Progress

Oh yeah, it's fall. Time for pumpkin pie, football, leaf turning, long sleeves, family togetherness, and......swimming? If you live in Dallas, y'all, you betcher Long Horns and Levis! With the pool nearly finished, and the weather still between 75 and 80, the kids think it's time to don the suits and jump in for a splash. Our pool is in the final stages meaning it just needs to be filled up, cleaned up, and tested. When we got home from the Dr.'s today (flu shots, yippy!), Addy and Aidyn ran out to watch the mesmerizing water-filling. Oh the joy that water coming out of a hose brings to children. Come to think of it, I need to get one of those corded spayers for my shower...my kids would want to shower every night!!! The cleanliness!!!! Anyway, they both immediately started wading in the water and before I knew it, Aidyn was pulling on his swim trunks and slapping on his goggles. Let me point out that the water is only about 1 foot deep right now. But that didn't stop him! Sometimes I watch my sweet children and wish I could get back some of that innocence that makes the simplest activity so exciting and fresh. Pause for nostalgic memory. I couldn't help but snap a few shots. Did you know it takes 24 hours to fill a pool up??? How crazy is that! I had no idea. BTW, Avery fell asleep in the car on the way home and was napping on the couch during the fun.

Speaking of the older A's, both of them brought home straight A report cards yesterday! I am so blessed to have kids who enjoy school and have a desire to do their best educationally. I thank my Heavenly Father for that every day. Addy's teacher told me at teacher conference last month that Addy actually reads at a high school level AND that in all his years of teaching 5th grade (9 to be exact) he has never had a student with her language and reading abilities. BOOOYAAAHHHH! Go Addy! Aidyn is also readying amazingly well. In second grade they chart student progress with each report card (we get 6 a year). The chart come home with the report card and shows progression starting from a 1st grade reading level up to a 5th grade reading level. Progress is charted by words read allowed per minute paired with accuracy. His teacher explained to me that upon his first reading, Aidyn had already scored off the chart so she would probably not send the chart home again. Redunant. I'm so proud of both of them. They are great kids and really, really try their best 99% of the time. Household opportunities to serve falling into the 1% best trying margin, and we are working to erase that percentage all together! Check out our pool progress! When are YOU coming over to swim?

Texas, Here We Come!

Did I portray sufficient enthusiasm with that title? We are not feeling super enthusiastic about moving, but are happy to finally get back to the Lone star State. Our move will probably take place the first week of August, possibly the last week of July. I sort of want to just get it over with, but at the same time, I want to maximize the time the kids have with their friends here, and I want to do that as well. I guess we will see. A lot will depend on when we find a house. John and I will most likely head down to Dallas in the latter part of June. We have heard a lot of good things about the area from people who have lived there.

Tonight we are on tornado watch. That is one thing I certainly won't miss about KC. It's crazy to me that people live like this every "tornado season" which is essentially May through September. I no likey. The weather forecast says that 9-16 tornadoes will touch down in the Kansas City area tonight. Better get my camcorder ready.

We joined Lifetime Fitness this week. It's a health club that's more Midwest. It hasn't quite hit the East or West coasts yet, but everywhere in between. They have pretty much everything including a restaurant, full service, spa, and indoor/outdoor pools with water slides. The kids are loving it. The exercise equipment and classes are top notch. Luckily, they have Lifetime in Dallas as well, so our membership fee will transfer.

It's nice having the kids out of school and some warm weather. They have been enjoying the giant inflatable water slide we got at Costco, and loved the Lifetime pool when we went the other day. We are hoping to go camping this weekend, but we'll see what the weather does.

Hope all of you are happy and well!