Random Updates

Last night Eva, Ivy and I attended the Reflections award evening for our PTA Council. In November Eva placed first in photography and second in 3-D (for creating a 3-D sculpture of a flower out of wire) and Ivy placed first for photography in their respective age brackets. First and second winners at the school level have their work submitted to the council with all the other schools in Tooele. Last night the girls received certificates for participating at this level. Eva won for her 3-D flower sculpture this year and will go to state!! She also got to go to state last year--go Eva!! Last week Eva one first place in her school for her category of science project--I think it was Physical Science. This means that in a couple of weeks she will enter her project into the district science fair. What I think is most amazing about Eva lately is that she is showing an intense interest in molecular biology. She wants to learn all the can about it and is even checking out nonfiction books about it from the adult section of the public library--she's not happy with any of them so I welcome any recommendations...

Ivy got a haircut--she donated close to 12 inches so there is not much left. She has a very flattering A-line cut now and it is perfect for her!! (Eva wanted her hair in the same style but the girl that cut hers butchered it--I took her back to get it fixed and they did a nice job fixing it) Ivy was excited to receive an award for her photography submission last night.

Ethan has become ultra-helpful and a real gentleman. He frequently opens and closes my car door, the front door of the house, etc. He helps pack Ivy's lunch most mornings. Last night when we got back from the award night he and Nathan (Ethan was babysitting) were making cookies and while the cookies baked he cleaned the kitchen. It's exciting to see him grow up and it is SUPER nice to have TWO great babysitters!!

Nathan is learning to read. We have started putting letters/sounds together to make words and he is starting to get it. He and I work together every weekday morning for 60-90 minutes on reading, speech, ... I am encouraged by his progress and expect that if we can continue to work each day through the summer he will have a great school year next year--by that I mean he will have more confidence and be able to interact with other students. School is so difficult for him this year that it's all he can do to stay focused and try to get his work done.

I got a special opportunity to coach the Young Women in basketball this year--it's a lot of fun. It amazes me how teachable Eva is--it really is remarkable. She learns things so fast because she really listens and tries to do what I tell her. These are similar qualities her teachers talk about. They tell me I've taught her to learn well and I have to say that she came that way. I always thought they exaggerated until I saw her work in these little basketball practices. She's an example to me.