Catching up to Spring of '12

Wow! Stuff has actually been happening around here. Now if I can just remember what! =)

Well, to start with, Jessie's soccer is back again. Yay! She loves it so much that that's practically all she does during her school recesses and I gotta say it's paid off. I love watching her handle the ball now because her ball skills are better than they ever have been before. She's always been great at defense and goalie, but now she just creams people when she's on offense. This last game when most of her team forgot to show up mentally, Jessie was out there taking the ball right out from the other team's players' feet, using her moves to get it around them and then driving toward the goal. Too bad no one followed or ran ahead to HELP her, but it was still fun watching her do what she could. We're already planning for Summer Games down in Cedar City in June and Jessie's so excited. The farthest tournament we've been to up till now has been in Tooele, so this will definitely be different. Especially as it will be FOUR days. Still deciding if I need the husband to take that time off for the younger munchkins at home or if I should just take them all with. (We're assuming the older kids will all be working this summer.)

Speaking of summers, Adria got a summer job working in the kitchens at the Bear Lake Aquatics Base (a Scout camp at Bear Lake). Crisha worked there a couple years and loved it. Here's hoping Adria likes it and behaves as she ought! =) She'll be coming home every weekend and get one week off in the summer, but other than that, she'll not be around much come summer. Big change for her, but at least since she's over 14 they'll pay her for her work!

What else? Xeneea has joined track. She loves it, though she won't tell Steve and me when her track meets are! Go figure! She does the discus and the shot put as well as the 100. It's so fun watching her talk about it (since we haven't been able to actually see her perform yet), and I hope she continues to have fun. Who knows? Maybe she'd even want to do it again next year.

And another random thought: last week Marina and Jessica got to go to Round II of Thomas Edison Charter School's Geography Bowl. They each were on the first place teams for their grades, so this next round was at the south campus (we go to the north campus), with three teams from each school for each grade competing. Marina's team did well with really tough questions and they came away with third place out of the fifth graders (with another north campus team taking first). And Jessie's team blew the other fourth graders away, coming out over 20 points ahead of the next team when teams were normally separated by just a couple points (and another north campus team took second for the fourth graders). So yes, north campus had a great showing and the girls were thrilled to now add medals to their trophies they got in the first round. So fun! I have to admit I never thought I'd ever have kids come up to me and say, "Mom, can I look up state nicknames on the Internet?" when it wasn't even for homework. But they had fun preparing and participating and I'm glad they did.

Well, going through the kids, Jenero actually has been having fun tinkering with family bikes lately. We've had a couple that needed tweaking for a while, and then we got a few more from D.I. the other week (when they actually had bikes worth saving), so he's been out there repairing chains, replacing tires, adjusting brakes, replacing brake pads, etc. Basically just getting things ready for Moab. No, we're not going in September, but on our way to Durango this summer we're stopping in Moab for a couple days to play and bike and such. I think it's funny that the young man who hates work will do the bikes without complaining, and even his friend from next door comes over and helps at times. But hey! It's less for Steve to do and it gets things ready for our vacation. Not to mention every other biking opportunity!

Sim turned 8 last week. He was so excited to get his new scriptures and can't wait till we can finally get him into the bishop! We're looking at May 5 right now and he can't wait. He's such a young 8, though, that I wonder if he really understands what it's all about. But oh well. He'll do fine and we certainly won't stop teaching him just because he'll be accountable for himself!

Serene is our monkey. Nuff said, right? She's also our comic, our peacekeeper, our snuggle puppy, and our exercise motivator (seriously, she asks me to do my workout videos! Not to mention go biking or on walks and such). Not much out of the ordinary but it sure is cute watching her grow up! And watching her siblings watch her grow up. =)

Crisha is learning what it means to truly stick something out. Not college. She's doing fine there. No, it's her job. She takes care of a woman a couple times a week, and this woman brings new nuances to the term mean. It has been so hard for Crisha but she has stuck with the job, continuing when all she wants to do is quit. Admirable in anyone but especially someone newly out on her own. Needless to say she is looking forward to coming home for the summer and working here, and we're excited to have her back. Serene especially. She'll hold pretend conversations with Crisha with anything resembling a phone -- it's so cute!

Steve has been a slave since Spring Break, but he's loved it I think. He put railroad ties around my garden, but not how I would have. No, I would have been content to place them around the garden slightly in the dirt and call it good. Steve, on the other hand, measured and squared off the garden space and LEVELED each tie as he placed it in its spot, even double stacking on the end where the garden sloped down slightly so that the overall box was level. (And yes, then we got to move dirt to make THAT a little more level.) Wow. It looks great now and he got it done in time so I could get onions and peas in before we had a ton of rain this last week. (Too bad I was too rushed that day to plant my spinach and lettuce, too!) Now Steve's hoping to get our treehouse finally built this week. Yes, he takes time off for his birthday week and he WORKS! That's my man!

And that brings us up to now. With the fun stuff anyway. And by the way, HATED, DESPISED, WAS COMPLETELY NAUSEATED BY the movie Hunger Games. Although to be fair, the main actress did a great job of acting in it. Just had to say. =)