Just an update...

I've been putting up a lot of pictures lately, but haven't really talked a whole lot about the girls. So here's a nice, long update:

Claire: loves school, but is finding 3rd grade to be a bit more challenging than she thought it would be. We are working hard to help her continue to feel capable and have success this year. She has a really good teacher so that helps.

Claire is also continuing her group piano class and is now in Semester 3 of the 4 semester series. The students are starting to learn to put their aural skills to use with more improvising and dictation. They are also starting to incorporate written music notation and learning about different styles. Really neat class! She's singing in the 2nd/3rd grade choir at church and enjoying being one of the big kids in the group.

Swimming and gymnastics start in a couple of weeks, and she's also after me to find out when another cooking class will be offered! Her braces are really straightening her teeth out nicely. While she's really good at keeping them clean and not eating stuff she shouldn't, the novelty is starting to wear off and she's asking how many more months until they're off! She also loves any kind of art project and likes to write and illustrate her own stories. She is also getting to be a great helper around the house and with helping watch Chloe!

Emilie: also loves school. Full day kindergarten is a big undertaking, esp. when you're the youngest in your class. But Emilie's teacher says she's doing great! (We had parent-teacher conferences last week). We're starting sight words this quarter. She has a couple of best friends and even a few "boyfriends"- Sorry, Eric.

She's also avoiding glasses for the moment (we saw the eye dr. last week), but they said its only a matter of time as she's showing signs of progressing to nearsightedness. We have started a stomach acid reducing medicine on her this week. She's been complaining for a few months of her stomach and throat hurting, and over the counter medicines don't seem to cut it. So her pediatrician is thinking that it is just some acid reflux and that hopefully the prescription strength stuff will help. We're supposed to give it to her for 2 weeks and then report back. She was always a huge spitter-upper as a baby and toddler, so we're hoping that's the problem and that the new medicine will solve it.

She's also singing in the kindergarten choir at church. She loves learning all the new songs. She also starts swimming and gymnastics in a few weeks. She really loves coloring. We are currently working on cutting and coloring a set of paper doll musicians to set up our own "symphony". I took Claire and Emilie to see Peter and the Wolf last week at the symphony. They do a family concerts series which is really fun. It was neat to start showing the girls things that were a large part of my life before I had 4 kids! Anyway, their website has a bunch of resources for teachers when preparing students for Kinder Koncerts. We found the paper dolls there.

Elise: is enjoying preschool. She is getting better with her refusal to get her hands dirty :-) This past week, they even convinced her to finger paint for the first time. I think its really funny. When she was 1 and 2 and we'd go camping, she'd be completely filthy within 15 minutes of being there. She's got an incredible memory and imagination. She is working on writing her name. She also adores animals. We say she's going to take after her grandpa and be a veterinarian.

She and Eric attended a pumpkin patch field trip and "Daddy and Me" pumpkin carving night at preschool this past week. They had a lot of fun together. While she's definitely still going through the "terrible 3's" (love the tantrums and whining...), she's also a real sweetheart and adores her sisters.

Chloe: is running everywhere. She thinks its hilarious to run away from us when we tell her to stop or come here. Great fun. She's into giving everyone big hugs right now. She's talking pretty well, no sentences yet, but lots of words.

She got 3 more teeth 2 weeks ago, bringing the count to 12. She got her first haircut last week. And while she's still very much a mommy's girl, she is asking for and loving on her daddy a bit more these days :-)

Let's see, what else? We still have Buster Brownie. He is the largest guinea pig I've ever seen and has long hair. Buddy, the toy fox terrier, is loving traveling in the RV with us this fall. And Hanna, our viszla, while mellowing some as she gets a little older, still loves a rousing game of fetch the chunk of soccer ball (the dogs destroyed the ball a while back).

Eric is working lots of hours right now, as the fall rush is upon us. While we're glad the economic slow down hasn't affected his business, it sure has been crazy lately. He has been trying to get out and ride his bike a few (early!) mornings a week and has really been enjoying that.

As for me, in my spare time ;-) I'm starting to work on some "self-improvement." After 4 kids in 7 years, I'm feeling a little worn out. So I've added some more exercise; including seeing a personal trainer once a week for a while to get a strength routine going, taking spinning classes, and continuing to jog. I'm also seeing a chiropractor to attempt to get my back in shape. I had some vertebrae that got pushed out of place between pregnancies and carrying babies around. My goal is to feel (and look!) more like my old self by next summer. I'm thinking that I'll need the fitness just simply to keep up with my 4 little princesses, since I don't see our schedule settling down anytime soon! All I can say is that I do sleep well at night!

Anyway, we'll be camping again this weekend with some friends. I'll post the pictures next week.