Levi at 15

[My new year blog posting goals were foiled by a failed hard drive on the evening of January 1st. All my photos and half-written blog posts were lost and they are gone until we get good news from the recovery company. I’ve been regularly active on my Facebook page, so you can always find me there.]

Levi, my eldest, turned 15 on January 1st.

He was 5 when I started writing here at Mt. Hope Chronicles. [You can find links to pictures and descriptions of him at various ages here.] I always think he’s pretty indescribable until I re-read the description of an ENFP, which is in all honesty an exact description. If I had to sum him up in one word, it would probably be drama. [grin]

What’s Levi up to now?

He is still homeschooling (I use that term loosely) for his first year of high school. He attends our local Classical Conversations Challenge I program, studying algebra, Latin, physical science, American literature and persuasive writing, American documents, economics, policy debate, Shakespeare, and music theory with a group of 11 other students and a fantastic tutor. (Shakespeare and Latin are his favorites; math is his nemesis.) They meet one day each week for presentation, discussion, and science labs. He spends much of the rest of the week studying at his friend McKinnon’s house (with McKinnon’s mom, my best friend Char, teaching and supervising). We’ve found this works better than having him stay at home and butt heads with his mother and younger siblings. It gives him some much-needed space and extroverted time outside the house. He will also be taking an online literature class (Tolkien) with James Nance at Roman Roads (he loves Tokien) this semester as well as attending a 4-day Teen Pact leadership camp over spring break (which he is not at all thrilled about).

Levi’s greatest love—other than writing, drawing, and online role playing—is swimming. This is his first year swimming with the local high school team. It has been time and energy-consuming, but he loves being on the team and swimming for coaches other than his dad (though he’ll return to the YMCA club team that his dad coaches in the high school off-season). He was particularly thrilled to ride a school bus for the first time in his life (to and from swim meets).

Levi’s greatest aspiration at this point in his life is to become a lifeguard. To that end, he will be completing his lifeguard training in two weeks and then will be eligible to apply for a lifeguarding position at the Y. A job will have to wait until his school year is over in May, however, because he has no time left in his schedule! [Right now his plan for his future life is to work as a lifeguard and to live in his car.]

Orthodontics are now in the past (as of yesterday) and a driver’s permit is in his near future. He is eligible and has the study manual; he just needs to study it and pass the test (he is surprisingly reluctant to begin driving). Driver’s Ed will also have to wait until this summer. He attended his first formal in December with a friend.

He can still argue with a fence post and dazzle people with his verbosity. His eyes are still vivid blue, but he has lost his baby face. His hair is shaggy. He looks down on me from his towering six-foot height. His shoulders are broad and his waist narrow. His voice is now low and sonorous. He is constantly drawing on himself with his plethora of Sharpie pens and often looks like he is sporting a full sleeve of tattoos.

His favorite song is “I See Fire” from The Hobbit (which is my favorite song to hear him singing in his low voice). His favorite current movie is Assassin’s Creed. 

 

And that’s my Levi.