WE WILLI-WILCOX: Catch up and picture overload.

I have seriously been neglecting my family blog! The good news is that I have all the kids' blogs updated; but they're private, so that doesn't help my readers here (if I even have any left!).

Let's see... The biggest news for the year is that we finally bought a house and moved in at the end of August. (Yay!) I will try to post some pictures in another blog post.

Allen is still working at SelectHealth and working on his MBA one night a week. I have been working on some house projects, but am feeling kind of stuck for now. Kind of tired of putting my energy into projects. They take more time than I imagined, and I just want the results without having to make a mess.

Hayden started 2nd grade this year. His teacher is Mrs. Madsen, who was the PTA president last year. We really like her! She had only good things to say about him at SEP Conference, and said that she knows she can count on Hayden to be paired up with a student who might be struggling. He is doing very well in school. I'm glad I don't have to worry about him in that respect. He very bright, and was invited again to test for the Spectrum (gifted) program. He was invited in Kindergarten, too, but we decided not to test. IF he gets in, he will be going to a different school than Torrin and most of his friends, but it would be a good educational opportunity for him. He really enjoys reading, but hasn't figured out that he can do it at other times besides bedtime. ;) Back in September he broke his wrist. Only 5 minutes after taking his new scooter out of the box, he fell and broke it. I was tempted to return the scooters, but decided that if I never let them do anything that might potentially hurt them, that would make for a boring, unadventurous life. No injuries on the scooters since, thank goodness! He also started Cub Scouts. He and I were both pretty excited about that. He is also doing basketball for the first time.

Torrin started Kindergarten in September. This half-day stuff is tough when you have another student in school all day. Some days I feel like I live in the car; but I'm only doing the kindergarten pick-ups a couple days a week and splitting the other 3 with friends. We are at the same school this year, but not living as close, so I don't feel comfortable letting Hayden walk home alone like he did last year. Anyway, Torrin also is doing well in school. He is reading early readers and picking it up at a normal pace. With more practice, I hope he will enjoy reading as much as Hayden.

Grayson is still 2. He'll be 3 next month--Hard to believe! He's as independent as ever. If he tells me he's hungry and I don't get something for him right away, he will take matters into his own hands. He's really good with Cassidy and with the other young kids at the gym daycare.

Cassidy has been such a fun addition to our family. She is definitely into the toddler stage of life and loves to empty things and take stuff off of bookshelves. She's a snuggler, which I love; but she's also as busy as her brothers. She is saying lots of new words. Fun to see her soaking things up and trying to make people laugh.