Catching Up

A new school year, a new post. I am not very good at keeping up on my posts. School started and the kids are at Hatikvah Charter School. They love it there. I love the curriculum, the atmosphere, the staff, everything. The kids are learning Hebrew. Ashleigh speaks almost fluently. I am so proud of her. Matt and Ash talk to each other in Hebrew all the time. It is great practice for them, and they have their little secrets they tell each other (great bonding).
I am PTO president at the school (I volunteered last year, and now I can't get away from it). I really enjoy doing it, even though it is stressful at times. I get to be with the kids at school a lot, and the school doesn't mind that I bring Garrett and Desiree. The other day was picture make-ups. I brought the babies and Garrett got away from me at one point. One of the teachers came up and said he had wandered into her room and was sitting with the kids during story time. What school does that for you? Awesome!!! I am also learning a LOT about time management, organization, opening up and talking to people. This is a great experience and I am glad I took the job.
Aaron is still at Merck right now. He loves being scientist. I still get to be home with the kids which has been the biggest blessing for our family.
My biggest struggle right now, I think, is Ben. I love him so much, but he is a tough cookie. He goes to full day kindergarten right now. The first few weeks were tough. I had to drive him because he wanted to be with mommy all the time. We finally got him to get on the bus (so helpful). He has some obedience issues at school (he does at home also). I think part of it is that he never was in preschool. He is still adjusting. I will offer treats to the kids for getting up and helping me clean, Ben will say, "well, I don't want a treat". And he will just sit and watch everyone clean. Or, if I actually get him up to help, he crawls around, grabs 1 or 2 items to put away, and that is all. I am trying really hard to give him more positive attention during the day. I hope this will help. I don't want him getting the negative attention from doing 'bad' things.
Aaron has bought an RC car for Ash, Matt, and Ben. The kids LOVE going to a big parking lot and racing the cars around (they go up to 35mph). Aaron just ordered one online for himself. We even bought a clear cover and painted it pink for Ash. She was really excited about that one. The cars are nice because when something breaks on them, Aaron can fix it (and the kids get to help for the most part). It has been a GREAT bonding activity. We all go together and just let Garrett and Desi run around.