Once again, I'm back

I had almost forgotten that I had a blog. It has been forever since I've written. Too many things have happened since the last time I wrote. I am still busier than ever and loving it, for the most part. I've been busy, busy, busy with PTO and Activities Committee.
Last Friday night we had an Adult Pinewood Derby. It was a blast (from what I heard - I am always too busy during activities to know how they are doing during the activity)! We had 25 cars entered in 4 different categories. We raced and raced and got our winners. Todd and I raced in the Heavy-weight class and I beat him every time I raced him (so, at least 4 times). That was fun!
This week has been a little tougher. Todd's cousin, Brandon Walker, (ok, it's his dad's cousin's son) lost 3 of his children when their car slid off the road into a 20 ft. deep pond. They were not rescued in time to save any of the 5 children in the car. The other 2 kids were from another family in our stake that Todd knows also. The boy from the other family, Brandt Probst was on Teyla's soccer team two years ago. Shiloah, being the sensitive one, had a hard time at school today. She didn't know anyone the kids, but she was sad and wrote a letter to the Walkers and went to the counseling session at the school today. Teyla had been to some of the Stake YW activities with the two girls that died, but she didn't personally know them well. It will take a while for the community to get back to normal, and the kids will definitely be missed. It is interesting to note that a couple of the YW from my ward that are homeschooled, but go to the high school for seminary, said that today there were tons of kids, both members and non-members that flocked to the seminary building. The Stake Presidency and some bishops were there to talk with the kids and do some teaching as well.
At Parent Teacher Conferences last week, all the kids report cards are better, at least in some areas. Teyla's teacher got in a car wreck the second day back from Christmas break and she had 5 different subs for the 7 weeks that her teacher was out. It threw the whole class for a loop, partly because any time the kids have a sub, not all things get done or taught. She got behind on her language a bit, but is doing great in science. She is also leaning more toward playing the trumpet next year. We are considering trying a Charter School for her. It is an Arts Academy. They have mandatory music, and dance classes, as well as all the core classes. One of her cousins (Mayola's daughter MaKenna) already goes there, so we'll see. It's not a for sure thing, but I am keeping the options open. Teyla also played basketball this winter and had a blast with it.
Shiloah is on the Honor Roll and is doing well in school. Her teacher says that she is a joy to have in class. In music, Shiloah is at the top of her class when it comes to recorder skills. All the 4th grade is learning to play the recorder. There is only one other person in the 4th grade that is at the same level as Shiloah. She is proud of that. She likes to practice and play for whoever will listen. Shiloah played volleyball in Dec,Jan, and Feb. She LOVED it!! She is all excited about playing again next season. She was the smallest on the team and her team didn't win any matches, but she had a blast anyway.
Cassie is Cassie. The other day she and Shiloah went in the bathroom determined to lose their loose teeth. Well, they both did and Cassie became my first toothless girl (missing both top front teeth at the same time). She was sooooo proud of it. Cassie is loving school. She is also doing well. She is definitely a hands-on learner and does well with math. She doesn't do any sports yet, but I would love to see her take up clogging. It has to be her choice tho, so I won't push her.
Bryr is still in pre-school. He is also at the top of his class in his learning skills. He can write his whole name, knows most of the upper and lower case letters, can recognize all the numbers 1-10 and can count past 100 with little help. He is getting ready for the new racing season and is eagerly waiting for the ground to dry up a little so that the mud puddles are gone. He loves to ride. We are working with him still on his volume control. He does well, until he gets mad or excited.
Saje is sooooo fun to have at home, most of the time. Lately, he has been getting into more things and being precocious. He likes to get on top of the computer desk and try to mess with the VCR or the PS2. That is not good!!! He broke the portable DVD player, good thing it was warranteed. He also likes motorcycles and CARS! Anytime he sees Lightning McQueen or hears the beginning of Cars, he comes running with a big grin on his face!! We were in the grocery store's cereal aisle and he saw one of the Kellogg's multi-packs (the tiny, single-serving boxes) and the wrapper had Lightning and Mater on it and he went nuts. He can't really talk much yet, but his first real word besides mom and dad was Cars Cars. Now he's talking a little more and is hilarious! He is a little imp tho at times. He likes to follow me around and help with whatever I am doing.
Todd has been having fun playing basketball. He is always busy with work, but loves what he is doing. He doesn't like when he has to roll around in the blown in attic insulation, but he is great at his job.
Well, it's bed time, so I hope you enjoy the update!
Love ya, Debra