September 2017

 I decided to do September's post today since I have the time. This weekend is General Conference so I'll be busy with that and don't want to end up forgetting. The boys started their school year at the local elementary school. They love it so far and are blessed to all have wonderful teachers.

We opted to have Brettley repeat grade 1 to give him a chance to learn to understand school structure with the other kids.

I started taking 2 classes on Coursera to give me something to do during the day now that my kids are all in school full time. I'm taking Introduction to Psychology and Social Context of Mental Health and Illness. I would love to get my BA in Psychology some day.

The Kenow Wildfire hit close to here in Waterton and area. We found out that as long as we have a 72 Hour Kit and everyone knows their job if we had to 'bug out' none of us really stressed about the possibility.

Webster, the cat that sort of lives with us, has started spending some nights in the house. The boys love having him here and so do I.

We had parent teacher interviews last week and I was complimented on how well I taught Brettley to read last year. It was so nice to hear. We also are getting Ty started on speech therapy because he still can't pronounce his Rs. His first appointment is this Friday.

I did 2 shifts at the book fair last week at the school and volunteered for future ones. I also signed up to be the room rep for Brettley and Caleb's classes. I think I'm trying to compensate for my lack of a calling. I also joined School Council and was given the position of Division 2 rep (it normally would be a vote but Amy nominated me and I got it by acclamation).

Caleb's birthday was on Monday. He turned 11! My boy is growing up so fast. I posted the following on Facebook that day:

11 Facts About Caleb to Celebrate his 11th Birthday:

1) His favourite colour is green.
2) He wants to become an astrophysicist.
3) He had his tonsils and adenoids removed less than a month after he turned 5. His adenoids were 3 times as large as they should have been.
4) He is red-green colour deficient. Red looks green to him.
5) He earned so many Cubs badges that we had to start a fourth row on his sleeve. He loved the old program.
6) He has started to learn how to play the alto saxophone, taking after both his mum and dad.
7) He isn't a fan of cake frosting, so for his cake this year we're putting real whipped cream on top and sprinkling it with coconut.
8 ) He loves all things Harry Potter and is almost done reading the series.
9) He is a natural giver and serves people without being asked.
10) He is one of the most compassionate people I've ever met in my life.
11) He has blessed my life in more ways than I could count. I am beyond grateful to be his mum.

Without going in to details, I have been struggling a lot lately and could really use any extra prayers that people are willing to send my way. Thanks!

August 2017 Pt 2

John came home to stay on Friday 18 August. He got in super late, but it was such a happy moment for us. The next day we cleaned at the church and got a new (to us) barbecue. We haven't had one for a few years, so we are very excited to have one again. Then John and I went on a date to Firestone (yum, my favourite) to celebrate him finally being home with us.

I got to help can my 20 pints of kernel corn from our garden. It's fun learning these new skills that are so useful.

John's mom was home briefly on the 25th before they took off to bring her to her mission field. John was able to give her a blessing before she left. The kids miss her a lot. We send her an email every week to update her on how we are.

On Sunday I saw that they announced that they are rolling "Come, Follow Me" in to the Priesthood and Relief Society lessons next year. I am super excited about this. I loved this when I taught the youth and think it will be an amazing thing for these adult classes.

We've spent most of the last week under a heat warning here and several days with air quality issues from the smoke as well. I'm really looking forward to after Thanksgiving.

Yesterday we went the the school and the boys got to take a tour of it. They each saw their new classrooms and met their new teachers. Brettley is very excited that his classroom has fish in it. Ty has opted to go by Tyrell this year since there will be another Ty in his class. Caleb has 2 teacher, but only was able to meet 1 of them yesterday. They also got to spend a couple of minutes playing in the school's new indoor playground. We brought their school supplies home and got them all labeled and ready to go for Tuesday. I also sorted and labeled all of the school supplies for my sister-in-law's kids yesterday. I do love me some school supplies. However, I'm really going to miss having my kids at home. I was so spoiled last year in getting to do things on our own schedule and having them to keep me company as we learned things together.

Fun note, just as I finished writing the previous paragraph, our heat warning was finally lifted. Why? Because it's ONLY going to get up to 28C today, ha ha. I'm so grateful that my bedroom is in the basement.