I don't even know how to start this post. So much has happened. I thought about listing all the subjects that are dominant in our life right now... it would go something like this:
...Washington DC, Star of the Week, following directions, peeing in the potty, coordinating schedules, packing lunches, grocery shopping, laundry, doing homework, grading papers, mowing the lawn, need more underwear & socks, how in the world are their pants too short again, Roman needs a haircut, put some clothes on Charlie, we've got to watch that movie and send it back to Netflix, is the Crock-Pot clean so I can make tomorrow's dinner, don't forget to fill out the form....
I guess that gives you a good indication of life in our house right now! The above picture was our back-to-school portrait. While I would love to have those cool shots of the same pose at the same place every year, I also realize I'm the mother of boys. And I'm just happy they were willing to stop moving long enough to take a picture, never mind the where!
Roman is a busy 3rd grader whose homework level has increased noticeably this year. It's pretty creative too, which means Mom or Dad has to assist. Like he's the Star of the Week next week. While it's very cool for him, it requires a posterboard of pictures and a bunch of categories for him to write about (I see the sneakiness, teacher!). I predict it will take an hour between printing the pics, putting the board together, and getting him to sit to fill everything out. But he loves his class and is beginning to care about his handwriting... I could actually even read a recent story he wrote! Now if we could just get his spelling improved. He is not involved in any sports right now, mainly because Monday and Thursday evenings are taken with therapy or neurofeedback (NFB), and Tuesdays is when Doug does tang soo do. I want to sign him up for swim lessons, and our NFB will pause for about 6 weeks after Thanksgiving... so perhaps then. He has mentioned wanting to learn to skateboard & when we brought up learning an instrument, he mentioned wanting to play the guitar.
Charlie is a "busy bee" - that's the name of his room at preschool. There is an inordinate amount of boys in his class - 15 of the 21 kids. But he still talks about the same friends, Cooper & Venna, so I think he mostly sticks to himself and his close buds. They are beginning letter recognition and beginning writing - tracing lines and such. It's really cool to see what he can do. He did mention the other day that he wishes Cooper could see his toy cars. I think it's a matter of time before he has his first playdate. Charlie is super-good about using the bathroom now and has only had one accident since August, and that was during nap. Still in a diaper at night but who cares. Last week Doug took Char to "Tiny Tigers" tang soo do and he absolutely loved it - announced he wanted to go every day. We dug up Roman's old uniform and we'll try it again this coming week to see if the enthusiasm is still there.
Doug has put in his 90 days at his new job and really likes it. It's amazing to hear him talk in a positive way about the people he works with and the things he does. Even the irritants of the job don't bother him much. He gets good feedback and it's.... normal. He is a red belt now in tang soo do and in a couple more years will have his black belt, if everything goes well. I'm really proud of him for sticking to it and wanting to accomplish this. He didn't have a hobby or passion for awhile and I'm glad he's found one.
In another post I'll get deeper into my job, but suffice it to say it's been a very very very stressful & discombobulating start to the school year. Some of it because of my choices, most of it because of the state of Michigan's.... choices. I've imagined quitting before, but this was the first year I felt I could walk away and not have guilt. This was before I got to know my students though, and now I'm back on track. Mostly. I'm the head coordinator for the Washington, DC trip this year and it's a busy time - paperwork and deposits due, roommates and chaperones to figure out. As I've mentioned before, if only I could figure out how to NOT grade papers, life would be just about perfect.
As a family, Doug and I are trying to put together a better plan for leisure time in the coming months. Meaning, vacations! There has been talk of short getaways on both sides of our families which we would love. We also have decided that we want to go somewhere for Spring Break as a "true" vacation, not just a couple days in Cleveland (although we don't sneeze at that, either! Cleveland is awesome!). The frontrunner currently is the Smoky Mountains, complete with Dollywood, Gatlinburg, and hopefully Biltmore Estate. It stinks on my school schedule that we can't just go places when we want... we're stuck doing further-away places in the summer, or saving to fly there during Spring Break. This year is a car year.
Anyway... a nicely detailed slice of life for your reading pleasure. I hope it's not a month before I post again!
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