Wednesday, July 3, 2013

Oops....It's been a while.....

Wow!  Really, a year since I've last posted.
Well, I'll try to sum it up quickly.  
Kindergarten was kind to Seth.  His teacher was fantastic with him and he had a great year.
Rachel finished 2nd grade and after a rocky start to the year, and switching teachers, we found the right combination and she also had a great year.  Her Asperger's is a double-edged sword.  We get one thing figured out with her and another surfaces.  The gap between her and other 8-year-old girls is getting bigger, which is both a blessing and a curse, but she still has a couple of girlfriends that will play "dogs" at recess.
Brittany had an awesome year in 3rd grade.  She had a teacher who knew she needed some challenges and gave them to her without overwhelming her.  Next year she's going to be in the TAG program, so that should help with the boredom.  She continued piano lessons with me and is advancing really well.
Mike had all the "1sts" to go through without his dad this year.  We just got through the 1st anniversary of his death.  I think they all handled it well, but it was still hard.  His mother is doing really well and keeps herself very busy.
As for me, I don't want to sound like I'm bragging, but I think I had my best year at school ever.  I picked up 5th grade beginning band this year, which added more stress and busyness to my schedule, but I think it made me focus more.  I had a band of 56 at the beginning of the year which is HUGE!  By the end of the year I was only down to 48, so I didn't lose many at semester, which is quite something.  I had an amazing class to break me into that responsibility and loved it.
As for church, I became even more involved in the Sunday School program by becoming a member of the Children's Education Board.  I was given freedom to choose what I wanted for music and it turned out very well.  With the help of all the other Sunday School teachers, we tackled an amazing Christmas program for the church and it was so much fun.  I had my 5-year-old boys be sheep with home-made cotton-balled t-shirts.  Their "wool" had molted all over the sanctuary by the end of the program.  They were kind of the highlight.
Now that the school-year has ended we're wrapped up in summer events.  We just finished T-ball with Seth and Softball with the girls.  Seth had really improved by the end of the season, so it will be interesting to see how much he grows next year.  The girls did softball this year and it was a very long season.  I won't go into detail, but we're glad to be done.
We're getting ready to go on our first vacation of the summer soon with just a little trip to the Omaha zoo for 2 days.  It's a fairly close excursion and the zoo should keep us entertained.
Later this summer all 3 kids will be at church camp for 2 nights and 3 days and Mike and I are going back to Omaha for a getaway.  The stars should align like this every 3 years that they will all be in the same camp, so we have to take advantage of it.  
In August, Rachel gets to go to Camp Courageous for a week all by herself.  This is a camp for special needs children only, and she is very excited to be with kids like her and get to do the amazing things that are on their website, such as zip-lining, ropes course, hikes, archery, etc....  We're planning on doing some fun things with Brittany and Seth while she's gone.
Well, I think that gives a little glimpse of what's happened in our lives.  I'm sure I missed a lot, but you don't want to hear about it.
I'll leave you with a couple of projects from the class I'm taking this summer.  Some new pics and a video.