Testing Email Blogging

Just testing out this email blogging to see if it works. I've been having problems with my google sites for some reason, but if I can blog from email, all the better!!

 

I guess I can update while I try this out. Things have been crazy busy, but good. : ) Duke started his new job at Big 5 in October, and he really loves it. He's full time and training for management. The store he works in is losing both their assistant managers in the spring, so he has a really good shot at moving straight to 1^st assistant manager. This job has been a really good fit for him, being in sporting goods and all. : ) It's been great for me, too, being so close. Before it got all snowy, he was able to walk to work most days.

 

I've been working at Deseret Book again for the Christmas season. I LOVE it. It's always been nice to spend the day surrounded by inspirational and faith-building material. I didn't know how much I had missed the people and the atmosphere until I went back, and I'll be kinda sad to leave after Christmas. However, I'm excited to move on to other pursuits. It looks as though I'll be giving college the old college try (har har) in January. I'm really looking forward to working the old grey matter again, and, for now anyway, I can't wait for homework. That will change soon enough, I'm sure. : )

 

The kids are doing great, just growing like weeds. Jake's finally found a book that excites him and keeps him hooked- he practically sleeps with it these days. I was able to go with his class on a field trip to the Planetarium recently and it was so neat to see him get excited about learning. I'm so grateful to be able to go with him on field trips and take part in school activities. Aspen is excelling in all her studies. She's well ahead of her grade level in reading and math, and she LOVES all the supplemental things she gets to learn. The school recently wrapped up a semester long focus on the arts, during which they brought in several specialists that the kids could study from, including a master puppeteer, a professional story-teller and an acclaimed opera singer, among others. We were able to attend Arts Night at the school again, and had a blast. The first one we went to focused on dance alone, and it was a lot of fun. They involved the entire family in creating an interpretive dance number that we performed for the group. This most recent one brought in all the specialists from the semester (puppets, dance, storytelling, visual arts/bookmaking and opera) and we were allowed to pick 2 out of the 5 to see a presentation from. We ended up going to pupeteering and opera. It was a lot of fun. I got put on the spot to perform pupeteering, and I think I did a pretty good job.

 

Spencer and Hannah continue to crack me up on a daily basis. The other day, Spencer was having a disagreement with some neighborhood girls, and after trying to reason with him about it for a few minutes, I finally gave up with a sigh and said "Well, Spence, I guarantee you'll survive." As he ran out the door, Spencer yelled over his shoulder, "But mom, I don't want to survive! I want to LIVE!!" Classic. : ) Hannah has been showing her more creative side lately by giving herself one interesting haircut after another. I'll have to post a picture soon, but suffice it to say that we're going for a pixie look these days. : ) It has been considerably more convenient, to be sure. I think she was sad about it until she got to nursery and the wonderful teachers in there told her how pretty it looked. I love those guys! : )

 

The biggest news of ALL though, is that we finally have a van!!!! A family in our ward was so very generous to give us their old van when they bought a new one, and a friend of mine who is a wonderful mechanic was kind enough to work on it in his spare time. So, after several months of being in the shop, it's done! We've had it for a week now, and it's been so nice to be able to drive around as a family. Not to mention not having to take car seats and boosters in and out of the car all the time! I'm in vehicular heaven right now.  : ) It's been such a blessing.

 

And that's about it! : ) If this email blogging thing works, I'll probably start blogging more often again. I wish you all a very Merry Christmas, and a Happy New Year!!