December 17, 2006

December 17, 2006

Can Christmas really be so close? Wow! We are hoping for a very enjoyable and relaxing holiday break. This week is a busy one. I work every day but Tuesday, I am working the 7th grade Medieval festival that Marisa is in, the kids have their holiday parties, etc.

On Friday, Marisa’s chamber orchestra had a Holiday Tour. They performed at Cottage Grove and then I met up with them at the mall. I got to each lunch with her and her friends there and then they performed in the mall. It was a FANTASTIC performance and I just can’t believe how good she is getting. The acoustics where they performed were so great. It was so fun to be there. Then we got to walk around the mall and Alayna even got her picture taken with Santa Clause!

A teacher at Excelsior just found out this week she has breast cancer. (She is not a member but her daughter in law happens to be my visiting teacher!) So, I am covering her class this week when she goes in for surgery and then covering in January for whatever chemo or radiation treatment she will need. It will be one week or a 6 week set. I should know Monday which one she has to do. I am worried about her- she is pretty scared. I can’t blame her, I would be terrified.

Other than that, not much else new is going on. I am home with 2 sick kids- bad colds going around. Hopefully we can keep everyone well to just get through this week! Oh, and our family was asked to sing in church next week. We have been practicing and our harmony sounds pretty good, if I do say so myself. Marisa will also be playing her violin for one of the verses.
We are getting excited for Christmas. Hopefully all of you have received our Christmas letter. If not, let me know, or I just posted it on our blog. Enjoy your week and we love you!

Hart Christmas letter 2006

Hart Family Quiz

1. We went on a family vacation this summer to two family reunions. Where did we go?
A) Winter Park, Colorado
B) Grand Tetons
C) Yellowstone Park
D) South Dakota badlands
Answer? All of the above! It was a great trip that was a lot of fun.
It was also our first time actually camping as a family!

2. What happened to Marisa this year?
A) She turned 12 and started 7th grade
B) She auditioned and made the chamber orchestra (playing violin)
C) She is on the Geography Bee team and her life dream is to visit every country in the world
D) She attended girls camp for the first time and was able to go to the Nauvoo temple
E) She played on the 7th grade girls volleyball team
F) She got braces
Answer? A thru E. She has been very busy and loving every minute of it!!

3. What happened to Kayla this year?
A) She turned 10 and started 5th grade
B) She got a pet turtle named “slowpoke”
C) She started gymnastics and is already on the pre-team
D) She started playing the drums
E) She LOVES horses
Answer? A, C and E! She loves 5th grade and plays the clarinet in band. She is doing a great job in gymnastics and was thrilled to be accepted to the pre-team! She also loved seeing her horse again at Grandma’s house.

4. What happened to Tyler this year?
A) He got glasses
B) He got an expander retainer
C) He got a green belt in Tae Kwon Do and started taking gymnastics
D) He turned 7 and started 2nd grade
E) He got baptized this year and started Cub Scouts
Answer? A, B, C, and E! He turned 8 and started 3rd grade.

5. What happened to Alayna this year?
A) She turned 4 and attends preschool
B) She put the camera down the disposal
C) She started karate
D) She took swimming lessons
Answer? A and D! She actually put all the crayons down the disposal- can’t even explain what kind of a mess that was! She started gymnastics too and can already do a hand stand against the wall. She loves preschool with her new teacher and looks forward to her kindergarten orientation in February.

6. What’s new with Kris and Bob?
A) Bob played on a football team and volleyball team
B) Kris started subbing school part time and taking classes to get her middle school endorsement.
C) Bob changed jobs and is now a professional wrestler
D) Kris completed her nursing degree and is now a labor and delivery nurse
E) Kris and Bob celebrated their 13th anniversary this year
Answer? A, B and E!! Kris plans to start teaching full time at the middle school in the fall.

Merry Christmas, everyone! Hope you have a wonderful holiday season!

All our love,
The Hart Family

December 10, 2006

December 10, 2006

I may not have gotten a newsletter up last week, but I did finish the Christmas letters which should be in the mail next week. Things here are a steady stream of “busy”. Thankfully all are healthy and we hope to keep it that way. Bob, Alayna, and I all got flu shots which we hope will help us through this winter season.

We are so excited because we FINALLY finished reading the Old Testament as a family!!!!!! Whoo-hoo!! It took us almost an entire year, but we did it. So, we have started the Book of Mormon again which is SO much easier to understand.

Tyler had his first pack meeting last week, which turned out to be a disaster. It started out great. He was so excited to be there, be a part of something new, etc. He took a shower, even put gel in his hair. Well, half way through, they played a game called “jumping over the mote”. The boys took turns jumping and were put into groups according to how far they jumped. Long story short, I was watching the jumping and then looked over at Tyler who was sobbing. I ran over to him and he told me that this kid next to him (which was over twice Tyler’s size) slugged him in the stomach and punched him twice in the throat just for fun. Tyler was having a hard time breathing and it actually bruised his throat so that his neck was bright red for hours and he couldn’t swallow well until the next morning. That “mother bear” instinct kicked right in and it took all I had not to run over to that kid and beat him into a bloody pulp! How dare he touch Tyler? Tyler begged me to take him home. I did and he cried the whole way home. It just broke my heart. What added to the sting was that when he had scouts this week, we found out when we arrived at the church at 7, that all the scouts had left for the planetarium at 6 and no one had bothered to call us with that info. Once again, he sobbed all the way home. It will be a Christmas miracle if I can talk him in to going to scouts this week. I am not sure how much more of this either one of us can take!

On to more pleasant subjects... We watched the cutest movie last night called the “Ant Bully”, it was quite entertaining. On Friday, Tyler and I watched “Pirates of the Caribbean: the Dean man’s Chest” while the older girls were at a birthday slumber party and Bob worked on the computer. Last weekend, we finally got to see “Superman Returns” as a family. It only reinforced Kayla’s strong desire to be able to fly. I am worried that some day she may actually try it.

Subbing has been going well, I just wish I had more babysitters. I had a great offer this week, but had to turn it down because I didn’t have anyone to watch Alayna. I guess that’s ok though, because I am trying to enjoy being home as long as I can. I finished all my paperwork, but have been apprehensive to turn it into the HR department. I will try to do that before the Christmas break though. They are already starting to hire for the new Elementary school. However, I decided to stick with middle school after subbing a 4th grade class this week. They were adorable and thought that my name was Mrs. Hart because I wore red. I even got hugs but realized that that age just isn’t quite for me anymore. So, as soon as those middle school classes become available, I will get working full time on that. I assume interviews will start in February and March and I hope I will be ready for them.

We are now ready for Christmas. All the decorations are up and the presents have been wrapped. We hope all of you are enjoying your holiday season so far.

Love-
Harts