Well, I suppose it is time to update the world of fans on what is going on in the Rioux household.

School is progressing for everyone. Jeanine gets her workout every morning running to class. Since Rose's school starts at 7:30 and Jeanine's at 8:10 the 25 minute drive can be stressful. Especially if Rose has had a screaming morning (the majority of the time) or a clingy - I don't want Mommy to leave morning; Or if Riverside is actually working on the upcoming Magnolia undercrossing; or if the parking structure is crazy; or even if the night before was a long one and getting out of the house in the morning on time is difficult. But we are usually all right.

Emilie is registering for MIDDLE SCHOOL! Are we prepared for this? Hopefully her middle school experience is better than mine. She has been invited to be in the AVID program, but would have to sacrifice band. Not likely to happen in this Band centered family. Stephen and Jeanine have already waited 11 years to be involved in a good band program, don't make us wait longer.

Nina has been working on her Snickerdoodles for the county fair. She has already earned recognition at school for her delicious little works of art. She earned a certificate of achievement last month for her progress in math and her teacher also made mention of her progress in Snickerdoodles.

Kaulin is growing by leaps and bounds. He is still trying to learn the difficult lesson that what occurs on the playground may not be appropriate for the house. We'll daily work on this one. He is making good progress on his reading and his report card shows this. He is still quite the charmer at school and at church and at grandmas, most especially when he is not under the influence of mom or sisters.

Rose's speech is getting clearer every day and she loves writing. It is so fun to be handed a whole page full of easily recognizable letters. She then has fun reading the story to anyone. And she manages to do that with the biggest grin spread across her sweet face. She has also learned that cleaning the living room is a good step towards getting mommy to play blocks with her. For such a little thing, she's pretty good at cleaning (when she has the right motivation).

Stephen is also working away at his school work each day. Even though algebra is fairly high on his "don't wanna" list, his grades do NOT reflect this. His determination to conquer the mathematical beast wins out. He also does not let this challenge detract from the employment beast. He still slaves away 40 hours each week in support of the family. He is also making valiant attempts to be home when Jeanine needs to be at school (or needs to be anywhere but home) and making sure his kids know who he is.

Nutmeg is still the pinhead of the house. She loves everybody and is pretty sure everyone loves her, which is probably true. She loves to chase after the lizards (or any leaf that moves or sits like a lizard or perhaps even a shadow that does likewise) She also loves to spend the morning curled up with Nina. Another favorite activity is behaving like a moron when mommy is trying to work out. Nothing like behaving like a rolling pin on someone who is trying to do sit-ups!

So not much has changed, even though no two days are ever alike. And even though the number of times "I'm bored" is whined within these walls, it is never boring around here.