Our family spent half of the month of January as a family of four. Pete spent 2 weeks in China for business and I quickly learned how much I appreciate having him around :) It doesn't take long to get exhausted with being the only one that can open things, help them in the shower, drive them here and there, nightly homework and many other day to day demands that three kids bring. All in all I think we did really well, but definitely missed having dad around.
This month, Claire started playing basketball and loves it. I didn't have the highest of hopes after the first couple of games. However, after this initial season she has improved tremendously and I think she has a future in basketball if she continues to love it this much and commit the way she has. She touched the ball once in the first two games, but by the end of the season, she was dribbling down the court, getting rebounds and even scored a basket! We have signed her up for the next session at the YMCA and this time it is all girls. We love watching her play. Here is a brief video of her in all her glory :)
Claire also started to go see an
orthodontist and needs an expander. It is a 3 step process and we are 2
steps down. She will officially become a metal mouth on March 3rd.
Both Claire and Grace worked hard to sell Girl Scout cookies this month - and by Claire and Grace, I mean Pete and I. Each girl sold 100 boxes.
Grace started taking piano lessons this month and really enjoys it. She practices often and we love to hear her play. A few nights this month, we would all sit on her bed before bedtime and listen to her play a couple of songs. (Just to clarify, the duration of the song is only about 10 seconds)
Jake is possibly starting to grow out of his non-listening, rebellious phase...possibly. He has really started to enjoy when we do homework with the girls and we get out his kindergarten prep book. All three kids are lined up sitting on the bar stools working on "homework".
Recent news with Jake is that his preschool teacher was shocked that we had planned to wait until next year to start Jake in kindergarten. She thinks he is more than ready to go to kindergarten. I asked a couple of the other teachers at the school and they agree he is ready, but also see no harm in waiting. Yesterday, I met with Claire and Grace's kindergarten teacher to see what she thought. It feels like such a huge decision. After hearing about Jake's academic level, as well as emotional and behavioral state, she confirms and agrees that he is ready to start kindergarten. So, now Pete and I have a decision to make....
Pete continues to be involved with the soccer organization and celebrated a birthday this month. While he was in China, Grammy and Opa came over and we built a grill for him for his birthday. We had it covered with the old cover and asked him to go out and grill after getting back from China. The kids had a great time surprising him. I started my 5th class towards my Master's Program - Advanced Pharmacology.
We are immensely blessed and try to remember that in the crazy day to day life.
Here are some pictures from our January:
We started the month by going to the Koutsis house and celebrating the holidays with our dear friends (Koutsis and Farnsworth) and their kids.
One Sunday, I was tired of not being able to see my Colts play so we went to a local restaurant and cheered them on!
We have done a lot of 1000 piece puzzles recently and the kids have a great time with them. Our current puzzle is a picture of the three of them so they are having extra fun with it!
More of Claire's basketball pictures...
Fresh haircuts
Chain countdown for how many days until Pete was home from China
I had a BOGO coupon for hot dogs at Sonic - I had no idea they were foot long hot dogs!
Opa and Grace working on the grill
Claire at the orthodontist
I repeat, Jake POSSIBLY is out of that phase....
Opa and Claire working on the grill
Grace's thoughts on MLK, Jr.
One Saturday in January, we went to a local bar that had dualing piano bars
We had a family dinner at our house and celebrated Pete and Karen's birthdays
Our month ended with Grace being pretty sick. She had a double ear infection and was throwing up all day. She was not herself at all - we almost took her to the ER but thankfully, she turned around
