A Trip to the Mountains

It started with the hiking merit badge and a requirement to do a 10 mile hike..... combined with a desire to see the leaves in all their fall glory.....

and ended with some very tired, somewhat dehydrated and completely exhausted family members encouraging each other to "endure to the end"!

I can't think of a better way to spend the day!

I cannot even begin to tell you how incredible this stream felt midway through our hike to my aching feet. I DID NOT want to leave!

I had to laugh because the boys always ran on ahead of us. We came around bend in the trail and saw them sitting under this sign which read "WARNING: Problem bears in this area".....like the bears wouldn't come get them as long as they didn't pass the sign!!!

LOVE this pic of my sweet teenage son piggybacking his little sister. You know, with all the unlovableness that comes with teenagers, this picture reminds me of everything good that is still deep inside of him.

Resting with my sweetie.....

Yes, we are still here....

Pardon the lack of posts please! We are into the chaos and craziness of school and after-school activities and well, LIFE! Oh, and I have started working at the school as a substitute teacher, so my days are very full! I thought I was being extremely picky and exclusive when I said that I would ONLY work at Savannah's school and ONLY teach up through 2nd or 3rd grade, so I was sure I wouldn't get called much.

I quickly found out how wrong I was! My first week working, I worked four days. The second week, I filled up 3 days and then quickly blocked out the other two so that I wouldn't be called in! I have found that I need at least two days a week at home in order to stay on top of my home responsibilities. So far I have mostly taught in pre-K which is a class of 16 students with a teachers aide. I spent one day in Kindergarten with 22 kids and only ONE teacher (ME!!!) which was a little crazy! I had an opportunity to teach 1st grade last week, but then Samuel got sick, so I had to turn it down. I was looking forward to trying out 1st grade to see if they were a little more manageable than Kindergarten!

I am loving the little kids and find that it is really fun for me to substitute. I love the flexibility and it is obvious that I still need that! I was offerred a full time position as the aide in the pre-K class which I turned down because it is more than I want to work. So instead I am now the designated substitute teacher for that class, which is fine by me! I know the kids and love them and it is fun to get to go back in and see how they are doing on a regular basis.

Cross Country....maybe!

Joshua tried out for and made his middle school cross country team this year. He was so excited about it! He is a good little runner and when he sets his mind to it, he will do his best. Unfortunately, after 2 weeks of practice, he started to have pain in his ankles. He took a few days off and rested and then tried running in the first meet. The poor kid was in so much pain, but he would not give up. He came in near the end, but even through the pain, he was still running at a very slow limping pace. After a visit to the doctor, he has now been given a 1 week rest period to recover. Considering that the season is only six weeks long, he will only have 4 meets left when he returns. We are hopeful that he can get better and try again, because he was so excited about being on the team!