June Already

June is here already. It's been an interesting year for us so far. Max has 2 days left of first grade! He turned 7 in May and is 51 inches tall, and 89lbs. 90th percentile for height at his last check up last week! He's enjoying reading kids graphic novels on his own, and enjoying me reading "Harriet the Spy" to him at bedtime. He's really interested in making his own Lego creations, and he's working up the courage to get out on his new bicycle more. Alice is almost five! She is very excited about her birthday in early Septemeber. She's reading a bit, and writing very well. We were recently offered a spot in a pre-k program run by Portland Public Schools in our neighborhood for her, it's full day spanish immersion! I was reluctant to sign her up, as we dearly love her preschool, but she has expressed interest in kindergarten for quite some time. With her birthday being just 6 days after the PPS cutoff of September 1, she was denied entry into kindergarten this fall. We even pressed on, meeting with PPS administrators, but they would not budge on this cut off date. I think it's a blessing, that this spot opened up for her. We've had trouble affording her preschool, and this seems like a wonderful opportunity for her to be with 4 and 5 year olds! She'll be going into a spanish immersion school for Kindergarten anyway, so this way she will have a leg up and be familiar with the routine of kindergarten. Shawn has been unemployed since late November. He did have a 2 1/2 month contract gig out in Beaverton which ended in late April. If you know of any technical writing or instructional design positions, please let us know! A work from home opportunity would be perfect :) This year I decided to pursue bookkeeping as I have worked in a bookkeeping role for about 8 years. I left a very low paying job at a medical clinic in March. I've been working part time with a CPA in Beaverton and I recently started a part time position with the farmers market in our neighborhood staffing a booth on Saturday mornings and doing record keeping. I love it! Our little garden is booming, with sunflowers, corn, snap peas, beets, carrots, pumpkins, and blueberries all coming up. Alice especially delights in helping me work in the yard. We are planning to visit some state parks this summer, mainly Multnomah Falls, Silver Falls State Park, and of course a trip to the Oregon Coast. Alice is very interested in volcanoes and we want to make it up to Mt. St. Helens for a day of exploring. It's hard to believe that we've been in Portland 2 years as of this month. What a 2 years it has been! We miss our Seattle friends and family and are tentatively planning a trip up in July. A little fun tidbit. I made Max a sock monkey when he was one. He's recently rediscovered it and has asked me to make a hat, gloves, and boots for it. The past few days I've had a great time reusing one of Shawn's old black socks and turning them into monkey accessories on my train commute :) And a cute Max and Alice conversation to end the post: Max, pretending to be a monster or something to Alice: "I'm going to steal your heart!" Alice: "Don't steal my heart! I still love!" ...That's the news for now :)