We say farewell to 2023! We finished the last month of the year with some fun activities. Unfortunately, we also all came down with a bad round of colds that put a big damper on our middle of the month activities. It was a cascade of two-day fevers through the family followed by ear infections for Anthony and Lydia. Fortunately, we recovered enough by the last week of the month to visit with Alicia’s cousin and go on our family trip to Utah with Mimi and Papa. The kids also participated in their Christmas school play (you can watch it on YouTube here).
Cordelia has been continuing to grow physically, mentally, and emotionally. She tried basketball at the beginning of the year (Jan – March) but decided that wasn’t her thing. She went back to ice skating and she’s been enjoying that. She’s in Basic 5 at the end of the year and did her first recital solo for the holiday show. School has been continuing mostly as usual. She’s really improved her writing skills this year, starting to make structured essays. She’s in her second year of T&T in AWANA and is having a great time with a great leader and fun group. Cordelia is also continuing in her piano skills. She’s starting to learn to slow down and play with clarity and dynamics. Cordelia tried snowboarding for the first time during our trip to Utah. It didn’t go very well and she had a frustrating time. But she did enjoy sledding and tubing the other days. Cordelia also had a fun snow ball fight with Papa.
Anthony continues to love soccer and grow in his skills. He needs to learn to play cleaner and more controlled. He’s still refining his swim skills but is at level 11 and is a very good swimmer. School was the big change for Anthony this year. He was still homeschooled at the beginning of the year and then switched back to the Montessori with the girls in the fall. It was fun having him at home but he’s also having fun at school. He really likes his friends. He’s still working through his self-control in group settings when he needs to be calm and listening. He also has a bit of separation anxiety and doesn’t like being left alone. Anthony is doing well in piano and can have good focus when he wants to. Anthony tried snowboarding for the first time during our trip to Utah. He also had a frustrating time and ended up taking his snow board off half way down the hill. Anthony did enjoy the sledding and tubing.
Lydia switched from gymnastics to ice skating over the summer. She’s been doing well in ice skating and will be switching from the snowplow (3-5yrs) classes to Basic 2 (6+ yrs) in January. She also participated in a group number for the ice-skating holiday recital. She’s developing her swimming skills. She’s in level 6 at the end of the year and starting to learn breaststroke. Lydia’s continuing well in school. She’s in the same primary class and is really blooming in her reading and math skills. She also has a nice friend group. When Lydia started Kindergarten, she also started her piano lessons. She’s slowing learning the basics and having a fun time playing. Lydia enjoyed sledding in Utah, though she was more timid. She liked going down the hill very slowly.
Natalie has grown from a barely toddler to a full toddler, walking and talking and learning. She started at Legacy Montessori over the summer and started gong full time in the fall. She’s learning a lot, especially her colors and matching. She has a good time at school and likes her teachers. Natalie also started swim classes in the spring. There’s been some trouble getting her a consistent teacher but she’s still learning and did level up to level 2. Natalie had her first snow experience. She did ok with sledding but it was a little scary for her. In January we’re planning on potty training Natalie.
Alicia had a dynamic year. It’s been a tug-of-war between work and family time. She pulled more towards work responsibilities once Anthony and Natalie went to Legacy. She’s been actively contributing to several projects within her group. It’s been rewarding to see some of the projects reaching milestones. Alicia’s still keeping up with the kids’ activities. She’s been enjoying watching the kids ice skate and Anthony play soccer. Alicia’s volunteer duties with AWANA Sparks continues. She’s been trying to make some closer connections with some of the other AWANA directors. She’s hoping to make some deeper friendships and share life with others.
Tim’s work has continued to progress through debugging issues for one of his projects. He’s looking forward to progressing on that in the new year. He continues to be highly valued and is often called on by his colleagues to support their projects. He enjoyed the time in the snow for our end of the year trip, though the snowboarding experience did not go as planned. He did join in the sledding too which went well until he slid over a rock and bashed his bottom and the sled. Tim’s been able to take Anthony to soccer this fall and that’s been a fun bonding time for them. With the outdoor kitchen complete and the house rearrangement done, he’s taking a break from home projects to enjoy more family time for a while.
In January, we’re looking forward to spending the first week together, as the kids are still out of school. Then we’ll be back to getting into the weekly routine. We’re looking forward to getting back to our life group meetings in mid-January. We’ll also be celebrating Anthony’s 8th birthday. Hopefully by the end of the month we’ll also be a diaper free family!
