Back to School

Would it be bad to say that it has been a REALLY long summer and I am so glad the kids are all back in school?!  Seriously, I don't know how homeschoolers do it.  Those moms (and dads) must love their kids a whole lot because they are giving up so much (like two naps a day, grocery shopping alone, quiet time, etc) to be at home all day everyday with the kids.  I personally need a break from all the whining, asking for a million snacks throughout the day, and all the little messes that they leave behind everywhere.

Mario started working shift work this month, so although he will be working overnight several times a month, he will have off about 15 or 16 days a month.  So we will have a lot more time to spend together during the days.  Today was our first day without the kids.  Yesterday, the three younger ones went back but it was only 3 hours.    As much as I love and adore Mario, I was a little anxious for just some "me" time and do whatever I want today.  But in all fairness, he helped me clean and grocery shop.  He has to work all night tonight, so tomorrow I will get some quiet time while he's sleeping.  I think I'll feel guilty taking naps and watching the morning news and talk shows while he's home with me.  He doesn't like wasting time.  He doesn't care if I waste time but I know I'll feel guilty if he's getting things done while I relax. It will be an adjustment for me, but I am excited that we can do lots more together during the days.   The most exciting is going to the Temple on Friday mornings when he's home.  We home to go on the Friday mornings that he doesn't have to work or sleep.  What a blessing to have a Temple so close.

Here are pictures from the first day of school.  Erin is in the "I'm not photogenic phase" and so she wouldn't cooperate for pictures.  She's still beautiful even when she is pouting.  At least Eric is back to cooperating for pictures.

Happy 14th Birthday Erin!

Erin has been working on a quilt for her last Young Woman Value Project.  A sister that I visit teach, Sister Dryer has been teaching us for the past few weeks.  She is so patient and a perfectionist like Erin. Sister Dryer recently hurt her back and so she spent several days in bed.  She watches her grandson several times a week and she was afraid she wouldn't be able to hold him all day.  So Erin and I spent her entire birthday over her home quilting and taking care of the baby.  I'll post pictures of the quilt when she is finished.  It will be beautiful.

We made chicken kabobs for dinner and Mario made her an ice cream cake.  After dinner, Eric took Erin shopping for some school clothes.  It's nice to see they get along so well.   We will encourage them to have many brother/sister "date nights" together in the future.

Erin is obsessed with chapstick so that was Nate's gift to her

A new cellphone

Eric's 16th Birthday

Eric was able to drive to school most of the year last year with a school permit.  But school and seminary was it and so he's spent the entire summer only being able to drive with me or Mario.  I took him down to the DMV a couple weeks ago and he did the paperwork necessary to get his driver's license.  They gave him a temporary license that became active on his birthday. 

So Eric was able to take the car and drive to Dunkin Donuts first thing in the morning.  He went shopping for clothes with his friend, Ashley, and then the entire family went out for burgers at Five Guys.  Then Eric left for a date with a good friend, Stephanie.  They went out for frozen yogurt at Orange Leaf before going out to hang with all their friends.  Eric was home for a few minutes for a quick dinner before he left to hang out with friends again.  His curfew is 11 but I gave him permission to go back out and go toilet papering until 1:30.  Thank goodness they weren't pulled over by an officer because the city has an 11 pm curfew.  It can be a pretty big fine.  

It is so nice that Eric can drive himself everywhere now.  He likes his job at Defy Gravity (an indoor trampoline place.)   It's nice that he can finally date and we don't have to put so many restrictions on him as far as hanging out with the girls.  

Happy Birthday Eric!

Nate's super excited for Eric to open his gift

Leaving for his first date

Sophie and her Squirrel Obsession

We have good and bad days with our new puppy. She chews lots of stuff if we leave her home alone too long. The worst was Zach's beanbag but we were able to sew it back together. We love her though so every time we get upset with her, we can't bring ourselves to put her up for adoption.

It's almost like having a toddler in the house again. She spends most of her days watching for squirrels out the sliding glass door. As soon as she wakes, she starts her watch. As soon as you open the door, she runs for the trees and stands up to bark at them. We started throwing a bucket of water on her for her excessive barking and that has worked well. She is lot of fun and she sure makes us get out everyday to exercise her and ourselves. Otherwise she goes crazy in the house with all her energy. Great incentive for us. We need to register her for obedience classes and maybe therapy classes if she does well enough. We'd love to turn her into a therapy dog even if its just for dyslexic students.





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Two Weeks Alone in Florida

Erin leaves today for a two week vacation with her cousins in Florida. We are all sad. The boys were so generous to offer up the DS games and the DS itself so she would get bored on the plane. It's going to be so sad not having her around. She isn't scared at all about flying alone. She's the bravest of all the kids.


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New Student

I'm not sure if I've written about my new student that I took on in April.  Her name is Cameron and she just turned 7.  Her mother found me from Susan Barton's website.  I don't really want to take students in the evening because I'm busy with my own kids in the evenings.  But her mom, a former Nebraska Senator, was very persistent and was able to get the principal to allow me to come into the school and tutor her.   Cameron's teacher didn't want to pass her to the second grade but just after a month of tutoring, her test scores shot up on her reading and the principal called to say that he had no reason to hold her back.  We were all so excited that the tutoring has been so effective.  That wasn't a surprise to me though because I've seen it 10 times before in my other students.

I am so excited to be working with a mom that is so well known in this state.  That's because I felt that I really needed to get out there and educate the state of Nebraska on dyslexia.  But I'm shy and not a great spokesperson.  So with the mom's help, I am working  on getting some dyslexia legislation passed in the state.  That bill would require teachers to become educated on dyslexia and also each student tested and given help if they need it.  We have joined forces with the dyslexia association to get these laws passed.  I'm so excited.

I become so attached to my students.  My kids think that these students become part of our family.  I do really love what I do and I can't wait until Mario retires and I can take on more students.    There is nothing more rewarding, except being a wife and mother.

July Happenings

I realized it's been awhile since writing on my blog. That's not good since this blog is the only journal that I keep.

We have decided to adopt Sophie.  She's a pretty good dog.  She had big shoes to fill because we all loved Buzz and he was just a great dog.  Everyone loved him.  But we all love Sophie.  The only downside to her is that she has food allergies and we aren't sure what they are.  So she can't just eat any food off the ground at the park and we have to buy her more expensive dog food.  I enjoy walking with her around the lake each morning.  She normally comes up to my room between 6 and 6:30 every morning.  Occasionally she'll try to get me to walk her at 4:30 but I resist.

We went to visit Melissa and her boys in Missouri over the Fourth of July holiday.  Her mother-in-law is kind enough to let 6 of us crash at her lake house.  Then she and Melissa made all the food.  My big kids don't love going on vacations and they almost always want to stay home but they both enjoy going to the lake house.  Nate and Zach have so much fun exploring the woods, fishing, and swimming all day at the lake with their cousins.  We hardly ever see them when they are all together.

Mario switched jobs last week.  He didn't like his old boss or a couple of his coworkers so he volunteered to take a different job.  He will now do shift work so he'll work less days a month but he'll work weird hours including nights.  I think he'll like this new job and I will have more time to spend with him.

I had knee surgery yesterday on my right knee.  It was minor meniscal repair just like I had done on my left knee.  I had the lady registering me how much the surgery costs.  She said between 18-24k.  But of course our insurance only pays about 13% of that amount.  Fortunately I am not responsible for the difference.  Thank goodness for the military insurance.

Erin and I started taking quilting lessons from a sister I visit teach.  She is an amazing quilter and so I'm lucky she agreed to give us lessons.  Erin is making a quilt for her last YW project.  The material alone cost $95, so I hope she is happy with the results,  I think she will be since she has a professional teaching her.  I'm quickly finding that quilting is not a cheap hobby.

Erin leaves for Florida on Saturday.  She's going to visit Billy, Kristen, Gabriella, and Gina.  This will be her first time flying alone but she has flown at least a dozen times before with us.  So she should be fine.  I'm not sure I'll survive without her but I'm excited for her.  Eric leaves for scout camp on Monday.  So it will be down to just the four of us left at home.  We were hoping to go back to the lake house next week but Sophie may be sick so we don't know yet if it will work out.  She has been coughing  so we aren't sure if it's kennel cough or if she ate something that she got stuck in her throat.