Four of the positions are next summer departures. Three are an extra 9-12 months here for language. Each has various pros and cons though they are all good matches for us. We'll see what happens and will hopefully hear before Thanksgiving.
In the meantime my parents are enjoying the kids too. Two weekends ago they took the boys to see Cirque Du Soleil's "Ovo." According to the boys it was great. The grandparents took them out to eat, bought them new clothes and generally spoiled them rotten. Last weekend they kidnapped Rebecca for the whole weekend, took her shopping, baked sweets, and just let her enjoy being an only child for a bit. It's been wearing on Rebecca as she's stepped up to fill in for the times I'm gone. She collects her brothers from school several times a week, makes sure they do their homework, and if we're gone in the evening she'll read to them and get them to bed after making sure they've done their chores. With all Katherine's doctor appointments it's been great to have her step up but the boys can be tiring for a 12yo. Katherine will get to spend some time with the grandparents too, but not until after marching band ends and that's not until sometime in November.
Speaking of doctor appointments, I just made dental apnts for the younger three. Jonathon just went in August but a couple days ago he chipped a molar. How he did that I have no idea. The other two haven't been to the dentist since we got here so they are due. Katherine is too, but she just might scream if she has to squeeze another thing in during band season.
Yesterday Katherine had her orthopaedic apnt. The x-ray was so cool. From what I could tell her curve, or curves, are thoracolumbar, meaning they are both in the upper and lower spine, essentially an S shape not a C. She has a 20degree curvature in the top half and a 23degree curvature on the lower half. It looks a lot like this, though I don't have a copy of her own x-ray:
The good news is that for now all she should do is add calcium supplements to her diet. No special exercises, no brace, nothing out of the ordinary. She should exercise regularly, eat well and try to stand up straight. She has a follow-up x-ray in 6 months to see if the scoliosis is progressing. The "bad" news is that according to her pelvic growth seen on the x-ray she's no where near done growing. My 5'8" girl has a couple years of growth ahead of her and with that comes a greater chance that her spine will continue to curve. But it's not definite so we'll keep tabs and move on to the next challenge that rears its head.
So we share our kids with my parents, with doctors, and of course the schools. This year is going swimmingly for Nicholas, he enjoys school, loves Signet, has friends. Finally, after last year he needed a good experience.
Jonathon is having some adjustment issues primarily with the increased expectations of 4th grade. Turning in homework on time matters! Working well with others is important! These and other things are causing him to grouch a little. Each day he has some homework, 20-30 minutes of reading for a log, papers to have me look at/sign, his agenda gets signed, spelling word activities, plus additional spelling and typing assignments I've given him on the laptop. He's disorganized so remembering to turn in items completed and on-time is a huge challenge. He's enjoying Signet this year too.
Rebecca is OK in 7th grade but she's not having fun. A few teachers cause her grief (one loses her completed/graded assignments before putting them in the grade book, another penalizes the entire class when some are misbehaving, another has no control over the class at all), and in the others she's bored. Math is better, she's in extended math so this year they will cover the 2nd half of 7th grade math, complete all of 8th grade, then take the 8th grade SOL in the spring. At least she won't be ages behind everyone else when we go back overseas. I'm attempting to arrange conferences with two of her troublesome teachers. We'll see how that goes.
Katherine is getting better with managing high school. Band is no issue, Algebra is a breeze (as it should be since she did pre-Algebra 2 times... long story there and nothing to do with not getting the math!), P.E. eh, French is old news, Language Arts is her thing. Social Studies will require more work as it's in a format she's unfamiliar with, so once she gets that down it'll be fine. Biology is her favorite class and the one she needs to improve the most. As always with her, it's not a matter of understanding the material it's finishing the assignments and turning them in. I'm glad it appears to be just one class, a definite improvement over the past few years. Yesterday the high school had "In-Touch" conferences. All the teachers piled into the gym and parents could have short 3-5 minute conferences with them. I didn't get how it would work, but somehow it does. We spoke with the Biology teacher and passed on some useful information to Katherine on how to get her grade back up.
Time to get some lunch, update my day planner with new additions from the wall calendar, sew up some buttons and loose hems, make a vet apnt, continue with the laundry, prepare dinner (butternut squash and apple soup)... 3:45 will be here before I know it and this evening is packed until 9p.m.
No comments:
Post a Comment