Catch Up!

I’ve had a few far away friends and family wonder if I’m ever going to post on this blog again. I really has been a long, long time. I can’t seem to get to it anymore. Life is crazy busy; if it’s not one thing, it’s another. I don’t want this blog to go away forever though. It really is a good way to record life and keep in touch, even if just a little bit.

I thought I might do a quick catch up and record what we’ve been up to for the last few months.

In late August, Mike and a few members of his family (Mom, Dad, Laura and baby Lily), in a temporary fit of insanity, decided to join other slightly insane members of Mike’s extended family on a 40 mile back packing trip into the heart of Yellowstone National Park. It’s always been a dream of Lynette’s to take this trip. Her father, Blaylock, would do this same hike every year and he always claimed it was his favorite place on earth.

Mike was glad to be able to go and help make his mom’s dream come true. Lynette was amazing! She had trained hard and did the whole 40 some-odd miles without blinking an eye (except maybe the eye that swelled shut after the spider bit it).

Mike still hasn’t stopped talking about how amazingly beautiful this area of Yellowstone is. The only way for humans to see it is to back pack several days in. He keeps talking about the waterfalls and hot springs and miles of delicious wild raspberries. I’m just relieved that they didn’t get eaten by the mama bear and her three bear cubs that crossed their path. They all came back in one piece, thankfully.

While Mike was enjoying the wonders of nature, I was home getting the kids ready for their first day of school….

The boys started third grade. I put them both in the same class for the first time this year. I was a bit hesitant to do this for obvious reasons, but so far it’s turned out great. (Well…there was that one incident involving some stomach punching in class, but honestly I was expecting much worse).

The boys love their teacher! She is a beautiful lady with a super fun personality and she makes the classroom seem like a constant party. Who wouldn’t love her? So far school is going great for the boys. They even tried out for and made the cut for the school talent show. They both did a great job on their piano solos.

I’m still so happy with this charter school and glad to be involved there when I can. The boys awarded me the “cool-mom-of-the-year” award for being in charge of the book fair again this year. I think this may be the last year that they boys actually think it’s a cool thing that their mom is hanging at the school with them all day. I’m going to soak it up while it lasts!

MK is now in the 9th grade. She is a high school freshmen! This concept is very hard for me to wrap my brain around, but of course she is loving it. This girl is like a fish in water when it comes to school. She is happiest when she is immersed in the challenge of it all. Of course school means a very active social life for her. She doesn’t stay home much. Thanks goodness I can track her on her cell phone!

Trying out for and making the Shakespeare competition team has been the highlight of her year so far. She and the rest of the team really cleaned house down at the Shakespeare festival in Cedar city. PG Junior High won the over-all in their division. Kind of a big deal for them. Loud squeals of delight when she called me after the awards ceremony.

MK was part of an ensemble again this year. They did a hilarious scene from Much Ado About Nothing. These kids did a superb job with Shakespeare. It’s really impressive actually. I’m loving the educational aspect of this whole business.

 

Shakespeare is over, but this week are tryouts for the school musical so there could be much more thespian activity in the near future (at least she is hoping). This year they are doing “Once Upon and Island.” It looks fun, but I’ve never heard of it.

 

The kids have been working hard at the piano. They have some really great teachers and all three of them are progressing nicely. We decided it was time to break down and purchase a new piano. Our current piano (bless it’s beautiful heart) is plenty good enough for Tune a Fish and Riding on a Mule, but not so great for Chopin. We’ve done quite of bit of looking and our new, shiny, black baby will finally be delivered on Wednesday. This is a big deal for all of us and we are feeling very excited about it. Even Mike has decided he might want to take up piano again. (We’ll see if that really happens).

With busy kids comes busy parents and Mike and I don’t have much down time. Mike’s clinic is opening up a new office this week and that has kept him incredibly busy these last few months. He now runs all the IT for four pediatric offices around the valley and he does an amazing job of managing the stress of it all. He rarely brings his job home and I really appreciate that.

In an effort to spend more time with the boys, Mike has joined them at their Karate Dojo twice a week. It was only $25 dollars more a month for him to join so why not? The boys think it’s the best thing ever that he does Karate with them and Mike actually enjoys it. It’s entirely possible that at some point I will be married to a black belt. Hy-Ya!

As for myself, I’m getting pretty good at keeping all the balls spinning in the air…except when I’m not. This last week I got a terrible stomach bug from the dark side and I was in bed for 7 days. Being out of commission for that long is not so great for a busy mom and I got severely behind on everything. Luckily I have the best parents ever and they came down and helped me clean my house and get me back on track. The holidays are coming at us quickly and I’m gearing up for how crazy the next few months will be.

I’m actually really enjoying my life for the most part, despite the stresses. There is lots of good to be enjoyed. I’m loving my family and the opportunities I have to do what I do. Being sick helped me appreciate being healthy and active and I’m glad to be back at it.

I’ll leave you with one last picture I found on my camera that pretty sums it all up……

 

Jeffrey???????????