Tues. 1st--Calvin and JJ had their first baseball games. This was JJ's first game of all time. He looked awesome (love the pinstripes :) and was ready to play ball! We also had the joy of having Aunt Stacy (Karole's sister) fly into College Station for a visit. I got to pick her up from the airport and take her back to my house before running off again to pick JJ up from his game before taking Calvin to his. Karole had a previous engagement at church and Jared had an appreciation dinner at work, so I was grateful that Jake was able to cheer JJ on for us.
And up to bat.
*Later that evening, the large map of Hungary that was on our living room wall, fell to the ground--for the first time since March 2018 when Jake got his call and we put it up. It was almost like the map knew that Jake was officially closing this chapter of his life as a young missionary in Hungary.
These are Jake's new mission boundaries.
Fri. 4th--We kept the kids out of school on the fourth so that we could spend the day driving up to Snyder, Texas to welcome home the first of our twin nephews, Cole, from Ghana. He was coming home a couple weeks early to surprise his mom, whose birthday was that Sunday. Missing even a day of school is tricky here in College Station. The schools are almost tyrannical about it. Cooper didn't think he could miss the whole day, so I offered to stay behind until noon when he would be ready to leave so that Jared could be with his brother for the big event. That worked out better for Karole, as well, so the three of us drove up together. Though we missed the trip to Lubbock to welcome Cole home and dinner afterwards, we had an awesome Italian dinner in Snyder at Amore. I highly recommend it! One of the best parts was listening to all the 80s love songs they played. :)
Jake and Cole. These kids are 9 months apart. Connor comes home in November from the Philippines. These guys are our "triplets" and they've got big plans to tear it up in Provo at BYU together.
Sat. 5th--Jared trying to pull his weight and changing the light bulbs in Kevin's living room.
Tues. 8th--It was the birthday of JJ's switch teacher, Ms. Swierc (she teaches science and math to JJ's homeroom class). I love the card he wrote to her all on his own.
Holding up '3' for his triple run and three RBI.
*Jake has had a handful of jobs cleaning windows recently. One of those was for an elderly couple from our previous ward. But the night before Jake was going to clean for them, there was a storm rolling through and the next day was looking pretty wet also. So he postponed. Except the couple could only have him clean on Friday mornings. The Friday after that we were going to be out of town and there was a conflict the week after that. Sadly he never got around to getting it done. On the 10th, Jake told me that after he went fishing and had lunch with a couple of his friends, he was going to this couple's home so he could wash their windows. He said he totally forgot about them and whether they are home or not, he's cleaning their windows for free. It was important to Jake that he keep his word.
*My friend, Ruth Graham, lost her husband the first week in September. I've wanted to take her out of her house for a break for a long time, but she never felt comfortable leaving Bob, even for a little bit with a caretaker. So even in the midst of Ruth's loss, I was grateful that she had the opportunity to now leave her house and fill her soul and senses with life outside of the walls of her home. We had our first RJ (Ruth and Jenn) Day on the 10th. I took her to the newly renovated library in College Station and then we went to Central Park--a park I'd never been to until Calvin and I had been there the night before at Larisa's game. Even in the dark, I had noticed there were a couple ponds and walking paths as well as some ducks. So Ruth and I went to check them out. I even brought some bread remnants. Ruth had a great time.
*JJ called me crying at 8pm. Because it was bedtime. And he took too long getting ready for bed so he couldn't watch TV. I told him I was certain he'd make better use of his time in the future and suggested he ask Karcyn to read him a story. When I got home at 9:30, Karcyn was already in bed, but I learned she had read to JJ when he came and asked if she would. She was working hard on homework that was due the next day and could have easily said no, but she had compassion on him and chose the Savior's way with no one to encourage that behavior at home.
*Jake felt an urgent impression to fly out to Utah for the weekend. A senior missionary couple who served in the mission office in Hungary was having their homecoming. Jake arranged to stay with mission buddies and more or less just planned to wing it as he went, taking nothing but a backpack and some money. That sort of trip makes me a little nervous. Plus, we still didn't have Jake's departure date from the mission department, but if Jake felt a strong prompting to go, Jared and I weren't going to stop him. Besides, it was just a few days. His flight was out of Austin at 5:30am so Jared woke up at 3am to drive him there and come back to get ready for work. Jake bought a ticket on the shuttle to come home Monday afternoon, 10/14.
*I accepted a substitute job at one of the elementary schools in kindergarten. Kindergarten is as young as I'll go. There are always early childhood or head start subbing jobs available, but those are not my gigs. When I arrived at the school to get my badge and room key the secretary told me that I would have an assistant, but that it was a sub as well. And that the room was actually in the kindergarten pod. I thought that was a little strange for her to articulate that, but since I'm not as familiar with this school, maybe she was just assuring me that the room wasn't somewhere else so I could find it without any problem.
As I read through the sub plans, I was told I needed to pick up the kids in the art room--also kind of strange, and that I needed to take them to the cafeteria for breakfast. Wow. None of my kids got breakfast in kindergarten. Another teacher, who has often subbed in this class, wandered in to see if I had any questions. I showed her the typed up plans and asked about breakfast. I jokingly said that this was unlike any other kindergarten class I'd been in. She looked at me and said, "This is pre-K." I was stumped. I didn't sign up for pre-K. But after that clarification, the comments from the secretary and the instructions I had read thus far, were all starting to make sense. Another young woman walked into the room in a rush. She was the sub for the aide. She said she was here to help in kindergarten. I had to break it to her that it was pre-K. She had the same issue I did--she was under the impression she was in Kindergarten. We could only deduce that this specific teacher HAD once worked in Kindergarten and then moved to pre-K but didn't update her profile in the substitute system.
It was pretty wild for the first hour or so (which also included breakfast). We also had two OTHER helpers, so that we were almost at a ratio of three kids to one adult, but it was still like herding cats! It was going to be a long day. Miraculously, we got a 40 minute break when they went to music. One of the other gals who helps before lunch said she'd cover for us so we could take a breather. We got a short break at lunch. Most of the day was play time and social interaction. There was one little boy who was out of control. He was destructive and unsafe, which made it difficult for the other kids. But somehow we managed. And around 12:30, the kids went down for a two hour nap. I was told it'll be the best part of the day or the worst, depending on the kids. The Lord had mercy on me and my assistant however, and they slept. The aide and I made a great team. A couple other staff members who came into the room to help commented on how well we worked together. They asked if we knew each other already. We said no. They were really impressed with our professionalism and problem solving skills. We shrugged. Just doing our jobs.
While the kids were napping, President Sharp texted to tell me that he received Jake's departure date: Mon. 10/14. OH NO!!!! Jake was flying back from Utah that afternoon! I felt so sheepish telling him that. As it turns out, they were able to contact the mission president and he was able to receive Jake on Wed. 10/16, so that's what we planned for. We'd have one day with Jake after he got home before he left again. I'm just glad it worked out considering Jake's last minute trip to Utah. And grateful that I survived a whole day in pre-K!
*Later that night, for Come Follow Me, we were talking about the armor of God. We read about it in Ephesians 6, watched a church video clip about soldiers going into battle with and without armor. Then we all randomly chose parts of the armor to construct ourselves out of aluminum foil. Afterwards, we shared how our armor pieces would protect us spiritually from the dangers we face each day. The kids had a good time and great insights.
Sun. 14th--Calvin woke up late. He wasn't feeling well. He was up most the night with a really bad allergic reaction. He had a hive-like rash on the trunk of his body, neck and arms. Jared and I felt he was old enough to stay home and sleep while we were at church, so he stayed home to rest. He was pretty miserable. We gotta get that kid allergy tested.
*Right after Sacrament meeting began, I noticed a new, six person family in the congregation. During the announcements, President Foster welcomed the Gibson family into the Branch. Wow! I couldn't wait to meet them. A new family in any church unit is exciting, but in a branch, it's just short of a national holiday! ;) At one point, I looked to my right in Karcyn's direction and I saw my friend Jaa'lah sitting at the other end of our row!! I couldn't believe it! I got her husband's attention and waved. And later I got her attention. It didn't take long before my brain made the connection. Kerry and Jaa'lah GIBSON!!! They are the new family! Not the six people I had originally thought. As soon as Sacrament meeting was over, I went and threw my arms around her. I was floored she was there. She's from Caldwell and they moved back! In the past six months, I've been in three different units in the Stake and Jaa'lah has been in four. Isn't it miraculous that we are now both in the Caldwell Branch?? The Lord really is in the details of our lives!
Mon. 14th--There was no school, but it ended up being a super busy day! First of all, JJ had his second grade parent/teacher conference at school. His teacher loves him and he's so successful! We're super proud. After that, we met Cooper, Karcyn and Calvin at HEB so we could get our flu shots. Jake was supposed to be with us, but he was flying home from Utah that day, so he'd have to get his another time. There were no tears and everyone got their shot right then (unlike last year, when Jared had to take JJ back later that night) so they all got to pick out their own pint of ice cream. Cooper took Karcyn and Calvin home and JJ stayed with me while I did my weekly grocery shopping. When we returned home, we put the groceries away and Cooper and Calvin jumped in the car. I had an appointment for Calvin to see Dr. Salzer about his rash the day before (it was still there, just not as pronounced) and then we were going to go get new work shoes for Cooper afterwards. Calvin ended up getting some steroid shots and we made an appointment for him to get allergy tested in two weeks. He wouldn't be able to take Zyrtec or any other allergy relief medicine for five days before the testing. We got Cooper some work shoes and we headed back home. Jared was actually able to pick up Jake from the Austin airport because he was working in one of the rural clinics and it wouldn't be much farther, which was nice. Jake was able to be home around 3pm instead of 6pm. For Family Home evening, we watched the new Book of Mormon videos the church produced (and are releasing on Fridays) and had ice cream cones while we watched. The video vignettes are really powerful and well made!
*JJ wanted to "mince" the cilantro at dinner time. :)
Tues. 15th--There was no school again, which was a blessing, considering it was our last day with Jake. Cooper worked from 10-6, but Jake wasn't being set apart until 6:15pm, so he'd be able to attend with us. The little boys both had baseball games, but they conflicted with the setting apart. We're happy that they did not get upset about not being able to participate. President Sharp gave Jake a wonderful and touching blessing. When I brought it up on the way home, Jake said he was actually falling asleep during it. He was so excited about getting ready to go when he woke up that he forgot to take his day time med. Poor kid! So I jotted down everything I could remember from the blessing and typed it up for him.
This is our family picture after Jake was set apart and was officially Elder Hough again. It was pretty close to what our picture looked like the first time 15 months previously. :)
Father/son picture before Jared took Karcyn and Calvin to school and headed to work.
The original brothers!
We thought this cow astronaut statue was kind of funny.
Go get 'em, Elder Hough! See you next Christmas!!
*That night, we had youth and primary activities in Caldwell. Which meant, we all had to leave at 5:55 to go pick up a young girl in Bryan before heading to the branch building or she wouldn't be able to come to Activity Days. It adds just enough to make our commute one hour each way. But I'm happy to do it because it helps Eden feel like she belongs. It sure makes for a long night for our family, though. My friend, Annie, had checked in with me on Monday when she heard Jake was leaving that week and asked if she could bring us dinner. I told her that would be wonderful! One less thing to worry about on a crazy day made even more draining with Jake leaving.
*I saw this on Facebook and gawked at how accurate it is with 4/5 of our children. Starting with how argumentative they are, beginning with the most to the least, this is how we rank them in our home. :)
Calvin (May 1st) VERY
Cooper (Oct. 21st) VERY
JJ (Aug. 11th) Half and Half
Karcyn (Mar. 10th) Hardly at all
Compare with the monthly percentages on the chart below:
*I went to check something on Facebook later that day and this popped up on my feed. We now knew were Jake was...in Springfield, Ohio! The furthest northwest you can go in the mission.
*Calvin and JJ didn't have a very good day in Primary. They were not very respectful of each other or their teacher and my friend, Jennie Linford. Jennie spoke with Calvin after class, but she didn't feel like it went very well. We spoke to Calvin, as well, about his attitude. Bless Jennie's heart. She believed the only way to really feel better about the situation is by serving Calvin and JJ. So she made them brownies from scratch. When she came, Calvin had a chance to give her a hug and apologize and all was well again.
*I think these homemade cards/gifts from JJ and Karcyn to Cooper are just the sweetest. JJ gave Cooper the one thing he thought actually had value in his little world.
Wed. 23rd--My friend, Stefanie, from the branch was moving this week and all the opportunities for me to help, were conflicts with other things. So I told her I'd make her dinner and have Cooper bring it to the building when he came for mutual. Cooper ended up not going because something came up, so Jared would drive Karcyn. (He was no longer working at the ENT office and was no longer on call Wed/Thur nights). I had the dinner all set out on the counter in a bag ready to be taken. About 5-10 minutes after Jared left with Karcyn, I was walking through the kitchen and spotted, in horror, that bag of food for my friend. I called Jared as fast as I could to see where he was. He was up by the grocery store. About 10-12 minutes away. I told him to pull over! I forgot to give him the food and I would drive it to him. I was grateful he wasn't any farther away before I realized what happened. Consequently, they were a little late getting to Caldwell. But Stefanie got her meal and Karcyn still had enough time to carve this super cute pumpkin in under an hour!
Fri. 25th--After almost two weeks of patiently waiting, JJ was finally able to carve the pumpkin he picked out at the store. You don't want to carve pumpkins too soon in Texas or they'll rot long before Halloween ever gets here. Jared cut the top off, but it was up to JJ to scoop out the insides and work on the design.
Karcyn ended up carving out the design for him and I think it's a wonderful jack-o-lantern! Great teamwork!
Sat. 26th--It was a busy day and a warm one. Jared worked an extra shift at the Bryan Urgent Care. I had stake activity days training at the church from 9-11. Then I had to go home and pick up Karcyn to take her to her solo/ensemble competition at 11:30. After that, we ran to Sams Club to get some items for our branch fall activity and chili dinner in Caldwell. I made zuppa toscana soup as a contribution along with rolls and brownies. Jared couldn't secure anyone to clean the building on this day, so we decided to leave an hour earlier to do that before heading to the dinner. Karole decided to join us, too. I was packing up the food and getting ready to load it in the car. JJ had been playing outside for most the afternoon. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him come into the house. As I gathered things in the kitchen, I was going to start calling for Karcyn and Calvin when I heard someone throw up in the half bathroom. I thought it was Karcyn, but it was JJ. Darn it. Obviously, he and I had to stay home from the gathering but everyone else went ahead without us. Turns out, he never got sick again. After a few hours, I gave him a tiny sip of water. And we did that every 20 minutes for an hour. Then I tried a quarter piece of dry toast. He kept everything down. So I guess he didn't have the stomach flu. JJ suggested he was just dehydrated. Possibly. He had been playing outside for quite awhile. I was sad to miss the branch social, but happy he wasn't sick.
Sun. 27th--Calvin woke up to another bad rash. I gave him the option of staying home again, but he said no, that he would go. I was really proud of him for toughing through it. I know it was pretty miserable for him.
*Karcyn gave her first talk in the branch and second one this year. We didn't help her with it at all, though Jared read over it for her. I wanted to be surprised. She was a hit in the branch that day. There was even a family visiting the branch. They had put an offer on a house in the branch boundaries and they were attending to see how they liked it. When I told them that Karcyn was our daughter, they gushed and said she was absolutely adorable.
Mon. 28th--Jake got accepted to Auburn University! Hahaha! He said it was the easiest 20 minute application he's ever filled out. He's still planning to attend BYU.
Tues. 29th--This was the day that Calvin's theater class was going to be presenting a melodramatic production of "Hamlet" in a 20 minute, one act play. Calvin was cast as none other than, Hamlet himself. Jared and I picked up Karole at 8:50 and went to Pecan Trail Intermediate. They were performing it during their period, which was 2nd, at 9:20.
Calvin was a rockstar! Truly, he has great acting talent, though some of the things we saw are reactions we get at home. Nice to see they're getting put to good use. It makes him very effective on stage. ;) I recorded the entire play and am so happy we have it to watch again and again. Mr. Rod's theater classes were all competing to see which period's production of Hamlet got to perform at RenFest a week later. We learned that Calvin's class did not get selected. However, we were thrilled to find out that his class WAS chosen to perform at the 2019 CSISD Middle School One Act Play Festival on Dec. 7th! What's so great about this contest is that the entire play is rated and 18 students from all the contests will receive acting awards! Calvin has a good shot at earning a medal and I can't wait for him to take part in this awesome opportunity.
Calvin and Mr. Rod--who calls Calvin "Hobbes." :)
*JJ has decided to climb walls.
However, he didn't think through how he'd get down from way up there. Hahaha! Cooper was nice enough to rescue our little Spiderman.
We ventured out a little before 6pm and gave them an hour. We followed behind in the car, just to give them a place to warm up, if nothing else. JJ was a creature that he and Karcyn created and designed. Karcyn was a kitty cat and Calvin was Venom.
The kids filled up their buckets pretty quickly. They even got a couple of regular sized candy bars! Cooper helped himself to the candy we were giving away. :) They sorted out what they didn't want and donated that to the general fund, so even Mom and Dad get a few pieces of candy.
