School started several weeks ago for both myself and Miriam. Miriam is in first grade this year and has already had a busy start to the year. She had homework the first week and it seems like her academic load this year will be pretty heavy for first grade. Luckily, she likes to read and enjoys school, so that helps. I'm teaching kindergarten this year and while the first few weeks were extremely difficult and challenging, we are in a rhythm now and I'm enjoying it more. I'm still working my same half-time schedule, which allows me to both drop off and pick up Miriam each day. The heavy work load of kindergarten should ease up as I get more used to the grade level and the subjects, which are both the opposite of what I was teaching last year. In the meantime, I'm having fun brainstorming ideas that will keep my kids excited about both school and reading! We've been using lots of whiteboards, stickers, and blocks, and this week next week I'll introduce "paint dot" markers (which I'm sure they will love, as messy as they are!).
Mathias continues to be as busy as ever. We started noticing this summer that he never really walks anywhere; he is constantly jumping/hopping/running/skipping. The amount of energy he has each day is enormous, and he is usually exhausted by the end of the day from his constant motion. He's doing two gymnastics classes this fall - traditional gymnastics as well as "ninja zone" gymnastics, which is a bit more like parkour. He still loves to build things and we've turned his train table into a Lego table, so he's been enjoying that. I try to build with him but he tells me "Daddy builds really cooler stuff than you!" Ha. The honesty of a 3 year old! He also loves to snuggle up and read books - most of his favorites are books about animals, and he especially enjoys looking through books about bugs and dinosaurs. I'm so glad to be back to my half time schedule so I can have a bit of 1:1 time with him in the mornings - we've been having fun doing obstacle courses at parks and going out for breakfast. He seems like he has sprouted up this summer - I can't believe he is going to be 4 next month!
We had an amazing summer that, as always, went too fast! For most of July we were here in Eugene. The kids and I kept really busy with swimming lessons every morning, usually a park/play date once a day, and often the wading pool or another outdoor meetup every afternoon. We also spent a lot of time riding bikes, working in the garden, and playing and eating outside. Both kids started the summer VERY unsure about swimming and the water, and by the end of the summer Miriam was willingly putting her head completely underwater and swimming underwater! Mathias is still a bit more unsure about dunking himself under the water, but he did get more comfortable as the summer went on. Our nearby pool is currently closed for renovations, but once it reopens and our schedule calms down, we'll be resuming swimming lessons/practice so they can maintain their skills and comfort in the water!
At the beginning of August we went to Minnesota for about 10 days to spend time with my parents at their lake house. Now that they are both retired, MN will be their home base, and we are excited to be closer to them and have the opportunity to see them more often! As always, we had a blast in Minnesota and the kids enjoyed driving the boat, feeding the chipmunks, swimming, playing at different parks, and spending time with Grandma and Grandpa. Mario and my Dad spent a good portion of the time ripping out the entire top floor (flooring, kitchen countertops and cabinets, bathrooms) in preparation for renovations they'll be undergoing this fall. I had a lot of fun helping design my parents' new kitchen and helping pick out cabinets. I can't wait to see the finished product when we head back there for Christmas!
For the last 3 weeks, we have enjoyed the company of Tomomi, a college intern from Japan who has been living with us. Her university cooperates with Miriam's school to send interns to work in the school for short periods throughout the school year. She went to school with Miriam during the day but spent the evenings and the weekends with us. She left this morning on a flight back to Japan and we already miss her! Although the air quality has been terrible here due to so many wildfires throughout Oregon, we were still able to show her around town and take her out to the coast for a day. The kids really enjoyed playing with her, and it was a wonderful experience for our whole family. She'd never carved a pumpkin so we managed to squeeze that in last night before she left this morning; the pumpkins will be rotten soon, but it was fun and we'll probably carve more again closer to Halloween.
Mario is good - very busy with work, and still traveling to Vancouver (Canada) about once a month for a week. The kids and I keep busy while he is gone. When he is here, he's been enjoying building Legos with the kids and squeezing in bike rides when he can.
We worked to take some pictures this summer so we've got a few! I hope you all had a wonderful summer and start to the school year for you and your families.
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| Miriam lost 3 teeth this summer! |
