Christmas lights

I love Christmas lights. Matthew used to love Christmas lights. Since we moved into this house, however, Matthew doesn't put up lights anymore. For the first couple of years I got out a ladder, stabilized it with a block of wood on our "oh so ever" level driveway, and put lights on the lower part of the roof line. If I weren't such a baby about heights I would go Griswald up on the roof. The last two years have been pathetically lightless with the exception of the lights I put around the front door. I don't think they really count.

Not this year. When we bought Matthew a flagpole for father's day in my mind I was calling it my lightpole. I knew I wanted to hang a star with lines of lights streaming down. I know, everyone with a flagpole does this, I DON'T CARE! I just want lights.

I searched for a good star to buy. They were all stupid, small or non-existent. Then I decided to make one. Finally, on Tuesday all my dreams came true. I made my own star, painted , wrapped lights, then hoisted it up the lightpole. I didn't have stakes to hold down the streaming lights so I wrapped a couple strands around the pole. Then, even though it was 2 in the afternoon, I plugged the lights in. No one has dared turn them off yet!

Thanksgiving

Since it is almost Christmas, I thought I would finally post about Thanksgiving. It was the first Thanksgiving in several years that I was really excited about. Usually Thanksgiving is a great way to kick off the Christmas season. Not this year (though the Christmas season followed any way.) This year I really looked forward to spending 5 days with my family. By family I mean, Matthew, Katherine, Emilia and Elliot. Matthew's parents have migrated to Florida and so we were able to have our own Thanksgiving. When a friend asked me about my plans her comment was, "I'm sorry. It will be a let down. We did that a couple years ago and we were bored." In my mind I thought, "I'm sorry you don't enjoy your family."

So, to start the day out we went on a 5k charity run. It was small, mostly just the family of the guy who organized it, but held in a beautiful park. The kids were mostly good sports and I was very proud of them.

After the race we went home to warm up and prepare dinner. I love cooking a good meal. Because of my schedule this year, I haven't don't much in the way of "good meal" cooking. My goal for the meal was to not use the microwave at all. (It doesn't count that the water for the jello was boiled in the microwave because Emilia made it the day before.) I had fun creating a nice setting at the table and serving a Thanksgiving Feast.

So, with dinner finished the kids were anxious to put up the tree. I put them off for about an hour while I took the traditional post turkey nap. The kids must be growing up because they actually allowed this and didn't bother me at all. I rewarded them by putting up the tree and all the decorations in the house. We especially loved watching "Elf" while decorating.

Finally, the girls and I went through the ads. Emilia realized that Old Navy was having a great sale and it started at 3 am. Bedtime: 8 pm Wake up: 2 am. Stayed out shopping until about 1 pm. Enjoyed every last minute of it.

I loved having time with my family. They can drive me crazy and make me wonder why I would want to spend time with them but in the end we have a lot of fun together.

I am thankful for time with those I love best.

student quotes

It has been awhile since I have had something to post about funny things my students say. But now I do. A little boy was editing his sentence he wrote (Yippee, he wrote a sentence!!). He realized he forgot a capitol at the beginning. "Snap, I forgot a capitol." Funny enough, but it gets better. Then, "Damn it, I forgot punctuation." It was very difficult not to laugh out loud.

This and That

Once again, we ran the Layton Classic race as a family. This year we actually did a little training to get ready. The kids were troopers as we woke them up at 5:30 to get runs in before school. Katherine, Elliot, Matthew and I all ran the 10k while Emilia ran the 5k. Of course, Emilia was the first to finish. She called me on my run and reported a time of 29 minutes. Good Girl! I am so proud of her, not only did she beat her goal of 35 minutes, she ran it by herself. She is certainly growing up and becoming more confident and independent. It was also nice to have her at the finish line to cheer as Elliot and I finished. We crossed the line at 52 minutes. Matthew was just a few minutes behind us and then Katherine finished as well.

Then came the awards assembly:

Katherin won her division. (do I need to mention she was the only one in her division?) Still, way to go!! She got a cool sports bag, perfect for dance competitions.

Ok, you can't see Elliot in this picture, but everyone cheered and clapped for the little kid who also won his division. (again, only one.) He just didn't even pause as he went up on stage and grabbed a hat, later to be traded for a bag.

I can't wait for next years race.

One more picture. It was crazy hair day at school for the 6th graders:

First day of school

Don't you love the feeling of the first day of school? I love the excitement and unknown of the year to come. Katherine, Emilia and Elliot were up early and ready to tackle their first day. I loved it because every chore as done, rooms were clean, nobody asked to watch t.v., piano was practiced and everyone was looking cute and groomed by 7:30! What mom wouldn't be happy with that?

I also love the first day of school photo. It was raining so we didn't pose in front of the rocks like we usually do.

You can't tell in the picture, but Katherine's braces match her shirt (blue and green bands) and her nails are painted green. Everything Elliot bought has something to do with soccer and Emilia is as usual just stinkin' cute.

The report from the day was positive. Everyone has friends to hang out with and most teachers are liked ( in 8th grade it's hard to like all your teachers.)

9 months till summer..... 12 to another first day of school. Lucky me, I don't have to miss my kids because I can check up on them at school.

I am a survivor

Trek: Accomplished. Matthew and I ended up having a great experience on trek. Amazing that our 8 kids were willing to push that handcart like they did. We never had to ask them, they just did it. I think they learned the lesson of hard work and I know one little girl learned that she could do things that she thought were too hard. I truly learned to loved all my kids. They were so very different but came together nicely.

I should chronicle all of the kids but there is one in particular that needs to be described. Garrett was the funniest kid. He adopted this "country boy" persona complete with the look and accent. (He is the boy laying down in the front row)He certainly kept us in stitches. On the last day in camp he decided to catch seagulls. At first they were going to get under a tarp with some bread on top. Then they would jump up when a bird landed. Didn't work so well. They moved on to a lasso with chips in the middle. They spent hours at this little game and never caught anything, but we certainly laughed at him.

I understand why those who have gone on trek before have nothing but positive things to say. I guess when you are put into a situation where you must work hard but are with great people, it becomes unforgettable.

Heaven's Help

Ok, So tomorrow Matthew and I will embark on what may turn out to be a disaster. We are going on Trek. The weather forecast? Nothing but rain, lightning and thunder. Not the best idea for being on the high plains of Wyoming. So, I guess I am just keeping my fingers crossed, saying a little prayer and hoping for Heaven's Help.