New Year

Rumor has it a new year has begun. As it turns out, those things are always ushered in with the month of January. Whereas I am not a fan of January's temperatures, I do appreciate fresh starts and the restoration of routine. I always spend the first few days in my post-holiday purge mode. Several trips to Goodwill are under my belt and I am content to let the rest sit awhile. Spring purges will commence in March. I am a little predictable.

Ty officially started Kindergarten at home on Monday. We knew we'd need a trial run to see where his cooperation level would stand if homeschooling was an option. He has the attention span of a flea. Ask him what he's learned at the end of the day and he will tell you he doesn't know but it takes too long. However, his short language lessons have taught two year old Anna some letter sounds. This is just one more example of the differences between boys and girls and why kindergarten teachers deserve sainthood nominations. My one may end my career. He is so smart but unwilling to demonstrate it when asked. He attended a preschool program in December and impressed the teacher with how well he followed directions. He did as well as the regular students and better than some. Time will tell what this means for his academic future but he asked for additional work in math today. It's a mixed review thus far. However, I suspect being Chase from Paw Patrol won't be an option in a standard classroom so that alone may gain some cooperation moving forward. 

Kate was sent home from school Wednesday with what the nurse thought was a case of pink eye. It ruined her perfect attendance. School policy insists she has to have a doctor's note in order to return to school stating she is no longer contagious. She does have an eye that looks mildly irritated but there has been no drainage and she has cold symptoms. I will not take her into an office where she is far more likely to pick up something worse than pink eye unless she needs medical treatment. As it turns out, I have a policy too. There's been a small battle of wills and Kate has returned to school. The school nurse may not be a member of my fan club. However, throughout this process we discovered we never received our new health insurance cards and since we were required to change providers, this is a problem. Open enrollment back in October failed to process our order. Awesome. I am glad we discovered this before we had a medical emergency. Now we are just hoping we can get this squared away efficiently. I kid myself.

Oliver keeping Kenna's homework warm. We are about a day away from "the cat ate my homework" around here. And that won't stop anyone from leaving it lying around.

Ty was running up and down the hallway in his sleep last night. It was hilarious. I swear the boy never walks anywhere. He landed in bed with me and was immediately out cold. I couldn't resist a shot of his gorgeous eye lashes. I am very much aware I am biased but seriously, they are amazing.