CELEBRATION!

Hello one and all,
It has been a very busy week around here, and I don't know quite where to start. Katie and Tom and their kids came back for Evi's adoption, a wonderful occasion. Our mom got here last Thursday (a surprise to the boys) and Katie, Tom and their kids got here on Friday (another surprise for the boys), and we attended Evi's adoption on Saturday morning and then hosted a party here at the house.

In a very special turn of events, the court-set adoption date was the Saturday before spring break for both my boys' school and Katie's kids' school, and so we have been able to spend a whole week together.

On Sunday, we gathered all the kids for a scavenger hunt. The final clue let them know that we would be spending the next two days at Disneyland! It seemed like the week was going to last forever.

In order for me to be able to go, I had to have all my work done before we could leave, and I had 48 separate jobs to do. This is the equivalent of 3 days worth of reports to get done in one day. I worked nearly straight through the night (with the exception of 2.5 hours of sleep), and I hadn't washed my face that night. My eyes took on that "mascara sinks to football player stripes" look. I walked out in the morning, and Beloved #2 looked at me accusingly and said, "Mom, you did NOT get your beauty sleep!" He is so funny! We have all been laughing about that one.

We had a wonderful time in Disneyland, and the week has ended all too soon. I don't even know where the time went. Emma and Levi are each like half of a person without the other, and it hurts terribly every time we have to watch them say goodbye. The goodbye's always hurt, but I was looking forward to this vacation so much for so long, that this goodbye is especially difficult. I suppose that will make the next reunion even sweeter.

This post is too long, and I apologize. I will post pictures eventually (I always say that, huh?!).

OUCH!

Hello my three followers,

As you all know, I have two children. My eldest, Levi, is not a terribly coordinated child (a gentle depiction, in my opinion). He is at an age (9), however, when boys are suddenly expected to be good at all sports. Needless to say, this is creating a challenge for us. So, in an attempt to help my beloved, I tried to play basketball with him after school today. Seconds after saying, "don't be afraid of the ball", he attempted a bounce pass which landed directly in front of me and then flew up and slammed into my little finger on the left hand. I felt/heard something bad happen (I'm assuming a sprain at this point), and I instantly became nauseous from waves of pain.

The first thing I thought about was my job. I type, on average, about 400,000 key strokes on Wednesdays and Thursdays. So here I am, doing a test run on my blog to see if my finger still works. I guess it's safe to assume I'm going to be alright.

Another highlight of the week occurred yesterday. I went on a field trip with Luke's class to the Wildlife Zoo about 10 minutes from my house. It's actually a really neat little zoo. They have several different types of animals including lions, tigers, panthers, giraffes, and a rhino, and they recently added a small aquarium. This is not your normal zoo, however. You can get much closer to the animals than in other zoos, and it is very dusty as nothing is paved. It's about as non-San Diego Zoo as you can get. I was put in charge of four kindergarten boys, two of which have an apparent hearing deficit and/or ADHD. Luke was among my four (obviously). Luke is a class clown and is not afraid to draw attention to himself and, by extension, his mother. We had just come to the camel enclosure, when beloved #2 suddenly yelled out, "Hey, a camel, c'mon--FART ALREADY!", much to the glee of all the boys with him, who took up the chant of "FART! FART! FART!" Mother of the year material, I know.....

Love you all, and I love my kiddos too! Mothering really is like taking your heart out and letting it walk around on its own.

Devaluation

Nothing clever to say today. We paid 389,000 for our house, which was supposedly a "steal" when we bought it. Today, we got our official property value notice from the county, and our house, for tax year 2010, is worth 217,000!!! What do we do.....?

Calling woes

Hello everyone, I used to think that everyone really meant no one, but then I noticed that my entries actually have comments posted beneath them! Why has the technology train left me so far behind?? Anyway, that's beside the point. I need your help. As my nearest and dearest, I want you to be honest with me.

Ryan and I team teach the Gospel Doctrine class every other Sunday. You know how there's one calling at church where you say, "As long as I don't get that calling, I can do anything else." Well, Gospel Doctrine teacher was/is "that calling" for me. For the first time in my life, I verbally questioned my bishop to his face and asked him how he had come to that conclusion. It took me 3 weeks to agree to it and 3 more before I could start teaching.

I get very nervous when I teach, and it seems to be getting worse instead of better. The other thing that is difficult is when I ask a question, and it is promptly followed by a dead silence. I can hear crickets chirping under the chairs in the back. This would be okay if it were once in a while, but it happens A LOT.

So, from all of you (unfortunately, that means about 4 people), I would like to know what you like and don't like about Gospel Doctrine. Are there teaching styles you respond to better than others. What makes you want to fall asleep (other than 8 a.m. church, our current block)? I know you all will give me good advice, and I promise to put any and all suggestions to the test.

Fabulous Valentine's present

Hi Everyone,
Hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! We had a fun day here. Ryan got me a great present. I have a hard time decorating my house because I love things that are real and tell a story. Hard to come by when you have a Ross budget. Anyway, we have a wall in our home that has 6 huge niches (nitches or neeshes?). They are on either side (3 on each) of an even larger niche for a T.V. For four years, I have had nothing to put in these niches, and they have remained empty. This has led many visitors, including family and friends, to wonder whether anyone actually lives here or not. Anyway, I finally decided that if I had to buy "stuff" to put in them, I wanted them to be things I really loved. I found a great store here in Scottsdale. The owners travel to Europe a few times a year and shop at antique stores, estate sales, garage sales, etc. and bring back things they really love. My present was one of their finds. It is a antique French spice scale from the late 1800's. It still has all the original weights with it and everything. It may sound like a crazy thing to display, but I love it, and I hope to find many other pieces like it to fix my "problem wall." I will post a picture as soon as I figure out how. Anyway, I love a decorating blog called "designwithchristine.com." Check it out ladies; you won't be disappointed!

Christmas Memories

A few days before Christmas of 2008, I became very sad. I felt lost here in Arizona for the first time. Lost without my family. This was the first Christmas in five or six years that we have not spent with Katie and Tom and their kids, and I have not felt the loss of them so acutely since the time they moved. Last Christmas we went to Katie and Tom's (four months after they moved). It saved me from feeling the shock of their absence. This year, there was no way around the hurt, so we just had to go right through the middle of it instead. At least, that's what I thought. For our kids' sake, I tried to pull myself out of the blues. We invited three families over for Christmas, and two days before Christmas we made the usual plates of goodies to take to others. My cookies (my prized chocolate chip cookies) that have turned out delicious everywhere except Arizona once again bombed (may that recipe rest in peace; I will not let it disappoint me again!), but the snickerdoodles were good and saved the plates. We started taking them to the people we visit and home teach and also to our dearest friends here, and a funny thing happened... I felt the Christmas spirit! I learned then that the joy of Christmas really is in doing things for others, bringing a smile to someone else's face. On Christmas, our friends came over, and our house was bursting at the seams. We had about 18 people. The only downside was that Ryan and I destroyed the poor little pork loin roasts we got. They were supposed to be the framework for a glorious meal. Instead, they were dry, tough little things that begged for mercy by the time we got through with them. It was as if we had tried to destroy them on purpose, as there was nothing else we could have done wrong (we have since learned). Aside from the meat and some seating issues, it was a wonderful evening. We played games and sang Christmas songs with the accompaniment of Lisa's chime set. The Conrad's, Maloney's, Sanchez's, and Chapa's had a great time together. Life gives, and life takes away. I did feel one pang of sorrow on Christmas as I set the three (!) tables and remembered that the last time I did that was for Katie and her family on Christmas of 2006, but my hurt ebbed as I answered the door and founds friends waiting. I hope you all had a very merry Christmas, and I wish you all a very happy new year!

Change of plans

Hello everyone,
Our Thanksgiving plans have changed again. We are now eating with our friends the Sanchez's. Ruth and Chris have invited us for dinner. However, it is their second meal of the day, so it may just be out of sympathy.....Anyway, I am in charge of Jell-O salad, rolls, and desserts. It will be nice to have someone else cook a turkey this year. After thanksgiving, I am planning on finishing up our food storage. One of these days, I will learn how to put pictures on here so I can upload them onto my blog. Anyways, Love to all my family and friends, and happy Thanksgiving!