Kansas

 A lot has happened since my last blog post.  For instance, we moved to Kansas...surprise!  And it threw me into a deep depression that took me months to recover from.  I was totally emotionally unavailable and just retreated into my own little world.  I obsessed over my mission memories for several months and it was a unique experience remembering all the things I'd long forgotten.  I talked to a doctor about it and then a therapist and eventually pulled out of it and returned to the present.  It wasn't easy.  It was so interesting how hard this move hit me, it was really traumatizing for me. 

Anyways, Kansas has been great.  Our ward is great and we've made fast friends with the people there.  Everyone is so friendly and nice in this area.  It's fun to be around missionaries again after 5 years in Utah.  We bought a house on 10 acres that had the roof ripped off in a tornado 5 years ago and everyone knows exactly which house we are talking about when we describe it that way.  We live right next door to the Little House on the Prairie Museum.  

The move was hard on Peter too and I pulled him out of 6th grade to homeschool him after the Christmas break. It was a little rough going in the beginning and he cried a lot but we've settled into a good routine and enjoy learning together.  I especially enjoy teaching him pre-algebra because I tutored math in college and it's been fun to realize all that information was still stored in my amazing brain.  Peter was selected for the Catch a calf 4H program and now we have a steer that he's taking care of and getting ready to show.  It's kind of amazing.

Henry, Briscoe, and Belle are all thriving at Lincoln Memorial Elementary in Caney, KS.  I was so disappointed to have to pull them out of the French immersion program in Utah, but they are doing so much better in Caney.  They have a really good principal, smaller class sizes, and awesome teachers.  I get to sub there on occasion and there is a really good feeling in the school.  Briscoe had been a little lower on hitting his benchmarks in first grade and in Mrs. Shepard's 2nd grade class he has taken off! He has become a star student and the first one done. He reads chapter books 2 at a time and always gets his homework done.  His teacher is totally impressed with his self-motivation. We think he might have psoirisais because he has what looks like a cradle cap all over his scalp.  We had it biopsied yesterday and we are waiting for the results.

Henry shined in a traveling basketball team through Caney Rec that was coached by the high school principal.  His team went undefeated 16-0 and won the championship in overtime.  They gave each kid a heavy duty championship ring with fake diamonds and everything.  He was so excited and so were we.  His coach says he is going to be a baller.

Belle is really loving kindergarten and misses it over the breaks! It's the first day of spring break and i pulled out a packet of extra work for her to do and she spent all morning on it. She did pages and pages of writing and math work! I coached her soccer team in the fall and she clung to my leg the entire season and refused to play. It was kind of funny.  I help teach her dance class with Miss Rene and we both love that.  Well most of the time she loves it some days she says she wants to be done.  We will see what happens! 

I sanded down and re-stained our dining room table this week which was a first for me. I was nervous but it turned out pretty good! I also made pizza dough tonight for the first time ever and it also turned out pretty good! Henry, Briscoe and Belle said it was better than dominos. I started a book club, it's not as successful as the one I started with Kaycee in Utah but it's getting there.  There aren't a lot of people here in Kansas.  

Ben is in the running for a county administrator position and a city manager position in Coffeyville.  It's taking the elected officials forever to get the ball rolling and we are in limbo wondering if one of these jobs is ever going to become a reality.  

Today was the first day of spring break and I loved having my children home.  They played games, drew pictures and genuinely enjoyed being together.  It was a perfect day.  Our dog Daisy is here with us and if the kids didn't love her so much I think we might get rid of her. She smells, is always trying to sneak onto the furniture and eating trash and Legos.  I heard her one day jump up onto the boys lego table and start snacking on the Lego's like they were dogfood! She is kind of a crazy dog.  But very obedient to the commands I taught her.