9th Grade

A little trivia about the photo below ... Landon is super tan from a recent return from scout camp and several trips to local pools (the pink wristband is from Cowabunga Bay, which he went to with friends on Tuesday) ... notice the big, braces-free smile ... and look to the left, to see the "Grayson" ghost in the window ... a repeat of a similar photo from last year ...

While the Columbia Kids went back to school a couple weeks ago, back to school for Landon was a little later (yesterday). Continuing with the Blackham tradition, I caught Landon and had him hold up NINE fingers, to create a picture portrait of which grade he would be entering into ... here's a flash from the past ...

He's gotten big, hasn't he?

What will I do for 11th and 12th grade ...

He won't have enough fingers!

So Landon is still going to Elkridge Middle School ... this was actually in question as there was a boundary change, and our neighborhood/elementary school now flows into a different middle school. Rather than shifting schools his final year, we applied and were approved for a permit to still attend. However, now there is no bus, so getting to and from school is much more of a hassle, and several friends did not get permits turned in and were forced to change schools.

So here's hoping for a good year. There is Science, Geography, Algebra, Language Arts, Technology, Spanish, PE and Seminary. Landon is really good about getting up and ready on his own, which as a mom, I appreciate SO much. He's also pretty good about doing homework and such ... sometimes I wish he would ask for a little help (Mom was an editor for a publication a little bit back ... maybe she should read through your essay?)

Some miscellaneous memories from MY ninth grade year ... the high school was doing "Annie" as their school play, and they needed some younger kids for the orphans (I was almost too tall!). We had practice everyday after school (this really helped ease the transition to high school as I had made many friends there during the musical rehearsals). I was on the track team, running the 200, 400 and 800 relay. I took type, and got a B- (my lowest grade EVER) the very first quarter that grades counted cumulatively. I wrote a song for the Reflections contest and went to District with it. I also performed it at 9th grade promotion. My friends and I would sometimes bring cold cereal and milk for our lunch (we thought we were SO funny). I wonder what memories will be made for Landon?