No pictures, just an update. Sorry.
A few weeks ago the kids and I got to go up to Salt Lake on a Sunday and see my cousin Reid give a talk - he has just returned from a gruelling two-year mission to Yekaterinburg, Russia, and we love him and are proud of him and the example he has set. He is all grown up now. It was great to see and visit with family we hadn't seen for quite a while.
We had a fun Thanksgiving. Murray overdid himself making two pies and a cobbler, bravely doing a frozen turkey overnight at 250 degrees (which did not kill us!), homemade whole wheat rolls, and cranberry apple stuffing, leaving only the easiest things for me (mashed potatoes, sweet potatoes, and Waldorf). We had extra bread from the stuffing and took it to the park to feed the ducks. Grandpa and Samantha and Glenn played tag, and spin-the-kids-around-til-they're-dizzy. Then we came home, and Susan came home from a trip to Idaho where she was helping with Samantha and Glenn's newest cousin, Hudson, Auntie Emma's brand new little guy, who has a full head of dark hair and is cute as a button.
Our meal was superior, and we're grateful for lots of things. We're grateful for Murray and Susan so willingly opening up their home with us; for Levi having gotten a wonderful new job that lets him use his skills and is fulfilling and will pay the bills; for my job that's helped to get us through the past several months; for healthy thriving kids who crack us up, and who are more rewarding and enjoyable to be around every day; for our faith that grounds us and provides us with a sense of purpose, identity, and belonging, and which helps us learn to love completely; for dear friends and extended family who support us in myriad ways from near and far (mostly far!); for a country that, at this writing, still allows its citizens a relatively large amount of freedom to pursue their own ends, and for a good roof over our heads and wholesome food on the table.
After dinner, we packed up and headed up the Canyon to visit with my aunt and cousins in Heber, who have moved back from across the Atlantic. The cousins are all big, now, and so grown-up and responsible. My aunt is wonderful, and always fun to talk to, and full of good advice of which she says I always do the opposite. Maybe someday I will learn.
I have a calling in Primary at church. I teach the 11-year-olds, and I LOVE it. I've had this calling coming to me for a while now - when I was that age, I drove my Primary teacher to tears (twice), and got threatened to be sent to the bishop's office on more than one occasion, for excessive goofing off. For the most part, these kids behave glowingly and we have awesome lessons, although I do have one who interrupts compulsively, so that when he wanders off to light matches in the bathroom, I almost wish I could leave him there. But even that one is a great kid. So, about six more weeks of that, and then who knows what the Crystal City Ward (in Virginia) will do with us.
Levi has signed a lease on a townhouse in Arlington, Virginia, as of Saturday. It is a cute little brick place with two bedrooms and a bathroom, utilities included in the rent, and a new gas stove and granite countertops in the little kitchen. It seems to be in an excellent location. I am very excited that Arlington has a year-round farmers' market, and is also a 6-8 minute drive from both Trader Joe's and Whole Foods. We are also within a ten minute drive of just about anywhere else we would care to go: Costco, Target, Giant (a grocery store chain), Safeway (another grocery store chain), Chipotle (think 'Cafe Rio'), and Jamba Juice. Samantha will attend Patrick Henry Elementary (a decent school), and kindergarten runs on an all-day schedule, so that will be a change for her, but I don't expect her to have much difficulty adjusting. The local public library is right next to her school. It will be about a 45-minute commute for Levi, each way, which is 15 minutes less than he was commuting in New York, so we are thrilled. He will ride the bus, then Metro, then bus, every morning and evening, like a DC commuter sandwich, and we won't need to purchase a second car. Levi's new job is going fantastically and he seems to be enjoying it a lot. We expect this to be a long term gig, so our plan is to rent and save up for a down payment, and then buy our own place when we've saved enough. Yes, this is the wrong coast, but it will be warmer than New York (though not less humid...too bad), and there will be lots to do, for FREE (to make up for the fact that everything else in the area is so dang expensive...).
I am still working right now, as the support receptionist at this software place in Provo, part-time, in the mornings. My superiors are allowing me to work remotely when we move to DC, rather than find a replacement for me. (Our department manager isn't fond of conducting interviews.) So my shift will be from 9am to 1pm, rather than the 7am-11am shift I'm currently doing. I am not sure what I will do with Glenn during this time. He does enjoy playing Lego Batman, though I'm not sure 20 hours a week would be too good for him. We'll figure that one out. Right now we have a wonderful homeschooling mom that lives just a few blocks away watching the kids in the mornings. I leave early, so Susan gets them ready and drops them there, and I pick them up. This family has a 5-year-old girl and a 3-year-old boy, and two kittens, so the kids love it there, and I am grateful to have someone I trust caring for my kids right now, and a mom (technically mother-in-law) who is willing to get them dressed and fed breakfast and take them there on her busy way to work.
Glenn spends much of his spare time playing Lego Batman on the computer. We have some USB game controllers that work really well, and a decent sized monitor, to make his gaming experience pretty sweet for a three-year-old. We've given up trying to impose limits on screen time. In my single-motherhood, many limits have flown out the window in order to preserve sanity. So Glenn plays by himself, or goes around the house begging anyone who is home (me, Grandma, or Grandpa) to play with him (since two players can play the game cooperatively). Grandma and Grandpa and I have raelly honed our skills under Glenn's wing. When not playing his game (so, during meals, snacktime, bathtime, and church) he talks about Batman and other superheroes constantly. We hear a lot about Robin sucking up poisonous goo, Batman blowing up stuff in his bomb suit, Superman flying a big piece of ice to crush the 'stelekins' (skeletons), etc... Glenn has his own terminology for some of the actions in the Lego Batman game, most taken from the sound it makes when you do the action. for example, to grapple up to a higher area with your grappling hook is to "chow-ching", and manifests itself in sentences like, "You have to wait 'til I'm done chow-chinging and then you can chow-ching up here." And to "'rang" is to throw your Baterang or your Roberang at a target - "You need to 'rang that yellow thing up there. You're not 'ranging it right, here, I'll just 'rang it for you." And Robin's "technology suit" is his "neet-nert suit", because that's the sound it makes. He gets really deeply into the game, and it's made him a lot happier to have something he can do well. Yes, it's a video game, but it's one of the better ones. And right now, especially as the weather gets chillier, it's difficult to come up with alternate activities to hold his attention. I'm not concerned about his development or attention as a result of playing lots of Lego Batman. As odd as it sounds, this seemingly obsessive activity seems to be enhancing his development on all levels. Go figure.
Samantha has an active social life, with several good friends at school, a little boy friend at church (I've been told by their teacher that the two of them are rather close, which is fine, because the little boy is adorable), and two close neighborhood friends that she loves (who are also at church, though not in her same class). She is learing lots at school, and is a lot more cooperative for her teacher there than she ever is for me when doing anything related to academics. She brought home a glowing progress report. Unlike my own kindergarten report card from 1988 with comments like, "proceeds to do things her own way rather than following instructions", and "does not participate actively in class discussions", Samantha's highest marks were all on items such as "follows instructions", "shows respect and fairness toward others", "accepts and responds to authority", and "follows classroom guidelines or rules". Heaven help us if the NAZIs ever find her. She is learning to read and has an impressive number of words under her belt which she recognizes immediately. I wouldn't say she enjoys reading herself too much yet, but she is cooperative when we sit down for her to practice, and she continues to love to be
read to, which makes me happy. (Glenn will often be read to only if it's a Batman comic book, and only until it reminds him of his game.) She is also learning to write and has brought home two journals, now, full of nice sentences that I can actually read. It's cool. Our tax dollars are doing something, it's a miracle.
The kids miss Dad. I miss Levi, too, lots. But we know he is working hard, and we are super proud of him. We know that we'll all be together again soon.
