Family Update

I haven't related anything about the family for a while. Just quilting and scrapbooking. Which I dearly love and which keep me sane and give me a much-needed creative outlook.

But I also dearly love my family so let me tell you about them. Kevin is gone this week to Colorado Springs for training with his team. He was gone for a week two weeks ago, and will be gone his final week to complete training in January. Then 2 weeks after that, the last week of January, we will be in Florida with the family for our much-anticipated Disneyworld vacation.

I learned something the first week of Kevin's traveling. I love him. A lot. And I missed him. A lot. And it surprised me. A lot. (The love part wasn't surprising, the missing part was.) The last time he was gone for 3 days to Las Vegas I totally had a great time and appreciated the break. This time, I completely stopped living until he returned. I never turned off the tv before midnight watching such fantastic fare as "The First 48" and "Parking Wars" and "What Not to Wear". (I'm serious - all fantastic.) I showered about twice that week, and ate lots of cookies. I also lost 2 pounds. And I didn't clean anything.

This week I'm faring better. I showered yesterday morning and turned the tv off at 10:30 last night. I have been keeping up with dishes and laundry. I finished Christmas shopping this morning and will help the girls assemble their teacher's gifts Thursday night. I can live without him (for a while) after all!

Alaina has been doing very well in school. Kevin and I were gratified to learn that her ADD medication has been helping immensely. According to the Linn-Mar testing system, Alaina jumped 18 points in reading from the beginning to end of 2nd grade; the expected increase is 4-6 points. Her teacher noted that something great must have happened in 2nd grade - that's when she started taking medicine. Kevin was particularly relieved that the cost of the medicine is worth it. Alaina had still been quite difficult after school ("combative" is usually the word I use to describe it - screaming, throwing, crying, completely unreasonable in every way) so we adjusted her dosage and her negative behavior stopped. She is now able to think and concentrate for longer periods of time. And what has given me much joy is that she reads for pleasure for HOURS at a time. It is a delight to see.

Claire loves Kindergarten and has many friends in her class. She makes a point to say "goodbye" and "hello" to every classmate she sees - boys as well as girls. She brings home pictures from many other girls, saying that they exchange drawings during center time. However, she did have a dear friend move away last month and though she has occupied herself with other things, she is sad and talks about her every day. "What do you think Texas is like?" "Why did her dad have to find another job?" "When are we going to Texas to visit?" "Maybe I'll dream about her tonight." etc. Poor thing.

Bryn is full of life and cannot be repressed. She is finally making it through the entire Sacrament Meeting (1hr + 15 minutes) at church without having to be be removed. She loves her Nursery teachers and is especially gifted at learning new songs. I'll have to post a video of her newest song - it's completely darling.

Hmmm, this kind of reads like a Christmas letter. Maybe I'll just email my blog address to everyone instead of sending out letters this year. :)