These tulips are from over by the community garden. We planted a family garden and enjoy walking around the area where the flowers are...
Things are still really busy, with the promise of it getting busier in the next couple of months. The end of this school year is coming, and next weekend, the girls have their dance recital. That takes quite a bit of preparation! I am excited but at the same time, looking forward to dance practices ending for a few months. Bethanie is so ready to be done with this school year. 4th grade has been a hard working year for her. I am super excited because she has made huge progress toward reading and math. She even made exemplary on her reading state assessments. She is even pleasure reading. That always does a moms heart good! Madison had her Kindergarten Round-Up last week, and she is BEYOND ready. I can see her sailing through just fine. Matthew is having a hard time getting motivated to do his school work. It is a strain getting him through each and every day. We are looking for alternatives for his next school year which I am looking forward to. I will share details as I am able too. Jeff's work life has become really hectic. I feel bad for him because I know how hard it can be dealing with a lot of other peoples attitudes and junk.

My washing machine is dead. So, for this weekend, I will be using my in-laws machine. Next week I will get another one. I just hope they deliver it quickly. Laundry for 5 people can get out of hand quickly.

Monday this week, we drove to Kansas City, the kids, us and my dad, to see the new Temple there. We toured the inside. It was LOVELY!!!! Madison really loved it especially and commented on how beautiful it was inside. I really thought Bethanie would be impacted the most, but it was Madison who was. I knew it would be really important to get them inside the temple so they don't have to wonder anymore about how it really looks inside. Next time we tell they we are doing temple work, they will have a visual of what it all looks like! So, off to make lunch. :)

HI STRANGERS!!!

I am back and ready to blog again. I cant promise it will be often, but things have been SO crazy since school started. I will try to update how things have been going over the next FEW posts. They may or may not be in order of events. :)

Some things keeping me busy are:

Kids. Yep. Its all I can say. Currently, my kids are as follows:

Matthew turned 13 in February. YES! I am a mom of a TEENAGER! I have to say, he is by far our easiest child...MOST of the time. I am still schooling him at home with the virtual school. We wont be over the next year though. We will be using the LIFE curriculum. LOL! In other worlds, he is going to be learning a lot of independent living skills training. So far, he has learned how to cook a spaghetti dinner on his own, and shop for all ingredients, and also clean up afterward. This is all because we have a WONDERFUL Case Manager, who also has a child with autism, and is trained in working with people to learn how to live independently. I am SO excited! We set him up with a budget and he has to stick by it.

Bethanie is almost ready to turn 10 years old in May. WHERE HAS TIME GONE? She is almost ready to finish up 4th grade. I cant believe how wonderful this girl is. She is so athletic, so artistic and so social! Today we found out that with her state assessment in reading, she scored exemplary status! So next fall, she will be awarded from the State! She had a 97/100%! She has been in two different dance classes this year. She is doing Jazz and Ballet. This is like her 6th year doing it. She is quite a beautiful and confident dancer/performer. It is really funny too, because she is SUPER shy. I love that quality about her. I hope she keeps it forever, but just wish it wasn't so painful for her on a daily basis!

Madison is now FIVE!!!! Oh My Gosh. She is for sure growing up. She is a sassy, sweet, bold young lady! I am so proud of her! She is really getting into the FRIEND thing at school. It is so funny because her favorite music is Michael Jackson. Don't ask me how or why, it just happened! She can hardly wait to start Kindergarten! She can easily count to 100, she recognizes her letters wonderfully, and most of the sounds. She just needs to connect the dots and start reading! She is left handed mostly. It is really interesting because sometimes when she writes, it is like mirror writing. She will start from the right, and write toward the left, with her letters all backward, so if you hold it up in the mirror, you can read it. :P I hope that wont be a problem!

Jeff has been working a TON. His job is really great, but it is complex. He has more than one hat he wears at work, and he is just very busy.

Me, well....see the above. This is what I do all day. I am truly the GLUE that holds everyone together. It gets very exhausting. I took a forced (by me) vacation to Utah in February. I flew out to Salt Lake and spent time with dear friends. My BFF hosted me and (CoriAnn) her wonderful family treated me like a queen! I didn't get to see everyone I wanted to, but just to get away and be with people I have missed so much, and even to see my twin sisters headstone was awesome. I even met two of my cousins for the first time ever!

Anyway, that's enough for right now. I promise I will do better and blog more!

Hmph.

So much time has passed since I posted. I have so much to share, so many fun pictures, but since the beginning of October, things have been so hectic. Tomorrow we are spending Thanksgiving a few days early together because mom goes in for knee replacement surgery on Tuesday. Things wont slow down through the end of the year. I will be having at least one foot surgery before the end of December. We do have a couple of little orphan babies now. Laylee and Sophie. They are 13 week old kitties that are so fun and adorable. :)

bEtHaNiE...

I sure am PROUD of Bethanie. She is really athletic, and has gone out for volleyball for the first time this year. I know she really LOVES it, but she is painfully shy and has a hard time being in front of spectators. She is really good at serving the ball (she is serving in this photo) and if the ball comes directly at her, she will do very well at volley-ing it back. But she WONT go toward the ball. I think she is afraid of messing up.
Tonight is her last volleyball practice, and Sunday is her last game for the season...

Another fun thing is that in 4th grade, students get selected to work. She was one of 38 kids, I think, in the 4th grade to be a Peer Mediator. This is quite an honor. They will help with the younger kids, help them resolve disputes, help them at lunch time to follow rules, and over all, help them feel supported and successful. Bethanie is on the far right, middle row, blue shirt.

If you think that is all, you are wrong! Bethanie recently joined a girl scout troop. She is pretty excited because several of her friends are doing it. I don't mind her being so busy, but I sure do miss her because she is gone so much! She is also in Jazz class, and decided to take an extra dance class-Ballet. She will be in the Nutcracker performance this December. She will play two parts. One will be a dancing doll, and the other will be a Sugar Plum Fairy. WOW. I wish I had her energy. My little girl is growing up!

Madison is in dance too, and she will be in the Nutcracker as well. Since she is only in one dance class, she will be doing one performance. She will be a Snowman. And she will be dancing to Frosty the Snowman. :) She is LOVING Pre-K. She just wishes she could go every day. Next year she will be in Kindergarten. WAAAAH!

Matthew is about the same. He is getting really tall. Since May, he has gained 5 pounds and grown just over an inch. He is now almost as tall as his dad. :)

SiLLy...

Madison is known for coming up with very intelligent and clever things to say. She is NEVER a dull moment. Today she started to tell me something, and as I listed, she paused, and said, "I got nothin'". She forgot what she was going to say. :)

MeMoRiEs...

the main reason I do this blog is so I don't forget the happenings in our life. each precious moment, precious spirit, loved one, laughter, sadness....I want to remember it all-even the sad moments. It is the tough times where we grow the most. It is also where we all seem to come together the most. We have had family members suffer a great deal over the last year or so. Mainly speaking, my mom. She has had three knee surgeries, and a back surgery all in the last two years. Seeing her struggle so much has been heart wrenching. With the physical pain comes emotional pain. How can a person live with chronic pain and not suffer emotionally? We cling to one another to help each other cope, help uplift those who are in need. Family is such a great and wonderful blessing. We are working to get my parents moved to the town we live in. Right now they are 30 miles away, which seems like an eternity of a drive when we need to get there quickly. I cant wait for their house to sell, to get them here quickly. I have never lived in the same town with them, as an adult!

I know I have mentioned several times about the loss of Carlisle. People are probably sick and tired of hearing me complain about how much I miss him. My husband, myself, our children are of the rare kind. We have not actually lost a person close to us. We are very blessed to still have everyone here, with the exception of my twin sister, Spring, who died just after we were born. So when we love our pets as a member of the family, who contributes love, affection, and joyful moments, then suddenly they are gone, the loss is felt. Bethanie and I have had the toughest time letting him go. So I found a memory stone. I think this will be a great way for us to remember him, the love and joy he brought to our home. We miss him terribly. We will wait a few more weeks before we can get a new cat for our family. Our veterinarian will help us make sure that it is a healthy cat, and one that is happy and fits into our family. Carlisle can never be replaced. Having him in our life helped us realize the joy an indoor (only) cat can bring. I see we will likely always have a cat, after him.