Getting Back into the Swing of Things

Like many people, we enjoy the holidays, not just for the holidays themselves, but for the break from the ordinary routine. In our house, that means that Cliff is home a lot for a few weeks after being gone a lot all semester. It now also means that Laura's home all day for a couple of weeks while school is out. It's fun to have this time together, for sure, but it's also good to get back to the routine and feel productive again. It's been a little sluggish here getting back to normal. Laura went back to school on Jan. 3, and Cliff was to follow suit on Jan. 10. Then 'real winter' decided to arrive in Lincoln on Jan. 9. Cliff's first 2 days of the semester were canceled due to a winter storm, and Laura also had 2 snow days. Then, after going to school on Wed. and Thurs., Laura had Friday off for teacher work day, and both she and Cliff have MLK day off tomorrow. Kind of makes it hard to get back into that routine, huh?? Here are some things happening in the Towner household:

• Laura is learning to read at a remarkable pace now. We have a set of sight word flashcards of which she could read about one fourth of the box a few months ago. Tonight, she blew through all 96 words and only needed help with 4 or 5 of them. She is reading whole books now, mainly level 1 & 2 beginning readers. It's amazing to think that in the not-too-distant future, she will be into reading chapter books like I did as a kid.
• Nathan is officially in the potty training stage now. We had a minor breakthrough this weekend with several successful potty trips, including a few that he instigated himself (this is a HUGE, huge step). We let him wear Pull-Ups during the days at home over the weekend, and for the most part, he did really, really well. We are realistic in knowing that we still have a long road ahead to complete training, but for the first time, we feel like real progress has been made. Woo hoo!
• Cliff is enjoying a new toy, an iPad that he was issued for the semester for his music tech class. He had been enjoying testing out various apps and dreaming about the day we might purchase one of our very own......
• I had the luxury of a "day off", so to speak, yesterday, when my friend invited me to come over and scrapbook at her house. Yes, this is a hobby I can do at home alone (I even have a dedicated space for it in the basement), but there is something so enjoyable about scrapping with a friend. We share materials, tools, ideas, and most importantly, stories about the pictures we are scrapping. Definitely a therapeutic (and productive) day for me!
• The kids have dance fever, particularly Laura. Ever since our trip to see the Nutcracker last month, we often have music on in the house that the kids dance to. They refer to the kitchen as "backstage", and then run out to the living room to "perform". Of course, dress up clothes and props are involved in all of this. It really is a sight to see!
  
• Cliff and I have stepped out of our exercise comfort zone and started taking Latin hip hop class (basically the same thing as Zumba) at the Y. It is humbling to feel so uncoordinated at times, but it is fun to learn the steps and get a workout at the same time.
• Laura has gotten old enough that family game time has gotten much more fun. Yes, it's nice to play CandyLand, Memory, etc. with the kids, but now that she can understand the rules and strategies of games such as Sorry and Uno, it really is fun to play games all together!
• It is now officially 2011, and the next big move seems much more imminent now. It has really dawned on me now that we will be moving in about 5-6 months. Now, if only we knew where........

Well, barring any other major winter weather events, we should, finally, be able to get into the routine of this semester. Part of the fun of living on the academic calendar like we teachers do is that our schedule is not the same all year. This has been even more true with Cliff in the collegiate world where class schedules completely change each semester. I look forward to learning his new routine and finding back some "together time" that gets lost in the craziness of fall marching band season. Take care, everyone! Hope you're all staying warm wherever you are!

Gina