This past weeks happenings

Another week is history. The week ahead will be another busy one. Laurynn will be taking the Math TAKS test on Tuesday. She's been preparing for this big test for over a year. She's had Mrs. O'Dell for a math tutor since January 2008 and it's greatly paid off (worth every $) since then. The Math TAKS isn't a requirement to pass to be promoted to 4th grade, but I certainly want her to pass. Her tutor is confident she's strong and will do fine. Keep our fingers crossed!

Laurynn's math grades have slowly improved since 2nd grade and for the 5th six weeks she has a "B" grade. Matter of fact, she has "B's" in all her classes, which makes us very proud of her hard work. She's come a long way since 2nd grade. She struggled with Math and Reading last year and report card were mainly B's and C's. Her straight "B's" is the best she's ever done!

To get Laurynn ready for Tuesday, I'm preparing a favorite meal, beef stroganoff for dinner tomorrow night. NO tutoring scheduled for Monday afternoon! It's going to be an early evening; I hope to get her in bed by 7:30 pm, so she can get near 11 hours of sleep.

Matthew is nearing 8 months, 21 days and still no sign of crawling. He enjoys being on his blanket in the family room and plays with his toys. He'll be sitting upright and will stretch outward if he sees a toy. If he goes to far, he'll fall face forward, which means he'll be on his stomach, then he'll flip over to his back. I'll place him on all fours and mimic him crawling, but shows no interest.

Laurynn likes to push him around the house when he's in his crawler. His feet can't exactly reach the floor quite yet. She's a lot of help to me with him during the weekend. She offers to feed him and/or play with him on the floor.

John (Robert) worked his second weekend in a row. They're doing a big integration. I know he'll look forward to having a day off and sleep in late.

I'm encouraging Laurynn to create her own notecards. I got some blank notecards and she can decorate them however she likes; stickers, stamps and diecuts. She even sent cards to her Aunt Kim, Miss Jenny, Grandma Maxine, and her Grammy & Popo. Her cards are one of a kind and I think it's good experience for her to write notes. Everyone enjoys receiving them, especially the older generation. Saturday night, I was scrapbooking while she was writing and decorating her cards.

As for myself, I'm determined to lose my post-baby belly. I'm weighing around 147 and have been exercising on the Wii fit. I've been doing the jogging and stepping. I try to do around 45 minutes a day. It's difficult having to watch my calorie intake when I've never had to do so EVER in the past 38 years (almost 39). Come on, Rachel, you can do it!