Day #7- ICU

The sabbath day started out wonderful. I was able to sleep in a little bit and then quickly shower and get over to my wife. She was doing wonderfully well. I was please to arrive and have Jayna, her nurse, tell me that all was well. My wife's sister and her husband stopped by and visited for quite some time. While they were visiting, Brother and Sister Kendall stopped by and allowed us to partake of some spirituality. It was very calming and wonderful.

After my wife's sister and husband left (which by the way, left me with an envelope and  with something for "me" inside. Your gift was more than generous and gratefully accepted). After they left, I sat with my baby until Colter and Becky came and visited with my wife and I for a while. That got us to No Visiting Hours time. Colter and Becky had previously invited me over for dinner and the use of their laundry facilities. It was a wonderful time, to be around a family. I enjoyed playing with them and hearing children laughter again. I have missed that dreadfully. After all was said and done (and we ate our BBQ baked cookies) they generously returned me to the Guest House first, and then across the street in front of the hospital at which point I returned to my wife's side. I arrived to find another of my wife's sisters here. That was a pleasant surprise. I visited with them for a while before settleing down to sitting by my wife. It was interesting to watch how they freshen them up with a sponge bath, clean sheets, etc. It made me happy to see that they are really making an effort to keep her clean and happy as possible.

I decided to come home earlier tonight so I can be ready to be at the hospital by 7am tomorrow. She is scheduled to enter the surgery room at 8am and I want to be with her for a few minutes before they take her into surgery. Tomorrow is going to be a wonderful day as well because I get to see my oldest daughter and 6 year old son. I am hoping to find a way to get my oldest son up here soon, and definitely want to seem my two baby boys. So much is happening so fast I can't hardly keep up.

I apologize if there are lots of typos. I keep waking up to find a row or two of some random letter, so I will take that as a sign to sign off and sleep. I will update as soon as possible after the surgery.
Tomorrow is going to be a great day-
Later...

It Wasn't Bad

So, after having watched the movie, I can say that it wasn't too bad. I felt they truly only showed the very bear minimum of details from the book. I would recommend to anyone that it is worth watching (entertainment wise, not really in the cost department what with tickets being over $10 each).

My wife and I really enjoyed spending time with my brother and his wife. We had a great lunch at Boston's. I had never eaten there and the food was fantastic. After lunch we went to the movie. It lasted about 3 hours (I think).

Shopping came next. It was nice to just wander around the stores where my brother and his wife needed to go. We spent very little (YEA US!) but had a great time visiting without all the kids screaming and running around.

We headed home after shopping and picked up the kiddos. They actually did really well. I am very proud of them.

Last night was a very long night. The temperature never dropped below 75 degrees making it almost unbearably hot in the house. We had all the windows open hoping that the temp. would drop. Then my daughter woke me up to tell me she had thrown up in her bed. That was all sorts of fun at 2:30am. NOT! Then about an hour later, she woke me up to tell me she had lost it again all over my bathroom floor. Got that cleaned up. Finally got her settled down and she was fine for the rest of the night. Today, she seems a little warm, but feels much better. I wonder if she had a touch of heat strokeFor some reason (we think it might be the heat) our little boy keeps waking up around 1am crying. As soon as he is in our bed he is out again. Little stinker! Makes it hard to sleep well. I guess sleep isn't something I will be enjoying for a while anyways! TOMORROW (Monday) is the day.

I am still a little shocked at how fast it is all happening. We will have been at the hospital for over an hour by this time tomorrow. Crazy.My mother and father -in law are coming down to see the baby, and her mom will stay until Thursday- I think. That will be nice to have some extra help around the house and for my wife. My mom has volunteered to come and watch the kids from the time we leave until my wife's parents get here. What a trooper she is. :) Thanks Mom!

Well, I am trying to keep my daughter happy. She and I stayed home from church. We hope to get her better before our new little one comes home. That wouldn't be very good to have the flu in our home when a newborn comes here.

Later...

Life Continues To Move On (Even If I Feel Like I Totally Got Ripped Off!)

Ok,

So I know that I have been bad at blogging, but I blame it all on the fact that my laptop finally completely died, and I don't have a desire to sit in the computer room clear away from the family, not to mention that I get all anxious about the sound in the wall! So I will do the best I can!

I got my application in the U of U for my master's degree and am just waiting for a reply to see if I was accepted. We shall see. I figure whatever. With the economy the way it is and resources stretched to the limit in every district, fund won't be available to hire a second principal anyways! :) But I would love the degree. The other good news is that the HS was approved to broadcast the classes, so as long as the they don't conflict with the HS schedule, we can watch them right here in town. YIPPEEEEEE!

If you haven't noticed from the widget to the side, our family is expecting our 5th and final baby! We are very excited about this development and look forward to welcoming Baby Hughes in July.

As to matters related to Church, they put in a new bishopric on Sunday, and took my counselor AGAIN! That is very frustrating to me. But I hope to get over it an move on.

School has been great. I love teaching my class. They are a great bunch of kids, and I feel that we are making great progress!Go Bears!

Well, I know this brings you sort of up to date. Until the next installment, Adieu!

Later...

P.S. Don't forget to SWING BY next Saturday for a quick look around. I am hosting a book tour on my blog. You will have a chance to win a prize as well! Check back for more details! Have a good one!

I'm Really Alive, I Promise!

Greetings.
I have NOT been slacking. I promise. I have been drowning in LIFE! I really could go into all the details, but it isn't that interesting.

School has been quiet this past week. I had a student decide to home school. I miss having the student in my classroom. I like ALL my students a lot! I want them ALL to succeed, not just some of them. I hope everyday that my students know that I care about each one of them, and I want them to succeed!

Life at home has been good as well. The kids are all doing great in school. My two baby boys are growing and learning so quickly, and enjoying being at home with their mom.

I also found out about the master's program. I am going to be going to Price once a week during the school year and twice a week during the summer. They were able to work it out so that I will NEVER have to be on campus. I love THAT a lot! So I guess I am back on track for that.

During the time I last posted, I have also agreed to be the advisor for a community video/filming club. A student that I teach voice(singing) to wanted to start a club at the high school, but based on district guidelines it wouldn't be allowed. So we arranged to make it a "community" club and would allow the students to use my classroom for their meetings. I am looking forward to that.

Today has been good. I sang with my daughter in church, went with my father to speak in a near town in a singles branch, and in a couple hours I am teaching a Teacher Improvement class. So this day will be nice to have done. I still have assignments for my college class and other classes, not to mention I have 6 pages due to the Mailbox before December 1st.

I guess I better get to work on them!

Later...

4 DAYS!

Wow Readers, no wonder some of you have discontinued your subscriptions! 4 days and no post. I can explain the last four days, and it may be a few more until the next one!

Let's see, where do we begin:

November 8th:

Saturday and Closing Night of the Play. WOW. That was a REALLY long day! I woke up pretty

early and headed up to my parents. They are putting up a huge shed in their side yard to house their workshop and trailer. The shed is 30ft wide, 46ft long, and 17ft tall! It is ONE HUGE SHED! It was cool to watch it go up, one half circle section at a time! It was also nice to see my two older sisters who came with their husbands to help. By the time that was over I had just enough time to get my haircut, shower, eat dinner, and head right to the high school for the play. It went super well and the kids thanked me at the end and gave me a plant. (See picture). It was very mush appreciated. Every year I tell myself that I won't do that again, and every year I do it again. So,I wonder what is up for next year.

November 9th: Sunday

Due to rampant sickness sweeping through our house I was the only one that made it to church. My wife stayed home with the kids (which was maybe a little crazy as they about drove her nuts!) It was a busy day as well! Meetings starting at 8am and going until 1pm. Then family visits from 1:30 to 2:30. Dinner and then another family visit that was supposed to go for a few minutes and lasted 2 hours. So come 5:30 I finally had a minute to sit down. But with the sick kids, life was anything but relaxing.

November 10th: Monday

Was a day. The day went smoothly and for the most part my class was excellent! I love those kids to pieces. They make me want to scream sometimes, but that is just part of life! We were able to attend the book fair as a family in the evening, and my wife even won a gift certificate in a drawing ($10). Wa hoo! Grandma showed up and HOOKED the kids up! :) Thanks grandma. The kids love their new books, and in fact, you HAVE to read the book, "Pinkalicious" by Victoria Kann. It is one of our families new favorites.

November 11th- Tuesday.

Today has gone well. I was pleased with school and all that I was able to accomplish. I have started morning meeting again with my class. It has REALLY helped my kids return to respectful behavior. If I had to give an overall feel for the year, I would say it is going wonderful. I am very proud of my students, and hope they feel appreciated and respected. I missed a grade level meeting after school because I had another meeting. I am getting very tired of meetings! :) Tutoring this evening followed by a good dose of kid time. It was fun this evening to wrestle on the floor with my babies. We read scriptures, sang songs, read picture books, and ended the evening by reading more out of the Little House series. (We are on book 2). Now the kids are in bed, my wife and I are shopping on-line (Shame on us- we can't really afford it). So I better sign off!

Thanks for reading, and keep coming back for more.

Later...

Sunday that is Pretending to Be Saturday!

YIPEEEEEEEE! There isn't any school tomorrow. I am very excited about that as I mountains of work that I really need to work on. I shouldn't even be doing this blog post, but rather doing 2 college papers that are due in the next couple weeks. But, as I told a friend this evening, I don't WANT too. So that is about where I am.

Church went well today. For more thoughts on that see: http://ldspointofview.blogspot.com/ and read there.

After church we had my parents over for dinner. After fasting for almost 24 hours we were all hungry. My wife made the most fantastic soup and homemade rolls ever. It was a great dinner. After we cleaned up, we headed back to the church to hang up the E.Q. Vision Statement on the wall of our room. It looks REALLY great. My wife is truly amazing. Speaking of which, I informed her today that I was making the choice for her to be part of an Open House party that will include a representative from Pampered Chef, children's book, vinyl cutters(adhesive), among others. The ladies in charge want my wife to do her scrapped words. She was hesitant to do it, but I finally just told her to do it! The worst that could happen is that we will have all our Melon Days words ready to go. That's the best part. We will ALWAYS be able to sell them. So I don't really worry about that.

Well, enough rambling! Have a great night!

Later...

A Relaxing Sabbath and A Birthday

Ok,
So I am going to be 1 year older tomorrow. I guess I can deal with that. My mom and wife went to my classroom this evening and decorated it. I am nervous to see exactly what has taken place! Whatever, It's all good.

I have driven my wife crazy these last few days. She wanted to know what I want for my birthday. I always tell her, "Nothing!". I truly mean that. We have enough financial stress in our lives without spending money on "stuff". She doesn't like that answer, but what I get never ceases to amaze me. I get a homemade book of the kids, or some other amazing scrapped gift. I love my wife. She is truly amazing. And the gifts she makes WAY out do anything she could have ever bought.

I gave my talk in church today. For more on that visit: LDSpointofview (one of my other blogs). The whole 3 hours of meetings went well. I felt like maybe what was said maybe made a little difference.

We had my parents over for dinner tonight. It was wonderful to have them here and let my children enjoy their grandparents. That has truly been one of the biggest blessings of moving back here. My kids get to enjoy something I never did- grandparents on demand. I hope they grow to love their grandparents. To cherish them, revere them, and follow their counsel.

Well, I need to read Little House on the Prairie to my kids before they head to bed in just a minute. I am signing off for now.

Later...

The Wait is Over!

Wow! I can't believe that it has been so many days since I last posted! Man, Time just sneaks up on me. So, sorry about the delay.

Life has been a whirl-wind. I think I last posted on Saturday. (Crazy!) Sunday came and went. For more on that, check out http://ldspointofview.blogspot.com/. Monday was a great day. I had to be up by 5:30am so I could carpool to our district offices 90 minutes away for opening institute (teacher pep rally, basically). Headed home around 1pm and went and helped a member of my church clean his house as a surprise for his wife's b-day. So I did that until 3:30 when I had to run to the school for our first faculty meeting, and then back to my friend's house to help finish cleaning. (My wife and kids came back with me- my wife made the cheese cake). We had to leave around 7:30 to come home and do FHE and do father's blessings for school. I also had some pre-first day school things to get ready. Was able to be in bed by 11:00pm. Pretty early considering the last few weeks bed time.

I was up early this morning and at school by 7am. I was lucky enough to get two new students today. So I now have 24 students. AHH! My room isn't designed to hold that many students. I had a great day. I have a good class and we had a lot of fun doing some team building activities and games. My oldest had a great first day as well in 3rd grade. He is such a great boy.

After school I was able to relax and plan for tomorrow, come home and mow my lawn and water the garden (thanks honey for helping with the watering), and then during dinner I received a call from the 2nd grade teacher asking for help moving some furniture. I stopped by and picked up the high school science teacher (who happens to be a good friend) and we spent about an hours moving a washer, dryer, fridge, oven, and sink back into place. She wanted to pay us, silly lady! I did because it is the right thing to do. Got home to find our dishwasher had leaked water EVERYWHERE! So no dishwasher for a while. I think it needs a new seal. So I will looking in to that. All the kids have runny noses, and the baby is teething so he is sick with horrible congestion and high fever. Fun stuff at night when he only sleeps for 40-90 minutes at a time. But that is okay. I can't believe that the timer has counted all the way to zero! Crazy stuff.
Well, since it is late again, I am off to bed- More tomorrow! Peace!

P.S. My dad's knee surgery went really well. They are expecting to be home by Friday. YEA!

Life... Part 2

Okay,

So I was surfing the net and I saw something that, especially as an educator, just REALLY got my goat! I saw an ad that said- "No More Studying, Buy Your Degree Here!".

The thought that crossed my mind was, "Wow!!! We live in a lazy, selfish, demanding world where people feel like they are entitled to what ever they want without doing the work!". When you can simply BUY a degree- what does that say about us as a people? Now, I am sure that no business in its right mind is going to accept a "bought" degree as grounds for employment (although, maybe someone will invent the "No More Work!! Free Paycheck- Just Click Here" website and hook-me-up), but still- the very idea that studying isn't needed to actually LEARN what you need for your degree is crazy!

So I guess when you go to the doctor, dentist, accountant, etc, pray they didn't just "buy" their degree! Like I tell the kids I am around- "If you don't work harder in school so you can run the country- I'm moving to Canada!" I am seriously concerned about this rising generations ability to run a country and provide for themselves without "mommy and daddy" holding their hands and giving them handouts!

So, that line of thinking, coupled with the overload of being home now, but not being home (as I am practically living at the school trying to get my room ready for 25 students in 2 weeks), canning vegetables from our garden (that was an adventure as we have never used a pressure-canner until today, and I am happy to report that we DID NOT even blow up our kitchen- Wahoo!) has really given me time to think.

About what you ask?

About a lot of things:

1) Why am I fat?

2) Why is it so hot?

3) Why am I poor? (Oh wait, I'm a teacher! Ha Ha!)

Ok, wait a minute, that's not what I was thinking- just checking to see if you are really reading of just scrolling!

I have really been thinking about my life. Where it is going, where it has been, what goals I want to achieve this coming school year(assuming I ever even get my room ready!), and really pondering my decision to pursue a Masters of Administration from the University of Utah. Do I have any answers for all these "thinks"? The short answer is NOPE!

But I will continue to ponder them and let you know as I feel inspired about the answers.

I have a lot to do tomorrow at church. I am the president of the Elder's Quorum in my church. I am conducting a presidency meeting at 8:00am with high councilor from out of town, I am teaching a Sunday school class with 13-14 year old kids(they are some of the kids I taught in 6th grade my first year back in town- should be interesting), and tomorrow evening I am meeting with a gentleman in my group for a one-on-one discussion of church and family matters. Busy, but focused.

Updates to Past Traumas:

1) I have tried to call Gordon of Spring Communications in Murray, Utah for several day now with NO return phone call. So he must have realized that he COULD NOT give me the discount he promised and is now avoiding me. I think I will have my little sister pay their store a visit and see if she can scare him straight! (Nobody messes with my little sister and lives to tell about it!)

2) I have never heard back from McDonald's after talking to the " human shield"- Don't expect much to happen there, but I think it would be great if everyone who reads this calls them and complains!

3) I think that I am over the Wal-Mart issues! I hate the store and will ALWAYS (as their theme is) will hate them.

And now for the exciting conclusion (sorry this post is long- but I missed a couple days and a lot happens in the life of an educator):

A) I helped my parents pour their cement foundation for the ginormous shed they are building in the "park" (they have a double lot and it has all the kids toys so we call it the park). I think I can safely say that I would NOT make a good full-time construction worker. I did learn a lot though, and I enjoyed helping them. They were paying the other men $10 per hour. When they tried to pay me I told them I will "deal with you later". I think that scared my dad. I don't want their money. Good grief, I owe them more money than I have made teaching in the last 7 years!

B) I don't remember after all the stuff I had in my head for this post. So if and when I remember I will be sure to share it with you! I guess that is what happens when you watch a count down timer that tells you you have very little of your summer left! Oh well, life happens!

Later...