Fall, Halloween and Pictures - Finally!

I have been horrible about keeping my blog up to date, and my Facebook activity has decreased somewhat, at least what I post about myself. It turns out trying to slow down my life requires wrapping up a lot of loose ends first, which is making my schedule crazy for a little bit longer.

I also vowed I would not post any more to this blog without pictures. So, finally I have included some pictures from Halloween.

I can also post this link to a good set of pictures from our trip to the Texas Railroad for "A Day Out With Thomas" with Grandma Jackie and Riley. It was a beautiful day with perfect weather!

Quentin is doing so well in school! He has really reached a groove as far as routine and expectations go. We had his first parent teacher conference in October and because his birthday is coming up, we had his annual ARD (admission, review, and dismissal) with the school district. Everyone is very pleased with his progress and impressed with his academic skills. However, everyone also agrees he has a lot of things to work on before he is "caught up" to average levels in social and behavioral type assessments acrossed the board. So, on we go with that!

We are several months into Quentin's piano class, which is a special Yamaha Music School course for kids 4-5 years old. He does very well and like everything else, he learns very fast! I don't think practicing is very interesting to him if he thinks of it as "required", but that's how it goes with nearly all kids, right? He does remarkably well without practicing, I have to admit. It's a bad habit I'm letting him get into....

He is quite healthy overall, and we've not missed any school yet this year. He continues to progress and we are continuing to explore any and all nutrition and health and preventative medicine alternatives that would strengthen his immune system and keep him healthy overall!

Ryan has slowed down his basketball playing...partially because of league schedules and partially from a sprained ankle from a few weeks ago. He is full steam into the college football watching season though! We all leave the house at about the same time in the mornings, between 7:15 and 7:30am, so Ryan has become a much more important part of getting Quentin ready for school in the mornings, and even takes him to school almost once a week. When Quentin goes to bed before 8pm when he doesn't nap, Ryan also has to use the little time between his arrival at home from work and Quentin's bed time to spend time with him, so he helps with his homework and bedtime routine frequently. I love it!

I am still working part time when Quentin is at school, and I usually take him to and from school. We have our piano class once a week, and speech therapy on Fridays. I am trying to figure out a time to put a few swimming lessons back in the routine, but it will probably need to wait until next year. I run, and run, and run our schedule. It is nice that he is not at home watching TV or playing on the computer much this school year - it seemed like that phase would never end this summer.

Quentin is trying a few more new foods and I am slowly introducing wheat back into his diet. He seems to be tolerating small amounts okay so far, but I need to stay disciplined to keep it in moderation for his own sake. We watch closely for behavioral or digestive changes, but so far they are minor or non-exisitent, which has made life a little easier recently.

Quentin's 5th birthday is 2 weeks from today, well that is if I post this before midnight! Time for bed...it's been another long day, long week, long year.