Overdue

Well I know that an update is long overdue on here!

Life is busier than ever, and some days I wonder why I still bother to keep up with this blog.

(The free stuff may have a little something to do with it!)

I do have some positive updates about the girls that I wanted to share on here.

Brie is maturing each week.  She has a beautiful personality and more often than not she thinks of other people (namely her little sister) before herself.  She is gentle and kind, and very generous.

Of course we know how intelligent she is.  After all, she began reading one month after she turned 4.  She has been reading for almost 3 years already, well ahead of the average age for new readers.  She already reads entire chapter books on her own.

So when her teacher started sending reading homework home, we knew that it was going to be fairly boring for her (one sentence on a page).  John spoke with her teacher and immediately the next day she was bringing home larger books, but still not something that would give her any type of challenge.

Just this past week she brought home a keyring that had some words that the kids were supposed to memorize.  They were two-letter words, such as 'an, in, on, or'.  It was attached with a newsletter that said to send back the keyring when the child could read all of the words on it.  Well obviously she already knew them, but she did not want to tell her teacher that since "they weren't supposed to bring them back yet".  We strongly encouraged her to read them to her teacher for several days, but Brie was very hesitant to say anything at all.  However, finally yesterday she did it!  And she read the other keyrings that were supposed to be sent home for the remainder of the year as well!!

As a reward, she got a new chapter book and a little keychain that says "Reading Rocks", from her teacher.  I am excited to know that her teacher finally GETS how good of a reader she is already.

Another great thing about yesterday?

It was the very first day, since school started in August, that she ran out to the playground by herself when we dropped her off.

Both of these situations show me how much she has matured.  She is most often a painfully shy kid who does not like to be alone or draw attention to herself.  She somehow managed to conquer both of those in one single day!!

As for Ella, well her Pre-K teacher said it best:

"She is the Belle of the Ball!"

She loves making new friends and having a good time wherever she is.  So everyone wants to be with her and have fun too!

She is loving school and dance, and now she has begun piano as well.  She is in the Music for Young Children (MYC) program, which seems to be a lot of fun so far.  Even Brie has enjoyed participating in the group activities.




What about me?

Things are going well.  I'm trying to get adjusted to another type of class, as I am taking three this semester through AU.  These courses are all "independent study" which means I am entirely on my own for learning the material.  There is nothing to read but the textbooks.  So it will be a new type of challenge, but I'm hoping that it also provides a bit more flexibility in how I get through the semester.

It also appears that the U of R will also be offering the English class that I need in order to actually apply to the Social Work program.  I have enough credits now, I have just been waiting for this last pre-requisite to be offered somewhere!  This class will begin in January.  The deadline for Social Work is also January.  This means that I could apply under the assumption that I would pass that course.

I'm excited at the prospect of actually being in the SW program, but I'm also nervous about the application as it's fairly detailed with regards to work and volunteer experience, and how this relates to a career in SW.  I'm also trying to find ways to get involved already in our new town so that my volunteer experiences are current.  I have submitted my name at the elementary school for anything, but I'm also hoping to get involved in our church somehow.

John has been busy with renovations around the house.  He has completed the improvements on both main floor bathrooms; with new flooring, new cabinets and some paint.

We are also putting up a garage in the very near future, which we are both excited about.  Our concrete should be getting poured on Monday, and our materials are coming on Friday.  This is the third house that we have lived in, and this will be our very first garage.  It will be sooooo nice to get rid of the tools, camping stuff, and other miscellaneous clutter in the house and shed.

Well I think that kind of gets us up to date.

For now, anyways!