Saturday, October 8, 2011

A September to Remember

Another month has passed me by and it’s true the older you get the quicker time seems to fly.    We have been keeping busy with the end of the summer and beginning of fall and it’s hard to believe we have already been here in Kansas for a year now.

Bianca started a soccer league and we have had mixed emotions about it and by we, I mean Bianca. She was so excited to start soccer so we rushed out to get her a ball, shin guards and cleats when we signed her up.  At her age they do a short practice before they play a short game so we figured it would be nice that it all took place on Saturday mornings and we wouldn’t have too much of a time commitment.  We got to the field for her first game and Bianca just shut down.  She pretty much cried the whole hour we were there.  Her second game was canceled due to weather and third game was the same as the first…full of tears.  Her fourth game we decided we would just let her sit on the sidelines and watch but we had decided we wanted to make sure she tries and knows it’s not ok to quit.  After sitting on the sidelines for 20 minutes she decided she could try and had a blast playing.  Today we had a similar experience.  We got there and she didn’t want to practice and she cried so we sat her down and when the game started she was ready to participate.  She mostly just runs around with the cluster of kids chasing the ball but she is not the superstar her Uncle Brian was when he first started.

Bianca also just had her fall conferences at school and passed with flying colors!  Her teacher said she is such a sweetheart and a joy to have in class.  She is well behaved and the only discipline she has needed is a stern look and she shapes right up (wish it were that easy at home).  She scored above normal in both rhyming and in picture identification and her handwriting skills are improving daily.  I was concerned she was not making friends but when I asked the teacher how she was doing socially she laughed and said she is doing just fine and has lots of friends at school.  Both BJ and I left glowing with confidence! 

Paisley as adjusted to dropping Bianca off as school but she still gets super excited when we get to go pick Bianca up from school.  It’s nice to have some more time to spend with just her and Gage and I think she likes it too because she gets to have her pick of toys and movies when it’s just her and Gage.  She is speaking clearer and making much more sense and is understandable most of the time now.  Makes communicating much easier.  She is so funny and makes me laugh with the things she says and does.  The other day Bianca had fallen off the table after I had told her to get down and told me she had lost her balance.  After hearing that Paisley came up and told me she had lost her balance too.  I asked her where she put it and she told me she didn’t know.  I told he to check her bed so she went to check her bed but didn’t find it.  I suggested she look in the fridge too and she came back empty handed.  So I held my hand out to her “oh hear it is!”  I said and she looked at my empty hand and said “no its gone.”  I couldn’t help myself it was too funny.

Gage is doing well too.  He is off and running places now and is constantly getting into things he shouldn’t.  I don’t know what his fascination is with the plunger but I finally had to lock it up in the water heater closet because he kelp dragging it out.  He loves touching the buttons to the TV and DVD player and when you scold him for it he simply turns around and gives you a big cheesy smile…I can’t help but feel manipulated , but he is super cute when he does it…  He makes lots of noises but still doesn’t actually say much besides uh-oh.  Knock on wood but thus far he is the child that has had the most accidents so far.  Just last moths he busted his lips twice and stabbed himself in the eye with my keys once.  Boys are defiantly more fearless which I think causes the accidents, but so far we have only had minor ones.  He still sucks his thumb like it’s going out of style and has to have his blue blanket to fall asleep.

BJ has been busy traveling back and forth to Mexico.  He goes down to QuerĂ©taro two weeks of every month which is about two hours northwest of Mexico City.  He is really enjoying his work and the people there.    He has joined a bowling league with some of the guys he works with and has really enjoyed getting back into the sport.  His average is 214, compared to me who is lucky to score anywhere from 60 to 100 ;)  His work had a family event this month too where we got to walk around his plant and see the planes and people he works with.  Bianca was so formal in introducing herself to all of BJ’s co workers. “Hello, my name is Bianca.  It’s nice to meet you.  This is Plaisley (that’s what she calls Paisley), Gage, Sarah and BJ” It was a nice sunny day and fun was had by everyone.

I’m doing great.  After being here for over a year I am finally getting to meet people and feeling like I have friendships.  I go to a mothers group with a group of gals from my church and we all just talk about our lives.  It feels so good to have a relationship outside of my intermediate family.  BJ and I have also started going to a small group at church and have enjoyed getting involved in church that way as well as volunteering for things like VBS and our upcoming Fall Festival. 
As a family we discoved we had black swallow tailed buterflies laying eggs in our garden and got the opportunity to raise them.   It was amazing to see them grow from little black grubs into bright green caterpillars to building a cacoon and then emerging as butterflies.  We all enjoyed learning a little about how mother nature works and getting to see it first hand. 

I think that catches you up on our lives for last month.  Nothing exciting but truthfully after last year, that’s just what I like :)