Everything has changed

I just noticed that I haven't updated since July. So much has happened since then.

Mike is now 14 and has started going to a new private school this year. He is loving it! There is only one class per grade (except the 5th grade). The school has K3 through 12th and there are only 14 kids in Mike's 8th grade class. His teacher is wonderful and the rest of the staff at the school are very nice. I can tell that these people are very dedicated to educating these kids. So far Steve and I are very pleased with Mike's progress and with the school. Due to some trouble he got into over the summer he is no longer allowed the privilege of Taekwondo along with many other privileges that well behaved children have. He has made a complete 180 with his behavior and he is slowly but surely getting his privileges back one by one but this will be a long (very, very long) process. His class has been chosen to run the school paper and he is excited about this opportunity to learn a little about journalism.

Justin began the 7th grade this year and so far things are moving along pretty well. Justin is very excited about science class this year. His classroom is actually a science lab. They have been conducting experiments and he is loving it. It really makes me happy to hear the excitement in his voice when he talks about what he did in science class for the day. Also due to the trouble over the summer, Justin is not playing football this year. He is, however, enjoying watching his little step-brother play his first year of football. It is amazing the amount of growing this child did over the summer. I cannot believe he is going to be 13 years old in a month and a half. Where has the time gone?

Miss Chloe Beth started taking Kindermusik classes on Wednesday mornings. This class will run through the fall. It has been a pretty slow go getting her interested in the group activities. She has a mind of her own. She just likes to play with the instruments. She is a little over 3 feet tall now and weighs about 25 or 26 pounds. She hardly ever takes a nap anymore. She hardly ever eats anything except ice cream, dora soup and popsicles. She enjoys playing with her friends, Lyndee and Ferris. She also likes Lyndee's little baby brother but I think it mostly has to do with his toys.

Steve is still slaving away at work and home. Poor guy. He never gets a break. His most recent shop project was building a toy shelf for Chloe. He worked on it for 2 to 3 weeks before it was complete. Chloe was so excited when he brought it in and she was able to put her toys on it.

Harmony still continues to let us think we run the show around here but he knows the real truth. He even has Chloe trained to feed him every morning.

I got a job working at night and on the weekends. I had one job and worked there for a while but got a better offer so I went where the money was. I just finished my first week there and I am exhausted! I only worked 25 hours but I only had one day off. The job is in retail and I enjoy my work in the apparel department. I think I may have found a place to stay for a while. Everyone at work is very nice and the work isn't hard at all. Basically I spend my time folding and hanging clothes. That is something I've been doing for a long time. (No jokes about my procrastinating laundry habits, Steve) I also pick up Ferris from his school in the afternoons right before I get Mike. I enjoy the fact that I still get to see my friend, Jenn, every day even though she started working full time during the day.

Steve and I celebrated our 4th wedding anniversary and thanks to a dear friend, we were able to go out to a nice dinner together. That is something we hadn't done in a very long time. It was a great night. The kids spent the night with my parents and we had the whole house to ourselves! Fantastic!

All and all things are just dandy here at the White house. Hope you all are doing well too.