**Update**

Wow, It has been about 3 weeks since my last post here. It has been a very busy and hectic time for us! Kristen had some medical problems which after blood tests and a lot of waiting, told us that she is vitamin D deficient. Not a huge problem, I just have to make sure she takes her vitamin supplements daily as well push the milk and dairy products.

Homeschool Co-op started! It is our first year there and so far so good! It is quite a large co-op currently serving 275 families in the NH area. Kristen is attending one day a week and taking 2 classes, cursive writing and bible.

Kristen's 3rd year of dance started! I can't believe it! She is taking ballet level 1, jazz level 1, and tap level 3. Her dance has her dancing 2 days a week this year, plus she will be performing in her dance school's annual public performance of The Nutcracker again this year. Last year was her first year dancing in the Nutcracker and she loved it! Its quite a commitment, but seeing her up there on stage on the day of the show makes it all worth it! She will be playing the roles of a villager in the first act and an arabian dancer in the second act.

Kristen was re-evaluated for occupational therapy last week. It turns out that she still has a considerable amount of weakness in her core muscles which may have something to do with why she holds her pencil so tightly when she writes. They recommended that she come 2 times a week for 12 weeks for therapy.

I know some of you are still waiting for you packages, I do apologize immensely. Those long overdue packages will be in the mail (I promise) the day after tomorrow.

School has been so frustrating lately. Her problems with writing have been a big source of stress for us. Thankfully, I had her try writing with an erasable pen to see if she was more comfortable writing and it worked! She prefers the pen over pencil and honestly, I am just so happy to have her writing and comfortable that I let her use pen for all her school work now (as long as its erasable)

Her therapist recommended I take several sensory breaks with her during our day, and it really seemed that no matter what I try, I just couldn't get her to engage. Two days this week I have been ready to hang it up. I actually called the private elementary school that is next door to us today to see if they have room for a second grader.

On a positive note, after a rough start, today wound up being very productive! I let her do a lot of crafts today in between her school work.  I can't believe how well it worked. I am optimistic and hope we can carry on our new method. :O)