Our "Family Date" Night

It's been a while since we went out and did something fun as a family. Tonight the kids did a good job of cleaning the playroom while I made dinner (beef and barley soup with biscuits), so after dinner we loaded everyone in the car and took off. We went to Half Price Books, a used book store chain down here. On the way there we sang songs and it was so much fun :) The kids were laughing at Rob because he changed the words, as always. When we sang "5 Green and Speckled Frogs", Beth was supposed to say "yum-yum" at the end of one of the measures (it comes right after the phrase "eating some most delicious bugs"), but made us all laugh when she aptly piped up "ICK!" instead :)

Half Price apparently just got new shopping carts that are double decker and so Jack sat in the baby seat at the top and Beth happily crawled into the basket on the bottom. I think I should buy one - except there wasn't much space for anything else. It did keep the two younger kids pretty contained though :) Each of the kids got to pick a book from the kids clearance section and I found a few children's chapter books to add to our shelves. We also got the new Grisham (or maybe it's not the new one any more? "Playing for Pizza") from the clearance section and both Rob and I found a few random books. I splurged and bought a $3 Anne McCaffrey book that I'm missing. I'm currently on an Anne McCaffrey kick and have had a lot of fun tracking down incredible deals on ebay. She's written 60 or so books, so there are quite a few to choose from :) I don't read a lot of fantasy or sci-fi, but I really like her books.

Anyway, after our visit to Half Price, we went and got ice cream at the Marble Slab Creamery. For those of you who are not familiar with it, they have multiple flavors of homemade ice cream and you can have them mix something in to it (such as cookies or fruit or candies). The kids all wanted strawberry, so I just bought a pint of strawberry with fresh strawberries mixed in and got four empty cups. Rob got double dark chocolate with peanut butter mixed in and I got mint with oreos. I usually go with sweet cream with fresh fruit mixed in, but that didn't sound good tonight.

Beth fell asleep on the way home, but the other three stayed awake and trotted upstairs with their books in hand. Kylie is sleeping in Megan's room tonight since Beth is already asleep and Meg and Kylie are ensconced in a pile of stuffed animals and blankets (shaped into a "nest") in the playpen that is still up in Megan's room from when we were painting Jack's room. Meg doesn't want us to take it down. I think she likes having a nest. Megan is reading one of the new books to Kylie :)

Megan has a fever again, by the way. She made it through three days this week without one, so I don't know if this is a continuation of the 10-day fever from the last two weeks or if she got sick again at school. I know that our area has been hit pretty hard this year by flu season. I sent a note to Meg's teacher, asking her to send home Megan's work so we could make sure she stayed caught up. Her teacher told me not to worry about it because half of Meg's class is out sick. Anyway, the dr said if the fever didn't stay away to try antibiotics, so we started that tonight. Hopefully that will clear whatever it is up!

Spring is here!

First, a picture I took the other day of our newest bookworm :) Rob and I are so glad our kids love books!



Considering that it's been in the mid-80's for the last two days, everyone's allergies are acting up, and the tree across the street is now veiled in white blossoms, I've come to the conclusion that it's spring! The last two days have been absolutely beautiful; although it still strikes me as odd to have 80+ degree days in February. I had to dig out the capris today and the kids are in shorts and t-shirts. Yesterday all the kids played outside in the backyard while I tried to catch up on scrapbooking. It made me once again appreciate the set up of our backyard. It is so helpful to be able to see the whole yard from the windows in the dining room, kitchen or library! The wildflowers/weeds have started blooming down here and every time the kids go outside I am presented by handfuls and handfuls of flowers, with the roots still dangling, that have been ripped from the yard to give to me.





I love getting flowers from my kids! Jack brought me flowers for the first time yesterday. I feel so privileged to be the first girl to get flowers from him!



Megan made a necklace by splitting the stem of a dandilion ~



The kids enjoying the spring weather ~







Today we had several friends over to play after school. The kids got popsicles that I found at Costco the other day. They are 100% juice, but are in containers similar to the pop-ice containers. I'm so glad I found them as the kids love popsicles and I don't like feeding them all the dyes and refined sugar in most popsicles.

Everyone just left and it's not quite time for dinner, so we're all relaxing. Kylie decided she needed "alone time", but Megan didn't want to leave the library, so Kylie took up residence under the desk in front of my feet. She told me that it was "perfect - because it's too squishy for anyone else to fit!" Now all three girls are settled on the playroom couch and Megan is reading to them. Beth has fallen asleep in between her older sisters.



Jack is sitting on my lap talking to himself as I type. It's difficult to believe that just 15 mins ago, Jack and Beth were screaming at each other as they fought over a toy, and Megan and Kylie were yelling at each other because they both wanted to be in the library :)

Megan's at school!

Megan finally went back to school today. She only went one day last week and ended up coming home early with a fever. (She seemed better the day before, so we thought she was over it.) She's had a fever for about a week and a half. We finally got her checked out by the dr yesterday who verified that she did not have an ear infection or a sinus infection or pneumonia or a kidney infection or pretty much anything else that he could find. She did not have a fever yesterday afternoon, however it had been spiking at night and so we weren't sure she was over it. He gave us a prescription for antibiotics and told me to fill it if she got a fever again last night, then to bring her back on Friday if the fever wasn't gone by then and we would run some tests. Fortunately, she did not develop a fever again last night. We got her off to school today and she seemed to be doing much better, so we'll see if she gets sent home again today. I hope she is better! I hate seeing my kids feel sick :(

The other kids are doing well. Kylie is learning to read and doing really well :) She is a whiz at math, but it's taken her longer to learn to recognize letters and their sounds. She remembers how to make an L by picturing it as an upside down 7. She understands the concepts behind addition, subtraction, fractions and multiplication already. Beth is working on colors, shapes and numbers, although she's picking up on a lot of what I'm working on with Kylie. Jack loves to color and he now "reads" out loud to himself and "talks" on the phone - even pretends to laugh and throws his head back as he does it :) That always makes us laugh. We're working on teaching him more words. His favorite song is "Popcorn Popping on the Apricot Tree", which has hand gestures. We usually end up singing it about 4-5 times at each family home evening. Jack loves almost any kind of music though and sings along with me when I sing during the day.

Rob and I don't have a whole lot to report. Everything is on track for me to start my first class in two weeks and I'm looking forward to it. Rob is done with his boxing classes, which he really enjoyed. We're sorry he can't continue them, but we just have too much else going on and too many other things we need to spend the money on. He has a good work out routine that he's been doing at home for quite a while now and I'm getting back into doing it with him.

We are all looking forward to the arrival of spring, which should be within the next few weeks :) I have to admit that is one part of living in TX that I really like :)

Getting Organized

Let's see how long this lasts ;)

Inspired by our now incredibly organized and uncluttered downstairs, we are attempting to figure out how to keep the house more like it's current state, rather than it's normal just-been-hit-by-four-tornadoes state. We have created weekly chore charts for each of the kids where they can check off their chores as they do them (these are basic chores including things like "put pjs in the laundry basket" and "brush teeth"). The girls are going to take turns helping Daddy with the dishes after dinner each night and they need to help tidy up their rooms, but most of the stuff on the list is pretty simple. We're just working on developing responsibility. It also helps with reading skills :) We've also (with the kids' help) created a list of family rules (such as "be nice" and "no food in the playroom").




The item I am most proud of though is our reward chart. We've used reward charts before - I created one that had a bunch of squares that we would have the kids put stickers in when they did something good and we would take the stickers off when they did something bad. When they filled up the chart, they would earn a Mommy or Daddy date. The concept worked well, but it was difficult to peel off the stickers. I used a piece of posterboard, some left over elastic from a bracelet-making kit, and some beads to make a new reward chart. Now we can move the beads forward or backward along the elastic and reuse the same chart over and over again! Megan helped me with it and it turned out really well!



The pictures I posted of our playroom did not include most of the kid's stuff. We took it down so that we could fit enough chairs in there. This is what our playroom actually looks like (when clean)~




I also took a few pictures of Kylie and Beth's room. K & B helped me deep clean it yesterday morning and it looks really good :) Their top bunk still has their fan on it as we haven't gotten a chance to install it yet, but everything else is put just where it belongs!





One final picture - I thought this was funny. Many pictures of model kitchens in magazines like "Better Homes and Gardens" have bowls of fruit sitting in the middle of the table or counter. We have that too (probably the ONLY thing from those pictures that we have ;) ) as we get our produce from an organic co-op and I like my kids to snack on fresh fruit. I wash all the fruit when we get it and then fill my grandfather's old wooden salad bowl. Apples and bananas are a favorite snack in our house, which I'm glad about, but there are some negative aspects. I need to make sure to search the whole downstairs each night for apple cores and sometimes the younger kids leave surprises such as this one ~


I figure it gives my fruit bowl an unique look missing from all those magazine-featured homes :)

To parents of toddlers

From a forwarded email . . .

A Toddler's Mantra
If it is on, I must turn it off.
If it is off, I must turn it on.
If it is folded, I must unfold it.
If it is a liquid, it must be shaken, then spilled.
If it a solid, it must be crumbled, chewed or smeared.
If it is high, it must be reached.
If it is shelved, it must be unshelved.
If it is pointed, it must be run with at top speed.
If it has leaves, they must be picked.
If it is plugged, it must be unplugged.
If it is not trash, it must be thrown away.
If it is in the trash, it must be removed, inspected, and thrown on the floor.
If it is closed, it must be opened.
If it does not open, it must be screamed at.
If it has drawers, they must be rifled.
If it is a pencil, it must write on the refrigerator, monitor, or table.
If it is full, it will be more interesting emptied.
If it is empty, it will be more interesting full.
If it is a pile of dirt, it must be laid upon.
If it is stroller, it must under no circumstances be ridden in without protest. It must be pushed by me instead.
If it has a flat surface, it must be banged upon.
If Mommy's hands are full, I must be carried.
If Mommy is in a hurry and wants to carry me, I must walk alone.
If it is paper, it must be torn.
If it has buttons, they must be pressed.
If the volume is low, it must go high.
If it is toilet paper, it must be unrolled on the floor.
If it is a drawer, it must be pulled upon.
If it is a toothbrush, it must be inserted into my mouth.
If it has a faucet, it must be turned on at full force.
If it is a phone, I must talk to it.
If it is a bug, it must be swallowed.
If it doesn't stay on my spoon, it must be dropped on the floor.
If it is not food, it must be tasted.
If it IS food, it must smeared on every possible surface.
If it is dry, it must be made wet with drool, milk, or toilet water.
If it is a carseat, it must be protested with arched back.
If it is Mommy, it must be hugged. I am toddler!

Always Remember,
Our children are a precious gift,
Our children are Our future!!!

After Book Club . . .

Tonight I hosted my monthly book club meeting. We used it as an excuse to deep clean the whole downstairs - even down to shampooing the carpets. They needed it :) We spent yesterday cleaning and the last half of today (from experience I know that if I clean in the morning, it does not last until evening) finishing the job. I don't think our downstairs has ever been cleaner! (It probably never will again unless I host book club again or something.) Rob and I put the kids to bed before the other women showed up. Megan was very disappointed that she didn't get to go. She told me that I should not be having "fun" if she was not allowed to come. I told her she got to go to all sorts of things that I didn't, such as her valentine's day party at school. She told me that I had my chance to go to valentine's day parties when I was in school. I told her that she could go to book clubs like mine when she was a mom.

I had a wonderful time at the meeting. We discussed a book called "Freedom Bound". It's an incredibly interesting book about an African princess who is captured and sold as a slave, but eventually works her way up to owning her own plantation. It just happens to be written by my aunt (Rosalie Turner) :) By the way, it's based on a true story, but since there are no diaries or similar items, so the book had to be considered fiction as the thoughts and feelings of the main character are assumed.

After everyone left, I went upstairs and checked on the kids. Beth was still awake and happily trotted downstairs to feast on the leftovers. She sat in Jack's high chair, surrounded by trays of leftover food and chowed down :) She had so much fun! I love my little Button-baby! She is so incredibly cute! :)

About Rob

There are a bunch of these questionnaires floating around Facebook, but I thought rather than adding this to my "notes" page, I would post it here. I don't think Rob would ever see it if I posted it to my notes page . . .

Here's a chance to see how well you really know your Husband.

1. He's sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen? UFC, boxing

2. You're out to eat; what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Ranch

3. What's one food he doesn't like? Jello or stuffing

4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order? Water - with lemon if possible

5. Where did he go to high school? Vernonia High School

6. What size shoe does he wear? 10

7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be? Boxing/Ross training equipment and books

8. What is his favorite type of sandwich? Reubens or French dip

9. What would he eat every day if he could? Pizza (no peppers)

10. What is his favorite cereal? Granola - all natural, organic, no cinnamon flavors

11. What would he never wear? pink

12. What is his favorite sports team? Red Sox

13. Who did he vote for? Bob Barr

14. Who is his best friend? Me :) also Wayne, Scott, Deric, Damian and Justin from Vernonia and Dan and Garrett from down here.

15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? yell when I'm mad

16. What is his heritage? English, Scandinavian

17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake? Either coconut or German chocolate

18. Did he play sports in high school? No

19. What could he spend hours doing? playing on the computer (chess at the moment, usually Age of Empires, but we can't get it to work on Vista), surfing through sherdog (a website for strength training)

20. What is one unique talent he has? He does not get mad at me - ever :)

In Honor of Valentine's Day

This was on a friend's blog, but I didn't think she would mind if I borrowed it :)

1. How long have you been together?
Eleven and a half years (we got married Aug 16, 1997)

2. How long did you know each other before you started dating?
Ummm . . . we never really dated. We were engaged 48 hours after we met (and no, we hadn't talked to each other or written each other before then).

3. Who asked who out?
Well, I called the apartment he moved into (although I didn't know he had moved in there) because my roommates and I wanted to know if the guys in that apartment wanted to come over that night. Rob answered the phone, but I thought he was someone else (that I knew). We talked for a few minutes before I figured out that he wasn't who I thought he was. His roommate wanted to go visit another girl that night (his roommate had a crush on her), but told Rob he could pick where they went. Rob said he had to go meet me. Although we didn't talk much for the first several hours (Rob says he was tongue-tied and I thought he just didn't want to talk), by the end of the night we made up for lost time and talked for quite a while. The next day he came over after church and we ended up spending the rest of the day together. He was waiting for me when I got home from work the following day and he proposed that night.

4. How old are each of you?
I'm 30. Rob is 33.

5. Whose siblings do you see the most?
Mine I guess - it helps that Christy lives 10 mins away :) We talk to each of our siblings pretty often though.

6. Do you have children together?
Four - three girls and a boy

7. What about pets?
Three cats - Harlequin, Max and Cricket

8. Did you go to the same school?
Not high school. We both went to Ricks College and then both finished our Bachelor's from University of Phoenix Online.

9. Are you from the same town?
Not even remotely - although we did live only about 4 hours from each other for a few years when my family lived in Seattle. (His family lives near Portland, OR.)

10. Who is the smartest?
Depends on what you're talking about. We have different strengths.

11. Who is the most sensitive?
Me.

13. Where is the farthest place you have traveled as a couple?
We've traveled from the west coast to the east coast and from north to south. There are only a handful of states that we haven't been to together. We've been up the east coast of Canada too.

14. Who has the craziest exes?
Neither of us has many.

15. Who has the worst temper?
Me probably.

16. Who does most of the cooking?
I do, but Rob does the dishes.

17. Who is more social?
Definatly me.

18. Who is the neat freak?
Depends - Rob can make a place look clean faster, but when I clean it gets a deeper clean. Of course, with 4 kids, nothing really stays clean for long . . .

19. Who is more stubborn?
Both of us are incredibly stubborn. We're working on it :)

20. Who hogs the bed?
Rob sleeps diagonally across the bed, but both of us don't like sleeping without touching the other of us anyway, so it's not an issue.

21. Who wakes up earlier?
Rob. We have a system worked out. I get up in the middle of the night with the kids and Rob gets up and gets Megan off to school while I get to sleep in until the other kids wake up. On weekends and holidays, Rob gets up with the kids and lets me sleep as long as I can :)

22. Where was your first date?
I guess it would be when we went for the walk the day after we met? We ended up at a park and then walked home and went for a drive in Rob's car.

23. Who has the bigger family?
Me - I have 4 siblings. He has 3.

24. Do you get flowers often?
Every few months :)

25. How do you spend the holidays?
Christmas is with my family and whoever wants to come down here (one of Rob's sisters was here this past year). Easter and Thanksgiving we spend at our house - usually with a few visitors. Christy always at least stops by for dessert. 4th of July we do a cook out here and usually watch the fireworks the night before.

26. Who is more jealous?
Neither of us is very jealous.

27. Who does the laundry?
Rob almost always washes all of it. I fold it and put it away.

28. Who is better with the computer?
Both of us are fairly good at it - after all, we both got our degrees online.

29. Who drives when you are together?
Depends on the day and where we're going.

30.Is your family still growing?
Maybe one more if we're able to have another one - we still have a seat left in the minivan ;)

I got into grad school!!!

I applied and got into Capella University! My first class starts on March 9th. I'm going to be getting a Masters in Human Services with an emphasis in Marriage and Family Therapy (the degree that will be most helpful to me becoming an LMFT). I'm very excited and can't wait to start :) I really miss school (Rob says I'm weird) and my classes look like they are going to be so interesting! I finished my Bachelor's about 2.5 years ago, so it's been a while. The classes are all online, so I will be able to fit them into our schedule without having to miss out on time with my kids. The school has condensed the hands-on portions of the first part of the program into two 6 day seminars, so I only need to spend two weeks away from home :) Once the classes are done, I'll have to complete 100 hours of practicum and then two 300 hour internships to finish the degree. In order to get licensed in TX, I then need to pass the national MFT test and then complete a 3000 hour internship. It will be a bit of a long road, but we really think this is the right step for us :) I'll have to decide after finishing this step if I want to get my PhD. Dr. Knowlton has a bit of a ring to it, don't you think? :) If I decide to go that route, I would probably get my PhD in Psychology.

We've tried to time this so that I'll complete my classes about the time Jack starts school so that I'll be able to do my practicum and internship hours while all the kids are at school. I have had several people ask if I'll be able to do this considering the other items on my plate. I went back to school when Megan was 9 months old and went through my 2nd pregnancy and delivery, gall bladder surgery, our move to TX (which made that class difficult as our Internet was NOT hooked up despite me setting it up a month in advance), my 3rd pregnancy and delivery (and Beth was born about half way through one of my classes so I did end up turning in a paper a day late I think), so I think I'll be able to fit it in :) I really love learning and miss the intellectual stimulation, so I'm really looking forward to it. I also love being able to show my children how incredibly important I think that education is :)

Other than that, life hasn't been horribly eventful. We got our tax return, which is always nice :) Of course, we already have plans for it, but it's still fun to see that balance in our bank account for a few days. We decided on where we're going for our family vacation this year. This year we are doing a cheap vacation. We found a B&B that's about an hour south of Ft. Worth that is comprised of several houses and cabins on a farm. One of the cabins is a boxcar, so we are going to drive down and spend a few days there. It's in a small town called Glen Rose, which is just a few minutes away from Dinosaur Valley State Park. Megan is so excited about getting to see the dinosaur footprints and life size statues! We're waiting until October to go down there though as we want it to be cool enough that we can spend some time outside :)

I hope all of you have a wonderful Valentine's Day! Rob and I are going out tonight to a Greek restaurant then to the temple. Christy is spending the evening with the kids. She is getting them pizza and making a pink cake with them, so they are thrilled :)

Beth's first dentist appt!

All the kids have been sick again for the past week (each at different times of course to stretch it out as long as possible) with bad colds and coughs. The dr said it looked like it was probably croup (they've had fevers at various times too), so it wasn't in their lungs and we just had to wait it out. Everyone else around here seems to be sick too. I think it's just winter in TX. The temperatures are constantly jumping from 70 or 80 degrees to 30 degrees and back again every few days and I have come to the conclusion that it is not good for people's immune systems. Every year we've been down here it seems like when February rolls around every person I know is sick and there are dozens of different bugs being passed around. Only Megan and I went to church on Sunday because of it and we only went for the last two hours.

We set up dentist appointments for all three girls and I several months ago for Monday of this week. Rob and I thought about canceling them because of the coughs, but decided that if we could make it, we should as everyone else has coughs as well and rescheduling all four would be a nightmare and leave an hour long hole for the dentist. Rob got Meg off to school that morning, then I got all three of the younger kids up and ready and we left to pick up Meg and head off to the dentist. This was Beth's very first dentist visit as she just turned three. We brought a stroller for Jack so he would be contained. The three girls trotted into their exam room on their own (they all had appointments one after the other) and Jack sat quietly in his stroller next to me during my cleaning. All three girls behaved perfectly and all three let the hygienist clean their teeth!!! Yay!!! What great kids :)

We mostly hung out at home today, except for walking to school to pick up Megan. I tried to walk once last week, but I just wasn't ready for it yet I think. Today went better and it was nice to get outside, even if it was only for 15 mins. Right now Kylie, Beth and Jack are all napping. Poor guys - they have been coughing so much at night that they aren't sleeping very well. Kylie and Beth don't usually nap at all and Jack already took his normal daily nap.

Beth has apparently entered a "daddy's girl" stage. The other night, Rob and I tucked them all into bed, then went downstairs to finish up some things. When we went back upstairs, Beth was happily ensconced in the comforter on my side of our bed rather than in her own bed. I asked her what she was doing and she announced in her matter-of-fact tone "I am sleeping here now. I love Daddy." I told her that she could sleep on the mat next to our bed that we keep there for the purpose of having somewhere for small children to sleep when they want to be near us. She reiterated that she loved Daddy, so she was sleeping in my spot now. I informed her that I was glad she loved Daddy, but I was sleeping there :) Then yesterday I asked the girls to clean up the playroom. As an incentive, I reminded them of the upcoming "Mommy dates" I promised them. Beth told me she didn't want to go on a mommy date; she wanted to go on a daddy date and she was going to go to Walmart.

In other news, Rob and I have been talking and I think I may be going back to school next month. I have always planned to get my master's, but we've learned that it's much easier if we only have one of us in school at a time. Rob finished his MBA last summer. I had planned to wait until next year to start, but Jack will be in school full time in three and a half years (!!!) and there isn't really any reason for me to wait. I considered going back to the University of Phoenix Online as I loved getting my undergrad there, but they only offer my major through their Puerto Rico campus and that would be a bit of a commute. I found what looks like a really good program through Capella University, which is also online. I'm going to major in Family and Marriage Counseling, with the hope of becoming a LMFT (Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist). Their program involves 60 credit hours of classes (I plan on attending half-time, which is one class every 10 weeks with a 2-3 week break between classes), so the classes would take me about 4 years to complete. They condense the required hands-on labs into two 6 day seminars, one of which will probably be in Dallas. Having to travel somewhere only two weeks out of four years isn't bad :) Following that, I would have 100 hours of practicum then 600 hours of internship to finish the degree. In order to get licensed in TX, I would have to pass the state test for therapists and then do a 2000 hour internship before being able to work on my own. I'm so excited! I love school and have missed being in it. Rob says I'm crazy for liking it :) I'll let you guys know what happens, but it looks like I might start my first class on March 9th! :)

I love Facebook!

Last night as I was cooking dinner, the phone rang. I answer it and a male voice says "Hi Laney! How are you?" We talk for a second or two and he asks if I know who it is. I had no idea. He says that he won't hold it against me since it had been over ten years since the last time I heard his voice. It was Jason, a really, really good friend of ours from Ricks! He was actually Rob's roommate when we got engaged and one of the reasons we met. He and I were really good friends even before Rob moved there. Several months ago, we found him on facebook and we've been talking back and forth through the instant messenger thingy on there. His company told him yesterday morning that they needed him to fly down and pick up a contract worker (or something like that) and drive him back to WY. Well, he flew into the DFW airport to meet up with him and the guy he was supposed to meet was running several hours late. He got my phone number off facebook and called us and Rob was able to go pick him up and we got to spend five hours visiting with him! The kids loved him and it was so nice to get to spend some time with him! I love being able to keep up with people online, but there's nothing quite like getting to visit in person!

We have been able to get back in touch with so many people that we have really missed through facebook. I've found friends from when I was in elementary school that I haven't talked to in over 20 years, friends from middle school, friends from each of the high schools I went to, and many of my friends from college. I love being able to see pictures of everyone's families and check out the blogs of those who have them. The Internet is such an incredible thing! I am no good at sending letters. I write them, but somehow they never get sent. I can email though! And they get sent! :)

Things have been going well here. We had a few nervous days this past weekend and the beginning of this week as Fidelity laid off about 1600 people nationwide. We knew it was coming and understood that it was necessary, but were still really nervous, both for us and for all the friends we have that work there. There are at least 13 people in our church congregation that work there too. Rob sat there on Tuesday morning and watched as one person after another in his department was called back. Rob's department lost 8 out of 50-60 people. Rob was not let go. Neither was Christy (my sister) or anyone from our church (from what we've heard). Fidelity was really supportive for those they did have to let go though and everyone will stay on the books (meaning get paid for) the whole month of February, after which they will get 3 months severance. Fidelity also has a team of people that help their laid off employees find other jobs. We really like that company! I'm so glad Rob got hired there!

The kids have been doing well. They have been so good about helping me rest and recover! Jack has been fighting a cold for a few days. He had what I'm pretty sure was an asthma attack the other night, so I think he has the same type of asthma that Megan has - she only gets attacks at night and they are usually brought on by either severe allergies or a virus. Meg only has a few attacks a year, so I'm hoping Jack will be similar in that area as well.

Meg starts her testing for the gifted and talented program soon. They sent home a questionnaire for Rob and I to fill out about her. I read through it and thought we were making a mistake because of the examples they used. The form had us give examples from Megan's actions in specific areas that might qualify Megan for the program. A couple I remember were things like "Expects high results from her activities even though she may not know much about the topic - i.e. builds a robot from items around the house and expects it to actually work, despite not knowing specifics of motor repair" or "recognizes faults in her creations and tries to fix them - i.e. understands that there are not enough solar panels in her model of a solar powered community to support the number of houses there". Megan has not built robots or models of solar-powered communities. Rob just laughed, wondered who came up with these examples, and said it was probably geared towards older children. I hope so, because I don't know any 6 year olds who have done that except for the ones that are featured in TV shows like "Smartest boy in the world" on the discovery channel who graduate from MIT when they are 12.

We filed our taxes by ourselves with the help of TurboTax this week. It's the earliest we've ever filed and the first time we haven't used an accountant in seven years. Our accountant is in MA though and so we've had to mail the forms to him and then wait for a while for him to have a chance to file them. TurboTax was pretty easy to use and we're pretty happy with it :)

Anyway, that's about all that's going on with us. Megan has tomorrow off school, so Rob and I are going to try to go on a date tonight (we try not to go out on school nights), then we have the missionaries over for dinner tomorrow night, then Saturday Megan has a birthday party to go to and Rob is having a friend come over to watch a UFC on tv. Hope you all have wonderful days!