September really went by in a flash after school started!
Esme has settled in well to second grade and is having a blast. Our school's second graders start their own company at the beginning of the school year. Each of the children has to apply for a job - they each fill out an application and have to turn in two recommendation letters - and then each child is hired for a position in the classroom. Esme is the teacher's personal secretary! She helps keep Mrs. Schmuker's spaces clean, gives spelling pre-tests to other students, and lots of other stuff. She loves it! With the "money" they earn at their jobs, the children can purchase items from the classroom store - school supplies, toys, books, etc. In the spring, each student designs, makes and sells his or her own product in the E. F. Fort Marketplace at school. Esme hasn't decided on anything yet, so we could end up making anything! When Aidan was in second grade, he made chocolate lollipops to sell at the marketplace.
Esme is also taking piano lessons and loving every minute of it! Her teacher, Mrs. Muller, is really nice and doing an excellent job. Esme has so far learned a lot about quarter, half and whole notes, and about forte and piano. She practices all of her exercises five times every day and (so far at least) it is not tough at all to get her to do her practicing.
Gymnastics classes started last night for Esme at the community center and she loves that too. They are already doing a ton of different things, including splits, bridges, balance beam and floor exercises. Hopefully this will help Esme with her flexibility and coordination!
Aidan is like a different person now that he is a fifth grader. He is so much happier, cheerful and fun when he is home, a complete about-face from his attitude last year. He put up with fourth grade, but I think he must have been miserable. He does have to get up an hour earlier, and therefore has to go to bed an hour earlier, but he is adjusting to that, too, without too much complaining. He loves his new school - Nickels Intermediate - in our district the fifth and sixth graders are in their own building, and he is just so pleased with his teachers he is happy to please them. His homeroom/math/science teacher, Mr. Van Laan is really into science, and gives the kids a lot of responsibility and expects a lot of them. His language arts/social studies teacher, Mr. Smith, is doing a lot of cool things in class and Aidan just eats it up. It is probably helpful that as both of Aidan's teachers are men, there is absolutely no chance either of them will take maternity leave this year, dumping the kids with a substitute for some unknown length of time. :)
A couple of weeks ago, Aidan came home all excited that his school music teacher was offering guitar lessons, and begged to be able to sign up. So we did! We are renting a guitar from the school system, and every Tuesday afternoon Aidan and a classmate, Ryan, meet with Mr. Shepard in the music room for their lesson. He has only had one lesson and he is already strumming, plucking and reading music. Aidan was always dead set against taking piano lessons, but I am so glad he is interested in another instrument.
Through the township recreation department, Aidan is also learning beginning fencing techniques. He has learned lots of moves, and at the last lesson the kids were loaned gloves, helmets and foils to begin practicing with them. Against the wall, so far (baby steps!) but soon they will be practicing against one another. It is really cool to watch.
Jim left Bluestone International a couple weeks ago to begin his step-by-step return to IBM. At the moment he is technically employed by Blue Direct, an IBM-exclusive organization of semi-independent contractors. He was needed immediately for a project at Amway/Alticor here in West Michigan, but it takes IBM-proper a lot longer than that to get their ducks in a row. So this is a temporary move, but a peachy-keen one. We are using COBRA to continue our insurance with BCBS Illinois, and as an independent contractor the pay is pretty nice too. When Jim does return to IBM it should be a pretty good deal all around; he will be working in a different department doing more of what he left IBM to do in the first place. In the meantime, it is sure nice to have him working locally!
Last weekend Jim and Aidan went to the Michigan - Bowling Green game in Ann Arbor. It was Aidan's first time at any football game, let alone a college game in the largest stadium in the world! The boys both had a terrific time - and Michigan won, which is also good. :)
This weekend Jim is going on a road trip with some friends to the Indiana -Michigan game in Bloomington. We will miss him, but I'm sure he'll have a great time! My sister is spending some time at Mom and Dad's, so the kids and I thought we would head there for a while on Saturday as well. The roof is done!....So who knows what project we'll be working on, but we're always glad to help. :)
Yesterday Jim and I signed the papers on our mortgage refinance, and we are the proud owners of a fifteen-year mortgage at 4.25% interest. Good stuff. Too bad our house appraised for so little (over $60K less than we paid for it in 2006), but it is working out okay. Our payments are very little more than they were, and we reduced our term by half.
It's all good! Best of fall to you all!