<p>You can also do fun stuff with customized candy bar wrappers, water bottle labels, little stickers with photos to go on mini peppermint patties, custom-printed m&ms, and that kind of thing. A photo mosaic picture of your senior, using lots of photos from their growing-up years! A little of that as a suprise to the honoree can be really fun.</p>
<p>Good News?? S got accepted to our local State U. It is a commuter school. I made him apply in a fit of anger after he got his lousy first quarter report card. I also had him apply to the main campus. We have been celebrating with sparkling grape juice when he receives his acceptances. I told him to not even bring up the grape juice when H gets home unless he wants to hear a rant from H about S poor sr year grades. 
</p>
<p>To date it looks like his best merit offers are from the schools he heard from last Oct/Nov. I just hope they don’t recind considering his mid year grades. He may get more merit from one more school he has already been accepted to, but it is unlikely that any of the schools sending out letters in March will give him merit. I would fall off my chair if they do considering how poorly he has done this year. oh well. He has choices, actually has some good choices so I won’t lament what could have been. sigh. I do envy those of you with motivated kids.</p>
<p>Mamom - I feel your pain. D’s first semester grades were good but she actually saw her first D ever when she got her mid-term exam grades back. I have always hated the fact that our school is off for 2 weeks @ Christmas and then comes back for the final two weeks of that semester. The kids just completely loet motivation and forget half of what they learned before the break. Not to cut her too much slack - she was just in a complete funk at the time and blew off studying for that exam. Luckily her overall grades were good and the exam is only 20% of the total but still…</p>
<p>She seems to be back on track with a renewed focus so maybe that was what she needed to get revved up for the final push.</p>
<p>mamom and proudmom: Your posts made me appreciate the fact that our district went to a revised calendar that ends the first semester before the winter break. That means we start school in mid-August (in a district where the buildings are not air conditioned) but it’s a huge help to the high school students. And we get out in mid-May, one of the nicest times of year weather-wise in the Midwest.</p>
<p>Not much to report just checking in.</p>
<p>I have decided this is the worst part-someone has abducted my son with a complete stranger.</p>
<p>I have fortunately busy with little D whose basketball team won the state middle school championship this week! Now though I can focus like a laser back on S. :)</p>
<p>There really is nothing to do but wait. He is so fixated on one school that until he hears from it he won’t even think about anything else-and between that and having to finish this stupid graduation portfolio, swim team finals and every other thing he is doing the college stuff and schoolwork is on the back-burner. He also has come home with his lowest grades ever although fortunately he held it together through midterms.</p>
<p>He is also back to being undecided about his major which makes trying to help him almost impossible.</p>
<p>In the end if this continues he will be going to the most affordable option next year-I am pretty patient and understanding but at this point my patience has again worn thin.</p>
<p>Veterans of this process tell me he is exactly where he is supposed to be and this is part of the separation process-if so it is working because I would gladly show him the door today if I could.</p>
<p>See why I haven’t posted lately? :(</p>
<p>For grad parties, these little favors are so cute and very easy to make. I use paper punches in three different sizes, but you can easily cut them yourself. Then just layer the squares, insert a gold brad in the center and add floss for the tassel. This is a photo I found of some, though not mine. I use floss in the school colors for the tassels on mine. Double sided tape works great for attaching the layered squares to the Rolos.</p>
<p>[Rolo</a> graduation caps by firequeen - Cards and Paper Crafts at Splitcoaststampers](<a href=“http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/941757?]Rolo”>http://www.splitcoaststampers.com/gallery/photo/941757?)</p>
<p>Only 6 weeks to go until Announcement Day (March 31st)</p>
<p>Ds has decided to enter the Mr. HS contest, running next week, like a typical pageant, with a talent portion, swimwear/sportwear and I think interview. Now, swimwear/sportwear poses an interesting dilemna - he is a bean pole with no athletic background competing against football, baseball hunks. So, he is either getting the band director to lend him his old drum major uniform which is all sparkly and such or he is getting the “Situation” costume parts so he can have a 6-pack. His talent? Well, 8 yrs of private lessons on alto sax, you would think…but no, he is going to dance techno. Had a photo shoot with aspiring HS photographer yesterday who is now plastering huge posters of his mug (doing a “zoolander” pose) all around campus.</p>
<p>Just thought you’d all enjoy a good laugh this morning.</p>
<p>LOL Pepper03. My oldest son too has been replaced by a complete stranger. I started a thread called “what is up with my son”.</p>
<p>Someone mentioned doing a photo slide show. If you have a PC, the best software I have worked with (and I’ve worked with A LOT) is going to be ProShow Gold by Photodex. Last I saw it ran about $70. Well worth it. User friendly, very flexible, add your own music, titles, motion, transitions, images and video files, etc. I’ve used it for about five years now and have been very, very happy with it. Photodex has other products that have a few other features and run closer to $250. I’ve worked with that as well. For the few bells and whistles it is really not worth the extra money (and this is coming from a gadget and software snob!). If you do decide to go with Photodex, I’d recommend paying the extra $10 to have an install disc sent to you, in addition to the digital download. I’ve had a computer flat out die on me and was very glad to be able to easily reinstall the software. Yes, I could have contacted the company, given them my registration code after hunting through several years of email…but this was much easier!!</p>
<p>Pepper and Jenner, my son is completely impossible and irrational. Tuesday he refused to go to school… felt like we were back in kindergarden days. Just think, though, independence is right around the corner, everyone will breathe easier…</p>
<p>amanda: Our son was also in the Mr. HS pageant last fall. It’s a benefit for the Show Choir here. He was Mr. Latin Club. For the swim suit competition, he wore board shorts, a lifejacket and snorkeling mask and fins.</p>
<p>Our competition also has evening gown and school spirit competition. And lip synch replaces talent.</p>
<p>Enjoy it! We had such a great time that night! The winner was the only male cheerleader. Go figure!</p>
<p>Another graduation cap idea: this one is completely edible. Miniature Reese’s peanut butter cup upside down. Then an Andes mint atttached to it, using chocolate icing as the glue. The tassel is made from fruit roll-ups or fruit by the foot, cut in strips and then clipped to make the fringe.</p>
<p>If your school color is red, this is easy to do because so many fruit rollup products are red. Our color is blue, so I had to buy a bunch of boxes of assorted flavors to get enough of the blue raspberry rollups. Did these for our older son’s party and the kids loved them. I’m sure I will do them again this year.</p>
<p>Our older son wanted his party to have all the foods I used to put in his lunchbox. So, we made Rice Krispie treats and decorated them with his intials or the school initials and the year in blue icing. Brownies. Cheese, cold cuts and jello jigglers cut into letters of the alphabet. (Plus some grownup stuff like his dad’s awesome guacamole, my homemade salsa, etc.)</p>
<p>No sheet cake! That’s been the primary request from both boys.</p>
<p>For those of you having a bigger party for boys, you could go to a baker and ask to look at their ‘groom’s cake’ book. They do mascots, cars, action figures…all sorts of stuff these days. No sheet cakes! </p>
<p>I just found out that one of my d’s schools doesn’t announce until April 1st…</p>
<p>Our student is too focused for me to get much time to know whats up…
today–3 math tests, AP Calc BC, AP Stat, Ap Comp Sci…</p>
<p>though social life has picked up after semester exams…hummm.</p>
<p>occassionaly kiddo joins me ( and my still casted limb) on the couch ! haha
:rolleyes:</p>
<p>My sympathies to those whose children have been replaced by aliens. We went through something like this sophomore year with my daughter, and I’m happy to report that my real child has finally returned. She was fortunate to be accepted to college ED, so she’s pretty relaxed and happy these days. Hang in there.</p>
<p>I am interested to hear what others are doing for graduation parties. I had always thought we would delay my daughter’s party and do a combo send - off and birthday party, since her birthday is right before she will leave. We thought we would avoid the crush of graduation parties in May/June, yet still celebrate. Well, now she wants a graduation party. From what I have seen, there are not as many parties at her school as there were at my son’s school. And it seems like they are mostly group parties also, a bunch of kids from the same middle school have their parties together. Graduation is on a Wednesday, so I am thinking of doing something Sunday afternoon. What is everyone else planning?</p>
<p>Fishymom,</p>
<p>We may do a casual dinner the day of the graduation: Grilling, and the like. This would be for her and her friends. The week after we will have a smaller family celebration. Nothing fancy, just to mark the event. And a place for the students to recap, reminise cry some more</p>
<p>Hi all,
Forgive me…I know I should have this info, and could find it in a million places, but I’m in a terrible rush and (as you know) the finaid monster is my phobia.</p>
<p>So…March first: is that the deadline by which I have to have FAFSA filed with FINAL 2010 tax numbers. Or estimated numbers, and then I have until April 15 to supply the final ones? </p>
<p>Sorry for my months of procrastination, avoidance behavior and head-in-the-sand denseness on this. It is an area that is painfully difficult for me, that’s my only excuse, and not a good one, I know.</p>
<p>My Senior has had his ED admission in pocket since Dec 15th… and made me <em>crazy</em> with his lax approach to studies during second quarter. He’s back on track to finish strong in the 2nd semester… has submitted a handful of scholarship apps, and has lined up a summer job groundskeeping at the local golf course, which won’t begin until the snow pack melts, and the links open again…so late April? </p>
<p>We just need to get through the distraction of rugby season this spring, before the last day of class, which is slated for May 6th. Haven’t thought about a graduation party yet. Last year he was attending grad parties of older friends/teammates pretty much every weekend from early May, straight through August. Way overdone here… IMO. We will probably just do a small family party.</p>