Random Updates

It's nearly the middle of October and I have not done any updates this month.  Truth be told, there hasn't been much to say.  Our weeks are filled with gymnastics, football, soccer, and cub scouts.  Wednesdays are the only free night.  On Tuesdays, there are 2-3 things to be at with each child so James and I have to divide and conquer.  I can't imagine how people do this with more than 2 children!  I guess you just schedule less activities.

Last weekend, we traveled up to NJ to visit the families.  Since it was Columbus Day, soccer games and CCD were canceled so it made sense to head out of town.  We stayed at Grandma & Grandpa's.  No pictures, there just wasn't much to photograph.  The weather was gorgeous, actually even a bit hot for a fall weekend but we didn't really get out to enjoy it too much.  We spent our time divided between Nana & Papa's, G&G's, and Annie's new condo.  Keely enjoyed trying on shoes from Nana and Annie's closets.  We brought Callie, and the kids enjoyed playing with Henry and Karen's new puppy.  One funny Quinn-ism that I have to share from our drive...while Keely was sleeping, we got to have some interesting conversation with Quinn.  I love that he can have almost adult conversations.  We talked about science, math, weather...all kinds of things.  Quinn then opened up a book he had in the car called "The Founders" about the founding fathers of the United States.  He was reading out loud some of the facts in it, including some about Benjamin Franklin.

James: Quinn, did you know Benjamin Franklin is quoted as saying, "Beer is proof that God loves us."
Quinn (without missing a beat): I didn't know that Benjamin Franklin was a Christian. :)

I cracked up, I just love his quirkiness and witty remarks.  He definitely gets that from James!

Anyways, what else is going on? 

I went to a meeting this week to learn more about the Advanced Academic Program (AAP) at the kids' school. I went mostly at Quinn's insistence.  His best buddy is in the AAP class in 4th grade and Quinn feels he should be in there too.  Because we just moved here, Quinn missed the testing (CogAT) that happens in 2nd grade.  Keely will take the test this year and we will know early next year if she's a candidate.  Quinn will also take the test this month when they test the 2nd graders.  The test results are not the only way a child can get moved into the AAP class.  We've told Quinn the kinds of things they look for.  At this point, the AAP head and his teacher are monitoring him for the rest of this quarter (about another month).  We have 1st quarter conferences in November and will discuss it then.  No changes would be made this year until 3rd quarter.  I doubt that's going to happen, but he can be considered for full time placement in 5th grade.  I don't think this is all a big deal but Quinn seems to think so and that's why I'm researching it.  I don't want him to be bored in school - so far he is not, but he does seem to be acing the materials they are studying (especially math).  In the AAP class, they do one year ahead math curriculum which I am pretty sure Quinn could handle.  On his college applications, no one will ask if he was in AAP classes so this is not a big deal.  Parents really push this on their kids, along with so many things - I think that's what bugs us most about the program.  It's not only based on teacher recommendations and test scores, but parents can nominate their own children to be considered.  For us, we'd rather the recommendation come from the school.  So that's what we have told Quinn - we are not applying for him, he needs to show his teachers that he should be in AAP.  Time will tell if that's to be the case this year or next, but it's not worth stressing about.  For now, Quinn is enjoying learning all about Virginia...its regions, bordering states, products, rivers, etc. :)

Boy, for not having much of an update I am sure writing a lot.  When I don't blog, I don't feel as balanced.  I guess I just miss writing, even if it is about mostly mundane stuff.

Oh also, on the book front I am now on Book 7 of Harry Potter.  I have been reading these since June and have really struggled to get through some of them.  Not because I don't like them but because they are just so darn long.  I just don't have that much time to read on a daily basis.  So far, Book 4 and 6 are my favorites.  I'm having a really hard time getting into Book 7 but I hope the action will pick up soon and I am sure I will enjoy finding out how it all ends.  Then I can watch the movies - I have only seen snippets of a couple of the movies and I can't wait to see it all play out in film though I fully expect that I will have liked the books better.

So that's what been going on in our neck of the woods.  Now back to busyness - we have 4 soccer games this weekend and we are trying to fit in some pumpkin picking and some other area sightseeing.