October – how the months fly! This month has not really had any extraordinary events. We celebrated the Powers Cousins’ birthdays. We’ve settled more into a routine with school pickup and drop off, trying to gain a bit more family time in the evenings. We have also been regularly attending a small group once a week and getting some couple/adult time. We finished the month with a neighborhood walk-around costume parade and lots of candy.
Cordelia is doing a great job with her schooling and her teachers say she’s excelling very well. She is having some hard times with the other girls during recess and play times. This is her first real venture into the social dynamics with other kids her age and older and it’s been a bit rough this month. While her excitement for learning is still high, her excitement for actually going to school dropped. Her teachers are working through the dynamics, but it’s certainly led to some teaching moments for Cordelia on how to interact (or not) with others. Corrie is improving in gymnastics, doing cartwheels and really understanding what she’s supposed to do in class. Her swimming is also progressing as she gets comfortable with side breathing. AWANA has been fun with most weeks online and one in-person “family night” per month. On family night she was the only one to participate in the theme of the night and she got to share about AWANA in South America to the whole club! She’s doing an amazing job in her book and will be moving onto the review book half way through November.
Anthony is getting really good at reading and writing. He finished his first phonics book which includes writing basic words and simple sentences. It’s been fun watching him at gymnastics and seeing how much he’s learned over a year of classes. We’ve been dealing with a lot more attitude from Anthony this month. We’ve been having conversations with him about using respectful words and actions. AWANA for Anthony has not been as engaging and it’s a lot more difficult for his age group to stay focused on zoom call. But he’s still going through his book and completing his sections via video calls.
Lydia has been doing good at school and has a great time. The main challenge to her school day is nap time. She has a tenancy to fight nap time and yell, kick or, poke her fellow classmates. The teachers are working with her on that and she’s had some good days where she naps and lays quietly. Her teachers are also prepping her for potty training and starting in November she’ll be out of diapers. Lydia a great talker and we can understand almost all of what she says. She’s also tried out biking and has gotten the basic concept of pushing down on the peddles. At swim class she started swimming with the other kids’ instructor and he’s been pushing her to do a lot more swimming.
Alicia had a bumpy month at work. At the start of the month her program was pushing towards a mid-month demo of the system and then had all the funding removed due to end of year budgets. That left her without a project for the rest of the year. Starting in November she’ll be supporting a different group within her organization and will be expanding her knowledge of the overall company operations. AWANA duties have required a lot of time to keep the Sparks club rolling. There have been a lot of challenges along the way and trying to retain order over a zoom call with 100+ people remains an on-going challenge. Plus the weekly follow up to keep things in order. Alicia has been navigating the balance between work and family life. Working more earlier in the day in order to pick up the kids from school sooner and have more family time in the evening. We’re also doing our best to make use of our weekends.
Tim kept getting new projects on the work front. Seems like after six months people in his new organization are finally starting to notice he’s awesome! He has gotten new tasks for a couple of different programs. At home, he completed the assembly of his guitar! There’s still some fine tuning to be done but it plays and looks very nice. He’s also harvested several cucumbers and more hot peppers. He has kept on working out, and having the accountability of a fitness instructor has keep him more regular and in the right head space. He’s had some daddy time with the kids one-on-one trying to stay connected with them as the school year has begun.
Having a small group and scheduled night to go out has been a positive change this month. We’re still trying to navigate the group and connect with the various couples. In November we’ll be continuing our weekly routine and also celebrating Thanksgiving with the Powers clan. Pray that we will have increased wisdom and really good spiritual ears to hear how we should talk/respond to our kids. With them in their unique life stages and personalities it is a continual challenge to know what the right thing is to say or do in the moment.
