Springtime

It has been a busy spring around here. We have had lots of company recently, including a visit from Abbie and Emily's cousins, Veronika and Jacksen, over Easter weekend. The kids had a great time together and we hardly saw Abbie because she and Veronika were busy playing and plotting the whole time. Easter itself was also a success with an egg hunt in the neighborhood on Saturday and then another one in the house on Sunday.

We also had the spring parent-teacher conference at Abbie's school a few weeks ago. Not surprisingly, she is doing great. She is self-confident and friendly, and is doing a good job keeping her work orderly and completing her daily goals. Her vocabulary and reading comprehension skills are strong, and her writing is creative. In terms of areas for improvement, her teachers would like to see her work on giving others a chance to speak, and gathering her thoughts before she speaks. There are days when too much socialization affects the amount of works that she completes, so they'd also like to see her be more strategic about choosing a work space that makes it easy for her to concentrate. Sounds like a good set of skills to focus on, and frankly, I could probably stand to do the same.

We had a special mother-daughter event at Abbie's school last Thursday to celebrate Mother's Day, and Abbie presented me with two Mother's Day presents - one a poem for my office and another a plate that she decorated with a drawing of me and her. Very cute. She also made me a bunch of coupons that I can use to get help with things like "making lunches for a day" or "reading Emily a bedtime story." Definitely valuable stuff.

The biggest news around here is that Abbie's Twinkle Recital is scheduled for this coming Saturday. She completed all of her beans awhile ago, and she has been looking forward to this for a long time. This is a big rite of passage for Suzuki violin students. We are having the recital at our house and we have invited some of her friends from school. I'm sure that photos and videos from the big event will be coming soon.