The Good

There are a lot of good things happening right now. Lots of growth in the kids. Sometimes it is hard to remember that when in the middle of the battles.

After a rough start to her summer, Emma has really made strides in joining the family. 

One of her big accomplishments this summer has been learning how to swim.  She passed the deep end pool test and can now slide down the slide.  We are happy that all of our kids are now good swimmers.  Actually, I should say kids that are in our home. We were shocked to learn that Kassi can't swim.  We didn't have her in the home long enough for her to learn. 

We have discussed homeschooling Emma since school and attaching to her teacher has been an issue for the last two years.  However, we learned last week that her teacher is the one that Michelle had in 2nd grade.  I believe that I can work with this teacher to help Emma to attach with her family and keep the teacher relationship a teacher relationship. 

Since she has been out of school she hasn't had any of her major tantrums where she tears up her room.  We are contemplating putting her cabinet doors back on!  Unfortunately allowing her with the dog did not go so well, I walked in to find her kicking the sleeping dog in the head.  I just don't know what to do about this situation.  When she is not allowed access to the dog the dog is such a sweet and gentle dog.  When Emma is around him he changes.

Emma's forays into the kitchen have slowed down and she is now eating the meals that we serve. There are many people who think that this is a food stealing issue but it is not.  It is a control issue.  By eating all the junk food she could, she was successfully avoiding relying on me for her food.  This goes back to her belief that she can't trust adults.  She needs to learn to trust adults, especially her parents.  She needs to know that I will provide her with food.  Packing her lunch last year became a big

She is all girl, her choice of back to school items were all things glittery and girly, to include her backpack.

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On the 1st Tasha and her husband Ethan moved back to Columbia.  We are excited to have them closer to us.  We look forward to babysitting!  Her baby is due in September and look forward to spoiling Vaida.

We have been enjoying activities around town.  The local rodeo was a lot of fun and the funnel cake was great!

The kids have been enjoying the pool and the deck that we built.  They have spent many hours swimming and have had a lot of exercise this summer.  The pool idea was a great idea!

So, how is your summer going?  My kids start back to school in less than two weeks.  I have seen that some kids have already started, I feel that I need another month because we haven't' done all that we planned.