Fall started up with much of the standard fare for us. Nina returned to the small school she attended last year as part of a combined 1st-2nd grade class of 8 students. She's done very well this year both academically and socially. Big strides in both areas according to her teacher; moving along in math, reading, and science. Played soccer again, moving up to the girls-ony league (2-4th grade). She thought of herself as falling behind the other girls but in reality she was one of the youngest on the team. With much coaxing and practice, she participated with enthusiasm. Gymnastics continues as well with similar progress in strength and flexibility (this is one flexible kid!). She now has a gymnastics friend that has made it a lot more fun. This summer we opened a passageway between our back yard and a neighbor's yard allowing a much freer flow of kids from one street to another. There are several new kids in the neighborhood so there's always someone around to play with.
Dee did his usual Fall graduate and medical student teaching in addition to work in the lab. After over a year of work on an experimental technique, positive signs starting to emerge and he is close to actually generating data. If successful, the procedure will be a breakthrough since numerous other labs have tried and failed. Just in time too since there is an imperative January grant deadline breathing down his neck. Barb continues her work in another lab at Albany Med. Fortunately, her position allows the flexibility necessary to keep up with the demands of Nina's schedule. Barb has also been kept busy with a couple of extracurricular activities (revolving around Nina, of course): helping coordinate the hot lunches and milk orders for Nina's school and working on the board of a local adoptive family organization (Families with Children from Asia) – going to meetings, getting out newsletters and planning events.
We took the plunge this Fall and had a Halloween party at our house. I guess it was fun. That's what the guests said. We were too busy with food, drinks, and trying to keep a lid on the kids (they were wired!) For those of you keeping track of Nina's costumes, she was a Native American this year; finally sporting a costume she wasn't afraid of! The weather was nice so the kids were able to run around outside and blow off a little steam. It was fun, it was stressful, it took us several days to recover.
We had a quiet Thanksgiving. A couple and their son joined us for dinner and another family came for dessert. Dee cooked yet another turkey that he didn't eat; the carnivores gave it high marks. After T-day Barb and Nina went off to Amherst to visit our friend Laurie while Dee stayed home and worked on yet another house project. This time tearing out old, inappropriately situated insulation, putting in soffit vents, and installing new insulation. His weekend was spent crawling in and out of eaves, access holes, and small corners of the attic. The project is ongoing and will probably still be hanging over us come New Years. December arrived with a foot and a half of snow. It messed up some event plans and was fun for Nina, but didn't last long since we had two days of rain a couple days after the snow. We also had a big snow the following weekend, again followed in two days by rain.
Barb's sister and father were here for Christmas which really enhanced an already excited situation for Nina. Barb's dad was here for only a short time, but Pam stayed for 5 days. Nina participated in the Christmas Eve playlet at Church – playing the part of an angel. It's interesting that for going to a Church that doesn't celebrate Christmas all that much, Nina is really into Christmas carols, constantly singing them. Next year we'll be get her to sing the Messiah! We also did some of our usual activities – Holiday Symphony concert (in the driving snow) and the Nutcracker.
We stayed here after Christmas – no traveling this year; getting ready for New Year's and Nina's 7th Birthday. How time flies. We're looking forward to more snow, however, we've almost guaranteed a sparse winter by purchasing snow shoes for everyone. I suppose if we really want snow we should commit to a trip south for winter break.
