The day to day

We have been kind of busy with day to day stuff recently, but nothing exciting enough to post about. Since this blog is the closest thing I have to a scrapbook though, I figure I should write about some of it, even if it is mundane.

I just finished a class that is part of a series of classes that will culminate in an ESOL endorsement on my teaching license. This class was The Impact of Culture and Language in the Classroom. I've taken 5 out of 7 of the classes so far and this was one of my favorites. The professor was engaging, and the content was interesting. Since I'm not teaching right now I was definitely more enthusiastic about the class than some of my classmates who were all tired and did not want to be sitting in a classroom on a Friday evening and all day Saturday. It was really good mental and social stimulation for me though!

One of my assignments for class was to immerse myself in a culture that I don't feel a part of and then write a paper about it. I decided to immerse myself in the "sports enthusiast" culture by going to a Blazers game with Jeff and some of our friends. It was a great night (kid free!) and I definitely had some good things to write about.

Jeff has been doing a lot of yard work at home, trying to redo our back yard that we had kind of let go because it had been Owen's territory, and he had torn it up with all his running around. We are still planning on adding a garage, and Jeff is slowing working on it. Over the weekend he and his dad put up a fence on the retaining wall Jeff built last summer, and today he has been limbing up some trees. At work he has been putting in sidewalks...a task that seems endless, but the camp is really looking nice! If you haven't been there since last summer you'll be really impressed with all the work they've done. The "Master Plan" is really coming together!

I have worked in the camp coffee shop a few times and I've had a few subbing jobs recently. I feel like I'm finally finding a good balance between being at home with the boys, doing things for myself, and earning some money.

Roger and Louise (bompa and ama, as Daniel has started calling them) came to visit last weekend. It was a quick visit, but still really good. Daniel relishes in the extra attention (twice as many people to read him books!) and Levi thinks it's wonderful because there are endless arms to hold him.

We've had doctors visits and dental appointments (I have to get my 3 wisdom teeth removed sometime in the next few months...not looking forward to that one). We still go to MOPS and toddler art and we've had many playdates.

Our bible study has recently taken on a new ministry opportunity. Half of our bible study is comprised of the worship team at our church, and a few months ago they were asked to play at a group called Celebrate Recovery (CR) in Tillamook. CR meets every Tuesday evening and it is basically a Christ-centered 12 step program for people who are recovering from all types of addictions. Since our bible study meets on Tuesdays, we all go to CR once a month to support our worship team, and to be fed physically and spiritually. We've gone twice now, and both times the sermons really impacted me. There are some things that I've been struggling with for a while now, and I feel like at CR they get right to the root of the issue instead of tippy-toeing around it. It's good stuff.

We had that little tsunami scare two weeks ago, which of course was not a big deal around here, but was good practice for everyone. Getting woken up at 5:30 AM by the tsunami siren was a bit surreal, but luckily Jeff and I are not panickers, and Jeff knows more about tsunamis than most people since he is in charge of the tsunami preparedness at camp. He knew exactly which websites to go to to get the most current and relevant information. After a little research he decided it was not worth evacuating, so we just hunkered down for a quiet morning at home and watched the devastation of the earthquake in Japan unfold with the rest of the world.

I think that about sums it up! I'm hoping to find some new fun and cheap things to do with the boys this spring. Hopefully some dry weather will be coming our way so we can get outside more. Daniel is such a little sponge right now that it's hard to keep him entertained with the same old toys and places.