The kids have had quite a back-to-school season. Here are some highlights:
Oh, and that LONG BLOND hair... I made her let me blow it out and brush it straight for school pictures. It never looks this nice, so we had to take a picture. It's so gorgeous, I'm sure the other girls just cry their eyes out that she does nothing with it.
Grace, as a 5th grader, is truly trying to rule the school. She just turned in her application to run for student council president. I think her outgoing personality is so great. I wish I had a tenth of it when I was her age. Vote for Grace!
This fall, she participated in her second, ever, karate tournament, and really the first one since she has gotten really good. She competed in forms and did her Leopard Form. She placed 4th out of quite a good group of kids. She was really hoping for 1, 2 or 3 as those had trophies for prizes, but she did get a medal. I was super proud of her. She has really come a long way in karate and is moving up the belts faster all the time. She hopes to test for her blue sash soon, earn her first weapon (a wooden staff), and has finally gotten to the point that she loves it so much and is good enough that she realizes how important class and practice are. It used to be that she would try to come up with excuses to not go to class - it is hard to do 90 minutes of intense workout after a long day at school. Now, if I suggest it (because I really don't want to go that night,) she will not hear of missing. We go no matter what.
Grace, as always, is a great student. This year though, I feel like she has finally relegated herself to prove her intelligence through the quality of her work. (This is something Mr. E was trying to teach her last year - to show her greatness and stretch herself, not just know she was great and leave it at that.) She has always been wicked smart, but tends to be a more lazy student. She knows she doesn't have to try hard to get anything, so she doesn't try hard much at all. Her handwriting has been atrocious, her attention to detail and spelling has been lacking. Her behavior in class is sometimes questionable, as she loves to talk out of turn and over people and act like she owns the place. But, her first report card this fall was all 4's and E's. (4 is the highest mark you can get for grades and E is for Excellent in citizenship.) I don't think she's had all 4's and E's since maybe 1st grade, if ever. She is still bored with classwork, but is doing a better job of proving herself and being diligent and careful about her work.
I love this kid. She is just the coolest kid ever.
Physically, she is doing great and is growing just as she should. She's an aggressive little cyclist and loves going out with her dad and can't wait for ski season. Her Irish dance class just started up again which she also enjoys. Her teeth are a bit of a worry. Those missing top two have yet to show their colors. We fear braces are in her near future. I've been avoiding that call to the ortho to find out our true fate. But, I will probably make it soon so that we can plan and don't have to choose between braces and college!
Harriet is an awesome little student. She doesn't have the computer brain that Grace and David have (I am so jealous of both of them), but she is extremely intelligent. She is very sensitive and picks up on things that no one else even thinks of, including Grace. It can be a curse for her though. She lets the tiniest out-of-place detail bug her to death when most kids just move on right past it without noticing. She is an advanced reader and LOVES math. She also loves art and library and practically skips to school on those days. She tells everyone she meets that math is her favorite in school. I think she likes how much sense it makes. Math follows rules, which is important to her (rule following in general.) Sometimes, the common core teachings veil the rules a little bit, so things aren't as clear cut (case-in-point... homework tonight!!!), but once she figures out how to blow past that, she sees everything. 2nd grade is not using 4's much this year on their grading scale, so her report card was straight 3's, which is doing as well as possible at this point in the year. If I could get rid of anything at school it would be the grading system, which makes no sense to me or the kids. It really doesn't measure anything accurately or with relevance to anything else. 2nd grade at our school, is also the heaviest on homework of any grade. Harriet has tons of work every night and works very hard to get it all done while Grace organizes her pokemon cards. It's so unfair. But, maybe it's a good thing - it's a really transitional year and by the end of it, they need to be really proficient and smooth in everything or the rest of elementary is a big struggle. Still, 7 year olds are really on the baby end of things to have so much on their plates. It's a lot of pressure.
She also took up the guitar this fall with our beloved teacher, DJ. She, like Grace, helped pay for her own guitar and could not wait for her first lesson.
Then, the next week, she formally invited her friend, Gilli, to come to a play-date tea party with her dolls after school one day. She made very careful plans... everything from preparations to a party agenda to the prepared thank you note. This girl is a detail-oriented planner!
That's probably it about the kids for this post. There's really no good place to stop as there is always something going on. But hopefully that's a good update for the grandmas and the aunts!
