Good hike, good day

 Today we hiked fagan spring with the boys.  The hike was a gentle 1.8 miles round trip with lots of stops to catch crayfish and even a salamander sighting.  B brought a carbohydrate feast that kept us entertained and was a nice picnic when we reached the spring.  Pizza, rolls, meat, cheese and bugles.  I thought he was bringing a lot but it was lunch for 4 people as we were hiking from 11 to 2.

M had a competition. lP had a birthday party to attend. M's indoor winds group won first place.  Their show theme is "Decomposers" featuring a "Thriller" type mash up of awesome classical composers and their music.  It's so amazing that the kids get to be part of this great program.

The 3 peas watched "Win or Lose" from Disney.  It had a neat simultaneous story telling of a softball team going to the championship.  It did not have happy endings but it did cover a lot of ideas and I'm glad we binge watched the 8 episodes together.  I like their habbit of watching shows together.

The boys room has been a disaster for a few weeks and we're getting close to sanity.

Laundry was washed.

Dub-dubs were made.

Dinner of Pepper-onion-green bean-sausage-egg stirfry on rice was enjoyed by L, B, P and me.  lP hates peppers and onions so she went and made a sandwich.  It is rare for L to ask for more of a dish so this is probably going to become a regular dish for us.

My college requires a $200 payment for a meal plan each semester.  It's annoying but also we've never had so much chick-fila in our lives.  I plan to bring home salads and chicken patties on a regular basis to use up the balance before the end of the semester.  There are worse things.  Really.

Spring Break

 We had a really nice visit to Florida.  P had to work but the kids and I had the week off together.  We drove down on a mission to get gator clothes, get G to a Dr., and visit Lois.  We also enjoyed visiting Grandma C and Grandpa S, visiting Rock Springs, aunts L and E, friends at the beach, many playgrounds and visiting uncle S on the way home.  

The part that didn't go so well was driving home the last hour into a tornado zone!  I'm used to Hurricanes and didn't see anything obvious like a funnel cloud so we just kept going north.  Scary times included pulling over to the side of the road near a cliff/bluff as tornado sirens blared around us.  Pulling over to a gas station when our phones all went off after we crossed into the North AL tornado warning zone.  We were supposed to immediately seek shelter, preferably underground.  But I didn't have a way to do that.  So we prayed and got back on the road.  We did get home safe and it was exhausting.

While we were gone P found a royal star magnolia for me and planted it in the front yard.  We recently agreed that was the tree to fill the hole in the front yard.  It's so cute.  It is an early bloomer and has many petals.  It doesn't grow huge and I'm so excited that he found one and planted it for me.  I have so many flowering trees and I just feel so lucky.

More active adventures

 I can't believe how much fun I've been having lately.  On Friday I went mountain biking with sister H and sister S.  We rode over in Hville and it was fun.  Tonight I went to a contra dance in town.  I've been hearing about it on the radio for a year and finally got the courage to go.  The ladies who said they would go did not but I didn't let that stop me.  DF was there with her son and tons of really friendly people.  I had a blast.  It was a heck of a work out too.

I applied for a part time job yesterday.  I'm not qualified for it per se, but it was a good exercise to generate a resume, cover letter, and application.  I've been just focusing on the kids and church callings for so long.  I need to practice these professional skills.

I wish I had thought to include some of my student writing for the application.  I'll keep that in mind for the future.

Active Ladies group

 Last year I started a group me at church for ladies to go do active things.  We've gone on hikes, caving, walks, big hikes and this weekend we'll go to a contra dance.  Our ward has a book club and craft club.  There is a group of young families supporting each other going to the temple.  There is a group that goes out to eat once a month AND we even have relief society activities a few times a year. 
The RS president has been so supportive of this group and It's really fun to get together and do something active and usually free.  Yay!

Winter Storm coming

 There is a storm coming and so school is canceled for Friday.  We're stocked up on food and snow clothes.  I really hope and pray that the power will not get knocked out.  We'll have to figure something out then.  This year we hope to get the fireplace fixed so we can have a back up for indoor heating.

Internships

 I've been doing some volunteering and job shadowing in SLP situations.  I'm excited to see patients with conditions I have heard of or read about and become more familiar with the reality of those conditions.  I am flexible on the population I want to serve and I'm grateful for these opportunities to see SLPs working with these children.  I look forward to seeing SLPs in medical situations.  That is completely unfamiliar to me.  I am optimistic that every thing will always be so interesting!

End of Year Goals

We have had a year with many ups and downs.  It has ended well.  I very much hope that next year is not just like this year because it was a lot of horrible before it became OKish.  We have been very blessed in the many, many adverse things that happened in 2024.

 

This year as a family we:

Read 1 Corinthians 15

Started having scriptures and prayer before dinner

Watched Jeopardy

Hiked Chapman Mountain Nature preserve

Kayaked from one launch point to another with no current 5 miles!

Started “Gratitude 1000” and got to the 600s.  We’ll keep working on it in the new year.
Dad

Built beautiful bookshelves

Took mom to see the brass band concert

Took mom to see a concert in Decatur with “O Magnum Mysterium”

Got a new teaching job

Installed the TV in his classroom higher.

Made a bookshelf for lP

Replaced the kids’ bedroom light

Conducted Stake Choir

Played in the Christmas Orchestra

Mom

Wrote music for “Think Celestial”, “Liken then Apply”, “O Holy Night”, “But God Still Visits Me”

Learned the names of the kids in Primary

Made another Egg Pie

Served as singing time leader and loved it.

Made all the thanksgiving dishes in November

Went caving with M and a group of church members

Got A’s in her first semester of Grad School

Played in the Christmas Orchestra

Read a lot of books to the boys and cried too

G

Moved to Florida

Got an apartment and started classes

Worked through a lot of hard things

Was an awesome big brother

Rode the bus to visit home for Christmas

M

Made Chocolates with Grandma C

Helped hold doors

Served on the loading crew

Assistant conductor

Applied for college and got into college

Joined buddies club

BOA Grand Nationals

Joined a Gym

Played in the Christmas Orchestra

lP

Auditioned for Solo/Ensemble

Did not kick small children

Hung frog

Told everyone she hadn’t seen them since last year

Reed Day

Joined the indoor percussion group

learned the trombone

Art Club

Took over the world with Crochet dinosaurs

B

learned the trombone

Robotics Club

Chess club

memorized all 12 articles of faith

Made freezy treats

Made carmels

Went to school

Earned a Nintendo Switch by practicing the piano a lot.

Gave L hugs

L

Earned Rock’em Sock’em Robots

Helped earn the Nintendo Switch

Got good at the piano

Helped Animals

Got candy from the bus driver for good behavior

Passed off many Articles of Faith

Made so much progress at school

Nighttime story time with Magic Tree House, Life of Fred and Encyclopedia Brown, School Mouse, Best Christmas Pageant Ever.

 

We did a lot more things than this.  These are the things we made goals for on our goal chart, and a few more things I can remember at the moment.