February 2009

Well, Dallan is still making some progress with his high school, but there are a couple of elementary schools that he is very frustrated with. The students don't really want to be there and they are re-learning stuff that they were supposed to learn within the first week of school. Dallan still loves teaching and music, but he hates getting mad at the kids and just wishes that they would put in some effort. Oh well. The high school band is getting ready for the CMEA concert which is on the 6th of March, so Dallan told me yesterday that the baby was not allowed to come that day. As if I had any control over when the baby comes. :)

Dallan's birthday was on Tuesday. Since it was a school day we didn't really do a lot of stuff for him, but Mom C. and I spent most of the day cooking fiesta rolls and cherry pies for Dallan's birthday dinner. Most of Dallan's presents were Carcassonne expansions. He got one normal expansion set, and then he got a bunch of tiles that he had printed out and made himself. We played Carcassonne, with all the expansions, on Sunday. It was a very long and very large game that just barely fit on a long table. Dallan really enjoyed it. The boys thought that it was really cool when Dallan blew out the candles on his pie, and have mentioned it at least once a day since then.

The boys have recently started doing their own kung fu moves. They bring their arms up really close to their bodies and then "punch" out. It is really funny to watch because they just yell and laugh the whole time. So far they have not punched each other, but I know that it will probably not take long before they do. They still love running around and playing with blocks, cars, and balls. They also really like playing basketball and soccer. Dallan and I went out and played a little bit of basketball, and Zach and Marriner of course wanted to play, too. So we brought out their basketball hoop and balls. We all had a lot of fun. Marriner is a little bit better at basketball, probably because he is a little bit stronger than Zach. However, Zach is much better at soccer. Zach runs around the backyard dribbling the soccer ball. He hardly ever misses the ball, and actually has pretty good control. When I told Christine about this, she laughed and told me that I was going to end up being the coach for their soccer/basketball teams. Oh well.

The baby is still growing well, and everything seems to be fine. A couple of the women in Relief Society think that I am going to have a girl because I am carrying the baby so high. I wouldn't mind having a girl, but we will just wait and see. :) One really funny thing happened in church on Sunday. It was ward conference, so Uncle Richard (who is the Stake President) was there. When he got up to speak, he said that he was reminded of a song as he was watching me lead. "There is [Patience] smiling brightly before us, and we [hope her] deliverance is nigh!" It was really funny. (Do you know what song that is? ;) ) I know that I only have a couple of weeks left, but it kind of feels like I will be pregnant forever. It's not like I'm going to get more sleep after the baby comes than I am getting now!

Well, I think that is everything. I hope that all of you are enjoying life and are having a good time. We love you all!

Love,
The Christenson Clan