5th Grade Music

I've been volunteer teaching music to the 5th graders at Valley View Elementary for quite a few years now. Mostly I work with Miss Nielsen's (Neresa's) class, then the other 5th grade classes join us for music. I also grade papers for Neresa, and even signed up at the school district as a sub just so I could sub in her class. Neresa has taught Billy and Melody, and Melody had her twice because Neresa switched from 3rd grade to 6th grade, before ending up in 5th. She is kind enough to let me volunteer in her class so I can feed my addiction to grade school.

At the end of each year, she has the kids write thank-you cards to me. It's quite the ego trip, and I always love reading the cards. The pictures are some samples of the kids' handiwork in my behalf. Click on the pictures to read the kids' fun messages.

One of the cards references my brother, Bruce. Neresa read Bruce's book to her kids, and then Bruce visited them to discuss the book after they's finished it. They loved the book, and loved Bruce, and asked him for his autograph and everything! They're convinced he will win a Newberry Medal for his book, and are excited that they "get to know him before he becomes famous."

Next year, there will be a new crop of 5th graders, and I'll teach them to play recorders, and they'll get to hear Bruce's book, too! (Bruce gave Neresa a copy of the unpublished manuscript.)

New grandchild!

NEWS FLASH:
We have a new grandchild on the way! Kathy and Brice are expecting baby #2 in late November--right around Thanksgiving. We are very excited, needless to say. This one will be especially fun for me because I'll get to see Kathy at every stage of pregnancy. When she was expecting Seda, she and Brice lived in Logan while Brice finished school.
Check out Kathy's blog for a day by day update on the progress of the baby. She has this cool gestational link-thing that is like a little movie of the everyday growth of the child.

Billy's transfer

Billy was transferred unexpectedly and absolutely loves his new area and new companion. Here's an excerpt from his latest letter--complete with his 'text' grammar and punctuation.

...my mission just took a turn for the better in every way. thats why i have alot to write cause my thought process and everything changed 100 percent. whew... to start, i have a new companion. no more elder schnersoski. now its elder machado. he is a little guy, looks similar to austin holt kinda... i dunno. but he is so freakin rad. he isnt the kinda kid i would ever hang out with or anything, but he is a freakin amazing missionary. before this week, i didnt even know what missionary work was. honestly its prolly a good thing cause i would have been overwhelmed and shot myself ha ha. he is the kind of missionary who keeps all the rules not cause he is supposed to, but because he has this huge desire to use every second of his mission the best he can. he talks to everyone! everyone we pass he tells about the church. its so rad. we dont take little food breaks, spend too much time talking to people that dont need it, we leave and get to places when were supposed to, everything. its so freakin rad. and honestly, im soo freakin tired. woo. :) we teach 7 or more lessons everyday, even on the days we have to do baptism interviews, or other things that take up time. he makes me teach a ton, and i can really see in him a desire to help me be the best missionary i can be too. he doesnt seem to notice or get irritated with the fact that i dont speak portuguese, and thats helpin me a ton. we just talk. wow i teach so much. we had 20 new investigators last week, and baptized 5 people! 3 were primaries, but still! i really wish i had got here last week, cause last week he baptized 2 families. we baptized their kids this week. and now, we have a goal for 7 more baptisms next week. i dunno if all will, but we have high hopes. we decided if we can teach 20 new people every week, we will baptize 5 every week. :) sweet huh? thats how my comp is. also, we plan like crazy! before, we took 5 minutes to write down a few poeple in our planner that needed teaching the next day. now, we freakin use a half hour talking about every person, the best thing to teach, when, in what order, and everything. its so hard to do at night when your so tired, but its awesome too cause it makes the next day amazing.

Billy also said his new companion is an awesome cook, and really knows how to get the most from his money, food-wise. We received a CD of pics from him, so check back later for updated pictures from Brazil.

Cleanliness

I have my own saying: Real Estate Clean. To me, that means the state my house would have to be in if we were to sell it. Almost devoid of evidence of daily living. I doubt I'll ever get my house that organized and sanitized, but I do have a vision of being totally in control of everything that comes in and needs to be put away. My tolerance level for clutter is way too high, and that works against me, but at least my house is generally clean--if cluttered. Lately, even the dirt is creeping in.
I've been asking advice from a few friends and relatives, and reading a book about feng shui and the need to clear clutter, and I'm getting more determined to take charge of the condition of my home. Success stories so far: a clean area in front of my cedar chest--the floor is visible all the way back to the wall; a completely organized and invitingly usable sewing table; fewer clothes and hangers in my closet, new shelf dividers for all my sweaters, tubs for all my flip-flops and slippers, and each in their own place. My side of the closet is restored to 'walk-in' status.
I'm hoping that by making all this public, I'll be spurred on to keep cleaning and organizing. We'll see.

Bubble Time

Yesterday I broke out the new bubble machine that had been waiting for just such a moment. The weather was nice, the grandkids visited--what better opportunity for blowing bubbles? John's fall purchase, stored through the winter, was a huge hit as we all reveled in bubbles. Seda got the inaugural opportunity, and Lincoln and Avery later made sure the machine was well broken in. One thousand words per picture is an understatement!

Grandmother Moments

Thanks to Kathy and Sarah Emily for capturing moments with my grand-daughters that help me remember that there are perks to getting older. Here's a group of photos telling the story of me sharing a mint truffle with Seda--what she won't do for chocolates--as well as a wonderful moment from Mother's Day when Avery Belle was kind enough to sit with me for a moment.