A decade of Craig

Craig, my favorite middle child (sorry Cliff!), has turned 10. 

A whole decade. Can you believe it!?!

Craig got his first present all the way back in July, when the Mays came to town. 

Grammie May made him a quilt!

It's got rainbow cats and video games and science and... he loves it.

Now fast forward to present day...

Craig begged to go do laser tag for his birthday. We lucked out and had a couple of free game coupons, so we decided the entire family could go.

We had a blast. They randomly assign groups, and Craig, Kyler, and I were on the purple team, while Calista and Caleb were the green team. We (mostly Kyler) spent a lot of time shooting Caleb, and running around, laughing. The green team ended up winning

but Craig had the highest score on the purple team! Way to go, Craig! 

Of course, for his birthday, there were more presents. 

He got Lego, Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (the book, not the movie) and some hover balls.

They are fun, but dangerous! Especially for the videographer!

And, there was also cake. Obviously.

M&M cookie cake for my favorite 10-year-old.

The night before his birthday, I asked Craig for a hug. "It'll be my last ever Craig 9 hug!"

In the morning, he crawled into my bed and gave me a hug. "Your first ever Craig 10 hug! And there will be a lot more!"

Happy birthday, my little man. I love you.

First Day of School, 2023/2024!

First day of school! 

Grades 7, 5, and 2. 

Yup, that's right. Grade 7.

Junior high, can you believe it? Instead of her bus picking her up across the street, Calista now has to walk a couple of blocks. It's still not far, but it gives her some independence... and me some Mom-anxiety. 

Calista is ready for the challenge, though. And the challenge of a new school and switching classes with TWO-minute passing periods! 

I decided that, for the first day, I'd drive Calista to her bus stop and continue on and drive the boys to school. Their backpacks are so heavy that first day! So we got everyone in the car and headed the few blocks to Calista's bus stop. When we got there, I decided to check the bus delays app... and discovered her bus was 90 minutes late. Well, that's not going to work. Um, what can I do instead? It's too early to take the boys to school, and if I take Calista to school first, they'll be late. I decided to drop off the boys at their bus stop (early) and hope they didn't get into trouble, then run Calista to school.

Does this look like a face that would get into trouble at the bus stop?

Definitely not! Actually, he did really well. Being the oldest Rasmussen at the school means he's got some responsibility for his little brother that he didn't really have this year, and he's doing great.

He's sad summer's over, but happy school is starting again. Craig loves sharing his knowledge and trying to know more than his teachers. If he can correct their mistakes, even better!

Caleb was a bit of a wild card, but he waited with Craig at the bus stop very well (and I remembered that Kyler was working from home and so could run out and check on them, so I have a reliable source). 

Caleb started ADHD medication about a week before school starts, so I'm hoping that helps him be able to be successful and do awesome at school this year. 

Maybe he'll grow as much as "Piney" did over the summer!

All in all, a successful day. The morning didn't quite go as planned, but I got them all where they needed to be in the end.

Going back to school is exhausting.