This Week at Our House #2

1. Not much happened this week, which is probably a good thing. John applied to jobs and may be negotiating some more contract work. We quite like the part of North Carolina we ended up renting in, and are hoping to find stuff to keep us here. It is the perfect combination of out in the country with just enough of the stores and restaurants we like and need within minimal driving distance. 
2. I really like our new area. The yard is 3 times bigger than our North Salt Lake yard and I just love the distance it puts between us and our neighbors and I love the room to move around in within our own yard. We drove to Charlotte to get the rest of our stuff from my parents house, to buy some cheap-o bunk beds at Ikea, and to return books to the schools. I enjoyed seeing my mother and sisters and am very happy that they are now within driving distance. It's between 4 and 4.5 hours. After being a 3 to 4 day drive away, this is really, really nice. We also went to our storage unit and got more of our stuff. It's nice to have silverware and some other kitchen stuff now. I am still missing my mixing bowls and 9x13 glass pans. But we should be emptying out the storage unit within another 2 weeks. 
3. Ruth took finals this week. She only has one more semester before she graduates. She has the next 3 days off in which time she will be applying for jobs. I hope she gets one quickly. She likes working and she needs to save for college.
4. Kate took her finals too and now she will be coming home to finish high school as a homeschooler. We will be happy to have her around all day. Kate will be trying to get an after school job too.
5. Johnny did well with his schooling this week and did everything I asked him to do. I had him write a 3 page single spaced research paper on the history of communism. He complained that was impossibly too long. In the end, he wrote 5.5 pages single spaced no problem.
6. Adam is reading and enjoying it! He is reading at night before going to sleep and he is reading for school without a fight. He has finished two books in 8 days! 
7. Rachel had a bit of trouble getting all of her school work done one day. the next day, she had to do double the work and work sitting at the tables. The day after that, she woke up early and completed all of her work before 11am. Hopefully she will continue with that.
8. Anya is doing well with homeschool. She seems to really like to write, and she usually gets her work done in a reasonable amount of time. 
9. Joseph always gets right to work and finishes it quickly so he can go and play. He is easy to teach. I am glad he had the time in school that he had because he would never sit long enough to teach anything to before kindergarten. 
10. Josh had his 5th birthday today. We are working on getting him to dress himself and take care of all of his bathroom needs. It's hard to believe he is 5 already. I often think of how desperately I wanted to be done having children once he was born, and now I am just so glad that I am not done and will likely still have more.
11. Arwen is a sunbeam now and doing just great with that transition. Arwen loves her toys and her books and playing quietly all day. She likes me to read to her. She likes learning her alphabet. I am wondering if she is a bit far sighted because she has trouble drawing and writing things, but can say them and recognize them pretty easily. I will hopefully be able to get that checked soon.
12. Susan went to nursery for the first time today. She did really well and her leaders seemed to think she's as cute as we do. Susan loves to sing and sings all day long. She loves it when someone plays the piano and will always try and join them.

This Week's Pictures