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This is Shawnna, Kali, Ryne and Clint in October 2005 at a fundraiser Shawnna helped for Arizona's Children's Advocacy Center.
I still can’t believe it is already December. We just celebrated Kali’s 1st birthday last month. She had her tear duct opened the same day – what a blessing that’s behind us. It seems to have worked and she’s in good spirits as usual. Kali especially loves to be around Ryne. She always has a smile ready for anyone she encounters. She’s got the cutest giggle, her eyes are like the ocean, and you can’t get out of the room without noticing those deep dimples. She is so petite compared to Ryne (at this age), so we’re still relishing in baby time. Ryne, turned 3 in April and started Montessori school one week later. He loves it and is busy making new friends, even girlfriends. In October, he started going all 5 mornings so mom could work. He really looks up to the kindergartners who hopefully will teach him how to master tying his own shoes. He still loves doing complex puzzles, reading, his gymnastics class, and well, being 3. I think if Ryne and Clint had the same puzzle to complete, Ryne would win if they were on the clock! Oh, and he was Dash from The Incredibles for Halloween. He’d be upset if I didn’t tell everyone. Clint is busy as usual on the road, living out of a suitcase helping to create more school choice programs across the country and raising the necessary funds to keep the Alliance for School Choice in operation. As many of you know, he left for D.C. the day after Kali was born to argue a case before the U.S. Supreme Court. In case you aren’t a wine enthusiast, he WON! So, everyone can order wine and have it shipped to them. It’s cutting out the middle man, and raising the bar for the small vintners to compete – double bonus. He’s also missing law so he might start dabbling in it again. I started to do more contract work in July after taking a 2 ½ month hiatus from helping the cause. When people ask me what I do, it’s often hard to explain because I’m collecting data, and then, publicizing our gains through press releases and reporting to the Board of Directors so everyone knows we’ve been successful, and yes, to give the Alliance more dollars to help increase educational opportunities for low-income students. More recently, I’ve become more interested in pre-K, so I may start shifting my focus to pre-K instead of just K-12 education. But I brainstormed another book idea, so I’ve begun a personal research quest about prehistoric creatures all children seem to love. Stay tuned… My family had a weekend reunion in Dallas in June. In July, I took the kids to Pittsburgh for almost 2 weeks to rekindle my roots, and to share the love. If you’ve never been, there are so many wonderful kids’ museums you won’t know where to begin. We escorted Clint to Vail for a week for his group’s Board retreat. When we couldn’t handle the heat anymore, we headed to San Diego for a short respite. Last month, we decided it would be nice to show Ryne and Kali the “North Pole,” so we headed up to the Grand Canyon and did the Polar Express along with some sights. We’ve been having fun and miss you all who are spread throughout the country. May our paths cross in 2006. Clint’s middle son graduates from H.S. in the spring, so I’m guessing we’ll at least head to D.C. for a short foray. |
