Back to School + the Non-certified Teacher Gig

First day of school for the 2023-2024 school year:

Julia (4th grade), me (elementary school computer para) 

Anne (junior), Claire (senior)

Back in June I saw the elementary school was still in need of a computer para, so I thought what the heck and applied. Schools must be a bit desperate for staff  because I was offered the position without even an interview. It seemed like a good idea back in June, so I accepted, but after only 8 days of school, I'm missing my stay-at-home-mom job. I haven't been this exhausted since I was 7-months pregnant with Anne and moving from Michigan to Massachusetts. However, the school really needs help, so I guess I'll try to stick it out for at least one year. And it's fun riding a bike to school every day while Julia and our neighbor girl zip along ahead of me on their e-scooters. Also, kids make the day memorable:

Kindergartener: "Are you a girl or a boy?"

2nd grader: "I CAN'T GET MY G**D**N COMPUTER TO WORK!"

Kindergartner: "Are you a boy or a girl? You look like a boy, but you sound like a girl."

3rd grader sobbing under a table and pointing at a nearby girl, "She called me a cry-baby!" 

Me: "Just because she says it doesn't make it true."  

3rd grader: "But I am! I'm always crying."

Me: "Well...I cried a lot in 3rd grade too and I grew up to be an extraordinary human being, so don't worry about it."

3rd grader: gave me a dubious look and continued crying.

Yet another kindergartner: "Are you a boy or a girl?"

2nd grader: "I wish [the former computer teacher] was still here."

Me: "Yeah, me too."

The Good News

 Here are some good things that came of Damon's 2 year mission in Mexico preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ:

1. He developed a strong testimony of the Savior, the Book of Mormon, and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He hesitated to serve a mission because he didn't feel he had a strong testimony back when he was fresh out of high school. But he was a diligent keeper of the commandments and was worthy to serve, so Jake and I pushed him to go. We're grateful it worked out. During his mission and since he's been home, he's mentioned seeing the hand of God in the work, in his life, and in the lives of those he taught. And he now recognizes the the gospel is something everyone needs.

2. He makes polite and pleasant small talk now with strangers! He's such an introvert that I never saw this before the mission.

3. We were blessed and protected because of his service. A couple incidents that come most readily to mind: when I was teaching Anne to drive a year and a half ago, I wasn't paying attention and told her to turn right on a red light even though a car was coming! They didn't hit us and I knew we were being spared because of Damon's missionary service (and Jake's service as a bishop). Then this past spring I was driving 2 of my girls and several of my nieces to my Aunt Kathy's house for a painting lesson. Again, not paying attention, I'm seeing a pattern here, I turned when I shouldn't have, and caused an accident. Thanks to the other driver's presence of mind and God's mercy, no one was injured though both cars were damaged. Miraculously, my sister-in-law (whose van I was driving at the time) ended up feeling blessed by the  incident! Really! That's sounds too good to be true but this is one time when too good really is true. And now I pay attention while I'm driving, so one more blessing to come out of all this.

We still learned how to watercolor:

And Damon is still a pyromaniac:

Best of all, Jesus Christ lives! I sure love That Guy.

Damon Comes Home and so forth

 On July 13th the banners we got from Blue Valley North High School finally came in handy:

To his disappointment, his bags were left in Mexico City, but we didn't care--he'd made it home safe and sound. No Mexican accent, but he often forms his sentences like a Spanish speaker ("the brother of John" instead of "John's brother") and he sometimes struggles to find the right English word. 

And how did he like his basement bedroom? Lots. It reminded him of homes built by the poor in Mexico. If our house weren't so cold (he's finally given up asking us to turn off the air conditioner and wears long-sleeved shirts indoors) it would feel like he'd never left. 

In other news, Julia and her cousin Metta (not pictured) decorated her (Julia's) birthday cake:

This nearly ended in disaster. I went out to do yard work while Julia and Metta put on the finishing touches. Then they decided to make slime out of dish soap and contact solution the exact same color as the cake's modeling chocolate icing. Naturally some ended up on the cake. Fortunately, they realized their mistake before anyone ate it.

The following week we made a whirlwind trip to the mountain ranch

where we've been forbidden to dig up graves, cross the Cascade Bridge, or even put pennies on the train tracks. But not even recent bear sightings stopped Damon, Max, and Jaden (Max's friend) from sleeping out on the mountain. They built a shelter out of branches next to an aspen tree that had been used as a scratching post by something very large, which I wish I had a picture of (the shelter and the claw marks), and by golly, they slept in it all night. [Side bar: I spent too much time re-reading the 6th and 7th Harry Potter books. I wish I'd at least joined the occasional card game. I was just so book-deprived from the bedroom building that I almost couldn't help myself.]

Continuing the whirlwind journey, we then went to Saint George, Utah to have a lovely time with Jake's family and be reminded of the beauty of the red rock. The picture doesn't do it justice.

It was 109 degrees while we were there. My extraordinary 78?-year-old in-laws could sit outside in the shade and visit comfortably but I could not. I thought I was going to die and had to cut our visits short. Sorry, everyone. (Damon had a cold and I had allergies that might have been a cold so we couldn't go in their house.)