The Journey Continues..

Summer is rapidly coming to an end, but we're hoping to cram in as much outdoor fun as we can before the *really* cold weather hits.  Kyle started the 4th Grade curriculum a few weeks ago & enjoys doing much of his work while sitting outside at the patio table.  It didn't take him very long to get back into the groove of completing 5-6 subjects per day, which was a relief seeing as how he's been on "break" since April!  His handwriting continues to improve on a daily basis;  he's writing in cursive full-time now & actually writes neater in cursive than he does printing!  He's had two tests so far - in Science & Health.  He scored 95 on Science & 100 on Health - off to a good start!  He seems to really like his Reading books & he is very interested in his History book - so much so that last week he willingly read well past the chapter I had assigned him!   When he's not doing school work he's keeping busy taking apart an old lawn mower that Jim is going to scrap.  As he unscrews each part Jim patiently explains to him what it is/what it does.  They will be doing a lot more of these kinds of 'projects' now that many of Kyle's friends are back in school for the year & he'll be having less friends over during the day.
Registeration for baseball's 'Fall Ball' is open but we have decided to retire Kyle's baseball gear.  He really doesn't have much interest in the sport & I've been unhappy with how Little League is run in our area for quite some time now.  I've spoken up about my concerns in the past but it's done little good.  Everything I've said either gets taken out of context or over-exaggerated to the point where I feel like I've become the 'black sheep' of the baseball community & I'm no longer willing to pay money to an organization in which I feel is run unfairly.  That being said, our decision to walk away did not come easily because Kyle really does enjoy hanging out with the team during practices & games.  I am hoping to get him involved in something different which will enable him to meet & make new friends.  And of course he will continue to take Karate classes twice a week, working towards his Black Belt!
We would like to get Isabella involved in some activities now as well.  Kyle used to attend an arts & crafts class at our local rec so I'm going to see if they still offer classes there now and we're also going to look into the cost of gymnastics classes.
Savannah is completely moved into her new room upstairs & has adjusted well.  Nap time can be a bit tricky - more often than not she'll play instead of sleep - but when that happens I just put her to bed earlier than usual at night.  I'm confident that she'll get back to her regular napping routine once the novelty of having a "new" room wears off.
Right now the nursery has turned into a bit of a storage/playroom but it won't be long before it's a functioning room again.  Yep, you read correctly - we are expecting baby #4 in early April!  (I bet you thought I was just getting fat again!)  This was a planned pregnancy (No, I did not hit my head..ha ha!) & we were (and are!) very excited to have finally conceived after having tried for several months.  I have had some minor complications so far - I have a cyst growing on one of my ovaries which is proving to be rather painful (and annoying).  I have had a couple of ultrasounds & each time the technician has been unable to get a really good view of the baby because of the cyst but we're hoping that by the time I go back for my next ultrasound - the day after Labor Day - the baby will be big enough to see past the everything.   We're not expecting any bad surprises & look forward to sharing pictures of our little 'jelly bean' next week!