Half-way through November--what?

I don't even know what I've been up to. Oh wait, the last week of October is when I started substitute teaching. I was very nervous at my first job. It was an elementary school I had never been to before and my first time subbing since before Lily was born but it went pretty well. I actually saw a few people that I know that apparently work at the school and everyone was very nice to me. I was in a 5th grade class for two hours and it was exhausting but everything went pretty smoothly. Then I did four hours at our elementary school one morning in 1st grade and that was super fun and went by so fast. Then I was supposed to do three hours for the music teacher at a middle school but it ended up being a field day so I helped out with a station for an hour and then left. 

Last week I subbed for the afternoon for our special Ed teacher and that was a bit more chaotic just with kids coming and going and I was in a kindergarten class as a para last week too. That was fun because it was with Brandon's kindergarten teacher and it was so great to watch her in action; she is an amazing teacher. I most prefer to be at our elementary school but there aren't a lot of opportunities there for my limited availability so this week I'll be at two different elementary schools. It can be hard to match up with my schedule but I just keep telling myself that my family still comes first right now and this is just meant to fill in the cracks. So I'm not making a ton of money but it is better than nothing and next year I'll have greater flexibility, at least for the morning. 

Let's see then there was Halloween. I had told Curtis he could have friends over so they made a bonfire and handed out candy for us and then played games downstairs. Lily and Emma went to the Rays to hang out with friends while Josh and I took Brandon around our neighborhood with two of his friends. Overall it was a fine night but it is definitely changing by having older kids. Brandon was Baymax in a super cool costume I got for free using our credit card Disney dollars but he had to walk kind of slowly so it was a longer evening of trick-or-treating. 

 

 

 

Curtis ran in regionals the day before Halloween and did well enough that he qualified for states. That was last Saturday and their team didn't do great but he had a course PR so that was good. He had a good time and it was a successful cross country season. His new goal is to run a marathon over Thanksgiving break so this past week he ran a half marathon after school one day and said it was good. I applaud him even while being confused about this desire to run for four hours. 

That next week I got to go canoeing with Brandon's class on his field trip (my favorite one!) and it was fun to spend time with my little buddy. He is so easy going and sweet and just fun to be around. I also went to a great Inklings discussion at Michelle's house and went walking and did all the things. 

 

 

Nutcracker rehearsals are in full swing and Lily and Emma went to the stake youth activity last week right afterwards one Saturday so they were gone 9am-9pm and Curtis was at states from 5am-5pm so it was just Josh, Brandon and I most of the day--so weird. We invited Brandon's friends over and they had the best day ever just playing while Josh and I watched the BYU football game.

Monday I got to go to Inklings and and we had a good discussion about a talk that discussed the importance of names. I shared the experience I had with Brandon's teacher about the name of our church and then today that teacher came to the primary program! I was playing the organ and was so happy to see her in the audience. It is the first time we've invited someone that actually came; it was really sweet and made me super happy. Anyway, then Tuesday was Veteran's Day and it may be my favorite day of the fall. No one has school, dance, sports, church activities or any outside responsibilities. I usually like to go up to D.C. but everything was closed and we were tired so we ended up sleeping in, having waffles for breakfast, then we went to church to play pickle ball, which we did for three hours. The kids all enjoyed it and we had a good time. We got sweet frog with an Easter gift card from Nana and had some down time before we ordered pizza and watched the British baking show. It was so nice to spend the day together. 

Thursday morning Lily woke me up at 6:10 am because she couldn't get the car started. I let her take the van and then Josh tried to jump the car before he left but couldn't get it started but he had to get to work so he just left me. I got a ride to play pickle ball from Amber and on the way home she mentioned they had a battery charger so she brought it over and we plugged it in for a few hours. Then I was able to get it started and got to Jiffy Lube to get a new battery and an oil change before my piano lessons. It was stressful but I was so grateful for Amber's help. She really is so sweet and kind. I was also very grateful that I didn't have to wait at Jiffy Lube and Josh didn't have to leave work early and we were able to get it all taken care of that day. I did have to take Emma to the orthodontist so Lily did have to come home with my car a bit early but all that worked out too and win win, Emma's expansion went well so they locked her expander and in eight weeks she gets her braces on. 

Friday Michelle and I were able to go to the temple and it was lovely. I did feel very humbled and a bit broken down by some frustrating feelings I have but the temple is so beautiful and it is good to be reminded about who I am and God's eternal plan for me, as well as talk through things with a great friend. We had a longer drive home because of traffic but I made it in time to take Emma to dance and get Curtis to his camp out and then Josh and I went out on a date to Olive Garden with some gift cards from last Christmas. 

Yesterday the girls were gone at rehearsal, Curtis was a the camp out until late afternoon and Brandon played with friends again. Josh got new tires on the Kia and then took his car for an oil change. I baked a pumpkin cake and made pecan bars and mini cheesecakes and then we did a bunch of cleaning. Last night we hosted a game night with some families from the other ward and a few from ours and it went well. I am trying to get Curtis to be pals with kids he goes to school with and I enjoyed getting to know some new friends as well. I think everyone had fun; I enjoyed the evening so I hope others did too. The teenagers stayed until midnight so I think my goals were met, at least to some degree. 

Today was the primary program and it was so good. I sat up there with our class so I got to cry in front of everyone but the kids did a great job and were totally reverent and sweet. We really have the best class, although all of the kids did a great job. Hard to believe I'll only have one more year with a kid in the program. We also had tithing declaration and then Noreen came over for dinner to finally celebrate her birthday. It was nice to chat with her while Josh did temple recommend interviews.