Back in the Swing of Things

Hola!

Another week has started!  You'd think I could keep track of things better, now that I "only" have Kara in the house full-time.  You'd think.

BACK INTO THE SWING.  Kara has had a few soccer games so far this season.  She's playing "sweeper" on defense, the last layer before the ball gets to the goalie.  She's also reffing youth town soccer games on Saturday mornings, grades 3-8.  They play on Saturdays. I believe the oldest players she has reffed are 12 years old.  She has been an "AR" (assistant ref) for the older kids' games.  It's a pretty good seasonal job...she gets rough
ly $20 a game. Sometimes they give her back-to-back games, so last week and this coming week she'll do 3 in a row.  She puts her availability into their calendar online, and the assignments are computer generated.

COLLEGE LIFE. Teresa seems to be transitioning just fine, into her freshman year at BYU.  She's doing all the "fun" things of college!  Football games, campus photo scavenger hunts. She found a friend whose family has a boat, and one Saturday about 10 of them went tubing at a lake.  Another Saturday another friend invited her rock-climbing, with her aunt and uncle who have all the gear.  She also pulled together an intramural volleyball team. They play every week.

Classes? She assures us she is attending!  Ha.  This week the quizzes and tests start.  Hopefully all the reading she's been doing will pay off, in retaining all that information :)

TUTORING. I started back to school too, tutoring the ELL ("English Language Learners") students at 2 different elementary schools.  We picked up a few new students, and 2 of them (1 at each school) have ZERO English!  What an overwhelming situation for those children.  We are trying to pull them out a couple of times a day, and work hard on vocabulary, and the basics of following directions, and feeling comfortable with class routines here at the beginning.

HP announced that they are laying off another 33,000 employees, with the company split that is happening November 1.  Thankfully Frank is connected to the "other" part of HP, so we don't see his position being on the chopping block.  For now.  (!!?! Nothing is guaranteed in this life, right!  We are so grateful to be employed, one month at a time.)

NURSERY CREW.  I have a new assignment in our church congregation...they asked me to be on the "Nursery Crew!"  Frank and I are still teaching seminary one day a week (Fridays) plus when needed to sub, and Frank still works with the 11-year-old scouts every Wednesday and plans campouts for them.  Now I have joined 2 other women in caring for the little children in nursery during the last 2/3 of the church meeting block.  They can go into the nursery at 18 months, and they're in there until 3 yrs. old.

Frank is still working with the 11-year-old Boy Scouts!  Seems like once you learn the program, you are a valuable commodity :)

I was supposed to get this out at the beginning of the week, and suddenly it's almost Thursday...

Hope you're having a good week where you are :)
Kari

New Chapters, Soccer, Face Lift for the House

Here we are, near the end of August!  That means summer is almost over.  (Nooooooo!)

We found a garter snake in the front yard

NEW ADVENTURES for TERESA. We took Teresa to the airport last week, so she can start her newest chapter, as a freshman in college at BYU!  She packed so many social events into her last few weeks, we barely saw her.  "This is my last time to see so-and-so," or "we won't get together until Christmas, after this."  She put a lot of miles on the car :)

She and Kara went shopping a few times before she left...Kara is very 'aware' of clothing choices and getting a versatile wardrobe together.  She's a good resource to take shopping with you!  Here are photos of them packing, and also of the morning we went to the airport.

Kara, meanwhile, is also cramming in as much activity into her last days of summer!  Monday of this week, she went with a couple of friends to Six Flags.

SOCCER. Tomorrow is the first day of soccer try-outs.  Those practices are scattered over the next couple of days, and then regular soccer and school starts next week.

frog friend at a pond on one of our hikes

OK, now it's the beginning of September.  Kara went to school for 2 days last week, and now it's Labor Day weekend.

We're taking a Last Hurrah at 6 Flags for Labor Day tomorrow.  I think it's supposed to be 92 degrees.  Whew, hot for us!

FRONT STEPS.  I did not mention that we had a house project this summer...we had a porch with railing built, on our front steps!  It's always a little dangerous in the winter, to have cement steps and icy conditions, without a railing.

Porch Before

So we started thinking about it last April, for Pete's sake...we got 3 estimates, had samples delivered for the composite decking...and decided on what we wanted.  It took until August to get the details figured out, and put ourselves on the calendar of the guy who did it for us.

Porch After

Well, my allotted time for the blog is now officially expired!  I'll put in one more before/after picture of the whole house.  I really like the front porch...it adds to the look, gives some variety to the front of the house.

Have a great Labor Day!
Love, Kari

Insulation, Plane Tickets, Lists

Happy August!

The summer is flying by.  We'll stay in town the rest of this month.

Kara is CIT'ing this week again, then next week soccer camp.

HOME IMPROVEMENTS. This week we're having the attic better insulated.

 All of our attic storage is currently stacked, floor to ceiling, in our bedroom.  Disaster :(

Next week we have guys coming to build a new front porch with some railing.  It's dangerous in the icy winter without railing.

LEAVING SO SOON?  I was just looking at the calendar and choking a little: Teresa leaves 2 weeks from tomorrow!  I've been in denial I think.

She will attend a week-long program called "Late Summer Honors" so she can get settled in and do some classes/activities for the week before ALL the other students come.  It's kind of like an orientation BEFORE freshman orientation.  That starts the 20th, regular freshman orientation starts the 27th, and school starts August 31st.

We'll put her on a plane, like we did for David...we talked through it all, and she figures she'll have all these organized activities to go to and wouldn't be spending much time with us if we went out anyway.  My aunt & uncle, plus 4 cousins & their families live out there, so we have their resources to draw from if she needs anything.

She's been working at Best Friends (I think I mentioned that) in Sudbury, and on her "off days" she plans outings with friends she "just has to see because then I won't see them until Christmas or even longer." 

SHOPPING GURU. Just this week Teresa said she'd make a list of things she needs, and take Kara with her shopping sometime. (Kara is so much more fashion-aware than Mom, of course!  I admit it:  "I'm even happy to pay for the clothes, just don't make me choose them for you!")

It is weird, now that I think about it, and I will be sad to not have Teresa around the house, even if her presence has been pretty sporadic for the past 6 months.

Just a quick update!  Have a great week :)

Kari

Hiking, Cooking, Archery

Hola!
We returned from a week of Camp for the Young Women in our congregation...girls ages 12-17 can go.  There are 4 years of certification, and then the older girls are YCL's or Youth Camp Leaders.

Kara was a 4th year camper this year, and Teresa went as a YCL for the third time!  She's been to camp now for 7 years, and really loves it.  She helped out the 1st year campers.

COOK FOR YOURSELF!  The 4th year girls (Kara's group) also gets to go on "Primitive," an overnight pack-your-own-tent camping trip, where they hike in and swim and cook each meal for themselves.

 Then the next day they get to go on a ropes course, all of this the day and night before the rest of the girls start camp.

Frank went with them, and a good time was had by all.

ropes course

 He taught them some of the camping skills he teaches his boy scouts in his group.

Kara looks like she's walking on air

Rope tying, hatchet sharpening and wood skills.  They got a couple of sprinkles, but they dodged the real rain.

I'm 3rd from left: the fan is blowing my bandana
so it's flying off of my head :)

COOK FOR EVERYBODY ELSE! I was a cook at camp, since this camp has a big dining hall and kitchen!  The girls cook some each day in their camps, but the other meals are provided in the dining hall.  Our head cook, Tanya, is a master at cooking for the masses.  We had pulled pork, monte cristo sandwiches, cookies and amazing cinnamon rolls.  The taco bar on the last night ended with banana splits!

LAKE TIME.  We had some fun time planned, too -- we got some scheduled time to take the kayaks or paddle boards out on the lake.

SHOOTING.  We also got to try our skills at archery, and also practice some target shooting with the .22's.  Here are some pics that Kelley took with her phone.

I was not Suzie Shutterbug this time (we stay pretty busy in that kitchen, you know...), so I didn't get photos of Teresa in action.

I'm going through all kinds of photos right now, so I'll post one from 6 YEARS AGO!  Teresa found a tiny baby chipmunk in our yard and asked if she could move it.  She put on gloves and here she is.

Have a good week!  Kari

Warm Temps, Fireworks, Musical Treat

Hello and Happy July!

SUMMER WEATHER.  We turned the calendar page, and it's warm outside, and sometimes muggy!  I think that means it's officially summer.

We ordered new Cutco knives from Teresa -- in her "fast start" period (first 10 days), she had 13 appointments and sold roughly $2800 worth of knives.  It was a good beginning, and showed her the process.  It remains to be seen if she wants to continue for the whole summer.

you remember Teresa...the graduate :)

The knives came in today, so now we get to officially use them!

School got out, and Kara uttered some wonderful words: "I have so much TIME!  Can I make some meals?"

Kara is cutting up zucchini right now, as I type this.  Zucchini fries are on the menu for this evening.

4TH of JULY in BOSTON.  We got to see 2 fireworks shows, one on the 3rd, and one on the 4th of July.  On the 4th, we went downtown to Boston.  Always a treat!  The weather cooperated completely, and the show went off without a hitch.  The Boston Pops Orchestra puts on a show before the fireworks.  Wonderful music, wonderful show.

Frank looked it up and the biggest fireworks displays in the country are:

1) New York City

2) Washington D.C. and

3) Boston

So, we just watched the 3rd largest fireworks display in the U.S.!

YOUTH CONFERENCE.  Otherwise, we're getting ready for Youth Conference (with the church group, ages 14-18), on Thursday.  Frank and I are chaperones.  We will ride buses with kids to New York.  We get to see the Hill Cumorah pageant, and some of the church history sites in the area.  We'll stay in college dorms Thursday and Friday nights.  Should be an adventure! :)

Oh, and we got a real treat last night:

MORMON TABERNACLE CHOIR.

We got to see them in concert, on the last night of their 2-week Atlantic Coast tour!  I think I've only seen them one time, in a live concert.

So that was our weekend!  Hopefully you had some good weather too.

Love, Kari

Summer Work and Play

School's out!  Our summer has officially begun.

LAST DAY OF SCHOOL.  Kara had a 1/2 day of school on Monday, making the last day for us June 22.  Neighboring towns and districts went to school an additional 2 or 3 days, since they took a couple more snow days than we did this past, very snowy winter.  So because of that, we feel lucky!  We "only" went to school through June 22!  ha.

BACKYARD S'MORES.  She hosted a "games" afternoon and "camping" sleepover for those who could stay overnight, where they put up the tent in the backyard.

 We also just got one of those little firepit things, to build a backyard fire and roast marshmallows!  It's not really a pit.  It's a metal bowl on legs.   We fought off the mosquitoes and made s'mores.

Here they are playing volleyball...














then the goofy balloon relay game where you are trying to run up and pop the balloon by sitting on it.

Popsicles, ravioli dinner, and s'mores.

There were about 15 during the day, and 7 could sleep over.  The weather cooperated and I believe a good time was had by all.

CAMP COUNSELOR.  Kara is currently doing a "CIT" program at the high school. Counselor In Traning.  Each week, the town of Wayland (parks & rec) have a different summer camp for elementary aged kids. They have paid counselors, and they also have 2 CIT's help out.  These CIT's can then, the next summer and beyond, apply to be the actual counselors next summer, or whenever.

She's helping with this week's camp and next week's camp.  The kids can be Kindergarten through 5th grade, I think.

Teresa has an interesting combination going on this summer...

LEARNING ABOUT KNIVES.  She is going through training to be a sales rep for Vector, selling Cutco knives.

She will make appointments to present them in people's homes.  Lots of college aged kids do it.  We figure it will be good for her to learn about pyramid-structured companies.  For every Mary Kay, Nu Skin, Silpada, Pampered Chef, etc., she'll have an idea of how they work.  One perk with Vector is, she'll get a little bit of pay for DOING the presentation.  It's not ALL commission.  Of course she'll get paid more if people buy lots of knives.  But at least she'll get a little for showing them in the first place.

DOG BOARDING. The other opportunity came up just a couple of days ago.  She interviewed at Best Friends Pet Care, just about 2.5 miles down the road from us, and got the job!

 It's a boarding/grooming/training place for dogs, and there is some cat boarding too.  She could be out front checking animals in, or cleaning the kennels: they can board something like 400 pets at the time, so there are lots of kennels.  She could take dogs out for walks, or "babysit" the dog rooms.  Small dogs and large dogs socialize in different rooms, and staff has to monitor them and play with the dogs when that is their assignment.  There are also people working in the kitchen, washing dog dishes and preparing their food.

For one week in July, she'll go to YW Camp and be one of the youth leaders.

Anyway, we think it will be a good mix!  She'll enjoy being around the dogs so much at Best Friends, and she'll learn some new things at Vector.

It is weird to think that Teresa has less than 8 weeks before she goes to BYU.


STILL EMPLOYED.  Frank just (digitally) signed the (email) paper that says he still has a job.  HP will officially split into 2 companies on November 1, and he'll be with Hewlett Packard Enterprise.  Here's the logo.

I know...it's a green rectangle.  A little boring, but I'm sure that many hours of thought, discussion, meetings and philosophy went into that logo!  We are VERY happy Frank still has a job, and a good one at that.  We'll take the green rectangle :)

Have a good weekend!  Kari

Softball or Tennis, anyone?

Just a quick post on Teresa and Kara trying out new sports this past spring!  I was excited that both of them were willing to try something new.

SOFTBALL. Teresa had not participated in an 'official" spring sport at the high school...for her first 2 years of high school, she played Ultimate (frisbee) with David and his friends after school sometimes.

But this year, she had some volleyball friends who said, "You should come try softball in the spring!" She thought about it all winter, then signed up for it in March.

Teresa batting

Teresa running out to center field, on right

Teresa "on deck," left

It turns out, she does really well with softball!  The coach was a little disgusted that she waited until her senior year to try it.  She had to learn the rules, since we are not huge baseball fans.  We hadn't watched it on t.v. or gone to many professional games.

"Senior Night," 2 coaches + 3 seniors

But she is actually a good player, and she won some awards at the Spring Sports Night.  One for having a good attitude that supported and lifted the team throughout the season, and the other was "Most Improved." She held multiple "best" records for the whole team, from just this season.

TENNIS.  Kara also tried a new sport.  She was interested in tennis, and started by being in a camp last summer.  Then during the winter, she took some lessons and practiced some with a girl who was already on the high school team.

doubles, back left

serving

She signed up, and in spite of the snow making it impossible to actually practice for the first 3 weeks of the season, she got to play lots of "doubles" matches with the JV team.

Her award at the end of the season talked about how she had a positive attitude, and everyone on the team liked to be paired with her.  That she enjoyed playing, and was happy with any partner.

Overall, this has been a fun spring for us, too, to watch their games and learn the sports with them.  I didn't even know how tennis scored points, actually.  And softball has some rules that I had never heard of!

Once the snow finally melted, they had some good opportunities to learn the sport and play.