Melissa's Visit

I haven't blogged in a while, so I will catch you up.

My sister Melissa and her two kids, Max and Justin, came for a visit. Justin is about 6 months younger than my twins, so it was like having triplets for 9 days. Max is the tiniest but cutest little 9 month old. We went to Chuck E. Cheese and the water park. But the kids favorite activity by far was spending almost everyday at the neighbor's (Brother and Sister Park) pool. Our family really enjoyed their visit and hope they can visit again soon. Mario and I were very impressed with Melissa. She is a great mom to her two kids. They are lucky to have her.

The summer is coming to an end for my kids. School starts on Monday. The twins will be doing another year of kindergarten due to their late December birthdays. The cutoff for 1st grade is Sept. 1. Another year for them to mature will be great, plus I am not anxious for my babies to leave me to go to college any sooner. The real tragedy is that kindergarten is only 3 hours. What can I possibly get done in 3 hours?

Most of the kids are enjoying karate. Sometimes it is a little rough for Zach. Some days are better than others for him. He can't really decide if he likes it or not. On Wed, he refused to participate. But next week is his belt testing and so part of the requirement is to go at least 2 days a week. He was really worried when I wouldn't sign his form stating he had met that requirement. He apologized to the teacher and his instructor agreed to let him test next week. Hopefully he has learned his lesson. I think he was tired on Wed. He has been getting up very early everyday to play with his cousins.

Eric has us a little concerned. He has been having some bad headaches accompanied by vomiting. It has been happening monthly until this past month and now happening almost weekly. So we took him into the dr to have him evaluated. We are thinking that it is migraines caused by eye strain from reading too much. He has read The Work and Glory Series twice over the summer break. We are hopeful that the eye dr can confirm our concerns. But the dr ordered an MRI just in case. So we are waiting for those results. I am confident he will be just fine. Eric continues to be such a great example to Mario and I. He is a very black/white person. There is no middle ground for Eric. He keeps Mario and I on our toes.

Erin has had a good summer. Mario has made an effort to give her even more attention. Anyone that knows Mario knows that he already gives the kids lots of attention. But he is trying to give her even more after reading the book "Strong Fathers, Strong Daughters." He highly recommends that book for all fathers. Erin continues to be a huge help to me and I thank Heavenly Father everyday for a daughter. She has developed a love of horses from her Monterey friend, Hailey. She and I have reservations to go trail riding tomorrow. She is very excited.

Nathan has been struggling a little with our recent move. Out of the 4 kids, he struggles the most. He has been a lot more aggressive since our move and showing a lot of anger. Most of the time he is fine but once in a while he shows us he is upset. I am hoping it is just a phase. He is such a sweet child normally. In the past it has taken him 3 or 4 months to adjust to our new home.

Zachary used to be the child we struggled the most with. He is a very strong willed child. Fortunately he is very attached to me and we have a special bond. He has improved greatly the past few months. He reading continues to improve each week. I adore Zachary (and of course the other three also.) He is almost always willing to help me with whatever I need.

Mario is enjoying his new job outside of Communications. He finds his new job very challenging but in a good way. He will now get to travel a lot to South America and the Caribbean. I am hoping he collects lots of airline miles so we can go back to Hawaii or Alaska or maybe even Europe. Mario is a wonderful father and husband. What I like about Mario is that he tries hard never to become complacent. Even though he is already a good father and husband, he is always trying to find ways to improve even more.

I am excited about the kids going back to school. I have had the twins home with me since April. So I am ready! I have been going to physical therapy for a torn meniscus in my left knee. I had one in my right knee about 5 years ago. Obviously I am doing something wrong when I run. Maybe PT will help me fix my problems. Otherwise life is good. I love Tucson (mostly because I like it warm.)