We've been all sorts of busy since I last posted. I'll just try and give a run down of a few things that have been going on.

1) Put an offer on a house in July. It was accepted and we had to jump through all sorts of hoops to get it to close. It had been in foreclosure and needed additional paperwork to close. We finally got it to close on September 30.

2) That was the beginning of 3 months of major work on the house. Re-texturing of walls, tiling of floors, ripping out of kitchens and baths, painting, dump trips, extraction of bees from the wall, cleaning out the birds nests in the attic, rat's nests in walls and under stuff....not to mention the packing up of the old house and moving it.

3) We spent our first night in the new house about a week before Christmas and moved the last boxes in on December 30, 2011.

4) We are Christmas dinner at the table in our wonderful new kitchen....and haven't eaten there since then. With the moving, the table has been buried. It was a lovely meal.

5) I was hired in October 2011 to be the music teacher at Laie Elementary school. It is the best job ever! I have fun all day long! It took me a couple of months to be really comfortable with the planning and teaching and it is going really well.

6) I auditioned for the Sound of Music and got a part! I'm a nun and the 2nd place winner at the Festival. I get to bow exceedingly. :)

7) The girls are in a children's choir and love it. They still do gymnastics. Erin will be on the May Day court as a lady in waiting. She's super excited! She'll dance a hula with the other girls. Krista participated in History Day, the only 4th grader from our school. It was a good experience for her.

8) Dallin just finished his Eagle project. He also got accepted to BYUH. He turns 18 on Thursday. I could just about freak out. :|

9) Jacob is a good worker around the house. He still plays his french horn at school. After seeing The Piano Guys video on cello wars, a take on Star Wars, he has started cello lessons. He'll be 16 in 2 1/2 weeks. I could just freak out. :|

10) Shane works hard and has made the house a wonderful, beautiful place. We still have much to do, which depresses him, but we just keep plugging away!

We are happy and healthy and life just keeps moving but we enjoy every day!

The Mozart Group

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SLYgVbVRoqk

Very talented and funny quartet!

Yeah, a funny follow up

No, I haven't written in a while. Yes, there are things I really should write about. As I opened this up today, I saw the "Grrrr...." and so here is the funny follow up. That teacher (who took my students) decided that she was going to go home for a couple of weeks. A few days before going she decided to leave permanently. She will not be coming back. How's that for typical?

Grrrrr.....

It's hard enough to be fat and (almost) forty, but things just aren't going my way. I had the mom and dad of two of my violin students show up at the door tonight. Never a good sign. The third daughter had taken lessons until a few months ago but got attitude-y at home and they let her quit. Now they decided to send all three to a different teacher! I take lessons from this teacher and admit that she is better than me. She has a masters degree and is young and skinny -BUT- she is learning from me and my experience. I'm frustrated because I'm trying to build up a program in a community where I plan to live long term. She is not going to be here long term. The parents said that she was concerned at how I would take the news. Graciously on the outside, stand on my chest and crush me on the inside. I've had time to think about it. It hasn't killed me yet so it will apparently make me stronger.

Blogging Girlies

I've got blogging girlies now! I guess I'll have to try and keep up with them!

I have been working full-time as a substitute teacher at the local school. I am teaching 3rd grade. For part of the day I am Sweet Pea's teacher. Sometimes that is good. Sometimes that is not. She would rather have me be her mom than her teacher. So, in a couple of weeks, she won't be in my class anymore since we rotate every quarter. I have enjoying being "thrown into the fire" to learn so much at once, but it can be very stressful sometimes! The requirements of teachers is mind-blowing. Right now there is no teacher for art, music, or PE. If those subjects are to be covered, the teacher does it. We get recess to prep, if there aren't kids who didn't finish their work and need to stay in. We get 30 minutes for lunch followed by another recess. The job requires a lot of planning ahead and being prepared to fill in at the last minute if a plan falls apart or goes too fast. Right now, I'm a little tired. I may need to take a day off. They'll have to get a sub for the sub!

Dallin has been a very cute and busy little beaver. He asked his first girl out on a date. Oooooooh! They went to see "Tangled" on campus. He turned 17. They went on another date. Next day, they went on a picnic and watched off the Point for whales. They saw whales. He seems a giddy little boy. Very fun to watch!

I found the floor to the laundry area yesterday. It had been AWOL for some time. It took 7 loads of wash to find it. Maybe it's time to donate a boatload of stuff....

Funny word mix up

Saturday nights at the grocery store here in Laie are quite busy. Lots of people and long lines, but everyone visits with everyone so it's not a miserable experience. Tonight it was me, Shane, Erin and Krista. We get in line and are a little crammed between the guy in front of us (whom we know but he was already talking to the guy in front of him) and the ice cube case. Erin announces to Shane, "I'm feeling a little constipated..." at which he looks at her quirky and quizzically. Then she says, "Wait, I think I mean....claustrophobic....."

I've been working on the how-owse...

Saturday I tackled the deep clean of the bathrooms. I shouldn't be surprised at how dirty the kid's bathroom gets in between adult cleanings. But the adult cleaning hasn't happened in quite a while. I know we can all say "ewww." It looks so much better now! Shane and the boys did a lot of yard shaping up. They mowed the lawn, weed whacked, cleared corners of trash and other undesirables, filled in holes, replanted plants--a very accomplishing day of work in the yard. Today was a holiday so we divided up. The boys finished the patio, I worked in the garage with the girls and while I thought Shane was grading, he was actually working on our bedroom and closet. Happy Surprise! I think we got the whole garage swept except for the spot under the pile of laundry. I threw out bunches of piles of stuff on my desk. I'll finish to the desk and shelves one night this week. The boys keep asking me, "If the inspection is next week, why are we cleaning now?" I replied, "Because it took us a whole day to do the garage and patio?????" I think it's time for them to have jobs outside the home.....