Then and now...

I have been a very lazy blogger... but I will work on it.. maybe... I hope.. possibly...

Part of the problem is I never take in pictures. The other part of the problem is life has been such a whirlwind with C's new job and calling and the kids new school and most of all with adjusting to living here.

So here are a few brief Q and A's

Question: Why don't you blog anymore?

Answer: I am very lazy and also Facebook is much easier. Alas it is also much less interesting to read.

Question: How is Texas?

Answer: It is growing on me. There isn't nearly as much to do right outside my front door as there was in California and Oregon but someday I will find things that interest me here. The weather sucks but you don't live somewhere for weather right? The kids are not having the best time in school but we are learning a lot and getting closer as a family.

Question: How is Cyrus' job?

Answer: Things are going as well as we had hoped. He is happy in handling things with honesty and doing work that he feels is best for the patients. He is working a lot (after hours) with making sure the business end is going right... all in all it seems like we made a good choice and we should continue to improve day by day. We are never sad that we went back to school. Cyrus loves being a dentist and finds happiness in his job every day.

Question: How often does the garbage man come in Texas?

Answer: They pick the garbage up TWICE A WEEK here. We usually only have two or three bags of trash and a container of recycling when they come. I love it!!

Question: What are the kids doing for fun down there?

Answer: The school day is very long here 8:15-3:15 every day with either one or no recesses (more often than not no recess). They come home with about a half hours worth of homework every day too!! But on the bright side they ride their bikes and skates all over the neighborhood and are making plans with their friends for a fort in our backyard. They were building a fort in the neighborhood "green space" but there are some shady characters hanging around here and one trying to lure kids into his car so we are hanging tight around home. Carolyn, Hannah and Katie are all doing piano and they LOVE LOVE LOVE their piano teacher. They call her Candice the second which is the world's greatest compliment since Candice the first was the world's best piano teacher!!

Question: Why in the world did you put that picture of Sam up?

Answer: My boy who so happily dug his entire fist into his cake and ate spaghetti using his entire body and laid in mud puddles daily now despises getting dirty. He had a minute fleck of chocolate on his finger that required soap and water tonight at bedtime. Granted, maybe it was a stall tactic but he won't finger paint or eat with his hands or anything anymore.

And so it is. Life is so full of change. And I am not good at change. But I'll get there.

This is very funny to me...

Phew I feel better now...

So yesterday, I made a big batch of chocolate cookies with cream cheese frosting in the middle of them. Then I commenced eating half the batch. Now I feel better. Also, my inherent optimism overcame the dark cloud that had followed me from the border of my beloved Oregon.

Things I discovered that helped me feel better (besides cookies):

1. A clean, unpacked house is a fabulous thing and makes life lots easier!!
2. If I walk my children to school and avoid all the road raging parents, we are all happier and it only takes about ten extra minutes!!
3. One of the things I love about public school is it forces my children to work within situations that aren't always ideal... this school isn't ideal and particularly, Carolyn's teacher is nothing short of a battle ax, but she is going to meet battle axes many times in her life and learning to do ones best in the face of that variety of person, is a skill that will serve her well.
4. So, my kids are doing math that they did two years ago in Oregon. At least they get a 100% on everything! Luckily my kids are nerds and like to create more work for themselves in the form of homemade worksheets. They are at least pushing themselves. And quite honestly, that internal drive is most important in the long run, I think.
5. It is lovely to be near the temple.
6. It is fun to be near the city.
7. There are AMAZING homes for sale here.... it will be great to buy one!!
7. There are approximately a bazillion members of the church here. We have a home and a big family willing to wrap their arms around us. That alone makes me feel better.

So, Texas is hard. Oregon wasn't hard a day I lived there (except the days I had to hold up the drywall). My children were happy and thriving in school. We all had friends and life was easy. But easy doesn't teach us much does it?

Texas is hard.

The school is huge, the teachers are grouchy (seriously ornery cusses), the traffic is everywhere, the kids are rude and mean to my babies and recess is one ten minute break a day.

I have some adjusting to do. When I feel better, I'll post a real post!!

On the upside, Cyrus is the proud owner of this:



Not the actual building but the dental practice there-in. He likes it so far and thinks his staff is great. Working for himself suits Cyrus.

On the other upside, I have the cutest and sweetest kids EVER. Here's part of em. Grace won't cooperate with pictures anymore. She's a ninny who doesn't stop running!

The first day of school

My kids schools have big and fun stuff planned again this year... Carolyn will be going canoeing and learning to shoot a bow and arrow as well as restoring a wetland with the help of a local environmental group. She will also be hatching salmon eggs and releasing them into the river and studying elk in the local state parks. Also she will dissect owl pellets.

Hannah will be going to Ft Clatsop and learning about Lewis and Clark, studying coastal birds and tide pools as well as tides. She will learn about native Americans and visit some of the places where the local tribes once lived. She will help plant and care for native plants in the garden that will be transferred to the wetlands.

Katie will be learning to read and write even better and will get to go on a field trip to the river and to see the sea lions. She also gets to walk to and from school (right across the street) all by herself. The crossing guard already knows her name!!

Magic????

So, I have been reading Harry Potter again just for fun. I think Katie may be a wizard trying to be appear as a Muggle... her clothing choices certainly fit the description!

I'm on a diet

Things are not pretty here at the Javadi abode...

Cyrus is in Texas.

I am on a diet.

Neither of those things bode well for me. Cyrus is my friend and my entertainment as well as my sanity. Food is also my friend and entertainment and sanity. I love that stuff (Cyrus and food I mean).

But, Cyrus' job here was awful for him and the muffin top on the top of my jeans was awful for me so now I am off to a brave new world of managing five kiddos solo, watching John Stewart solo AND passing up peanut butter cookies and not pulling out the kitchenaid every time I am bored.

My resolve is set. I am not only going to do it all kids wise, I am going to be thin in the process... now if Pioneer Woman will stop posting things like this...



Now where is that kitchenaid.......