Tuesday, September 29, 2015

The month of September

September started out with Labor Day weekend.  For a family trip we went to Goblin Valley camping.  The Thursday before was Back to School night.  I helped prepare a dinner for the faculty at AHS.  Then Scott and I visited with Eric and Rubie's teachers.  We then attended an all-parent meeting.  The next day it took us all day to get ready to go camping.  I had to do the shopping and we had to get some things done around the house.  Eric went over to Camden's to play as the kids had the day off of school.  It made us get out of town much later than we expected.  We thought we would leave around 1 or 2 in the afternoon, but we did not pull out of the driveway until after 5.  Then we ran into traffic problems as lots of people were also headed out of town and there was an accident on the off-ramp going from I-15 to Spanish Fork.  So as we sat there not moving we decided that we were not going to make it to Goblin Valley before dark.  We found a lovely new hotel in Price and called and got a room.  We got there around 8 o'clock.  It would have taken us until almost midnight to just get to Goblin Valley.  We called the state park to make sure they would not give our campsight away.  We had a nice time at the hotel swimming in the pool.  The beds were soft and nice.  Rubie got sick the next morning with throwing up.  She was off and on the rest of the weekend with throwing up and fever.  Poor girl.  Whenever she felt like it, she still got out to hike and play and eat when she could but also rested and by the last morning she also had diarrhea.  I was so grateful that the campground actually had showers.  I had her and Sam in those showers twice to get cleaned up.  No showers with a child throwing up and diarrhea is bad, with no showers, it's terrible.  We made a bed for her in the back of the car with all the bedding and sleeping bags to help her be more comfortable.  We really enjoyed being in Goblin Valley.  We got there Friday around lunch time and set up camp.  Then around dinner time the Jarvis' came to join us.  The only downside was the wind.  It was SUPER windy.  So windy that sand was accumulating on everything.  We had to have rocks holding down parts of the tent and tarps as we set them up.  The wind would die down at night and morning.  But then sometimes it picked up in the middle of the night.  The mornings were nice, but by the afternoon it was so windy again.  It made it really difficult to fix meals and try to play.  But we dealt with it.  Sarah and I went for a nice run on Sunday morning.  The kids could hike all around the campground on the rock formations.  Even Samuel climbed much higher than I felt comfortable with.  Karl took us on two great hikes.  Into Goblin Valley to a cave.  We stayed at the cave for at least an hour.  The kids loved playing in it.  Sam even decided to get comfortable on Scott and take a nap.  It was a hike a loved in red sand and rock formations all over that we could climb and jump all about.  Later that day we hiked into Little Wild Horse Canyon.  It has a section that becomes a pretty tight slot canyon.  It seems like a couple miles to get to it and that section does not last long, but the kids loved it.  Even Sam loved hiking through that part.  Monday morning we cleaned up and and headed home.  Instead of going through Price, Scott decided to go through Salina way.  Everything was so covered with dust it took a long time to clean up from the trip.  It took all week to get the laundry done.

The next week seemed to be a normal week.  Eric and Rubie had school pictures on that Friday.  That Saturday I finally was able to visit the salon and have Melissa do my hair.  There was a karate back to school open house.  There was a raffle for prizes being given away which the kids really wanted the cool stuff.  But Rubie got a kite and Eric got a coupon for a free party.

The next week I started volunteering in the lunchroom on Monday afternoons.  I realized they need lots of help with handing out the pizza on Mondays.  I'll probably continue to go on those days because Carlee has Sam so I can do it.  It is easy, I would rather go to the classroom, but the teachers don't have much use for me on Mondays.  Rubie also started the Junior Choir.  Mrs. Otteson leads it.  They have practice each Monday from 3:30-4:15.  Because of that she will have to go to karate on Tuesday.  Her class meets while Eric is at scouts.  I also went to the school and helped out in the science classroom interviewing the 2nd graders what they think they knew about space and the universe.  And the kids had their mid-week practice for the primary program.  That Sunday was the primary program in church.  I love that program.  The kids said their parts well.  Eric had an extra part.  Angie Wallace, the primary president, asked him to read a scripture just before singing a special song, The Miracle.  Scott had drill and Governor's Day.  He also spent the week at a military training.  He missed work and went to army.  Rubie was able to attend a very fun birthday party for Kiana.  They went to a beauty school to get their hair, makeup, and nails done.  Then they had belt promotion.  I'm proud of how well they are doing in karate.

My cousin Parker returned home from his mission and had his mission homecoming.  We went to the meeting as we had a Regional Conference and didn't have to teach Sunday School that day.  We went to Janice and Vic's house and visited with family.  It was a nice day.

This past weekend we had a ward activity.  It was a campout at Mutual Dell in AF canyon.  We packed up the car ready to camp but didn't get up there until too late.  Scott's car had some problems earlier in the week on Wednesday night.  So Thursday and Friday he had to take the car and Sam and I didn't have one.  I honestly do not like being stranded all day.  Not that I even go somewhere every day, but I like having the option.  He had to come home early to pick up Eric and Rubie.  But they got finished with the car on Friday right at closing time.  It turned out to be a simple fix.  A part for under $100 + labor.  We could afford it and it only inconvenienced us for a couple days.  But having to go get his car made us later and so we didn't want to set up the tent.  But we joined the ward at the Lodge for Dinner and a program including a sing-a-long, and a band with a wash tub, bottles, and a wash board.  It was a lot of fun.  Back to the lodge for dessert and jazz music.

Scott spent most of Saturday cleaning, straightening, and organizing the garage.  He still has half of it to go but it looks and feels so much better.  He decided to take out some shelves that had been built in to the wall.  They were just at an odd level.  We couldn't fit much on them because they were too high for me to get to.  But low enough we couldn't fit the fridge under them.  There was also some big cabinets in there and they took up more room than the storage they provided.  I wish we could have some organization like that in the house.  They Scott took Eric to a movie and stayed home with Rubie who wasn't feeling well, again.  Sunday we went to Dan and Brandee's to celebrate Catherine Millabell's (Caty Bell) 1st birthday.  Brandee had her dressed as Belle and everything with a French theme.

We are back to a mostly normal week.  I am looking forward to a mission reunion this weekend.  I am also trying to figure out someone to do a play date with Sam and provide childcare for him on Tuesdays while I participate in some field trips and maybe can keep it going so I can go to the classroom too.

Wednesday, September 2, 2015

Summer Vacation End and School Started

We are into our second week of school by now.  I am still in process of getting our schedules solidified for the year.  Eric and Rubie are pretty much set.  Though they have been tired and are missing free play time they settled back into the school schedule pretty easy.  They were ready to have new things to do and see their friends again.  They have karate on Mondays and Wednesdays right after school.  I have moved them from Kid Champs class up to the Junior Basic.  The class is a little longer and with older kids.  Rubie I think will be the youngest.  This class should help them improve more.  Eric has scouts on Tuesdays and guitar lessons on Saturdays.  Rubie came home with a flyer from school wanting to sing in the children's choir.  I'll see if we can make that happen.  All of Sam's friends are starting preschool with Marsha Saetrum.  If he was potty trained I would have him enrolled too.  I'll see if I can't get him potty trained by January and maybe she will have an opening for him then.  I'm still figuring out volunteering at the school too.  I'd like to be able to have a set time each week to go into the kid's classrooms.  Rubie has Mrs. Bingham.  I really like her.  When we went to Meet the Teacher day she knew all the kid's names as soon as we walked in the door.  She had memorized their names and pictures, and well enough that she recognized the children.  Her classroom is so well set-up and she has a schedule set out for the whole year already.  I went to the classroom one day last week to help on the first day she had them reading scriptures.  She knew that the children would need help navigating around the scriptures.  I also stayed for the math lesson.  I really enjoyed her teaching.  She is a really great teacher and really cares about the students.  I love how she has her classroom organized and managed.  Rubie has already had a hard time with one little boy who sits next to her.  She has her feelings hurt so easily when someone says she is weird or something similar.  And yet she throws out those terms so often and easily.  I have talked to her about either not caring what Colt thinks or how she can be kind to him and make friends with him.  She doesn't seem to like either idea.  Last week on the second day of school in the afternoon Rubie had a really hard time emotionally she just wanted to go back to 1st grade, to what was familiar.  She spent the afternoon looking at her notebook from 1st grade, notes from Mrs. Soderstrom and her year book.  She was teary and emotional all day.  I remember Eric being like that.  For a couple weeks he was anxious and unsettled in his class.  A good hug and talk from Mrs. Soderstrom helped.  Mrs. Davis did a good job at really winning over his love though.  It is not uncommon for the children to want to go back to their previous class.  It became comfortable and familiar.  I have no doubt in a couple weeks Rubie will love her class and her teacher too.  She also needs to make a friend.  There are two girls that she knows from Kindergarten and 1st grade classes, Brooklyn and Kennedy.  I know they like Rubie and would play with her if she would play with them.  Rubie has said that she eats lunch with Reid, Eric, and Camden.  I hope she is also playing with her girlfriends at recess.  I worry about her.

Eric's has Mrs. DeSoto.  She seems so great.  She missed the first week of school though because she had some cancer removed on her leg.  We met her the Friday before school started and the substitute, Mrs. Brinkerhoff.  She has substituted at the school for awhile and I think most of the kids already knew who she was.  Though Reid or Camden are not in Eric's class I think he is happy in it.  When we looked at the class list he knew all but 2 of the children.  They both have been getting their math homework done at school which is great for us in the afternoon.  That just leaves reading and guitar practice for us to do which is totally do-able.  I had one fight with Rubie last week about doing math.  She was so bratty I told her that I was going to have her see a therapist if this was how she was going to approach homework.  I told her I was not going to put up with that level of disrespect and attitude when I knew she could do her homework, and even do it without me.  I told her how it would take up one of her afternoons after school.  That scared her a little and I hope made her think about her behavior.  While I have no idea how we could pay for it, I will take her to a therapist.  I do think it will help her.

We had a full weekend this last weekend.  Scott's cousin Stephanie Ellis, her daughter Haylee got married.  There was a family and close friends dinner on Friday night.  It was a wear all white affair.  It was held in the backyard of one of their neighbors.  It was beautiful.  The yard was decorated so lovely and with everyone in white it looked amazing.  Saturday she was married in the Payson temple at 5 in the afternoon.  It was a beautiful ceremony and Haylee looked lovey in her long white dress and no shoes.  There was a reception at the same home as the dinner but we decided to skip that and just take our family home.  They had all the little kids where white to the temple and she gave the boys lavender bow ties and the girls a flower head piece.  The pictures are going to look so adorable.

We are looking forward to Back to School Night on Thursday night and an all parent meeting.  Friday we will be headed to Goblin Valley to camp for the weekend.  The Jarvis' will join us for at least Saturday night and maybe Sunday too.  That should be very enjoyable.  Scott has been working a lot.  He has had some open houses and busy things with school starting as most of their clients are students that come with new semesters.  He is in Cedar City again today.

I have Ezra all day today and will pick up Reid and Link with my kids.  Sam went to Connor's to play but I need to go get him now.