Home alone!

Yes, it finally happened. I had my first day home alone. No children. No husband. I didn't even get emotional. It was just blissfully peaceful. I listened to good music and worked around the house doing "whatever" all day. Ironing was even enjoyable for the first time. Crazy, I know. Oh, and my husband took me out for Chinese. What a sweet guy!

As for the children, they started school today. Luke is attending a Pre-K class all day, and my girls are in 1st, 3rd and 5th. Everyone had great first days. Eliza gets a locker this year and changes classes. Sarah's teacher reads Junie B. Jones every afternoon, and Leah was excited because her teacher reads Bible stories to them everyday. It delighted Leah to no end. Hurray for happy children and a great first day of school!

Teeth business and the last week of summer vacation

I wasn't joking when I said Leah had more loose teeth. She lost another this week. Now she can stick her tongue out at you with her teeth clenched. Two more are loose on the bottom.

The rest of these photos are just some from our week. My children are growing up so fast.

One semester down . . . more school to come

It is true. I took my last exam today. My brain feels like mush, but I think I did well. I was told my grades will be mailed to me. I will now be applying to the Univ. of Phoenix to begin the master's in Education K-8 program. It is a 20 month program including teacher observation and student teaching. First I have to apply though, and I am putting that off until next week because . . . School starts next week!

Yes, it is true! My children begin school Monday, so I am going to devote the last few days of summer to them. Everyone will be attending school full time this year. I will have Luke in Pre-K, Leah in 1st, Sarah in 3rd, and Eliza in 5th. Scary and exciting and scary all at the same time! I obviously have mixed feeling of euphoria and guilt. My husband has promised to take me out for lunch Monday, so I hope I'm not a basket case. I keep thinking about all the tasks that I will be able to accomplish without my kids around: family history, food storage menu, file organization, writing, sewing, painting, etc. then I get overwhelmed and sad because I won't have anyone to share it all with.

I'm afraid I'm not going to handle this well. Please pray for me!

Grateful

I am grateful for many things, but tonight I am especially grateful for dollar movies, popcorn, bite size candy bars and chocolate chip cookies.

Paul is off playing guitar with friends, and Eliza and Sarah are spending the night with their cousins. Sleepovers are a very rare thing around here, so this is especially exciting for my girls. It also means that it is especially difficult for the younger siblings. So to appease Luke and Leah I resorted to the above mentioned goodies. I even let them pick out their own movie. That is also a very rare thing around here. After renting the movies we came home, made the popcorn, turned off all the lights and watched Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit until way passed their bedtime.

We (mostly I) decided one movie was enough for tonight, so we are going to watch Bee Movie as soon as we wake up in the morning. We will have to make some special letter B and actual bee shaped pancakes to celebrate our morning movie madness.

A Rare Finding

I caught one of those rare moments on "film" this week. Three out of four kids doing their chores dutifully. 

I had only asked Luke to remove the dry clothes from the dryer. He went above and beyond though. When I found him, he had already gotten a stool and removed some wet clothes from the washer. He even thought to remove the dryer lint and add a sheet of fabric softener. I know! I was in shock. I had to take pictures as proof.

This week Eliza's chore is to help prepare dinner.

Leah's chore is emptying the dishwasher. I love the person who invented this miraculous machine. By the way, Sarah had already done her chore. She had cleaned off and set the table for dinner. By the time I got out the camera, she was outside riding her bike.

A working woman

In an attempt to figure out what I want to be "when I grow up," I started teaching preschool this week. After just three mornings I haven't figured much out yet, but I do know this. 

• Hanging out with 17 three year olds is intense. (Duhh!)
  
• I love little kids. They are quick to give hugs and forgive.
• I am more comfortable hanging out with kids than adults.
• I love teaching children, and even better, I love watching children learn.
• I love recognizing the gifts Heavenly Father has blessed them with. 
• Children need structure and consequences. Without it chaos rules, and I do not like chaos. 

Oh and, Happy Valentine's Day!

School and Christmas

I was at school 4 out of 5 days this week, and I didn't see any work being done. I did watch a bunch of kids eat a lot of sugar though. Oh, I also went to see the Nutcracker Ballet with Sarah's class. Although the ballet was somewhat less than professional, it was fun to hear the laughter, and the oo's and ah's of the hundreds of children in the auditorium. Here are some pictures. 

By the way, I am happy to share that despite my anxiety about the kids being out of school for two weeks as well as Paul being off of work for two weeks (I will explain that later), I had a pleasant afternoon of cleaning in solitude. The kids were let out at noon today, and Paul was already home. I got to go into my office and clean undisturbed while Paul coerced the children to clean up the rest of house. It was so relaxing (for me). 

Christmas decorating

The week after Thanksgiving we got out the Christmas decorations. Eliza made her own tree and decorated it. Leah was adorable as she set out the nativity. She silently and very thoughtfully arranged the pieces.

Snow Day!

Last week we had the best snow I have ever seen in years. We only had about 2-3 inches, but it stuck around for 3 days in some spots. I was amazed. The kids had a blast in it. In the last picture, Luke is brushing the snow off the dog (not ours). He felt bad for the dog and was getting very frustrated trying to keep the snow off. It was hilarious!

Halloween

We had 2 nights of Halloween this year. Halloween night Paul and the kids went to the Trunk or Treat at our church. On November 1st they went to the First Baptist church's Fall Festival. Lots of fun! I didn't go crazy with costumes this year. We had a monster, a performer, nurse/doctor, and a lady bug.

The life cycle of a lady bug:

Luke was a very scary monster.

This slide was extremely tall and steep. Luke needed a little help getting up. It was hilarious watching them get up there.

This was at our branch's Trunk or Treat.

Homecoming parade

Unlike most schools, ours combines elementary, middle and high school all in one. One of the benefits(?) of this is that the younger kids start going to pep rallies in kindergarten (this creates some serious school spirit!), and they can be signed out early for the homecoming parade. I know most of you will find this whole entry amusing, but you must understand. Homecoming is a big deal here. The whole town comes out to see it. Businesses pause for the hour, so they can go to view it. It is held on Main Street, so all the traffic is held up for 45 minutes. Every year I have lived here, the children and I have gone downtown to sit with Grandma Hazel and Grandpa Dan (their great-grandparents) at his produce stand. Grandpa was a home sick today, but we convinced Grandma to come with us. 

I love my little town!