Grow

Since my last post, miss Bexley safely arrived. She has already stolen the hearts of many and we are so thankful we get to see her at least once a week. The girls will have so much fun growing up with her and teaching her new tricks ;)

Calving is in full swing at home and my busier season at work is also beginning. Jayda and Paisley have been getting to ride quite a bit since the weather has been very mild for this time of year. Jed even broke down and bought Jayda a set of poles and rounded up 3 (matching blue) barrels for Paisley. As much as he tries to act like they don't need to rodeo, he obviously isn't too against it. He plowed up a piece of land and had them out practicing on Friday. They loved every minute of it...well mostly! Paisley had a few whiney moments when she didn't think she was doing very good.

I really thought I had done better at encouraging her and building her self-esteem and self-worth, but she is almost harder on herself than Jayda ever was/is. It seems self-doubt sneaks in at a very young age. We've already had a few crying episodes where she tells me she thinks she's stupid because someone else told her she was. I wish building confidence in kids was as easy as it is to shatter it.

Just another phase of raising children and we will tackle it one day at a time. We are in count down mode, with just 20 actual school days left. I REALLY REALLY want to help them continue to grow this summer and not lose the knowledge they have worked so hard to build this school year. Last year I bought a couple of work books for both girls, but wasn't very successful at finding the time to do it. This summer I'm going to try to be more proactive and make a calendar for them to enter their daily work into. I'm sure I'll have to hound them on it every day, but someday they might thank me!

Finally, after 2 years of really great teachers, Jayda is catching up to where she needs to be for reading and math. Just one critical year (1st grade) put her so far behind from the standards they have in place today. She has came so far and is now in the top reading group in her class and due to DAILY extra practice after school, has greatly improved her math skills. She was one of the first to pass the multiplication test and move on to division. Little things like that really boost her confidence and drive her to keep working hard.

Now if only I had a summer break!