Dumb it down

I attended, by request, parent teacher conference last week. I came out very frustrated. Why is it that I had to contact my child's teacher to hear that he is "behind in everything". I came out thinking he is being left behind. School teaches to the middle of the group, not those ahead, not those behind. I think that is why they don't give real grades anymore. No one can fail, so lets not really grade them so it doesn't look like we are pushing kids through who are really struggling. Kids should want to learn, there are so many things to learn that are really cool! Kids shouldn't, in my opinion, hate school in elementary. I guess when you don't really understand much of what is going on, you lose interest...makes sense. Things need to change.                      

holiday expectations

When I was a kid, I was excited about three holidays, Christmas, Easter and Halloween. None of this do something fun, involving some mythical person and give treats and surprises all day long. My kids this year asked all day on the 17th and 18th, when the leprechaun was going to come and play tricks on them. Really I should have put glue on the girls hairbrushes, which would end up being cut out,  just to make them hate the leprechaun and never want him to return. Why does society have to make such a big deal about everything. We don't need to decorate for every occasion, or make treats, or wear funny clothes, or any of those things. I realize that kids find them fun. But playing a game with your kids is fun too. Do we really need to go to these extraordinary measures to make a child's life magical. Perhaps this is the "I'm not really a bad mom" guilt coming out. But really it is exhausting.

sugar high fun for St.Patty's

Cute cupcakes from my friend who does cute things for the holidays
...if I don't do it at least someone else does!

I was talking to my good friend Bonnie this morning. We chatted about the piano struggles at our houses, and why we do it. Then at the end of the conversation I was telling her about William and my worried for him. He is like my puzzle that I am constantly trying to learn about and solve. She said it was a good thing he was sent to Nathan and I, that we were the right parents for him, to help him as he needs it. I thought after I hung up the phone of how much I pray about him and how to love and help him the way he needs it. Then the thought came that he wasn't here because he needed me, but I need him. He keeps me humble and teachable. My desire to be a good mom to him keeps pushing me to the Lord for help. That sounds more right.

home work

So it is 11:30 a.m. and for posterity I thought I would list the things I have done so far. I hope I look at this and laugh when I'm 70.

• read scriptures
• exercise
• shower, do hair, get dressed
• get kids up
• shower three kids
• make two lunches
• get breakfast for some kids
• read scriptures and prayer as family
• drive kids to school
• grocery shopping
• unload car and put away groceries
• clean kitchen (from 2 days of neglect!)
• make snack for Kate and dance around...fun
• tidy up every room upstairs and strip beds
• start laundry
• make some phone calls

...ridiculous. I really think that there is someone breaking into my house just to mess up every room. I mean I know my kids do most of it, but really how does my house look like it threw up all over itself just 48hrs after a big clean?

As a man thinketh

Today in church I noticed William making his sound effects again while sitting in his chair. I asked him to stop and told him he should try to fill his mind with positive things. I explained how we become what are thoughts are, and he should try to fill his mind with good things. Then I looked at him and noticed him with an odd grin and looking around the room, so I asked what he was thinking and pointing to his head he replied, "there's nothing in here." I couldn't help but laugh.

I took Will and Kate to the zoo last week, the weather was warming up and I needed out. It was a great and relaxing day wandering the zoo with my kids. I think it was the first time I have ever been without a stroller! William was home from school, not feeling quite himself, but okay to wander the zoo. He was so low key that day I thought I was dealing with his calm alter ego. It was nice. He also had to walk through every puddle he could find, and most were huge. Kate loved seeing the animals but was pretty unsure about going in to any of the buildings, I'm not sure if she thought the animals were just wandering around loose in each building, but she would stay pretty close and ask to leave fairly quickly.

One of the many "puddles" to find at the zoo

On friday Laurel came home with an honour roll certificate. She apparently was the only one in grade seven to get it. She was very excited and we are very proud of her hard work.

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Nature nuts

The weather is just starting to warm up enough that the kids have the itch to play outside more....thank goodness! Winter makes us all a little cagey. Yesterday I took the littler kids to the park, the karate park as they call it (because it is at the school they took karate in).  They had a great time and I lasted about 45 minutes before I was too cold to stay out any longer. A cold wind came up while we were there. Little did I know it would snow about an hour later, so our timing was perfect.

doing the monkey bars all by herself

I often have to watch out, around supper time and after, for deer around the town. They are everywhere, and they are not scared off by cars or people. Nathan and Jarad think it would be a good thing to get a hold of a taser and put a little "natural fear of man" back in the deer. They had a good twin laugh about it, with Jarad doing his best impersonation of a deer being tasered.

Tonight we had the missionaries over for dinner. The kids were on their "best" behaviour, which served  to encourage birth control for the next few years, Allison started off the meal crying in her room, and Mike finished it crying at the table. We have a rule in our house, which is really just a natural consequence, if you don't eat dinner you don't get dessert. Michael is not a supporter of this rule, he follows the 'eat dessert anytime, anywhere, for any reason' rule. So after the missionaries left Mike put on his coat and boots and ran away from home. He made it to the end of the front porch (about 3 steps) then got side tracked and climbed over the railing to go play with the kids in the backyard. Those three steps were a real nail biter for me. Would my timid boy who won't go downstairs by himself, who still won't cross the street alone, run away? What if he went to a home where they insisted he close the bathroom door when he uses the toilet, or worse what if he ran somewhere that dessert doesn't exist?! I would miss my little softy...I am glad he stayed.

Weekend smarts

This weekend I was able to go to the stake relief society conference and get me some knowledge. I felt like the theme for the day (for me at least) was the power of my thoughts. Good or bad they shape my life and how I experience it. One of the presenters talked about how we talk to ourselves, good or bad. He suggested we model to our children good thoughts by talking out loud, talking about thoughts of serving someone who may be in need or something we read in the scriptures that applies to the days experiences etc. He also spoke of cognitive distortions which can be very common. Distortions like 'I missed reading scriptures again today so I may as well just give up' or 'I feel like such an idiot therefore I must be one'. We can be so hard on ourselves. My sister in law also spoke on mothering little children and she made the point that we need to be aware of the negative thoughts and feelings of failure as a mother because they come from satan. Heavenly Father doesn't teach us that way. I think that is the common theme of the meeting for me, stay close to the Spirit and pay attention to the source of those thoughts running through my head. As it says in the bible (galations):

"But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperence"

Anything other than these are thoughts I can work on changing. 

Today I really felt like some Cafe Rio, but since I don't live anywhere near one I pulled out my recipes to make some tasty pork, rice and such. Laurel will be so pleased when she comes home. Today I have faced my mountain (laundry) and am coming out alive, and I get to hang out with my favourite sidekick. Overall good start to the week.

Most of my mountain, the picture makes it look smaller

Kate the great in her pretend world

dodge ball and fruit leather

On the weekend (last weekend) the weather was so ridiculously cold I thought it would be prudent to evacuate the country and move to a warmer climate. Apparently the powers that be didn't think so. Instead to have some fun and stay warm we went to the church and invited a few other families to come for a 'friendly' game of dodge ball. We played for two hours and there was no blood involved, that in the world of dodge ball constitutes a success. I did come out with a headache as I was hit rather hard in the face by my beloved husband. Thankfully the balls were different than the ones I played with as a kid. I may have come out with a broken nose if we used those!

Yesterday I decided to pull out the food dehydrator and make some delicious fruit leather, some banana chips and dried apples. The process took a lot longer than I thought it would and I went to bed with the machine still running. I took out the apples and bananas sooner but the fruit leather was taking a while. Since I love sleep I was unwilling to set an alarm to get up in the night to shut off the dehydrator, but I did wake at 4 a.m. and turn it off. In the morning we had some delicious....really dry fruit leather. We had to scrape it off the trays with a knife. I hate to waste fruit so we ate it anyway, and the flavour was good, but next time more precise timing is needed.

Time for another weekend (as the kids have tomorrow off). I am looking forward to saturday morning and the stake relief society meeting. We even get breakfast...I can feel the Spirit more when someone else has made me good food:)

dodge ball action

impromptu sister sleep over

failed fruit leather