Parentheticals

Grandma Julie's weekend last weekend Grandma Julie came over to Utah and invited us to see a horse parade in Sandy. They had events and food trucks and the Rogers came as well. It was very fun.  At the same time Grandma Julie invited all of the kids over for a two-day sleepover. They had a fun time playing with Grandpa Craig and with the cousins, and Mike and Alison went out on a date so everyone enjoyed it. With Rea and Sara participating in a play we have been driving around a lot to get them to where they need to go. That combined with public school means that we have not been able to buy groceries for most of 2 weeks. Fortunately the Waters have been giving us large amounts of potatoes so we're okay. It's like Mike's prophecy from high school was fulfilled. We watched general conference for the last 2 days. On Saturday we did it at our own house and on Sunday we went to the Brown's house. The kids are getting much better at paying attention, so we were able to a...

Alison and Mike celebrated their 16th anniversary this week. We were so busy that we didn't really plan anything, but Mike ended up making a not very amazing chocolate mousse, which he called a malfeasance  (Because it wasn't a tort). Rea and Sara both continued to attend their play rehearsals this week. They are practicing Tuesday and Thursday nights from 6:30 to 9:30, and Saturday mornings from 9:30 to 12:30, so it's a lot! They are having fun, though. This week, Alison took them on the bus on Tuesday, so that they could learn how to do it. We're not sure how often they'll take the bus - they have to leave at 5:15 to get there early enough to not be nervous about being late, and Rea doesn't get home until 4:30 on Thursdays, so probably only on Tuesdays. But that's one less hour Alison has to spend driving them! Elsa got an award for friendship at school this week! That's not too surprising; she tells us that everyone in her class is her friend and alwa...

This week, Alison started going to a class at the kids' school. Parents and other adults are invited to come and do the free Science of Well-Being class that's been put online by a Yale professor. This is a topic Allison is interested in, and she's been working on getting out of her comfort zone and interacting with people, so it seemed like a good idea. The first class was fun. Rea and Sara have been going to rehearsals for their play multiple times this week. It is a pretty long drive for Alison to drop off and take them back, so she is planning on teaching them how to take the bus there. They have been enjoying the rehearsals and are excited to perform in the play. We invited to Buck and his wife over to eat dinner with us this week because they helped us so much in the process of getting back into our house. It was nice to have them over and to talk with them. Various members of our family have been getting sick on various days this last week. Seems like it's a mild...

Timmy has been making good progress on the Lion Knight's Castle - he has been working on it with some help from Mike; however, he has been doing most of it himself. He is also making up a story of how each new bag that he opens was a new stage in the development of what started out as a small farmer's house. We also got a robot vacuum that is either named "Stabby" or "Sharkie" (depending on who you ask and when. Alison decided that it would be a good motivator for the kids and would help them to clean up their floors without an adult having to check them out to make sure that they are done. The idea is that they clean their floors and then, when they are done, they get the robot to sweep them, and if they do a good job, it won't bump into things all the time. So far, they like it fairly well. Alison, Rea, and Tim are now attending Connect-Ed again. Alison is teaching new classes (she hasn't taught before, so this is a first time for her). They are ha...

The kids have all gone back to school, and things are going fairly well. Over the weekend, Gideon lost his shoes, so we are currently on the hunt for them. We know that they are somewhere around here; however, we just don't know where they are. We also went to a Connect-Ed open house last week, which was basically a get-together for all of the teachers and their families in the homeschool co-op that Alison is teaching for this year. On Friday, we went to 'The Importance of Being Earnest', which the OBT put on. We enjoy all of their plays, and are excited that they showed one of our favorites again. In November, they are putting on 'The Frightmare Before Christmas', which Sara (and perhaps Rea) is auditioning for, so here's hoping that they get parts. Sara has also gotten her aerial silks set up in the front yard; however, they are not high enough, since Mike can't find his taller ladder. He thinks it is possible that someone took it when they were taking hom...

(This post was written by Alison. That hasn't happened in over a year, I think, so it felt worth noting.)  This week we've been moving in. The kitchen is all done and the rest of the house is arranged enough that we got through a lot of boxes this week. Then the washer overflowed. So we got to spend Saturday pulling up all the flooring in the master bedroom, laundry room, closet, bathroom, and hallway, and emptying and drying the contents of all the boxes in the garage that got soaked. That was not fun. Actually, it felt like getting kicked when we were down. Bad form, universe. Anyway. Up until then, the week went pretty well. Mike went back to work and the kids and Alison went back to their schedule of going to the park and the pool everyday. Mike's been working very hard every evening to finish the moving-in process, and Alison and the kids were helpful off and on, when they were available (Alison) and in the mood (kids). We have one more week before school starts, but t...