Wow- another whole month has gone by since I have actually updated. Time flies when your having fun- wait...was I having fun? Anywho... Let's see what has been going on at the Happy Chaos abode this past month?
Charlie -The end of February/beginning of March found Charlie cramming in many extra choir rehearsals as they neared their large Handel's Messiah concert March 8th. They do a big concert every year with a whole orchestra and everything- quite the production and I'm glad it went well. It is something he enjoys and while I selfishly dislike the Wednesday evening rehearsals- I'm glad he goes.
-He has heard from the ETEP program at USM and he is in! This is a program that gives him tons of in-class experience and allows him to be just a few credits shy of a masters degree in teaching. Presently he has a teaching certificate but no teaching degree (just his BA in History and his MS in Communications) so this will make him more desirable to hire. He is accepting which means another 9 months of him out of work- but then hopefully he will be hired and in a job he will enjoy. Plus the schedule will be great as our children get more into their school years. No more scrabbling for daycare or babysitting during school breaks.
Erica -I enjoyed a fun and relaxing weekend (Fri-Sun) crop with friends at the beginning of March. Didn't get as many pages as I had hoped, but still accomplished 11 pages and 3 cards. Plus laughed with friends and just de-stressed some.
-The week following that was vacation for me- really a stay-cation as not a lot of money to go anywhere. Spent most of it sorting through the tons of outgrown clothes. I am so thankful to have family and friends hand down some wonderful clothes- it will be a life safer this next year not having to buy a lot of clothing. So I sorted clothes into piles- save for our children, to hand down to others, sell on ebay or consignment, or give to our church or Goodwill. Also re-organized the children's closets to prepare for some warmer weather (it has to come sometime!)
-During vacation I also renewed my drivers license- why do they always come out horrible and you only get to choose from 2
and the first one was taken by accident- she pushed the button while setting up- so I was completely taken by surprise! Oh well not many people see it I guess. We also renewed our passports so we can head to Canada in June (some time without children and I'm going to some continuing education meetings to stay licensed for work).
-We went to a breeder client of mine to play/socialize with the new litter of puppies- see the photos below for a shot of one of them. Adorable Belgian Tervurens.
Hannah -had her second report card and parent/teacher conference. She is doing exceptionally well. They are so impressed by her reading abilities and her cheery/happy disposition. She gets along well with others and has not had a non-sticker day ever (they get a sticker every day if they have done well that day).
-She turned 6 this past Tuesday (although she'd like you to believe it was 16!). Over the weekend we had her party at the 1 screen movie theater in town. You can bring any movie in to watch- they supply popcorn and drinks and a space for cake and presents afterwards. She partied with 11 of her friends. She received many great presents from friends and family- including a Nintendo DS in ice pink (of course) with many games, the 2 Diamond Castle Barbies and the Diamond Castle movie, about 15 books (Magic Tree House, Rainbow Fairies and Junie B Jones), more stuffed animals (have I told you how many we have and that they seem to breed in our house!)and some fun crafts that we still need to work on (maybe during April break)
Owen -Is getting ready to graduate from preschool. He too is doing really well at school. Knows all his letters upper and lower and can write almost all as well (the lower cases are a bit tricky). He is really starting to sound out words and knows some sight words.
-He LOVES anything Star Wars related. We watches the Clone Wars Series daily (although we have seen them all), loves his Star Wars Legos including the Lego Wii game, and is in the process of collecting the figures. We just picked up 2 more Star Wars books from the book fair and I am looking to buy another Star Wars T-shirt (we have outgrown one of our two). He also still loves any super hero and Transformer. -He is starting to work on riding a 2 wheeler without training wheels.
Isabel-She is really growing up! Her talking is getting better, she understands tons and is a real helper around the house. She has a similar obsession with shoes as Hannah does (another Lil' Imelda!) and loves to steal her sister's jewelry and lip gloss. (I think I'm in for another girly girl- where is my tomboy?)
-Soon she will be learning to ride her tricycle- but really enjoys just running and walking. I'm always impressed with how far she can go without getting tired.
-She is starting to enjoy coloring as well- it's just not always on paper!
-Most of the time she is a good eater, but sleeping is
not her forte. We did not do a good job on teaching her to fall asleep on her own and are paying for it. She still gets up at least once in the night and we have to go and get her back to sleep. She is down to one early afternoon nap a day that lasts about 1.5 hours.
-She is a total ham! She can always make me laugh with her antics.
Well that is all for now- I'm going to go and work on a Smilebox of photos for the bottom of this post. Hope everyone who reads this (does anybody read this?) is doing well. Until next time......