hair cuts

Yesterday was a good day.  Right now I am doing a long term sub.  I do classroom inclusion support for kids with IEPs.  I really enjoy working with the kids.  Yesterday, one little boy, who is really the saddest little guy and who  likes to hide under his hoodie or in a work carousel, talked and smiled with me.  That was a first and I was very happy about it.  Elementary age kids really are so sweet.  My days are full of lots of hugs and silly jokes.  Because it is a sacrifice to be out of the home every day, and it makes our evenings hectic, which I don't like, I really try to make the time I spend at work meaningful.  I try to see these children, the ones I specifically work with that have extra needs, and the ones who are doing great, as the Savior would.  I really try to be kind and gentle and to serve them well.  One really great thing about subbing is that it is so flexible and when I need to be home it's no big deal.  :)  Last week for example I was home 3 days when Lucy was sick.  This week I am working 3 days and then Thursday and Friday I am off so I can get ready for the dance.  I am excited for that.  I am grateful for the ability to work when I want and be home when I need.

So when I got home I gathered the children and we went to get haircuts.  The girls and I did, Ethan brought his ipod and played games.  Hannah needed her shark attack evened out.  I think she looks so different!  It turned out really cute.  Grace and I got our usuals.  After we went to eat, then stopped by our favorite pet store.  It is a fancy fancy pet place.  We needed to refill our puppy snack jar and pick up some chewys.  To illustrate our ridiculousness the clerk asked where Z was.  She remembered her from past visits :) 

Then we came home.  Ahh home.  I really love it here :)  I had some camp/dance stuff to do.  E had some homework.  Han had some hair business.  When I put Lu to bed if it's before we get to family scripture study she and I read the Old Testament.  We are reading about David right now.  Last night she was commenting that there sure is a lot of killing in the scriptures.  We talked about how that was a warning to us.  When people follow God they are peaceful, when they follow Satan the opposite is true.  That's a good way to judge your own heart, are you being peaceful and treating others kindly?  Then you are probably following Him.  Are you fighting with those around you, and feeling a war raging in your heart?  That is an invitation to look at yourself and make a course correction.  We had a nice chat.  I am grateful for bedside chats, they are one of the sweetest times.  She is just enough younger than the others that her scheudle is still really different.  She goes to bed early always and needs a good 10 or 11 hours of sleep.  I prefer to have her read with the family (where we are in Alma) but we have to be flexible around here.  F.L.E.X.I.B.L.E

 

Lastly sweet Little Penny is 5 months old now!  She's so stinkin cute!!

weekend recap

congo line

 What a long weekend, I need to go back to work to relax!  Friday night Ethan had a soccer game.  Hannah had to decorate for the young women fundraiser dinner Saturday night and I had a baby shower to go to.  I actually didn't feel (cold) well so I stayed home, put Lu to bed and watched TV on the couch for about 15 minutes before I fell asleep :)  Ethan's team won and Han went to decorate with the Streeters.

Chelsea and Hannah busy working

Saturday we had a blue and gold banquet, a chess tournament, Ellie's heartaversary party, grocery shopping and the fund raiser.  Too much to go to, clearly.  Ethan chose chess over banquet.  We still helped with decorations, since that was our assignment but didn't go.  He is starting a 6 week chess season.  First day went well.  He won 2, tied 1 and lost 1.  Ellie, who was born last year with her arteries transposed and who had open heart surgery when she was less than a week old had a party which we would not miss.  It was really cute.  Her mom and grandma made all this delish heart shaped food, and they had a heart cake and lots of people wore heart stuff, Ellie herself had a darling outfit on.  We were very lucky, Grace won the best heart dressed kid prize, Hannah won the guess how many heart shaped marshmallows are in the jar game, and I won the random heart sticker on the bottom of the dessert plate game :)  Sarah and Tony are awesome parents and were so brave and faithfull.  I was very happy to celebrate with them!  After Chess R and E went to the phone store and got iphones for me and hubby.  It's pretty amazing I have to admit, although I have no idea of more than a fraction of what it does.  I did say to it last night, with my voice, set the alarm for tomorrow at 6, and it answered me, alarm set, and it worked.  And I can facetime on the go...which I have yet to do but I am anxious to try it. Can't wait to talk to my Tate and Pen. The girls and I went shopping.  Groceries and Charming Charlie, one fun, one not so much.

In the evening we all went to the fundraiser.  The dinner and dancing were fun fun fun and the decorations were so cute.  We won pet sitting and sausage at the silent auction and hopefully Han earned a good portion of her needed camp money.  Grace went to the baby sitting room and played with Arden.  Ethan and Nick played by running around.  They invented a "great game" where they stood in the little breezeway between to the two sets of glass doors and threw a soccer ball as hard as they could against the wall trying to get it to ricochet off the wall and hit the other one.  They were pretty successful and thought it was really fun.  Whatevah. 

Today was a long meeting day for me.  I had two ward conferences to go which meant I started meetings at 7:30 and went until 4pm.  Tonight we have a youth conference meeting but thankfully it it a video meeting.  I really enjoyed Sister Davis lesson to the young women in the LP ward.  It was very spiritual and uplifting.  The whole day was good, kind of long though.  February is a long, meeting full month with 9 ward conferences and 9 new beginnings and the PLDD and a camp meeting and a YCL meeting.  It think it's the craziest month of the year for us.  I don't know how our stake presidency does it, I think they keep up this kind of schedule all the time.  I am very grateful for dedicated Priesthood leadership who selflessly serve and lead.  I am also grateful to be able to give my time and talents to serve.  When I got home I was very happy to have a yummy spaghetti dinner with my family, which R prepared.  I am really enjoying meeting with the different wards and knowing many different people around the stake and the girls of course are so much fun every where we go!!

dog ownership is not for the faint of heart

or for the weather-phobic.  For Christmas this year Nana got me a long coat, down almost to my ankles & very warm.  Thank goodness for that.  I have worn it every day, and every night since.  This morning it is rainy and gloomy.  Which is fine with me, I like a little dark weather especially when nothing severe is accompanying it but we are  fence less dog owners and while Millie is ol reliable when it comes to the business, Z not so much.  The only guarantee of a plop and a drip is an eye witness and a walk.  So 6am found me rushing into my boots and gloves and long white coat, attaching two leashes and heading out into the rain. 

Rob said to me this morning "once you got to sleep you seemed to sleep well".  NyQuil.  He said that because I have the can't breath long enough to cough but need to do both, sniffle, sore throat cold.  However I have been very blessed with the ability to sleep.  What kept me up last night?  A phone call from Sierra, the sound of bombs blasting on the ipad next to me, R saying "Lana? we need to talk....", "Lana, are you awake??", a boy in his spot and then a boy who needed "one more tuck".  I am grateful that I am a good sleeper.  I can sleep even when the PLDD looms and I just know our decoration plans are not up to last years high bar standard.  I can sleep when secrets swirl in my head, of things that aren't right in the world but aren't mine to share, or people who need help.  I can sleep when babies are laying in orphanages around the world with no one to love them.  I can sleep when my personal budget got cut in half by a dear hubby who is trying to "trim the fat".  I can sleep with the sequestering looming that is going to devastate our countries defense, and the men and women who work in that field...and by the reality of trickle down or sludge over or whatever economics the rest of the people.  I can sleep when I have disobedient children tucked into their beds and I wonder how I will ever train them up. Thankfully, for whatever reason, I can turn that off and sleep and I know that is very fortunate.  Why?  I think it's because there is nothing I can do at that moment but I know in the morning I will be needed to do lots of things, small things, nothing to do with RADAR defense, carrier ships, impoverished nations, the national debt, or even my cell phone plan...but things none the less that must be done, and I am the one to do them so at night I sleep.  And now it's 7am and I have showers to supervise, lunches to make, a carpool to drive, work to go to, a menu to plan, laundry to move.......

home for three days

So Lu wasn't quite ready to go back to school today.  Actually I probably would have thought she was fine enough but R thought she was really sick (she's his baby girl) and by the time I thought she was fine I had already cancelled my job for today.  So with 3 unexpected days home Lu can I did some redecorating.  We freshened up the wall above the couch.  We painted some of the picture frames and changed out some of the pictures.  I also did all the laundry.  Everything in the house, including bedding is clean right this second.  I also cooked some yummy curry, mango chicken for dinner.  I do like being home.  Also got lots done for YW.  There is always lots to do.

In other news we had a shark attack.  When Hannah was little, like 2 1/2 she used to wear her hair in a whale spout on her head.  One morning she was under the table with scissors and cut off her spout.  When we saw her we were shocked and asked if she cut her hair.  She said "no a shark bit it off ".  Well last night the shark was back.  She was "just trimming a bit of her bangs" when somehow some of the hair above her ear leaped into the scissors...and shark attack.  This is sad sad sad.

Tonight Ethan had scouts and Hannah had YW.  I took them while R stayed home with Lu.  I plopped down on the couch and was joined by some wonderful women and we laughed and talked.  We helped Darlaina cut out decorations for the YW fundraiser.  For some reason I had an especially nice time.  It was really just great to sit and cut and chat for an hour. 

Tomorrow it's back to work for me, heigh ho heigh ho.

update:  last night Z peed on E's bed, and all the children changed into pajamas and viola, the hamper is full.  That everything is clean second is really only a second.

little sickie

 Poor little Lu is sick.  This is why I can never have a real job.  I can only show up every so often.  She has a fever, and a sore throat.  Lu spent almost all day laying on the couch.  She cuddled with Ziva, played a lot of phase 10 (where she whooped my butt), watched a little TV, and took a couple of naps.

 When we went to pick up the boys she fell asleep in the car.  In the evening we had FHE where she did rally enough to eat some ice cream.

 For dinner I made lentil coconut soup and naan.  It was yummy but the kids didn't really love it.  R and I did though.

weekend wrap up

 Saturday, not such a sweet day as we had hoped.  Rob had a fishing trip planned, a standing by the water and casting trip planned.  The rest of us stayed home for family cleaning hour, which turned into family cleaning blitz accompanied by family cleaning weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth and things didn't get very clean at the end of the day.  It was a long long morning.  Finally around 2 Lucy went to a birthday party for Madison at the club house, Ethan went downstairs to  play with his friend the x-box, and Hannah and I went grocery shopping.  By 4pm we were all happier and went to the Martines' for Jeffrey's birthday party.  It was fun.  I made these cute groundhog day cupcakes (which I forgot to take a picture of but Darlaina did so I borrowed hers).  Jeffrey had lots of friends over and we had lots of fun celebrating with him!

Sunday we went to church, then we went to Jeffrey's baptism.  He asked me to give the talk on the Holy Ghost, which I was happy to do.  After treats and visiting R and E went to watch the superbowl and the girls and I went home.  Lu went right to bed.  She was tired, and then in the middle of the night she came to me with a fever and sore throat :(

So this morning I am not working, Lu is watching netflicks on TV and feeling kind of miserable and I am going to clean.  I spend a lot of time cleaning...

where's the sun?

Friday is  like a big sigh of relief.  No 5:45 wake up tomorrow.  No endless hours with the little cuties at school who require a lot of patience.  No walking the dogs in the dark.  Of course this weekend will be too busy.  Like every weekend.  It's okay.  I love the busy.  Tonight though I am loving the quiet. 

 Deo and Penny are playing together this weekend at their first cousin play date.  How cute are they??!

 

Today was the good citizen assembly.  Lu was awarded the good citizenship award for her class this month.  It was also Raven's day.  Our school all dressed in purple and had lots of purple decorations.  This weekend the Ravens are playing in the superbowl.  Now, I actually don't care, and won't watch the game, but it's still fun to root for the home team, and some of the staff and kids are super into it, which is fun too.

Ethan played soccer tonight.  They brought their A game.  It was very exciting.  Watching these boys play is more exciting than a pro game. They are so into it. And they are really good. 

Randomly, Adam Braverman, of Parenthood, yes a TV show, is the best husband ever.  I <3 him.  Of course it's probably pretty easy to be a good TV husband.  No laundry or anything to step over, no kids to disagree about, no bills to pay...you know all that.  The other morning I was talking with a couple of the teachers before school, one of them had just got back from a long weekend trip with her girl friends to Vegas and her husband watched their boys.  So she was grateful but the house was a disaster when she came home, and she was tired, (terrible turbulence on the flight home that got her back 8 hours late {which is one reason I don't love to fly...not that that's ever happened to me but you know it could and although by definition any flight that ends with passengers alive on the ground is a good one you know, the misery is yuck!} ) and so she was complaining through her gratitude.  We were all commiserating with her, because apparently all husbands keep the kids alive but the dishes, not so much.  Which can be frustrating.  Then I wondered what do all husbands complain about?

Speaking of complaining, I have a small one.  So working every day just really just cuts into my cleaning, visiting teaching, thinking about exercising or crafting, laying around watching TV time.  So tonight I am watching TV, on the couch, the boys are still at soccer (it's 10pm if you are interested) the girls are sleeping and the house...disaster.  And I don't want to clean it.  Not one little bit.  I thought I'd clean it tonight and have tomorrow for fun but I guess we are cleaning tomorrow.  And by we I mostly mean me. 

It is very cold outside.  It's very very cold.  Tomorrow is groundhog day, will he see his shadow?  One of the teachers is from Punxsutawney PA and every year her mom makes groundhog cookies for everyone.  So I got one today, and it was cute and tasty.  And I hope Phil does not see his shadow tomorrow :)