Almost Feb Already!!

I have one more day to go before I can say we made it through January with out any missed school for anyone. Amber does have a sore throat but it is not strep yet.

I worked at the school today in the ERR. It was only half a day. I like some if the kids in there. They are all special needs kids. One of the boys is very big and a big handful. Some days he throws things all around the room. He has something called Fragile X. He threw a fit when he couldn't use the computer this morning so that is how I started my day there. Out of all the classrooms those teachers are probably the most seriously underpaid. I like the playground, the office and the library better. At the moment it is better than the crosswalk.

Sunday we surprised Melissa with a birthday party at my mom's house. So what I did was I got her a bowl from Cost Plus import store from Japan with Japanese writing on it and chopsticks. And she loves Kyoto Japanese Steak house so I got her a gift certificate to go there that was on top of the bowl. She has taken Japanese for 2 years and enjoys Japan and the Japanese culture. So she really liked it. David and Melissa are not married yet. David had proposed to her once before several years ago but I guess something happened and she has not worn the ring for a long time. He found the ring over Christmas and I guess he decided to propose to her again in front of all of us and it was very sweet. She said yes after some confused hesitation. She really was not expecting it. So it was a surprise in the end for us all. But there is no date at the moment. But we teased them and said they had better beat Kailyn to the alter then.

My husband is a junk collector. I am trying to prevent him from following in the line of his father. He is always determined to recycle other people's cast off stuff. Yesterday he brought home a shed in pieces in the back of the dump truck. It is sitting in the front yard. We have a garage full of stuff that needs to go away. Some yard sale stuff, someone's old 60's freezer I refuse to use(we lost a bunch of food in a previous freezer that was newer), DI stuff, stuff for the dump. A bunch of crown molding that is too much for us to use, a bathroom sink for a motel room. In the shed is a bunch of other people' s used sprinkler heads and other sprinkler parts at least 2 bikes for everyperson in this house. He has brought stuff home from his bosses rentals of stuff people have left behind. I was teasing him last night and said he just needs to store some of that stuff on the piece of junk utility truck he owns and become the town junk seller. But that would mean parting with it. I have a horrible time when we remodel things in the house because he drags junk home wanting to use it. I would rather wait and get what I really want and if we don't have the money, I will wait longer. Sometimes he admits to being a hoarder and then sometimes I just hit a nerve and he continues in denial. If he didn't have a dump truck he had access to, he wouldn't be bringing home all this big stuff. First time he dumped pavers he found in the side yard the dump truck bed hit the roof of the house and almost took out the neighbors fence and this time the shed parts gouged the front porch. Good thing we don't have gutters, they would have been damaged. Ugh. I have made some head way his year. We have a new sofa and bed. AND computer. I am holding out for a new dresser now. He knows what I want and he is OK with it we just have to wait until we can get it. He went through some of his stuff and parted with some of it. That is progress. However small it is a step in the right direction.

Last Monday something sad happened. Lee Joe forgot to pick up Amber when he was suppose to and picked her up an hour later. She didn't have access to a phone. We don't have cell phone's for the girls yet. So she stood outside the High school in the cold and the dark until he got there. She was in tears. He felt so bad. It was only a matter of time before one of us did that though. So he has been extra diligent on the schedule since. He has had no side work and it has helped me a lot in the transporting kids efforts.

Amber needs helping earning or collecting money so she can go to San Francisco with the Band in April. They will be performing and at workshops so it isn't just for fun. We have $100 down and $350 to go. She is going to try and earn some of it but her classes keep her very busy and we want her to keep her grades up and driver's ed and band keep her busy after school as well. So if anyone wants to help her out, any little bit helps.

Do I say a lot or what?

New blogger

New blogger is a headache trying to log in and I have to log in always and usually more than once.

But I can still make a new paragraph, was it worth it? I don't know yet.

5 bits of great news:

Amber has A's all over her report card. Finals and grades! But we knew that already.

Kelsea has all grades on her report card, from A's to F's from her math final. But in general the grades themselves were A's B's and a C. And she put in lots of effort. We have someone lined up that will tutor her in math so we will do that. But her great news is SHE MADE VARSITY BASKETBALL!!! She is very happy. And sore. 50 girls were going to try out but I think that number went down to 36 the first day of practice and they only took 12 for Varsity. Small world moment-her varsity coach's wife was in charge of Kelsea's first basketball experience through the YMCA in the 1st grade.

Kylee had great report card and got an Honor roll award. She had one B and all A's.

Autumn doesn't have honor roll yet but had the same report card as Kylee. She brought a lot of grades up.

Hannah really amazes me still. Her big word of the week is constellation. I had to spell check that one. She said "mom, what's a dipper?" And I asked "what do you mean, what kind of dipper?" She says "you know the kind that is a constellation in the sky." I was speechless for a moment. She had her first friend party today. We had 10 kids over of all ages and she sure felt special and has had the most fun with a barbie rock star microphone she wears on her waist. Not my favorite gift though. We did the decorate the cupcake thing and the kids loved that. It went by fast but I think I have this birthday party routine down. I bought a fountain for the punch. It was on clearance and I had been watching it go down in price. The kids loved it. We have 3 more kids with birthdays in the next 2 months. I figured it was a good investment.

Speaking of birthdays, My sister's birthday is Monday. I was so excited with what I decided to do because for the longest time I had no clue. But considering she could read this I will delay the revealing of what I got for her. So she kicks of the next 3 months of fiesta nauseum-too much cake. Her birthday-Jan 29. Amber is 16!!!! on Feb 7. Ashlee, Matt's daughter, is 7 on Valentines day. My mom is on Feb 19. I get her pie for her birthday, she likes key lime and now craves it just before her birthday. A little rest until March 15 and Kelsea is 14. And Autumn will be 9 on March 21. We break until June here and that is when all the guys have their turn. So here we go!!.

The bad:

We had a teenage nightmare moment this week. I am ready to run away or hibernate until it's over. There was a choice unpreferred 3 letter word uttered at a sister by a sister during a parental confrontation regarding unacceptable behavior during a church activity. I suppose we shall leave it at that and I have a very very very long road to go before I am through it. I prefer babies, toddlers and preschoolers any day over teenagers.

I worked at the school for 3 days. Pretty much uneventful this time. I only had to do the crosswalk for 1 day. I still hate that. The bonus, I didn't know Kylee was getting an award and I was able to be there for it. I was able to take Hannah with me on Weds and Thurs and she played on the playgound and looked at books in the library and she enjoyed that. I will post pictures later.

The past week

It seems like 2007 has brought a decrease in blogging to our little circle of friends and family.

I can make paragraphs now that I switched to the new blogger.

The two oldest girls had finals this last week. It brought much studying and weird release times from school. Amber may have actually pulled off straight A's even with her 3 accelerated classes. English has been my big worry for her. Before finals she had an 88.9. I told her to try to talk to her teacher to do extra credit to bump it up the 1.1 point it needed. But she decided to actually STUDY for her final and pulled off the highest grade in her class on the final-99% !! Chemistry was her next worry. She studied again got the highest grade on the final in that class. Only one of 3 A's on the final in the two Chemistry classes. Her grade was an 89% and it is now an A too.

Poor Kelsea was a different story. She has been all over the place on her grades. She has had a C in Algebra. The final took a long time for her to finish and she missed lunch. It was a very short day so she didn't suffer that bad. She got a 47%. Her grade stayed a C. I talked to the teacher and he said the whole class suffered on that test. It is a district test and they didn't get all the chapter's studied. They have missed pre-Algebra and so it takes more time for them to learn what they are doing. Most of her Finals were D's and a C. She seems to have a problem with quizzes and tests. Those are always her lowest grades. I think she will wind up with mostly A's and B's and a C. The finals seem to only make a difference if you are on the border of a grade.

Lee Joe made it to Nevada and back with 3 girls all intact. He said the wedding was nice. The girls had fun with their cousins. Amber and Kelsea and I spent the weekend lining out shoe issues with shopping. We ate out. Amber drove for the first time on Sat and was eager to do it again. They drove around in a PT cruiser with a student driver sign on the roof. HaHa! She's not driving with me yet! And Kelsea and I hung out at the girl's basketball game that Amber played pep band for. It was fun. Capital beat Eagle-Wade's school.

You think Boise is big place and yet everyone is linked together. Amber has a friend who's dad coached her school basketball team in the 6th grade and worked at the school they went to. This girl is also related to Kelsea's Science teacher-her step-dad-and is related to their driving instructor-her step-brother. At the open house her dad told me that the classroom we were in was his dad's classroom when he taught. How weird is that.

My doctor's son has all his classes with Amber this year. I was his preschool teacher before his dad was my doctor and delivered my 3 girls. Our doctor is in our stake and when he was in the High council he would speak in our ward. It took me a long time to get use to that. I run into him all the time outside the dr's office and I can handle it better now.

It looks like I might be subbing at the school at the end of this week and we are throwing a friend party for Hannah on Sat. A busy week in store.

LeeJoes HandyWork! Thanks Dad!

The Highly Esteemed Mater!


Lee Joe and the little girls were invited to participate in the Awana pine wood derby held at a baptist church. Kylee painted her car from last year to look like Lightning McQueen so Amber suggested to Autumn she do a Mater car. They jumped on the idea and Friday night Lee Joe dremelled, chainsawed and sanded out a tow truck out of wood. Autumn was up until midnight painting the car. At 10 am Saturday they showed up and Mater was the hit of the pinewood derby. Everyone cheered mater on. Autumn was a little overwhelmed by the attention her car got. Kylee's car raced better than Autumn's car. In the end I think Kylee was almost in 8th place but in the end Autumn's car won first in the design award and she came home with a trophy! How cool is that for Autumn! Kylee was a little disappointed though but we told the girls that they were more of a team anyway so really they were talked into sharing the award. But that is Kylee's luck. I wanted to post pictures but I guess I will have to try again later. Kylee and Autumn started piano lessons this week. We have a special deal with the teacher still so we don't pay for lessons but we do service for his family instead by pet sitting when they go out of town and Lee Joe will do things around their yard. We replaced our tires this week after we got 2 inches of snow. It is amazing how much I don't slide on the ice right now. I got and alignment the day before and they told me the tires were a serious safety issue. And it snowed again today. Amber has had driver's ed all week. We stayed up until 12:30 working on a semester project for her English class on Weds. I am hoping she gets a good grade in the end to help get her grade up. We went to a meeting for Kelsea for early morning seminary next year, I don't even want to think about it yet really.

My little dilemma

I forgot to mention what happened the day Kylee sang at the capital. I couldn't find my camera. I looked for over an hour and half for it. Kelsea had it last and her room was a complete mess. I thought she had taken it to school or something. I managed to get a hold of my sister and borrowed her camera. I had to leave for the school before Kelsea came home and I was furious. It was in her room after all. Very buried. And this is what I found on it this time. And below is some of what I found from the time before.

Some pics

At the Governors inauguration in the capital building. Kylee is next to the directors elbow. If Kylee looks up where she is she see all the up to the dome of the capital. They are on the first floor and there are 4 stories up to the dome. Below are some pics of Christmas and Hannah's birthday at Chuck E Cheese and the party at home.

Some Awesome cookies

I have found almost the best cookie recipe ever. Thomas, my neighbors, my brother-in -law thought they were awesome too. There is a package of Heath toffee bits that you can buy in the chocolate chip section. There is one kind with chocolate and one kind without. On the back of the packages there are recipes. The kind with chocolate has a peanut butter cookie recipe and on the ones without has one called butter brickle. The butter brickle is the #1 favorite though. I went to bed at 8 last night. I can't remember the last time I did that. It has been years.

Vacation is over.

I am sad. It is back to the taxi service here. I really enjoyed having the kids around and not chasing off all over town. They didn't fight after Christmas hardly at all because they were enjoying their Christmas gifts so much and they were sick. Yesterday Hannah had an eye doctor appointment. Her vision hasn't changed. Kylee got a filling today. Kylee may get to sing at the Governors inauguration on Friday but that means two practices today and tomorrow I just found out about. And Amber still needs her DRIVING PERMIT!!! for drivers ed that starts next week. Basketball for Kelsea is going to start anytime. So here we are in the throes of many more miles. My office is coming along. I hung pictures and there are shelves above my desk. Organization is under way and the back of the garage is starting to empty out. But the rest of the house is a mess. I think Hannah is missing her sisters today because she is needing a lot of attention today.

YEA BRONCOS!!

I am not a real avid football fan but it can't be denied the Boise State Broncos in the Fiesta Bowl had the most AWESOME game. It was a can't miss even if you don't like football that much. The score tied in the last 7 seconds in the game to go into overtime and they won by one point! Nobody thought they could do it. Ian Johnson proposed to his girlfriend after he helped win the game-now how girly sweet was that? Then people downtown were in the street cheering and carrying on. It was so cool. We had an interesting weekend. Lee Joe's car broke down not far from the house this weekend after he had driven all the way to Emmett and back-30 minute drive one way-He needed new spark plug wires. He put 150,000 miles on those wires. He says the car drives like a different car now. Somebody messed up the inside of my car on Sunday. They dumped a soda on the seat and stole a makeup compact and maybe a couple of tapes, I am not sure and stirred things around and left the door open when they were done. They wrote with lipstick on my neighbors car. It could have been worse and that is the first time since we lived here that someone has done something to my car. We have had 2 bikes stolen and a toolbox that were left in the front yard in the past. All the girls stayed home from church on Sunday. Amber got to church sat on the stand and thought she was going to throw up and didn't have to give her talk because Lee Joe took her home. So we just spent New Years here together doing whatever. I am not ready for the kids to go back to school because it has been so nice not running around all over. I got my office put together some more. Hannah had another eye doctor appointment. Her vision hasn't changed. It could be she is seeing as well as she is going to. But we go back in 3 months and see if things change again. The game boy is the best thing she could have though for helping her vision problem.