New School Year

Faith is in third grade. THIRD GRADE. She has a different teacher than Tanner or Jake had so at least we will shake it up a bit this year. She isn't in class with her best friend, Abby, but seemed excited to start school and had a great first week. She is especially excited about the 10AM Dance Time which they get as a reward on Fridays if there was perfect attendance that week.  She is doing gymnastics this fall. Recently she was moved up to the next level and so her class is 90 minutes every Tuesday. The day before school started she finally said she was ready to ride her bike. She got on it and took off. She's now pretty much an expert.  Thank goodness. Both Brian and I were starting to worry that she might be one of those adults that just NEVER LEARNED to ride. But,no, she was just waiting for her time. Just like Leo the Late Bloomer. I'm proud of her for mastering it!

Tanner is in fourth grade this year and he was assigned Mr. Borjian (the same 4th grade teacher Jake had who we all loved) but he had no friends in his class and his third grade teacher agreed with Brian and I that socially he would be much better off in the other class, so at the last minute he was placed into Mrs. Stice's class. He was very happy. He really likes his teacher and is already being more social, even hanging out at the Merc on his own with buddies after school on Friday.  One of his teacher aids suggested that we have him tested for GATE. Not sure if we will or not- but if you were to look up the words "Smart but Scattered" in the dictionary his little blond head would be there. He's so bright, but quietly so, and being the middle child we are both aware of how easy it is for him to slide under the radar.  And in a very haphazard way.  He's playing fall baseball with the 11/12 Dodgers. He's playing up for the fall for the experience. Brian is assistant coach. So far so good. I find that I miss baseball when we have time off! And since both boys practice on the same nights, which happen to be the night Faith has gymnastics, it means we only have sports commitments on Tues/Thurs.which is great!

Jake started middle school at Hillside. He made the adjustment pretty easily. He was really nervous and there were some tears in the days leading up to his first day, but he did great. He's so adaptable and so responsible. He is taking the bus which means he has to be up at 6AM and at the bus stop by 640.  Brian and Jackson walked him to the bus stop each day last week so Jackson thinks this middle school gig is awesome! He loves one of his teachers (reading and writing) but dislikes another (math).  He came home on the first day with a new friend- Maddie.  A girl, of course. He's now texting with her anytime he is awake so I guess she's his "girlfriend". He is also playing fall baseball, after deciding NOT to play middle school football as planned. I think both Brian and I were a little relieved. He went to the first two practices and maybe was a little intimidated. The weight limit is 120 but he is only 85 pounds and some of those guys are BIG, plus he didn't really like the coach.  He has taken to spending a few hours each Sunday with Papa and god help anyone that gets in the way of that one-on-one time! Those two are peas in a pod. Such a blessing.

So the kids are back in school which means Brian and I are back on an even keel after a long, difficult summer of trying to balance family and work all under one roof 24-7.  Brian moved his gym out to the garage so I could have a private office space upstairs in the bonus room. That took us a good two weekends as it involved building a floor in the garage, rearranging the garage from top to bottom, then rearranging all the furniture in the office to make two separate office spaces. But now that it is done it is AWESOME. I just found that with work getting so much busier (I took another promotion last month and am now Director of Implementation for the West Coast) it was getting harder and harder to be in the same office as Brian and not feel pulled in a million different directions. I'm not nearly as good at multi tasking as he is.  Now my mornings consist of  an early wake up with Jake some morning yoga in my "office",  then working upstairs with my beautiful view and new office space. Brian's not so sure about the new arrangement... but it's not like I go up there at 8 and he doesn't see me until 5. I"m up and down throughout the day.