Happy Birthday Sweetheart!

Happy birthday to our wonderful husband, father, teacher,  fix it guy, debator, leader, friend and all around best guy we know!    We wish you were home with us, but hope your students do well and we'll celebrate when you get home.  We love you!

Thoughts

I've had a busy day, week, month for that matter!  It is good to be busy with good things.  I am the enrichment counselor in Relief Society and had super Saturday last week.  We had a really good turnout and it went really well and boy and I glad it is done!   I was teaching 2 of the classes and keeping it all running, but it was a lot of fun.  Mark had a tournament and I was worried about having all the kids there, but they were absolute angels.

I have been doing more freezer cooking to avoid spending unnecessary money on convenience foods, and on Monday I made almost 20 meals in about 3 hours.  I was so proud of myself for getting it done and it feels good to know that we will be able to have a good dinner ready even on the days I am most busy.

Mark is off to a tournament again this weekend, has been gone since Thursday and will be back sometime tomorrow (Sunday).   So, I had talked myself out of going out to wave signs for Prop. 8 ( the marriage ammendment) but at the last minute called a babysitter and went.  I am really glad that I did.  It was a positive experience, despite a few expletives yelled and not so friendly waves, for the most part we got thumbs up and honks and waves.  I have really gained understanding of how crucial it is that we do all that we can to make this pass so Mark and I are making our best efforts to get out and help even more than we have been doing so we have done our part.

Tonight was the adult session of stake conference and again I almost used the excuse of Mark being gone not to go, but got a babysitter and went and again I am glad I did.  We had an area authority 70 who spoke and talked about all the hard times our country is going through now and how we have much more to come.  He encouraged us to not pray for these things to stop because in doing so, we are praying for the Lord to not fulfill prophecy.   I had never thought of it that way.  He then testified that the natural disasters and other hard things that we face can not take away from us anything of real value, only the breaking of covenants can do that.    All things we know, but it is good to be reminded.

Catching up

Our family has been so busy lately that i have not made time to post.  Here are a few fun things that are going on for each of the kids. More soon, but now I am off to bed so I can get up for my 5:30 cycling class.  Enjoy!

Happy Birthday Christian

Christian is 2 years old!  It is hard to believe 2 years has gone by already, but this boy has been an absolute joy for us.  Christian loves to be included with everyone and loves to be loved.  He loves to play sports- he can hit a baseball off a tee, make a basket and has known that you kick a soccer ball since he could walk.   I can hardly wait to see this boy every morning because no matter if I have to wake him up or he is already awake, he tells me " good morning mommy"  in his sweet little voice every single morning.  We had a fun little celebration with our family.  We have lots of photos and videos, but I am too tired to sort through them tonight!  I'll post more more pics and some video soon!

What a cute boy!

Elijah is such a fun, soft hearted boy!  Here are a few highlights for his last month:

1.  He finally got to start preschool.  He has been asking to start for as long as I can remember.  I am doing a coop with 5 other moms and he is having a great time.  He works h

ard and is his own person, but has fun with the other kids!

2.  He got a ribbon at the fair!  Elijah, Christian and I went to the fair on preschool day and we had a great time.  We visited the animals and exhibits and then of course we went to watch the Great Alaska Racing Pigs.  There were probably about 200 kids and Elijah was chosen to be a cheerleader for one of the pigs.  He chose to cheer for Sloppy Joe.  (To this day, if Christian hears someone say Sloppy Joe, he laughs hysterically and yells Sloppy Joe running!).  His pig got second and he won a ribbon.

3.  Elijah made friends with a preying mantis.  I was cleaning out the last of our summer garden,  and getting it ready to plant our fall crops when I found a toad, various disgusting bugs, snails and a preying mantis.  I brought it over for the kids to see.  Aubrey and Courtney were afraid of it, but Elijah held out his arm and let it climb all over him.  It perched on his ear for quite a while and would have stayed there if Elijah hadn't decided to run and play!  Isn't he a good looking boy?  I love this picture of him!

I love kindergarten writing!

Aubrey is the perfect kindergardener.   She has really found her niche in school.  Her personality has always been loved by everyone around her and she has made many, many new friends.  Her teacher is excellent and does a good job teaching all the standards that are required these days and still making it fun for the kids.

Aubrey is perfectly behaved in class.  I walk several neighborhood kids to school in the morning and one little boy is in her class.  One of the first mornings I picked them up, the little boy said to his brother in amazement,"  That's Aubrey, the girl who has never had her name on the board."  As we were walking into the classroom I heard another little girl say the same thing to her mom.  I guess she has made an impression on the other kids!

I love the papers Aubrey brings home, where she phonetically spells out the words and has her cute little pictures.  Aubrey is very proud of her work and we are very proud of her.  I couldn't resist taking a picture of one of her papers.  I don't know how well you can see it, but it is T week and she draws and writes:  tigr, tlfon (telephone), tonl (toenail), tmatos.  I just think it is so cute to see her handwriting and I know how hard she works to figure out the words!  What a great little girl.

All Hail Grand Puba!

Despite a nervous stomach and anxious start to 3rd grade, we are all thrilled that we had Courtney skip 2nd grade.  She has done phenomenally well in all her subjects ( she gets upset when she gets an A- on a paper or test).  Courtney has been outgoing and made several new friends.  She has gained tremendous respect from the teacher and students around her and we are very proud of her.

Today, she had a multiplication bee in her class and she WON!    She was so excited to tell me after school.  She said,"  my legs were shaking and my stomach had about a gazillion butterflies because last year I was just a 1st grader,   but I knew that 3x7 was 21 and I won!  Her teacher has a grand puba hat she got to wear for the day and the class all hailed her!

Courtney has also started piano and again is excelling.  She teaches herself how to read the notes even before her teacher goes over them.  We'll have to take video and post it soon.  She has her first recital coming up in a couple months.

We get her report card next week and will post a picture of all the A's I am sure she'll have!