Disease and Pestilence

So much for updating more frequently! Our home has been ridden with disease and pestilence. They started dropping like flies during the last week of school. Strep throat. Yuck. So far, I have remained "strep free"! Dylan and Nathan both missed the last day of school. So sad, but they were both over it pretty quickly. The missing school, I mean. This particular strain of strep is a hanger-on-er.

My last few days of school were fantastic. I really enjoyed getting to know a group of students and then "sending them off" to junior high. Now comes the hardest part of my "becoming a teacher" journey. Landing a job. Good grief. What a process!! So many papers, essays, information, applications, you would think that I am trying to become President of the United States or something. Wait…that may not be such a bad idea.

We are beginning our plans for our big summer trip. We are continuing the tradition of the drive to Oregon in our giant van full of kids with stops this year in the Bay Area and maybe the NoCal coast or the redwoods, maybe even both! Later in the summer we plan on doing a Black River Camping trip which also is a big hit with the kiddos. Meanwhile, I just continue to look for work, and clean, clean, clean, trying to rid this house of GeRmS!

The End Was Here, Then it Wasn’t

Gosh, golly, darn. I was hoping for the end of the world. What the heck happened? I guess now I need to take care of all of those responsibilities that I was slacking on while anticipating the end. Like, you know, updating my neglected blog.

What a crazy time of year! Student teaching is killing me. It is not just time consuming, but also very emotional. I am going to miss all those little sixth grade buggers. Yes, even the ones that have caused me grief and strife. (which is pretty much all of them) I can say, however that my student teaching has been insightful, helpful, and a major learning experience. It is now official; I have my teaching certification and now am "legal" to be a teacher in the great state of Arizona! I survived Sea World, chicken mummies, suspensions, various girl drama, and this coming week; SunSplash and Sixth Grade Promotion!!! Yeah!

On the family news side, my ex-husband has officially lost his house and is currently looking for a new place to live. Luckily, I have the GREATEST husband in the world, which is fine with said ex-husband moving near to us so that he and I can co-parent our four children better together. No, this does not mean that the name of this blog will change to include the name of the ex. (that is for you Ken) Brianna, 16 going on 17, is attempting to move in with us here full-time, as her 18 year-old brother has already blazed the trail and done so. I must say, it is a little weird to have someone other than Ken home when we are on an "off kid" day, but I like it!

Ken got a new calling at church. He is now part of the Sunday School Presidency in our Ward. For those of you non-LDS readers, this means that we now have to go to church EVERY WEEK. I have been called to serve in Activity Days, a program for girls 8-11 that meets twice a month. I have served in Activity Days before and this has been my FAVORITE calling, so I can't wait to get started.

This is by no means a complete update, however since the world didn't end, I will be updating more frequently since now I have NO EXCUSE!