Thursday to Sunday

From this last Thursday (11/10) on till now, I feel like my family and more especially my kids are on a exponential growth line. We seem to be drinking from a fire hose of knowledge, but somehow managing to absorb some of it instead of just being blown away.

For example, last Thursday was Tia's preschool eligibility meeting. I got the report a couple of days before hand and read through it. I understood a lot of it; was surprised by some of it and then did understand a little bit of it. Going into the meeting I was kind of nervous because I didn't know what to expect, but I sat down with the three people who did the evaluation before and we went over all the sections. By talking to them, I was better able to understand why what they wrote was import and pertained to Tia going or not going to preschool. I got to understand just a little bit more about language development. For example, I always thought that Tia understood everything, but it turn out that might not quite be the case and it isn't like she is terrible at it or anything it is just that I thought she was great at it, but then when I paid closer attention to how she followed through on instructions or answered questions I am like oh maybe we don't quite understand it all. The understanding of language supports and lends itself to actually expressing oneself though speech. Anyway, it something interesting I learned. To make a long meeting short, we discussed in depth Tia's speech and language skills. We talked about how her pretend play is good but is only one step for example cooking food, but rarely going two as in to sit down and eat it for feed the baby. We also discussed how it takes her awhile to learn a new speech patterns. Eventually, we reached the decision that if we consented to services Tia would qualify for speech. So, Gaupo and I discussed it real quick (we had done much indepth talking before this) and we decided to consent to services, so Tia will be attending preschool in January and even though I think we need to try it I am so not ready. So like I said, I am sure the school district thinks we are all in, and I will try it good and solid, but if she doesn't like it or its not helping then I will take her out and we will see what else we can do. Anyway, it is nice to know, but still a little nerve racking (understatement) to think that she will being going to school. 

So, that was Thursday. Then on Friday Gaupo had the day off because it was Veteran's Day. Gaupo spent some of the morning doing homework. Kylee still had school, so we waited for her to come home. We just kind of took the morning easy and enjoyed not doing much. However, after naps we decided to go to the Ft. Collins Temple and do Initiatory. So, we took all four kids down to the temple. We got there about 4 and didn't get home till about 7. Gaupo went in first and he was in there for an hour and a half. It seem liked a long time. The kids and I strolled the grounds and then went to the van for a snack and then walked again and then we playing when Gaupo got out. I then went in for about 45 minutes, during which Gaupo and the kids watched a movie in the van. Waiting outside the temple was honestly a little rough, but I survived and really I think it made going inside the temple all the much better. As soon as I walked in, I was greeted with the familiar warmth and light and quiet of the temple. It was so great to listen to the blessings of the Initiatory. It was great to be quiet and still. I love the temple and it was so great to feel the peace there. I loved not having to drive through traffic and having it only 45 minutes away. What a great way to spend the evening.

Trent, Me, Tori, Kylee, and Tia.

Kylee, Trent, Tori, and Tia at the back of the temple.

Me at the Ft. Collins Temple.

Gaupo also didn't have to work on Saturday and he got his homework done the day before, so we got to enjoy the whole day. Kylee went to a pancake and PJ birthday party. She had been looking forward to it the whole week and had an absolutely fantastic time. She is quite the social kid and is ready to go and spread her wings and this mama doesn't quite now whether to cry or rejoice that she is so great. Anyway, while she was there we had our own pancake breakfast and then Gaupo and Tia watch some Gilligan's Island while I tried to go shopping. I say tried because I didn't get anything because it was all out of my budget and not really my style, so that was too bad, but oh well. Anyway, I came home and watched Tia while Gaupo replaced the fence that got hit by the car awhile back. It is great to have the fence back. While he was finishing that project, Tia and I went and got Kylee and we all came home and then went swimming and rock climbing. Both girls did great at rock climbing. They scaled the wall almost no problem, that is until they realize that they were out of reach and up to about 3 times there height. Then they were done, but they both did it a couple of times. I climbed once. Man am I out of rock climbing shape. My arms were burning and dead by the time I was done, but I still love it, so I guess I will keep doing it when I get the chance. It was a very successful swim trip aswell. We all had fun and Kylee learned to successfully float on her BACK. WAHOO!! Tia is also working on doing stuff, but Kylee is finally having all these concepts click and it is so fun to watch her be successful. Tia and I had a great time on the slides and diving and jumping in the deep water. It was a way fun swimming adventure. We got home had a quick lunch and then went and took naps. Then we dilly dinked around until it was time to make dinner and we had some delicious greasy tacos. Then it was baths, Pokemon (or as my girls say Picachu), and bed. 

Sunday was also a great day. We had great talks on work. One thing that stuck with Gaupo was that he needed to use his time better, so he should play less video games/tv. Video games are easy for me to say no to, but TV is a little harder. So, two days into that goal we are actually doing really well. It was nice to play games on Sunday and Monday nights. I will be honest it was really hard to get ourselves motivated on Monday because we were both really tired and wanted to be done, but we didn't give in and it turned out really good. I have also been trying to limit social media and so far it has gone good, but I have also had projects to do during naptime like making lazagna and rolls for Thanksgiving, but hey it is still a good achievement. The other part of the talk that stuck with me that I am still trying to sort through is priorities in the budget. Gaupo and I have goals for where we want to be, but we also have a family that we need to make memories with, let be involved in activities and such and so do our goals align with our priorities? I don't have an answer because I am still processing, but what I do know is that I think our priorities change and so can the answer to this question, but we do have to think about it. Anyway, it was a great Sacrament meeting. 

So overall a great week. Once again it was full of my favorite things-family, and fun. We did manage to also get some work done. I feel so blessed right now to be enjoying my family and life even though I still feel like there is a lot of change and growth happening. It is true that there is not as much as some people, but it is enough that I could easily forget to love where we are right now and so I feel so blessed to be able to enjoy.