and I wasn't getting involved in all of that.  I just don't like when kids use language on FB like that because Ryan is friends with his Grandparents and Aunts and stuff, and they don't need to see all that.

Now it has turned into this kid leaving threatening messages on Ryan's cell and on FB.  (I had Ryan de-friend him, but he is still saying things about Ryan on other friends walls)  Because the kid is threatening to "kick his a**" after school, Ryan went to the principal the other day about it, and they said they can't do anything because it's all on FB.

Are you freakin' kidding me?  Then this morning, I got an email from Ryan (he's at school) telling me to check his messages on FB, and sure enough, the kid is telling some of Ryan's other friends that he is talking about them, when he's not, and now there is another kid threatening him. 

I don't think fighting is the answer to anything.  Ever.  How do I get Ryan to understand this?  How do i teach him it is better to ignore it all and be the better person?

Who said raising boys was easy????

Another Halloween Themed Birthday Party

 It's almost that time of year again.  In a little over two months, Ryan will be turning 15.  Most days I can't believe I am old enough to have a child that old, but I guess I am.  Where have the last 20 or so years gone since high school?  It's crazy how fast time flies.

So, I asked Ryan the other day what he wanted to do for his birthday this year, and he said he wants to have another Halloween party.  You have no idea how happy this makes me!  For the past three years, he has had Halloween themed parties for his birthday.  Last year, after Halloween, I bought all kinds of Halloween Decorations when they went on clearance, so I have tons of new stuff to use.   I even have a pumpkin pinata.

My house is small, so I will probably set up the gazebo tents in the yard and string some lights on them, that way the boys can hang out outside.  I am hoping that this year Ryan will want to invite some girls.  I think he's getting to that age where having a boy/girl party is the thing to do.

Either way, I am looking forward to seeing how all the kids dress up.

My Stomach Hurt After This One

Ryan did a big old belly flop into the pool, and I just happened to have my camera ready to capture it.  I don't know how they can jump in like that!  Seriously, my stomach hurt just watching him.