Church Stuff

A couple weeks ago Audrey gave her first talk in primary (that's children's Sunday school in Mormon talk)!  Her topic was on the Ten commandments.  About 2 years ago I posted Nora's first HERE so I guess now, I need to do the same.  And yes, one day you should expect Elise's first talk as well, but don't hold me to it!!  haha! :)

I am always impressed at how much input my little girls have  about their talk.  You would think that they have no idea what is going on, but they do.  I did help her write it, but she was sure to be very involved with it.

So here it goes, Audrey's first talk...

~Today I want to talk to you about the Ten Commandments

~The Prophet Moses went up the Mt. and spoke with GOD.  GOD gave him the Ten Commandments.  (She then held up her Visual Aid...the "original" Ten commandments...thanks, Daddy)

~They teach us how to obey GOD.

~The Ten Commandments teach us  LOVE for the Lord and LOVE for our fellow man.  (She then held up a heart shaped cut out)

~This week we are talking about Commandment #5, "Honor thy Mother and thy Father"  (she held up a picture of our family)

~We must remember to honor them throughout our whole lives.

~ I say these things In the name of Jesus Christ...Amen!

Ta Da....that was her talk!!  So in depth, right?? :)  She Loved every second she got to stand up at that podium!!  I was very proud of her!


In other church news I was extended a calling (positions in my church are called "callings" b/c they are voluntary and without pay) which I accepted, not without asking, "Are you sure you want me to do this?" and a giggle!  My new calling is the Chorister.  So I lead the whole church in song during our main service.  No, I do not wear a robe or anything like that.  I sit on the stage and when it's time for a hymn I simply stand and wave my arm to the count of the hymn.  Not hard, but WOW, my arm really does get tired.  I did this type thing about 5 years ago, but for the primary kids.  It was more about teaching the kids songs using visual aids and games than about directing them, but I guess that gives me experience.  Clearly no experience is needed to be the Church chorister, when after they asked me to do it, they asked, "Have you done anything like this before?"  lol!  I guess the good Lord has his reasons, so I just trusted that and went on my way!

When they first asked me to do it, I thought it would be no big deal b/c let be honest, who looks at the chorister anyway??  Well, appartently quite a few people do.  So far I've done it 2 Sundays and each week I've had people stop me in the hallway and tell me how good I'm doing, or how much they enjoy my smile while I'm up there (btw, I'm smiling b/c I keep messing up),  or how much they enjoy watching me interact with my family (apparently I smile and wink at them, and give them an occasional "thumbs up back to them...that's Audrey's thing), or even today someone told me they've never enjoyed singing the hymns so much!  Isn't that the sweetest?!?!  Seriously, I'm humbled by this experience already, I can't even express why I feel so humbled by it, but I just do.  Maybe I  matter after all and maybe the Lord does know what he's doing!! :)

Hope everyone had a amazing Sunday as well! :)

a new school year

Through all the chaos we dealt with this summer, a new school year was bound to start eventually, for us, it started early...like the FIRST week in August!!  That was fine with me, even though we were living out of a hotel room, it gave us a sense of some normality.  Nora INSTANTLY loved her teacher and it seems as though the feelings are mutual!

She loves school, but sometimes get a little sad b/c she can't have more play dates.  She get really tired too, between school starting at 7:30, her weekly art class, and her home work, she's worn out by the end of the week.  Just today, I had to run inside Nora's school (I had to get her jacket she left behind...shocker) and her teacher asked if she'd gotten enough sleep b/c she cried a couple times today, even something as little as she didn't know where her lunch box was (which, by the way, I told her she was eating school lunch today)  SO SAD!!  It doesn't surprise me, though.  I have a very VIVID memory of crying, ridiculously, in about 4th grade b/c I forgot my lunch $.  HA!  Like mother, like daughter!  Anyway,  It's shocking how much more homework she has in 1st grade the Kindergarten.  You can tell they want the kids to really start to "think" about the world around them why or how things work.  I'm very impressed with how well Nora is grasping this concept.

She pretty much wants to wear her hair in a pony tail everyday, I think it's b/c it's quick.  Apparently, braiding takes too long for her and that's fine with me! :)

We got her backpack from Lands End and she LOVES the pink and orange.  We hope to use this one for at least 2 years.

 

Nora and her teacher!

 Audrey started Joy School a couple weeks later.  I said I would NEVER do Joy school, basically, it's like homeschool preschool, but you do it with a couple other parents.  I only teach the last week of the month.  I just never felt like I needed it, all my girls LOVE going to a preschool.  A few of the mothers of kids in Audrey's sunday school asked me if I'd like to be a part of it.  I figured, why not?! It might be fun and it sure would save us some $$.  We're not actually doing "JOY SCHOOL" per se, one of the mothers in our group had a degree in early education, so she has pretty much developed a "cirriculum"!  But, I hear the real "Joy School" program is EXCELLENT!  Audrey LOVES it, it's always a deal to get her to leave when I pick her up. 

Audrey is VERY excited to go to Kindergarten and ride the bus in the mornings with her sister.  To be honest, I'm a little excited too.  She just get's bored and needs to be challenged more.  It seems that Kindergarten always starts at JUST the right time! :)

Elise is just floating along.  I'm gonna be honest, she is NAUGHTY, but it the most adorable way!  Seriously, she get's into EVERYTHING and makes constant messes.  You can just look at her and know she's trouble.  Her and her messy head of hear, seriously, I can't get her to keep a clip or bow in it for the LIFE of me!  Deep down though, I have to admit, she is pure joy!!  She makes me laugh SO much.  Cute little naughty girl! :)

FEET!!  Why do I love to take pictures of feet?  IDK!

These sweet little girls have been through so much, but I am so proud of how well they've handled so much transition.  Kids are so resilient!! They've really bonded from it too.  When they had no friends they had each other.  Don't get me wrong, they can sure fight like the best of 'em!  Geeze the squealing that goes on at our house sometimes...but they have each others back CONSTANTLY.  If one of them get's in trouble, Wade and I will get dirty looks or even a "talkin' to" by the other.  Just today Audrey was in trouble and Elise kept looking at me with an upset look saying, "Auhey, Auhey!" and then brought Audrey her blankie.  They take care of each other and it's just so dang cute!

Today I took pictured of Audrey's little class!  I admit, I felt a little bit rusty, It's the first time I've taken pics for others in MONTHS.  I made some stupid mistakes, but it felt good to be back! :) But, it's  free service I doing for our Free preschool, so no biggie!  haha! :)

This is my sweet Audrey...4 1/2 years old...I can't believe it!

Wade and I have settled in as well, too!  We finally moved into our house mid September and that was AWESOME.  You'll NEVER know how important having a home is until you don't have one.  I felt like I couldn't even discipline, there was no type of schedule, and forget saving any kind of $$ while living in hotel rooms and other peoples homes.  We're moved in, but I'm still trying to make it feel like home.  We have a lot more room than we've had before so it feels a little empty, but that will improve with time.   

Wade has been BUSTING his booty trying to whip our awesome house into shape.  He's fixed, cleaned, and painted our deck,  done COUNTLESS number small home improvements, started a garden, started working on our messy basement, and done lots of cleaning as well.  Poor guy never gets any rest.  He's definitely in store for a guys weekend! 

I've been busy just chasing these girls around and decorating this house, trying to hang all our pics, I've even made some curtains that I LOVE and am currently painting a round table to fit in our kitchenette. 

I'll have to post a BUNCH of before and afters later!!  I am slowly but surely starting a life here.  I've met some wonderful woman that I know will become good friends.   Restarting life just takes time, I'm hoping that our slow and frustrating start isn't any kind of indicator of how our life here will be.  haha! :)