Halloween 2022

Halloween night was so much fun. I stressed worked on the table and chairs finishing the paint and sealing the items with polyurethane before it freezes, which I somehow accomplished. The chair cushions are recovered and back in the dining room. Justin helped me switch out the tables so that project is completed just in time for continuous cold weather. I was short 3" of fabric to cover the two chairs with arm rests, dag nabbit. I got the fabric for $1 yard as a remnant so there is no way to find more. I nabbed some cute regular fabric to cover the chairs for the time being. Now to sell the old table, Evelyn is quite attached to the old table since it is the only table she's ever eaten at her entire life. I get it kid! Lots of memories made at that table. 

Back to Halloween: I made crock pot chili in order to save time earlier in the day. The preschool music class was quite fun with a blind box the kids could feel dragon eyeballs (peeled tomatoes), giant veins (cold noodles), frog skin (lunch meat), and lizard hearts (raisins). My afternoon classes were cancelled except for one, I cancelled Henry just because it was so crazy. Amelia looked so cute as an Owl House witch she coordinated with Lia. I ruined her hat so stayed up late Sunday night fixing it, she had glued the hat tip to the brim making her head look flat. Amelia decorated a notebook to look like a spell book. She got to wear her costume to school. Phillip and Ambree were inflatable dinosaurs. Phillip chickened out so did not wear his costume for Trick or Treating, it was too hard to walk, talk, and he was in a foul mood. Carson bent his scooter off the frame trying to do a trick and Ambree was mad at Phillip for not adhering to her plans for the night. Phillip did not want to spend his evening with a horde of Ambree's girl friends. The older three went over to the Hanson's home for a party until 7 pm. Everett went to Bear's party around 7:30 for an hour. Amelia walked around with the Finch girls and then with the little girls and I for an hour. Sara and Dusty threw a fun driveway party with hot dogs and hot chocolate. Josie was quite mad everyone thought she was a cat. Everett wore his inflatable ninja get up. Evelyn and Josie looked darling as characters from Bluey. Josie got dirt from the truck bed embedded on her new dress just minutes after putting it on for the first time. Took me hours laundering and attacking the black stains. On Halloween she spilled ketchup and hot chocolate on her dress. Justin enjoyed some of the fun in between emails and work. Evelyn was in a terrible mood on Tuesday, she decided to skip dance and acro. Worked for me, I got more done at home. 

Evelyn and Josie skipped Thanksgiving this year. Tuesday both girls went into full Christmas mode. Josie has authored nearly 10 letters in her cute 1st grade writing style. She is carrying around the Santa Letters book my mom made many years ago, we read it often. She named her Nelf in training "Rose" nevermind that "Rose" might have her own name of Iesoj. Evelyn and Josie came up with a strategy to ask Santa not to allow loud noises this year like the bells, those are too freaky. Josie just handed me a letter to stick up in the air vent where we think the Nelves may have a roost. Choosing one Santa gift is quite the challenge, Josie wants to ask for a Bingo squishmallow, is convinced Santa can instruct his Nelves to whip one up since the brand has not created a Bingo squishy. The excitement is very high! We are singing Christmas songs at MCO, decorations are rampant at all the big stores, and lights popping up on houses already. 

Wednesday, I was all ready to manage my full piano teaching schedule and dental cleanings. The boys were slated to start at 8 am, both were ecstatic to sleep in. I got a call at 7:45 am cancelling all the cleanings, dude. At least the day was not as crazy, now we get clean teeth over Christmas break. Evelyn and I made cupcakes and frosting for her mom and me time. Josie and I wrote a Santa letter and read Christmas stories. Everett and I snuggled while watching a Mark Rober episode about elephant toothpaste. Mark Rober is so fun to watch with all his experiments.  

The kids enjoyed a short school week with the end of the quarter and parent-teacher conferences. Amelia had a choir event at 9:30 on Thursday so I dropped her off then went to meet with the boys teachers open house style. Everett earned straight A's, one grade showed he earned an A but a "Needs Improvement" citizenship grade. Turns out that was a type-o. I had fun lecturing Everett for earning a bad citizenship score, he was so confused because the class is his favorite (3-D printing). Phillip earned 3 A's, 2 B's and 1 C. His grades are lower in the classes he misses due to counseling on Tuesday mornings. I had a good talk with his Social Studies teacher (Mrs Call) about his C, he was missing two big assignments but could still turn in the work and change his grade. Phillip was convinced he could not turn in late work, even though Mrs Call reiterates daily that it is never too late. I was thrilled to interrupt Phillip's vacation with schoolwork. He wrote a paragraph about the 3 great world religions. I also had him redo his Medieval definitions since it was quite clear he copied and pasted instead of typing his own definitions.  Phillip now has an A in history. Evelyn is doing so good in school. Mrs Gingerich is a perfect match for her. We talked extensively about ways to reduce her stress at school and home. Justin was floored on Saturday when Evelyn solved a subtraction math problem in her head before he did! Josie is just amazing. She apparently was praised once for picking up minute items from the floor at the end of the school day. Since then she presents Mrs Campbell with a hand full of tiny trash. Kids are acting out all the time in school, I bet each classroom has 5-9 kids with severe behavioral issues. Teachers are quitting mid-year because teaching is such a challenge the paycheck is not worth the mental and physical stress. 

Everett won two prizes for career week. His school had quite a few activities with prizes. He drew a poster about the college he wants to attend (BYU-ID) and won the best poster. Then he won another contest for the best essay about what his life would be like after college. He came home stoked! He won movie tickets, gift card for hot chocolate, a shirt, and treats. 

MCO went so much better this week. Brett was our conductor, he is riveting! The kids snapped to attention and he called out the extra wiggly kids. I also sorted the kiddos into concert lines by height and assigned kids colors that match taped lines on stage. I am excited all the dress rehearsals are just 5 minutes away this year at Skyview HS. Our van is still out of commission so the truck would not work to take everyone. Justin worked from home so he could attend Evelyn and Josie’s conferences. He took the older group to choir at 4:15, then worked from the office until pick up time. I had 3 photo session scheduled for Saturday but the weather forecast was total crap. Sister Overall is 40 weeks pregnant, she wanted last minute family photos before baby comes. The only time available was at 2:30 right before leaving for MCO. Evelyn and Josie came along for the session. I am so glad it worked out because the weather was indeed terrible for outdoor photos. 

Evelyn had an optometrist appointment Friday morning. She is having a hard time focusing on the board from her seat. She has 20/20 vision but could be so stressed reading at close range that switch from near to farsightedness is taking her muscles longer to relax. She was bummed about leaving without glasses. The little girls helped me grocery shop after the appointment. The van in finally fixed up ready for more work. Sara helped schlep me over to the mechanics shop. I wished she could help pay the $1,890 bill to fix the van as well. I was mentally prepared to invest in a new vehicle, looks like the issues were not too severe and much more affordable than a car payment. 

Carson made my Friday the best day ever. He prank called me a few weeks ago but never saved my phone number. He texted me Friday morning asking whose number (mine) was. I was Becky, 9th, loved Stem(s), and walks in the park with my dog. Sara and Dustin knew about the texting which made it all funnier. Carson was freaked out when I asked him to meet me at the park with some candy. I asked for his Social Security number too. Too much fun!  

Justin is catching up with all the work piled up through this quarter’s filing. Thankfully, the report is filed and work is slowly winding down for him until the next busy season. I got somewhat caught up photo editing this weekend. Seems like I will never get my own photo edited! Saturday afternoon the Bullard girls came over for second and third birthday photos. Photographing two bossy toddlers was intense. Lollipops, animal sounds, and lots of breaks got us through the session with a couple of cute photos. Yay.