- Karianna was able to have a couple of fun playdates during winter break, the last of which involved going to see "Into the Woods" with one of her best friends, Braelyn. She is such a socialista, and while I still dislike playdates, I feel very comfortable with Braelyn and her parents.
- Karianna got new shoes over break, and she is officially a size 4. JD got new shoes too, and he is a size 3. Such exciting news, I know. :) I am sad that I can no longer ID JD (whoa, did you read that correctly?) by his bright yellow shoes given that the new ones are blue!
- Karianna went up a quarter of a size in her violin. It was neat to go to Milanos and have the expert violinist come out to give her some pointers-she is technically in between sizes, so the expert came out to advise us. We invested in a shoulder rest that will help Karianna position her instrument more carefully.
- JD and Jared spent time this break creating his pinewood derby car, which he gets to race in less than a week! We are painting flames on it today and we will go to the weigh-in tomorrow. He is so excited, as is Jared. I think he is reliving his childhood through JD.
- JD did a 25 page packet over break for a massive amount of classroom coins-it was voluntary, but he was very serious about it-super cute, and neat to see his progress given that the packet was on the advanced level.
- JD and Karianna got to go to the annual Senior Primary Kickball game at Cooley Park on Saturday. I went as an umpire, though without outs, runs, or a score, it was kind of a fruitless job! In any case, the kids had fun, especially JD who had to have his hand on the ball during every since play. Karianna didn't seem as into it, but she had a good attitude, and enjoyed hanging out with her friends.
- Jordan helped Jared set up our new bunk beds over break, and he was such a huge helper. I'll save the details on that one for another post,but Jordan really got into using the screwdriver. I think Jared likes teaching the boys things like this, and Jordan was just so into it.
- Jordan is such a reverent boy during primary. I never have to get after him about that, he is a great example to the other kids in primary.
- Sara knows how to do monkey bars! I had no idea she had learned that at school-I always feel like monkey bars takes extra physical dexterity, and she has it! I taught her how to do the fireman pole over break as well-again, growing up so fast!
- Sara mastered the second list of sight words over break, and her reading just gets better and better every day. She spent a good chunk of winter break coloring, drawing, and writing letters to her friends at school. Her spelling is just awesome in terms of her flourishing phonics skills. Sara has been doing tutoring after school as a precaution since she is so young as a kindergartener-she loves, loves, loves going, and while I personally haven't thought it necessary for quite a while, she is so into it, I don't mind her going.
- James has been visiting primary for the last 3 weeks, and this past Sunday, he actually stayed in his chair the entire time-and that was his first official sunday as a Sunbeam! I was super pleased that I didn't have to intervene much while doing music.
- James is in a bad habit of stealing food (usually cereal), moving the new kitchen set, and hiding behind it to eat his contraband. If I call his name and he doesn't come running, I know exactly where to look. This is a total work in progress.
- Jared joined a gym over break, and is making a few changes to get a little healthier. He has been experiencing some degree of sleep apnea the last few months, and that has me worried. He is going to do a sleep test or whatever it is called to probably get an official diagnosis. We both know if he loses some weight, it will help a lot, so that is the number one goal-not doing diet, but changing his lifestyle.
- I didn't mention it, but about a month ago, I officially resigned from Educate Online after nearly 9 years. I haven't taught for them since June, and I realized that my only reason for holding was just no longer a reason anymore. I will miss the kids, and the colleagues, though the ones I got to know really well I am in contact with anyway, so even that was resolved. I am seriously content with my decision, and I didn't feel that way until the weekend before I quit. I scripted my resignation letter in a manner that made me eligible for rehire should the need/desire arise, but I don't necessarily think that will happen, at least no time soon.
- My job with WGU? Going swimmingly! My supervisor recommended me to a supervisor position, and while I declined, I was overwhelmed that she thought so much of my work that she would recommend me in the first place. I was able to serve on WGU's accreditation team, and I am currently training to evaluate in a new area given my recent ELL certification. That is good news since my current program changed in content, and training in other areas opens up my scope of work. Overall-super pleased with my job and how it is going!
And that's enough tidbits for now!
