Optimism

I haven't blogged since January?!  That's crazy!  Life has been, well, life.  Very busy, hectic, fantastic, frustrating, awesome.  Sooo, I'll give a few updates.

Me:  I worked 20 hours a week in the lab sequencing all of the DNA.  It was good.  There have been many organizational changes and I think everyone is just sort of hanging on and trying to figure out what's next.  I feel like there are some great opportunities ahead for the lab, but there are always growing pains too.  Working was nice and the extra money was nice, but I felt like I was straddling the line of working mom/stay at home mom.  I would drop the kids off at school and fight traffic to get to work.  I would leave work and have enough time get a few groceries and then pick Logan up.  I was Isabel's room parent this year and luckily I had a lot of help.  The last few weeks of school were very stressful and it was the only time the entire year that I wished I had some more parents stepping up.  I don't know when teacher gifts/end of year parties/etc etc got so stressful, but they have.  It's sort of ridiculous.  Logan had 5, yes 5, teachers to get gifts for.  I know gifts aren't mandatory, but I feel like I definitely needed to do something for these people who spend so much time with my son.  Isabel just had one teacher, but I was in charge of the whole shebang.  I think everything turned out fine.  Isabel's teacher's best friend lost everything in the floods and she is hosting her family until they can rebuild.  So I helped coordinate donations, etc.  It was a great opportunity for me to go through things and donate them as well.  I'm in super cleaning out, paring down mode.  Anyway, there were a lot of duties for me at the end of the year.  Between that and trying to tie up loose ends at work before I broke for the summer it was a little stressful.  I may or may not be going back to work in the Fall.  It's still TBD.

I am really enjoying my time with the kids this summer.  I appreciate it SO much and am really looking forward to our fun travels ahead.  I am a little stressed about the airline flights.  Not because I'm going solo with the kids, but just because of Isabel's allergies.  If it weren't for the allergies I would be home free!  Well, traveling with little kids is always sort of a challenge, but it wouldn't be life-threatening!  I am sooooooooo looking forward to sitting in the cabin with some delicious coffee and just breathing in the fresh air.  The older I get the more grateful I am to have the amazing opportunity to sit with my family and just breath at the cabins.  It gets better every year!

Isabel:  Finished Kindergarten like a boss.  She did amazingly well and finished out the year with stellar marks.  She is ready for 1st grade!  She is a HUGE helper.  She can be super moody/crazy, but we are going to try a trial off of her one medicine that is known to have terrible behavioral side effects.  She's been on it for 3 years straight, so I'm sort of excited to see if the change will make any difference in her behavioral...uh....ticks.  She continues to excel in all things coordination/sports related.  She loves her dance classes and soccer.

Logan:  Finished Pre-K like a boss!  He is doing really well in his summer program and even asked me when he could go back today (Sunday)!  He is the sweetest thing ever.  We are doing very intensive ABA therapy 4 days a week.  This is after his 8 hour day at school.  He works HARD.  He is making great strides and just wants to please you.  He will do anything (and I mean anything) for attention.  :-)  He is the hardest working kid I know and will still give you the biggest hug and kiss at the end of the day.  I am so very proud of him and how far he has come and how hard he works.

Brian:  Working like crazy.