MaeLyn's Musings

Last September, we got a free membership to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science through the boys' school. We realized a few weeks ago that it would expire soon, and that we had never used it. So, we scheduled a day to go to the museum, and wrote it on the calendar so we wouldn't forget. I'm so glad that we did it. Saturday morning, we got up and had breakfast, then loaded into the car and drove to the museum. We spent the next several hours exploring the exhibits and having fun. I did bring the camera, but I didn't take a lot of pictures... I was too busy exploring and looking at the many cool exhibits that were there! We started out in the space exploration wing, and got to see lots of stuff about stars and planets and telescopes, and water erosion (showing that there was probably liquid water on mars at some time). From there we were invited to go up to the roof to look through a solar telescope, which we did. The sun looked cool: a big orange circle with ...

Saturday morning I woke up bright and early. Too early, really. The house was still quiet and still, but that wasn't surprising because the only other person at home was Hannah, and she could sleep until noon. I rolled over and tried to go back to sleep, but after a half hour or so I surrendered to the day. I showered and dressed and went to the kitchen and made muffins. Just about the time that the sweet aroma of muffins was filling the house, Steven and the boys arrived home from the father's and son's campout they had been on. It had rained during the night, and they had forgotten to bring the fly from their tent, so a lot of their stuff was damp and muddy. Josh and Peter had been buried in sand (why???), so they came home with a fine coating of sand and dirt on their necks, in their ears, on their clothes, inside their sopping wet shoes. I directed them to take their wet clothes and things straight to the laundry room, and then listened to them tell me about their ca...

This morning we awoke to a layer of white on the grass and the car. It was still coming down as we ate breakfast, but by the time the kids left for school it had stopped, and the sky was blue. I love living in Colorado. Peter kind of looks like an elf in his chosen coat and hat. The coat is actually one of Hannah's... Josh chose to wear layers of about three hoodies, rather than one coat. John wore a regular coat - and two hats, one big knitted one to keep his ears warm, and a smaller felt one on top of that to keep the snow from coming in through the holes in the knitted hat. Is it a good thing my children don't seem to care what others think about what they wear?

As I've mentioned before, Steven has been searching for a job for the last couple months. Over the last couple weeks, he has interviewed with a company called MC Dean, located in Dulles, Virginia. Yesterday morning, Steven received a phone call from them with a preliminary job offer. Steven accepted the offer, and now he is working to complete the drug tests, background checks, etc, after which the company will fly him out to Virginia to meet the big-wigs. (His interviews with this company were done via video chat.) After that, if there are no hiccups, we will move our family there and he will begin work. Life has suddenly become a whirlwind of thoughts, emotions, to-do lists, and wonder. I am tremendously grateful that Steven has found a job. He feels less stressed and worried, I feel less stressed and worried. Soon, we will have money coming in again. This is a very, very good thing. I wonder why it had to be Virginia. I'm a California girl who has spent the last ten ...

I got to see "Wicked" last night with Steven, Lindy and Thom. I had been concerned about having a babysitter, but April received clearance from her doctor and was able to come up. She had a few contractions, but hasn't gone into labor yet. I'm so grateful that she was willing and able to come and watch the kids for me. It was exciting to dress up, drive down town, and walk down the 16th street mall for the very first time. It was fun to see the bicycle - pulled carriages, and a horse drawn carriage along with the shuttle that provides transportation up and down the street. We had dinner at Chili's, and the food was good, and the conversation was fun. For dessert I had a shot glass sized key lime pie, that was really good, but it was frozen, which made it difficult to eat. After dinner we hurried to the theater where Wicked was being performed. Lindy and Thom had seats on the orchestra level, and Steven and I had seats up in the balcony. I didn't know much ...