We finally made it out of school. Jadon's last couple of weeks of school were relatively uneventful (a major accomplishment, especially with so many unstructured events happening). I (Ruth) credit the Lord with this accomplishment. I was talking with one of the teachers one day and she mentioned that Jadon just seems so reactionary. That got my brain whirling. I wondered if his constant going a mile a minute and talking so fast and his erratic behavior might all be related. I set him down and suggested that what he really needed to concentrate on was slowing down and thinking. He told me later that worked. So we were very happy with the way school ended. Andrew and Kirsten finished without much fanfare as well.
Heading into summer we were initially very busy with baseball games. Andrews team improved steadily throughout the season (as did Andrew). They nearly made it into the championship game of the tournament...held back by some very questionable umping. They won their consolation game by a landslide. We all cheered frantically. It was both relaxing and a ton of fun. Andrew had a couple of huge hits that would have been home runs inside their home field park. It was a nice end to the season. Andrews slow start kept him off the all-star team but he was pleased where he wound up, nevertheless.
I entered into some summer homeschooling with Jadon. I have new respect for homeschool moms. But we are making progress. Jadon's reading seems to be improving...although not as fast as I would like. I just want him to catch up with his class. He's been a trooper though and puts up with my tendency to push. He's even started doing some reading comprehension exercises and although he balked at them initially he seems to be getting the hang of it. I know this will be of tremendous assistance when it comes to taking the 3rd grade WKCE test in October.
Currently Jadon is taking swimming lessons. So far so good. Alan has taken him to give me a little down time (which I appreciate tremendously!!!). Jadon loves the water and has done a fairly good job listening to the instructor. Hopefully this is a big step in the right direction. I know that swimming lessons don't provide a lot of structure. Jadon has had the hardest time adapting to unstructured circumstances. He's not done yet...but I'm hopeful.
We've also tried him at the neighborhood playground program at one of the local parks. That has met mixed reviews (even less structured than swimming lessons) but we're hoping that by the end of the summer his relational skills will have improved and he will have gotten much better at adapting to changing routines.
It's really been a pretty big summer so far. We've had one "family" wedding to start the summer, Alan sang in a second while Andrew, Jadon and I vistited good friends living in Kohler we met in China last year. (Imagine going all the way to China to meet a family living four hours from us!!!) That was a wonderful weekend and we all came home refreshed. This weekend we have my uncle's 80th birthday celebration and my parents are having their 50th wedding anniversary celebration a couple weeks after that...lots of preparation before that happens! Then we're capping off the summer with another wedding...the biggest!! Alan's sister has finally met someone worthy of her! We're so excited. Everyone is going to have a part. We'll have to let everyone know how that goes.
Kirsten comes home from France tomorrow. It's been very strange not having her around for two weeks. I've missed her terribly and can't wait for her to come home. Everyone (except Jadon who will stay with a babysitter for the first time) is going to Minneapolis to meet her flight. We can't wait. There will be stories, I've been told and lots of pictures to view. I guess her time away has been a preview to what I'm looking at a year from now. It doesn't seem possible that my baby is now a senior in high school...which reminds me...Karen, we need to talk about senior pics!
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