Changes . . .

Fall is here, although with the weather this week you wouldn't know it. Along with the change in seasons, there are also other changes happening.

First, I did a minor overhaul on the blog. I was getting tired of the polka dots and wanted things moved around a bit, so I did a minor tweak. I'm not sure if it will stay this way, but for now, I like it.

Zoe made a change. While she thought trombone was the end all be all of instruments, the initial fascination quickly disappeared. Luckily, her teacher was willing to let her switch instruments. She really wanted to play clarinet, but there are already too many clarinets in class, so she switched to flute. Today was her first official day playing--and with only one lesson (a group one at that) she seems to be doing just fine. Better than fine, in my opinion. To be able to play two songs after about 1/2 hour of instruction? I couldn't do it!

Zienna has a bit change tomorrow, too. She is moving preschools. While we had done a lot of research on preschools before deciding where to send her, we realized last week that we really weren't getting the warm fuzzies that we have had with other preschools. She seemed to like it enough, but didn't know all the kids names, and it just wasn't really jiving for us. When that combined with an incident that happened at the school (didn't involve Zienna, but one that definitely put us on guard and one that we had semi-discussed the night prior), we decided it was time to do some more research. So, effective tomorrow, Zienna will be going to school with Zoe. They have a preschool and she will be in the pre-kindergarten class. She can got to school with Zoe and gets picked up at the same time as Zoe--a win-win for Scott as it reduces trips and gas. In addition, she will no longer have to take naps (which she hasn't really done in over a year anyway) and she gets to bring her own lunch-ok, not a win for us, but definitely one for her as she envies her brother and sister being able to bring a lunch box. Scott has her out right now getting a hair cut and tomorrow will be the big day!

Speaking of my kids, I think I'm going to go meet them at the salon! TTFN!

Where does the time go?

I posted over a month ago about school starting for the kids and now they are in full swing. 

Zach is continuing to do well, maintaining straight As except in one class, but that is moving in the right direction. He learned the hard way that he needs to be prepared for class—he lost full credit for a day of reading.  It is taking time to pull it up, but he is doing it. 

Zoe is experiencing her first year of actual grades.  She is maintaining As and Bs, but she just doesn’t seem to have the same drive that Zach does.  She isn’t putting herself into school as much as she could. Even her teacher thinks that she could be an A student, but it just isn’t a priority like it is for Zach.  I am hoping that when grades actually come out, she will have a change of heart and move toward working harder.  Zoe does have her first chance to play an instrument this year.  She was initially looking at clarinet or flute, then wanted to play saxophone, but ultimately, based upon the music teacher’s impression, she is playing trombone.  She has been playing for two weeks and can actually play notes and some easy songs. I’m very impressed.  She is also participating in choir and seems to be loving that as well.

Zienna LOVES school.  She is almost upset when the weekend comes.  Almost every morning she asks if she gets to go to school.  She did miss out on school the week of Labor Day because she contracted pink eye.  She HATED that week.  Although she was still home with daddy, she was very upset at not being able to go to school.  And her friend Brooklyn was apparently missing her too.  Brooklyn now makes sure that she is coming back the next day.  It is very cute.  She is learning a little bit of Spanish and some sign language.  She is so cute trying to teach all of this to us.

We’ve had Zach’s & Zoe’s school photos, but Zienna’s aren’t until next week.  I will make a point of posting them all once we have them.