Getting in the Groove

Well, it's Sunday night, and the funny thing is that it feels like a "normal" Sunday night.  Well, normal-ish.  We're still crammed into a little apartment, we still don't have any mini muffin pans, and when I made some Velveeta/Rotelle cheese dip, Elise looked longingly into the pot and sighed, "I miss Grandma's house."  (Nobody makes cheese dip like Grandma.)  But this last week has felt refreshingly normal.  A few highlights:

-Ethan went on his first Scout camp this weekend and had a good time.  I think he really enjoyed not being in charge, since he spent most of his Deacon-hood as the quorum president and felt like he had a lot of responsibilities.  Now he can just hang around like the other guys and not worry about whose job it is to sweep out the tent.  He's also keeping up well in all his classes and is the designated "snake holder" in Biology.  Being the only 9th grader in his Bio class, I think he enjoys handling reptiles for the upper-class females. :-)

-Elise tried out for choir and made the "Bel Canto" group for her middle school--an all girls choir that meets once a week after school.  She was excited to make that particular group because the mixed choir meets in the morning, and we (and I do mean WE) are having a hard enough time getting up at 6:35 in order to be to school on time.  She's doing a great job keeping up on her homework and staying organized.

-Jonas did some math testing and got moved up to 5th grade math.  He's had math homework twice now, and has eagerly settled down at the dining room table to get it all done promptly (if not neatly--he suffers from the same handwriting ailment as the rest of his siblings).  He also went to Cub Scouts for the first time and had a lot of fun.

-Wyatt has been LOVING preschool.  He cried on Tuesday when he realized it wasn't a school day.  And although I've already told Grandma this story and posted it on Facebook, I'm putting this little exchange on the blog so it will be recorded for posterity:

Me: What did you learn at preschool today, Wyatt?
W:  There was this guy?  And Jesus taked his rib?
Me (thinking):  Do you mean Adam?
W:  Yes!  And guess what Jesus did with that rib?  He turned it into a woman named Steve!

Classic!  Then, on Friday, he recounted the whole Fruit of the Tree of Knowledge part of the creation story with great seriousness.  ("One tree was a good tree.  But the other tree was up high [don't know why he thought it was up high] and Jesus said if you eat that fruit you will DIE!")

He's definitely listening during Bible story time. :-)

-Forrest has really been enjoying some of the new challenges with his job, which is great (although he would love to have somebody hired to replace his old position, so he's not doing both).  He also just got called to be second counselor in the YM presidency.  He really likes the Young Men's, so it's a perfect calling for him.

-I'm still flying under the radar, calling-wise.  But I HAVE had some fun lunches/breakfasts with old friends, people from my old ward, people from my new ward, etc.  Too bad there's not a lunch companion calling.  I would ROCK.  Wyatt's gotten to the point where he's totally cool with hanging out in the booth, munching on french fries while Mom talks.  I've also spent some good time writing and catching up on Irreantum (my last issue comes out the end of this year), and getting a few things squared away with the move.  We close in two weeks.  Eeek!  Hooray!

So things are good here.  Pretty normal, really.  Which is good.  I still get these pangs of Utah loneliness, and sometimes when I walk outside my apartment and look around at all the mid-Westernness, I feel like I'm in an alternate universe.  Like I'm living my bizzaro-life and pretty soon the scene will go all wobbly and I'll wake up and find it was all just a dream. Or something.  But the truth is that we MOVED TO MINNESOTA.  Crazy, huh!

And now it's 8:22, and I've got to start the getting to bed machinations because we're all exhausted from our new early morning schedule.  Ah, 8 hours of sleep, how much I need you.

Back to School Pics

The kids have one week of school under their collective belts and are all doing well.  Ethan really likes his biology class, is making some friends in band and went to his first high school football game; Elise is excited about choir and is trying out for an after school choir group next week, really likes Spanish, and has a group of girls to sit with at lunch; Jonas has a great teacher and is making friends with other "J" named boys (named Jake and Jerry, or Jack and Joey, depending on the day he tells me) and is taking Chinese; and Wyatt was a preschool rock star, enjoying his first two days of school with a smile on his face.

And speaking of smiles on faces, here are some photos of the first day of school.  Since Ethan has to be out the door at 6:40 a.m. for early morning seminary, we did the traditional first day of school photo shoot AFTER school.  And school started on a decidedly gray and blustery day, but the pics turned out pretty good nevertheless.  These were all shot right across the street from our apartment building.  I'm going to start with some black and white portrait shots I created expressly for Grandma Sweat, since the ones on the magnet board in her kitchen need updating:

 

And here are some more, in color, that show their outfits to best effect:

(Truth be told, I'm pretty sure Ethan didn't put much thought into his fashion choices.  But he looks handsome just the same.)

Elise, on the other hand, had some strong opinions about her first day of school outfit, and chose this particularly daring number, complete with wicked cool pants.  She considered wearing a scarf, then thought it would be too much. I thought she looked great.

Jonas wanted to wear his slicky pants.  And yes, that's Ethan staring maniacally from the lower left hand corner.  Both Jonas and Ethan find this hilarious.

And this wasn't Wyatt's official first day of school, but he looked cute too.

Here are photos from Wyatt's first official day of school!

Wyatt, sporting his name tag, in front of his all-important backpack hook.

Sitting in his chair, getting ready to trace his name.  Look at that pencil grip!  He's a natural.  I think all three of the others had to get those little triangular-shaped gummy pencil holder thingies (you know what I mean!) to help them learn to hold their pencils correctly, and Ethan (alas) apparently didn't receive early enough intervention and still holds his pencil wrong.  But Wyatt!  Look at you!  (Note to other kids:  I love you all just as much as I love Wyatt, his pencil-holding skills notwithstanding.)

Who's this little guy going off to school?  Makes a mom wistful.  And I know I've said it before, but isn't Minnesota purdy?

And a few close-ups, mugging for the camera:

Dang, he's cute.

Here's hoping week two goes as well as week one!

The Day Before the Day Before School

(The St. Croix river valley, viewed from the windows of the car on the way to church this morning.)

So tonight is the second to last night we'll spend in our little apartment before the chaos of school and extracurriculars (whatever they may be) and Scouts/YM/YW and, probably eventually, church callings descends.  We spent our second Sunday in our new ward and found everyone to be exceptionally nice and welcoming.  One family in the ward even had us over for dinner earlier in the week--see? exceptionally nice.  They live just one street over in our neighborhood and have kids our kids' age & that's such a blessing.  Their daughter even told Elise she could find her at lunch and come and sit.  So kind!

I've felt very calm and settled since we've come here, which I'm chalking up as one of them multitude of God's blessings we've enjoyed in the midst of all this.  I know myself well enough--and I know life well enough--to realize that this relative calm will pass, and that there will probably be some bumpy spots, especially as the kids get established in school and the rest of what makes up their lives.  And as the house gets finished, too, and we make that final move.  But I've really been enjoying the opportunity to just be with my kids and my family without anything else tugging at me: no classes to teach, no Webelos to plan, no homework to oversee, no soccer practices to run to.  We've just been, well, hanging out.  And although we've occasionally impinged on one another's space, everybody's been getting along remarkably well.

And speaking of space!  I'll stop rambling and post a few pictures.  Here's the fabled apartment, in all its glory:

This would be the kitchen/dining area.  Obviously.  Now, if you're interested in picturing us in the kitchen/dining area, you'll be better prepared to do so.  And here are the kids in the family room, which is, of course, just off of the kitchen/dining area:

You'll notice all three boys huddled around a cardboard box on the floor.  Forrest ran a cable from our bedroom to that little corner so the kids could set up their all-important computer.  We stuck it on top of an end table and used the boxes for the keyboard.  The mouse sits atop one of Wyatt's dinosaur books.  It seems to be working.  And Elise is watching (what else?) some Comcast On Demand sitcom of the iCarly, Suite Life, etc. etc. ilk.  Cue laugh track!  (Oh, the laugh tracks.  They are boring themselves into my skull.)

But we don't just sit around and stare at screens all day, oh no sirree.  We do fun stuff like take the boat out on Lake Elmo.  ("Elmo?" Wyatt said, and giggled.)  And, I know, I forgot the camera, which was too bad because it was a gorgeous day.  Blue sky, calm water, nobody on the lake.  Minnesota: the land of driving 5 minutes and putting your boat in the water.  Nothing like it!

We also went to the Minnesota State Fair on Friday, an activity which non-Minnesotans can't really comprehend unless you've attended (like Grandma and Grandpa Sweat).  We went on a blustery, downright COLD Friday (earlier in the week it was low 90s and humid, then blamo, it's 57 degrees!).  Anyway, we thought it wouldn't be so crowded, given the weather, but we were wrong.  Masses of humanity, all waiting in line for fried food and/or rickety carnival rides and/or to gawk at the fair's biggest pig.  We joined right in:

Wyatt, reaching out and petting a most impressive hog, wearing his pink pig's ears with pride.

"Gather round, kids!  Of course you want your picture taken with Smokey the Bear!"

While at the fair we, as a family, shared: corn dogs (kinda mushy); a giant cup of french fries; a Famous Dave's pulled pork sandwich; Alligator sausage on a stick (Ethan's selection, which he's holding above--it tasted overly spicy and kinda dry, since I can't imagine alligators are all that fatty, but Ethan's nothing if not adventurous); roasted corn on the cob; mini donuts (I'd forgotten how much I love mini donuts); a giant tub of Sweet Martha's chocolate chips cookies; a caramel apple; three glasses of milk (chocolate and plain) and three cups of Coke.

I kinda had a stomach ache when I got home.  Go figure.

I also had a stomach ache watching my beloved children ride this:

Yes, that's three of my four children, suspended upside down, high in the air, on a suspicious-looking carnival ride.  Jonas barely made the height requirement, and he's so skinny I kept having visions of him somehow slipping through his harness.  Luckily they made it out alive and begging to go again.  Here are some more action shots:

I like how Wyatt's got his tongue out.  Ready to go.  And I felt for the poor carnival workers in their hip waders and gloves, pushing preschoolers around in a chilly pool of murky water all day.  Talk about challenging work conditions.

Nothing like getting to ride up front!  And with your big sister, too.

I'm just barely getting old enough that this ride (which those of you who are familiar w/ Lagoon would call the "Music Express") makes me a little bit sick to my stomach.  But only when we're going backwards.

We had a lot of fun, even if it was chilly.  We've also done a few other fun things this last week: the Minnesota Zoo, the Mall of America (don't know if I'd exactly call that one FUN, necessarily--man, that place is big and loud and crowded--but it was good to go back and see it again.  Elise said it had a "familiar smell.")  Elise and I had our yearly "mom and daughter day" yesterday and went school shopping and out to lunch at Applebees, and that was a lot more fun than the Mall of America.  Ethan and Forrest went and bought Ethan a bow, since the legal bow hunting age here is 12 and Forrest thought it would be fun to teach him a little archery.

We also have some pictures of the inside of the house (almost forgot--and I realize these pics are probably a little boring, since there's not much but walls and cabinetry):

Kitchen/dining

More kitchen

Family room

Entryway (living room to the left, office--can't see it--to the right)

Upstairs loft, which will save my sanity as all Disney channel sit coms must be watched UPSTAIRS.

Master bedroom

Back yard.  In Minnesota, people don't have fences (usually) and in our neighborhood, fences are expressly forbidden in the association's covenants.  I've gotten to where I like the look of unbroken green, but I am glad that we have this nice stand of trees that lines the backyards, so we have at least a little privacy.

And last but not least!  A few pictures I'd forgotten to upload from my phone, back from the lifetime ago when we were living in Utah.  (Yes, I've felt peaceful over the last week and a half, but it's been an incredibly looooooong week and a half.)

Ethan and Elise jumping off the platforms at Ethan's birthday party at the Kearns rec center.

Ethan and his friends at the aforementioned birthday party.

Elise and her Beehive class at her goodbye pizza party.

A beautiful Utah sunset, made all the more wistful by the "under contract" sign in our lawn.  Apparently the sale went through on August 31 and people who are NOT US will soon be occupying our house!  They're moving from North Carolina, so I'm not sure if they're actually there yet.  It's always so strange to sell a house . . .

The kids up at Ledgemere, having one last picnic up the canyon with Grandma and Grandpa Sweat before heading em up and moving em out.

And now I think I have all the important stuff covered.  Or at least most of it. Tomorrow we're getting together with the family of one of our former bishops in the White Bear Lake ward for lunch, then spending the rest of the day gearing up for school to start.  And then--blamo!  Real life.  Hopefully we're ready.