The Rewards

Sometimes the rewards of being a parent are few and far between.  Somedays can be downright hard, but man, when the rewards come, they are worth gold.  One day in early December I was feeling very witchy.  My kids were acting up and I was at my wits end trying to prepare with the busy-ness that happens around Christmas-time.  I had volunteered to visit Aaron's classroom to talk about some of our Christmas traditions.  I did the presentation and shared some homemade English Scones and Devonshire Cream with his class and then packed up my things and left.  As I was walking down the hall, Aaron burst out of the classroom and asked what the cream was called.  I told him, and he headed back into the classroom.  A few seconds later he burst out again and with a smirk on his face said, "What is it called again?"  I told his again and he entered the classroom again.  He came out a third time and came running down the hallway to give Isaac and me a hug and to tell us good-bye.  This moment made all of the sourness in my heart disappear.  It's amazing how much simple things can have such a powerful affect on our emotions.  

5th Grade Camp and Reading

Brynn was so excited to go to 5th Grade camp. I really wished I could have joined her, but it was in the middle of Joseph's work mess, so there was no way he could take over my responsibilities. We missed her so much, but she had lots of fun.

One of my favorite times of the week is when I get to go volunteer with the first graders.  I love reading with them and I especially love reading with Aaron.  I don't know if it's the one on one time, if it's the fact that he hasn't seen me in a few hours or what, but he is always happy to see me and gives me the best hugs when I come to volunteer.  I love it!

School Picture Day 2012

This picture is totally indicative of our morning on school picture day. The girls had their bright colored clothes picked out and their hairdos decided, but Aaron would have been content wearing his pajamas and bedhead for pictures. I was just happy that he decided to smile for the school photographer. Parenting is often about choosing the right battles.

Wolf Walk 2012

Aaron wasn't too excited for me to come to the Wolf Walk.  He makes me laugh.  You never know what kind of mood you're going to get.  This boy has definitely helped me to develop thicker skin.  Brynn did awesome and ran the entire time!  Abby and Aaron were good sports to run really fast when they saw me with my iPhone taking pictures.  They are all great runners!  Hopefully they will develop some great endurance as they grow older. Great job kids!

First Day of School

Brynn - 5th Grade, Abby - 3rd Grade - Aaron-1st grade

My buddy for the year, while he's not at preschool a couple days a week.

Parent-Teacher Conferences

The kids all received great reports from their teachers at parent-teacher conferences. I attended conferences in the order of oldest to youngest and it's funny how you pretty much know what will be brought up based on what you already know of each of their different personalities. Brynn's said she is very attentive, and a very hard worker, but also very quiet. Her goal is to speak up more in class. I told her teacher that I could bet him money that when I went to the next class I would be told that my child talks too much. Sure enough, Mrs. Black told me what an excellent student and reader Abby is, but that she talks NONSTOP! No surprise. She is our commentator. She has something to say about everything. We love it, but it also gets her in trouble sometimes. Aaron was the wild card. We were so uncertain about whether we should send him or not. She was surprised I even questioned sending him and told he is doing very well and that we should question no more. I felt relieved. I compare my kids to each other too much, so it was nice to have an outsider's perspective. Below are their handwriting samples. I love them all, but really got a kick out of Abby's. So funny the things kids hold onto in their memory.

Aaron's First Day of Kindergarten

Well, we did it. We sent Aaron to kindergarten. This is a decision we labored about for about a year. I won't go into all of the details, but simply put, we just weren't sure if he was emotionally ready for school. His birthday is near the end of the school year, so we went back and forth about what to do. Have him be the oldest in his class or on the younger end? He is on the taller side for his age so I was worried about him towering over everyone next year (if we didn't send him), but I really wanted him to be mature enough emotionally to enter school. He's grown up alot in the last few months, even with this whole transition we've been through. Ultimately, we decided that the structure that everyday school would provide might be really good for him. We'll see how this year goes. Decisions that affect our children are so hard to make.

One thing that I didn't mention is that he was so excited to go to school! So excited in fact that he wanted to ride the bus to school on the first day. Luckily there wasn't a bus that came to our area yet, so I told him I had to take him, but that he could ride the bus home. I went to make sure he got on the correct bus and he had a perma-grin across his face the whole time. He was so excited! I'm so glad Brynn and Abby are there to help him get home. They take the job of looking out for their younger brother so seriously! I love it!

First Days of School

Brynn and Abby started a new year at their new school! Both girls gave it a thumbs up! We live pretty close to the border of Alpine, so their elementary school is in Alpine. I think it's about a mile away. When they found out there was a bus that came through the neighborhood, they were all about riding the bus. I wasn't so sure about it because we've always driven them to school, but it has proven to be very convenient and the kids love the independence of getting themselves to and from school without mom. The helicopter-mom in me came out for the first few days. I drove to the school to make sure they got off the bus okay and then drove to the school after school to make sure they got on the correct bus. There were also lots of PTA moms who were there each day during the first week, so I'm sure they would have been just fine without me, but I felt better knowing. :)

For the first couple of days I had to drive them from Spanish Fork (40-45 minutes away) because we hadn't moved into our house yet. Luckily we only had 2 short days of that commute. We're excited for a great school year and we're thankful to have landed in such a great spot. We love our house and feel really good about where we are. Soon I need to write about the process of finding out house, because we came upon it thinking that it wasn't what we wanted, but ultimately were drawn back to it. I'll have to write more later.

Our Student of the Week

I received a call from the principal on Thursday inviting me to the Friday assembly to recognize Brynn as Student of the Week. Her teacher wrote that Brynn earned this by "being an exemplary student, always being prepared, attentive, and engaged in learning. Brynn is not only a fabulous student, she is a lovely human being, kind, considerate and smiling each day."
I am very proud of Brynn. I'm proud of both of the girls. It wasn't easy moving to a new school last year in the middle of the year, there were days that my heart was broken because I knew that Brynn was alone, it takes time to make new friends. She always had a great attitude and always got in the car after school with a smile. Fast forward a few months and she has many friends, but she has gone out of her way to make sure those she sees alone are invited to play with her and her friends. I am grateful for the hard things we've been through as a family, not only have they strengthened us and brought us closer together, I think they've also taught us to be more compassionate than we normally would be. Way to go Brynn. Keep up the great work!

I have to mention Abby as well because she was so proud of Brynn. When the principal was walking around, Abby noticed Brynn's name on the certificate and she said that it made her so happy inside. She told me, "Mom, I knew the Mr. Ray was going to say her name and I clapped before anyone else clapped, and I clapped the hardest I could and I screamed as loud as I could because I was so happy for Brynn." I told Abby that she definitely wins the award for being the most supportive sister!

First Day of School

Brynn and Abby started school after a fun summer. They were so excited to get back to school. Both girls were placed in classes with some familiar friends which made them even more excited. We are grateful to be in a great school.

I am thrilled with each of their teachers. They are seasoned teachers and love what they do. Brynn's is a long term sub, while her teacher is on maternity leave, which would normally make me worried, but her long term sub is also a seasoned teacher and very in sync with the regular teacher, so I think the transition should go well. She seems to have great control of the class.

Both teachers have recognized that the girls are above grade level and have done things already to cater to their specific needs. I was so impressed that they addressed this so early and within a couple of days were sending home different assignments that stretched the girls laterally with what they were learning.

I'm loving the math program that both of the girls have. It really focuses on conceptual understanding, but also emphasizes the procedural skills and math fact memorization that I also believe kids need to have. I love the problems they come home with, ones that really make them think, not just sheets of math facts. It gets the kids thinking in abstract ways and I love it!

School's Out!

Today was the last day of school. Each day when I pick Abby up from kindergarten, there is a constant flow of talking....without a breath, for about 3-5 minutes, giving me a full report of the day's activities, events, happy/sad moments. At the end of today's verbiage she said, "Wahoo! School's out, no more tennis shoes and socks. Its time for flip flops, crocs, and chacos. Now, this is the life!" We're excited that summer is upon us. We'll have lots more time to really dive in and explore our new area.

We've had an interesting week with opportunities and decisions that have come our way. I'm always amazed at the irony of blessings. It seems that trailing behind are often a set of challenges and choices. It shouldn't be surprising, but it always is, and I've had to step away to see things as they really are.

Bonsall West Round-Up and other tidbits

Last Friday we had a great time at the Bonsall West Annual Round-Up. The PTA did a great job putting on a fun night. They had a yummy BBQ dinner catered by a local steakhouse, a climbing wall, petting zoo, lots of arts and craft activities, a bounce house and about 20 booths with different games. I volunteered at both of the booths for the girls' classes. They had fun running around with Dad and their friends.

The PTA had a drawing for prizes and I thought for sure we were going to win the Disneyland tickets, but it wasn't our lucky night. ;)

We love the school. It's been a wonderful part of our move.

On a side note: The black skirt Abby is wearing is her favorite and the yellow striped shirt she is also very fond of. The other day I looked at her and said, "Abby, for some reason I feel like I've seen that skirt on you quite a few days this week." She informed me, "Yeah, this is my fifth time wearing it." She wore the same skirt for a whole week, if not more. No joke! I don't even know if I washed it in between. Normally, I would say I'm an awful mother, but it's not like she didn't have anything else to wear, she just wanted to wear her old stand-by. What she is wearing is the last thing on my mind in the morning. I've tried the whole "setting her clothes out for her" routine, it doesn't work, the girl has a mind of her own. We're switching things up a bit now...every other day. ;) She also wears pig tails everyday, she comes bouncing into the kitchen every morning asking, "Mom, will give me fresh piggy tails?" For Abby right now, pig tails are the new headband. The last couple of times I've sent her to shower, she gets out and her hair is still in the pig-tails. Brynn says she's mastered the art of washing her hair with the pig tails in. Oh Abby, what are we going to do with you?



We visited some ballet programs today. We think we've found one that will work, it's 5 blocks away from the beach (bonus!) so we'll have to make a trip there on dance day too. But oh how we miss Applegate Dance and our friends there. It is seriously painful! It made me sad all afternoon just thinking about it. It was a little slice of heaven, and a part of life we have really missed. But, everyday I'm trying to remind myself of this advice...

".....try to benefit from a proper view of what has gone before, I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead and remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths that will yet be efficacious in our lives." Elder Jeffrey R. Holland

We have been blessed to remember so many good things about the past few years of our lives, so many glowing experiences. We are looking with faith to the future. Good things are happening here. We have experienced tender mercies and we know Heavenly Father is watchful of us.

School is Officially in Session

The girls have been so excited all week! Sending Abby to kindergarten this year was far less emotional than when I sent Brynn. Much of the emotion with Brynn was due to the fact that we had moved here just 2 weeks before school started and I wasn't prepared for the culture shock I received. Two years later and things are just fine. They were both excited and ready for school to start. I've heard Abby say a million times over, "Is it time for me to start yet? I'm just soooo excited!" Similar sentiments have come from Brynn. I hope it meets their expectations. I can't wait to talk to them after school! Now, it's just me and the boys! My first assignment of the new school year was from Brynn....to send pictures to Grandma via the blog. Assignment completed!

We have lots more to post from our fun summer and our trip to Utah, so stay tuned.....