That's a Wrap - Soccer 2015

It's hard to believe we've reached the end of the soccer season.  I don't always remember just how busy we really were during the season until we have the first evening of no soccer practices.  Hmmm...this downtime to hang out and watch TV....I'm not sure how to handle that!  But nonetheless, it was another fantastic season and I'm so proud of how each of the kids have grown and matured over the past few months.

And they make really cute soccer players.

Parent Teacher Conferences - AWESOME!

Well another year of Parent Teacher Conferences have come and gone.  I secretly LOVE conferences.  It’s the time of year when someone else gets to tell me how fantastic my children are!  This year was no different than years past.  And after the conferences, I got to spend my evening relishing in my great parenting skills.  I know this probably sounds conceited, and that’s not my intention.  It just feels really good to get some props in the parenting department.  Similar to receiving recognition or rewards from a job well done, parent teacher conferences solidifies all of the hard work that I put in as a parent, but commends my kids on a job well done too!

So here’s the summary:

Alex is a natural born leader.  He’s very popular but doesn’t let that go to his head.  He doesn’t really even realize he is “popular” by “popular standards.”  It’s just his natural demeanor that pulls people towards him.  He is the leader of his class and his teacher couldn’t be happier with this year’s class.  Alex is always above the line and really leads by example.  He is naturally charismatic.  He’s intelligent and dots all the I’s and crosses all of the T’s, so to speak.  However, he doesn’t really go beyond the basic requirements.  Some of this is typical boy behavior, but we are encouraging to take his work to the next level.  He’s comfortably on Silver Honors but I know he is capable of Gold Honors.  He is still exceptionally protective of Monica, but not in a stifling way, just to clarify.  His teacher is intrigued by their relationship referring to them as more like twins than cousins.

Eva is the peacemaker.  She comfortably floats from core group to core group and smoothes any rough edges and mends any hurt feelings.  She befriended the two new girls in her class immediately so that they would feel comfortable in their new school.  Her teacher is over the moon about her.  She scored the highest out of everyone in her class on standardized testing…which she took standing up the entire time.  She’s incredibly intelligent but wickedly creative and really pushes the limits on the knowledge she can gain.  She asks thoughtful questions.  She has an incredible vision on how projects should be completed and an uncanny grace to delegate without being bossy.  She is always looking out for Ethan and often times reigns him back in.

Layla is the social butterfly.  She loves attention and will forfeit independence if it means she gets more of the teacher’s time.  We are working on developing her independence more and more each day, which isn’t always easy because she is the BABY!  And we will love her and baby her FOREVER!  He teacher adores her because, come one, she really is the cutest preschooler ever!  She likes to talk.  A LOT.  But listens well when told to be quiet.  She has her favorite toys that she doesn’t really like to share, but has become more tolerant of others playing with her.  She engages in imaginative play more than any other kid in her class.  She, too, at a young age is a natural leader.  Layla has started a “Pink Club” in which they wear pink on Wednesday and sit together at lunch.  I feel like we may have watched Mean Girls too many times when she was little.  I might be raising a Regina George!  But her teacher made sure to explain that she has not been mean or exclusive at all with her club.  It just so happened that she noticed that several girls were wearing pink and it happened to be a Wednesday and VOILA….”Pink Club” was born.  She will probably be the one that gives me the most run for my money, but when it comes down to it, she really is such a sweet child with a huge heart.

Thank you, Lord, for these blessings.  They truly are my greatest work.