Update

This weekend the girls are away at their annual daddy/daughter camp out. Since I'm down to one kiddo, I finally have a little extra time on my hands so I thought I would catch up on reading and perhaps update the blog. Wow. August. That is the last time I updated. You can tell school is in full swing and it is consuming my non-family time. Life is split fairly evenly between the things I love - school and family - but both have left me ready for a weekend to remember who I am. More than a teacher. More than a mom. I'm surviving as a spouse, Catholic, and runner. I am slacking as a friend, daughter, and sister. I have completely failed as a cook, gardener, and housekeeper. So here are a few updates from the last few weeks months.

• Soccer is in full swing. All 3 girls are loving it, and the weather has been mostly kind. T/Th/Sa through October we can be found holding down the pitch rooting for the Crushers, Lightning (and the awesome asst coach we call daddy), and our little Pink Lady. 

• Basketball season has started. Grace's team is getting serious with more advanced practices M/F and weekend tournaments. Mark is coaching Emma's team again this year with practices on Th and games on Sa. With 4 days/wk of BB until December, Norah and I will have plenty of practice cheering on the Jaguars.

• Mark and I are running a half marathon together. I'll meet him at the finish line... 20 minutes after he finishes... because he's crazy fast. Though he doesn't feel prepared, I know he is going to do great. I am so excited to get to do this together. Just crossing my fingers he isn't a few post-race beverages in before I cross the finish line. 

• My time at PT has helped, (bulged disc/nerve pain) and though she told me to slow up my training schedule to let the swelling reside, I had a successful long run last weekend that boosted my spirits. My body is healing, now I'm just trying to mentally change my outlook. She informed me to run for a finish, not for a time. Though I'm not even remotely fast, I am very goal oriented so I'm trying to wrap my head around that so I'm not disappointed at the finish line. I guess it will be motivation to run another half, as a sub-2hr run isn't in the books for next weekend.

• School for the girls is getting better. Emma had a ROUGH transition. With the change of classes she felt as though she lost all her friends to the other class. Though we watch her make friends easily, she has a lot of anxiety over making initial conversations. What seems to be a crazy, outgoing, social girl (once she warms up) is a painfully shy, anxious, introvert until she gets to know you. It has made the transition hard this year. 2 months in and things are looking up.

• Norah is learning to read and tie her shoes! This girl loves to learn and wants desperately to show she's just as capable as her big sisters. She keeps asking if she's ready for chapter books. :) She loves going to school and is making lots of new friends. She has been doing dance classes also, but has decided she doesn't like 'performing' for others, so we might get to bid farewell to dance. I'm not cut out to be a dance mom so this won't break my heart. 

• 4th grade is hard. Socially Grace is learning that the friends we want to hang out with, aren't always the friends we should be hanging out with. She saw the inside of the principals office this week, and though we are trying to reassure her that we think she made the right choices, in her mind she's equal to a convicted felon. Our parenting style of "work out your problems without tattling" conflicted with the school's style of "if there is a problem you need to report it." Don't get me wrong, I back the school 100%, but our black-and-white thinker is learning that the gray area can be a messy place to mingle. Lesson learned. Bullying = don't intervene, report. 

• Another reason I'm not digging 4th grade this year...too many questions are getting answered by friends before Mark and I get a chance. What questions get asked in 4th grade, you ask? Santa? Tooth Fairy? Easter Bunny? Where do babies come from? The question list is long...time to step up our parenting game. 

• School for me has been crazy. Teaching a new class has me feeling like a first-year teacher again and having such a large student load (230) makes it more difficult to make meaningful relationships. The longer I teach the class, the more I am understanding the necessity for it, but I'm not sure the students are seeing it. My mode of thinking needs to change as well since I am still trying to make it academic when this is not its purpose. Every 3 weeks 170 essays come in to read and this is (1) killing my ability to keep my head above water and (2) stupid as I am grading them as if it were an English class. I am, however, learning a lot about my students through their writing which will help me in the long run.

Okay...there's a few thoughts on what is happening with everyone, but I hear a little Norah waking up. Time to go sneak in a few moments of quiet snuggle time with her before she gets up and realizes that the day awaits and she takes off running leaving me in her dust! :)