Moving Update

So it's starting to hit us that we're moving.  We've got a lot of stuff!  It's amazing how much stuff can accumulate over the course of 6 years of marriage!  We found a home for our hockey equipment, and we're excited about that.  Mom has lots of assorted figurines that she's not taking, so we'll be gathering those up and finding homes for them.  We've packed a number of boxes of books (we're book people), and have given a number of them to Southern Virginia University.  We still have about 6 more boxes of books to pack.

You see, most of what we'll be taking with us is books and clothes.  Other than those, we're really not taking much.  No couches, or beds (though we are taking two twin mattresses), or entertainment centers or dishes or tables or really anything else is going with us; most of it we'll leave for the family moving in after us.

That said, we still have lots of stuff to get rid of.  It's crazy how much stuff accumulates over time.

Of course, we're still doing our own accumulation, even as we tear down 6 years of married stuff.  We have kids, and want them to feel both wanted and welcome in their new home.  So we're working kid-by-kid to create images along the lines of President Eyring's talk.  No, they're not made of wood, but after finishing our first one (for Gideon) for FHE last night, we're rather impressed.  We'll have to take a picture of it sometime so you can see it.  We'll put the pictures we create into frames, and then put those in each kid's new room.  Though Gideon will sleep with us, we want him to know that he's wanted.

As a part of the picture, we found a scripture that relates to each kid.  In Gideon's picture, we listed the Lord's words, ironically, to Gideon: "Go in this thy might, and thou shalt save Israel...."  (That's Judges 6:14, for the record.)  We also put in there the name of each kid and its meaning.  In Gideon Davis Adams's case, it's Hewer down (of men), Son of David, son of Adam.  Talk about a heritage to reach for!  I think he can do it all.  He's a stud.

I can't wait to find out what we come up with for our other kids.  We are truly raising a generation here, and it's great to see!

Gratitude

During today's Family Home Evening we talked about gratitude.  About how we should be grateful for everything Heavenly Father gives us.  And not just be glad we have it but to express that gratitude.  We went around a few times and let each person say something they were grateful for.  The kids' answers were fun.  Everything from books and toys to couches and...well...Drake kinda copied the last bit of everything I said.  John was, as always, the firm reminder of what's important, citing family members and Jesus Christ.  

Afterwards we asked each kid to pick someone that they wanted to say 'thank you' to and write that person a note.  We haven't delivered the notes yet (it was time for bed as soon as FHE was over) but are excited to do so tomorrow.

To go with John's wonderful example, here are some pictures of what I'm most grateful for:

School

So we've pulled Analee from school as an experiment.  (Anika wrote to the acting superintendent today telling her of this fact.)  We've had a lot of fun, but I fear we waited too long.  Babe's attitude has changed, and not all for the better.  I fear my little girl is a lot like her mom; change isn't easy for her. 

When Analee went to nursery, she loved it, but came home with some pretty weird ideas of how the world works.  Like she figured if she beat up on her brothers, she'd get what she wanted.  After all, it worked for some of the kids in her nursery class, so why wouldn't it work at home?

Apparently the squeaky wheel gets the grease in public school, too.  Analee figures if she pitches a big enough fit over something, we'll change plans.  She's mistaken, and learning it the hard way.

Alternatively, the silent wheel in the public school system appears forgotten.  Analee figures that if she doesn't want to do something, all she has to do is fly under the radar and we'll let things pass.  She's mistaken again.

Despite sickness and us being newbies to this whole teaching thing, we've had a lot of fun learning.  Every night, we ask Analee what she wants to learn about the next day.  Then we focus on that and offshoots of that plan for our lesson.  For example, on Monday, she wanted to learn about ballet.  So we watched a documentary on Russian ballet, and a quick how-to on how ballet shoes are made.  Then we spent a lot of the rest of the day dancing around.  Today, it was cats.  Not house cats, but lions, tigers, and leopards.  So we watched a documentary, again.  Then we played "big cats" and rolled around biting each other's necks, as big cats can.  You see, big cats don't put all of their pressure on the prey's neck; instead, they put just enough to cause death by cutting off blood supply.

Tonight, we asked her what she wanted to learn tomorrow.  "Dogs, Dickens, and ducks."

Wait, what?

Dickens?

Did our 5-year-old ask for Dickens?

Sweet!

So we'll watch Disney's "Mickey's Christmas Carol," which has dogs, Dickens, and ducks all in one film. 

I'm amped.

When we move (to wherever we're moving) in a month (-ish), we'll probably re-enroll her in public school.  Until then, we're having a blast.  I love it!

Moving.

So I've felt the need to move for a few months, now.  My wife, not so much.  Still, she's been migrating to my point of view.  Change, however, is a problem for my wife.  She recognizes that the only constant in life is change (a view that I actually don't think is true; is not the love of God constant?  or at least constantly increasing?), but doesn't like major life changes.  (Don't tell her that the rate at which we are having children constitutes a major life change every few months.)  At a recent Stake Conference (a gathering of local church congregations), she finally got the revelation that I'd been getting for months.

You see, we don't make major changes in life until we both get the revelation that we should.  It's a rule of ours that helps to avoid conflict between us.

At that Stake Conference, she got it.  She cried.  (Again, she hates change.)  But she faced the future resolutely.  She's a champ.

So where are we moving?  We have no clue. 

You see, the where is as important as the when (of which we also have no definite clue, though we're leaning to "before Thanksgiving," for reasons listed below).  Both are just a shade under the fact that we're actually going to move.

So since it wasn't revealed where or when we're moving, we're using Lincoln, Nebraska as our default.  Anika's mom and dad live there, and they offered about once a week since I graduated from Liberty in June to have us move there.  So our default is to move in with her folks.  I'm still secretly hoping for a job to pop up between now and then, but that's partially because I have this male need to support my family. 

The reasons for the placement of Lincoln for our family are many, but essentially boil down to three.  (1) I want to live closer to family, and Lincoln is both closer to my wife's family and my California family.  (2) We plan on moving West for my career.  This is related to #1, but is important enough to be separate.   I'm in the process of applying for licensure to teach in Nebraska, Kansas, and Oklahoma, but I'm also open to the idea of teaching basically anywhere I can support a family on a teacher's salary.  I figure I would have had a job if I lived in Arizona, and it would have been at one of the top schools on my list of desirable work locations.  So the pure location of Nebraska (middle of the country) makes it desirable, assuming we don't get a job in the meantime.  (3) We're fans of family-friendly environments.  I don't mean to be offensive, but Buena Vista is not entirely family-friendly.  The LDS community here is great, for the most part.  That said, they're the exception to the norm.  In Lincoln, the LDS community is rather small, but the people seem to be built for families, for the most part. 

So when will we move?  Again, we're looking at before Thanksgiving, since we're looking at moving towards Anika's family.  The earliest we can move is early November (barring a speedy move to a job, which would be just me, most likely).  I'm shooting for that.

So that's the news on our front.

Anyone have any boxes that we could use?

I am a Child of God

John mentioned before that after school can get pretty grumpy.  Analee is tired, the boys are tired, we're tired (the afternoon used to be our down time).  But what he didn't mention is that the mornings are pretty ugly, too.  Either we wake Analee up earlier (earlier than 6:30-6:45) and have her moan and groan and whine through an extremely slow morning routine or we let her wake up on her own/when she hears her brothers being loud and rush through it all.  When it comes down to it, though, she doesn't get to school on time unless we push.  Gentle reminders don't seem to help much and there is only so much you can prepare the night before.  It seems like every morning one of us gets to be the drill sergeant.  Put it all together and our daily schedule looks like this:

dark-7:45 - GO GO Grumpiness GO GO!

morning - we miss Analee 

afternoon - no, seriously, when will Analee come home?

3 - dreaded pick-up (dreaded b/c we have to go to the school)

before dinner - whine, cry, scream, fight, punch, kick, wail, flail, throw things (this involves all the kids, and hopefully no parents)

dinner - if we're lucky Analee doesn't comment on how disgusting dinner looks and how she won't touch it (note, a few months ago the dinner mantra seemed to be "I don't like it-BUT I'll eat it anyways")

bedtime - hopefully no crying, clinging, sobbing etc.


I don't know how people do this.  I can't handle it.

However

I did want to share something that brought a little peace.

This video soothed a crying baby, a crying two year old and a whining 4 year old in less than 30 seconds. 
My kids that know the words couldn't seem to help but join in.
I cried the first time I saw it.  (no joke)

Whether or not your days have been as crazy/upsetting/stressful etc. as what I've described above, I hope this video brings you not just a little peace, but a lot.

I know that I am a child of God.  He sent me to earth and has a plan for me.  Each of us is a child of God.

I've waited long enough! (How I stopped waiting for my wife to post and just did it myself.)

So after setting up my wife brilliantly for a post on the charter school that failed, we got...nothing.  Not even an "I'll get to it!" from my woman.  Try as I might, I just can't get her to post.  She claims she's "too tired" to post, and she does have a lot going on.  That said, we have a public to entertain with our not-so-great blog, so I'll step in.  Hey, late is better than never, or so I hear!

Analee is starting to waver on her choice to stay in public school.  Mom is definitely wavering.  You see, Babe is just drained when she gets home.  She's cranky and miserable, and when she gets home, her brothers go berserk.  "Let's see what Babe brought us!" they seem to yell.  So they're all over her, her school supplies, her lunch, and anything else she happens to bring home.  ...and she's just so tired that she can't help but snap at them. 

Fierce Babe is even creeping into our nights.  Last night, at about 10 (when I should have been LONG asleep but wasn't; more on that below), she came into our bedroom.  "I can't sleep.  Can I stay in here?"  Enter half-hour test of parents trying to get alone time vs. child who wants parent time.  She admitted that she misses us during the day (cue Mom's heart breaking; kid is good!), so we once again reiterated that she doesn't have to go to school.  She thought about it and told us she'd tell us in the morning.

I'm still torn on whether or not I want to see her stay in public school.  I find value in Analee facing others on their terms.  She meets people of different religions than her own, with different customs, and different lifestyles.  She has a great teacher, and Anika wants to bend over backwards for her. 

That said, socially, the school setting isn't helping Analee.  We've raised her to be nice to all people, and she's doing great.  She says "hi" to EVERYBODY, and knows their names.  Still, though, few respond in kind.  One girl, who we thought would be good friends with Babe, has repeatedly told her that she doesn't want to be friends with her. 

Further, I think she can get through 1st grade now, and she might just do that at home.  I'd be peachy with that, honestly.

She's home today.  (It's a "family day," which translates to us being to sick to think about taking her to school.)  We'll see if she goes back to school tomorrow.

A return to job hunting.

Since the start of the school year, I have put job hunting on the back burner.  It still happened (and happens), mind you, but it just wasn't a priority.  Cleaning house, taking care of the yard, helping with kids, and generally trying to (a) help out and (b) stay out of Anika's way (not an easy combination, let me tell you!).  I've applied for a few jobs, but not many.

One of them is interviewing me tonight.  It's in Arizona.  Do I want it?  Of course.  I'd love to teach entrepreneurship and economics in a middle school setting.  I love the primarily minority class of students.  I love what I think is the pay.  I love it all.  Except the placement.  Don't get me wrong, I have no problems with Arizona; it's closer to folks I love in California, for one.  That said, it's also farther from Anika's family, and we really want to get closer to them.  I would love to have my kids get really close to "Grandma and Grampa" (their names for themselves).  I want my kids to have a relationship with their aunts and uncles.  All of them.  Even if Anika is unsure about the type of relationship that the kids would have with them.  I love family, and find it important.

That said, I also find the ability to not just survive, but grow, to be just as important.  This job would allow such growth. 

There's another job, though only half time, in Iowa that I applied for.  I'm honestly not sure that I don't want it more.  We found a huge home in the same town that is well within our price range.  It's not a big city, like Tucson is.  But it's only half time.

If I get neither, I've been looking for part-time work here in Buena Vista, too.  I found a job that I could take part-time at SVU, but don't know that I want to be one of those people. 

Don't get me wrong; I have no problem with SVU grads/students working on the hill.  I think it's wonderful for SVU grads to have positions on the hill.  That said, I just don't think it's for me.  I don't want to be the guy who graduated and never left.  Even if I get a job in the area, there is and should be (in my opinion) a clear distinction between who I was and who I am.  I rarely go on the hill because of the difference.  I see professors and staff a heck of a lot more off-campus than on-. 

There's a job in Rockbridge County (more accurately Lexington, but it'd be for Rockbridge County Schools...more on them in a bit) that I think would work well with me.  There's another at VMI that I would love.  Ultimately, though, my goal is to teach.  Anything.  Anywhere.

Rockbridge County Schools.  What should I say about them?  Suffice it to say, we're not their greatest fans right now.  I'll let Anika dive into details, but it's enough to say that they rejected the charter for a school to which we wanted to send our kids.  We're not excited.  At all.  We're so unexcited that we've lately talked about moving to Lincoln just to get away from Buena Vista/Rockbridge County and start over again.  We'll see when/if that happens. 

Cue Anika.  Go, woman!  (I love you!)