Jars, Mud, Temples, and Career Change

I started out the summer with some jars I thought I might need.  I didn't want whining, so if they said "I'm Bored" or "There's nothing to do", the kids would get to choose a chore out of that jar.  Nobody has earned one, yet.  I also made an activity jar for some fun suggestions that they could pick any time.  We've honestly been so busy, that we haven't had a lot of time for being bored or doing extra activities.  If we do... then I am officially prepared.

 Kira loves to have friends around.  She does not like to play alone.  One day, we had a few girls over and they wanted to play in the sandbox.  Somehow some water became involved and 5 minutes later, the girls were mud monsters.  The mud pie hats were to die for.  Anyway... we turned it into a beauty salon activity and cleaned up, did hair and painted pretty nails.  They went from mud monsters to beauty queens in an afternoon.  So cute.

 Kira keeps asking us to go see the temple, so we swung by after a dentist visit.  She loved the flowers and water fountain.

 We love the Logan temple!  Although Troy and I did not get married in the Logan temple, I did take out my endowments there.  To find out more about LDS temples, see http://www.lds.org/?lang=eng

 Another summer activity my boys like to do is playing catch in the yard or at the park.  TJ missed a fast ball and caught it with his cheek bone.  See the baseball thread marks?  He had a nice little shiner for about a week.  Nothing broken!

In May, I found out I would be teaching 3rd grade instead of Kindergarten.  My parents and sister came up to help me pack and move from Kindergarten to 3rd.  I was nervous, but excited for this new adventure.  I even got a class list with 12 of my former students!  I was looking at spending a good chunk of the summer studying and preparing for this new grade change.  Then, one day...
I get a phone call from our Literacy Facilitator at my school, Paula.  Paula said, "We have an opening at the district office for a literacy facilitator. I dropped your name thinking you'd be a good candidate, and we want you to apply."  Wow.  I really hadn't ever thought about doing that.  I wasn't sure it was the right thing for me to do, but applied anyway and interviewed anyway.  I went to the interview thinking it would be some kind of courtesy Q & A as they had someone more qualified in mind.  I walked in prepared to interview, but they were ready to offer me the job right then.  They explained the duties, the training, the details, etc.  and said they knew me well enough to want me to do it.  Wow.  They gave me the weekend to decide.  It was not the easiest decision, but I took time to weigh the options, make a decision, and pray about it.  I decided to take the job despite my reservations about giving up my new class and leaving a great school.
Sooo.... then I had to wait awhile to find out the schools I'd be at.  My parents and sister came back up to help me box up and label everything to get ready for the big move.  The day after packing, I got a call that I would get to stay at my current school and that Paula would be moving to a new school.  Wow.  I'm so excited!  I feel really good about my decision.  Honestly, I don't think I would've even applied for the position had I not been changing jobs anyway.  It was some crazy jumping around for a few weeks, but I'm now getting ready for another new adventure!

The summer has hit about the midpoint now, and I feel it slipping quickly away.  We did squeeze in some vacations!  I'll keep you posted.