Right at this moment

It's been a few weeks, ok, months since I updated the blog.  A lot has happened, including Wade's 13th birthday, an amazing Texas Thanksgiving trip, and all things finals/Christmas/end-of-year fun.  I will get to it all, I promise.  For now, I'll talk about this moment.

At this moment:

--Wade is downstairs watching Star Wars: The Clone Wars on Neflix.  (We are all fired up about Star Wars after watching Rogue One at the theater yesterday.  AMAZING Star Wars movie!!!)  He had a great time with his friend Tucker today playing a unique Star Wars board game we'd never seen.  Tucker came over with his mom Becky--we talked Girls Camp details together while the boys played the game.

--Rhiannon is on her bed, checking weather on her phone and working on AP Biology homework.  She survived finals well, but her Bio teacher gave her a take-home final and about 4 chapters to learn on her own at home.  Boo.  Tonight she's playing piano for a Christmas song practice for church and then going with a friend to a white elephant party.

--Our dogs are sprawled out on our bed.  They really like having all of us home all day during Christmas break!

--Jason is at work for an important meeting.  He's taking the next two weeks off, but he'll probably  have to pop in to work a few times.  He used a jackhammer for two hours today, working on demolishing the stone waterfall structure by our front door.  It is the most awful project imaginable, he says, worse than we thought it would be.  It's going to take a lot of blood, sweat, and tears.

--I'm sitting at my very messy, confused desk.  It's covered in stake Young Women papers, Christmas stuff, lesson planning items, a dusting cloth, and paperwork for taking an online college course for my job.  I feel a little out of control looking at it all, but I'm grateful for the gift of time over this holiday break to get my act together and get organized.

--our kitchen counter is loaded with goodies friends and neighbors have dropped by.  So kind and thoughtful!  I think I gained 5 pounds just typing the sentences about it!

--our driveway is full of leaves.  It got pretty cold this week, and the remaining leaves on everyone's trees just...dropped.  I'll take that over snowfall any day!

Stay tuned!

A quick, random update

Labor Day weekend was terrific:  major take-everything-out-and-earn-its-way-back garage clean-out.   We really didn't get rid of too much stuff in there, but it looks so pretty and big now, even with two of our vehicles and 3 bikes parked inside!  We enjoyed swimming, grilling steaks, watching Amazing Spiderman 2, and attending a church Labor Day breakfast--good times.

Jason has had to travel quite a bit and is home (mostly) for the next two weeks.  Heaven.  He's been busy lining up the process to have our air conditioning units and system replaced and redone, and also for 2 new gates outside.  (YAY!!!) He's also picked up running again to prepare for a Las Vegas Ragnar in November. 

We took Wade to his second-to-last Cub Scout pack meeting tonight.  Last night he attended a Boy Scout swimming activity that he needed to pass off the "outdoor activity" requirement for the Arrow of Light award.  He's close--we are very proud of him!  He should be getting that at the next pack meeting.  Wade got signed up for flag football and will start that the middle of October.  He's started the Couch to 5K running program and has been jumping on the treadmill bright and early a few times a week, too.

Rhiannon is taking high school, seminary, homework, and hard tests in stride.  After talking to some other friends whose kids are really struggling, I am so grateful for her easy-going nature and the minimal number of "freak-out" moments that she has.  She had a D in her honors geometry and raised  it two letter grades with her recent test, to a B.  First, the fact that she took that D and just rolled with it and didn't automatically jump to "I'm done, my life is over," says a lot about her.  Tomorrow night she will play with the symphonic band at the high school's first home football game.  Should be fun!  Oh, and she had a fantastic time at her first stake dance a couple weeks ago--she brought a friend with her, and her friend said it was better than a school dance, even with the tiny turnout.

Me?  Oh, I feel like I live in the van.  And that's okay.  :)  I subbed for 3 days straight in a 5th grade classroom and had a pretty good experience with that.  My Institute class prep is keeping me busy, as well as my "duties" helping with the Battle of the Books team at Richmond.  I got a sun oven (solar cooking) for an early Christmas/birthday/anniversary gift and I've had a BLAST cooking with that thing.  So far I've hard-boiled eggs without water, baked brownies, and baked bread--all with the sun, and all came out great!  I can't see myself using it every single day yet, but from an emergency preparedness standpoint, I'm hooked. :)  

Pictures later--life is good! 

Since the cruise...BIG recap

Whew!  Can you believe it's MAY already?  I love getting closer to summer break, but it's a little scary how quickly time moves, too!

I'm a little overwhelmed thinking about all I want to say about the last three weeks; it's been crazy busy and crazy fun.  Guess I'll just plunge in and take a lunch break when I need it!

Starting youngest to oldest:

Oscar:  is a good teenage dog.  He is still uber-protective, occasionally very feisty when he wants to play, and loved by every member of our family.  He loves his dog chew toys; he also loves grass, much to our chagrin.  This dog will literally mow the grass if we're not paying attention.  He is still Mom's constant shadow, the perfect companion for an afternoon nap, and a great "walker."  I love how he perks up when he sees me going for his leash!

Wade:  is only 45+ objectives away from completing SIXTH GRADE math objectives.  I don't know if he'll get it done before school ends on the 30th, but he's super close.  He loves playing outside with all his neighbor friends, too.  Last week Wade and I played basketball at the park every school morning after we'd dropped Rhiannon off.  It was fun trying to shoot hoops together!  He's practicing for a piano recital this weekend, has a big history project all spread out on the dining room table (log cabin), and he's looking forward to a Fathers/Sons camp out with his dad on Friday.  No, he hasn't been to Iron Man 3 yet, and it's KILLING him.  He's probably got the meanest parents ever, seeing as how he's willing to pay for his own ticket! :)

As far as baseball, well, it's play-off time and Wade's team is in last place.  The only game they've won was against a team from out of town, and it doesn't count. Can you imagine what that must feel like for 9- and 10-year-old boys? 

 

I think the head coach put it best after a very messy practice last week  To put it gently, the boys are talented, but, man, they don't listen, they argue, and they don't work as a team.  I can't tell you how many times we've started out looking like we're going to win and end up losing.  After a 16-13 loss at last week's game, the coaches gathered Wade's team together again, and Wade got a huge compliment.   Coach Tony pointed to Wade and two other boys and said, "These boys are the best examples on our team.  They NEVER argue, they listen, and they play hard."  Wade came back to the dugout, beaming.  I'm thankful to the coach for recognizing Wade's efforts, because, I'm not gonna lie, it's been hard showing up practice after practice, game after game.  Lots of life lessons learned, we hope!  Wish the Tigers good luck in the play-offs!  :)

 

Rhiannon:  stayed pretty busy the last two weeks with state testing and was really happy when that was all over.  She is NOT looking forward to school ending for a couple reasons.  The last day of school is on her birthday, it's a minimum day, and she loves seeing her friends at school.  We'll try to do a better job helping her get with friends this summer than we did last year.  In her free time, she's either:

 

a) on the piano

b) on the computer, writing stories and fan fiction on Goodreads

c) sitting on the couch watching Dr. Who on Netflix

d) reading up in her bedroom  (she recently went through her own "library" and realized there were books of her own that she hadn't read yet, so she's trying to go through those.)

e) sending emails to her friend Leslie in Virginia

f) online surfing for funny YouTube videos or Piano Guys' music, OR finding cute clothes and sending links for them to me via email!  Both Rhiannon and Wade have got this video almost completely memorized, NO LIE: 

 

 

This weekend Rhiannon "made" over $60 with her allowance, money from a Saturday night babysitting job, and $35 of mystery money she found in a bag in her room.  Lucky!

She also performed in her first Honors Recital yesterday with other 7th thru 12th graders.  She did a great job on El Diablo! :)

 

 

 

Me:  after a quick 5 months working with the Young Women at church, I'm now working as a Webelos leader with the 10-year-old Cub Scouts.  I jumped right in to the new calling this week with a pack meeting and an all-day day hike on Saturday (which was a blast.)  Probably the greatest thing about this new "job" is that I get to work with my longtime Ridgecrest friend Judith.  She is AMAZING! 

 

Sub jobs have been almost non-existent due to state testing, and that's okay.  I've gotten lots of decluttering done around the house and even went out in the garden and pulled weeds because I WANTED to. :)  I've enjoyed watching "Call the Midwife" on Netflix, too--look it up, Downton Abbey lovers!  It's g-o-o-o-o-d.

 

I'm really looking forward to summer break, Cub Scout day camp (I'm helping with crafts this year), lots of down-time, and a Sheen Reunion over the 4th of July!

 

 

 

Jason:  completed another one of these last month...

 

 

 

with his "How the West was Run" team.  They did great!!!

 

 

And he started this yesterday...

 





 

 

He's amazing and motivated!   He's planning on getting the workouts done in the mornings.  The past 2 days Jason has gotten up at 4:45am; maybe I'll "join" him by taking Oscar on some early-morning walks, but doing weights/hard-core routines that early in the morning takes way more willpower than I've got! :)

 

It's been nice having Jason home more; less federal budget money means less travel.  It makes his job harder, but it's been GREAT having him home.  He's been wonderful about covering Wade's baseball games when we've had conflicting schedules, for just one example!

 

 

ALL:  last night we enjoyed a Cinco de Mayo dinner at our friends' home across the street, the Hawkins family.  We had a great time, ate delicious food, and enjoyed visiting.  It was a great way to start another busy week of May!

Waiting for the cable guy

Today I'll be waiting for the cable guy to show up sometime between 8am and 5pm to set up phone and TV service.  Goodbye, DirecTV, and hello to less-expensive bundle service!

While I wait around, I've got a nice long list of things to keep me busy so I don't go crazy:

--prepare beef stew in crockpot
--dust well downstairs
--vacuum whole house
--do a few loads of laundry
--catch up on ironing
--clean off my desk
--finally get around to organizing my Young Women's church binder
--walk on the treadmill
--update blog
--write in journal
--take a nap
--throw balls around outside with Oscar
--clean up kitchen
--watch an episode of The Office on Netflix
--put my feet up and read

So, it should be a full day. :)

Last night we attended the Cub Scouts Blue & Gold banquet and had a good time.  It was the first time in 3+ years that I didn't help plan and carry it out.  I learned (yet again) that life doesn't revolve around me and that people do go on and accomplish amazing things without me!  The cultural hall was PACKED with people from both wards--it was a great turnout.

Tonight Jason and Wade will have some guy bonding time while Rhiannon and I go do a little service project helping another ward.  Hopefully sometime this weekend we can all sit down together and watch The Bourne Legacy--it finally came in the mail this week.

November 2012 was GREAT! Part One

Goodness.  I guess I've been a little busy/preoccupied the last month! 

Highlights from the last few weeks:


Our Halloween costumes rocked this year.  The kids created theirs from things around the house, and I bought mine for $2.50 at a thrift store.  (Not shown:  Jason rocked a jester hat at the ward Halloween trunk-or-treat)



Rhiannon aka Zorro



Wade aka Mutt Williams from Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystall Skull



Yes, I wore this in public, and it was AWESOME!

Wade continued his 9th birthday celebration a little longer with a November 2nd movie excursion with friends to see Wreck-It Ralph here in town. 

 

Wade with his friends Nick and Halle.  He let me and Rhiannon come, too. :)

Rhiannon was recognized at school for excellent achievement on the state tests last year:

Wade was also recognized in a school assembly for being the October Student of the Month in his class and completing the 3rd grade math objectives in Accelerated Math (I'm a little behind--next month he'll get recognized for completing 4th grade math objectives, too!)

We love these smart cookies!

 

 

 

Oscar celebrated his 1st birthday on October 8th.  No, we didn't get him a cake.  And, yes, he's in full-blown teenager phase, but we still love him!

 

 



Ridgecrest sunrises can't be beat:

Wade performed in his first piano recital.  He played a song called Turtle Tank and did it perfectly!

 

 

Jason ordered a cord of wood and got us ready for winter, well, for the next 4 winters.  This was the first half of it:

 

 

 



 

Well, here I was on a roll, and then I got an error message saying I'd maxed out our photo storage.  And our Internet connection isn't great this weekend.  So......I'll get that figured out and then update the blog with more pics of Wade's birthday and a report on my new calling at church and our WONDERFUL Thanksgiving up in Utah!

 

Happy Sunday!

 

 



A great Columbus Day weekend!

On Saturday morning we got out the door early and worked in the front yard together.  The plants around the front pond were so overgrown!!  It was great to get that done together--it made for a much faster job.

We got inside and turned on General Conference.  Well, the downside of that little family project was missing the "big announcement" firsthand about the missionary age change!  Thank goodness for traffic on Facebook that filled us in on that.  We also had satellite issues and only heard the end of President Uchtdorf's talk.  Thankfully we didn't have too much more of that the rest of the weekend and enjoyed all the wonderful messages and counsel shared. 

That night some young men and their dads came over for ice cream after the priesthood session of General Conference.  A smaller crowd than usual (plus me going a little overboard on toppings) meant one thing--lots of leftovers for another time!  :)

We enjoyed more Conference on Sunday, and then on Columbus Day we got up early and celebrated Oscar the Dog's 1st birthday with exercise!  Jason ran over 5 miles up and down this huge hill to the community college, and Rhiannon, Wade and I did close to 2 miles with Wade on his bike, Rhiannon jogging, and me being dragged by Oscar.  Fun times...no, really, it was fun! :)

That evening we hosted a "Polar Bear Challenge" swim and bbq party.  It was a blast--we had some old friends over and some new ones, too, to celebrate the end of summer and the glorious return of Ridgecrest's best season of the year--fall.  LOTS of good food, plenty of kids running around trying to brave the cold pool, and, you guessed it, ice cream and toppings for dessert.  It was a fantastic way to end the long weekend!

Last night we attended Rhiannon's fall concert for Concert Band.  They played "Band Avenue March," and music from Jurassic Park and Pirates of the Caribbean.  Rhiannon came across loud and crystal clear on the mallets, chimes, and bass drum.  She did a great job!

Tomorrow we will say goodbye to a family member--Toby the Tortoise is moving on to bigger pastures with the Green family a few streets away.  We've been thinking about him/her/it all summer and were concerned how to care for him long-term.  Toby has outgrown his box on the kitchen counter and is the right size to move outdoors now, but our swimming pool and big, active dog aren't the best combination, with the in-ground pool being our biggest concern.  Tortoises + pool = no more tortoise.  Realistically, if Toby really wanted to get to that water, the chain-link fence wouldn't stop him.  I feel bad about it, bad that we didn't think things through too well when we got him, but I'm grateful for the lessons we've learned from Toby about taking care of a pet and taking responsibility for it, even if that means finding him a better place to live.  We're grateful to our friends for being willing to give him a new, bigger home!

What we've been up to...

Here's an update on each family member!  September has been fast, fun, and busy; October will be more of the same!


Wade:

• doing fall baseball right now.  It's low-key, scrimmages instead of super-competitive games, and Wade's enjoying it.  It's a good excuse to break out his dusty baseball gear that's been sitting around since June.
• playing a lot of Madden NFL '10 on the PS3.  His dad showed him how to play, and he's enjoying it...A LOT.
• at yesterday's school assembly (held monthly), Wade took 2nd place in Accelerated Math out of all the 3rd graders, and 6th place in Accelerated Reader out of all the third, fourth, and fifth graders.  WOO-HOO!
• speaking of school, he ABSOLUTELY LOVES his teacher Mrs. Howard.  She's fantastic!
• Wade will earn his Wolf badge in Cub Scouts next week.
• He's gone for the day today for a friend's birthday.  Nick's family is taking Wade and a couple other friends down to Lancaster to play mini-golf.  SO FUN!

Rhiannon:

• went rapelling for the first time with her dad and the Miles family this past week.  Dad said Rhiannon did a great job!!!
• is excited to play a Pirates of the Caribbean medley in band.  She's got a really cool part on the mallets/chimes/xylophone.
• Is doing something she's never done before today and going to the movies with a friend...without her mom and dad tagging along. :)
• totally ROCKED the middle school's Decades Spirit Day a couple weeks ago.  She picked the 80's and looked amazing.  (banging my head up against the wall right now for not taking a picture of her awesomeness!)
• STILL loving her iPod and MuSiC!  She likes "all kinds of stuff!"
• got invited to attend a special Rachel's Challenge workshop at school this week; was nominated by either a teacher or student because she's super nice!  See the link for more about Rachel's Challenge.  It's pretty neat.

Jason:

• interviewed for a new job at China Lake last week and found out he GOT IT!  He was ready for a change--we're so happy for him!  He's now the Chief Engineer for the AMRAAM Technical Project Office.  He'll handle all the technical issues for that missile system with a team of about 50 engineers.
• finished his longest run ever this morning--8.05 miles in 83.5 minutes.  He's also going to start a weight-lifting program next week to do on his non-running days.  It's called Les Mills Pump 90-Day workout program.
• attended youth conference one night last weekend for our stake and was very impressed that our ward's youth made up 30% of the group and were really well-behaved!

Verity:

• having fun working on a few "crafty projects" for Christmas
• averaging 1-2 sub jobs a week so far this school year
• made "crockpot pork chops with sage and balsamic glaze" for dinner last night, and it was GOOD.
• trying to get ready for her 4th Primary presentation in 3 years--practices will begin next month.
• excited for the Church's General RS Broadcast tonight and General Conference next weekend!!!

Welcome, September!

We had a fantastic Labor Day weekend and enjoyed everything from a bbq with the Litton family on Saturday to our ward pancake breakfast and some party hopping on Monday.

Wade signed up for a laid-back fall baseball league that'll finish up on October 26th.  They'll have practices on Mondays and Fridays with an occasional scrimmage.  I was going to pass on this like we've done every year, but someone suggested it was a really good idea for kids moving up to the next level.  We'll try it out and see how he does!

Rhiannon enjoyed a babysitting gig last night for a few hours for our friends across the street.  She said she really prefers babysitting boys--so much less drama! :)  School is going well--she got the top grade on an assessment test in one of her classes and was really excited about that! 

I had a super easy sub job on Friday.  It was for a 3rd/4th grade combo class while the teacher was on campus doing collaboration.  It went like this:  I had only the ten 4th graders first, then a lunch where I had no duties at all, followed by time with only the nine 3rd graders.  It was the easiest 4-hour sub job I've ever had--I was grateful for it!  Next week I'll have that same class for a whole day--and I know it's not going to be the cake walk that I had yesterday. :)

Jason is gearing up for his second Ragnar in November.  He took Wade to his monthly model club meeting on Wednesday night, and they had a good time doing that.  He also made his family very happy by scheduling a camp site for us for next weekend in Kernville.  Family camping trip for the year is going to happen!!!  I'm SO excited--we're going to go here:

and we're going to try something new.....and take Oscar along!

November is flying by!

Here's what's been going on at our house!

From Wade:  "We've been preparing for a dog.  Today I got some Super Star awards from an assembly at school--8th place in Accelerated Reader top 10, and 2nd place in Accelerated Math.  Last night was busy--I went to flag football practice and then to Cub Scouts where we learned about making cartoons.  My good friends right now are Nick and Elijah R., and at lunch recess I like to hang out at the library and read."  (Mom's addition--I'm really proud of Wade for being a good sport and a good example at both football and Cub Scouts.  When we started Cub Scouts a few weeks ago, we were both a little worried because many of the other boys in his group were CRAZY.  We've hung in there, though, and the boys have settled down and are pretty fun to be with on Thursday nights.)

From Rhiannon:  "My life is awesome and boring.  I'm excited about getting a dog, and I miss my friends from school already (we get a week off for Thanksgiving).  I play the piano all the time and really like the Pirates of the Caribbean songs.  I bought some good aviator shades at Wal-Mart.  In English I carved a sea turtle out of soap to go along with this book we read called The Cay.  I'm in love with paranormal books and scary books like The Secret Hour by Scott Westerfield."  (Mom's addition--Rhiannon plays the piano ALL. THE.  TIME.  She loves to get free songs (or at least the first pages of songs) on musicnotes.com.  She's doing great with that!)

Jason was in Dayton, OH this week and got back last night.  He's had to travel more this fall but plans on taking some use-or-lose days for vacation during Thanksgiving and Christmas, and it's going to be great having him home!  Jason took us on a rock-and-roll drive in the truck on Veteran's Day to the "Burro" Schmidt Tunnel with friends--it was awesome!

I subbed three times this week and have to say they were all pretty good jobs.  I've learned to pray specifically for "a happy sub job" instead of "patience."  Things go a lot better for me when I do that!   Our ward did our Primary presentation last Sunday and it went really well--I knew we'd done a good thing when I was talking to my friend the next day about it, and she got teary-eyed expressing how many times the Spirit was felt during the program and how touched she and her husband were by it.

Next week we are going here:

 

and here:

and we get to spend Thanksgiving with these guys!

It's going to be an epic week of Thanksgiving!  And then 2 weeks after that?  We are bringing home

Oscar, the 8-wk-old labradoodle puppy!



He'll be a LOT bigger when we bring him home even though he's the "runt" of the litter--this is an old pic.  Yes, we think we're ready for potty training and sleepless nights and chewing, and we CAN'T WAIT!