Well, its official. We now have a school aged child. This is like an out of body experience, and I feel very strange about all of this. But, I seem to be holding up ok, oh... and so is Shaun. He loves it, and comes home with all sorts of fun stories. He is definitely the minority in his class, because everyone else is either black, Indian, or white trash. He seems to like it though, and says his new best friend is Emanuel (oh and his primary teachers name is Shadahna). This is all very different to us coming from AZ where, though the minority there as well, Shaun's best friends were Juan and Jose J He is in all day kindergarten, and comes home very tired and very hungry. He just started flag football this week, and its about the funniest thing to see these 5 year old kids running around with no clue and no coordination. He seems to like it, but it is much more fun for us on the sidelines, I think.
Rachel is loving the new freedom she is enjoying being the oldest at home. She has actually discovered that she has a little brother. It took her by surprise at first, and tried to beat him down, but now kinda likes having someone that thinks she is the coolest person on the earth. She does love to have an audience, and Nathan really likes to be one. He laughs at everything she does. It is very cute. She is now in ballet at the YMCA (sing it with me…) and she is pirouetting and sashaying all over the place. She really loves to dance, but loves to sing even more (yeah!). She was singing in the car today, like usual, to the music in her own little head, and Shaun made it known that he was sick of her singing, and he hated the way her voice sounded. She then told him that it was the only voice that she had and she continued on her way. You go, baby girl!
Nathan, like I said, is quite the joyous little creature, and is so happy all the time. He is not walking yet, but is crawling like a little crab, and is into everything. He puts all things, big and small, into his mouth, living or dead. He is now in a big kid carseat, as of yesterday, and loves the view.
Steve is enjoying residency so far. He has had three very easy rotations, and I’m thinking ‘whats the big fuss about residency? This is cake.’ Our friends are having the opposite experience though. He has been to church twice since he started, and is on call overnight at least once a week. So we are enjoying having him home, and he has enjoyed working on his cross stitch. He has also taken a liking to the golf. It is a requirement for him to know the basics and complete at least 4 rounds of 18 holes to pass his inter year. They’re pretty strict here.
I am now the music leader in the primary, and love my new found fame. I never new how much little kids adore their leaders until I showed up at playgroup the next week and had little kids vying for my attention. There is one boy that will just sit and stare at me until I look, and then he sheepishly smiles and looks away. It’s a little uncomfortable actually, and I’m thinking of getting a restraining order against him.
We love it here in Toledo, and love the cold weather that we’ve been getting. We have actually had to go out and buy coats and warm clothes. Its been a new sensation for all of the kids. We really hate that we are missing all the BYU games, though. Its just not the same listening over the internet (thank goodness we have that, though). I wear my blue Y shirt every game day with pride, and think that someone, somewhere knows what it stands for.
Love you guys so much, and miss you all.
Katie, Steve, and the critters
