SO MUCH!

Wow, I've been away for a while. Just...so busy. There's so much to tell, and so little time, which is mostly why I've been gone for a while. So, I'll start with...

Pete: He's starting to study for the CIH exam again. Lucky sucker! (Sorry, you get the short end of the reporting stick on Pete. But he has his own blog, so if ever he decides to update it, you'd get a fuller picture of his life.)

Jakob: When Jakob got home from school one day, Pete asked what his favorite part was, and of course he replied "recess". Pete then asked what he did at recess; Jakob's response: "The girls chased me." He got a little shy grin on his face. Then, he put his hands behind his head, elbows sticking out, and said, "And it...was...AWESOME!" His teacher called and said he was a terrific reader, but that he was crying a lot at school. Good times with that. And really he just gets that way when he's tired, so we decided to move him to his own room, so that he can have quiet. (Brock sits and plays with toys in his bed at night, and so while he's not talking to Jakob, he's keeping Jake awake while he makes his toys act things out.) So, I hope that helps him out a bit at school. He also lost tooth #5, so now he looks like a Jack-O-Lantern because one of his humongous top permanent teeth is in the middle of two gaps.

Brock: We went to the fair with my parents. Poor little Brock was SO scared on a dragon ride. Every time he passed the ride attendant he would yell, "Please stop! Please help me! HELLLLP MEEEE!" It was SO cute, and it shouldn't have been, but we laughed and laughed, poor kid. Brock started preschool. I'm thinking he's going to love it. A new Brockism: Brock will ask a question (Mom, is that a blue shirt you're wearing?), I'll answer (Yes, it is.), and then he'll say "Ooooh!" But he says it "Ew" instead of "oh". It's really cute.

Troy: Troy also started preschool. He's loving that a whole lot. I think he's the only one in his class that's not potty trained. The other day I heard him teaching his toy cat (which is really a bear, but it kind of looks like a cat, so whatever) how to pee and poop in the toilet. I'm like, uh, so when are YOU going to do that? He knows what to do, and brings me his diaper after pooping, but just doesn't want to be bothered with it, I guess. Plus, I have no idea when in the world I would find the time to potty train (more on that in a minute). He got moved down to share a room with Brock, and I think he really likes it, and makes him feel like a big boy. He needs all the help feeling like a big boy after our day at the fair; he's all of 36", which means he couldn't ride a bunch of the rides the older boys were going on. He would just cry and cry. Poor Stumpy.

Ivy: I keep wondering where my Baby Ivy has gone, because all of a sudden, I have Little Girl Ivy. She just is so big and important, as opposed to how she used to be little and important. Oh, and she's starting to get into stuff and make messes. Ah, the joys. One of her favorite things to do now is to have Pete chase her around. She runs away, laughing a little growling laugh, like "look how clever I am!" She's full of sass: her first word was "no".

Nat: And then there's me. I should for real write just a post about my craziness, but I'm afraid if I don't do it now I'll never get the chance! Originally I was going to get up at 7:00 this school year, but that quickly turned into 6:00. Uh, 6 a.m. Yep. (And Pete mocks my pain, because he has to be up at 5 a.m.) Sometimes I make it out of bed, and sometimes I snooze it a little, but for the most part I'm up and at 'em. Which is why I start nodding off at 10 p.m. And the night owl in me is ashamed.

I started teaching piano lessons last week, and I had forgotten how much I loved it (I taught in high school). I have 11 students-well, 12 now: Jakob, after last Friday's students, asked if he could take piano as well. So we got him some books, and we've sat down a little bit. My students are amazing-I'm blown away by how much they pick up and how wonderful they are. So fun.

I went to hydrofit with Arin at the Aquatic Center. Hydrofit is kind of like deep water aerobics, with little foot floaties/weights and barbell thingys. And hoo, boy! I was sore while in the pool, but not so much the day after. So I know I got a work out, but it didn't have the lasting percussions, which makes me wonder if it's because it's a no impact workout. (Um, I haven't been back since, but that should change on Monday. Right, Arin?)

I also got up last Saturday, before going to the fair with my cute fam, and went to the temple. I saw one of my old seminary teachers there, which was so fun! I got to say hi to him in the celestial room. Oh, and did I mention it was the 6:00 a.m. session??? Which means I was up at 5:00. Go me! (By the way, getting up early has never, ever, ever been my strong suit. Staying up late? No prob, Bob. But early? Man, it's like I'm a different person these days.) It rocked, because a) it's the temple, and b) I haven't been in who knows how long.

I've mentioned the fair a couple of times. It was way fun, and started off nice and cool, but got hot and muggy and more crowded as the day went on. My mom entered a cross stitch that I had done for her. No prize, but prize schmize. YAY for my cross stitching skillz! We had fun eating the carnie food, and taking the kids on rides, and checking out the animals (Jakob was obsessed with all the animals' poop), and watching random people. (Pete and I saw a pretty sweet mullet, where the guy had curled the front part back and it was super hairsprayed in place; it reminded me of the late 80s/early 90s bangs that girls would do, where they would spray them straight up and curl back just the very top part.)

I finished reading the Sherlock Holmes stories, the ones that are 20-ish pages long. I LOVED them. I've also been trying to pretty up my yard, we're refinancing our house, we paid off a debt, and I've been working on Personal Progress (leaders can get their medallions; who knew?). And I taught Troy's preschool on Tuesday, and 7 cute energetic 3-year-olds is a LOT to handle. Well, for me, anyway. (Truth be told, I'm really glad my next turn isn't for another 7 weeks!)

So...yeah. I think that's about it.