Last Monday, I took James to check out a climbing gym that Jamie told us about because they have a program for kids. He wandered around and liked what he saw so we've decided to sign him up for three months and see how it goes. I don't want to overschedule our kids and stress them out, but at the same time, it's important to me that they always be involved in one sport, although I don't really care which one. James has done soccer, tee ball, karate and now wants to try rock climbing, which is fine with me. He's done indoor climbing before both with his dad and his Uncle Jamie, so I know he'll enjoy it. We've always kind of known that James was going to be more of an individual sport kind of kid than a team one, and that's just fine.
Monday night was FHE. It's fun to get back in the routine now that James is home. He asked us about fasting on Sunday and why Kenny and I were doing it and what we were fasting for. We turned it into our FHE lesson and talked about the law of the fast and the story of the seagulls and crickets. He decided he would like to fast so next month he'll do that on fast Sunday. It's really cool to see him making these choices for himself. We're proud of him!
Tuesday was busy! James had swimming class (first day of Level 3) and then I had book club (we read Emma), followed by my first tennis class with some girls from the ward. That was really funny! I've never played tennis before. I don't think I've even held a racket, but it was a lot of fun. We're just kind of getting used to the idea of connecting with the ball. It wasn't a ton of cardio exercise, but it was nice to be out and doing something different from my regular routine. I did a leg routine at the gym earlier in the day with my trainer and ended up hurting for the rest of the week so I didn't get as much cardio as I should. I'm a little more worried about it than usual right now because I took a routine physical a couple of weeks ago and my triglycerides are too high. I'm doing most of the right exercise and diet things but I guess I just need to be even more diligent.
Wednesday was a quiet day. James had no activities and Kenny went to a business meeting that night while I watched the boys. Thursday was swimming again after school for James and Kenny worked from home that day but he put in a lot of hours so we didn't see him too much. Friday was fun day, though!
We started with Cub Scouts after school. It was the first day of Cubs for the new year and I'm the assistant den leader now so I went. James will be a Bear in one more month and I helped the other ward's den leader with our combined Wolves. They worked on flag etiquette. Several of the boys in the other ward's den (we combine) have behavioral issues that make it a challenging group but our two Cubs are really easy (James and Eli). When James moves to Bears it will be even easier because both of the other Bears are really good boys.
Then we rushed home to get ready for the Smith Elementary Family Appreciation Night because Johnny 99 was playing! It was so much fun! The PTA had TK Burger cater it and everyone got free dinner and then the band played and people really seemed to love it. I wandered around listening to their comments like, "This is great!" or "Hey! They're good!" and I think Kenny and the other guys just had a blast playing. The PTA president and school principal were pretty delighted with the whole shebang.
Saturday I spent the day at a writing conference in Brea and then headed over to pick the boys up from Kenny who was at the stake center for choir pratice because of stake conference this weekend. He was asked to sing in two different choirs so it was a long day for him. During the day, James decided to try and sell some of his toys at the neighborhood garage sale. He didn't have much luck with that but fared far better in soliciting the neighbors for cardboard for his birthday party so he was well content. Between practice and the actual adult session of conference, Kenny came home and took the boys swimming and helped James practice side breathing and back stroke while baby splashed around like a crazy person. He LOVES the water! Then while Kenny was singing during the evening session I went and dropped the boys of with Grandma and Grandpa and then met Kenny back home so we could have a date night. We went to my friend's birthday party out in Riverside and spent the evening playing Bunco which was a first for both of us. It was a silly game but a fun way to interact with different people all night.
Today was stake conference. Baby lasted a half hour and then Kenny had to take him out and walk the halls with him. James made it until the last half hour and then I let him go sit with Kenny at the side of the gym where he had a little more wiggle room. We finished off the afternoon with Kenny cleaning the house (he's Super Husband) and James drew pictures on the computer. I fell asleep for an extra long nap which means I'll be up all night. And now it's evening. James is asleep, Grant is refusing to go to sleep and Kenny is reading while I blog and we both determinedly ignore baby!