Monday, October 18, 2010

Pictures!

Here are some recent pics of the kids including Nate's first day of school!










Saturday, October 16, 2010

Forever!

I titled this blog "Forever" because that's how long it's been since my last update! I haven't posted since we left Florida, I feel bad about that. Honestly, I have been avoiding posting because so much has happened, I just can't fit it all in, and if I tried, I would fail miserably and leave you all thinking that my blog sucks. LOL

I have lots of pictures from my trip, but I haven't uploaded them yet. It was hot, the kids look flushed, and I even took a picture of the thermometer thingy in our car reading 108. Did I mention we had no air conditioning? Not because we don't have air conditioning, but because we were pulling a trailer and the head gasket was going out so we couldn't use the A/C or our car would overheat. That's basically the trip in a nutshell.

If I try to say much more, I won't do it all justice. Just know that everything fell into place, just as it did the first time we moved to Salt Lake. I got a job managing an apartment community (out of our home, I don't go to an office-the apartment is sort of the office), which gives us free rent, utilities, and salary. I love the company that I work for. It is small, and family-oriented, but they operate as a big company (as in, rules, regulations, things are streamlined, organized, functional, efficient, etc). So it's been great.

I found this awesome preschool for Nate. I have been intending to homeschool, but now that I'm working, I just don't have the time to teach him the things he is SO ready to learn. Fortunately, through the gals at my church (who teach there), I found this little school to put him in. They call it a "homeschool based" school because it's Pre-K thru 12th grade, but even grades 1-12 only go a half day, they learn pure academics, and leave the rest for the family to teach. His class is Tuesdays and Thursdays from 8-12, and he is learning SO MUCH. He's like a little sponge right now, and I'm go grateful for the opportunity he has to learn. The preschool class is small, about 8 kids, and the teacher is great. We had parent/teacher conference already, and she said he was doing so well, even though he came in to the year late. He is even a "contribution" to the class, and that it's better with him there! His natural desire to be obedient helps the other kids, I guess. He must get that from me. Although that trait didn't show up in me until adulthood. I was a rebel as a teenager. But maybe all teenagers are...

Anyway, back to the point. Kid updates. Ben is...a handful. Don't get me wrong, he is the cutest baby I have ever seen (maybe even giving Nate a run for his money) and he is SOOOO happy. He loves everyone and thinks it's always party time. However, he doesn't sleep well, and is into EVERYTHING. I really have my hands full with this one. He's a joy to be around, but WOW, he's a pain in the rear right now. LOL I'm sure he will grow out of it a little bit. Or maybe it will get worse...Oh boy...
He is going to be walking any minute. He is 8 1/2 months old and is already walking while holding someone's hands. Oh, and he has 2 very cute bottom teeth. :)

Steven is doing well in school. He doesn't like any of his classes, but he is getting through. He's taking mostly general ed classes right now, Math, English, Computer Literacy, and his Diversity requirement "Film and Culture." It could be a cool class, but it started off in the horror genre, and as some of you may know we do NOT enjoy horror and gore, and he was forced to watch a lot of it. Next up, the "diversity" portion of his class was all about homosexuality, and he had to write a 6 page essay on a gay-themed movie. You can guess how much he *loved* this part of class. There are other teachers that teach different things to fulfill the diversity requirement, one teaches more about black films and culture, and one about Asian film and culture (I think), but he had to get "the gay one." Poor guy. LOL

I am doing pretty well also. Even though I work at home, it takes up pretty much my whole day Monday through Friday 9 to 5. But it could be worse. I'm at home with the kids and I'm making money. And I hardly have to do any housework- Steven does all of that (except dishes, I still do that-and we don't have a dishwasher)! It's a nice break. Although the change in roles has taken some adjustment for both of us, and we could really use a vacation. Haha! But again, I love my job. Wow, that's something I don't know if I have ever said before! Also, I am going to start taking classes in the spring. Just one or two at a time. But at least it will get things started. I have been helping Steven learn his math, and I figure I better go ahead and take those classes while it's all fresh in my mind. I think I am going to major in Music. I have tried to decide on other things, and I just don't feel as passionately about any of them as I do about music, so why wouldn't I just do something I love?

What else is going on...not much. My overall weight loss has been good. I am finally back to the size I was when I got married 8 years ago. Of course, things don't look the same as they did then, if you know what I mean. It's hard to believe that the tag on my pants can say "6" and I still have cottage cheese thighs and a flabby tummy. But oh well, I am not complaining!! To clarify, not all my pants are 6, some are 8, but again, I'm just thankful for that! Not complaining!

So far, the weather has been great here in Salt Lake. I hope we are still just as happy here when the snow comes. Actually, it was the end of April/beginning of May snow that was depressing. The beginning of winter snow is fun and exciting. Am I really talking about the weather? Sorry!

For now, I don't know what else to say. I'm sorry if this has been boring, but at least I finally caught up (sort of). I will try to post pics and videos soon.