We Are Alive - 7

Hi,

We are alive, we aren't all healthy though. Evie and I have been fighting off a head cold for a week and now Ben and Grammy and Gramper are getting it. So we are not a very exciting bunch today. I do have news. Good news, exciting news.

1. Triathlon training is going really well! Dad and I are really getting better at all the events. Yesterday we tried to do 2 events back to back for the first time. It was a very very hard task. We swam 400 yds and then ran 3 miles. It was about 87 degrees outside and sunny. I nearly passed out from heat exhaustion but I finished. Dad totally kicked my butt. Overall we feel like it was a success. We are both hoping that on race day it will be much cooler.

2. Evelyn had her 1st day of "baby school" last Thursday. She did well considering the newness of the whole thing. I dropped her off at 8AM and picked her up at 145PM. She ate solids with the other kids and even napped. She was totally exhausted when I picked her up but she perked up after another nap at home. We are happy with the Montessori school so far. We aren't taking her tomorrow because she is sick and we don't want her to get worse or pass the sickness to other kids.

3. Shadowing Aidan at school was very challenging the first week of school. The first few days I didn't know how to keep him in line AND keep the peace in the classroom. Aidan's mom talked to me on Wed. of last week and said to do whatever it took to keep Aidan on task. She told me not to worry about Aidan bothering the class unless the teacher mentioned it to me. So I started disciplining Aidan in the classroom and he responded really well. He didn't like being made to do his work and act correctly in class, but he complied. And this week he is just doing fantastically! I am really proud of him. My job is easier when he is on task and not testing me. So hopefully he will continue to follow directions and rules and make my job even easier. In other work related news I am going to be working less starting in October. I won't be staying with Aidan after school at all by October. I am just too exhausted and worn out after being at school with him for 5 hours. So they will be hiring a new person to take over those hours and possibly to go to school with Aidan on Fridays. So the schedule will be Mon-Thurs 8:30AM-1:30PM if everything goes according to plan. I hope so!

3. House building and all things related to it are on hold at the moment. I'm not sure where we are in the process. But I do know that Ben and Vanessa are working on it.

4. Labor Day weekend was very nice for all of us here at the farm. Ben and I hosted a BBQ/Pool Party for Ben's old boss and his wife and Aidan's family. I wanted to get to know the Aidan family better and Ben and I both wanted to catch up with our old friends. It was super fun! We all got wrapped in conversation and before we knew it 6 hours had passed.

5. Next week Ben is going to visit his best friend on the West Coast and all of us left here at the farm are going to visit BigBro and DocRom. I am super excited about seeing them again! We are all running in a 5K race. BigBro and DocRom are training for the triathlon too. Grammy is going to push Evie in the stroller for a 1K family run/walk. It should be super fun. I wish Ben were going to be with us but I know he'll be having a big old time with his best friend.

6. In other news, I will hopefully be visiting my good friend Angie in the next few weeks when she comes down to my neck of the woods for a vacation. I sure hope it all works out! She and her hubs are both in the process of changing jobs and moving so her plans may change. Either way I think she is the COOLEST and I am wishing her all the good luck vibes I've got. =)

7. I am just in shock at how different my life is right now. Working is really wonderful, I love making money and having a new challenging career opportunity. I am now thinking seriously about getting a grad degree. Financially we can't really afford for me to go back to school but maybe a year from now. I hope so. I hope by next year I'll still love working with Aidan and I'll be going to school to get a degree in special ed. or psychology specializing in autism. We'll see.

Thanks for reading still, sorry I am a such a bad blogger lately.
Jen =)