Overall Update

I have been horrible about blogging for the past two years. Before that, it was mostly birthdays, so here is an update on the kids.

K continues to thrive in ballet. She loves to dance, and it consumes much of her time. She also completed her first year of Challenge this year. This included Latin, learning to draw a map of the world freehand from memory, winning the Science Fair, learning to draw and label several body systems, learning to recognize logical fallacies, writing nine persuasive essays that addressed choices made my characters in books, and more. Between the ballet classes and schoolwork, we didn't see as much of her as we like, but we are enjoying the time this summer. I took her to brunch this week, and she revealed to me that she enjoys parts of science that just may point her to an engineering degree.

AJ finished his fourth season of flag football with disappointment. His coach this year didn't live up to the standards of AJ's previous coach, and the two boys AJ had played with before felt as discouraged as he did. AJ continues to love Legos, and he builds them quite creatively. He also attended an invention camp this summer, which he enjoyed thoroughly.

H is very much my out-of-the-box kid. He does things his own way, as has been the case for a while. In many ways, he is not a crowd-follower, but he does value the opinions of those close to him. He also enjoys Legos, and he can solve some wooden puzzles we got in Prague quicker than any of us. He may be the most likely of my kids to do some sort of computer programming.

If S is singing, he is happy. He also wears his heart on his sleeve. He is very tenderhearted, but he does have some spunk, too. Oh, and this kid can do math.

A is still finding her place. She has enjoyed her ballet class since last fall, but only time will tell if she remains passionate about it. She also loves to be read to and wants to do her schoolwork when the other kids are doing theirs. For the past two years, she has enjoyed filling sheets of paper with her own "writing" -- lines filled with round-ish figures that archaeologists would classify as some ancient form of writing.

J is a great addition to our family. Everyone dotes on her, and she loves every minute of it. I have had to eliminate quite a few foods from my diet as she has a sensitive stomach, but she is worth it. She is such a little cutie, and her smiles and chuckles bring joy to the whole household.