Monday I took Zac to register for Clements High School. Exciting but we really didn’t know what to expect. We met with the registrar going over the paperwork to prove we live in the boundaries, we are legal and that he is my kids, we then met with the nurse to show that Zac was up to date on his immunizations and finally met with his counselor, Mrs. Kleimstein, to select classes. Mrs. Kleimstein is awesome! She was very reassuring and helpful through the process. Zac is most excited about his P.E. class. He gets to play basketball for the whole school year. He’s a happy camper and could care less at this point about his other classes. What a kid. Love him!
Tuesday the kids and I went backpack shopping. Can I say exhausting? So particular on what they want. I then took the boys over to the mission office to play basketball with the elders that switched their p-day so they could attend the temple today. Last week Elder Cordtz asked if the boys would be available to play with the Elders today. I thought it was so sweet because Elder Cordtz is a giant teddy bear and could possibly squeeze the life out of you in seconds but his nature is one of the most tender. He wants to be a 3rd grade teacher when he gets home. He will be awesome!! Although some of his 3rd graders might fear him at first because of his size. His huge heart will win them over. After dropping the boys off I took Jessie and Avery over to Sister Morton’s house to play the game Life with sister that got hit by a car while riding her bike last week. Jessie and Avery were hilarious playing with the sisters. These two girls are a bit competitive. J
Bode and I registered him at Fort Settlement Middle School on Wednesday. We only met with the registrar, Devin Harris. We went through the paperwork and immunization process again for Bode. We then select between the core classes whether he wanted to do regular or pre-AP. I think that was very intimidating for Bode to hear. The academic emphasis in this area is very real. We definitely saw this while registering Zac too. Bode’s comment though was hilarious to me “This school really is prestigious.” Yes it is. He didn’t get to select much because there was very little to choose from beyond the 5 core classes. His first elective choices were Band/Orchestra, Chorale or Art. He chose Art. Next elective choices were Beginning Video Production, Leadership, Communication and a CT like class. He chose the Leadership and the CT class as alternate. His only question for the registrar was “When are football tryouts?” This kid would love to have Zacs option of PE year round with the sports he loves. Love that boy!
After having breakfast with the kids on Thursday morning, I headed over to the Mission Office for the two-week follow-up training with the most recent missionaries. I chose the topic of planning and time management. Most if not all the missionaries arriving have never planned anything further than getting up in the morning, going to school, doing homework, going to work and hanging out with friends. What we've found is that they plan so generally that each day can become a random list of events and if things fall through they struggle to manage their time. In some cases they go hang out at a members home or go street contacting, neither of which yield much success if they don't do it right. We also find that they are more about being busy than being effective so their plans lack substance. I tried to help them understand the principles of time management and then Aaron shared with them how to look at daily and weekly planning. Aaron has created a framework that walks the missionaries through how to better find, teach, invite, retain, and activate through members, less active, investigators, area book, recent converts and general OYM'ing. This will be a never-ending focus for us, but if we can get them to plan effectively it will be a great blessing to the work and to them.
After the training I picked up Jessie’s new friend Natalie and brought her over to the house to play prior to the teacher meet and greet at the elementary. Natalie is Gifford Nielsen’s granddaughter. Natalie’s mom met us at the school and kind of walked me through the process. Jessie has a new teacher, Mrs. Ivory. She just moved from the Victoria that is a part of our mission. She seems very sweet. She will go to another teacher, Mrs. Hissig, for Science and Math halfway through the day. Jessie is super excited for school and to learn. Love her positive outlook and willingness to meet new people. The boys went to see Fantastic Four with the Moore boys and their little sister who is Bode’s age. I think there might be a mutual crush there. So cute! Afterwards….School supply shopping. Oh what fun!! J
We have 4 missionaries that are leaving the mission a couple weeks early so they can get back in time for school to start so Friday I hosted a going away luncheon for them while each of them interview with Aaron. I had prepared the Tapiaco Jello salad the night before. I made meatball sandwiches, fruit tray, cucumbers in vinegar, carrots and broccoli with spinach dip and pumpkin chocolate chip cookies for dessert. This group loved the fruit and cream cheese/marshmallow fluff dip. They didn’t even want a second sandwich. It was nice to see them hang with our kids. The boys played basketball and toss a football with them. Jessie had them all playing Life. She loves that game and loves when anyone will play with her.
Saturday after a quick bike ride. I ran a few errands. I needed a new screen protector for my phone. Mine was cracked but luckily the phone’s screen wasn’t. Took Aaron’s suits to the dry cleaners. I can tell this will happen way more frequently then ever before. I also created and printed cards with our family’s picture for our missionaries. We surprised the kids with tickets to an Astros game tonight. The boys were thrilled. Jessie asked if they were the Rockets, nope-wrong sport girlie! The Astros were honoring Craig Biggio for recently being inducted into the Hall of Fame. What a great all around guy! Not into himself and played because of his love of the game. Astros played well and we got to see two homeruns. It was a really fun night with the family minus one. She is missed ALWAYS!