Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The New Adventures of Aquaman and Other Bits of News

Has it really been a week since I last posted? Things have been pretty busy, and I have a feeling I'm just getting a small taste of what life will be like as the kids get older!

First things first, my Mom arrived on Saturday! She and her husband, David, are moving to Colorado Springs and we are THRILLED! David stayed behind in Missouri where he is trying to sell his business and get everything there settled for the move. My Mom came ahead to look for a job and eventually find a place for them to live. It's so wonderful having her here, I can't even begin to explain. And the great news is that it looks like she may have already found a fantastic job! I am blessed with a Mom who is also one of my best friends, so getting to see her every day is wonderful. But the comfort of having a family member in the same town is more than I can say. In fact, I have already been able to reap the benefits when the kids' school called my cell phone right as I was walking into a doctor appointment. Emma was sick, and needed to be picked up. Now, under normal circumstances my only option would have been turning around and walking out before my appointment - which took me a month to get in the first place. Instead, I was able to call my mom and she rushed to the rescue!

Joshua has always loved to swim, but the opportunity to swim every day at my sister's house this summer revealed that he actually has a real knack for it. He expressed a desire to join a swim team, and started lessons last week. For the swim team he is trying to join, you must first pass six levels of skill courses before you make the team. The first night they tested the kids starting at Level One. Josh was able to test through to Level 3, and last night he tested out on to Level Four - after only two classes! He was so excited that he called me on the way home from class to tell me. I'm very happy that he's found something he loves to do, and that he also happens to be good at it. For me, the first part of that is definitely most important! This morning on the way to school, Joshua realized he'd forgotten one of his papers for his "extra math class".

"Your extra what?"

Josh explained that a few weeks ago, he took a test along with two of his classmates. The three of them were moved to an "extra" Math class. He said he wasn't sure exactly why, or what kind of class it was. I was stumped, since I'd heard nothing at all from his teacher about this. I wondered if he was having trouble in Math - it's always been one of his strengths and he does fine with his homework, so I couldn't imagine that being the case. As I pressed for more details, he remembered this one:

"Well, in my extra class there is a sign on the door that says "TAG - Talented and Gifted".

Oh.
Well, that's good to know! I sort of think that would have been a great thing to send a note home about, right? At any rate, I'm very proud of him - I'm just a little alarmed - how could Joel and I have anything genetically in common with someone who is good at Math?? I don't get it . . . some recessive gene, do you think?

The worst part was when Emma complained that none of her classroom doors proclaimed her to be Talented OR Gifted. I'm thinking of putting a sign on her bedroom door to that effect. Maybe I'll put one on my bathroom mirror, too.

Anyone else need one while I'm printing them out?


Tonight we are starting ASL Classes at Eli's school. I'm excited about this because I've been feeling a nagging anxiety about my signing as Eli gets closer and closer to catching up with me. My goal has always been to stay a few steps ahead of his vocabulary until the point in time when we are both fluent. They have different classes according to skill level, and they do classes for the kids as well.

I'm going to post some pictures of Josh at his swim classes, and his own personal, one girl cheer section. I'm also posting some pictures that I took for my sister of our reclaimed basement. We had a renter for a couple of years, and when she moved out we were so excited to have our space back.


So Sissy, I know it's taken me forever, but here is the boys' new room. And, because I'm a dork, there's one of my new treadmill too. Yay treadmill!


Love To All,

Jen



3 comments:

Clint and Jennifer said...

Print me up one of those signs while you're at it, would ya? Thanks, sis.
Go Joshua! That's so cool that he's a TAG Math Man, although not surprising, no matter what the gene pool tries to dictate... mutations happen.
Awesome about the swim classes too, and I have to say, Emma is the cutest one girl cheer squad ever!
Thanks for the pics of the boys room. Very cool! Not to sound like an ingrate, but now I want to see Emma's room!
Love you,
Jen

Clint and Jennifer said...

Oh, I almost forgot! YAY TREADMILL! We love you wonderful mechanical device of stationery walking! Thank you for helping make all my sissy's clothes fall off of her! She's never loved baggy jeans so much!

YAY SISSY!
You go girl!
Love you,
Jen

Maia said...

You are so lucky to have your mom there, and I'm so glad for you both!! I can't tell you what a blessing it was to have my mom here after Flynn came home. It was so necessary. I'd love it if she would move out here, but so much of her life is still on the East Coast. Maybe someday. so happy for you! Enjoy eachother!!