It's been one of those weeks where on the surface it has not seemed like there is a lot going on, yet somehow we all feel run ragged. I was up until midnight last night assisting at the annual LCDS auction -- Mark and I opted not to attend this year but after seeing what a huge event it is, I think I may twist his arm this year to go. The theme was roaring 20s and it was great to see everyone all dressed up. I ran the "superboard" for most of the night, and in my downtime had a front row view of the effect of open bar for three hours before dinner was served on the amount of money people were willing to bid (it's a positive relationship, in case you wondering -- one class auction project went for $10,000 and two parents got in a bidding war on the superboard that resulted in one of them paying $3000 for a class scrapbook and another paying $3500 for a parking space at the school!). We donated a basket of items from Pakistan collected by Grandma L for the silent auction portion. The total cost to us was about $100 -- a friend told me halfway through the auction that bidding on the basket was up to $350. Craziness.
We have had some nice weather lately so yesterday Dad and the girls went out and planted a garden. Assuming we did it right -- which is a BIG assumption -- we will have carrots, corn (!), flowers, and radishes in our backyard this summer. Mom remains a bit skeptical about the whole thing, but it was fun to see how much they enjoyed planting everything and FINALLY getting to spend a little more time outside.
The Moo is had a good week, and continues to make amazing progress at her riding lessons. Her confidence has reached a point where she was able to post, while trotting, without holding on to the reins. Her teacher tells me she did a great job but I really could not say as I had to look away.
The Bean has had a bit of a rough week, and is really not enjoying being at school since most of her friends have moved on to the next class. It got to such a point that Dad, who rarely if ever gets involved in these things, stopped by Beantree on Thursday to have a heart to heart with the administrator. The frustrating thing is that they still have not given us a good reason for why she has not moved forward with the rest of her class, and continue to say that there is no developmental reason for her remaining with Ms. Jen. Dad's bottom line upon hearing this was "The move her up." They promised to take some action next week, so we will see what happens. In the meantime, I'm sure Ms. Jen is plenty annoyed with us, and I don't think the teacher's appreciation week gift we have for her is going to mollify her.