As usual, thing have been very busy around here lately. My mom came to stay with us around a week ago and will be with us until Monday. My sister and her family have gone to Hawaii for vacation (they are celebrating their 30th wedding anniversary, their son's high school graduation and their daughter's college graduation all in one) so mom is staying with us until they get home.
We ended up missing a bit of school this week, due to illnesses but we were back on track for Thursday and Friday. Next week, we will take off for the holiday on Monday, have school Tues through Friday and then we will be off the rest of the month of June. When we start back in July, we will be starting the second half of 1st grade, although 'officially' the boys will be starting 1st grade when public school starts here in August. It is nice to have that extra cushion of being just a bit ahead of where they officially need to be so I am hopeful that we will be able to maintain that going forward.
We are all really looking forward to having the month of June off (except for June 1). I personally can't wait. I am so ready for a long break. It will be refreshing for us all. I am looking forward to getting back into the groove of practicing my violin, as I have not been practicing for a while now. Ben got to the point where he didn't want me to practice with him because it made his practice session last longer, which I totally understand. But by the time I helped him practice, taught school, made meals, cleaned up, did laundry, etc., I was too tired to practice myself. But I really want to get back with it because I was really enjoying it. I also want to start working out. We have a membership at the local YMCA now and they have a very nice indoor pool with a wonderful, big slide and an area like a river current, plus a play area for younger kids. The boys love it and it is a wonderful place for them to play and get some exercise while I work out so I am hoping to try that out a bit during June. Those are my two big to-do's, plus I want to do some fun things with the boys that I have not thought of yet...but I will.
Last night was Ben's recital and he also played a short concert with the youth orchestra. He did an awesome job and I was really proud of him. He looked so handsome in his little black pants and belt, white shirt and black bow tie. I thought he might be nervous but he said he wasn't (I asked him about it today) and, when it was his turn, he walked right up there and played as big as you please, as if he was not nervous at all. I think he really enjoyed it and he is glad that he stuck with his violin. He is really doing very well with it. We are officially off for the month of June for violin too but I know he is wanting to learn to play Amazing Grace so I'm sure he will be practicing some.
Last night made Nick more excited about taking piano lessons. I was thinking he is suppose to start in early June but maybe it was July. I can't remember. I need to call the guy soon and find out. If it is June, I was going to ask to start in July instead so we can truly be away from all obligations for the month of June but Nick is really wanting to start right away. So, if it is June then we will go ahead and start it for him, since he is so excited about it. I'm still not really sure he will stick with it and practice like he will need to. He still really struggles with self discipline and self control. Who knows, maybe this will help him in some ways. Time will tell.
The boys are going to play basketball on a YMCA team starting in June also. I think they will really enjoy it. They finished their swimming lessons, for now anyway. They are both very good little swimmers. In their last class, they were learning different strokes and also how to breathe right when swimming laps. I would really love for them to be able to get into competitive swimming because I think they would both enjoy it and it would be such great exercise but we will see. To do that through the swimming school they have been attending would be really expensive (for time and money) so I'm not so sure we want to do that, nor can we at this time. With the husband starting his new practice, he is working several part-time jobs, plus seeing new patients with his practice so he is really busy these days. It will likely be a while before he is making money with his practice and it is a struggle sometimes to get 40 hours a week with the part-time jobs. I think there are other options though and I am going to look into it further.
My Dancer cat sure is acting older these days. Of course, he is at least 14 years old now so he is quite old for a cat. For the past couple of weeks, I have noticed he is getting weaker in his hind quarters/legs and then today, for the first time ever, I saw him miss a jump. When Zoe started missing jumps, she didn't last a very long time after that so I am watching him closely and keeping Tinkerbell away from him. She knows she is stronger and she attacks him any chance she gets. He likes to spend as much time as possible in the garage because it is the warmest place in the house. She spends a huge amount of time on the screened-in back porch, crouching in attack position, ready to attack any bird or flying insect, squirrel or any other thing that moves in the yard....even though she can't get out of the porch. She seems to really enjoy it and she especially enjoys the porch when I throw a hand full of ice out there and she can play hockey around the cement floor.
I have rattled on enough and am getting sleepy. Time to go to bed. Good night.
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