Evan's 12th Birthday

Evan turned 12 this year.  That is a big age to turn.  Now he is old enough to graduate from primary and be ordained a deacon.  He also gets to participate in church youth activities.  

Evan's birthday was a bit of a crazy day.  I went to Vancouver (mentioned in previous post) and we also had the missionaries over for dinner.  We had pizza for dinner and then after the missionaries left Evan opened his presents.  He was a tough one to buy for this year.  There wasn't much he really wanted. So for his main gifts he got some Minecraft legos, a remote control helicopter and some money.

 

 

After opening his presents we sang happy birthday and he blew out his candles.  He wanted to have raspberry crisp for his "cake" again this year.  

 

 

It is hard to believe Evan is 12 now.  It doesn't seem like it was too long ago that he was a very trying and difficult 2 year old.  Now he is such an even tempered, well behaved and all around great kid.  We are so grateful to have him in our family.

Christmas Lights, a mall trip & Parent Teacher Conferences

On Saturday, the 23rd we had a nice dry and sunny day, so Kirk decided to start working on putting the Christmas lights up on the house.   It was pretty cold, though.  Evan is always his official helper on these types of projects because he enjoys doing it.  Kirk also put the studded tires on the van, since we will be driving to Boise next week.

 

Whitney picking out the front door.

Monday the 25th (which was also Evan's birthday) Shannon, Whitney and I made a trip to Vancouver for a shopping trip with my sister.  Shannon has been wanting to go to the mall, so we decided to go to Vancouver mall and spend the day with Steph and Maycee.  It was a fun trip.  Shannon was able to buy a couple of things with some money she got for her birthday.  We ate lunch at the mall and had fun spending the day together.

Tuesday, I had parent teacher conferences to go to for my three elementary age kids.  I was bad and didn't go to the high school ones.  (I just didn't have the time to visit 14 teachers by myself because we were also preparing for our Thanksgiving trip to Boise and having a birthday party for Evan.)  We went to Evan's conference first.  The 6th graders change classes so he had two teachers I had to visit.  Both teachers only had good things to say about him and he has straight A's at this point.  Then we went to Whitney's she is also doing well and doesn't have any areas that she is struggling in.  Last we went to Lauren's.  She is doing well also.  Math is usually the subject she struggles the most with, but she seems to be doing really well with it this year.  She scored at the high end of normal or above normal on the three different math standardized tests she took.  It is always nice to hear how well my kids are doing in school.  

My First Day of Work

My first day of work ended up being on Thursday, November 21st.  The lady who is my supervisor wasn't going to be ready for me to start until Thursday.  (Originally I was going to start on Wednesday).  So I worked two days (Thursday & Friday) and then had a week off for Thanksgiving.  My first day went well.  The first half hour I met with the "math coach" and she explained what I would be doing and gave me a a crash course on teaching a Key Math lesson. 

They have this new program called Key Math and that is eventually what I will be teaching.  Right now they are still getting the program up and running, so until it is ready I will be working with low level math kids on activities that the teachers want me to do.  

I took my first selfy right before going to work.  I thought I should document this monumental day in my life.  I look pretty official with my lovely picture that I get to wear everyday.

After my crash course on Key Math the math coach took me around to meet the teachers I will be working with.  Then she turned me loose to begin my new work schedule.  I wasn't able to go into my normal first class because I was being oriented during that time, so I started on my second class.  I worked on some basic addition with one little boy the whole time.  My third class I go in is Whitney's class and then my last class is with a teacher that Tyler had clear back in second grade.  While I was in my last class the fire alarm went off, so I got to participate in a fire drill with them.  Lots of fun and excitement for my first day.

My first two days I mostly worked on counting with kids.  They were suppose to be able to count to 120 by the beginning of October and their are still a few kids who haven't reached that benchmark.  I enjoyed my first couple of days and the time sure passes quickly while I am there.

Field Trip to the Fire Station

Walking to the fire station

The week of the 18th was a pretty busy one for me, but it was also a good week.  Monday I went in to the school district office to get all the paperwork done for my new job.  When I got there the human resources lady wasn't ready for me, so I had to go back the next day.

Tuesday I did some visiting teaching first thing in the morning.  Then I headed back over to the district office.  I got all the paperwork done and my badge/ID that I have to wear in the school building.  It took over an hour to get everything done.  I think my head was swimming with all the info they were giving me and I was hoping I could remember what I needed to.

After leaving the district office, I ran over to McD's to grab some lunch real quick and then headed over to the school.  Whitney's teacher asked me to go on a field trip to the fire station with them.  The fire station is about a block behind the school, so it was a walking field trip.  The teacher was at the front of the line and I brought up the rear.  The walk over and back was interesting because little kids don't just walk.  The walk on the curb, twirl in circles, hop, skip, you name it, so I had to help keep them on track and moving in the right direction.   

At the fire station the firemen had the kids watch a video on fire safety.  Then they took them out to the big garage to see the trucks.  They got to go in an ambulance an two fire trucks.  They also took them upstairs to see the living quarters.  It was fun.  I don't think I have ever toured a fire station.

Whitney just got out of the fire truck

I borrowed Evan's camera and the indoor pictures turned out kind of blurry.

Whitney & Alexis

Walking back to the school.  Whitney's teacher is in the white coat.

  After the tour we headed back to the school.  We got back only about 15 minutes before dismissal time.  I have had fun volunteering in Whitney's class for the last 7 weeks, with my new job I won't be able to "volunteer" anymore, but I will be working in her class everyday for 30 minutes. 

I Got a Job!

I mentioned a few posts ago that I applied for a job at the elementary school, where my kids go to school.  I pretty much knew I was going to be interviewed for the job because the principal called me on October 30th to tell me they changed the hours of the job and wanted to know if I was still interested.  She also told me that she definitely wanted to interview me.  I received an e-mail on November 12th from the principal asking me if I was available Thursday morning at 10:40 for an interview.  I was really nervous about it.  I don't think I have ever had to interview for a job.  I think all my previous jobs didn't require an interview.  Plus I haven't had a job in over 18 years that's a long time.

I went in for my interview Thursday morning.  I really wasn't sure how to answer some of the questions, but just did my best.  The principal told me they would call and let me know that afternoon.  After the interview I kept second guessing myself and saying I really should have answered that question this way instead of the way I did.  Around 2pm I got a phone call from the principal letting me know that I got the job.  I will be working 2 hours a day as a math instructional assistant in the first grade classes.  I will spend 30 minutes in each of the 1st grade classrooms. 

Lauren and Whitney were excited that I would be working at their school.  Lauren was disappointed that I wasn't working with the 4th grade classes.  They also hired an assistant for fourth grade.

Friday I had to go in an do a drug test.  That was an interesting experience.  They sure make you jump through a lot of hoops, so you can't cheat on the test.  I was glad to get that over with.  On Monday I went into the office to get all the technical stuff and paper work done.

It is kind of weird to think that I have a part time job now.  I am excited about it, but also a little nervous about my first day next week - November 20th.

Veteran's Day

Everybody had the day off for Veteran's Day.  It was a beautiful day weather wise - sunny and fairly warm for November anyway.  We decided to go for a little outdoor adventure.  Evan had to find 10 different animals for scouts, so we used our outing to help him accomplish that goal.  We drove down to Westport and rode the ferry across the river.  The two older kids didn't want to some with us, so we took Kirk's little car.  

 

It was a little breezy on the ferry as it always is.  Lauren and Whitney spent most of the ride in the car.  The ferry was rocking back and forth quite a bit from the wake of a barge that had gone by.  That made me feel a little nervous.  Large bodies of water make me a little nervous.   

Evan was keeping track of his animals we spotted on his clipboard.  We were able to find all 10.  A good portion of them were different types of birds.

 

The girls in the car.

A ship heading up the river

 

After the ferry we drove around Puget Island a bit and then we visited the cemetery in Cathlamet.  After that we headed into Longview for some lunch, a quick stop at Fred Meyer and then we let the kids play at the park by Lake Sacagawea.  After the part we headed home.  We had to feed the missionaries that night.  We had 3 missionaries to feed this time.  One of the missionaries from another ward in our building was going home the next morning, so his former companion was without a companion until Wednesday morning.    

Award's Assembly

Lauren and her friend Natasha

 On November 8th the elementary school had its first awards assembly of the year.  Evan was getting an award, so I went to see him receive it.  They did 4th-6th grade at the same assembly, so Lauren was there also.  She didn't get an award but it was fun to see her.  She always gets excited to see me at school.  Evan tries to ignore me when he sees me there.  I guess it's not cool in 6th grade to see your mom at school.    When Lauren's class first came in Lauren wasn't with them and I was wondering where she was.  She and her friend came in a few minutes later and I snapped the photo above.

Evan going up to get his award.

 Evan got an award for citizenship, I think.   (That's what happens when you are behind on blogging the memory becomes fuzzy.)  He also got an award for excellence in Music that one kind of surprised him. 

 

 

The Beginning of November

November 1st was a day off from school.  It was the end of the first quarter, so it was a teacher work day.  It was kind of nice not to have school the day after Halloween.  We could let the kids stay up a little late and then sleep in the next mroning.

I went for a nice walk on the morning of the 1st and then my sister Stephanie came over to visit.  Her kids had school, so it was just Steph and Maycee.  We left Maycee in Shannon's care and Steph and I did a little window shopping in some of the cute shops here in town.  I didn't buy anything and I think Steph just bought one hair thing.

The first week of November was pretty low key and typical around here.  I did my normal volunteering at the school on Monday and Tuesday.  I ended up having to reapply for the job that I had applied for a couple of weeks earlier. They changed the hours of the job and reopened it.  Shannon ended up breaking a band off her braces Wednesday afternoon eating a caramel.  Thursday morning I ended up running her to Beaverton to get it fixed. 

 Monday evening after FHE Kirk got his photo album out and all the kids gathered around and he told them stories from his past.  It was fun to see them all interested and wanting to hear about it, even if Tyler had his ipod in his hand as is usual for him.

 

Halloween

Whitney's evil witch face

Halloween this year was on a Thursday.  Kirk teaches a night class Thursday evenings in Astoria this quarter, so he had to work on Halloween. That was a bummer, not to have him with us for Halloween. We ate an early dinner and then got the kids all dressed up in their Halloween costumes.  We only have three kids that still dress up.  Shannon did make herself a quick costume.  She was super Shannon.  I never got a picture of her.  She was creating it until the last moment.  Whitney was a witch this year.  Lauren was a cat again and Evan was zombie again.  It made putting together the costumes easy, since 2 of the 3 wore the same costumes as last year.    After getting everybody dressed up I took some photos.  It was nice that it was still light outside, so we could get some good pictures outside. 

All three

Zombie

Cat

 

Witch

 

 

 

Once everybody was ready we headed over to the church for the trunk or treat.  The kids were able to get lots of candy quickly.    Shannon took Whitney around and I handed out the candy.  Once we were out of candy and then kids had been around.  We left the church to do some regular trick or treating.  We also went to a couple of houses on our old street.  We have a couple of our old neighbors that we like to visit every Halloween.  It was a fun evening and we were home by about 7:45.  The kids took quick showers, got in their p.j.'s and then we watched the Charlie Brown Halloween special while the kids sorted and ate candy.  It was a fun evening even though we were missing Kirk.

 

 

When we got home Lauren realized she was missing her cat tail.  It must have fallen off while we were trick or treating.  She was upset about it, but I wasn't about to go out looking for it.