This and That

Here are some pictures of the progress on our patio. I use the word "progress" loosely. I didn't realize how much our yard sloped until they started adding all the gravel to level it. This is about 18 tons of gravel. We are waiting for about 8 more tons to be delivered.

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I had a lot of fun walking through the park with Danielle Thursday afternoon. She really is such a neat kid. We are 99% sure we saw a swan in the pond that afternoon. We saw lots of turtles basking in the sun. Danielle had fun trying to catch some nickel-sized frogs she found along the bank. I don't know how she is able to spot a teeny tiny green & brown frog against the green & brown ground, but she can. I'm still amazed she found the tiny little turtle in a path full of gravel. We had Chinese for dinner the other night, and my fortune from my fortune cookie said: You discover treasures where others see nothing unusual. That's exactly how I feel about Danielle. She can find the treasure in an ordinary thing (like seeing a heart shape in a funny shaped piece of mulch) or find the ordinary thing that most people overlook. She looks at things just a little differently, which I think is quite a gift. I am excited to see how God will use this gift as she gets older.

I went back to the park on Friday, hoping to see the swan, but he wasn't there. I did see some turtles (the one pictured is a red-eared slider) and some different types of birds. I realize ducks are birds and it makes sense that one could be in a tree, but I have never seen a duck in a tree. I guess that's why I thought it was so funny to watch these wood ducks land in the tree. I think they had a nest on the other side of one of the branches.




































































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Finally, I need to brag on Tyler for a minute. Last month all the 2nd graders were tested to see if they qualify to be in the gifted enrichment program starting in the 3rd grade. Depending on their scores, kids either don't qualify, qualify for more testing to better determine their eligibility, or qualify for the program without any more testing. We got Tyler's test results back on Thursday and were delighted to find that he scored quite well and made it into the gifted program starting in the 3rd grade. We don't have all the information yet, but do know that, starting next year, one day a week he and the other kids in the program will be bussed over to the middle school where they will have special classes with the enrichment teacher. The classes are usually catered to the individuals in the program, so hopefully Tyler will see these as fun and rewarding, while being challenged more than he has been in the regular classroom. He's pretty excited, and we are proud of him.