You Better Run

So Kevin is now in high school – wow, I’m so old – and after his first two weeks, he decided he wanted to participate in sports. Specifically, he wants to join the cross-country team.

I was very excited to hear this, because he’s going to my high school, where I ran cross-country and track for four years. I was a pretty average runner, but I loved doing it.

Kevin’s first practice was Friday – the coach doesn’t rush freshmen into the fire so early – and I sincerely hope he likes it. Like all my kids, they have a rule; if you start something, you finish it. It you join a team, you finish the season, and if you don’t want to do it again, that’s fine.

Kevin is already in great shape thanks to Krav maga, so I think he’ll do well.

Kevin’s first two runs were around the soccer field, which he did in one minute and fifty seconds. The second was running around the outside of the high school. You can see his route below in yellow. It took him… three minutes and thirty seconds. His coach said that was a very good time.

There’s more below the fold…

Off To College

Yesterday, Mrs. Earp drove this formerly little kid to Alvernia University for the weekend’s student orientation. They set up Erik’s dorm and got everything settled, and classes begin on Monday. Erik, for his part, is excited about his schedule, because he has no classes on Fridays.

I am more than certain he will do well at Alvernia, as Erik has always earned good grades.

Yesterday was a mixed bag for me, because I was scheduled to work, and since we are so short on manpower, I couldn’t take the day off. I explained to Erik why I couldn’t be with him on his first day, and he seemed to understand, but the fact of the matter is this job keeps me away from my family.

When I walked into work on Friday morning, Salam Hayek said, “You should have gone and taken the day off.” That’s great in theory, but with two detectives on vacation, one out sick, and Diego in court, we had three people in the building.

It took me quite a while to realize how terrible this job has become, and how often I was never there for my kids’ events. I don’t know if they resent me for that, but I’m sure they were occasionally upset with me and this job.

I do my best to get off for the larger events, but there are times I cannot make it happen. I missed most of Julia’s music recitals, missed more than a few of Kyle and Erik’s lacrosse games, and family get-togethers. Hell, I haven’t been to a Thanksgiving in years.

I hope Erik doesn’t resent me for not being there yesterday, and I wish I was a better parent.

Here Are Julia’s Recital Performances

So I mentioned Princess P’s recital last week, where she did a tap dance number and a lyrical dance. Julia did both performances Thursday night, then lyrical on Friday night, and tap again on Saturday night. Mrs. Earp got both performances on tape – relax we already bought the DVD for the recitals.

I know weekends aren’t big draws for readers, but I figured you may want to see the Princess dancing. She did very well…

Dance Fever

So after months of taking Princess P to dance lessons, the season ended last night with her recital.

This year, Julia decided to do lyrical and tap, which made me happy because my mother tap danced for most of her life.

Julia did tap with three other dancers. A boy, who is pretty great at it, and two girls, who wanted nothing to do with it. The two girls – sisters – mostly screwed around during practice, and the older one was usually looking at her phone during classes. The younger sister at least tried, but not very hard.

The odd thing was none of the other three bothered to go to picture day, so Princess P’s “group photo” was her. No one else.

The good news is the recital went off without a hitch, and I was able to see both dances since my supervisor let me take a few vacation hours to see it. I think she was better at tap, but her lyrical performance was very good.

Julia is think if trying something new next season. She will still take tap, but she wants to do Hip Hop instead of lyrical. I’m always surprised how she can juggle everything between dancing twice a week, karate twice a week, teaching herself to play the guitar, and band practice during school.

As always, I’m always very proud of her.

Princess P Does It Again

Julia’s last day of seventh grade finished Friday, but before the students were dismissed, her school gave out awards for academic excellence throughout all the grades.

We were given a heads up a few days before the ceremony, and were told Julia was getting an award. Julia, like Kevin, is in the Math Matters program, which is effectively advanced math.

Julia thought she may get the social studies award, because she was doing so well. She was surprised when she won the Math Matters award, despite the fact she was running a score of 99 in the class.

Since Julia’s grades were fantastic this year, she was also invited to submit an essay for the Neumann Scholarship. The winners get a free ride to any Philadelphia Archdiocesan Catholic high school.

As always, I’m so very proud of Julia and her academics. I know she didn’t get her smarts from me.

It’s Graduation Day

Well, today will be a very busy day.

Two of my sons will be graduating today; Erik will be graduating from high school at 10am, and Kevin will be graduating from elementary school at 7pm. You wouldn’t think graduations would be set on the same day, but at least the ceremonies are spread apart.

Erik will be attending Alvernia University in the fall, and Kevin will be attending Archbishop Ryan High School – my and Mrs. Earp’s Alma mater. It’s a big day at the Earp Ranch, so I’m not sure I’ll be around much today. I will have posts set up today, however.

It’s Alvernia!

Well, after many college visits, meetings with lacrosse coaches, and researching schools, Erik has decided to commit to Alvernia University in Reading, PA.

Erik applied to many colleges – Alderson Broaddus (WV), Alvernia (PA), Arcadia (PA), Bryn Athyn (PA), Mississippi State, and Wilkes (PA) – and was accepted by every school, mostly because his grades have always been very high. We didn’t visit Mississippi State or Wilkes, but visited every other school. Arcadia was close by, but everyone there used their personal pronouns. That was a deal-breaker for him. Alderson was a little too far for him, and it came down to Bryn Athyn and Alvernia.

In the end, Erik wanted to go away to school, so Alvernia was the best choice. The university is only an hour and a half away from home, so we can get him if he wants to come home for the weekend. We both loved the campus and the atmosphere there, and hopefully he’ll have a much better college experience than Kyle had.

Another Road Trip

Today Erik and I are hitting the open road. We’re visiting Alvernia University in Reading, PA, to attend the “Accepted Students Day” where we’ll tour the school and see what they have to offer. Erik has applied to a handful of schools – Alderson Broaddus, Transylvania, Wilkes, Arcadia, Alvernia, and Bryn Athyn College, and has been accepted to every one.

Since it’s getting late in the game, we’re running around to the schools he hasn’t seen. Today, it’s Alvernia, and tomorrow it’s Arcadia, which is only about a twenty-minute drive.

Hopefully, Erik will make his decision soon, and maybe we’ll be able to talk to the lacrosse coaches of these schools while we’re there. I’ll have posts up all weekend, but I’m not sure how often I’ll be on.

Wish us luck!

Little Drummer Girl

This story is a little old, as we received the invitation in December, but we didn’t want to post about it until we were sure Princess P was selected. Julia has been playing for her elementary school band for three yeas now. She is a drummer, following in the footsteps of Erik, was also played the drums.

In December, we received this email from Princess P’s band teacher, and thought it was great news.

Good morning,

I am reaching out to see if Julia would be interested in joining the 2022 Northeastern Honor Band. Julia is an exceptional musician and leader, so I think she would do very well in this ensemble.

This year, the teachers are simply nominating students instead of a formal audition process. However, we cannot guarantee that all students who are nominated will be admitted. Participating in this honor band includes a registration fee of $25, three rehearsals, and the final concert in Springfield, PA. If you are not able to attend all the rehearsals and the concert, you cannot participate in this ensemble. I have listed more information below this email.

Please let me know if Julia would be interested and able to participate in this honor band! My nominations are due December 23rd, so you have plenty of time to decide.

Have a great day,
Mr. Roberts

Princess P jumped at the chance to participate, even after the Archdiocese changed the event to a virtual concert. Julia will record her drumming and it will be combined with the music of the other band members. This is the second time she was nominated, and she had a great time previously.

The girl has a lot of talent – dance, art, music – and I have no idea where she gets it.

Happy Birthday Kevin!

Today is my youngest son’s 14th birthday.

Kevin has always been a fairly brilliant kid. When he was a toddler, he went into Mrs. Earp’s Facebook site, wrote and posted the word, “poop,” and sent it to her followers. Around the same time, he was messing with the computer, and changed the volume button to read “Kevin.” It took me quite a while to find out how the change it back.

Kevin really likes reading – especially Reader’s Digest – and watches a lot of YouTube. Some of it is stupid stuff, but most of his viewing has to do with computers. It there is something wrong with our computer, the boy can fix it – quickly and efficiently.

As I posted before, he was accepted to a suburban prep school, but he decided to go to a Philly Catholic school instead, because they gave him a $28,000 scholarship – $7,000 for each year. I think all my kids are intelligent, and they are, but Kevin is just a notch higher than the others. I’m sure he’ll crush high school, and it he decides to go to college, he’ll probably crush that, too.

Happy birthday, Kevin. We love you.