41 is an odd number

Turning 41 is kind of boring. 40 feels like such a big deal that 41 feels meh.

Sarah went to early morning drivers ed, Henry went off to school, Justin and I dropped off the littles then went to a movie at 9:15am. You'd think we'd have the theater to ourselves but there were four others there that thought it would be a good time to see Twisters. This was the perfect movie to go to since I saw the original Twister for my 13th birthday.

After the movie we went to brunch at Joe's Cafe in Orem then got a cinnamon roll from a new bakery, Sunshine Buns. Joe's was delicious and I would definitely go back. Sunshine Buns was cute but the cinnamon roll looked lame and small. It tasted better than it looked but I wouldn't go to Orem just for one and it wasn't worth $5.

Then Justin had some work to do and so did I making my birthday cake. For dinner we ate Chinese pork belly bites. Healthy? Most definitely not. Delicious? Absolutely.

After dinner I opened presents. Ear plugs, socks, Ghiradelli chocolate chips, mango sorbet, packing cubes, a blu ray player for my bedroom, and a USU hoodie.

Then my parents and Justin's parents came over for cake. I made a brownie bottom vanilla cake with sweeet cream frosting. (If you make this frosting, don't add the second addition of milk and powdered sugar. Just stop after powdered sugar #1. I've made it 3 times and it's delicious but the extra milk and powdered sugar make it too thin. Trust me.)

Then we picked peaches off our two peach trees. We picked these three boxes. Add that to the tub I picked the day before and that's a lot of peaches!

And that's how you turn 41.

I went on a walk last week past my favorite flower bed. I love the symmetry of the design. It makes me feel calm looking at it.

This whole house's landscaping is just chef's kiss.

All inspired I added a few shrubs to our fence line.

On Monday September 16 I finished a goal I had been working on for a couple of years: I walked every street in Mapleton. I don't remember exactly when I started and I don't know how many days it took me or how many miles it was. Soon after we moved here and after walking a couple of miles in every direction from my house I decided to see if I could walk ALL the streets in town. I printed a map and then took the town page by page. I drove to methodically selected locations and walked. Every cul-de-sac, every dead end and even a couple of dirt roads. There was some backtracking and overlapping as it was a challenge to hit even the smallest and shortest of streets. Then I'd come home and mark my paper map with a blue colored pencil. That part was pretty satisfying.

New streets popping up all over town complicated things as well.

On Monday the shortest street was my last street. This is Butternut Way. 

No one lives on it. It just connects two streets between these two townhomes but that's where it all came to a close.

It was in the windy part of town at the mouth of canyon that I don't understand why anyone would want to live. At least the flags are always flying.

To commemorate the occasion, here are a few of my favorite photos I've taken during my walks. I've probably posted most of these before.

 

 

 

Here are my thoughts of Mapleton now that I've seen it all: There are so many beautiful houses and yards, farms, and fields. It's a great place to live. But I am drawn to the view of the mountains no matter where I am. I like seeing how the mountain looks from all parts of town. The areas far west and far south that are recently developed with new streets of new homes do not feel like Mapleton. People are really nice and wave as if they know me even though I've never been on their street before. There are areas I like so much I've driven back and walked them again or gone on my bike.

The other big accomplishment this week (it's been quite a week!) is that I started a job! On Friday I started as a technician in a kindergarten class at my kid's school. It's only 3 hours a day in the afternoons so I get to come home with my littles.

So far it's been fun and hilarious. I basically am a second set of hands for the kindergarten teacher. Prep materials, walk kids to the office, run a center, do assessments, tie shoes. 

Here are some funny conversations just from the first day.

Ty: Your name is die? Like, I'm gonna die?

Me: No, it's spelled like dye, as in dye easter eggs.

The whole table impressed: Oooooh! 

There's a boy I recognized as a brother of James's friend.

Me: Are you Isaac Barth?

Isaac: No! I'm Isaac David Barth.

It's going to take some time to adjust to being gone part of the day and making really good use of my mornings and evenings since I still have ALL THE THINGS TO DO. But all last year I struggled often with feeling like I was wasting time. Some days were so busy but other days were not busy at all and I felt a little lost, bored, directionless. So in some ways last year was hard and in some ways this year will be hard. I'm choosing a different way to be challenged, I guess. 

So now I work in James's old classroom in my old school just down the hall from my two little kids. I see my sister and my best friend (who started as the school counselor this year as well). My neighbor across the street just started there and I see lots of kids and parents from my ward. I needed this challenge to force me out of my comfort zone but I'm already pretty comfortable there. I don't know if I'll do it beyond this year but it's fun to stretch.

September Kids

Sarah in the shadow of the gas station sign doing her drivers ed homework.

Cutest little driver-in-training.

James came home from school with a lost tooth. Upon closer inspection I could see that his two top teeth are growing in behind the baby teeth. 4/4 for braces.

James started flag football and it might be the most entertaining part of my week. It makes it even more fun that Justin and I went to high school with his coaches Kody and Kevin.

My favorite quotes are "It's a huddle, not a hug" "don't pull any flag, only the person that has the ball" and "don't tackle your teammates." His team if full of his friends so he has a good time.

James takes it all very seriously and thinks his doughnut sucks are good luck.

 

Henry has been loving tackle football. I don't love spending half of my Saturdays driving across the county to his games but it's fun seeing him have fun. But I'd be lying if I said I wasn't counting down the days of practices and games.

 

Mondays James has games, Tuesdays Henry has practice, Wednesdays James game, Henry practice, Thursdays Henry practice, Saturday Henry's games. It's a lot.

Meanwhile Erica has been on a kick of cutting her sandwich with cookie cutter when she makes her school lunch.

Dumb looking house update: It was painted black. Doors and all.

All done August

There's an especially ugly house going up near my parents that I walk past frequently. It's become a bit of a game to see if it is getting any better looking as construction continues. 

The back looks the front. Well really the front looks like the back.

Aug 30

The answer is no, it's not getting any better. I've been sharing the progress with my sisters and we all agree it is a dumb looking house. What keeps me up at night is how a whole team of homeowners and architect signed off on this design.

I can't be the only one who's noticed this. Is the whole town laughing at you, future resident? 

Football season is here. And by here I mean 5 days a week there's a football practice or game. Henry has had a couple of games and James first game is on Wednesday. 

The world of tackle football is new to me. The moms are really into it while I struggle to keep my annoyance of driving back and forth, back and forth to the practice field. But Henry seems to enjoy it and has barely complained about anything which is a refreshing change. (He knows I'd have no patience for any whining after all the time and money we've spent.)

Maybe all baby pictures on 1984 look like this but I prefer to think Justin and I were destined for one another. He's in yellow.

Erica brought home this huge silky quilt from my mom's house. The binding was unfinished on one side and had great faith in me that I could fix it. I can and I did but I wish I knew whose quilt this was. My mom thinks she brought it from my aunt Ilona's house but I've never known her to quilt or sew despite the sewing supplies we found when we cleaned out her house. Was it my grandma's handwork? Definitely her style but why didn't she finish it?

This is hand quilted---not a machine.

It felt nice to complete such a large and intricate project but the mystery of it's creator will always bug me.

Speaking of bugs, this one hitched a ride home on Justin's truck one night.

And check out these flowers I grew. Zinnias are fun to grow. I'm glad I listened to my sister's suggestion. 

Outside this window is a boy asking Sarah to homecoming. He came over dressed in a suit and tie and carrying flowers and just asked her in person on the porch. The dance is in a few weeks and Sarah is so excited. I think I'm okay with this new milestone but I don't think I've thought it through.

First Day of School 2024

Tuesday afternoon I took the littles to meet their teachers. Sarah had shown Henry around the junior high the day before and Sarah had her back to school night and orientation that day as well.

We don't know much about Miss Baker but she seems very kind and attentive. 

And then I forgot to take a picture of Erica in her classroom and she did NOT want me to walk her in on the first day so no classroom picture this year. Wah!

That evening we took the kids out to a fancy dinner per tradition. It's mostly as a reward for meeting our family reading challenge. 100 books they had never read before in 40 days and with a couple of days of binge reading they did it!

The littles were not excited about Indian food but I knew better. I knew the mango lassi would win them over.

Henry is hugging it goodbye

Justin and I liked having 6 entrees to pass around at once instead of just two when it's just us that go.

Then we speedily got Henry to football practice. At home for dessert we ate Dollywood cinnamon bread that Sarah made and tried really hard but failed to get the kids to bed on time.

And then the big day! 10th grade and first year of high school.

She's most excited for all the high school activities and to get her license in October. (But not excited about 6am driver's ed)

Henry is in 8th grade and beginning junior high

He's looking forward to the super quick bike ride (Update: he made it home 5 minutes after the bell rang.)

Erica is in 5th grade with Mr. Groneman who Henry had as well.

She's most excited to visit her 4th grade teacher.

James is starting 2nd grade with Miss Baker

He's most excited to see his friends.