March Madness

Guess what? I am working now! I have to give a little background information on this story. So back in February I was subbing at Copper Hills High School and I ran into one of the administrators there who I used to work with at Oquirrh Hills Middle (we were both on the 9th grade English team). He was asking about what I was doing and if I was going to go back to teaching. I told him I didn't know about going back to teaching full time because my kids keep me so busy, but that my dream job would be working in the attendance office at a school. He said that they were hiring for the attendance office at CHHS and that they were doing interviews that day. He said that if I got my application in that day he would hold off on making a decision on the position until they could interview me. I hurried and called Tyler and asked him what he thought. See, I was going to look for this exact position, but when Brynnli was in 1st grade to give me a little more flexibility on hours, but since Tyler is working at home still, he would be able to pick up Brynnli and watch her while I work. Well I ran home, updated my resume in like 5 minutes, and submitted it. They called me for an interview the next Monday and later that day after I interviewed they offered me the job! It is the perfect job for me right now. I work Wednesday, Thursday, and every other Friday from 7-3. Tyler gets the kids up and ready for school. I come home for lunch and get to eat with Brynnli and Tyler, then I'm home before Makayla and Caden get home from school. I really like the people I work with and am starting to figure out all the ins and outs of the job. It has been so nice to go back to work for just a few days a week to break things up a little bit, because in reality, I couldn't keep going to Target everyday because the cashiers were starting to recognize me! 

I snapped this picture at my desk on St. Patrick's day.  

What, don't you go to get the mail in your old dance costumes? Only Brynnli does that? 

We (and by we I mean Tyler) have been doing more projects in our house. Tyler added can lights to our living room and it makes our house so much brighter. We had to rent this huge ladder because our ceilings are so tall. 

We have now been redoing our panty to make it more functional. Our panty is huge, but sometimes it is so big that is just looked unorganized. Tyler built some new cabinets and shelves. Then he put in some electrical plugs so we can plug in our appliances and keep them in the pantry and not out on our counter tops. Tyler really is amazing! He can do so many things. 

We also got a new ice maker and mini fridge for a little drink station to go in our new pantry. This ice machine makes pebble ice... because you know it's all about the ice. Mmm... now I want a dirty Dr. Pepper. 

This made me so mad. I just washed the Buick and had it all sparkling clean, when I came out of the store and noticed a bird had pooped on the window. Not cool. 

I love looking through my phone and finding random pictures of Makayla. 

See these two? Do you know why they drive me crazy sometimes? Because one minute they are cute and snuggling together on the couch...

And the next minute they are crying because one of them hurt the other one. Apparently Brynnli "accidently" bit Makayla on this one. Check out those bite marks. 

So Makayla hit Brynnli and left a mark right by her eye. 

Kids these days. 

Some days they get along great. They made a band together. 

Shared a picnic outside (And forgot to put away their food when they were done)

Brynnli will be so mad about this picture, but Brynnli has the cutest butt cheeks. They are so squishy. Tyler gets mad at me because whenever I pick Brynnli up to give her a hug, or snuggle with her on the couch, my hand has to grab those squishy butt cheeks. We had rolls for dinner and thought they were the same size and squishyness of Brynnli's buttcheeks, so we had to take a picture. 

One night we were going to bed and Caden couldn't sleep. He came down to our bedroom and said like he does every night when he can't sleep; "Mom. Dad. I can't go to sleep!" So I told Caden I would sleep in his bed and he could sleep in our bed. Well apparently in the night Brynnli couldn't sleep either and came in our bed and Tyler went to sleep in Brynnli's bed. How unfair is that? Caden and Brynnli slept great in our king sized bed and Tyler and I had the worst night's sleep in their beds. 

Pretty Rainbow. Three more years... or is it one? I need to read the bible again. 

Got my nails did. 

The girls had their first dance competition. It was so fun to watch them on stage again. Both of them did so great and they both got High Gold from the judges. 

The competition world is no joke, but the girls had fun competing. 

The competition was in Ogden, so on the way home we stopped and ate dinner at The Cracker Barrel. The kids had fun looking around the gift shop while we waited for our table. Look at my cute southern belles. 

Makayla wanted to make a dirt cup. Chocolate pudding, smashed oreos to look like dirt and gummy worms to top it off. 

I am willing spring to show up with my spring nails. 

Oh how I love these two. Reading books together at night. 

Speaking of reading books, Brynnli read Green Eggs and Ham all by herself! Can you believe how well she is reading and she is only in Kindergarten! We are so proud of our Brynnie!

Nicer weather means the kids can play outside more. Have you met our little monkey? 

Good report cards and parent teacher conferences mean ice cream at Menchies!! We are so proud of all of our kids. Their teachers said they are all doing so well in school. They try their best, complete their work, and are good friends to others. Great job kids!

What a difference a year makes. Last year on March 11 is when the World Health Organization declared the coronavirus a pandemic, fear ensued, and everything shut down. It was such a scary time because there were so many unknowns. Now here we are a year later. We know more about the virus and how it is spread and are fighting back with the vaccine, masks, and social distancing. The number of cases in our area are going down and things are getting more back to normal. I am so grateful it is not last year. As far as new cases go on March 11, one year later since the Corona virus was declared a pandemic, in Utah 376,973 people have had the virus, 2,015 people have died, and almost 1 million people have received the vaccine. There are a few options for vaccines. Most of them require 2 doses, given about 2 weeks apart. The vaccine was first offered to front line workers, but now it has been opened up for people 60 and over. My parents and Terry and Craig have received both doses of the vaccine, so we are hoping we will be able to get together more for family parties. At the end of March they opened up the vaccine eligibility to anyone over 16, so Tyler and I should be able to get our vaccine soon. And, the governor of Utah announced that the mask mandate will be expiring on April 10. I think students and employees at schools will still have to wear masks through the end of the school year, but hopefully we won't HAVE to wear a mask when we go out. It feels so good to get things back to normal.