Gold, Ginger and Priceless

Sarah's dance company won THREE gold medals for their performance on Saturday!!!!




Our newest baby, Ginger!



Matthew's turn at reading!

What a week it has been! The kid's finished up with their CRCT testing (good ole' "no child left behind). Even Matthew had to take the Math portion of the test. He did a wonderful job, I'm told, being quiet, listening to the teacher and filling in all of the circles with perfectly round bubbles! At first I was so disgusted that Matthew was going to have to take the test but after it was all over I was glad. Why? Because Matthew felt left out on the two days that he did not have to test. After taking the Math portion he was so proud of himself! Who knows, maybe he'll "meet standards" and show how "valid" the CRCT really is!
Matthew has made such leaps in the past few weeks. His speech, vocabulary and desire to show what he has learned really exploded. He is spelling everything, sounding out words as best as he can and wanting to read. Analiese brought a project home last week that asked us to read aloud as many books as we could. I involved all of the kids and had them choose books to read to each other. Matthew chose his ABC book and not only identified all of the letters but most all of the pictures--even the obscure ones!
Matthew, Analiese and Gracie are taking swimming lessons. Grace is a good swimmer but asked to take a class when I signed the other two up. I suspect she felt left out and learning some stroke refinement can only help her. I haven't been to see a lesson but Dave tells me that Matthew is doing very well, Analiese cries because Daddy isn't watching her (but is learning quickly) and Grace is flourishing!
Gracie is really coming into her own these days. She is excelling in her tumbling class so much that her coaches tell me she needs to be at a gym that can give her the gymnastics instruction she needs. I've also been told that she is a "natural" and could go very far if Grace chooses to! I couldn't be prouder of my girl!
Then there is Sarah, my gifted dancer! This weekend she participated with her dance company in a national dance competition. They performed two dances and won a gold medal for both! For one of the dances they won another gold for "best all around performance". I wish I could say she gets her talent from me but I cannot. I dance like I have two left feet! Now if she was playing basketball, football or softball.....
And now for the last bit of news from this past week. We have a new kitten! The girls named her Ginger because of her color. I know, I know that makes 3 cats for us. I can't say why this little one tugged at my heart so much. I can say that we saved her from the pound. One of our PTA moms was on her way to the pound with 7 little babies (her sister's cats each had a litter two days apart from each other). The PTA was having a plant sale for a school fund raiser and I went to pick up my plants and saw the sweetest little face looking up at me. What else could I do??? Our sweetie, Clarence, LOVES Ginger. He thinks we brought home a live toy for him to play with. We have to keep the two of them separated during the day because Clarence is a tad too rough. Duchess, once she realized that her position wasn't threatened, is tolerating the baby.
Our house is full of energy, love and craziness---just the way we like it!