Hello!
Happy Sunday! I am sitting outside on our deck on a beautiful and warm Sunday afternoon writing this email. Ziggy is at my feet, and I just woke up from a Sunday nap a bit ago. It is a moment of pure bliss right now, and I am grateful for it! We have had a good and very busy week! Here are the highlights...
Richard had Monday off of work and it was wonderful! It was just so nice to have him around, and he also certainly appreciated the break! He took Ziggy on a walk to pick up the girls from school, which Ziggy, Bridget and Rachel were all happy about. Bridget has decided to try for student council. All it requires is an application and an interview. I think they choose 12 students, all who will be 6th graders next year. The interviews were on Monday, and I think I heard they interviewed something like 50 students, over half the current 5th grade! She was nervous for her interview, but she felt good about it and did her best. This week they have a team building activity with all the applicants and then we wait until the end of the month to find out if she made it. She has a good attitude about it, and we are just proud of her for stepping out of her comfort zone and giving it a shot! Marshall had piano after school and Rachel had an extra dance rehearsal for her recital.
Tuesday was a day! Richard left early for work. He was presenting at tumor board that morning, and he reported that all went well. The kids and I were all out the door by 8:40 am. I dropped Gretchen off at Genevieve's house and then ran over to the elementary school for the 5th grade field trip to the Hill Air Force Base Museum. The teachers had arranged for two buses to take all the students and parent chaperones up to the museum, but in the end, only one bus came. So they decided to squish all the students and three teachers on the bus and they asked the parents to carpool up with each other and meet up there. I will take this arrangement any day over a bus ride with crazy kids! My next door neighbor was also chaperoning, and offered to drive, so I hopped in her car, along with another mom in the neighborhood. When we got up there, I met my group of kids, including Bridget, and we started our time in a classroom. About 15 minutes in, Bridget told me she did not feel well and she and I spent the next long while in the bathroom. Poor girl was just miserable! Oh I felt so bad for her, but also so glad that I was there! Bridget's teacher was so kind and took over my group and my neighbor was a lifesaver and just let me drive her car home with Bridget, once she felt like she could leave the bathroom! It was not the morning either one of us were expecting at all, but we are both so grateful for how the driving situation worked out and that I was on the field trip! We got home without creating any mess in the Atkinson's van (fortunately, I found garbage bags in their van so I covered Bridget's seat with garbage bags and gave her one to hold) and Bridget was so happy to be home. She spent the rest of the day laying around and watching TV. By 1:00, she was through the worst of it, and so far, no one else has gotten sick! Knock on wood. The rest of our day was routine with soccer practice for Marshall and dance for Rachel.
Wednesday was a much anticipated day in the Leake home! I think I wrote a few weeks ago that we bought a playset and Wednesday was the day it was finally to be delivered and installed! The kids were so excited! Three men came while Gretchen was at preschool, hauled it up our hill and set it up, bolted it in the ground, and were gone before she got home! She was SO happy to see it when she got home from school. I know the novelty of this playset will wear off one day, but for now the kids are loving it. Gretchen has played on it every single day with Charlie, and now we are just trying to teach these two five year olds how to pump! Richard is very much their preferred swing pusher, clearly, I don't cut it, but will do when he is not home. Rachel played on the swing set from the time she got home from school until we called her in for dinner 30 minutes before we had to rush her off to dance. I hope that it will bring days and days of fun, and so far, it is doing just that. Bridget did have piano lessons after school, Marshall had soccer, and Rachel had dance. And Gretchen had the swingset! BYU Fanfest was in Farmington that night and Richard took Bridget and Gretchen. It was a different experience for him without Marshall there, but he had a great time and the girls loved it. Gretchen is adamant she hates BYU, but this experience definitely warmed her up to it. She had a great time! Bridget was a big help and stood in line to get a football poster signed for Marshall. And they brought Cougar Tails home...delish!
Thursday morning, our little social butterfly Gretchen, got to spend the morning at Charlie's house while Richard and I went to the temple. I slept through another endowment session. :) But, it was still nice to be there. After lunch at home, Gretchen and Charlie played outside while Richard spent who knows how long swinging them. :) I went to the junior high to accompany Marshall for his clarinet solo. I don't know who was more nervous...me or him! He did great though, and I only made one mistake, on the second to last note! Ah! But, it was minimal, and we both breathed a huge sigh of relief when it was done! This was just yet another experience when I shook my head, not being able to believe that I have a child old enough to be in junior high, going to the same junior high I went to. So nuts! Richard worked at home from 4:00 pm to 11:00 pm, but thankfully, everything that we usually have on Thursdays was cancelled or done for the school year so our afternoon and evening were wide open and that felt great! The kids played and played outside and Rachel had Sara over. We had an easy dinner and then I took Ziggy on a walk while the kids got ready for bed! We have reached a new level of independence!
Friday was another busy day. Richard was up and at 'em early for work. I volunteered in the Charger Store for the last time this year. I have LOVED doing this, and though you wouldn't know it by looking at Marshall each time he comes to the store when I am there, he has also loved it. :) Because of spring break, I hadn't been in the store for two months, and he kept asking me when I would be there. And then he also told me I had to do it again next year. For sure! I just get such a kick out of interacting with these junior high kids. It is so fun. Cambria walked home with the girls and she and Bridget had a ball playing outside for basically three hours straight. Rachel had Eily over and Gretchen and Charlie were pretty much inseparable all day long. All the friends left right about 5:00 and the kids and I had an easy dinner at home and then drove to Farmington High School to see our stake's production of "Joseph Smith, the Prophet". Richard met us there right after work. My parents were performing in it, as well as many people from our ward and it was great to go and support. The music was beautiful and it was extremely well done! The kids all did great, except Gretchen who asked after every single song if it was time to go home. I am sure the people sitting in front of us loved it. :)
Our Saturday morning was crazy and long! Richard was up at 5:20, I was up at 6:00, and Marshall was up at 6:15. Richard left for work shortly after 6:00 and Marshall and I left for soccer at 7:30. Marshall had two soccer games that morning, one at 8:30 and 10:30. I could not be at either one, and with Richard working, obviously he couldn't either. I asked another mom to keep an eye on him for the first game (I have become incredibly worried about soccer injuries!) and my Dad was so kind to go to the second game. Marshall's regular team lost their game, they have not won a single game all season, so it is a real bummer. But, the other team won their game and is undefeated! So it was a big range of emotions for Marshall yesterday. :) My Dad was so kind to treat Marshall to lunch after that game and I really appreciated it! When I got home from dropping off Marshall, I started getting Rachel ready for her dance recital and me and the girls were out the door at 9:30 for her recital. My Mom met us there and we enjoyed an amazing dance recital...that was over two hours long. :) Well, my Mom and I enjoyed it, but Bridget and Gretchen did not so much. :) The recital was all the competition teams from Rachel's dance studio. They each performed all their competition dances as well as a ballet dance. It was SO well done. Dance has come so far and changed so much in the last twenty years and it is really quite remarkable. The strength of those high school girls is stunning. I told Richard last night that I am just praying Rachel dances all through high school. She is our strongest child, so she has the capability, and I hope she just sticks with it! Rachel loved everything about yesterday morning. She got to see some of the dances from backstage, and I am so glad she did. She was in two dances and the finale and I had to help her change after each dance. She would meet me in the hallway just beaming and on Cloud 9. I was so happy for her. She has tryouts for next year in two weeks, so we will see what that brings! The girls and I didn't make it out of the high school until after 1:00 pm. We were all tired and starving! I picked up pizza on our way home and we all ate lunch out on the deck. I allowed us a relaxing afternoon for the next hour before I started cracking the whip on finishing jobs. Richard got home from work, we finished jobs, Bridget went to a friend's house, and Richard and I went on a date! It was a great way to end the evening after a busy day.
We have had a good Sunday today. Richard didn't have meetings after church, so we forced our kids to sit down and set new goals, which they just loved doing. :) Other than that, it was a very relaxing afternoon. :) Gretchen set up a train for us in the big family room tonight where we had family home evening. She was darling about it.
This is Gretchen's last week of preschool and the older kids just have two weeks left. So nuts! But I am very ready for summer!
Love each of you.
Richard, Jenny, Marhall, Bridget, Rachel and Gretchen :)
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