Beginning of March

 The week of February 26-29 I put up and ran a book fair for the middle school. It was busy between classes and at lunch with students (who mostly wanted trinkets - aka junk). Tuesday and Wednesday was parent teacher conferences. The middle school does not typically have a great turnout for conferences so while I had some traffic in the book fair, it was so small compared to what I'm used to from Stricker. I talked to more of Kendal's teacher's than Pete's but both are doing well and getting good grades this quarter. I also found out that week that I was February's wordle champion in the middle school. (I'll have to take a picture of my trophy and add it later.) Each Wednesday the staff has a specific word to start wordle with and we try to beat each other with the least amount of tries. I ended up winning for February and will gladly enjoy my top spot for a month. I still try to beat Casey every day. It' honestly pretty split about who wins between the two of us each day. 

(this is the book fair broken down - wish I would've remembered a picture when it was set up.)

 

Because of conferences we had Friday, March 1 off of school. Peter got to go hang out with friends and make a movie in the rain. I caught up on cleaning the house since I had neglected it all week because I was at parent teacher conferences past 8 the two previous nights. Kendal got to go to a friend's birthday party Friday night. 

Saturday night I went on a friend's mini trip. We grabbed food and headed out to Miracle Hot Springs. It was a nice little break for the evening. Kendal and Casey went to a Stake Dance that Casey had to help decorate / chaperone / clean up. Kendal danced with a hand full of boys and had a fun time hanging out with friends. 

This past week Kendal and Peter got to go to the temple Tuesday night with the youth. Kendal wants to go more this year, and hopefully we can find more opportunities to get her there. 

Kendal got to go to Boise Wednesday on a field trip to an Art Museum. She enjoyed the museum and got to make a little creation of her own to bring home. She had a good time overall, but wasn't thrilled being stuck in a bus for over 4 hours that day.

Casey also left early Wednesday morning to a PBIS conference that was held in Chicago. He got to explore the city a bit each evening and hit some cool places to eat around the area - getting a bit turned around with the different "levels" that Chicago has above and below ground. 

On Wednesday he flew from Boise with 5 other teachers. After a stop in Salt Lake, they got to Chicago where they got on a train to get them to close to their hotel.  Their first night in Chicago meant deep dish pizza. It was delicious. 

Thursday morning they started the conference going to meetings till 5:00. Lunch was at a pancake shop and dinner was at a South African place called Nandos. Some exploring took them to Ghiradelli's for some ice cream and a different view of the city. Who knew Chicago had 2 layers of roads beneath the main level?? 

 

  

Friday morning meant breakfast at Yolk and more meetings. It rained a lot so lunch meant getting wet on the way to Billy Goat Tavern (and getting lost on the way), a neat historical place with connections to SNL and the Curse of the Cubs. After finishing the conference, dinner was at Brown Bag Seafood Company. A quick self guided tour of the city visiting the Bean (it was fenced off) and Lake Michigan, as well as some different views, finished the day.

In order to catch a plane, Saturday morning began at 3 am. An early morning walk, another train rides, security lines at the airport, and a quick walk to the right gate meant making it with 2 minutes to spare. A stop in Minneapolis and a couple hour layover meant lunch and some rest before the final flight to Boise and the drive home, exhausted and glad to be home. 

The kids and I got by, and went to work and school. I took them to Pizza Pie Cafe Friday evening for dinner. Kendal and Pete had gotten free kid's buffets from their basketball camp that they got to every Monday and Thursday. They have this week left in their camp and will start track next Monday (18th). 

Our random pictures. 

I'll label this oh Pete and our loose tooth beauty

Fresh hair cut for Mr. Pete and documenting a good hair day 

Had a morning chat with Casey while he was gone to Chicago and little spider lady

  

Full - Filled

 Alice had her 100th day of school on the 8th of February. She got to dress up (but refused makeup wrinkles) and go to school in her cozy robe all day! Alice had her well check this past week. She's in the 75 percentile for height, and 50th for weight at 50 lbs. She's growing like a weed, but is still a picky eater. This past week in school she had her first grade music performance. They've worked so hard on it, and she did a fantastic job with the songs and actions! I got to watch the dress rehearsal with the school kids and was so proud of Alice and the other first grade students on their great performance. 

 

Peter had his basketball tournament on the 10th. His team went into the tournament in second place out of all of the teams for the season. They got to skip the quarterfinals and were in a semi final game with a team they had already beat this year. Unfortunately they fell short in their game and didn't end up going to the finals as they had hoped. It was still a fantastic season with more wins then losses and growth for Peter! Peter and his buddy Austin built a winning (Popsicle stick) bridge for their stem class. He was so proud of his design and Austin even went home and tested it out by standing on it. 

Kendal decided it was time she needed to get her eyes checked out. She ended up with an appointment on Valentines day, and we came out with contacts that she tested for a week and a half, got the prescription adjusted this week, and we'll see if this set works well for her before we order more contacts and prescription glasses. Kendal goes to counseling every other week. She's learning more about her anxieties and ways to work through / help herself out. Her plate is full (executive counsel, SOS team, piano, and managing straight A grades). 

My days are full to say the least. Getting the household going / ready / off to school. Working two different jobs at two different places (When one of those jobs involves a whole school so that work gets squeezed in during the other job just to keep up with it all) (I also performed surgery on a broken laminator this month. Took the whole thing apart with the tech guy and ended up pronouncing it dead after finding the fuse had melted to the wiring and blew the circuit board.) after school shuffle of kids activities, managing a household, and kids' school work. After I put Alice to bed I go into study mode for my ABCTE test (I'll be taking part one next month), then going to bed. I am putting on a book fair this coming week, and spent Friday afternoon (after taking Kendal to her eye appt.) setting everything up. I feel maxed out most of the time, but try to keep in mind this won't last forever. 

Casey finished up basketball last weekend. Varsity got to go to State up in Boise so he left for a couple of days (came home early because the team lost both their first and second games). Casey's Sunday's are currently filled with all things Young Men's Presidency (they're in the midst of ward conferences, and he's got youth meetings, mission prep, etc. on his plate with that calling). On top of teaching (which he's so great - I know, I can hear him down the hall putting passion into his lessons ; ), he has different things he's managing in school being in multiple leadership positions, coaching, and planning his DC trip this summer. 

Our Valentine's Day was a full day. We spoiled each other with treats, and did the traditional heart attacking the kids' doors. The kids all went to the dentist earlier this month with good reports. Peter most likely be ready for braces by the end of this year when all of his teeth have come out and the permanent ones are all the way in. Alice has three loose teeth, but heaven knows when those will come out because she won't touch them. Kendal and Pete are in a basketball camp 2x a week for a month. They both have big shifts next year (Pete exits our little rec league and will try out for middle school basketball, and Kendal moves up to the high school teams). They both need a boost in their skills and we're hoping camps like these will be a good aid to help them reach their goals! Casey, Kendal and Pete will be starting track season in a few weeks. We didn't have a lot to report on these past few weeks, nevertheless our days seem to be full - grateful I could catch up for now. 

I'll call this - personal space - what's that?

 Pete and Casey went up for a ski day with the other 6th grade students on the 15th. Because it had snowed so much the previous week they had a lot of fresh powder. Casey wanted to venture out into the fun looking powder, but quickly learned that wasn't as much fun as it looked so he stayed on the more groomed and well traveled paths for the day. Pete had a blast with his buddies on the mountain and has had fun growing in his ski skills this year. 

I stole away to watch Casey's last home game on the 16th. It's always a treat to see Casey in his element coaching and encouraging the girls to play to their strengths and to give it their best. Casey had one of his best season's ever with 12 wins and 4 losses. He's proud of this team and all the hard work they've put in this year to come out on top. His season ended just over a week ago. This past week the JV and Varsity started districts. JV ended up winning both games and made #1 in districts. Varsity won one and lost one last week. They'll continue their district games this week with the hopes of getting to State (that will be next weekend). 

We had school cancelled on the 17th. The storm came in with a vengeance and we wouldn't have made it out that morning to work. The kids enjoyed a random snow day in their week. Casey and Pete plowed out a few houses. Besides Casey getting in an afternoon practice at the school we just had an easy going day at home. 

Pete's got to go to his friend Gage's house on the 19th for a party. They had pizza and got their scare on with a scary movie. His little friend group cracks me up trying to get their thrills in. That same night Casey and I had a staff party for the middle school teachers at the Brickhouse in Twin. We had a delicious dinner followed by games and conversation with our fellow staff / spouse's. It was a fun date night. I won for guessing which teachers said what in a game, and Casey's team won a round of "Family Feud." 

Pete has had games the last three Saturday's. His team won their game on the 20th! He made some baskets and played well. Last week on the 27th his team fought hard and ended up loosing by just a couple of points. Pete put in his best game yet! He was on point for defense and got in some shots to help his team out. It was the first loss of the season and the boys were disappointed. Yesterday was Pete's last regular season games before his tournament day this coming weekend. He finally got to go up against his best buddy Austin (funny enough, they're both #5 on their teams). His team was missing a couple of players and the other team was on a roll. Pete's team ended up losing by a bit. 

 

Kendal got to go up to Magic Mountain on the 20th for a free afternoon of cross country skiing with her friend Hope. She had a good time learning something new. She said she got bored of the little loop they went on, but had a good time anyway. 

Alice had her birthday party also on the 20th. I'm so bummed that I didn't take any pictures of her friends and the fun. Alice had Natalie, McCall, Sophie, and Emma over for her party. The girls made bracelets first and then decorated cookies. After presents we played games. Alice was so excited for her party, she spent the weeks leading up to her party begging to decorate and plan for her party. It was a messy chaos, but the girls had a great afternoon together! 

With the quarter ending this past month, Kendal and Peter got their grades in and Alice had parent teacher conferences. Kendal got a 4.0! She stresses and works so hard and were glad her efforts come out with such awesome grades! Peter got on the high honor roll. He's more casual than his sister when it comes to school and is not driven to get only A's, but he works hard and is doing so good in his classes. Kendal get's to be in Art and P.E. for third quarter, and Peter gets to be in Finance and Computer Basics this quarter. Alice continues to grow and impress us with her smarts and good scores at school. She's at a 4th grade reading level now and working on second grade work in Math and spelling. Her teacher would like her to talk less and listen better in class, but otherwise loves having Alice in her class. 

Kendal and Casey got to go up to ski for the 7th / 8th grade ski day on the 26th. It was overcast, but a nice day for them up on the hill. We had rain here, but nothing crazy. I had to attend a training in the morning, then I caught up on some work before I came home for the afternoon. Pete ran off to play and I hung out with Alice to play. 

It was the annual fundraiser / chili night at the high school Friday night so Casey took the older two to eat and see the games for the boy's last home game of the season. Alice opted out so we stayed home and had a chill evening playing / reading together before I put her to bed and studied for my ABCTE work. 

Nothing major happening to fill this post with anything else. Our days are full of school, work, basketball, church, and living life. Can't believe it's already February. Basketball ends this coming week for Pete and this or next week for Casey depending on how Varsity does finishing up districts. We'll get a tiny break in between sport seasons, and continue to do what we do! 

Sometimes they don't know how to leave each other alone.

Do I know anything about tech, not really, do I deal with the Middle School tech, yes, so fun. . . broken computer # 12 this year. 

Little lady decided to scare her brother and his friends.

Basketball parent life.

 My January bulletin board (the bear once held a book, it fell off).