Walk, Dance, Play

From Summer fun 2009

There are so many milestones I have failed to capture this past spring and summer, so in an attempt to make up for that I am playing catch up now. Ben has suddenly become a toddler; walking, talking, throwing tantrums! He is very expressive and it is such a joy to watch him expand his vocabulary every day. Daddy is his favorite playmate, and says "Siistheee" if Sofia is out of sight. He wants to keep tabs on all of us. He dances and sings, and is totally obsessed with Elmo - much to our dismay! Our Miss Sue gave him a singing Elmo that holds a singing pizza and their song is stuck in all of our heads most evenings - so silly! Ben also continues his swimming lessons twice a week with Neil. He is holding his breath and going under water. Next week will be his last two lessons. I am really glad we decided to put him in the class because he really seems to love the water.
Sofia has turned 7, which is so hard for me to believe. Suddenly she is a big girl! Second grade started last week and she has been enjoying it so far. Homework is a bit more intense this year, with more spelling words and 2 small book reports due each week. She has also joined the board games club at school, which meets each Tuesday. She has always really like to play board games and cards, so I think this will be a good extra curricular activity as long as she remains a good sport. Our Sofia can be quite competitive! I have no idea where she gets that from. We had two fun birthday parties for her in July. One was at her Auntie AnnJee's house, and the other at ours. This weekend we will have a final celebration with Neil's family. Another milestone I have left out recently was Sofia's jazz recital that took place in early June. She had a lot of fun with this class, but I'm not sure if she will take it again.



Neil is finally finished with his summer semester. He has continued to work hard and receive excellent grades. He has also been acquiring quite the fancy set of golf clubs this summer, and hopes to put them to more use in the near future. As always it is difficult for either of us to get anything done but work and work and more work!
As for myself, I have been doing just that; work. I am looking forward to attending a conference in a couple of weeks that is taking place in Baton Rouge. It has been a long time since I have seen the South, and I am looking forward to attending my first professional conference. I dread flying though! Especially since I will be flying solo. I am positive that I will miss everyone terribly!
I also finally took it upon myself to see a doctor about my foot pain. This was only because I had a really terrible pain in my right neck/shoulder. I strained it and then kept carrying heavy children and purses and gym bags - all at once sometimes! I saw a sports medicine doctor and she recommended I seek physical therapy for my shoulder and feet. I am hoping that will be successful enough to delay surgery for a long while!
Well despite the fact that some of the stores are ridiculous enough to be peddling Halloween decorations at the beginning of August, it IS still summer and we intend on enjoying what remains! The recent storms took down a lot of trees in our surrounding area, and blew our chimney topper right off into the neighbor's yard. Luckily, we did not sustain any damage to our home. I am hoping that will be the last scary weather we see for a long while.
Enjoy the pictures from our parties!