Life Lately

Ugh...I just can't seem to get on the ball. Not that I really think I need to be blogging everyday, but I thought maybe I'd be able to do once a week, at least! I'll have just a few minutes here and there throughout the day, so I wanted to work on a little tidbit update about what has been going on around here!

February came and went...as did my 31st birthday! I'm old. It feels kind of weird to be IN my 30's, but I'm enjoying it. I remember the days when 30 seemed so far off...I couldn't really picture what life would be like at "that" age. I'm so thankful God has given me another year spend with my sweet little family and accomplish more of what He has for me. I went out shopping on the night before my birthday, all by myself and enjoyed that. While I was out, Mark "snuck" out with the kids to Kroger to get a cake, which they made, decorated and hid in the kids' closet till the next morning! Very cute. And of course we ate some big pieces of chocolate cake for breakfast. They also got me some new workout videos that I've been hinting around at. We ended the day with a chocolate fondue session. Seriously...what could be better than starting and ending the first day of your 31st year with chocolate?

Ethan is testing this week for grade acceleration/advancement. Way back in January his teacher sent home a note in his report card suggesting that we move him to second grade. We knew he was doing well and feeling bored, but we were a bit surprised by that recommendation. After thinking, praying, and talking, we decided to move forward with testing and push for grade acceleration. This would put Ethan in second or possibly third grade for math and reading, while allowing him to stay in first grade with his current classmates. I know that if we were in a different school district with a later cut-off for starting kindergarten, Ethan could be in second grade this year, and after his first year of pre-K we briefly considered having him tested and sending him early. We really determined at that time it would probably be in Ethan's best interest (socially) to hold off. I'm still glad we did. Kids are growing up way faster than they need to these days...no need to rush him. So anyway, now, after weeks of snow days and 2 hour delays, we are halfway through another grading period and finally doing the testing. We are praying for God to put Ethan where he needs to be when all is said and done.

My parents gave me some birthday money to go buy a webcam for my computer. We have since been having fun "Skyping". Anytime something exciting happens the kids want to call Grammy and Papa on the computer. It's something that makes the miles seem a little shorter :O).

Karis started gymnastics last week. She has been begging to take classes for quite a while and gave up soccer and art classes so she could try it out. I had to take all four kids for her first class since Mark had parent-teacher conferences so I couldn't get any pictures, but she definitely has some areas where she is really strong and some where she will benefit a ton from the coaching. I'm excited for her to have her own thing that she can shine at and I'll take the camera on Thursday since I won't have the kids!

I took Karis and Natalie to see Disney on Ice in Columbus this past weekend. Karis saw the Princesses on Ice show a couple years ago with my mom and has asked when she'll be able to go again ever since. They had been looking forward to it for a month and had a great time. Seeing their faces light up was well worth the ridiculous cost of making the day fun!! (We were there really early, so the first pic is us making "silly" faces in the van :O))

Well, of course it has ended up taking me more than a day to get this post finished. Such is the story of my life...