Here it is almost the last day of January. I still haven't blogged October yet! Time to dust off the old blog and get going again.
Just this morning we scheduled Hyrum's Endowment and checked to make sure the date we picked for his unfarewell was going to work. It's all really happening! We ordered a few pairs of garments and some Temple clothes a few days ago. It's all very exciting! I've looked forward to bringing my kids to the Temple since I brought them along in my tummy, and now it's really going to happen. Last time we went (last Friday) Jeremy was commenting about how Hyrum will soon be kind of bouncing around the Celestial Room grinning ear to ear quite soon. So true. He will. I cannot wait. It's a good consolation to me that I get to be there for that before I have to send him so far away.
Hyrum's been looking for a job for months but hasn't found anything where he's applied. Just this week, though, the lady Jeremy and Joshua minister to asked Hyrum to come and clean her yard. He's worked at it for about 11 hours now, and I think he'll finish up tomorrow. And that sweet lady fed him lunch both days and recommended him to a friend, who will now have him clean her yard too. It's been wonderful for Hyrum. He's felt so frustrated being home all the time with nothing to do. Maybe we can spread the word through the Relief Society and find some more people who can give him work. He got his diploma today! Exciting!!
Joshua amazes me. Just two semesters ago I was reminding him every time it was time to go to class, and prodding him to do his homework. But with the GED he prodded himself to study. He found what he needed to learn and learned it. And now he's doing all he needs to without my prodding. He is making it to Seminary on time every day, I believe, and to all his classes. He's doing his work. It's great. I'm very proud of him. This semester the drama department is putting on Little Shop of Horrors (I had to watch that in Intro to Drama in college, and I HATED it.), and so Joshua's graphic design class is having a competition to design the posters for it. Joshua is a little excited about that. He still practices drawing a lot. Our friend Verdes sent him some neat pens that he has enjoyed using.
Benji gets a little better every semester at keeping on top of his schoolwork. He was only late on one assignment so far, and that's pretty good. His grades are looking really good right now. Benji has been thinking about taking the GED when he's 16 and the going to college. He wants to be sure to be able to do band, drama, and Seminary, and I'm sure he could do all of those. He could do the college band if he wanted. The college also has a children's theater group that does plays for kids up to ten and then another group for teens, so he could do those plays. And of course we can work in Seminary too. I'm just not sure about the timetable of all this. We might encourage him to do one more year of high school. He'll be 16 this December. I'm not sure what kind of degree he wants, and he's not either, but he could get generals done.
Michael is a funny boy. His hair is getting long and is really curly. Usually when it's this long he asks me to cut it, but right now it's keeping his head warm, so he doesn't want me to. I suppose I can be lenient. Michael also wants to start college. I want him to at least finish middle school. He wants to be a doctor, and he's really excited about starting. Aaron teaches mostly nursing students these days (human anatomy and microbiology, that sort of thing), and Michael is excited to take his classes. I tell Michael that that sort of degree is a heavy one, lots of work, but I think he'll want to stick with it. We shall see. And of course, he, Joshua, and Benji need to do the coursework for their homeschool diploma. Joshua'd better get cracking. I want that to be done before he goes on his mission.
Jill's filling in her front tooth broke out again on Saturday, just in time for us to go to a Burk family get-together for Becca being in town and for Benji's ordination. Poor girl had to go to the get-together, church, AND school with her broken tooth. On Monday at 4 we were finally able to get the tooth taken care of. This time the dentist took his time and wrapped around the whole tooth, kind of like a veneer. It should last longer, and it looks great. She still has to wait until the tooth has grown in all the way to get a permanent cap. That won't be until she's about 14. Poor girl. Overall, though, she's doing good. She really struggles at school because she gets distracted. I'm not sure it's the best place for her. We've considered pulling her out again, but not in the middle of the school year. She's been really happy most of the time, and I don't regret putting her in this year. But next year the expectations will be greater, and though her teacher can adjust her assignments this year, I don't know if they will next year. It's just hard to know. I may have her just try for a month next year to see how she does. The truth is, she can do most of the work. She has no trouble getting the math homework done that comes home. And her reading has really improved. But her grades still struggle because she can't keep up with the work at school. It's just hard being a mom. You don't always know if you made the right choice.
I have to insert something here that I read in a book I just finished. "The Koran says Allah is in the East and the West, therefore wherever you turn there is Allah's purpose." Isn't that beautiful? Sometimes I've thought about studying the Koran. Most of the quotes I've heard from it have been beautiful truth. It makes me think that at their core, Muslims aren't so very far off. It's at the outlying things like Sharia Law that they are off, and most of the Muslims probably don't embrace those. Most of them are normal people trying to have a normal life.
Timmy is getting good grades at school. He's still drawing often. He wants to make video games. I have no idea how to help him there. But quite often in church he's sitting there drawing crazy things and giggling. Shhh! XD Anyway, it helps every now and then when he's bouncing around the house all crazy to go for a run at the track. I need to take him more often. Lately one of the only things he wants to do when his homework is done is play on one of his brothers' devices, and they usually won't let him, so he whines for the rest of the evening. It drives me crazy. I still always wonder if keeping him back a year was good for him. Socially I usually say absolutely. Otherwise, I don't know. He's doing great, reading at the same level as Jill pretty much. He hates going to school in the morning sometimes. Sometimes I have to pick him up and carry him to his classroom where I have to wrestle him through the door because he doesn't want to go, but he's always happy at the end of the day, and he always has something happy to tell me about what he learned. So in the end, at least I know making him go to school that day was the right choice. Ha ha!
You should see Bubby reading! I wish you could all sit and listen to him reading scriptures. It's simply amazing. I sometimes wonder if he understands the words he's reading. He probably understands most of them. I always wonder if I should try to teach him the kindergarten math so he can go to first grade next year, but I hate to rush him, and I think he'd like kindergarten. Hard to know. I don't want to hold him back and have him bored. But there would be things other than reading to learn in kindergarten. I'll probably just go that route with him. I just kind of want to giggle with fiendish glee when I think about the teachers testing his skills. XD
And Henry's talking is coming right along. I need to post my list of Henry-isms before he grows out of all of them. It's always sad when they learn the correct way to say things. You're glad, but it also means they're growing. Dang it! Henry won't let me leave him in Primary for singing time, but he does go to his class by himself. I bet soon I will be able to go to a whole class time of my own. I still need to potty train him. I've been putting it off. Sigh. It's a big commitment. Henry likes to be doing what his big brothers are doing, though, so maybe I can play off of that. I should get him some treats and get going. I do think he's ready. I also often wonder if he's autistic. 3 reasons:
1. Speech delay
2. He spends long periods of time lining up his cars or blocks and getting super frustrated if they get moved.
3. He gets obsessive about things and carries them around and won't let other people touch them. He will sleep with his "hoot dun." (shoot gun)
And with that I'd better go get kiddos from activity days and scouts.
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