For the past four weeks we have been studying the Civil War and hopefully I will get some time to add a few pictures, but until then...here is our daily calendar:
Monday, September 16 - Jared is really doing well in his art class, we had book group for Little Britches.
Tuesday, September 17 - Jared had writing workshop and drama (they are going to perform A Suessification of Romeo and Juliet). Clarissa had tutoring and Jared had soccer.
Wednesday, September 18 - During some free time the girls dressed Seth up in some of their pretty dresses, he thought he was so cute! I had a Presidency meeting, Amber had dance class and for Young Women's we made a plan for the YW in Excellence program and did Personal Progress interviews. The girls also filled out talent and interest surveys so we know what their interest are for activities.
Thursday, September 19 - For Friend School we did the letter "T" for train. We also learned about weather like Thunderstorms and Tornados and made windsocks. Krystal went to workshop, Jared and Krystal had piano, Clarissa had tutoring, the girls had dance and Jared had soccer. Chris is still in China, so I am running around super busy. At 7 we had a Relief Society meeting and I taught the portion about how to prepare children for General Conference.
Friday, September 20 - In the morning we went to Wal-mart to pick up Krystal and Clarissa's glasses. They both love them. After lunch we went on a hike to the Shot Tower and Foster Falls. It was a lot of fun, a little wet, but a great nature hike. Jared worked on his foam board airplane and we had a dumpling making party with Christine and Beryl and a fun Chinese dinner with the Brames and some of the Hales. The food came out pretty good this time.Cailin spent the night.
Saturday, September 21 - At 7:30 in the morning I had a young women's meeting with Cailin and Beryl and my Presidency to plan our upcoming activities for the next 6 months. We planned through March, it was great. The girls all went swimming at the Christiansburg Aquatic Center and I took Jared to get a milkshake and then go shop for some church clothes and get his suit tailored. The tailors were from China, we thought that was so funny that we were taking his Chinese suit that we should have gotten tailored in China to some Chinese tailors in America and paying way too much for it.
Sunday, September 22 - I had Ward Council meeting in the morning so the kids went to Christine's house.
Monday, September 23 - Jared had art in the morning and in the afternoon we had the Civil War kickoff at our house. Amber Walker was in charge. We talked about how the Latter Day Saints were involved in the War. We also played a game-show type game to learn about the War.
Tuesday, September 24 - Workshop, drama, tutoring, and soccer. Visited Donna Burkett to ask about her sons baptism.
Wednesday, September 25 - I went shopping in the morning to get ingredients to make my Dad's green jell-o. Presidency meeting, dance, and Young Women's. I visited Jamie Zander outside in the rain and invited her girls to Krystal's party. For Young Women's we shared family stories and family recipes. The food was good and the stories were funny. Rosa and Lily Salamanca came!
Thursday, September 26 - We did "S" for soldiers. For science we did soil and made worm habitats. They loved the worms. We ate dirt pie for snack and Seth loved the chocolate pudding and made a huge mess! Workshop, piano, tutoring, dance, and soccer.
Friday, September 27 - I surprised the kids by taking them skating for Krystal's birthday. She turned 9! The girls made cookies with Michelle Atkins, our neighbor. At 5:30 we had Krystal's birthday party. The kids rode the wagon down the hill, painted each other's faces, played pin the glasses or crown on the princess, etc. Vicki and I chatted while the girls played, it was low key and fun. That night we picked Chris up from the airport! Yay!
Saturday, September 28 - There was a Stake Youth Activity at Randolph Park. Rosa, Lily, and Hannah Jarrell all came, along with Cailin, Mikayla, and Beryl! Chris took the van over to the Smiths and replaced the bearings. At 3 we went to Isaiah's baptism. Chris's parents showed up after the baptism and then at 5 we all went to the Brames for an Autumn Moon Festival dinner party. I made Chinese egg tarts. At 7:30 we went to the church for pie and to watch the Relief Society Broadcast.
Sunday, September 29 - Fast Sunday. Chris was ordained as the 2nd Counselor in the Bishopric and ordained to the office of a High Priest by his dad. We had birthday cake for Bill and Krystal.
Monday, September 30 - Jared had art and in the afternoon we went to the Walkers for a group activity about the Underground Railroad. I was in charge of the activity and invited Sis.Campbell to come tell us about her Underground Railroad quilt. Then we did a treasure hunt with clues and activities to learn about different ways the slaves hid on the Underground Railroad. I took dinner over to Nicki Watson because she recently had surgery, I enjoyed talking with her for a while. For Family Home Evening Chris did a power point presentation about our apostles in preparation for General Conference.
Tuesday, October 1 - Workshop, drama, tutoring, and soccer. Chris is happy to be back coaching the team.
Wednesday, October 2 - Nicki Watson came over in the morning and hung out with us while we did school. We talked about what to do for projects. Presidency meeting, dance and YW. For Young Women's we wanted to do a service project so working with Barry Hale we found a lady that needed her bushes trimmed. The young men came to help us too, but it got dark really early and the power trimmers wouldn't work. It wasn't the best activity, but Rosa and Lily and Meredith came along with Beryl, Cailin and Mikayla.
Thursday, October 3 - Today we did "U" is for uniform and the kids loved dressing up like soldiers and policemen. For science we learned about fish and snails in aquariums and went to April Turner's house to look at their aquarium. The rest of the day was workshop, piano, tutoring, dance and soccer. I talked with the Sister missionaries at the park and gave them a referral. During dance, I went to got visit the Garcias and had a nice chat with Lupita and Noberto.
Friday, October 4 - We drove to Staunton to attend the home school days event at the Frontier Culture Museum. It was so neat. They had farmsteads from different countries and time periods. There was an African, English, Irish, and German farm and three different American farms with working animals, garden, and games and activities for the kids. The Hales almost got in an accident on the way there with Jared in the car, we were all so blessed that nothing happened, but they did have to fill out police reports for being witnesses.
Saturday, October 5 - General Conference. As a Bishopric member, Chris needed to be at the church for General Conference, but we watched the first session at home. We tried something new this year (an idea I found while planning for the class I taught), we ran a concessions stand and the kids earned tokens for each talk they listened to quietly. They also had many activities to work on. The internet didn't work very well, so we went to the church for the afternoon session. We fed the missionaries for dinner.
Sunday, October 6 - We attended both sessions of conference at the church. This General Conference focused a lot on missionary work. There were also several good talks about morality and the sanctity of the family.
Monday, October 7 - Jared had art in the morning and we had Presentations after lunch. Jared chose not to do a presentation and lost his computer privileges. Amber did a presentation about the animals in the Civil War. Clarissa did a report on Clara Barton and Krystal did her project about the food that was eaten during the Civil War. We had fun making Johnny cakes and hardtack.
Tuesday, October 8 - workshop, drama (Jared auditioned for parts last week and found out he is going to be Benvolio), tutoring, and soccer.
Wednesday, October 9 - Presidency meeting, dance, and Young Women's. It was Joint activity for the YM and YW. Finn McKinley planned a great activity called "Avoiding the Fiery Darts of the Adversary." The leaders threw tennis balls at the youth and the youth had to deflect the balls with racquets. They loved it! The bishopric also did temple recommend interviews for the upcoming temple trip. Rosa, Lily, Hannah, Beryl, Cailin, and Mikayla are all planning to attend!
Thursday, October 10 - We did "D" for drums. The kids first learned about the dessert with Jared and then we made drums and did fun activities. Jared has been busy the last couple days making duct tape wallets and purses to sell as a fundraisers for his drama class. Workshop, piano, tutoring, dance and during dance I took Amber and Seth to the Morgans house for Kendrick Bird's birthday party. It was fun to just talk with adults and not be in charge of anything :). I also visited with Angie Jarrell again that day and took Chris to meet her.
Friday, October 11 - We had a picnic lunch at the Clebourne Wayside and learned about the battle of Cloyd's mountian. It was a small battle during the Civil War, but it is really close to where we live. It is so neat to be living where such an important part of history happened. In the evening we had a birthday party for Jared. His friends came over for a campout, campfire sleepover. We had hot dogs and then they played capture the flag with glow sticks for like 4 hours in the dark. The cake was really cool, I made a S'mores cake with a campfire on top!
Saturday, October 12 - Jared and Clarissa worked at the Newburn Fall Festival for the drama class fundraiser. Chris and I did some yarkwork at home. Then I took the kids to pick out pumpkins at the festival when I picked up Jared and Clarissa. That evening Chris and I attended the adult session of Stake Conference then got milkshakes afterwards. Jared and Clarissa did a great job of watching Seth.
Sunday, October 13 - In the morning we had Ward Council, we are to make some goals about conversion, activation, and retention. It was Stake Conference, there was a lot more talk about missionary work. We had Rebecca and Ryan Brittle over for dinner with their two cute little kids. They are in our ward for a short time and then will be moving out, but it was still nice to meet them.
Monday, October 14 - Jared had art and in the afternoon we had book group for the book, "Shades of Gray." It was a good book about the Civil War. Hannah Jarrell started attending seminary!!
Tuesday, October 15 - Jared is 14! Happy Birthday Jared you get to spend your day at school...workshop and drama. Clarissa started her first day of the after school program after tutoring. She loved it. Jared had a soccer game in the evening and wore his American bandana to celebrate it being his birthday. Chris took him for a milkshake after we got home and ate dinner.
Wednesday, October 16 - Took Amber to dance and picked up Cailin for a Presidency meeting. We made our goals and planned for the Nov. Career Fair and the Trunk or Treat. For Young Women's we played basketball games. It was fun and Cailin did a good job planning the games.
Thursday, October 17 - "F" is for Flag and Five Senses. The kids made fingerprint flag and did activities using their five senses. Then, workshop, piano, tutoring and afterschool program cut short for dance, then soccer. During dance, I picked up Cailin and she and I visited with the Salamancas and Garcias. It went well, we delivered invites for YW in Excellence and gave them some flowers.
Friday, October 18 - We took another field trip, this time to the New Market Battlefield. We did the School of the Soldiers tour and it was great. Jared went to the Bi-Stake campout and the rest of us had dinner at the McKinleys to talk about China because Jack will be going there soon for his work.
Saturday, October 19 - Housework, getting Halloween Costumes and then a work party at the bowling alley. I am hoping this will be a great missionary opportunity.
When people ask how things are going, I just respond that we are really busy! We are all enjoying our various activities and having a lot of success with learning and friends and our spiritual progression. Life is good. The biggest problems right now are that the house is always a mess, although we do clean it occasionally in between running around and that Seth still wakes up at night (he also got a huge bump on his forehead at the McKinleys, just in time for Halloween pictures!).
