Thursday, August 16, 2012

Long time no see!

I can't believe it's been TWO WHOLE YEARS since I've been on here! Oh, who am I kidding, yes I can. Consistancy is not my strong point. I am going to try (the operative word) to maintain this blog again and can't wait to start it back up tonight! Two years is such a long time and there are a ton of things I have missed telling you. Let's just start with today and see where it takes us. Fall is nearly here and the kids are back in school this week. Elijah is in the eighth grade, which means high school is next year. I can't even begin to tell you how gratifying and horrible the thought is all at once. He is still active in Scouting and is beginning to research his Eagle project. I am hoping he can pick something to do with the church where his Scouting carreer and pre-school started. I think this would be a nice "Thank You" to that community for all they have provided us as a family. He has also begun football at the school level after 2 years with the Salvation Army and has been asked to be part of the "Stang Gang" at school. He's certainly keeping us busy! Madeline is in fifth grade now and this is also her last year at her elementary school. She is still shy but definately focused. She loves school and seeing her friends on a regular basis again. She has been playing her cello for a year now and really enjoys it, so it seems. She is taking private lessons on the side and will be trying out for the Prepatory Youth Symphony here in Salina next weekend (wish her luck)! Madeline is also still active with the gifted program at school and will be commuting to Meadowlark for an hour a week so she can participate with other kids her age and level. She did this last year and really did well with all of her projects. Her teachers tend to love her sense of responsibility, willingness to help, and kindness at school. I am pretty sure she is a 'people pleaser' and my second 'First Child.' Sheridan, my sweet nerotic girl, is in the third grade now. She will be earning letter grades this year and is already, "freaking out about state testing!" Of course state testing isn't until mid semester in the spring, but leave it to her to worry about the future that way. Her sense of fashion continues to both amaze and amuse me. Some days she is spot on and other days she looks like we picked her up from under a bridge. Sheridan has been wanting to play soccer for two years now, this has been nearly a weekly question, in addition to, "When can we have a girls night?" She is SUCH a girl! We were too late for registration this fall; however, we are thinking spring ball will be better anyway right now since Elijah has football now and none of us want to miss someone's activities. Dane, my magic kiddo, is not starting kindergarten. We decided to hold him out a year (August baby) and he is back at Angel Academy for the five day a week program. He was just about ready to jump out of his shorts today when we dropped off school supplies, literally. This will be our sixth and last year at Angel Academy with the kids. The staff there has been such a blessing to our family and the program is nothing short of amazing. I will certainly miss not having the school in our lives next year! Dane is growing by leaps and bounds, we are hoping to see more out of him academically this year. He is showing it at home with his colors and now he is using the refrigerator letters pretty often too. He also likes to do his 'homework' books as well, if I could just get him to follow directions. Dane has taught me to let loose a bit and realize we don't HAVE to do all the pages in order. What a good kid he is! I have to say I am a lucky girl to have four kids who love school so much! Kerry's last day at Crown is tomorrow. It's a bittersweet sort of farewell. We have always known this job was a means to an end and though it's taken, what seems like, forever... we know we have been blessed with his employment there. I don't know how Dane will survive without his 'Charlie Days' now. (Charlie is a guy in the office who Dane trades candies and Hot Wheels with on a regular basis when we go to pick up Kerry's pay.) Kerry's full time employment with UPS has begun with fill-in driving and 'bumping' into the hub as usual. I am so happy for him and thrilled for our family to have my husband back, it's been a long five years! One last note on Madeline... First, you have to know this girl has a WILL and a DRIVE like no other, she does NOT get along with her older brother very well, and has NO problem demonstrating her displeasure with anyone else either. Monday afternoon, Madeline asked me, "If I earn enough money, can I have a Kindle Fire." I told her she could buy herself one when she earned the money and then asked what her plan was as we don't do an allowance here at home since the kids usually get everything they need and most of what they want (aside from phones etc... that's not gonna happen for a while). She said she was going to ask for money for Christmas and her birthday and wanted to know if she stopped asking for extra's if she could have an allowance as long as her chores were done. Kerry and I discussed this and decided a dollar a day was acceptable and made the offer to Elijah as well. We also told them both their behavior had an influence on the allowance as well, they may be docked for poor behavior, grades, etc. Somehow, Kerry became more involved in the conversation telling Madeline if she had NO behavior problems for a full month, he would hand her $100 dollars himself (YIKES!). This threw me a little, but after some thought, we both decided this might be a fairly safe bet. Yeah, or maybe not. Madeline is, once again, proving herself. My daughter with the daily outbusrts has had no problems for four days now. She has been sweet as pie and redirects her anger / frustrations without prompting. Ladies and gentlemen, this is how my Madeline is going to survive this crazy world she will inherit. Honoring her namesakes (granmother's Madeline) with their own drives and wills to get what they want... when they want; and to survive ANY situation given to them. God bless Grandma Miller and Grandma Pat, they live in my little spitfire... and they may owe me $100 very soon!