Simmons Family BUSY Update

Whew.. life has been BUSY!!!  We made it through another week of school, curriculum nights, packing to move, dance, house shopping... I am exhausted!

Kam is loving High School!  We had curriculum night last week and it was good opportunity for me to walk through a day in her life at school.  I met all her teachers and was overwhelmed by their expectations... so glad Kam is self motivated... I was not.  This week we picked up calligraphy brushes for Japanese.  I could hardly understand her teacher for fifteen minutes, let alone learn the entire language and how to write characters in calligraphy ink. Go Kam!  She must love it, because she passed up Elite dance placement because it fell during the same hour as Japanese.  She also joined her first real High School Club.. the Japan Club.  She is dancing a lot this year and is in the intermediate class at school.  She did a solo audition for the dance teachers this week and is standing out.  Her curriculum is overwhelming, with very high expectations as she is in all honors classes.  She is doing fantastic, her teachers are noticing and she is enjoying just being with her friends all day. 

Owen is thriving in first grade.  He has a "girl" friend he talks about all the time.. it's really adorable.  He is the first to raise his hand and always gets the answer correct.  He loves following directions and being obedient.  I love when he tells me little stories like "after recess we line up, blow a bubble in our mouth, put our hands at our sides and wait to go in to class."  Or when I get a play by play of what Payton and he did at recess.. "Payton was wearing a pink shirt and pigtails today.  We played blow the leaves and found some spoons in the rocks.  She told me to throw the rocks, so I did.  I'll do anything pretty girls tell me to do."  Okay, so we had a chat at the dinner table about the last statement. :)  He is writing so much better, cruising through his math, excelling socially and academically!  I couldn't ask for more.  He still gets exhausted each day and only goes from 8am to 11am... then crashes hard from about 2pm to 4:30pm.  We somehow manage to squeeze in some homework and lots of playtime! 

C. and I are busy getting this house ready to sell.  We have been leasing for a couple years while we watch the market go up and down like a rollercoaster.  The homeowners are ready to sell, so we are super busy looking for a new home and getting packed up and organized.  We also have a trip to Stanford next week for Owen and his baby brother (fetal echo).  I'm exhausted most evenings and am fast asleep before my head even hits the pillow. 

Baby Simmons is doing great.  He is squiggling all over and there is no better feeling in the world!  Sometimes I get nervous that I haven't felt him move but as soon as I crank up the music, he starts dancing.  We love all the name suggestions we have gotten thus far, but we are so busy with other things, that this little guy will remain nameless a bit longer.  Owen is the most protective of his little bro telling me "mom, you can't drink that soda, it's not good for the baby!"  or "Are you sitting on the counter while talking on the phone... you are PREGNANT!"  or "You can't give me a piggy back, you have a baby in your tummy."  It's very sweet.. most of the time.

I'm offline to get busy finding a house!!