Getting Caught Up: End of May 2012 Happenings

Jack's Chess Club Tournament / X's Kindergarten Graduation / A's School Picnic / A's Play Date with "Little Jack" / Alex Comes to Visit / Scouts Swimming Party

Tuesday, May 22 - Jack is the new Chess Club coach for Apollo Junior High (AJH). He voluntarily took this on in April. After school today, the Chess Club had its first tournament since 2002 (when it disbanded after the current coach, Bill Devins, left). In 2002 the Apollo Team won the U.S. Open Chess Championship - Under 15 Division. We have a 5 foot trophy in the robotics classroom to prove it.

Mr. Devins was not an Apollo teacher, but rather a nearby, local townsperson who at one time had a son at AJH. Jack decided to revive it after observing the "Chess Club" playing in the newly-created after-school, federally funded "PACE" program (called Panther After School Nation). PACE consists of one, hour-long program in the morning that Jack runs out of his classroom ("Before the Bell" - a homework help center for kids who arrive early to school) and two after school classes that change each day and run until 6:00 PM. Jack is the "School Liaison" for both and answers to a full-time PACE administrator. This is a nice extra-duty pay throughout most of the school year for Jack. The morning program meets daily and the after school program meets Monday through Thursday. X is enrolled in a PACE program every afternoon at his school, though he only gets to go a few times a week due to his busy schedule. If it were up to X, he would go every afternoon because he enjoys the socialization and fun programs.

Since the PACE after school program is divided into roughly six-week sessions (following the school calendar) with a series of once-a-week programs, the Chess Club had a bunch of students who had picked it for one of their one-hour session on Tuesday. There were about 8 kids, most of who had never played chess and no one who seemed to know all the rules.Jack decided to take this on as a morning project during the morning "Before the Bell" in order to increase the morning enrollment. The federal grant that funds the after school program pays a certain amount based on enrollment and Apollo's contract stipulates that they need 100 kids to attend at least 30 distinct days over the course of a year - not quite as easy as it sounds for a new program.

Jack decided to seek out Bill Devins and revive the old Chess Club and wanted to make it once again the powerhouse that it once had been. Mr. Devins was excited to get back to his son's Alma Matter and eagerly agreed to voluntarily coach most mornings from 7:00 until school starts at 8:30. After officially making it the Apollo Chess Club and transferring a small amount of funds from Jack's defunct AJH Robotics Club (there is a long story about that, but won't be discussed), the new Apollo Chess Club officially started in late April 2012. The Apollo Chess Club bought 15 tournament-level chess sets and other things that support the club.

The tournament today had 14 students and went very well. Jack and Mr. Devins are both eager to see what can happen in the 2012 - 2013 school year with an active club that meets daily. Mr. Devins predicts the club will do well since most clubs just meet weekly at the most. Things are already underway to schedule tournaments between schools and enter contests at the regional and state level.

Thursday, May 24 - X graduates from Kindergarten with a nice ceremony where his class sings a few songs. He, like all of Team Nelson, are very happy!

Immediately after graduation Jack attended a cub scout adult leader meeting and found all about Twilight (Scout) Camp for X.

Friday, May 25 - A had a school picnic. This was a big deal for A. He and Melinda had a great time.

Saturday, May 26 - X had a second birthday at Nanny's house where longtime family friends came and celebrated for the day in Nacogdoches. X and A loved driving around battery-powered cars in Nanny's driveway, eating custom-made donuts from Nanny's donut shop and, of course, playing with Nanny!

Tuesday, May 29 - A had a fun playdate with his school friend, "little Jack." Melinda and Little Jack's mom set this up a few weeks back in anticipation of the end of A's school for the season. "Little Jack" (as A refers to him to distinguish from "Daddy" who Melinda still calls "Jack" sometimes) lives nearby and coincidentally is adopted. Having a nearby adoptive mother gives Melinda another sounding board. Melinda plans to meet with Little Jack and his mother several more times this Summer.

Wednesday, May 30 - Alex, Jack's oldest son, came up to visit for a few days. A and X always love to play with their "brothers" and Alex and Erich love playing with them! A and X take a lot of pride in telling others about their older brothers and have long since considered them as such. In just a few more months, they will all legally be siblings.

Oddly enough, A and X will have their birth certificates and social security cards changed actually showing Melinda and Jack as the parents (that is how the law works). Legally speaking, it will look as if Melinda gave birth to them. At that time, the State of Texas will completely and forever wipe out the kids original records of birth. We assume this goes back to the days where "closed adoption" (no contact with bio-parents) was common and often kept a secret from the children. Legally speaking, in Texas ALL adoptions are "closed adoptions." The State of Texas does not and has never recognize "open adoption" and the kids become part of our family free and clear of all prior agreements. The agreement that we signed last December that we worried about when negotiating the parental rights becomes unenforceable the day we adopt. That being said, we have chosen to keep in contact with X's and A's biological mother and her family as well as A's biological father and will continue to do so as long as it is healthy for the kids. There is a great deal of science that indicates that post-adoption bio-parent contact is beneficial to the children's sense of identity. Additionally, Federico and Liliana, X and A's biological cousins, and "Grandma Bonnie" are close to X and A and will likely remain a very important part of their lives. Our philosophy has been from the start and still remains that the kids cannot have "too much love" in their lives and as long as the visitations remain positive for the kids and stay infrequent (as strongly advised by X and A's psychologist and every single expert we have talked to) to allow and maintain proper bonding with our family, we foresee continued visitations for their entire childhood. We also intend to keep this blog and our private Shutterfly (online photos) available for the bio-family to access. While still maintaining the privacy that the kids and our family needs, we feel it is important for the bio-family to know that the kids are happy and well taken care of. These notes and pictures also serve as talking points for the bio-family to use when discussing with X and A  what is happening in the kids' lives. Again, there can't be too much love for X and A!

Thursday, May 31 - "Scouts Swimming Party #1" (of four throughout the Summer). X had fun swimming and meeting the scouts of his new pack while Jack helped prepare the burgers and hot dogs. Meanwhile, A and Melinda went out for a special treat.

Tomorrow Alex will catch a ride back to his home in Houston with us (for Melinda's nephew's high school graduation). It is hard to believe that Chance is graduating.  The boys are looking forward to spending time with Aunt Patti and Uncle Gary as well.

Yes, May was a very busy month for Team Nelson and the Summer is all lined up to be busy and very exciting as well!