Catch Up and the Sickies

We have the sickies. Well, the two boys and I do. I am grateful that it is a relatively minor cold and that I can't even remember the last time I was sick....last year about this time, I think. I am lucky that way (personally...I think it is a healthy lifestyle and chiropractic adjustments-which we haven't gotten lately due to craziness at the clinic...thus I am sick).

Anyhow, I thought I'd take today's post to catch up on some things I never blogged about:

• The local water park (8/17 /07) It was a fun excursion, but we probably won't ever go again...too expensive for what you get. We were pushing it to stay a full two hours. We'll hit some further waterparks and spend more time there!




• The Star Wars exhibit (08/22 /07) Thanks to Nikko, we got to see it for a discounted rate. It was like others said...worth the discounted rate...not worth full price. LD was really cranky so that part was not fun, but C loved it and K liked it more than she would EVER admit.




• I was nominated three times for the Nice Blogger Award. Thanks, guys. It is a honor.
• DH has had a crazy busy week at the clinic (busy is good when you own your own business, right?) so I am making him his favorite dinner...even though it has to cook in the oven for an hour (hey..I made cookies for the kids on Monday...my AC should be used to me by now!). I am just grateful that I am not in the clinic right now like I was two months ago. We were about ready to go insane, literally.
• I got to go to the temple on Tuesday. Thanks to my friend, A, who watched LD for me so I could go. It was very nice...but traffic was HORRID-both there and on the way back. I also felt a little wasteful driving my minivan all the way over there with just me in it. I do wish a temple was closer, while at the same time, I am so grateful that we have one this close. Does that make any sense? If not...blame it on the head cold! :)

Well, have a great weekend, y'all!

There are fireworks here locally since we got flooded out on the 4th. I love fireworks, but the super smart people that decided Labor Day would be a good substitute decided to put them at 8:30 at night on Monday night...a school night. By the time they do the show and we fight the traffic, we probably won't be home until 10:oo. Probably too late for school. UGH! Why couldn't they do it Saturday night? That would've been perfect. I guess we'll see if we go...probably not...DH isn't really excited about going anyhow.

And..we have a walker!

Little Dan has been flirting with walking for a couple of weeks, but over the last 4-5 days...he has really taken off. No more only walking when we ask him to "for show" or merely walking between parents to elicit huge applause. No, sir. Little Dan has discovered that walking is not merely fun, it is functional, too. And he is walking all over the house. He is definitely our youngest walker. Although both K and Little Dan began "cruising" between 5-6 months...K didn't walk unsupported until about 4-5 days after her first birthday. C walked around 12 1/2 months. So...since Little Dan is 11 months old today...he is the earliest. I guess when your siblings are 5-7 years older than you, you have to move fast to catch up! :) Go Little Dan!

1st Day of School

On the first day of school, my Mommy gave to me....12 hugs and kisses, 11 sheets of paper, 10 sharpened pencils, 9 waves goodbye, 8 more hugs , 7 extra waves , 6 pencils erasers, 5 Love Notes, 4 baby carrots, 3 bunches of grapes, 2 new shoes, and a backpack full of school supplies.

So...today was the first day of school. Last year, I kept K's friend, S, after school. This year, I am keeping her both before and after school. We were so excited to have her come and eat breakfast with us.

After a couple of pictures...we were off to brave the crazy parents and screaming kids and not enough parking that goes along with the first day of school. K was so nervous she woke up at least ten times last night. C was excited all night and morning, but when we walked through the front door of the school, his countenance changed....he finally got nervous. He held on a little extra tight for his goodbye hug with DH and I and I know he felt a little scared...but his teacher was great this morning (keep my fingers crossed! :) ) She really welcomed him and took good care of making him feel special and welcomed. Then we took K and S to their classroom. It worked out that we got there right as announcements started. That actually is best for K...no long goodbyes...just a dash to her desk and school began. She gets so nervous that this really is the best.

Today has been so quiet without them so far. I have played much more with LD, since he is my only companion. That is fun. My house is also extremely clean and tidy as I did my morning chores early without distraction and LD has only taken out his toys. I like that, too. LD also napped for much longer than he has in the summer...a quiet house does a body good! :)

And...I know everyone is curious after my last post....homeschooling? What to do? Well...I never thought we'd do it immediately if that is the decision. I want to wait 2-4 weeks at least to be able to accurately assess the teachers and the school year, as well as to adequately prepare if that is the decision. But...after much thought and prayer...I have realized that they will be great in either place. They will thrive and learn what they need to learn. The hard thing about this answer is that I still have to make the choice. Sometimes I wish that Heavenly Father'd just make it for me. The good thing, though, is I am assured that either outcome will be beneficial for them. So. There you have it.

Now...I am making the traditional homemade cookies for when they get home from the first day of school. They sure smell yummy, although my electric bill (and air conditioner) will love me for baking 4 dozen cookies on a 99 degree day! It is hot and humid out there today, baby!

Blog Drought and Frustration

S0. I have a bunch (5ish) blogs floating around in my head that need to escape onto "paper," but, I haven't posted for awhile. We have been busy (aren't we always) and...I just haven't posted. So..that's the drought...

Now for the Frustration:
We went to Meet The Teacher Night at the school last night. Hated it. First, we went to C's classroom. The teacher didn't even welcome us or give us direction on what to do. She just sat and chatted with her student teacher, as if us and the other parents in the room didn't exist. Then...one of the things I had to fill out for C contained these questions: Does he know all his colors? DUH! Can he visually recognize all 26 letters of the alphabet? Double DUH! Can he read this sentence: "The girl and boy sat." Triple DUH! Can your child count to 30? Quadruple DUH! Please have your child read these numbers: 56, 17, 82, etc.. WHO ARE WE KIDDING? These are really the requirements for 1st grade? C was sooooooo bored last year and isn't excited about this year and was even less so after last night. Can we say "homeschool?"

Then...we went to K's classroom. Once again...no introduction, no welcome, no instruction. We just dropped off school supplies and walked around on our own while she talked to other teachers, etc in the hall. The good news is that two of K's really good friends are in that class. She is actually in the ESL class: I don't yet know if that is good or bad...good that the class size is much smaller. Bad if they have to go slower to accommodate those with limited English. Another "homeschool" ?

DH and I were just not impressed. The odd thing is that I got lots of opinions from their last year's teachers, from the principal, from other teachers/substitutes and I went up at the end of the year and talked to the teachers myself and these are the ones that I requested! UGH! I am friends with the principal and she also said that these are best teachers for my kids. Both DH and I are about ready to homeschool now. It is just so late to get started. Maybe it is the best for our kids. Right now it is another thing to worry about until we figure it out.

--sigh--

C's Primary Talk

C gave a great talk in Primary today. I gave him a couple of suggestions and helped him find a scripture, but other than that...the words are all his. He did a great job. He was nervous at the beginning, but he did it anyhow...just read it and even looked up at the audience. We were very proud of him. Here it is:

In the Book of Mormon, Jesus said to the Nephites in 3rd Nephi, Chapter 28, Verse 11, “And the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me.” This means the Holy Ghost tells me that Heavenly Father and Jesus are true. The Holy Ghost also tells me to choose the right.

I can listen to the Holy Ghost when I am still. The Holy Ghost makes me feel good. When I listen to the Holy Ghost I learn more about Jesus. I know that Jesus Christ is my savior.

There is a song in the August 2005 Friend that goes like this, “The Holy Ghost can be with me each day, to comfort me, bless me, and show me the way. He teaches me of the things that are true. And prompts me to know of the good I should do.” This means that you should listen to the Holy Ghost.

I know that the Holy Ghost is real. And He tells me that Heavenly Father and Jesus are true. I know that I can be happy when I listen to the Holy Ghost.

In the Name…..

100 Posts!

So...This is my 100th post. I thought of doing 100 things about me or something like that...but...decided against that (are there really 100 things to share about little ol' me?). I am just excited to make it to 100. I love blogging. I love sharing my life and feelings with others. I love reading about others joys, challenges, and life. I love that my family can see what is going on with us by just going to the blog. I love that my "journal" has pictures attached. I love blogging. Now, I guess it is time to get it published...to keep it in a hard copy form for my kids to be able to browse through. Happy 100 to me! :)

Surprise Day!

We always get so excited when DH takes a Saturday off. This Saturday, DH and I decided to surprise the kids with a day full of adventures. First, we woke them up around 5:30. That was not met with great excitement, but since it was going to be over 100 degrees we had to start early.

Our first stop was to buy a very nutritious breakfast of McDonald's and doughnuts (they never get these things....so it was a HUGE treat!), as well as bananas and orange juice.

We then drove for an hour or so to a nearby state park where we hiked and rock climbed (I even climbed up this tall cliff...it was relatively easy, but I was still a little scared and was proud of myself for doing it.). K is our little climber and she was in heaven there. We explored "caves" and ate breakfast on the rocks.

Next, we rented a paddle boat and went out on the lake. Paddle boats are very tiring...DH did most of it, while I wrestled LD (who didn't like the life vest one bit!). It was fun, although already VERY hot! We had a canopy on the paddle boat and whomever was in the shade was okay and those in the sun were melting!

We then changed into swimsuits and went out swimming in the lake. There is nothing so relaxing as cool water on a hot day. It was a blast!

We had such a great morning and I found it so much more enjoyable than camping (I love to camp, but this was just plain easier) as I didn't have a full day of packing and unpacking and cleaning and etc. We just packed for 20 minutes and then threw everything in the washer when we got home. Much easier. We loved it so much that we decided to buy the annual state parks pass. I think it is a really good investment for our family. We love being outdoors and we love being together.

After showering, relaxing, and eating lunch....we kept going with our surprise. We once again hopped in the van and off we went, this time to the movies. It was nice to be in the air conditioning and relaxing! We were planning on taking our kids out to dinner next, but we weren't hungry yet so we decided to go spend all our money, I mean...walk around the mall. We ended up shopping for a few hours as there were lots of good deals on clothes for DH and I. (I guess we ended up having a surprise for the parents as well.)

We still weren't super hungry so we just grabbed a little bite at Wendy's and went home to crash from a very full and fun day. I think we will do surprise days more often! It was a blast and all of us have great memories from it (well, maybe not LD...he's a little too little to remember and he sure thought that we were doing funny things...like the life jacket...he just couldn't figure that one out!).

3 Steps

LD has been standing for a couple of days now. This is new to me, as my other kids never really stood...they just walked. Today, however, LD figured out he could take steps after standing. He loves it (and so do I)! His high so far is three steps, but I expect that to change rapidly. I tried to capture it on film, but he was too intrigued with grabbing the camera. I will post a picture when I get one.

Little Jedi

'Nuff Said.

So hard to say goodbye

K had to say goodbye to her best friend, who is moving to Mexico in a few days. We got to have her for a whole day last week and a whole day this week. We had a blast. The girls made a list of things they wanted to do together and then went to work. We went to McDonald's, made cookies, made a video, played with the cat, played with the dog, pretended to be horses, etc.. When the time came to say goodbye, I was amazed at the depth of the emotions these two 8-year-olds exhibited. They cried and cried and it broke my heart to see little K waving at the van and little E inside waving back, both with crocodile tears streaming down their cheeks. Another life lesson experienced. Loss is a part of life. Remember my quote: "The pain now is part of the happiness then." So true.

Indexing

I have found a new hobby (Like I have time to do anything else)...but I thought I'd share in case anyone would like to join me. I heard about it at church in Colorado, but it was also in this month's Ensign (a church magazine). There is a program available now over the Internet to help convert census records into searchable databases, thus allowing everyone to be able to find their ancestors and put together their family trees. Although the program is sponsored by the LDS church, anyone is welcome to participate and the searching is free to everyone. I have already done quite a few batches (50 names each) and it has been less than a week. It is much more productive than some other things I choose to do with my time. If you are interested...go to
http://www.familysearchindexing.org and sign up to volunteer!

Now you know part of the reason I disappear from Blog-World sometimes!

Happy Birthday, Grandma!

My dear, dear grandma turns 92 today! Happy Birthday to her.

She is such a wonderful woman. She is so funny. She often jokes about death...it can't come soon enough for her as she misses my grandpa, who died when I was 11, and she is frustrated about her body slowly deteriorating. It should be depressing when she jokes like this...but it isn't. She is just funny.

She is also a worrier. If we ever have tornadoes, floods, ice storms or anything similar within 200 miles of us I have to make sure I call her so that she knows I am okay since she will watch the evening news and worry and worry and worry.

She is so loving. She cares so much for me and for all her kids, grandkids, great-grandkids, and great-great-grandkids. She does have her favorites, though, and I am lucky enough to have a very close relationship with her, as does my sister. It is very obvious when you go to her apartment. She has pictures and pictures and pictures of our families and just one or two of the others! :)

I got to live with her my freshman year at BYU. It is an experience I cherish. I wasn't so sure about it at first...remember she is a worrier...so even if I caught a bus 15 minutes later than usual...she worried. It was probably not the best socially, but I learned so much about her and our family. It was nice for her to have a companion and we took great care of each other. And...I had plenty of time to be social when I moved to an apartment my sophomore year.

I was so grateful to spend time with her this summer as every year I don't know if it will be the last time that I see her on this earth. Happy Birthday Grandma!

And Life Goes On

I haven't felt much like posting this last week. I don't know why. Life is just trudging along. Nothing super good. Nothing super bad. I do have a headache that never ends. This has happened before and it lasted for a couple of months and then went away. I hope that it goes away soon. Adjustments help a lot, but, ironically, I don't take the time to get them as often as is necessary. I think I need to just schedule an appointment at the clinic. Seriously. The headache is giving me less patience, less ability to concentrate, etc. What an annoyance.

I have been spending a lot of time with an acquaintance that is really struggling. This has taken up much of my time. I hope that she gets better soon. One of my best friends and her family are all really sick, too. I hope they get better soon as well. I have been doing quite a bit of compassionate-service-ing lately. I am so grateful and so impressed with the willingness the sisters in our ward have to serve....that is if I can catch them at home!

We did get to go over to TxMommy's house to swim today. What a welcome break that was! I love my friends. I love swimming. I love food. What could be better. I think that she is one of the awesomest people I know and I feel so privileged to have her as my friend. I can't say enough about her wonderful qualities, wonderful ideas, and marvelous example! I keep rethinking doing homeschool with her. I think it is too late, but I think that our four kids doing school would've worked out awesomely. I am a little bummed about thinking about it again this late in the game.

I also got to be the helper for Activity Days. It was only K's second time doing it and it was my turn to be "helper." I loved it. I am so glad the church has this program for girls. The leader that we have right now is outstanding. What a blessing for these girls. Thanks to Nikko for watching my two boys so I could go.