Two of my best girls!

So I have attendance school duty this morning! It's a great thing in that I get paid extra- it's a not so great thing in that I miss time with my kids, have carbon-stained fingertips from signing literally hundreds of attendance school slips, and it can be incredibly boring... 

So to help with that last not-so-great thing, I played around with some cute pics and sound recordings from my playtime with my girls last night and a website I sometimes use for my class assignments. Here are the results:

Now please keep in mind, getting Adilynne to talk into the microphone was next to impossible. Both of these adorable children are chatterboxes UNTIL you turn on the mic... oh well. Also, as I sit here, I have my computer muted- so hopefully, everything worked as I imagine it did...

Just a bit of fun for a Saturday morning!

Life keeps coming and going!

Been very busy yet again! Which is a good thing...

So grateful to Greg and Jon for solving the washing machine dilemma! Yes, it cost, but not nearly as much as a replacement. It's so nice to be able to clean my clothes, and sheets and rugs in my own home!

And so grateful to Char for this! A way awesome note to me on the mirror! Makes me smile and cry all at the same time!

Grateful for all the tomato products and grape juice now sitting in jars in my storeroom... I find the only trouble with canning beautiful foods is that I want to eat it all but I don't want to open the jars that took so long to process! Guess I'm blessed to have such a quandary!

'screen' (will be framed with black)- boo had to move walls!

This is Jon's latest project... a theater for the basement- he started last year, purchasing the sound system, and he has been planning and purchasing the rest ever since. He got the great idea to just paint the screen on the wall- and well that led to some other re-painting- but now it's almost done!

Wires halfway complete- great going, Jon!

It's so fun to see all of his efforts and plans come together into something this great for all of us to share!

I am also off on the great MESA advisor adventure... and will have some Molly-time as we present at the upcoming UCTM conference- as I said, life keeps coming!





I am also grateful for the chance to touch a life today (I hope...) At the end of my last class, a young man stayed in his seat. He was crying! (I really hate that so many kids don't even realize how a careless word or two meant in jest can pierce someone to the core!) Of course, he didn't want to talk to me about it or go down to the counselor or even tell me who had said what- but thanks to my Father in Heaven, he did tell me. And again, thanks to my Father in Heaven, I think and hope and pray that I was able to say something to make it at least a little bit better. The blessing of teaching comes in being able to see a little bit of what the Lord sees in these kids and their lives. I am so blessed to be a teacher!

For the Boys...

Washing machine still out- but very thankful for my parents and their washing machine! (although after I used their machine the first time, their water softener quit, and it quit in a big way- 'black, gunky water coming out of the taps... wonder if it is just my luck these days!) Also thankful for extra work, a great friend giving me free tomatoes- as in a lot of tomatoes (36 pints of salsa, 10 pints of tomato sauce and a dozen quarts of tomatoes- yes, a lot of tomatoes!!) and so thankful for my Jon...

Jon being home alone with me has brought to my mind one of the hardest parts of being single- at least for me! A little background: I grew up between two brothers who loved to discourage the girl-type things I would do and encourage the boy-type things (climbing trees, playing with snakes and salamanders, playing video games, reading sci-fi, watching the 'A-Team'... you get the idea). And I loved every minute of it! As I grew older, and moved here to Utah, I began to realize that most of my good friends were guys. I did have several close girl friends, but by and far, I related to guys- and not in the dating sort of crush-type way... By the time I went to college, I was surrounded by men- majored in a male-dominated field and played with all the guys in the singles ward. 

One of the favorite pics from my wedding... I wished I could have had male 'bridesmaids'- but even so, these guys are still a highlight in my life!

So what's one of the hardest parts of being single? I cannot have the guy friends... Most of the time, I am single and they are married- even though my interest may be in the shows they enjoy or simply the desire to talk about a video game- I cannot do that- my mom was right- there is too much that can seem wrong, too many variables not under my control- it, simply put, invites trouble in too many ways. The single guys? well, they are either too young or, if not, they assume my interest is in getting married- what happened to being a friend?! Life is weird and complicated when it comes to any guy friends...

Leaves me feeling so very grateful for my two boys- the ones I can be friends with even though I must also be mom! I am so blessed to have this time with my Jon!