Again

I have not written for a while because my computer is still broken.  It turns out that it needs a new screen.  And it's not that I can't use this computer, but it's not mine, so you know how that is.

Anyway, to catch you up on the happenings here, I am so glad to say that Elizabeth now has a tutor for Algebra 2.  She meets with someone once a week for an hour, and that has let her move so much more quickly through the lessons!  He is also into sciences, so he will be our go-to guy for her physics class which we plan to start in the fall, or whenever she finishes her Algebra.  Jo is reading pretty strongly now if she puts her mind to it, and she is really good with counting money and is getting the hang of the clock.  That's exciting to me since those can be difficult concepts.  Gabriel has been asking to do 'homework' too, so I have started him in an easy book that is just counting and sorting and pasting pictures in their places on a page.  He is getting bored with that, though, so I will have to move on to something more challenging soon!  He holds his pencil will and can trace lines, so he is definitely getting into the pre-reading/writing stuff.  I didn't plan to start with him til he was 5, but with his asking for it, how can I say no?  So, he is off and 'running' at 3!

Our gardens are coming along, too.  We are a bit behind with the tomatoes and peppers and squash, but we will still have enough time to get some good produce.  Our grapes and our raspberries are going crazy, and we have a bird's nest in the grapes.  I know that's not a very good place for her to be since it is close to the ground and also that means she will feast on our grapes, but I think she may have abandoned the nest anyway due to the kids playing in the yard all the time.  I haven't seen her for 2 days.  I was hoping to see some eggs, but I guess maybe it's not to be.  Our peas are also doing well although we got those in a a bit late, too, and I used Gabriel's old crib (which he tore to pieces by standing in it and shaking the sides so hard and then climbing over the edge and hanging there) as a trellis, so it's not too pretty, but it's functional.

Baby B is back with us after a vacation of 2 weeks, and it is fun to have him back to splash around in the wading pool with Jesse.  Jesse is so big now and walking very sturdily and still climbing everything just like his big brother.

The bad news is that Jo is sick again.  We started the round of appointments for her again today with blood work, and she has an appointment with a specialist soon.  It is frustrating to be starting to go through this again, you know?  It's not that she's ill it's just that something's not right in her body and hormones, and no one can tell us what is causing it.  She is being very patient with it all so far, though, even though she really does not look forward to the needles.

And that's pretty much what's been going on around here for the last little while.  I will try to be better at keeping up with things here, but it's just hard!