This monthly blogging thing is kinda working for me except adding all the pictures takes forever! My memory is so short though, that I need the pictures to remind me what happened in the past month! I don't think I mentioned last time that I have started working at the elementary school. I don't really have a picture of that so that is why I forgot to mention it! I am really enjoying working as a teacher's aid in one of the third grade classrooms. It is the room right next to Hannah's class and although I don't work with her (I do work with some of the kids from her classroom), I get to see her every day in the morning as I am pulling kids from her class to work on reading. I have always had in the back of my mind that after Asher got in to Kindergarten that I would like to work in some capacity at the school. I casually mentioned that to our principal at a PTA meeting and a few weeks later she called to see if I would be interested in being an aid for two hours each day. It means I miss out on somethings - primarily "me time" in the morning and puts a bit more rush on the mornings because I have to get all the kids AND me ready for the day but on the whole it has been great. I have realized something about myself that I really need a schedule and that having something to get up in the morning for besides dishes and laundry really helps me to be less depressed. I was concerned that I wouldn't end up getting those annoying household chores done but honestly I think that I ended up wasting those two hours before anyway so that hasn't made much difference in the state of the house. It has me thinking that I'd really like to go back to school to be some sort of specialized reading teacher or a media specialist. I really like working with kids one on one or in small groups.
Here are the other happenings for the month of October 2012:
At the beginning of October we celebrated Lance's birthday! With our nights being so crazy busy these days with sports, dance and play practices not to mention church activities we weren't able to do a lot but we did spread it out over several days. We went to see Frankenweenie (which Asher LOVED, the other kids not so much). We ate out at Texas Roadhouse for a special birthday night out.
We also celebrated JJ's birthday over several days too. Early on in October we went to IHOP with the Madigan cousins to celebrate all the Fall birthdays. JJ got some money for his birthday so he bought a Lego X-wing Fighter and put it together in record time. This boy sure loves Legos! For JJ's "friend" birthday party he invited 4 friends to come with us to see Wreck-it Ralph in 3D. It was a cute movie! I am pretty thankful that JJ has such great friends. Some of them he has know since kindergarten. I also truly appreciate those of our family who took the time to acknowledge JJ on his birthday. We have so little contact with any family members it is really special when they make an effort to make my kids feel loved.
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| JJ's family birthday cake - Oreo ice cream cake |
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| L to R: Kynlee Zeller, Asher, JJ, Oakley Dalton, Thomas Roberts, and Josh Price with a yummy white cake with buttercream frosting. |
Speaking of JJ: I am a little floored to have an 11 year old! Before we know it he will be a teenager. Lance and I sure have learned, and continue to learn, a lot from being his parents. Patience is probably #1. We love him lots but there are still lots of times when we struggle with his stubborn personality. He really likes things his way. Talk about type A personality! I am sure he will be a lawyer or CEO someday. This year he is top of his class in math and doing great in all other subjects as well. He is one smart kid! He enjoyed Fall soccer and is looking forward to January when he and Hannah will start Jr Jazz basketball. He is currently in the play Into the Woods and is playing Cinderella's Prince. He hates to practice but does amazingly well when it comes time to be on stage. Hannah also is in the play as Milky White (the cow). She was really disappointed to be given a part that is usually played by a prop but she is trying to have a good attitude about it. It is really hard for me as "momma bear" because I know she could do any of the other parts really well. I am trying not to be the annoying stage mom but I do have a better understanding of how easy it is to become one. JJ and Hannah are also doing piano lessons and really enjoying it! Hannah is doing dance classes too. So you can see why our evenings are so crazy. Because life is so crazy right now I really enjoyed Fall Break because we could relax a bit and do some fun things together (although we missed Lance because he was working most of the time). Here are some things we did over Fall Break. We went to see the new Scheels store that opened up in Sandy, twice- once with me and the kids and then a second time with Grandpa Jake because he wanted to go see it too. The stuff is way over priced but it was fun to walk around and see all the displays. We didn't ride the full size ferris wheel that they have in the middle of the store because A the lines were SOOOOO long and B my kids are wimps! (Contrary to how these photos look!)
On the Saturday of Fall Break Grandpa Jake joined us and we went up to Syracuse to Antelope Island. I had been across the causeway years ago with my mom and dad but it was so much better this time. We hiked around and explored all over the island. We saw quite a variety of animal life. We all really enjoyed our day on the Island.
This year for Halloween the kids got to do the ward Trunk or Treat, trick or treat Main Street, trick or treat at the Madigan grandparents and then JJ went to trick or treat around his friend's neighborhood with Lance training along behind, while I took the other two around our small neighborhood. They got quite a haul. I think we had about 5 trick or treaters come to our door which is pretty typical. I thought it would be fun to make the kids new trick or treat bags but I am not that good of a seamstress when it comes to cutting and sewing on the sewing machine - maybe I am just intimidated by it. So I freehand cut out some cute Halloween images out of felt and hand stitched them on ready-made bags. I glued googlie eyes on but several of the eyes fell off so I need to either embroider eyes on or figure out how to glue them on so they will stay. Hannah's isn't quite done but I just don't have the desire to finish it now that Halloween is over. Maybe next year?
Part of the busyness has to do with keeping going so I don't think about how much I miss my mom. That is another reason I am so glad to have the job in the mornings. I'd probably just sit and cry if I was here alone during that time. There is such a hole in my life right now. I find myself thinking I need to give her a call to tell her about something the kids said or did. She was my shopping buddy, now I just don't have the heart to go alone or drag Asher along. I really missed taking the kids to see her on Halloween. I love my family but I am not looking forward to this Thanksgiving like I normally do because I think it will be brutal to be there without her. I wouldn't want her here suffering but I just miss her so much. I talked to a friend the other day who lost her father right around the time my mom passed. She said she feels him around her all the time. I just don't feel that with my mom - she just seems gone. My heart breaks for friends and loved ones also going through difficult times right now and wish I could help but I can't think of anything that I can do other than pray for them. So that's what I do.
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