September 17, 2006

September 17, 2006

Fall seems to be on its way. We took down our canopy yesterday and next week we will put away all the stuff on the patios. The cooler weather is coming and it is a welcome relief to the hot summer we had. I am getting excited to make hot chocolate, curl up by the fire, and watch all our shows starting this week!
Well, we have been extremely busy. I always think life can’t get any busier, but it does:
Marisa is enjoying volleyball. She is on the red squad and is on team B-3, which made her really mad. She wanted to be on the A team. It had made her more determined than ever to practice more. Her team lost their first game and this week they won their first. She is so excited especially because she is making points. I think she made 2 in the first game and 3 in the second. She is loving 7th grade! She is pulling straight A’s , as usual, in all of her classes. She does have extra homework, which is always hard to fit in after 2 hour daily practices for volleyball, but she is doing it very well. This past week she also joined the Fantasy Book Club League. She said she was the only girl in it until a girl showed up the last couple of minutes of their first meeting. She loves to read so she thinks this will be a fun group to be a part of. On Friday, she auditioned for the chamber orchestra. She will find out if she made it on Monday.
Kayla is doing amazingly well in school this year. She has a fantastic teacher who is helping her continue to love school. She even has the best reading teacher I have ever seen. I can tell its going to be another good year for her. I cannot believe how well she is doing in gymnastics. You would be shocked to see what she can do. She stands by my file cabinet, puts her hands on and slowly lifts her legs until they are up over her head. I have GOT to take a picture of it. Most of the time I talk to her, she is upside down. I really should let her start taking more days a week. This seems to be something she really wants to stick with. She is also doing so well on her clarinet. She practices a lot and I can actually tell what she is playing now.
Tyler started flag football, and I think this just might be his game. He is just solid so people just bounce right off of him. He has been playing center (the one that hikes the ball) and he is doing great. This week he was a co-captain of the team. They have lost both games, but he doesn’t seem to mind a bit. He says he would love to continue, which I am thrilled at. I just think it would scare me to death if he chose to play tackle football. Anyway, he is also loving his gymnastics class. He started his gifted and talented class this week. They are doing a unit on volcanoes called “The ring of fire”, he is ecstatic!
I think three days of preschool a week for Alayna is perfect. On the other two she is doing swimming lessons. The cool thing is that she is the only one in her class!! I thought they would cancel it, but they didn’t, so now she gets private lessons!! She is already starting to put her head under the water. She is also still doing gymnastics, but despite all this, she still has never ending energy. Seriously, if I could bottle this secret energy I would be so rich!!! She can spell and type her own name and can almost spell everyone’s name in our family. She can read her flashcards too. Let’s hope we can continue to channel this “intelligence” for good.
Bob bounced right back after surgery. This was his quickest recovery yet. He is now playing on a flag football team and softball team. He is also working overtime for the next couple of weeks. Yesterday, he had several guys from the ward to watch BYU game on pay per view. You should have heard them downstairs hootin’ and hollerin’. It was hilarious. Too bad BYU lost!
The kids had the chance to go to an apple orchard yesterday with our friends. They picked lots of honey crisp apples and even got to go on a tractor ride. These apples are so sweet! Marisa and I had a great opportunity to go to the cooking cottage this week. (They gave a portion of the proceeds to the kids school) Anyway, you go for two hours and make 12 homemade meals. It has been such a huge blessing. The food has been great and the kids actually eat it. My meals are planned out through the end of the month, and most I can put in a crock pot before I go to work and we have a homemade meal when we come home. We definitely have to go again!
I am basically done with my speech class. I am proud to say I got 100% on all 5 speeches I have turned in so far. I turn in the last two tomorrow and then I have completed that class. I start the next two (6 credits) middle school classes next month. I hope to work every waking hour and complete both by Christmas. I continue to volunteer in 3 different schools which keeps me very busy. I am also into the full swing of subbing now. I subbed 8th grade Health first, what an experience that was. I learned a lot that day, like how you don’t ever say “You MAY use this time for homework”, you say “You WILL use this time for homework”. Anyway, last week I subbed 6th grade (gifted and talented) science and LOVED that! Then the next day I subbed 8th grade math for a teacher that was sick. It went great, especially since I had had most of the kids the week before. I found a note ripped up in the trash saying I was a cool sub, that made my day. This week I am scheduled to sub 7th grade social studies and even get Marisa in my 6th Mod. I am able to do some great networking. I have met tons of staff and getting to know the school and the students. I hope and pray I can get a job there, I would LOVE it!!
Well, must get moving. A Happy Birthday to James and Grandma Annie this week. We love you all and hope to hear from you ALL this week!
Love,
kris and family