Well, the last few weeks of summer zoomed right by - as is to be expected! Once the kids were in school I had my preschool open house and got a few loose ends wrapped up. I've got 3 classes this year: a 4 yo am class with 8 kids, a 4 yo pm class with 7 kids and a 3 yo class with 6 kids. Brookelyn goes to both 4 yo classes (she likes her friends just a little). I originally hadn't intended to teach a PM class but ended up with 14 kids on the roster and was like, yeah, not teaching 14 4 yo's at one time! We started preschool after Labor Day. It's been a bit insane to say the least. I canceled one day this week because the storm was so horrendous that I was worried we would lose power during the day and I didn't want 8 4 yo kids there with the thunder shaking the house and the power off. I knew if they were anything like Brooke that it could be completely traumatic for them. Fortunatley the power never went out so now I know that even when it seems super ugly outside we should still be fine to carry on in the lights inside!
Brookelyn started back to speech the first full week of school for the school district. She goes on Tuesdays from 12:30-1 and on Fridays from 9-10:30. She is loving it - just like last year. Teacher Angie is great with her and she is progressing so quickly! Hopefully she won't need services through her entire elementary school career!
Nash & Caleb are both in robotics at school this year. Caleb also BEGGED to sign up for choir. Choir is BEFORE school once a week. This means he has to be at the school no later than 8:05 am on Tuesdays. He is LOVING it. Both boys are working with the school counselor this year. Last year I just had Caleb working with her on some anger issues but after a few bullying incidents with Nash last year I wanted him to work with her as well. I worry that somone is eventually going to push Nash too far and he's going to knock their lights out (which they will have coming and fully deserve), however, I know it will also land him in a heap of trouble - so, we are trying to prevent it. Normally Robotics Club is just for the 4th and 5th graders. However, seeing how completely anti social Caleb is (another skill he is working on with the school counselor) I wanted to see if it would help him integrate into the school setting a little better. Mr. Hawkes (Nash's teacher & the Robotics Club advisor) was more than willing to let us give it a chance. And, so far, so good.
Samantha hasn't been involved in much at school - just keeping in touch with friends. But, that's ok. She's dancing about 7 hours a week. She has a ballet class for an hour and a half on Mondays. She dances for 4 hours straight on Wednesdays (her competitive class, a leaps and turns class & a tap class), and an hour and a half on Thursdays for her pre pointe ballet class & her hip hop class. She's staying busy enough with all of that! She has a dance convention on the 25-26 of September down in Provo that she's looking forward to as well. Should be interesting as I get to take all three of the other kids and we tag along. I believe that Friday afternoon the kids will get to swim at the hotel pool until they are completely water logged!
All three kids are still taking piano lessons. We had to find a new teacher since Austin left for college. The kids started with Rowena on Sept. 1. I asked Nash how he liked it after his first lesson and his comment was, "It was good. Except...she's really, REALLY particular about timing." Ha! The kid has always struggled with keeping a steady beat so I'm not surprised that this is what stood out to him. I conpared it to being the lead drummer in marching band (or any band) and how if he's off the whole rest of the band is off. I told him that when you are in marching band the judges know you're music and they are listening to all aspects of it so if the lead drummer is off and gets the whole band off then the judges will dock points. I asked how he would feel if he was responsible for getting the entire band docked points. It was at this point that the purpose of timing sunk into his head! He's getting there! He's got a metronone app on my phone and he's started counting his beats out loud while he plays so I am starting to see steady improvement. They will be having a Halloween recital on Oct. 30th. Sam's learning Addams Family theme song for this. I told her if she nails it I'll record it to use with the preschoolers for our Days of the Week song!
Travis said they are expecting snow in Alaska now. Could be a long cold season for the guy seeing how much he loves the cold weather! He's headed off shore next week to do a job. I think that makes him happy - he likes the helicopter rides and he hasn't been off shore in quite awhile. He's getting ready to go hunting when he comes home as well. The boys are hoping to be able to go with him on this trip but I don't know if that's going to happen this year or not. We'll see when it's a bit closer!
The weather has gotten quite a bit colder here so Fall is for sure right around the corner. I've been working on Halloween costumes and have Brooke's all done. I've got mine started and have the costume for Travis cut out. Sam's will be last this year as it's going to be my most challenging one to complete. Nash & Caleb don't need me to make anything but we've got to gather lots of pieces! Hope we can find them all before it's too late!
Hope you are all having a great day!
