It is time to write another update on our family life. We had some snow this week. It looked pretty. Monday morning we woke up to about 2 inches. It wasn’t that cold and it hadn’t stuck on the roads, so there wasn’t any problems with getting around to school and work. Then Tuesday morning we woke up to about 1 inch of snow. It all melted fast and has watered the yard well. It is just a reminder that we are still in winter time, even when the sun shine and we have blue sky, like today.
Well, two weeks ago we did get the suburban back from the shop. I was thankful that we had it back and the steering was fixed. Then on Friday I was smelling something, almost like a burning smell, but I couldn’t see anything. Then over the week end Neal noticed the suburban was leaking a fluid and with some investigating he found that the radiator had cracked. I felt burdened. Why did we have so many repairs in one month!? I guess it goes back to the first of January when we were talking about 2016 and how little we put into the cars and how well they have been running. Anyway, we took the suburban into another auto shop to get the radiator replaced. I was without a car for two days again. I was thankful to get it back and it has been working well now for a week. Hopefully we will have no more repairs for awhile.
Neal was able to take apart the clothes dryer. He cleaned it throughly and diagnosed the problem. The element was broken. I looked up on the internet and found the part and it is ordered and I am anxious for it to arrive. It was good to clean the dryer too. He took apart things and cleaned it up. Eleven years worth of drying makes for a dirty dryer. I bet it will work so much better once we get the part. I have learned more about line drying and will have a great appreciation for a working dryer. I am thankful that the washing machine works well.
On February 4th Neal took Ruth to a band retreat. The school was doing the retreat from Friday afternoon until Sunday afternoon. We didn’t feel right about over night and Sunday school trips. So Neal and Ruth got up early Saturday and he drove her to the music camp, it was about a 70 minute drive. Ruth was excited to join her band and loved being a part of things that day. They did lots of rehearsals and had sectional practice with a teacher too. She learned things about the clarinet to improve her playing. She also had fun going on a hike in the afternoon and just being with her friends. Neal decided to enjoy the day in the mountains. He brought his bike and went for a ride. He also had his snow shoes. He found an area with enough snow to go for a walk. Although he said the snow was melting and stuck to the shoes a lot, making it harder to walk. He enjoyed his day of adventuring. He went back to the music camp in the late afternoon and sat in their lobby and read a book until Ruth was finished for the day. She spent about 12 hours with her group. I am glad that she was able to participate and they had a good day.
Ruth is working on a young women personal progress goal of planning, shopping for, and fixing meals for two weeks. I have been working with her. She is doing great with the cooking and it has been nice for me to not need to do so much. We went grocery shopping together last Saturday and that was good for her to learn more about shopping.
Spencer has worked hard on a science fair project. He choose to do something with electricity. He was testing different metals to see what one was the best conductor. This is something I don’t know very well so I turned to Neal for help with it. Neal has been busy with fixing things and being gone for a day with Ruth. We were running out of time but they were able to work on things in the evenings. This last week end Neal worked hard to help get the project finished. Spencer got it in this week. Friday will be the fair and I am going to help evaluate and talk to the students about their projects. They don’t really get judged, it is more for learning than a competition.
Caleb is going through a process to be tested for a gifted program at the school. I had to fill out paper work this month about him and his abilities. I also had a meeting with school teachers and the program and the testing he will be doing soon. Since the gifted program is run under “special education” here in New Mexico we have to go through more than Texas to get into these programs. He will be taking an IQ test soon and then other evaluations. If he gets in he will have an IEP (individual education plan) that will carry through the entire time he is in the district, as long as we keep it current. He wont have to be retested. I feel pretty confident that he will get into this program and I think it will be good for him. I also like that the school that does the all day gifted classes is the school he attends, so he wouldn’t need to change schools.
Saturday Andrew and Neal enjoyed going to the model railroad club meeting. Andrew is learning a lot about how to do trains and he really enjoys going to the meetings.
Yesterday was Valentines Day. It was a nice day. Neal brought me flowers. Last Friday Neal and I went out to eat dinner together. It was nice to have some time together. Spencer and Caleb were happy about their class parties and sharing Valentines. I had made some sugar heart shaped cookies for them to share with their classes. I thought about my Dad a lot. His birthday is Valentines Day. I called and talked to my mom and enjoyed a visit with her.
The boys had time today to go through their Valentines. They were having some fun.
The pretty flowers from Neal
Last Wednesday Caleb came home from school not feeling well. He went to lay down and slept for awhile. He woke up with a fever and head ache. I had heard about an illness going around the school. He was pretty sick for a couple of days. Thankfully it didn’t bother his stomach and he could eat a little between sleeping. He was home from school Thursday and Friday. Saturday he was starting to feel better but still tired and not wanting to do much. Saturday morning Spencer woke up with a fever and head ache. He was in bed all day Saturday. Sunday morning he asked me what day it was and I told him, he said he felt like he missed Saturday and I said that he had. Sunday I stayed home with Spencer and Caleb and they rested. We had a quiet day. I think I had the illness in a mild form because I was so tired and low energy those days. Sunday afternoon when Andrew came home from church he said he didn’t feel well. After sleeping for about an hour he woke up with a fever and head ache. He slept the rest of the day and most of Monday. Spencer was home from school Monday too. Caleb was able to go to school Monday. Andrew also stayed home on Tuesday. Spencer went to school Tuesday but it wore him out and he slept for two hours after school. Today all the kids went to school. Caleb is feeling great. Spencer is still tired and has a cough. They are home already because it is early dismissal day. I hope Andrew is doing okay. I told him I would pick him up from school. He really wanted to go today and not miss another day of school but he was still tired and weak this morning. It has been hard having them sick and I am thankful that they are doing better. Ruth and Neal have felt fine through all this.
Today is a sunny day and I am thankful for the sunshine and the happiness it brings. I also noticed today that the roses have a few buds on them and I saw a few green stems poking out of the ground where I planted some crocus last fall. It is fun to think about spring and the plants coming to life again.
The boys were enjoying the letter blocks this week. Caleb did add to his and put his middle name too. I didn't get a picture of that.
No comments:
Post a Comment