Back to Reality 2022

Posted by Chandra January 13, 2022

Back to Reality 2022

The kids officially went back to school bright and early on Monday, January 3rd. They were sooooo excited. On the way to school I asked, "What was your FAVORITE part of Winter Break?" and they replied, "NOTHING! We missed school!" Rayleigh had a hard time adjusting to being back in the classroom and was very tired. She also had some big feelings and wouldn't open up to her teacher. But, since she has world's most amazing teacher, she kept me in the loop and she came up with some hand signals for Rayleigh to use when she's not ready to talk. We had her IEP for speech and she passed all of her goals with flying colors. She is improving and progressing and her whole team loves her so much. They said she is the happiest girl in class and that teaching her is what makes them love what they do. We set some new goals to work on how to describe her "Big Feelings" and even made an appointment with the school counselor to work on some strategies! I'm so thankful for this wonderful school that sees beyond "problem behavior" to a little girl struggling to verbalize emotions. They seek first to understand and practice what they preach in terms of the 7 Habits. I could not be more proud of Rayleigh for all the hard work she puts into school (she excels in math) and am forever grateful for her educational team.

Meanwhile, at home, we finally cleaned up Christmas but we can't get the tree put away until we sell Tanner's old car because we can't access the tree box! It's crazy that our giant garage is too full! But Ella sure had fun playing with the nativities. She's adorable. Ella went back to school this week too and was so happy! I attended Courtney's Barre class and have been working hard with my physical goals to eat smarter and workout.

By the end of week 1, we were all exhausted. Tanner has been helping get the kids to bed at night which is a huge help. We went to the Chart House with Courtney and Robby to celebrate her birthday. We are trying to be better about intentional date nights! Chart House with friends was fun and it was nice to have the drive to chat. Any chance I can take to get down to the beach is my favorite. We also got to stop by my parents house for a little visit which was fun!

On Saturday, Tanner took Jack to his very first soccer practice which he LOVED! He struggled a few times when he wasn't immediately amazing at it so the coach gave him a medal for sticking with it and trying his best. He was thrilled! Then Tanner took the boys to lunch and to get hair cuts. I cried when I saw them- Jack's hair has never been this short! He looks so handsome but my little boy is looking too grown up! I took the girls to Rayleigh's make up dance and gymnastics classes. We got McDonald's and everyone had a very productive Saturday! Parker went to his friend's house to play video games on Saturday night and was really happy. Tanner got his covid booster.

In an effort to be better about serving in simple ways, I took dinner to an investigator who was ill and signed us up to clean the building. The woman who received my dinner was so grateful but when we got to the church on Saturday morning to clean, it was locked and looked like no one was there. So we didn't end up helping- It's ok because we are now back to virtual church!!

Which was a relief to Parker because he was asked to speak in church. Tanner got him all set up in the guest room and he looked like a full blown man/missionary. He gave an excellent talk and didn't even write it all out! He spoke about overcoming adversity and used a scripture found in D&C that really stuck out to him last year while he was studying in seminary. I had about a dozen people reach out to me and compliment me on his talk which made me so proud!!!

I got another stake calling- Social Media again... but the rest of Sunday was really nice and relaxing. I spent a good amount of time and effort preparing for the upcoming week so we could be more successful. Last week, the upstairs bathroom flooded and it dripped all the way down to the laundry room which caused a bunch of chaos. ugh

This week, we are back to gymnastics, dance, piano, temple, (no mutual because everyone has covid), basketball, soccer, date night, and of course, DISNEYLAND! I took Parker and Ella after we dropped Rayleigh and Jack at school. We got there right when they opened and rode about 5 rides before grabbing lunch and heading home. It was a gorgeous day- felt like Spring! Ella was brave and did the Goofy roller coaster in Toon Town. We had a great time together! Love my little best friend! I also took some baptism pictures of Reed for his upcoming big day. It was fun to see Jill for a few minutes- I miss her! She never has any time for me anymore! She's renovating her kitchen and I'm super jealous.

But I'm staying true to my goal for this year to Work Hard/Play Hard. I'm trying to be super productive, be aware of ways I can serve, work hard at my calling, and be the best mom ever! (Ella and I also went to the library and picked up some fun chapter books to read together before bed). Tanner is working hard at work and I have high hopes for a stupendous year!