NATIONAL REGISTRY

Last month Matt finally took the National Registry for EMTs.  He had to do a practical (hands-on) portion and a written portion.  He was nervous about remembering things because he had waited over a month after his classes had ended to take it.  But........HE PASSED!  and is now certified as an EMT.  Pretty cool!  He would love to get a job working as an EMT to get some experience but does not know if that would work with his Paramedic school schedule.  Especially since starting next quarter he'll have to start putting in ride-along hours as well as class time.  Anyway, just thought I'd pass this cool news along. 

MOVING SUCKS, BUT..............

I was just looking through my last post and started feeling really bad that I just dwelled on all the bad things, especially because we had some really good things happen to us during our move.  Mostly just all the wonderful friends and family who turned out to help.  We had so much help from Matt's parents and my parents and family in trying to get this house ready to move into.  We didn't get near as much done as we would have liked, but we got so much more done than we would have on our own.  And on moving day we were so overwhelmed with all the wonderful people who took time out of their weekend to help us move.  Matt and I are not good at accepting help, but we had help and offers of help from so many people.  And even a wonderful new neighbor who stopped over as we were unloading and dropped off a bag of bagels and cream cheese for us to munch on.  Moving sucks, but it would have been a million times worse if we weren't surrounded by so many awesome people.  Thank you to everyone who helped!

MOVING SUCKS!

And that pretty much sums up my entire post. Some of the fun from our last crazy few days:

*Did you all know that Paige sleepwalks???  Yah, it is pretty funny the things she says or does and the places that we find her.  Our first night sleeping here she came downstairs after we had all gone to bed but Matt, and said to him "Can I sleep in my own room now?"  And she totally doesn't remember doing that.

*Spent a lovely half hour plus listening to Ben in full tantrum mode on Sunday because out of the 20 pairs of church pants that we were able to find in boxes, none of them were the one pair that he was willing to wear. 

*We are all allergic to this house...........or.........allergy season is kicking in.  Thank goodness the allergy medicine is one of the things I HAVE been able to find in our mess.

*Have found the laundry soap but not the fabric softener...........found Paige and Porter's backpacks but not Ben's..........found the fitted sheets for the boys' beds but not the flat sheets............have all my knives but I cannot find my cutting board..............have all my work shirts but not my pants (ended up wearing maternity pants because that was all I could find).............you get the picture.

*Went shopping for groceries and bought cereal for breakfast but forgot to buy milk.  That is how life is going right now. 

Hopefully soon I will have pictures worth sharing after we do a LOT of unpacking, sorting, and decluttering.  Because right now even if I could find my camera, I'm sure I wouldn't be able to find the cord to upload any photos.  And you probably don't want to see pictures of the mess we are living in right now.  MOVING SUCKS!

NEW HOUSE

So yesterday was our anniversary!  Fourteen years with my honey!  And guess how we spent it???

Nope, not a night out on the town...........this is how we spent our anniversary:

Matt's parents came over and helped us refinish the hardwood floors in our new house.  We have so many things we want to get done in the house and it has been so hard to find the time to get much done.  It was so nice to get one of our big projects done.  Well, almost done.  We spent a good chunk of the day sanding and then we finished the staining at about 6:30 last night, and Matt is going back today to varnish.  I have to work so I get out of that chore.  It looks so great and I am excited to see it all done.  I'll make sure to keep you posted on more of all these exciting developments........painting and stripping wallpaper and insulation.  Super exciting stuff coming up on my blog!

ACT

Nope, not act.  A C T.  As in something I thought I wouldn't have to deal with for several more years.  Porter came home with a letter last fall saying that due to his score on a standardized test, he qualified for a talent search program through Duke University.  It gives seventh graders the chance to take the ACT or the SAT.  We talked to Porter about it, and I was honestly really surprised when he said he wanted to do it.  He decided to take the ACT and we checked a preparation book out from the library so he could get a feel for what the test was going to be like.  He went last month to take the test and I was so nervous about leaving him at a high school full of older kids for the morning.  I felt better when I found out that he took the test with a bunch of other middle schoolers.  Here is Porter's thoughts about the whole experience:

"Well, it wasn't as bad as I thought. I was kind of nervous because I tryed to study but my brain just turned off. I can't really say anything about the test  because then they'd have to kill me (just kidding they had me sign something). It was easier than I thought but I still had to think, especially on math. I wanted to take the test since I thought, hey I'm one in not all that many considering the population that got invited to do this and, I figured my friend was going to take one of them so I couldn't have him never let me here the end of it. And i am not looking forward to taking this again in 4 years."

Anyway, we got his score back this week and I thought we'd share the results:

His composite was 22.......you can see that pretty well.  The rest might be a bit harder to read on here.  He got a 22 in English, 17 in Math, 24 in Reading, and 25 in science.  The graph just shows percentages.....how he did in comparison to all the others that took the test.  He was above average in all but Math.  Matt and I are really proud of him for taking on this challenge in the first place and we think he did really well.  Just imagine what he'll do when he takes it in high school after learning some more.......hopefully that will help his math grade. :)  We got an e-mail from Duke saying that they will be compiling all the scores and sending us something so we can see how he did in comparison to just the other seventh graders in the country that tested.  That is what I am really interested in seeing.  Plus his scores can qualify him for programs they offer that cost lots and lots of money.  Overall, it was a really positive experience for him and I am really glad that he did it.

MIRACLE

 We had a miracle at our house today........we are all home and got to spend the whole day together!!!!  Sundays are about the only day that happens anymore and though it is wonderful to get to spend the Sabbath together that is not a day that we can go out and have fun together.  I am normally not a big fan of the snow, but it has been a big hit at our house last night and today.  We have all had lots of fun out in it.  Though I guess anything is more fun when we are all together.......even snow.......and even having to shovel two driveways at the moment.  I hear we are supposed to get more snow Sunday night.  Think we'll be lucky and get to have another fun snow day????

(just a side note......I heard from our realtor earlier and it looks like we should have a closing date on this house sometime next week.  So probably in a little over a month we will be completely moved in to our new house!)

FOR MY DAD

 

My dad's birthday was yesterday.  One of my sisters saw a great quote, "The best dads get promoted to Grandpa" and had the idea to have pictures of each set of grandkids holding the letters that spell grandpa.  We started with my oldest sisters kids and went down in order.  Pretty convenient how that worked out.  My kids had "N" so we borrowed my sisters Husker flag.  (Just thought I'd throw in this picture because I have been horrible about taking pictures of my family and I thought all you that haven't seen my kids in a while might like to see how big they are getting.)

 

  So here was the finished product.  Hope it makes you smile everytime you see it Dad and remember all the kids and grandkids in your life that LOVE YOU!