Tim with our nieces.
Monday was memorial day. I started out the morning by taking my brother, Marshall, to the airport. Soon after my brother Gus and his family left my parents' house. It was so good to see everyone and spend the weekend with them. I spent most of the rest of the day helping my mom clean up from the wedding reception. We had all sorts of piles of decorations in the living room. Each pile to be returned to another person.
On Monday evening Spencer and I officially started our triathlon training. This week we have biked 36.5 miles, ran 6.2 miles, and swam 0.25 mile. Spencer is either going to kill me or whip me into shape. I just feel bad that I'm holding him up.
Tuesday I substituted at North Fremont where I taught my first two years after college. It was fun to see the school, staff, and students again. I substituted for middle school English. I was reminded why I'm not an English teacher and was shocked at how talkative and energetic these Caucasian middle schoolers are. Word that the jump rope teacher was back spread through the building quickly and soon the principal was down in my room to say hi and plans were made for me to teach jump rope to the 6th grade P.E. class.
I also substituted on Wednesday for the art teacher. This one was much different because it was all high school kids. I had all of the students in the past. It was fun to see them again, but they were way less talkative and interested in me than the middle school students were. I think my favorite part of the substituting was seeing all of the faculty again.
While I was subbing on Tuesday and Wednesday Tim was in Rexburg working on his new diet and exercise plan as well as getting a head start on grad school. I hope we both end the summer being healthier and smarter. (Well at least Tim will be smarter . . . I don't have a whole lot planned in that category.)
Thursday my sister Karen brought her three girls over. She and her husband Brad wanted to take the advantage of grandparents and aunts and uncles to properly celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. Grandma was nice enough to do the sitting on Thursday night so Tim and I could go to jump rope practice and see all the kids we used to coach. It was really good to see them but I always feel bad for distracting them during practice. Later that night we went to North Fremont for graduation. The freshman from my first year teaching were graduating. It was amazing how much I remembered about each kid. I felt like I had been their teacher yesterday. I did feel a little bit bad that I didn't go up and talk to each of them after graduation, but I just feel super awkward in situations like that and it felt more comfortable to talk to the faculty and then leave.
Friday morning I went swimming with Spencer and Rachel Powell. It was the first time I had been swimming in almost a year. I have a long ways to go before I can swim an entire 1/2 mile. Good thing I have 2 months of training before the triathlon.
Most of the rest of the day was spent watching the Wilding girls. Managing meals, snacks, nap times, and play times. It was really fun to spend some time with our nieces and I realized how much work it really is to take care of kids all day. We did have one poopy accident, that contributed to a visit to the temple being postponed for 3 hours. After a bath and a change of clothes, it was all taken care of. Luckily the Rexburg temple has frequent sessions, so it really didn't hurt us too much to get a bit off schedule.
It was really nice to finally get to go to the temple again. The last time Tim and I had been in the vicinity of a temple was at Christmas time and before that it was last summer. One thing I really miss about living in Togiak is being able to go to the temple during a 9 month span of time.
My Saturday was completed dedicated to playing mommy. In fact the Wilding girls called me mommy on several occasions and it didn't even phase them. I was very grateful when bedtime came and Tim took me to the movies. We went to see the Hunger Games. It was our first movie theater visit in a year. We both really enjoyed the movie. I thought it was done well. It was fairly true to the book and managed to be less graphic than the book, but still portray the meanings.
Today Tim and I took all three girls to church with just the two of us. I don't know how any parents are able to get much out of church with little kids and these kids were really well behaved. I know that Karen and Brad have a rule that they must stay on the bench. The older two did an excellent job of following this rule and were very happy and willing to go to their classes. The youngest was squirmy and I felt like I was wrestling her for 3 hours. However, I did survive the entire church day with 3 kids aged 4 and younger. From this experience I have learned that I don't want to adopt 3 children all at one time. I would prefer to take them one at a time. It sounds better to ease into something like that.
On Monday evening Spencer and I officially started our triathlon training. This week we have biked 36.5 miles, ran 6.2 miles, and swam 0.25 mile. Spencer is either going to kill me or whip me into shape. I just feel bad that I'm holding him up.
Tuesday I substituted at North Fremont where I taught my first two years after college. It was fun to see the school, staff, and students again. I substituted for middle school English. I was reminded why I'm not an English teacher and was shocked at how talkative and energetic these Caucasian middle schoolers are. Word that the jump rope teacher was back spread through the building quickly and soon the principal was down in my room to say hi and plans were made for me to teach jump rope to the 6th grade P.E. class.
I also substituted on Wednesday for the art teacher. This one was much different because it was all high school kids. I had all of the students in the past. It was fun to see them again, but they were way less talkative and interested in me than the middle school students were. I think my favorite part of the substituting was seeing all of the faculty again.
While I was subbing on Tuesday and Wednesday Tim was in Rexburg working on his new diet and exercise plan as well as getting a head start on grad school. I hope we both end the summer being healthier and smarter. (Well at least Tim will be smarter . . . I don't have a whole lot planned in that category.)
Thursday my sister Karen brought her three girls over. She and her husband Brad wanted to take the advantage of grandparents and aunts and uncles to properly celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. Grandma was nice enough to do the sitting on Thursday night so Tim and I could go to jump rope practice and see all the kids we used to coach. It was really good to see them but I always feel bad for distracting them during practice. Later that night we went to North Fremont for graduation. The freshman from my first year teaching were graduating. It was amazing how much I remembered about each kid. I felt like I had been their teacher yesterday. I did feel a little bit bad that I didn't go up and talk to each of them after graduation, but I just feel super awkward in situations like that and it felt more comfortable to talk to the faculty and then leave.
Friday morning I went swimming with Spencer and Rachel Powell. It was the first time I had been swimming in almost a year. I have a long ways to go before I can swim an entire 1/2 mile. Good thing I have 2 months of training before the triathlon.
Most of the rest of the day was spent watching the Wilding girls. Managing meals, snacks, nap times, and play times. It was really fun to spend some time with our nieces and I realized how much work it really is to take care of kids all day. We did have one poopy accident, that contributed to a visit to the temple being postponed for 3 hours. After a bath and a change of clothes, it was all taken care of. Luckily the Rexburg temple has frequent sessions, so it really didn't hurt us too much to get a bit off schedule.
It was really nice to finally get to go to the temple again. The last time Tim and I had been in the vicinity of a temple was at Christmas time and before that it was last summer. One thing I really miss about living in Togiak is being able to go to the temple during a 9 month span of time.
My Saturday was completed dedicated to playing mommy. In fact the Wilding girls called me mommy on several occasions and it didn't even phase them. I was very grateful when bedtime came and Tim took me to the movies. We went to see the Hunger Games. It was our first movie theater visit in a year. We both really enjoyed the movie. I thought it was done well. It was fairly true to the book and managed to be less graphic than the book, but still portray the meanings.
Today Tim and I took all three girls to church with just the two of us. I don't know how any parents are able to get much out of church with little kids and these kids were really well behaved. I know that Karen and Brad have a rule that they must stay on the bench. The older two did an excellent job of following this rule and were very happy and willing to go to their classes. The youngest was squirmy and I felt like I was wrestling her for 3 hours. However, I did survive the entire church day with 3 kids aged 4 and younger. From this experience I have learned that I don't want to adopt 3 children all at one time. I would prefer to take them one at a time. It sounds better to ease into something like that.
