Slowly inching by

Look who's taken the lead.

Erik, a year younger, is now taller than his older sister, Kiersten.

I'm sure there are people who think they are twins.

8th birthday party

This girl turned eight which warranted a birthday party (I give parties at ages 5, 8, and 12 -- after that they're on their own). That's her report card in her hand. I think she must have received some good grades. Good thing or that would have made her birthday somewhat lousy.
She loves to read. No surprise there with all the examples she has to follow. So we decided on a book party.

*Disclaimer: Lest you think I might be one of those crafty people, I assure you I am not. I love the internet and especially Pinterest for all the fun ideas that I never would have come up with on my own. I figure since I don't do birthday parties that often, when we do let's make it a big deal. Moneywise, this party didn't cost hardly a thing and wasn't a huge undertaking. Win, win!

Invitation

Bookmarks
Book Worms

A book exchange where they get to take home a book (Kiersten put together a scavenger hunt to find the basket of wrapped books.)

And of course a bag to put it all in. The first thing we did we decorate a bag. Boy can those girls pile on the paint. I was surprised when some of them showed up in Primary with their bags and they were dry. I was also grateful for no major paint mishaps.

Ash sure has a lot of fun girls for friends and one fun boy cousin who didn't mind hanging with all the girls. What we didn't count on was a major snow storm. It snowed all morning and finally tapered off about midway through our party.

No picture of our lunch, but the menu consisted of corn dogs, Cheetos (which I absolutely love and only buy once a year because they're so terrible for you), apple slice, string cheese, cookie, and water. This was by far the easiest way to feed 10 party people, 2 teenagers, 2 younger kids, and one mom.

When it was over, kids were delivered home safely, and the mess somewhat cleaned up, I gifted myself a nap. Planning a baptism is next on the agenda. Eight is kind of a big year.

Lent

Lent is one of the most important seasons of the church [Catholic] year because it is a time of penitence, an introspective period during which we take stock of our lives and our relationships to discover and change what we must to prepare for Easter and experience the spiritual renewal that comes when we engage in this type of “making right” activity. So, during Lent we each follow the example of Jesus by sacrificing our own will to the purpose of God.

Starting on Ash Wednesday, the Lenten season includes 40 weekdays and five Sundays before Holy Week and the culminating triumph of the Resurrection at Easter. (www.marypages.com/Lent.htm)

The Mormon Church to which I belong does not observe Lent, an observance that many christian churches follow. But after studying a little bit about Lent, I kind of liked the whole premise of having an introspective period and giving up something in preparation for Easter. Christ gave up his life for me, it shouldn't be that hard to give something back. I know I'm a little late in observing Lent fully, but I've decided to participate this last week, one of the holiest of weeks.

So what am I going to sacrifice this week? Internet browsing. I get so sucked in and before I know it a half hour has gone by and then an hour. Most times I sit down just to quickly look something up and before I know it I'm checking email, Facebook, blogs, following links. I'm going to give all that up this week except email. Since I don't have a cell phone, email is one way to keep in touch.

And instead of just merely giving something up, I'm going to replace it with something better . . . my scriptures. When the warm weather hits those are what tend to slide. But not this week. I'm going to become reacquainted and we'll see what new insights I've learned by Easter morning.

Some Sunday musings

Holy day vs. Holiday
All you have to do is change one letter and it's become an entirely new word. I pointed this out to the Primary kids today. The world is trying very desperately (and might I add succeeding) at making any holy day a holiday. Sundays, Easter, Christmas, you name it, it's not off limits.

* * * * *

Lucky vs. Blessed
Since today was St. Patrick's Day, I first made sure we were all wearing green. It seems the girls in the family were darn near close to identical (only after my girls made me change my Levi skirt for the black).

Again in Primary we talked about how often we say how lucky we are for the things or circumstances in our lives. But really the Lord is in charge and he wants to bless us with all that he has. Lucky just seems to say that there is not reason for what happens to us. But blessed . . . that seems to denote that things do happen for a reason, sometimes for reasons unknown to us. I know many times I fail to recognize the little, miniscule blessings that come from my Father in Heaven EVERY DAY.

* * * * *

Our sacrament meeting speakers were a newly married couple, and she is just a newlywed in the church, joining when she was 18. I was nervous for her, but part way through I had to lean over the Kiersten and point out what a great speaker she was because she didn't merely read her talk but talked from her heart. "Conversion is not only a mental change but also a moral one. You don't merely join a church, but you make a lifestyle change." And one more . . . "You have to protect your faith from those who want to change it."

A proposal

Sixteen years ago today, I got a proposal of marriage.

But it wasn't my first.

Whoa.

Back up.

That's what I said. It wasn't my first.

I was 15 when an old an old seminary student of my dad's by the name of Michael Mower came to visit. I don't remember the details, but I do remember there was talk of an exchange for eight cows that thankfully never came to fruition.

Fast forward 6 years later to when I got a REAL proposal. (By the way Mike now works for the governor. Click here if you want to see what he looks like 22 years later.)

Since I don't remember details very well, it's a good thing I keep a journal. Some of the following came from there and also from the only scrapbook that I deem completely finished . . . Our Wedding.

How we became engaged. It was the day before my birthday (Saturday, March 8, 1996) and Tyler took me out to celebrate. Initially I thought we were headed to The Korea House to eat, but then he kept going and feigned forgetfulness. We ended up at the the Logan zoo and walked around a bit looking at all 10 animals (at least it seemed like that's all there were). As we were walking over the bridge overlooking the fish pond (which is no longer there), Tyler stopped and began "fishing" around in his pocket. At that moment I knew what was going to happen. My heart started racing and my hands got all sweaty. I was so nervous and flustered I said, "Are you serious?" and immediately followed up with a "yes" before he had even posed the question. How embarrassing that would have been if he had something else in mind. He did ask THE QUESTION and my answer was yes again. He later told me how my first yes made him feel pretty secure in asking.

[Insert commentary here] Tyler still likes to tease me about my initial response.

We hugged, we kissed, and put the ring on my finger. It was too small for my ring finger, but if fit my pinky. Tyler picked the ring out himself. I hadn't even told him what I liked nor had we looked at rings. But he did a great job and I love it.

After we finished looking at the animals, Tyler presented me with a real birthday present: Roller blades! I had always loved roller skating as a kid and was so excited to finally have some blades. We finally made it The Korea House. I'd never eaten Korean before so it was very different. Not bad but different. I tried kimchi and squid. Not bad. I love him so much and am so excited to be married to him. This means no more roommates, my own fridge and cupboards, my own messes. It was a wonderful day!!

Sadly, this was in the days of film cameras when we didn't take a lot of pictures. I sure wish we had one of that day at the bridge and me eating kimchi and squid. Despite what I said above, they really are quite bad and I've never eaten them since.
This is probably our first photo together. Man we look young. But then again I guess we were. Tyler no longer wears paper clips on his shirts but for some reason I still have that jumper. I guess some things are just hard to part with. (Like for instance, my baby teeth. I still have them stashed away in the pink little treasure chest I got from the dentist when I was a kid and they have moved with me more than a few times.)
Here's a better photo, sometime shortly after our engagement.

And that is the start of Mr. and Mrs. Tyler Leary.

Another lazy teacher

Pop Quiz
What did Erik do today in Creative Writing?
A. Write a poem about spring
B. Lay on the floor for 20 minutes, I mean 25 minutes, as a way of brainstorming for his next writing assignment
C. Draw a picture of a tree
D. None of the above

The correct answer is C.

I would have totally flunked that quiz. Although B is partially correct. It just didn't happen today. And after their 25 minute "nap" they got up and left, doing nothing with all that brainstorming.

Yep. Today he created his own art project in CREATIVE WRITING because the teacher told the class that she was really into her book and wanted to read all period. So they were allowed to do whatever they wanted.

She's getting paid to read a book? Can I please have her job?

Well, that was the last straw. I resurrected my email to Mr. Principal, attached Erik's Creative Writing art project, and sent it off.

Oh, you want to know what I said. Here ya go. My kids have got some real winners for teachers. 

Mr. Principal,

I would like to bring to your attention some things that are going on in some of the classrooms where I feel there is not enough instruction going on. My 7^th grade son Erik has Mr. Math Teacher for math and I’m greatly concerned that he is not learning anything in that class. He tells me how he spends some of the time lecturing, then gives them a math worksheet, and then often leaves the room or sits at his desk (is he online, checking email, checking facebook?). One time when he left, Ms. P. came in and took the entire class to her room as a practical joke on Mr. Math Teacher. By the time he found them, they had a wasted a good part of their classroom learning time. My children are in school to learn, not to play games. I was told that another day he brought his Nexus 7 with a farting app on it that allowed him to tap into the microphones in different classrooms. Erik tells me how he walked up and down the hall playing farting noises over the speakers in other classrooms. Whether this actually happened or not, I do not know. I do know that there wasn’t any learning going on if this is the story Erik told me today. I would rather my children come home and tell me what they learned, not what practical jokes were played by teachers.

He has brought home little homework this year. My understanding is there should be at least 70 minutes worth every night. He’s still pulling straight A’s, but I feel he is not being pushed enough. At Christmastime we left a message for Mr. Math Teacher asking if he had a math book he would recommend we buy so that we could send it with Erik to give him something to do when he finished his work in class. He told us not to worry about it; he would make sure Erik had some extra “worksheets” to do. To my knowledge that has happened only a few times. I really dislike worksheets and think they are nothing more than a copout for a lazy teacher.

Ms. Creative Writing Teacher is another concern. Erik has her for creative writing, Kiersten (my 8^th grader) had her last year and is in Writer’s Ink. Erik told me how one day she had them lay down for 20 minutes as a way to brainstorm and think about writing. That 20 minutes turned into 25 minutes and afterwards they did nothing with what they were supposed to be thinking about. Again, is she on her phone, facebook, etc. during this “quiet time?” Today she told them how she was really into her book and would be reading all hour. They could choose to do whatever they wanted. I’ve attached a picture of a tree Erik drew in CREATIVE WRITING, not art.

I had no concerns last year when the honors program was still in place. My husband and I even attended the meeting last year about the new honors program. I left there last year feeling like it could work. Now I feel that my kids are being left behind while teachers try to play catch up with other students or better yet while they get paid to underperform. I understand that if my children have extra time they should be working towards the honors program in any class, but it has been so poorly communicated that I don’t think they have a clue what they are supposed to be doing and I certainly have no idea what is going on in that regard. My dissatisfaction has led me to seriously think about moving over to the charter school.

Sincerely, 

Me

Changes

We've had some pretty significant changes in our ward this past month. Bishop Child was made our new stake president a month ago, so I guess I should now refer to him as President Child. And today we got a new bishop. As is always the case everyone likes to speculate on who it might be. No one in our family even suspected that is might be Mark Steinagel, Bishop Steinagel. I think about that now and wonder why we didn't throw his name into the mix. He was in our last ward and became our home teacher when we moved into this Lake Point ward.

When his name was read over the pulpit today I had the same feeling I had when President Child's name was read. The Lord has picked the right men for the callings they have accepted. I know without a doubt that both will do wonderful things.

It's been interesting to witness the whole process in comparison to the Catholic church whose pope has resigned. The Catholic church is without a leader until a group of cardinals get together to vote on a new one. I find it very refreshing that the LDS church is never without a leader, whether it be the president of the church, the stake president, or the bishop. It's been wonderful to witness such a smooth transition.

On a different note. This is how we spend a wintry Saturday when a family party gets canceled due to the snow:
A virtual birthday party. We've only done this a couple of times, but they sure have been fun to still be able to connect with cousins who live distantly.

Tyler's been setting up his home theater and trying to save us a few bucks by doing some things he's learned online how to do. He even got brave and cut into the drywall and patched it himself. So far he has two speakers in place and we're hoping it will all work when everything gets set up.

 March 1st arrived and Kiersten decided to boycott winter. Silly girl, I don't blame her (I made my Primary kids sing Springtime Is Coming last week in hopes of ushering spring in a little sooner). So she pulled an Erik and wore shorts and a t-shirt to school even though it was trying awfully hard to snow that morning. Then she and Nate tackled the sport court and are working on clearing the snow.

And it looks like Alex has gone with the no clothes approach to boycotting winter. He's got some pretty big shoes to fill there. He's also learned that our official names are not Mom and Dad, but Missy and Tyler and boy does he love to refer to us that way.