Monday, April 27, 2009

New Calling

So, last sunday I was called to be the "building cleaning coordinator." I'm not sure how I feel about this calling. On the one hand, I'm relieved to be out of primary for once (I've served there for 10 of the last 12 years), but I miss the kids too. I hate calling people on the phone and asking people to do things, so I don't really look forward to THAT aspect of my new calling. However, it IS an easy calling to fulfill as long as I find people each week to clean the building. I wont have to clean the building all the time unless I forget to assign people to clean. So there you go. That is my illustrious new calling! lol. We'll see how it all works out.

Wednesday, April 15, 2009

Kindergarten

Well, the decision has been made and it is final. Audrey will be attending Utah Virtual Academy in the fall rather than a traditional school. Utah Virtual Academy (UTVA) is an online charter school. We came to the final decision after a lot of thought, study, and prayer. Homeschool is the way the Lord wants our family to go. UTVA is different than typical homeschooling though in that they provide the curriculum and the parent is a Coach rather than a teacher as all lessons are already in place and just need to be completed. They send you all the supplies you need to school your child from the comfort of your own home. UTVA also differs from typical homeschooling in that Audrey is assigned a certified teacher to keep tabs on her and make sure she is staying on track. They also have field trips and gatherings and encourage children to be involved in other social outlets. We are very excited for this chance and know that we'll have a lot of fun even though there will be good days and bad. Wish us luck!!

Friday, April 3, 2009

Just a little post

I haven't posted in a week or so, so just to fill you all in on the Stephen Family Insane Asylum.....

Ben has been working and doing scouts...the usual. We attended his uncle's viewing about a week ago. We'll be going to my uncle's viewing this weekend. It's been a few months full of death for our family...only one was unexpected however. The other two were blessed releases.

I (Shelly) have been debating about homeschool again. I am looking forward to General Conference to hopefully give me some answers to my questions. I've had a cold. The girls have been sick too. I don't like it. I feel like a bum. My house is dirty, I have no energy, and my stupid Benadryl gives me medicine head long after the medicine has worn off......at least I only take it at night and it DOES help me sleep.

Audrey is her usual self. She's a social butterfly, which is one reason I would love for her to go to public school, but only in the right crowd. She makes friends with everyone, which in general is a good trait, but this means she makes friends who do not have a good influence on her all the time. I don't need more swear words introduced to her and I certainly don't need any more "Chucky" experiences!!

Marissa just turned 3. We took her to build-a-bear for her birthday. She LOVED it. She picked out a pupppy and named her Princess. She is FINALLY starting to sleep through the night! We're up to about 50% right now and I'm THRILLED! We have decided that the girls just sleep together every night. It's working and Marissa is starting to use Audrey as a comfort when she wakes up, instead of mommy all the time. She's growing up so fast. I'm glad she's beginning to leave the tantrums and whining behind now.

Trent is a goober!!! He's into everything. He climbs on everything. He eats everything. He is starting to throw tantrums. He's just a goober. He's so funny too. He gets this little mischevious look on his face and it's hard to not laugh at him. If you say his name in a warning tone, sometimes he'll look at you and shake his finger because he knows you're going to tell him "NO." When you tell him no, he often cries like you've wounded his tender little feelings. He loves to be outside and freaks out if someone goes out without him. I can't wait for the weather to warm up so that he CAN go outside! It's just too mucky and mushy right now to let him out unless I want to change his clothes 3 times a day.

Well, there's a little update. Hope you are all doing well!!