Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Ranheim Family Update

It is hard to believe that we have almost had Kate home with us for three years!!  She continues to be our spunky and determined little girl that has developed the best sense of humor and sweet personality! She has learned so much in three years that it makes my head hurt just thinking about it!  She can now read fluently (she loves Junie B. Jones), she writes stories all the time, her math is coming along (a little behind but we are working on it), and she has found many sports she loves!  Her physical abilities have been amazing- her balance is 500% better than it was when we met her- she can now walk and run everywhere (and gallop if she wants to be especially fast).  She wears AFO's on both feet and her muscles ache at times but she doesn't let that stop her.  Her favorite activities are cheerleading, gymnastics, baseball, and singing.  When she grows up she wants to either be a "gymnasticker" or a singer.  Her biggest growth has been her emotional age- she truly is a typical seven year old.  Looking back I can say she was closer to a two year old when describing her emotional and physical age three years ago.

Our family is doing great!  Brennan has turned into a wonderful big brother and can even babysit for short periods of time.  Of course he still enjoys fishing and even if he won't readily admit it, he is loving sixth grade! It's so nice to see him becoming so responsible about school work and outgoing with his friends.  He is hoping to get into football in the fall but for now enjoys playing Minecraft, Skyping his friends, and taking drum lessons.

I finally got my master's degree in elementary education.  I started a year long online program and completed ten classes in a year's time  It was time consuming but the classes were relevant and interesting for the most part.  Now that I have finished I wonder how I found the time to do the 25-30 hours of class work each week!  I continue to teach second grade and love it!

Dave spends almost every free moment he has with the family.  He'll tell you that the highlight of his week is going to watch Kate's Miracle League Baseball Games.  Of course he spends countless hours fishing with Brennan as well.  His work has been busy and he is excited to begin coaching a Midget A's Hockey Team in the fall.  Kate is truly his little princess and watching them together makes my heart melt!  My dreams have truly come true!

The other day I was driving in my car and both kids were buckled in the backseat talking about school.  It was an ordinary moment but I paused and had to thank God for all of my blessings!  I am so lucky to have two very special and amazing children and to see our family grow closer together because of them!

I forgot to mention that we also got a new dog!  Toby joined our family about 18 months ago (when he was a year old).  He is a Maltipoo and is great company for Zamboni who is now seventeen years old.  Toby is the sweetest guy around and is finally learning some manners!

Life is good!!  I'll post pictures soon and will hopefully update a little more often now that my graduate classes are done!