Today church was cancelled because a snowstorm came through last night and is still snowing. It's March 24th. Spring has started, at least on the calendar, and yet we are still dealing with snow. Sigh. Poor me.
Enough whining and being dramatic. Actually, I've been looking at my blog feeling like I should update it somewhat, yet not really knowing what to write. It's been so long that a travel-log post just seems lame to me. But since I'm doing this for posterity sake and since I didn't even do a Christmas letter, I'll quick sum up:
Jorja, now in 2nd grade, in general loves life. She is in choir and just started soccer again. I was a lame mom yesterday and read the time wrong for her soccer game, thus missing said soccer game, resulting in big Jorja-crocodile tears. She loves soccer, yo. The three 2nd grade classes did a Disney musical program at school and she did really well. We tried to get there early to get a good seat so we could see her OK. Unfortunately, she is the shortest in all of 2nd grade and was standing in the front, with lots of heads blocking our view. She had one of the few speaking parts and did great though. She also LOVES playing with friends.
Logan, 3rd grade, loves video games too much. Santa gave the kids (not just Logan) Minecraft for Christmas and that is all he wants to do. It drives me nuts so I try to get him to do other things like play Legos and the many board games we have or going outside when it is nice. He is pretty obedient. He did wrestling over the winter and really liked it. He had his first take down at his last tournament and that was really exciting for him. Brad volunteered to help coach and that was good for both of them. Logan's teacher also is recommending him to be tested for Beyond Basics. He has really impressed her with the way he processes and find answers to problems. That, and his tendency towards disorganization. Ha! That one made us laugh.
Jillian is one busy chica. She plays the clarinet in the middle school band, also participates in Liberty Youth Chorus, and just started playing soccer again. She played inter-mural volleyball over the winter and loved that. She has made a lot of new friends at school and is doing very well academically. She died her hair red with Kool-Aid just before Christmas and it is
still in her hair. It grosses me out that a die that strong is approved to eat. Yuck. Jillian went to do baptisms for the dead for the first time last week and really enjoyed it. She gets taller every day and really likes to rub it in that she will be taller than me someday.
I am busy, but that's nothing new. I've been teaching choir -- I now have 22 students! -- and really enjoy it. I also teach music at a daycare and love laughing with those little kids. My favorite things are watching the youngest kids, babies really at 1-2 years, "get it" and start singing and moving their bodies to the actions, hugs from kids of all ages, and teaching the older kids silly songs. I taught them "Greasy Grimy Gopher Guts" a while back and even made pictures for them to make it easier to remember the words. It is most awesome and is requested every week. But then I also like that I have taught them simple primary songs like "The Wise Man and The Foolish Man" or "The Snowman Song" and they love those also.
I am in the midst of planning Earth Week again and am excited about the program this year. Along with that, I help organize Eagle Scout projects in the Outdoor Classroom. It is a fun way to be involved at the kids' school and I feel like I am making a positive difference there.
The kids also like it when I get to sub at their school as well. A couple of weeks ago I was even Jillian's sub, and in 6th grade, she was a bit nervous but then I think she was secretly excited also. We promised each other that neither of us would make a big deal about me being her mom and her sub, although some kids figured it out. I've had a lot more subbing jobs this year and that has been good. I really enjoy doing that.
In addition to all that, I have decided to start my own business doing assemblies at schools. I've spent a lot of time doing research on the business and creating my own business in general, and trying to figure out programs. I went to an entrepreneur class and learned a lot. There is still a lot to do but I am really excited about it. What I really like about this idea is the flexibility in schedule, the potential for growth, the ability to satisfy my craving for doing different things, the challenge of creating different programs, giving the presentations themselves, and the money I can make doing something I enjoy.
Brad is still involved with Kitchen Solvers but the owner is moving to Tennessee and so we're waiting to see what will happen with that. He is really excited about the increased activity with his roll-out shelf business, Shelf Discovery. We've had some orders and activity off of Facebook and that has been fun. We are the business of the month at our bank and have displays up at all 4 branches. It was a bit of work getting the displays together but they turned out really nice and the employees seemed impressed with them. He still also does remodeling but he is hoping the shelf business will take off.
So I have decided I really stink at short posts. I think my next post will be short, just to prove that I can do a non-lame travel-log post. Ha!!
