It's almost midnight, so I just barely made my Saturday posting. But it's the thought and intent that count, not the lateness of the hour, right??
I am so grateful that of all the billions of people in the world, Heavenly Father placed The King and I in the right place and at the right time to meet each other and fall in love. My hubby is so patient and understanding with me, and on the rare occasions which he is not (like this morning), he feels so bad for making me unhappy that he automatically apologizes, even though 90% of the time I'm the one in the wrong. I am so blessed to have a partner who loves me so unconditionally.
I am so grateful to be surrounded by women who are such amazing examples to me. This afternoon as I sitting in the car with my mom, my sisters and TQ on our way to Costco, I was struck by the irony that there were probably women all over the world enjoying "girl time"- getting facials and manicures, or going to the theater or some other activity infinitely more sophisticated than what we were doing- but they couldn't possibly be happier and more content than us. My girls always have been and always will be my best friends.
Good night every one. I hope you have a wonderful Sabbath.
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Friday, June 5, 2009
Celebrating.....Well, Mediocrity I Guess....
Deep Thoughts from the 6th Grade Graduation ceremony:
6th Grade Teacher's opening remarks: "Well, you're really not graduating because we have to send everyone on to the 7th grade...it's required"
After presenting the Honor Roll candidates, the High Honor Role students were announced, or as another teacher introduced them, "the kids that really worked hard" (as opposed to those other losers who just kind of worked hard)
Principal: "You've gotten through this far in your education and now we're sending you on to junior high........just don't drop out"
(did you just get goosebumps too?? Inspiration, eloquence...this will undoubtedly be the standard by which all graduation speeches will be judged from now on)
As each student's name was called, he or she was supposed approach the microphone and finish the statement "When I grow up I want to be..."
TQ's teacher's comment to an extremely short young man who was struggling to reach the microphone during his statement: "What, no plans to be an NBA All Star? Hee, hee, hee"
Another student: "When I grow up I want to be a teacher"
Same Teacher "Well, you can have my classroom when I'm done in 15 years"
The King: "Try five"
And finally, TQ's teacher, who after an entire school year with the same 24 students could not remember or pronounce most of the last names during the "diploma" ceremony:
"Shad.....I'm not even going to try your name"
Shad's extremely pissed parents (yelling from the back of the auditorium);
"It's Wodjekowski" (you can probably also insert their implied "freaking idiot" here)
****note*****The King and I heard the poor kid's name once and had it down. Apparently we are both now more qualified than her to be a 6Th grade educator.
6th Grade Teacher's opening remarks: "Well, you're really not graduating because we have to send everyone on to the 7th grade...it's required"
After presenting the Honor Roll candidates, the High Honor Role students were announced, or as another teacher introduced them, "the kids that really worked hard" (as opposed to those other losers who just kind of worked hard)
Principal: "You've gotten through this far in your education and now we're sending you on to junior high........just don't drop out"
(did you just get goosebumps too?? Inspiration, eloquence...this will undoubtedly be the standard by which all graduation speeches will be judged from now on)
As each student's name was called, he or she was supposed approach the microphone and finish the statement "When I grow up I want to be..."
TQ's teacher's comment to an extremely short young man who was struggling to reach the microphone during his statement: "What, no plans to be an NBA All Star? Hee, hee, hee"
Another student: "When I grow up I want to be a teacher"
Same Teacher "Well, you can have my classroom when I'm done in 15 years"
The King: "Try five"
And finally, TQ's teacher, who after an entire school year with the same 24 students could not remember or pronounce most of the last names during the "diploma" ceremony:
"Shad.....I'm not even going to try your name"
Shad's extremely pissed parents (yelling from the back of the auditorium);
"It's Wodjekowski" (you can probably also insert their implied "freaking idiot" here)
****note*****The King and I heard the poor kid's name once and had it down. Apparently we are both now more qualified than her to be a 6Th grade educator.
Thank You, Heavenly Father.....
Tonight I am so grateful that I was able to attend my daughter's 6Th grade graduation. It seems like just yesterday that Heavenly Father blessed two stupid, naive and woefully unprepared 20-somethings with the most beautiful angel in all of heaven. In the 12 years since then she's become an amazing and talented young woman. It's truly a privilege to be her mom.
I am also grateful that I got to spend three hours of one-on-one time with Fox while his sister had friends over. If I had one wish in the world, it would be to be able to see into Fox's mind and witness first hand the amazing and creative thoughts, discoveries and designs that are born there. His brain is constantly working, and he has such passion for figuring out how the world works and how he can make it a better place. He is one of a kind.
I am also grateful that I got to spend three hours of one-on-one time with Fox while his sister had friends over. If I had one wish in the world, it would be to be able to see into Fox's mind and witness first hand the amazing and creative thoughts, discoveries and designs that are born there. His brain is constantly working, and he has such passion for figuring out how the world works and how he can make it a better place. He is one of a kind.
My New Maid.....
I am so grateful that the Man Child is the most stubborn two year old to ever walk the face of this earth.
I'm not being sarcastic either.
Usually this quality in him drives me bonkers, but when it lends to his acquiring important life skills I'm all for it. MC wants to copy everything he sees his siblings and parents do, hence he has become a proficient sweeper, dishwasher loader, and duster. Today he spilled his sippie cup and instead of crying or stepping in it, he said "clean up" and immediately picked out a dish cloth from the drawer and wiped up the spill. I clapped for him with as much gusto as if he'd just found the cure for cancer.
My mom keeps telling me that the MC will turn out okay if we can just channel all his energy and stubbornness into the right areas. After today I finally believe her.
I'm not being sarcastic either.
Usually this quality in him drives me bonkers, but when it lends to his acquiring important life skills I'm all for it. MC wants to copy everything he sees his siblings and parents do, hence he has become a proficient sweeper, dishwasher loader, and duster. Today he spilled his sippie cup and instead of crying or stepping in it, he said "clean up" and immediately picked out a dish cloth from the drawer and wiped up the spill. I clapped for him with as much gusto as if he'd just found the cure for cancer.
My mom keeps telling me that the MC will turn out okay if we can just channel all his energy and stubbornness into the right areas. After today I finally believe her.
Thursday, June 4, 2009
Thank You, Heavenly Father.....
Thank you, Father, for giving me the opportunity to be a stay-at-home mom. It meant the world today when TQ was having a very, very bad friend day and I could check her out to spend some quality mom/daughter time. I don't know how much it helped her, but it made my day brighter just being in her presence.
Thank you for the gift of music. I am so blessed to be able to share it with the children I teach, as well as my own family. Thank you for a wonderful mother who instilled a love for the piano in me through both her talent and example.
Thank you for the gift of music. I am so blessed to be able to share it with the children I teach, as well as my own family. Thank you for a wonderful mother who instilled a love for the piano in me through both her talent and example.
In Support of Truancy....
Yesterday at the Cook Elementary end-of-year awards assembly, over 30 children were recognized for having 100% attendance during the year.
My children were not among the group.
Not by a long shot.
I keep my kids home is they have a cough, sniffle, headache, cold, clear runny nose, green runny nose, roaring fever, tepid fever- call me neurotic, but I've been around the block. I know how fast the first drip of a runny nose can turn into a full blown cold and flu epidemic. One wet cough from a single student on my piano keys and I can time the total infestation almost to the minute. It invariably puts the entire house in quarantine for a week.
Keeping my kids home when they are ill is the noblest reason (oh who am I kidding? It's the ony noble reason) behind their absences. There are plenty of other frivolous reasons that they miss school. Dentist appointment scheduled in the morning? Well, the Novocaine won't wear off for an hour at least. No point going back to school, right? PMS-induced craziness flaring? You definitely need a day away from the unsuspecting and innocent (for their own safety of course). Better yet, how about some retail therapy??? Food therapy????
Needless to say, I have no problem checking my kids out of school for necessity or just for fun.
The irony of my mentality is that I was that kid that got the 100% attendance award every year. I was terrified of missing school. While all my friends were sluffing PE and Home Ec, I attended dutifully, certain that if I missed a single timed mile run or couldn't bake a perfect tuna casserole I would never get into college. Even as early as the first grade I didn't want to miss school. I remember standing at the front window screaming at my mom for not letting me get on the bus, all the while scratching at the chicken pox covering my entire body.
But then I went to college.
All those years of strict attendance and study habits had taken their toll. Yes, I had my hard-earned academic scholarship but I was completely burned out. I hated school. Gone was my single-minded and obsessive focus; college was nothing more than a very expensive means to an end. It wasn't until I got married that my passion and drive for education return. I mostly attribute that change to a desire to not be a poor student living in on-campus married housing for the rest of my life, but it also helped that The King and I were both completely committed to graduating together (and we did in May of 2000. I was 4 months pregnant with Fox and big as a whale. The pictures are classic Utah).
So I guess I've come full circle, from frantic obsession to nonchalance to pure enjoyment of education. If I could spend the rest of my life in college, completing degree after degree I would. I can think of 10 areas off the top of my head I'd love to study right at this moment (interior design, landscape design, art history, social work, psychology, European history, business administration, computer science, web design......) Instead, I'll probably just get my Masters after the MC is in school (2 years and 8 months to go, but who is counting?). But I realizes something very important from my own journey through elementary, secondary and collegiate education. Life can't be all work and seriousness- you need to have fun along the way. It's okay to take a day off for R&R, or to get your nails done and have lunch with mom. School will still be there the next day. And despite what they may say, you can flunk gym and still get into college.
I think it's a great achievement for the 30 or more children who received the attendance award yesterday. I just don't feel an iota of guilt that TQ and Fox didn't.
Sadly, one young boy out of the entire group called was unable to receive his certificate from the principal at the assembly. Apparently on that day, of all days, he was absent.
My children were not among the group.
Not by a long shot.
I keep my kids home is they have a cough, sniffle, headache, cold, clear runny nose, green runny nose, roaring fever, tepid fever- call me neurotic, but I've been around the block. I know how fast the first drip of a runny nose can turn into a full blown cold and flu epidemic. One wet cough from a single student on my piano keys and I can time the total infestation almost to the minute. It invariably puts the entire house in quarantine for a week.
Keeping my kids home when they are ill is the noblest reason (oh who am I kidding? It's the ony noble reason) behind their absences. There are plenty of other frivolous reasons that they miss school. Dentist appointment scheduled in the morning? Well, the Novocaine won't wear off for an hour at least. No point going back to school, right? PMS-induced craziness flaring? You definitely need a day away from the unsuspecting and innocent (for their own safety of course). Better yet, how about some retail therapy??? Food therapy????
Needless to say, I have no problem checking my kids out of school for necessity or just for fun.
The irony of my mentality is that I was that kid that got the 100% attendance award every year. I was terrified of missing school. While all my friends were sluffing PE and Home Ec, I attended dutifully, certain that if I missed a single timed mile run or couldn't bake a perfect tuna casserole I would never get into college. Even as early as the first grade I didn't want to miss school. I remember standing at the front window screaming at my mom for not letting me get on the bus, all the while scratching at the chicken pox covering my entire body.
But then I went to college.
All those years of strict attendance and study habits had taken their toll. Yes, I had my hard-earned academic scholarship but I was completely burned out. I hated school. Gone was my single-minded and obsessive focus; college was nothing more than a very expensive means to an end. It wasn't until I got married that my passion and drive for education return. I mostly attribute that change to a desire to not be a poor student living in on-campus married housing for the rest of my life, but it also helped that The King and I were both completely committed to graduating together (and we did in May of 2000. I was 4 months pregnant with Fox and big as a whale. The pictures are classic Utah).
So I guess I've come full circle, from frantic obsession to nonchalance to pure enjoyment of education. If I could spend the rest of my life in college, completing degree after degree I would. I can think of 10 areas off the top of my head I'd love to study right at this moment (interior design, landscape design, art history, social work, psychology, European history, business administration, computer science, web design......) Instead, I'll probably just get my Masters after the MC is in school (2 years and 8 months to go, but who is counting?). But I realizes something very important from my own journey through elementary, secondary and collegiate education. Life can't be all work and seriousness- you need to have fun along the way. It's okay to take a day off for R&R, or to get your nails done and have lunch with mom. School will still be there the next day. And despite what they may say, you can flunk gym and still get into college.
I think it's a great achievement for the 30 or more children who received the attendance award yesterday. I just don't feel an iota of guilt that TQ and Fox didn't.
Sadly, one young boy out of the entire group called was unable to receive his certificate from the principal at the assembly. Apparently on that day, of all days, he was absent.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
I know my Heavenly Father loves me because........
*He has taught me to notice the beauty all around me. Tonight I could help but stop and watch the sun set in a beautiful gray, blue and orange tinged sky. Magnificent.
*Yesterday I said that Fox's self-esteem has been a little low lately. The King and I have been really worried about him, especially since he compares himself to his sister all the time. Tonight something wonderful happened. The Man Child usually sticks pretty close to TQ and ignores Fox. But this evening they played together in the backyard for an hour and had a blast. When Fox went inside to get ready for bed while we ran to Lowes, MC cried for his brother and didn't want to go with us. It made Fox's night. His smile lifted my heart. Thank you Father for two wonderful boys.
*He has taught me to notice the beauty all around me. Tonight I could help but stop and watch the sun set in a beautiful gray, blue and orange tinged sky. Magnificent.
*Yesterday I said that Fox's self-esteem has been a little low lately. The King and I have been really worried about him, especially since he compares himself to his sister all the time. Tonight something wonderful happened. The Man Child usually sticks pretty close to TQ and ignores Fox. But this evening they played together in the backyard for an hour and had a blast. When Fox went inside to get ready for bed while we ran to Lowes, MC cried for his brother and didn't want to go with us. It made Fox's night. His smile lifted my heart. Thank you Father for two wonderful boys.
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