October 2014

October 1st I decided to just get it all over in one day.  I spent the morning at the gynecologist for my early and then had my mammogram done.  I am good for another year.  That afternoon I spent having lunch with Tabitha and her two girls (MUCH more pleasant than the morning).  We had fun just talking and watching the girls play until it was time to get the kids off the bus.  

October 2nd I spent in the library at Lake Norman learning how to run the place while Mrs. Davis and Mrs. Tonnesson are at an all-day seminar.  Getting to run a library for a day is a dream come true for me.  I am so excited.  That night I went to a baby shower for Karilee Croshaw at The Olive Garden.  Pumpkin cheesecake was back on the menu and so that is what I ordered for dinner.  It was worth every bite!  I also got to know Jen Savage and Heidi Grotenhuis.  I love being in primary, but I don't get to know very many people unless they have a 3-year-old.  I very much enjoyed my evening of adult talk!

October 4th - GENERAL CONFERENCE!!!!  Yay!  The kids helped me clean the house a little bit before we went to get their flu shots done for the year.  We went to Naomi's soccer game and then hurried home to watch the last hour of the first session of conference.  Between sessions Jeremy went to Justin's house to hang and watch the second session.  Steve, Nick and Phil (Tufts) picked up Jeremy and Justin and went to the priesthood session of conference that night.  Naomi and I went to the Tufts house and watched "Frozen".  It was great.  The girls acted out all the scenes and sang all the songs.  Definitely the most entertaining way to watch the movie.  

October 5th we had a big conference breakfast and watched the first session together.  Between sessions, Blake came over the finish up his Eagle paperwork.  While Steve worked on this, Jeremy took the rest of us for a drive.  He is getting better.  After conference was over (I LOVE CONFERENCE!!!) Nick studied for a test he had the next day.  He was so nervous about this test and his stomach felt funny.  After he threw up he felt much better.  The test went very well and he decided there was no need to get that worried over a test again.  

October 7th it was decided that Naomi's bike is no longer safe to ride.  The back chain kept coming off and while I was putting it back on for the third time I noticed that the back wheel was bent.  A little sleuthing later and the whole story came into picture.  Nick wanted to see if it was easier to do a wheelie with a smaller bike.  You get the idea!  Naomi was upset because she really wanted to ride her bike to school the next day as it was National Walk to School Day.  She calmed down when I told her we could still walk.

October 8th - Naomi loved the time with just the two of us walking together.  It was even more fun when we got to the cross walk and met up with all the other kids who were walking.  The firedog mascot was there as was the principal and the Ridge Road Middle School Band. Everyone danced across the cross walk.  Naomi thought it was the best morning EVER!  I must admit, it was a lot of fun.  

 

While the kids were at school I went to the store and got everything we would need to make Naomi's halloween costume.  When the kids got home from school we worked a little on Naomi's costume and then went with Steve to the sports store to get the kids new bikes.  Naomi's was trashed (see Oct. 7th) and Nicholas was too big for his.  They were super excited to have a new set of wheels.  

October 10th I got to substitute teach in the library!  It was a great day.  All day, surrounded by books.  It was also the book fair and so I got to help the 5th and 6th graders find books they might want to buy.  The day flew by!!!

October 11th started with Jeremy and Steve going to Hind's Feet Farm to help Ethan with his eagle project.  Nick, Naomi and I went to get the rest of the stuff for Halloween costumes.  When we got home, Nick got to go for a ride in Brother Shamanis' Audi.  He was so excited about this experience that he got on his bike and decided to relive the experience.  When he came back home he had a cracked helmet and the front brake had broken off his bike.  His story was that a squirrel ran in front of him and he crashed.  He said he wasn't going that fast.  I have decided that fast is a relative term and I am just glad that he is okay.  Immediately after this we took Jeremy to the corn maze for the Outdoor Club activity.  Steve would pick him up on his way home from running errands so that I could get Naomi to Emily's house.  Emily's family had invited Naomi to go with them to the large cat refuge up in Troutman.  She had a great time and even won the "Guess How Many M&Ms Are In This Jar" contest.  She won the jar of  M&Ms and $10.  Steve and I spent that evening at the Mullers playing Dungeons and Dragons.  It was us, the Mullers and the Todds.  We had so much fun getting our "geek" on.  I haven't laughed that hard in a long time!

October 13th was definitely a 13th.  The day started off very well.  I got a lot done (grocery shopping, decorating for Halloween, made bread, straightened the house, got Nick's bike fixed, etc.) preparing for possible jury duty the next couple of days.  In the afternoon I went to pick up my sewing machine which had been in the repair shop for over a month.  It wasn't quite ready, but while I was waiting to hear this news Jeremy called and said he was done with play practice early and wanted me to come get him.  On the way to the school I hit a bolt or something in the road and got a flat tire.  It was completely flat by the time I found a place to safely pull off the two-lane road.  I called Steve to see if he could pick up Jeremy while I figured out how to change the tire.  Not too long after talking with Steve he called back and told me that John Shamanis was on his way to help me.  Thank goodness John came because it took the two of us reading the directions to figure out how to get the spare tire out from under the truck.  Once the spare was out from under the truck we had the flat off and the spare on in no time flat. When I got home I called in to see if they needed me for jury duty the next day and.....of course they did!!  How else could a day like this end!!??!!!

Naomi quote:  "Imagine what it would smell like and how loud it would be if you could gather all the farts in the world!"  Deep thought.

October 14th I appeared for jury duty.  I was really nervous about how the day would go.  I met a very nice lady named Laurie and we spent the morning chatting.  Neither one of us were called for the first batch of potential jurors.  Steve called mid-morning to tell me that the tire was covered under the road hazard warranty that came with the new tires (we purchased at the beginning of August).  It would only cost $31 to have the tire replaced and that cost was the labor charges.  That was good news #1.   Good news #2 came about 2:30 in the afternoon when it was announced that all other cases scheduled for today were settling out of court.  We were all free to go.  I called Lake Norman Charter and told them I could sub the half day on the 15th after all (Good news #3 they still needed me) and started for home.  It was raining incredibly hard.  I was grateful I had the flat yesterday when the weather was gorgeous instead of in the pouring rain.  Good news #4, and by far the best news, I am not eligible for jury duty for another two years!!!

October 15th was a half day at LNC.  I love doing half days.  That night Naomi played her heart out, but her team still lost the game.  She still loves soccer.  

October 16th and 17th the boys did  not have school.  It was Fall Break for LNC.  You would think that would make the day less hectic, but...  We were up early to get Jeremy to seminary.  Yes, he still had seminary because the seminary schedule is synced with the CMS schedule and CMS still had school.  We got Naomi on the bus and then I took Jeremy to the orthodontist and then to play practice.  Nick and I went out to breakfast at Denny's and then went to see the Croshaw's new house.  We were grocery shopping at BJs when Jeremy texted that he was done with play practice.  We picked him up and had just pulled in the driveway when Matt returned Nick's call from earlier and wanted to know if Nick could come over and play.  I took Nick to Matt's house.  Back at home I mowed the grass (which was tall enough to lose small children in) and finished just  before the school bus dropped Naomi off.  We ended up having a huge play date with the Tufts and everyone else in the neighborhood until dinner time.  Steve got home and went to kick boxing.  Nick got home from Matt's shortly after that. He was sad because he had lost his frisbee at the park.   I had just enough energy left to clean the bathrooms so they would be clean when Ginger arrived the following day.  WHEW!!!!

October 17th I got Naomi on the bus and Steve left to get Ginger.  Jeremy slept until 9:30 (these play practices are wearing him out!).  Steve arrived with Ginger shortly after Jeremy woke up.  They took the boys and headed to Delks (the army surplus store).  I had lunch with Naomi at school.  When I got back, the crew was back from Delks and Steve was making Ginger a knife.  Naomi's bus arrrived not too long after this.  Ginger dressed up (with our Elvis wig and sun glasses) and met Naomi at the bus stop.  It only took Naomi a minute to realize this strange person was Aunt Ging in disguise.  

That evening Steve and I went to the Mullers Murder Mystery party while Ginger stayed with the kids.  They just hung out at home and played games.  The murder party was so much fun.  Steve and I were playing the part of an older couple (Malcolm and Matilda) from England that seemed innocent on the outside, but the backstory was that I was a retired assassin for the British secret service - MI6 -and Steve had been my handler.  We had a great time getting to know the other couples and trying to figure out who done it!  

October 18th Ginger flew back to Minneapolis in the afternoon.  The morning was spent just having fun and taking pictures.  We loved having her stay with us.   

October 19th Naomi and I rode our bikes to choir practice.  When Naomi found out that she could be a part of the ward choir she was thrilled.  We will be singing in the Christmas program.  She is having a great time learning the songs.  Our house is filled with music now as she practices whenever she can.  At church I found out that Sister Cobb, my partner in sunbeam teaching for two years now, was being released from primary and put into the Relief Society presidency.  I am really going to miss her. She and I worked really well together and the kids love her so much.

October 21st - Nick passed the shrimp challenge.  In honor of the occasion I fixed shrimp linguini for dinner.  He loved it.  After dinner was over I got a call from a woman who said that her son had found Nick's frisbee.  Her boys had been playing at the park near their grandparents house (Matt's neighborhood) and found it.  Nick had put his name and number on the underside and so they called the number.  It turned out that they didn't live too far away and I arranged to go to their house to pick it up.  They were a nice family who homeschooled their kids. We got talking and found that we knew several of the same people.  Small world!  Nick is ecstatic to have his frisbee back.

October 24th Jeremy went to University of North Carolina Charlotte (UNCC) with his theater class to perform for the theater students at the college.  They got valuable feedback on how to improve their performance for the upcoming competition.  The best part about the performance is that Jeremy liked his costume.  This had been a topic of much angst in the previous weeks because there was a leopard print unitard involved.  The costume turned out to be great and Jeremy embraced it and really got into character.  That night Steve, Nick and Jeremy went on a wilderness survival campout with the troop.  Naomi and I stayed home, watched Guardians of GaHoole and went to bed early.

October 25th Naomi and I got up early and went to the fabric store to pick out the fabric for the new robe she wanted.  It is a good thing that I sew because her tastes are very specific and would be incredibly difficult, if not impossible, to find in the retail market.  We had a good time.  After robe shopping Naomi had a Halloween party at one of her classmate's houses.  We hurried home to get her in her costume.

She helped make her Rainbow Dash costume and was very excited to show it off.   Her friends thought it was pretty cool.  I had to pick her up early from the part for her last soccer game.  Her team played their little hearts out but they did not win.  I think Naomi is glad that the season is over.  It won't interfere with her increasingly busy social life any longer.  That night we carved our Halloween pumpkins.

October 29th I went to the training to be a substitute in the Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools (CMS).  It was a long day with a lot of information that did not apply to substitutes.  I heard the phrase "This applies to everyone but substitutes" an awful lot that day.  Afterwards we were sent downtown for a drug test and fingerprinting.  We were all packed into a very small waiting room as only three people were called back at a time.  After an hour and fifteen minutes of waiting (with a bladder that was about to explode!) I was finally called back.  Next was the fingerprinting and that wasn't so bad because everyone was now over waiting to give their urine sample.  I hurried home so I could finish getting everything ready to take dinner to the theater students who were having a late rehearsal before the competition.  It was nice to get to meet the kids in Jeremy's class.  They were all very nice and incredibly appreciative of the dinner.  

October 30th I subbed for Mrs. Rosales at Highland Creek.  She was Naomi's teacher last year and the biggest reason I hurried and got my training done.  I enjoyed getting to know the kids in her class and quickly realized that being an elementary teacher is a lot harder than it looks.  I had to teach every subject to these kids all day long.  The up side is I got to know them all rather well by the end of the day.  After school I met Naomi at her room so we could pick up Buster the turtle and bring her home with us for the long weekend.  Naomi was so excited to find out that she was the one chosen for this special job.  I must admit it was fun having a pet turtle for the weekend.  Naomi took Buster out for walks and had to write in the journal that came with Buster about the adventures they had together.  

Naomi and Buster out for a walk in the backyard.

October 31st I got the boys off to school and Naomi and I made sugar cookie dough.  While the dough was refrigerating we went to the school to have our Parent Teacher Conference with Mrs. Favaloro and Mrs. Bloomquist.  They wanted Naomi to come with me so we could all talk about her academics and possible goals for her in the coming months.  I really love her teachers this year.

Back at home we rolled and cut out the cookies while watching the new Tinkerbell movie.  When the boys got home I took Nick to Ryan's house to hang out and trick or treat.  Nick wanted to go with his friends this year.  Naomi and I trick or treated in our neighborhood while Jeremy handed out candy.  Just as the trick or treating was wrapping up it started to pour.  We all piled in the car and headed for the Stewart's house to check out their set up this year.  They always do something amazing and this year was no exception.  The theme was "Prom gone wrong".  Shelly was dressed like Carrie from the movie of the same name complete with blood all over her dress.  Shane was a crash victim with a gash on his forehead.  Everyone looked great.  We stayed for a little bit and then headed to the Wolfe's to pick up Nick.  All of us slept well that night.

Naomi's Team Photo