Happy Autumn to everyone. The weather is slowly trending towards cooler mornings and evenings and we’ve been enjoying more time outside. School is off to a great start and we’re starting to get into a good routine. We’re so thankful for the kids’ school where they can all go to the same place and have teachers who are caring and encouraging in all areas of their lives. We had visits from the Tucson Russins plus a visit from Mimi and Papa during the month. We celebrated Natalie’s 2nd birthday and ended the month with a family visit to a pumpkin patch.
Cordelia has been adjusting to the changes at school from last year. She’s still sad about her friends that are no longer at school and some days are tougher than otherss. As she’s dealing with other struggles we’ve been trying to encourage her to keep trusting God and praying for His peace. Her teachers at school have also been encouraging her. AWANA also started this month and she’s in her 2nd year of T&T. The first section they studied this year was about trusting in God and not having fear, which was very timely. So far she seems to have enjoyed the first two weeks of club. Cordelia is continuing in ice skating and had her first private figure skating lesson. Cordelia did a little swim meet, just for fun. We’re graduating her out of swimming so she’ll be stopping her regular weekly classes.
Anthony is having a great time at school. He’s really enjoying being back in a classroom environment with other kids. He was able to quickly re-connect with some of his old friends from the Kindergarten class. He’s also made new friends. The teachers say he’s doing a great job doing his work and staying focused. It took the month for him to adjust to doing homework after school and the weekly writing assignments. But he seems to be doing better at the end of the month. Anthony started AWANA and is in the last year of Sparks. He’s had a fun time and is getting used to his new leaders for the year. He’s doing a great job in his soccer class and is continuing to improve his skills. He has a really great coach who’s very high paced and keeps the kids positively engaged. Anthony also participated in the swim meet for fun. He also leveled up from level 10 to level 11. He can now do 50 yard swims of all four strokes with the flip turns.
Lydia has been in a bit of a bumpy personality mood right now. Some times she’s doing great and being super helpful and engaged. Other times she’s been not listening and pushing back on what she’s been asked to do. For a little bit at the start of the month she was resisting going to school. But halfway through the month she seems to have flipped a switch and now is super eager to get into her class. We had been encouraging her to do at least 4 works each day. Her teacher worked with her on focusing and setting goals and now for the last week weeks she’s been completing all 6 of her works each day, plus extra time for “Free-choice.” Lydia also leveled up in her swim class, moving on to learning breast stroke. Lydia is also doing ice skating and she’s getting better, with not so much falling.
Natalie is now 2! She had a nice birthday weekend with a little birthday celebration at school and visiting with Mimi and Papa. She also had a birthday visit from Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Kelly on the Monday after her birthday. Natalie has been having fun in her pre-school class. She’s always singing the songs from class while we’re driving home or playing at home after school. She’s a pretty cute little girl and she’s got lots of words to tell us what she wants. Natalie has been in her swim class for about 6 months and she’s on the verge of leveling up to level 2 (which means she can float on her back, kick her legs, and can hold her breath for 5 seconds).
Alicia has had a very busy month. Tasks at work have been picking up and she’s got some active projects with deadlines and other people depending on her to get things done. Her level is equivalent to a full time job, except she’s working at 75% time. But she’s continuing to make progress on the tasks and keeps pushing the items forward. On the home front she’s been keeping up with the kid’s homework and taking them to their various activities. She’s been trying to connect with some of the moms at ice skating. She also coordinated a playdate for Lydia with a girl from her class. AWANA is now fully started and Alicia’s been trying to keep things organized and maintained. The first club went well, the second night was a little tougher. With only two club night down, everyone is still trying to get a feel for the club year. Overall Alicia is very happy with her team of volunteers this year and she has great support from both the top and bottom.
Tim’s work has a little scattered. He’s been supporting his projects as requested but one of projects he had to redo his part several times (due to other people’s changes) to get it right and incorporate new elements that got added to his task mid-stream. He’s certainly referred to as the go-to knowledgeable person for his group in several areas. That’s led to some impromptu meetings with some senior management which is simultaneously rewarding and unnerving. On the home front Tim is pushing to finish the outdoor grill project. He got all the electrical run, and poured the concrete countertop with his dad. The whole project has been a learning experience, including the concrete counter pour. He’s now in the sanding and smoothing stage, trying to get the counter top finished up before the end of October.
Overall we had a pretty good month with good family visits. We also started back at “life group” with our church. We joined a group with some people from our previous group from last spring. It was a really great first meeting and it’s was a great time connecting with people we’ve already built relationship with. We’re praying to have increased communication between us, especially as things are busy. Pray we’ll be able to support each other with the various scheduling demands.
