Teachers and Projects and Planning... Oh My!

I am one of the fortunate parents who knows exactly how those fifteen minute sessions will turn out.
However, I was pleasantly surprised when things when even better than I expected.

We see progress in Iain every day. There are obstacles that he has overcome that looked nearly insurmountable at the beginning of the school year. He has grown, shone and proven time and again how incredibly gifted he is, in his own wonderful way.

And as an added bonus, he tied his shoes for the first time yesterday. ( which resulted in applause from both his teachers and his parents when he promptly showed off his newly acquired skill ).
I couldn't be more proud of that kid.

Jennah took one look at the bar set for 'stellar', raised it, and cleared it with grace.
Seeing nearly every column on her report card adorned with a '4' ( our equivalence to an 'A' until high school ), reviewing all of the notes made by the extracurricular teachers... she even got '3's in Phys. Ed, which is downright amazing! She may learn to overcome her inherent clumsiness after all!
If only some of that would wear off and resurface at home. ( a phrase uttered by many a parent since the dawn of man )

Then again, she is my child. To expect her to not be willful, opinionated and stubborn is like expecting a turtle not to swim. While her mouth and her determination are the things that get her into trouble, they are also the things that help make her who she is.

Braeden... Braeden... Braeden.

I shake my head as a write this, but in spite of it, I have to smile.

The boy is a born politician. He schmoozes, capable of telling people exactly what they want to hear, and finds the weak link in any situation, only to use it to his advantage ( even if that means unnerving a fellow classmate, which seems to be the case ). He smiles with such sincerity and speaks with such conviction, that one cannot help but think he's amazing.

Or so he thinks. Fortunately, he's also five and a half years old. His shenanigans are much
more transparent that he realizes. Heaven help us when he's twelve, because by then he'll be a BS Ninja.

We ( his teacher and I ) have forumlated a plan that will - we hope - rectify some of his nonsense. A few days of going to school without his jacket, or wearing his pajamas should squelch his desire to move at the pace of a snail in the morning ( and by the same token, coming home without his coat or snowpants and having to stay indoors while Bub and Sis get to play outside should motivate him at the end of the day ), and we're hoping that some of the positive momentum will carry over into the rest of the day's activities.

And on to other, non-child related news....

I have a yellow light for my trip to Utah!!

The light is green, but we need to A. get the tax return and B. pay all necessary bills before I invest in a plane ticket.

Prices are way down right now ( over $150 difference from when I last checked, and nearly $300 less than when I began scouting ), and I am excited to take an extended weekend away to visit with a good friend, for what will be the first time, vis-a-vis.

Admittedly, I am rather nervous about spending an extended weekend away from Chris and the kids, but it'll be a lot of fun.
For the next trip out there, I'll bring Ward and the yahoos along. Jennah and the boys will love the dinosaur excavation sites and I'm sure that we'll find something for Chris to do, so that even he will have a good time.

As this is supposed to be an excuse for me to post things that I have been working on, I should probably close with a 'something' that I've created of late.

Problem is, I haven't been terribly excited by anything that I've completed in the last month or so. Nothing that wasn't jewelry, anyhow, and I never take pictures of those.
I've tackled several cards, a few altered items, two mini albums ( one paper, one chipboard ) and a couple of additional gifts, but nothing that I've felt was 'blog worthy'.

I will post a completed project when I finish one that I am happy with. Hopefully one of my February projects ( for the 'Procrastinators, No More!' thread ) will make its way here.