Conversation With Kate

Kate: Can we watch Batman?
Me: I don't think it's a very Sunday movie.
Kate: Yes it is.
Me: It's just a guy fighting.
Kate: Ummm, Fighting bad guys-- like Captain Moroni.

Watching Studio C

This Week at Our House #34

1. John finished work, but he was fixing a few things here and there. We really need them to pay him now. I was hoping they would do so by Friday. Instead it looks like they have not even finished putting it in their system. He delivered a very good product. Hopefully they will pay this week. We had an offer on the house. From the beginning it was clear that the realtor and the buyers intended to take advantage of us at every turn because we are unrepresented. The offer was very low and they tried to justify it using neighborhood stats from houses that were 1000+ square feet smaller than our house, but selling for what they wanted to buy our house for. Their suggested earnest money was low enough to be unheard of.  We countered very hard. They came back with a reasonable offer, but we are inclined not to take it because we know that they thought we did not know anything about real estate in the neighborhood or how selling a house is supposed to work. They meant to get us at every angle. Of course they still can get us, accepting an offer is only the first step. There are negotiations all the way to the end of closing. If we felt like we could trust them to be honest and straight forward, we would accept their offer. But we don't trust them. We will very likely keep looking for buyer.We have had about 7 people look at the house and 2 offers. I think if we can get 12 more people in, we will have a reasonable offer that we are happy with.
2. School is back in full swing with early mornings full of work to lots of homework to arguing over bedtime to minor difficulties with some teachers. By Friday, I am completely exhausted. And now we have 9 more months to go. 
3. Ruth worked more this week than she often did over the summer even though she is back in school full time. Everyone kept asking her to take their shifts and she did. She was very tired and the most out of sorts she has been since she was 7, so I sent her bed early (never do that) and told her not to accept so much work. In all, though, I would say that Ruth is going to be very happy with her course schedule. She focused on taking classes she liked and has an interest in. 
4. Kate got back into the swing of things pretty well. I think her favorite class will be AP American History because she has a teacher with conservative views and a lot of friends in the class. Kate has honors physic with Ruth and gym class with Johnny.
5. Johnny misses Legacy Prep. It was smaller and the dress code and clean language were enforced. Johnny is eating lunch with Ruth and Kate or alone. As far as I can get out of him, he has not talked to anyone who has not talked to him first. He hates his math class because the review is stuff he did 2 to 3 years ago. I am counting in it getting hard fast, though. He is very intimidated by orchestra because he has the least amount of experience. We have told him to stick it out because he always wants to quit things he feels like are too hard. This should be good for him. Hopefully, this week Johnny will get feeling a little more comfortable and start to make a few friends.
6. Adam is at a school all alone, but he seems to be adjusting quite well. He gets to sleep in the latest because he gets ready the fastest. He seems to be getting his homework finished at school which is good. I'm still trying to get that boy to love reading. I have decided that this year Adam, Rachel, Anya, and Joseph to read out loud to me every school day. 
7. Rachel got into the school musical again and this year she has a small speaking part, The show is the Aristocats. Rachel will be a soldier in the dog army. I think she is a little disappointed not be a cat. None of Rachel's good friends are in her class. She says her class is boring and her teacher gives too much homework. She does play with her friends from last year at recess, though.
8. Anya still won't talk to anyone and try to make friends. I think I will talk to her teacher and see if she will help her.
9. Joseph seems to be doing fine with a full day of school. His biggest problem is getting up in the mornings. I have to wake Joseph up about 30 minutes before the other kids so he can sit around and get reoriented. Otherwise, he doesn't ready in time.
10. Joshua got to work sneaking and getting into his siblings things as soon as everyone was gone Monday morning. I had to establish some firm rules right away. On Thursday, I made some corn starch slime for Josh and Arwen to play in, but they wouldn't touch it. Then Josh dumped a cup of water in and destroyed it. I was pretty unhappy. 
11. Arwen and Susan followed Josh's example and got into Ruth's nail polish and make up Monday. They would sneak off every time I went to fold the laundry. Ruth's bedroom door has been kept locked since then. I took the little ones to the library. Arwen wanted every book there.
12. Suzy has 4 molars coming in. Two have started to break through the skin. She is either really grumpy or perfectly happy right now. But she wants to be help constantly.

This Week's Pictures

Kate is 16!

My dear daughter, Kate turned 16 today. She has always been a spit-fire, never letting anyone push her around. She is brave, and bold, and true. We are all better people because of Kate. We love her so much, and we're so glad that Heavenly Father sent her to our family.

First Day of School 2015

This year Ruth is a senior in high school (oh my), Kate is a junior, and Johnny is a sophomore. Adam is in 5th grade, Rachel 4th, Anya 2nd, and Joseph first. I have 7 kids in school full time and 3 home full time. I am excited to not have any midday pick up and drop offs.That makes it so I can do more fun things with the little kids at home. With moving it could end up being an odd and unpleasant school year. I hate not knowing the future. But for now, they are back in the same schools we have been attending for the last 2 years. And for the most part they're pretty happy.

This Week at Our House #33

1. John finished his contract. We are now waiting to be paid the rest of the money and he is looking for a new job. He had two first interviews this week. Hopefully they will turn into second and third interviews.
2. The Legacy Prep kids started school this week. They had 3 half days. Everyone starts school full time tomorrow. I will only have the 3 little kids at home for 7 hours. I look forward to having 7 hours without having to pick anyone up or take anyone anywhere. 
3. Ruth organized a temple trip with her friend Bonnie last week before Bonnie left for college, and her friend Desi this week before school starts. She didn't work as much, and I think she enjoyed her free time before school starts.
4. Kate seemed to have a nice last week of summer vacation. She's very excited for her 16th birthday in just two more days, but rolls her eyes every time I tell her she can date.
5. I've got a casual school wardrobe for Johnny. He is registered, has his schedule, and is ready to start the 10th grade tomorrow. He won't be 14 for another month, so he will be the youngest kid in the school. But he's smart and mature and I think he can handle this. I am the only one that's a little nervous. Johnny is only fretting having homework again.
6. Adam started 5th grade on Wednesday. He is in a different building now with the 5th through 9th graders. I took him to find his classroom on Tuesday. He has a few friends in class, and he is already getting homework. He seems pretty happy with everything.
7. Rachel began the 4th grade, and she is preparing to audition for the 3rd/4th grade musical. She's seems pretty happy and is having fun with old friends and making new ones.
8. Anya began the second grade. She is still being pretty shy. I am trying to get her to extend herself and to talk to other kids.
9. Joseph has the same first grade teacher that Anya had. He seems pretty happy, especially about having lunch at school.
10. I'm hoping to get good time in with Joshua this school year. It will be nice not to have to go back and forth throughout the day and Josh could sure use some more personal time.
11. Arwen has silent temper tantrums. If she doesn't like something, she sits and pouts. It's not noisy, but it can last for hours.
12. Suzy was a little less fussy this week. She has three teeth that have cut through and 3 more making their way. 

This Week at Our House # 32

1. John is really bold about keeping the commandments particularly when it comes to the law of chastity or the sanctity of life. As a result, he gets a lot of slack. More than once he has been chided for his "utter lack of compassion". But I know John, and I know that is not true. He is bold for the truth, yes, and in that, he is showing compassion because he is one of the only people left in the world that willingly calls sin sin. We cannot repent, if we do not know it is sin. But that is not all. John is one of the most generous and compassionate people I know in more ways than one. About 6.5 years ago, we took our family out to a restaurant. A family we knew was already there. We knew that the father had recently lost his job. We could tell that they were embarrassed to have us see them in a restaurant. But John did not judge their choice, he just paid for their meal. John almost always stops and helps people when their cars broken down. Whenever we have had extra money at all, John has insisted we give it to those who have less. But that is not all. John's compassion encompasses other things as well. I had a rocky youth. I had made a few big mistakes the spring and summer before I met John. I was pretty open with John about everything in my past. He did not shun me. He spent tons of time talking to me and being my friend. I am sure, he took me on as "a project" to help along in the gospel. As is typical John, he never once backed down on truth or said that what is sin isn't, but as a result, he was the truest friend I have ever had. And then, of course, when the time was right, he married me. John may be bold, and his words sound harsh to our ears that have been conditioned to hear truth as a matter of judgment. But he does not seriously lack in compassion. I have had fewer personal relationships with someone more compassionate than John.
2. I spent the week trying to advertise our house more, cleaning a ton, weeding, doing a little more painting, adding a little touch up finishing on some wood, and getting the kids ready for school. It was a long week. I hope we sell this house soon. It's really hard to keep up with so much, but I know we are making the right choices with selling our house and relocating.
3. Ruth took on a lot of extra shifts at work, so she was gone a lot, and when she was home, she worked at home. I have been very impressed with my kids this summer. I did not know that they had it in them to both work so hard and so long and still be pleasant people to be around.
4. Kate was about crying by weeks end from all of the work we did. She mentioned that there is no way she can keep this up once school starts. What she does not know is that when 7 kids are gone for 7 hours of the day, the house stays just a bit cleaner. 
5. We bought an electric lawn mower that has a cord and Johnny has mowed over and destroyed 2 cords. He felt pretty bad about it, but I think I will mow the lawn next.
6. I grounded Adam from computer games until September because he had gotten very belligerent and rude when we told him to stop playing. But, I have let him play games in exchange for doing some tough chores. Fortunately he has been nice about it.
7. Rachel has been practicing for her upcoming musical tryouts. She's a really good singer. I hope she makes it in again this year. She loves singing and acting and being on stage.
8. Anya plays with Suzy all the time. She doesn't know that it's a big help to me, and that I love watching my kids playing together and enjoying each other. 
9. Joseph is so destructive and so smart. I am not sure another child has cost us more or that another child is as naturally happy and content with life.
10. Joshua finally had his train ride. I didn't know it, but the trax in downtown SLC is free for some way (I am actually not sure how long) but we rode it from one mall to the next and went to a nice splash pad. It was free, and the kids had a lot of fun. I'll take Josh on more train rides now.
11. We have 2 momma cats and we sell their kittens for a little (very little) extra income. Arwen, loves the kittens. I love that we can have kittens for 6 to 8 weeks and then get rid of them all. But Arwen just adores them, and surprisingly enough she is starting to be more obedient about not holding the newborns. 
12. Little Suzy is still grumpy and still having teeth come in. 

This Week's Pictures