photo-free. Just the updates

the last several posts have been mostly just a photo-dump.  It looks like we only take vacations but honestly I just never pull out the camera!  However, there are other fun things to share.

First, in November Natalie entered an essay contest sponsored by the Daughters of the American Revolution and she found out in January that her essay won for Grants Pass.  She and Kenna MAY have been the only entries...although I'm not sure.  Still, she was pretty excited!

Kenna was called as her Young Woman class president at the beginning of the year.  She's such a cute little planner.  She's always full of ideas and she really thinks about how to include all the girls and help them feel welcome.  It's been fun to watch her serve in this capacity and learn.

This year Kenna has been attending orchestra at the middle school.  Starting in February she also began attending the next (and final) period.  That has been such a good thing for her.  She gets to walk from the school down to the church with her friends every single day and I think that little bit of extra social time has made a huge difference for her.  This is a girl who really enjoys her friends.  She still share with me what's going on in her life and she has lots to say about friend groups and people being included or excluded and how to handle that.  Just being on campus two hours a day is giving her plenty of practice with handling all those social ins and outs.

As for school, we are rocking and rolling there.  Kenna finished her 6th grade math and I bought the 7th grade for her to start working on.  I'm not sure exactly where Natalie is but she is actually not that far behind Kenna.  I might have her take an assessment just to get an idea.

Faith is turning into a reader.  There's always a moment when it all just CLICKS for kids.  My past few kids have definitely been 7 when it clicked.  I'm not saying she's reading novels yet, but this past month I feel like she's starting to get it and not having to sound out every single word - some are just there.  it's a fun stage that I thoroughly love being involved in.  I think there will be a lot of growth in this girl over the next six months.

Track starts next week for Logan (and Kenna starts two weeks from now).  We are all looking forward to the season and attending the meets. 

I had some health issues that I don't think I wrote about here that necessitated a change in diet.  A big change that took me about 9 months to thoroughly wrap my head around and commit to.  I finally buckled down and made the necessary changes.  It took some practicing.  However, I'm happy to say that things have improved dramatically in my energy level and ability to accomplish things each day.  It's not fun to eat like this (especially on vacation!) but I must admit that feeling good has it's upside!  My hope is that someday I can eat slightly more moderately and add some occasional wheat products back into my diet.  No wheat and no dairy when you're not a big meat eater is a tough spot.  I miss toasted English muffins with butter SO much.  These days avocados, lentils and mushrooms are my new best friends.  Thank goodness I like them! 

I didn't write much about Logan yet.  He's just doing his thing.  His grades are good.  He is kind to his siblings.  He's maturing into a wonderful young man and we thoroughly enjoy him.  And even though he really hates it...he still has a job and I'm proud of him for doing something he doesn't like.  He's holding out til summer when he can get a job he likes.  ;-)

That's about it for now.  Now, onward to March and the coming of spring.  Yay!