Off to a Great Start...

School is off and running, and so are we! Three of us are back to middle school, and one can't seem to get out of high school!  Mike is the only one making a big change this year, switching it up from math to science. He is teaching sophomore biology and AP physics this year.

What happens when a 12 yr. old gets a hold of your phone.

Gymnastics practice has begun for Kaia, but her season does not start until January. Her foot was x-rayed in August, and is fully recovered. Jaelyn has begun regular season play for club soccer, but is also playing volleyball on the 7th school team. She made the varsity squad and won their season opener last week. Guess who the referee was? Yep, me! Only one official ref showed up, which left the 7th grade game in need, which I happily filled. I also am score keeper yet again for the high school team, so despite being "retired," I'm getting my volleyball fill.

Jaelyn decided she wanted to be more involved at school this year, so ran for ASB Treasurer.

She spent almost all weekend making her posters (they were the nicest ones at school, and I'm not biased!), and she wrote a fun speech that even included a Hillary/Donald joke that got a laugh. Well it must have worked, because she won her race.

This weekend Jaelyn decided that she was tired of her long hair, so wanted a change. I flippantly suggested she donate her hair, to which she was intrigued. We did some research and found that Children With Hair Loss nonprofit only needs 8" of hair, compared to most other organizations 10" requirement, to make a wig, because it is specifically for kids. So that's just what she did! Tomorrow we mail off the 9" that she got cut off. And her new, spunky hair cut is adorable on her.

Her thick braided hair looks more like a horse tail!

Her hair has even more body to it now that it's short.

Kaia's turn to shine last week, was for her piano recital. In addition to playing, her teacher asked if she would emcee. She took it serious, and practiced saying all the names and pieces loudly and correctly. She did a great job as both emcee and performer. She played Lavender's Blue from Cinderella and Harp Song for her pieces, the first of which is shown below. She's been playing for about 1.5 years now and still enjoying it. We're really proud of how self-disciplined she has been regarding practicing...