ts Life 4 to go.

I am officially 1/2 way through my Anatomy class. This morning, we had our big muscle/CNS/PNS exam. I am so relieved to have it out of the way. The first half of the semester seemed brutal because it felt like we either had an exam in lecture, exam in lab or a recitation exam every other week. With this big test behind me, the pressure will let up. We have two recitations coming up, but they are oral exams that involve the research and discussion of specific topics. For these, you get the topic in advance, research it, answer the questions (in your mind) and bring in your supporting materials. The reciation part involves discussing/debating the topics as a class.
There are no other exams until the very end of the semester (mid-December). Phew! I can breathe again.
The test went well, but I think I made two very simple mistakes. Oh well...there isn't much that I can do.
Fall is in full bloom here. A couple of weeks ago, we headed out to a local farm with a friend and her daughters that has fun things for kids to do. There were barn animals, a giant slide, hayrides, a clown and play areas to keep the kids busy while we enjoyed the beginning of Fall.


Zoe petting the goat.
Aidan on the big slide!

A little bit of lunch!

Zoe and Madeline playing!


Amanda taking Zoe down the big slide...wahoo!


The boys pumping water at the water works station!

Andrew is conspicuously missing from all of my pictures lately. He is a teenager now and has no interest in doing "dumb" stuff like hanging out with his family. When we were at the farm, he was actually at home studying. To be honest, last Saturday night when Thomas and I were at cards club, he called me at 9:30pm and begged me to come home because he didn't "get" his Algebra II homework.

I had his conference on Wednesday and.....his teacher met me at the door and said "my God, it's like the pod people or something. Who is this child?" They had a team meeting (middle school) the week prior and he said they couldn't stop talking about Andrew. Andrew, who last year barely pulled a 2.8 by the end of the year and was supposed to repeat Algebra for slacking off. Andrew, who did his homework in the van on the way to school. The same boy now has the highest grade in the entire middle school for Science AND has hte highest A in Algebra II, which he only got in by accident (a computer error). His teachers are amazed. I am...amazed. His teacher asked me what I did to create this change in him. I said "Are you kidding me? At this point, I'm just sitting in the corner drooling...I have no idea what happened!" We laughed....It was so great. I am so proud of him. Man, I hope this lasts because I have no idea what exactly changed. There went the whole nature/nurture thing, huh?
This week, we tipped over into the wintery end of Fall. Last weekend, the leaves were still on the trees in a brilliant display of color. Zoe and I took a walk and she found an entire patch of "Pusteblumen" that she collected for almost an entire hour. She picked them by the fistful and then tried hard to blow them out. By the end of it all, she got so tired that she started...ummm...eating them.








We're kind of hitting the winter end of Fall now. Aidan and Zoe and I went on a leaf-collecting expedition this week and it was brrrrr cold. They had a great time collecting leaves. When we got home, Zoe glued hers to posterboard (that is now hanging over our fireplace!) and Aidan kept his in his bag so that he can look at them whenever he wants. I managed to lose track of the bag already. No doubt I'll find them in the Spring when they have rotted through the bag! LOL




I know, I know...enough of the pictures....no one finds my kids as cute as I do...but I can't help it.

Things have been so stressful though getting back to school and trying to figure out how to balance my needs with those of the kids that just looking at the pictures and reminding myself of the good times we've had this Fall has made me forget about anything I might have wanted to complain about in my blog today.