8/3/09-8/9/09

Monday 8/3/09

I was so excited to have the old teacher coming back today. I was pretty disappointed though because the second she walked into the classroom, all the kids reverted back to speaking Spanish. The kids wouldn't even try to say stuff in English. It was such a distraction to have her in the classroom. I will be happy to turn everything over to her after this week though! (Michelle wanted her to "observe" my teacher to see how I manage the kids and keep them somewhat under control.)

I am also looking forward to getting all of the exams corrected and report cards done!! I'm getting closer.

(Alysa showing off her new haircut)

Tuesday 8/4/09

On the front page of todays newspaper was a big picture of all the Miss Quetzaltenango contestants. Among them was Morgan and Coles old Spanish teacher, Teacher Nancy. Apparently this contest is HUGE in Quetzaltenango. Everybody was looking at the paper the whole day. So....there were even more distractions in class today!

After school, we took the Orellanas home and Cole stayed there to play. We took their son, Sebastian (8) home with us to play with Alysa. (Yes, he is Coles age but is smaller than Alysa and would rather play with her!! It's kind of funny!) The kids all had fun playing and then we finally met up again when I picked them up for choir practice. Instead of regular choir tonight, there was a music person from the stake that came and was teaching a little class. If I had of known that, I would have stayed home and taken care of my sick kid, Laina! Instead, we didn't get home until 8:45 (remember bedtime is 7:30!!) The kids were so overtired and cranky!! They were fighting the entire time at choir. Oh, and Chris was gone hometeacher also until after 9:00 after a day of nonstop meetings!! Tuesdays are sooooo busy for us!

Wednesday 8/5/09

Laina officially has whatever it is that Alysa had last week. I took her with me to school and made a little bed for her to sleep on. Unfortunately, she wouldn't lay down for very long and kept wandering into my classrooms. All the kids LOVE Laina and freak out whenever she is around. (You'd think the novelty would have worn off by now!!) Anyway, add another distraction to the class. I should be used to them by now!

Today I had two quilting groups. The first was at school. The kids started working on their applique bee blocks today. I sure wish I had more pairs of sewing scissors!! The little kid scissors just don't work on fabric too well!! I am still shocked at how much the kids enjoy tying the big quilt. Hopefully they'll be able to finish it by the time school ends! If not, Morgan is really good at it! I only have 4 big yarn needles so the kids take turns working on their blocks with me helping them or tying the big quilt. I might have to get to work and make another top so that they have another project in case they finish early!!

I had another teacher tell me today that she wants to be in my quilting club. That makes at least 5 teachers that want to do it. I might have to start a group after school.

My 2nd group was for an enrichment activity for Relief Society. (Since everybody has to walk here, they split the R.S. into districts by where they live. The districts have meetings at someone's house. I am not in this particular district but they asked me to come and teach them how to make the baby blankets) It was really fun to get to know some different people. I had seen some of them before but never really interacted with them. It was also nice because I took Morgan with me and she had a chance to see how other people live and to have some alone time with mom. There was a lady, Sylvia, that speaks a little English that was helping me out but I was getting pretty creative with my Spanish! I'd say half of a sentence in Spanish and then make the motion of what they needed to do. I also learned a couple of new words that I had to write down. Whenever I couldn't find my paper, I was in trouble! The ladies really seemed to be enjoying themselves and we got one whole patchwork, rag baby quilt completed. I think the thing that I was most excited about is that they were wanting to make more to donate to a local hospital. For those of you who don't know me very well, humanitarian projects are one of my passions. I have been trying to figure out what I could do here and now I have a project!! YEAH!!

After a while, Sully came and she was able to help me out even more. I really enjoy her company. She's got such a great, happy personality! She lives a block away from the house we were at so she took Morgan and I to see her house. I am shocked at how much cooking she is able to do in such a small space!! She also showed us her garden.

When we went back, the ladies were still snipping the quilt and having a great time. They want to meet again next Friday to work on some more. Next time we'll probably just tie some baby quilts.

When I got home, Chris was pretty worn out. The temple plans keep getting changed since the plans aren't complete yet. Everyone if frustrated because the work keeps having to change. To make his night a little better, he did get a good laugh out of Laina. She was pretty tired and she said to Chris, "Can I be wild and crazy tonight and not brush my teeth?".

Thursday 8/6/09

The owners of the Beehive School have two young boys with autism. They just found out that they have been accepted to an autism research program at the University of Utah. They don't know when or for how long but they will be living in SLC for a while. They are pretty nervous about the expenses with housing, car rental, etc. At least they speak English!

Friday 8/7/09

To finish up our unit of clothing, all the kids had to do a presentation today. They had to bring as many articles of clothing and name them in English as they put them on. The more pieces, the higher the grade. They all seemed to have a really good time! Since they are having Spanish exams this week, Morgan came and joined the 5th grade class for the activity.

(5th grade)

(4th grade)

(4th grade - the crazy boys!!)

Today was another late day at the school. The kids beg to use the computers on Fridays since there isn't a computer class after school that day. I had a bunch of stuff to get done so we ended up staying until almost 4:00. I also had a bunch of kids in detention so I stayed with them and tried to make life as miserable as possible so that they wouldn't want to come back again!! A couple of the boys even ended up having to clean the bathrooms (DISGUSTING!!) since they were throwing food and leaving it in another classroom!

It has been really great having Cole's teacher (Deanna) at the school to help me along. I can really relate to her and her teaching methods. It's hilarious to see her get frustrated with the chaos at the school. After we left the school we took her with us to the grocery store where she was meeting a friend. She asked if it's hard to shop with 4 kids. Yes, it is hard but you do what you have to do!! (Especially when one falls asleep in the car and you have to carry her!)

Instead of our usual pizza/movie night, we did soup and a movie for the kids and Chris and I walked to the new restaurant by our house again. It wasn't as good this time and I got a little sick. It was nice to have a break from the kids though!

Saturday 8/8/09

I was asked to play the piano for a baptism this morning. It was supposed to start at 10:00 so I started playing prelude at 9:45. Over an hour later of playing prelude, they started the baptism at 10:52!! My back may never recover from sitting at that bench for so long!

I also learned that baptisms are a little different here. After the baptism they had a full on party with pinatas (at least 4 that I saw before I left) and lunch and goody bags. Everybody kept asking where my kids were. I tried in my best Spanish to say that I left them at home with their dad. I felt pretty bad when the mom gave me goody bags for all the kids to take home. Next time, we'll know!

After the baptism, the kids had to clean before I would let them have their goody bags. I am such a mean mom!! (: They have been slacking quite a bit in their helping out around the house though.

Morgan and I went to the fabric store to buy some more fleece and batting for the quilting groups. I didn't now the word for batting and they had moved it!! I had such a hard time trying to explain it to them. We figured it out and I was able to get some as well as a couple colors of fleece.

The family had a great dinner at a little restaurant called Guiseppies. It is a pizza/pasta place. They have a pizza there called the Mexicana. It has onions, jalapenos and a different sauce. It is really good and I had been craving it. Cole has also been obsessed with hot foods and jalapenos so he and I were pretty happy.....at least until Cole's mouth got too hot!! Laina and Alysa of course had to go to the bathroom ten million times and Laina had to fall off her chair at least once.

When we got up to leave, the waiter walked behind me and Cole said that he only came up to my waist. He was pretty short but I think he was a little taller than my waist.

Sunday 8/9/09

During Relief Society, I took a picture from our quilting group. I was shocked at how excited everybody was. They kept passing it around. At the end of R.S., the ladies that hosted the activity got up and showed everybody the quilt. They were so proud of it. I had a few other people ask if I could show their groups also. The ladies from the original group kept asking if I would be there on Friday. I had to try to tell them that I didn't know since we might have to go to Guatemala City or to Mexico because of our Visas. (We can only be here for 3 months at a time still!) As I was pulling out of the church, the whole group came over and asked if I could do it Wednesday instead.

I was also asked if I could play the piano on Friday for the primary and teach piano lessons (same lady again!! I'm not quite ready to teach kids piano when I am not comfortable enough with the language!) It took me forever to get out of the building!!

Morgan had an amazing day as well. She was able to answer some of the questions in class (yes, in Spanish) that the other kids couldn't!! She was floating on clouds when she got in the car....and of course couldn't stop talking the entire way home!

The rest of the day was spent relaxing for the most part.

If you listen carefully, you can get a good laugh out of my attempts to explain how to snip a quilt! I keep reverting back to English and looking for my paper with the words written on it!!

This is a typical lightning storm here. This is from our bedroom window.