A family update

Plenty o' people have been asking me how the kids are doing, and I realize I've been remiss in providing details.

Eldest is settling into her second semester of college, grappling with balancing 58 credit hours of coursework with remaining a human being. She's taking real analysis (which Wikipedia tells me "deals with the analytic properties of real functions and sequences, including convergence and limits of sequences of real numbers, the calculus of the real numbers, and continuity, smoothness and related properties of real-valued functions"... as if that's enlightening), computer science, the dreaded-but-required biology, linguistics, and concert choir.

Big Guy has been having a rough time of it. I was up at his school yesterday for a meeting to discuss his depression and difficulties. He misses being at home, but of course that's only part of the problem. Those of you who are praying folks can add him to your list, along with the hope that we can find him a great high school. It isn't easy.

Dancer is happy and busy. She received the good news that she got into American Ballet Theater's summer program, and she's getting ready for the spring performance at her ballet school. The latter entails more rehearsals than I can track; fortunately she is organized and motivated, and is in charge of her own schedule.

Snuggler continues to struggle with occasional stomach pain, but is otherwise occupied with art and tween fitness and friends and many things. She and I are beginning to work on a project for Water Aid, since Snuggler has a long-standing interest in providing clean water in third-world countries. More on that as it happens.

Little Guy is a reader! You may recall my big carrot challenge a while back; it made a difference. Shortly after that Little Guy dove into the A to Z Mysteries series, more certain of his capability. When he'd gotten through about 20 of the 26 books, he suddenly announced he was going to start reading The Lightning Thief (384 pages). He's been plugging away at that at the rate of a chapter or two a day, supplementing his knowledge with the D'Aulaires' Book of Greek Myths. He's still a slow reader, but one who now has confidence. I have to give kudos to Andrew, who has been reading aloud the Narnia books to Little Guy at night, despite being in the throes of his annual book deadline. One of the great lures for becoming a reader is knowing that there are far more interesting and complex stories out there.

As for me, I do not lack for things to do or problems to solve. Nor do I lack good friends, a fabulous community, a roof over my head, solid faith, a love of life -- and a life of love. Thanks for being one of the good things in my world.