What a week!

So--our refrigerator has gone on the fritz for the 3rd time in 3 months! AGH! It hasn't actually been fixed since the first time it stopped working--so, we've been living out of ice chests for the majority of the last 3 months! EVEN during Thanksgiving and Christmas! The landlords are pretty tight with any kind of home-improvement expenditures, so we've been left to endure life in ice chests. It's difficult to find food you're looking for--shoveling handfuls of ice, and moving from chest to chest. Ice is almost $5/bag here--so we've spent the equivalant of what it would have cost to purchase another used refrigerator off Craigslist at this point!! Frustrating!

Cody is home sick with a fever today. He's a low-maintanance "sicky", though--so, no complainst there :-). Sterling continues to cry himself to sleep--sometimes up to an hour of crying. It's a little nerve-wracking. We're not sure what to do with him throughout the nights, though. Some books tell you to let them cry it out all night. We've let him cry himself to sleep, but after 4-5 hours or so later--when he wakes up, we bring him in with us, and I feed him back to sleep. It seem counterproductive. Any one have any brillant ideas?

Hunter has been trying his best to study every available minute, but inevitably--something blows up (figuratively)!! Whith one car, two callings (both in the Young Mens and Young Womens), an extrememly tight budget, and lots of children needing to be run around every day, Hunter is constantly helping me to put out all the fires. With Cody sick, someone has to be home at all times. The schedule gets discombobulated every time "life" happens. We know to expect it, but it gets to be too much to handle at times--especially when Hunter REALLY needs quiet, uninterrupted time to study, study, study. Bills have to be paid, everyone must be fed, laundry must be rotated, folded and put away, dishes have to be washed, the kids need help with hours of homework, and Sterling needs a consistant "scream-it-out" sleep schedule...LOTS to do!! Poor Mariah took on 4 hours of math yesterday--besides play practice and Achievement night at the church. Everyone's a little (a lot) on edge. Can anyone relate?

Good news!! Mariah was selected to be the lead in her class play. We get REALLY excited when casting is based on MERIT rather than SCHOOL DONATIONS!! CA has a skewed way of rewarding kids in the extracurricular drama program---so this was SOOOOO exciting! We are so proud of Mariah. She was just beaming!

I volunteer with choreography during Mariah's after-school play rehearsals, so I get to see how she interracts and responds to instruction. She is fantastic! I'm also teaching free dance classes at the church each Tuesday night before mutual, and Mariah and Amber have improved week after week. The two of them just LOVE to dance, and they are exceptional students. I'm proud of both of them. They are complimented by all of their leaders and teachers. It really makes parenting a treat when the kids do well in their various activities.

So--that's the update. Things are pretty stressful right now, but the kids are really excelling in their many activities. Additionally, our family scripture time and family home evenings have been so uplifting lately, as the kids are more conversant and are really grasping the various spiritual concepts. They really are good kids.