April 2012 in Review

(I'm not sure why I just stopped writing monthly review posts. I totally skipped December-March. Ah, well. Onward and upward.)

April 2012 highlights: "Easter" dinner at my mom's house was a week before Easter this year; we had Wasabi Ranch chicken wings for Easter dinner at our house; our water heater was on its last leg; I took all the kids to Jump On It (one of those filled-with-trampoline warehouse places) and bought a Pass of All Passes for each of them (for stuff to do this summer); my credit card number got stolen and used for online gambling in some foreign country so I had to get a new one. In more specific, person-centered news:

~My mother-in-law moved into a condo about a half-mile away from us. Kendell spent a lot of time helping her get settled in, doing stuff like installing blinds and replacing smoke alarms and rewiring electricity. It is much nicer having her so close because if she needs help she is two minutes away instead of thirty. Plus she totally lucked into a great spot, with all-new everything inside.

~In addition to helping his mom, Kendell finished two more college courses, tech management and geology. Two classes closer to his degree! He also suffered through a month of high pollen count.

~Haley went to San Diego for her choir tour. She went to prom on the day she turned 17. She did lots of homework, finished reading Old Man and the Sea and started reading Hamlet, and got great scores on tests and essays. The choir she is in at school, Con Brio, got all 1's at their choir festival, which means they get to go on to the State choir festival.

~Jake went to track nearly every single day after school. He had two track meets, neither of which I could go to which made me sad. (Trying to save up vacation hours for a fun summer trip = I have to miss some other things right now.) Despite the fact that his school doesn't have a high jump coach, he finally made it over 5'2"! He had state testing at school. Got sick with the stomach flu and then, a week later, a fevery cold. He got a new pair of Vans.

~Nathan also had state core testing. His sixth-grade class put on the play Annie and he was the stage manager. He went on a camp out at the Dugway geode beds. He spent tons of time helping out at his grandma's new place. Along with Jake and Kaleb, he went to Take Your Kid to Work Day at Novell with Kendell. And, after much agonizing, he decided that yes, he will sing in his school's talent show this month, so he started practicing his song.

~Kaleb's teacher came back to school after taking February and March off to spend time with her newly adopted baby; all discipline problems promptly ceased. He got the stomach flu (but no fevery cold!). He spent every single possible second he could playing outside, which is his favorite thing to do. He went to a birthday party for his cousin Jace and started learning multiplication in math. (It's strange...he's still struggling with addition and subtraction but multiplication is coming so easily for him.) He played soccer so much that he wore out his ball.

~I got my hair colored. I went to dinner with my friend Chris. I turned forty and had a surprise party (the only one I've ever had, tee hee). I felt sick for almost the entire month, but I think I've finally figured out why. I read the books Feed, Bud, Not Buddy; I tried but failed to finish The Marriage Plot and The Flame Alphabet. (loved the former but ran out of time and couldn't renew because of the hold list; renewed the latter 3 times but just ended up hating it.) I ran lots of hills, baked 4 cakes, made 5 scrapbook layouts, painted my toenails blue, and bought myself a white denim jacket.

Comments

[Wendy]

And . . . why do you think you feel sick? :)

[Melissa Kaiserman]

I just caught up on the last month of your blog. I've missed it! (I've missed my blog as well, but that's another story.) Glad you're feeling better and have an idea of what was causing it.

I just put Bud, Not Buddy on hold at the library. I think I'll read it aloud to my 11 y.o. and 9 y.o. Thanks for bringing it to my attention! :)

[Helena]

I've got Feed but haven't read it yet. Did you like it?