September 14, 2014

Summer is over.  Rachel and I went to girls camp. It was great. We camped as award and it was so much fun to spend more time with our girls and leaders. There was a meteor shower one night and a few of us leaders stayed up past midnight to watch it. It was so fun. We saw at least 100 shooting stars in an hour.

 The week after we got home we were released. I miss the girls so much. But I'm happy they are all Rachel's age so we'll continue to see them. I am on the enrichment committee now.

 It's funny because the RS president has been asking for me for that calling for about a year. Bob told me and my friend who is the RS secretary told me. They asked what I thought about it and I said if it's just to fill a spot and not inspired then I totally  don't want it. Bob and Stephanie both tried to get me out of it. But at girls camp I got all these ideas about how I can get sisters to come and then I knew it must be inspired. It is nice to have a calling that requires so much less time.

 We had our end of summer party with dry ice and water balloons in the pool. We also took each of the kids on their own date with us before school started. We had been trying to do one a month, but hadn't gotten to it so we crammed them. It was really nice to get to spend that time with each of them.

 School started. It's so great to have Aaron at the same school. Danny had a bit of a rough start because so many of his friends left for other high schools. He's settling in now. The nice thing is he has friends all over from kids who've left Somerset and basketball and stick dances. So he goes to football games  he has lots of friends to hang out with. Everyone else is doing great at school Seth and Ruby are both sad when it's not a school day. Which is saying a lot because in Kender and half of first grade Seth didn't like school.

 My job started also. So now all six of us are at Skypoint every day. Full-time work is so hard. It's been three weeks now and 90% of the nights my body aches because I'm so tired and I'm crying because this is so hard. The people are all really nice and I love seeing Ruby, Seth and Aaron at school every day. But I don't know if I'm going to stick with it. I don't know how working moms do it       I've been really conflicted because I want to be someone who does what they say they will. But I had no idea it would feel this hard. And I feel like it's hard to be a good mom when I'm stressed and tired. We'll see. I am going to give it a few more weeks I think while I try to figure out what I want to switch to – like being on – call or volunteering  A day a week or something.

 The garden has had a rough time. Squash bugs killed my zucchini and watermelon. It started on the pumpkin, but they left it alone in the end. The crickets became a problem at night the dirt would look like it's moving because of so many crickets. I stopped watering the whole garden and just hand watered the tomatoes and pumpkin I had left in there. And I threw diatomaceous earth all over  everything. That helped. But then there are still a ton of baby crickets. So small they look like ants. But they were eating any new things I put in. I went ahead and planted a bunch of things for fall hoping that they won't eat all of it. So far carrots and green onions have come up and are not eaten but the first night I put a kale plant in the whole thing was eaten two sticks the peas are eaten as soon as they come up.  Half a cauliflower was eaten and even an entire marigold plant. So I finally bought some seven pesticide and sprayed it on everything I figured not quite organic is better than no plans at all. And the plants I buy at the nursery probably have pesticides used on them early on. I am hoping to not have to use it again. Then our pumpkin vines were getting big and finally getting lots of female blossoms. But then one day I realize all the blossoms were gone  I was going to Google what could cause that when I saw a mouse run away and down the wall. So now Bob is working on getting rid of mice.