Study Study Study and Swim Swim Swim

We have still been working hard on the CRCT criteria - - we take a different task each day and Lola is now telling me "Mom, this is easy!! Can I do some more?" She has been able now to feel comfortable with multiplying fractions, converting improper fractions to their proper form, and she's really quite good at geometric concepts. We are working a little harder on algebra, but she is beginning to see that 'x' is not to be feared just because we may not know what number it represents. Isn't that ironic - - - all our lives we have been taught in finite terms - - - that certain numbers added or multiplied together equal certain other numbers, and now this 'x' thing is thrown into the mix. She knows what pi is and how to use it, and she suddenly realized that she now knows more than a month ago because the worksheets she gets to practice on now make sense! She does not like tests, but perhaps this next one will be a little easier to cope with.

We are also getting ready for the big 11th birthday (which is the day after the CRCT re-take) and we have decided to have her party at the farm of a friend of mine who used to board and train my horse, Whisper, back in 2000-2001. At the party, any parent or child will have the opportunity to go on a trail ride atop one of the farm's many lesson horses. After that, we will have pizza and chicken, beverages and birthday cake, then open the presents and finally clean up and go home. Lola has decided to invite Boris, Nastya (Anastasia) and her little sister Masha (Maria), all of whom have been adopted from Russia, with Boris and Nastya being at Lola's school there) and Lavinia, her best friend at school here in Atlanta.

We have been having issues with our beloved goldfish. Tom the fish died while we were in Mexico. Chris e-mailed us while we were there to tell us the sad news. We knew he was sick, but he seemed to be better just before we left for Mexico. When we returned home, Jerry was still ok, so we decided to get him a buddy. Unfortunately, the buddy fish (dubbed Pinky) was sick when we bought him and began to show signs of parasites once he was home, and then of course Jerry got the parasites and in spite of treating them with the proper medicine, raising the temperature of the tank and doing everything but CPR both fish have sadly passed on to Fish Heaven. We now have an empty tank. We will change the water and make it ready for a couple new fish (hopefully HEALTHY fish) when Lola feels she is ready.

We have been swimming almost every day and Lola is now taking swim lessons at the pool. She had swimming instruction in Russia and loved it, and is really quite a good swimmer. We also have season passes for Six Flags White Water and she loves it there! With many water slides, fun ocean wave pool, the lazy river and a ride called "the Tornado", it makes for a fun afternoon. I am not sure who is more excited to go to White Water --- hmmm, that is a toss-up...

Scooter is still the steadfast little buddy. He absolutely loves Lola!


Boo Boo is still going strong at the advanced age of 18-1/2. He's quite the trooper and still loves to eat and be brushed. He has taken up homestead on one of our living room sofas. His 'home' has two plastic mattress covers, a towel for him to sleep on, two big adult bed incontinence pads, one of which has a litter box with wheat litter (wow, there is NO cat box odor with this stuff - - it's easy to clean and amazing!) on it and the other with his food. He makes several trips out to the kitchen for water and to see what everyone else is doing, so he seems to be in pretty good shape. I do make sure to look for any sign of pain or anything that may indicate he is in any discomfort, but so far he's appeared to be a happy little cat.