First Day of School 2012

I was NOT ready for school to start when August 21st came around. Turns out they start on the scheduled day even when there is a mom who isn't ready, though... We got back from the last of our fun but crazy vacationing stops only one week before school started (a week full of education week, friends visiting, etc.). Although it's nice to have a break from kids during the day, I'm not a big fan of waking kids up in the morning and preparing lunches! We've had three weeks of school now, and I'm finally barely starting to feel settled.

Morgan is in 6th Grade this year!!!! Her teacher is Mrs. Tomadakis. In Utah, 6th graders still attend Elementary school, but she is now the big man on campus (literally -- she is only two inches shorter than me!). Look at this beautiful girl!

 Brynne is in 3rd Grade! She has Mrs. McEntire in the morning and Miss Berger in the afternoon. (Miss Berger was Morgan's 1st Grade teacher when we first moved here.) Brynne decided she wanted super short hair and JCPenney was kind enough to help her out by offering free kids' hair cuts in August. She absolutely loves her short hair!

 Melissa is being home-schooled this year. :)

If any of you are looking for something to do around 3:00 on a school day, come on over to our house and check out how excited Melissa gets when her sisters get home from school -- it is precious!

Here's hoping for a stress-free school year!

End of School

We somehow made it to the end of another school year! 

May was busy with end-of-school programs and parties. 

Here is Brynne during her 2nd grade program:

Brynne's teacher this year was Miss (Anna) Pugliano. You may recognize her 

because she was Morgan's teacher last year. I LOVE Miss Pugliano! 

She cares so much about her kids and often goes the extra mile to help them realize talents they have and to feel valued and loved. 

Miss Pugliano and Brynne:

The program for the 5th grade was centered on things they had learned about the 

United States of America. Each class wore a different color from the flag. 

Morgan's class wore blue.

Here is Morgan during her 5th grade program:

I have always felt really blessed that the girls go to the school they do. For one thing, the principle, Mr. (Dwight) Liddiard, is more amazing than I could ever hope for! (Seriously! He is on a national principle board and often represents the US in other countries. He is amazing!!!!) Mr. Liddiard knows Morgan well and is careful to put her with a teacher he feels will be best for her. This year Morgan's teacher was Mrs. (Charla) Anderson. I am grateful for the extra time and care she put into helping Morgan have a good school year!

Morgan and Mrs. Anderson:

Some parents dread summer vacation, but I always look forward to it! I absolutely detest having to wake kids up and get them out the door in the morning! For that reason alone I love summer vacation! I also really love being around my kids. I can't stand it when they fight (and there are definitely times we all drive each other crazy), but I love being able to spend time together doing what we want. Bring on the vacation!

Congratulations, Lee!!

After two years of hard work, Lee successfully earned his 

Master's degree in Aeronautical Science!

Although a lot of our excitement at this news comes from the fact that it is a really 

big accomplishment, I have no problem admitting that a lot of our excitement also comes from the fact that it is over! (Too bad this also means we will 

have to start repaying student loans.)

The program Lee completed was an online program through Embry Riddle University, a prestigious aeronautical university. (Lee also refers to the university as a money sucking leech.) :) Since it was an online program, Lee spent a great deal of time on his laptop. He adopted the chair in our front room as his own personal study chair, and that's where he spent countless hours in the past two years! Here's a funny story that says a lot: The week Lee's final project and review were all due, the next door neighbor came over to play with Morgan and Brynne. I heard her ask the girls, "Why does your dad always sit in that chair up there and do stuff on his computer?" With degree in hand, 

this is what Lee now likes to spend his time on the chair doing:

I really am proud of Lee for this accomplishment! Earning a Master's degree is no easy task, but it becomes an even harder task when you are also a husband and father. I appreciate how hard Lee worked to make sure our family's needs were taken care of, even if it meant staying up late into the night to meet a school deadline. 

Congratulations, Lee!!

What Has Morgan Been Up To?

When I talk about what Morgan has been up to, I'm not talking about her height. Although, I should mention that she is now over 5' tall (crazy!!) and will likely pass me up much sooner than I expected!!

Morgan participated in a drama after-school club that performed Alice In Wonderland. Morgan was one of the cards. When they performed, Morgan was the only one who projected all her lines enough for everyone to hear! She also did a great job getting into character and adding emotion to her lines. It turns out we may have a budding actress here!

Morgan also participated in spring soccer. She continues to be the comic relief for her team, but she has also been getting much better with her soccer skills. By the end of this season she was running hard for the ball and was getting in the action a lot more. Once again her team got 1st place!

Fifth grade is the year you learn all your states and then do a report/diorama on a state of your choosing. I'm not sure why Morgan chose Kentucky originally, but the assignment took on a whole lot more excitement when she realized the biggest thing in Kentucky is the Kentucky Derby! Morgan lives for anything horse! The picture below shows her diorama (sorry it's a bit fuzzy). In case you can't tell, the box on the right is a horse racing track. Two of the horses have stick figures riding them, but no worries, Bob the Exterminator (Donny Ninja Turtle) is in the lead!

Morgan also had her 5th Grade Hersey Track Meet. In previous years she ran the 50 and 100 meter dashes. This year she ran the 100 and 200 meter dashes. She definitely prefers the shorter distances, but she did a great job with both races. She made it to the semi-finals in the 100 meter! She really is a fast runner (especially considering she starts every race with her fingers in her ears to block out the sound of the gun!), and Lee keeps offering to help her get even faster (he was a distance runner in high school), but so far she isn't interested in additional running.

Morgan is now the lucky one who gets to share her room with Melissa. It actually works really well for everyone! It's not uncommon for me to go wake Morgan up in the morning, only to discover she's in her bed with a very happy Melissa! Morgan is a wonderful big sister and LOVES any chance she has to show Melissa off to others! (I just realized I need some recent pictures of the two of them together...) She has also been known to change a diaper or two! :)

Reflections

Every year the National Parent Teacher Association sponsors a contest called "Reflections."  Each year a new theme is selected, and any kids who would like to participate are invited to create something around that theme. There are many different categories in which kids can enter, including theater, 3-D art, musical composition, literature, etc. Morgan and Brynne have both participated several years. Neither has ever won, but I am grateful they have enjoyed participating anyway. 

Well, this year both girls won! The theme was "Diversity means..." Brynne did 3-D art. You can see her paper-mache world surrounded by paper figures - each a little different in hair, eye color or shape, etc. She also put yellow "stars" on the base. She thinks of everything!

Morgan wrote a song called "One In The Same." Here are the lyrics:

Doesn’t matter what you look like

Or what people say, cus’

Everybody is special in a different way. 

Cus’, I think everybody’s all the same

And nobody should be treated in a bad way. 

If you’re a bully then stop and think a while, cus’

There is more to life than pushing people around.

Why don’t you just ask them over to play? 

Then tell the world to smile,

Show it on all your faces,

Cus’ no one’s different in any way.

Take a breath,

Close your eyes,

Then open them up and take a look around you.

Cus’ then you’ll see

That everyone can be a great person to be your friend.

And then tell the world to smile,

Show it on all your faces,

Cus’ everyone may be different in some way;

But that doesn’t matter!

No…

Huh…huh...huh…

No…

Morgan had to actually sing her song on a CD for submission. She was really nervous but did a great job! She put a lot of thought into this song and I'm really proud of her!

Yesterday the school had an awards presentation for the reflections winners. You can see Morgan in the back row fourth from the left, and Brynne in the middle row all the way on the left. The girls were extra excited that Grandpa Ross was here for their awards presentation!

The next step is a district competition. Eventually winners make it to a state level and eventually a national level. Whether they go further or not, I am so proud of Morgan and Brynne!

First Day of School 2011

This was one crazy summer vacation -- new baby and kids going off for weeks at a time to visit awesome relatives! Somehow it is time for school to start again. For some reason this school year feels different. Maybe it's just because my girls are getting so old!

Here is Morgan all ready to head out for the first day of 5th Grade. Well, not quite all ready since she didn't have her glasses on yet... (The shiny thing is a reflection of part of her backpack.) This picture shows off Morgan's personality perfectly! Morgan's teacher this year is Mrs. Anderson.
And here is Brynne in front of her new 2nd Grade classroom. Brynne's teacher this year is the same teacher Morgan had last year, Miss Pugliano (we love her!). Brynne had been looking forward to having her hair curled for the first day of school for a long time!

Always thoughtful of others, Brynne thought we should take a picture with me in it for the first day of school too. I LOVE how precious Brynne looks in this picture. Brynne also decided we should dress Melissa for the first day of school. (Not to mention she somehow convinced her teacher to let her show the class her "new baby sister" when we got to school.) Brynne selected the bunny pants and the bunny hat (which says "Hop Hat" on it) for her to wear. (Don't tell anyone, but right now Melissa is sleeping through the first day of school...)And in case anyone was wondering what my plans are for the first day of school, the following three pictures will give you a good hint:

The best part of today -- I'm playing church music and no one is here to complain and turn it off!!! Praying for a positive school year for both my sweet girls...

A VERY Quick Catch Up

I debated doing lots of little posts about things from the past year, but I decided it would be better to do a quick review. If I do more in-depth posts later on, great! If not, at least I hit a few highlights from the year...

The first "big" thing is that my girls convinced me to cut bangs for them. I was worried because I have a cowlick that makes bangs go weird for me, but I decided they should have the chance to try them for themselves. Morgan was extra lucky to have Aunt Ashley here to curl her hair for her before school one day:

To show off Brynne's bangs, I decided to post a picture of her with her teacher Mrs. Peterson at the end of the school year. Hard to believe Brynne will be a 2nd grader, and Morgan will be a 5th grader!!

On the last day of school before Christmas, Spanish Fork got so much snow that school was actually closed. We made the most of it and went outside to play. Brynne wanted to make a snowman, so she and I made this guy. Then Lee brought out his pilot stuff so we could have a pilot snowman! :)

Since Halloween is so important to kids, I thought I'd post a picture of each of the girls in their costumes. Brynne was a cheerleader:

And Morgan was a witch. This year I even somehow convinced the girls to trade all their candy for a gift. They each chose a $5 gift, and I got their candy to get rid of. One thing I didn't plan on, though, was Lee being home. He was kind enough to take care of ALL the candy for us! :)

A major highlight of the year came when Ashley's little Elise was born. When it was apparent Ashley was in labor, I hopped in the car and drove as fast as I could. Unfortunately, little Elise was born an hour before I arrived. No worries, though, I still got my snuggle time!

Brynne played soccer last fall. She liked playing goalie and liked hanging back waiting for the ball to come to her. I once said to her, "You know, Brynne, it's okay to go right up to the ball and try and get it." Her response was, "No way! That's how you get hurt!" :)

We took a really fun family vacation to California last September. For various reasons, we had free tickets to Disneyland for one day and four free nights of hotels. We went to the beach with Ashley and her family, went to Disneyland, went to a few science centers and museums, and went to SeaWorld. It was lots of fun! The day we planned to go to Disneyland ended up being the hottest recorded temp for LA for that day (117 degrees), so thankfully our plans were flexible and we went to the beach that day instead. Here is our family just after arriving at Disneyland:

Morgan was extra excited that she was picked for Jedi Training. Brynne was not the least bit interested in being in front of people, but we all had fun watching Morgan!

Funny how the temperature in LA can be 117 degrees, and only three days later it can be only 60 degrees in San Diego. The first day we went to SeaWorld was freezing cold and rainy. Once again we were thankful our plans were flexible, and we were thankful SeaWorld was willing to let us return the next day instead. I hadn't been to SeaWorld since I was much younger (12 or so??), and neither Lee nor the girls had ever been there before. It was a really fun vacation!

Lots and lots happened this year: Brynne learned to ride her bike, Lee quit his job flying as an air medical captain in Nevada and got a new job as first officer for SkyWest, Morgan somehow grew up and started being interested in hair and wishing she could wear makeup; but the biggest news of all........is that a new little girl is due to arrive in our family any day now! You never know this kind of thing for sure, but I'm really thinking she'll be here soon. If so, that will be my next post. :)

Busy Brynne

It turns out that in our school they do something called "Show and Teach" in kindergarten. Each student gets to pick something they want to show their class and teach them about. Kids have done everything from making cookies and bird treats to karate and dancing. Well, Brynne decided she wanted to teach the kids to make paper chain people. Brynne is a funny one because she is too shy to go up in front of people she doesn't know, but she was super excited about being in front of her class. She did a great job. Here she is showing the class what the people look like after you cut them out:

A few weeks after "Show and Teach," the kindergartners had Wacky Wednesday. They got to dress any silly way they wanted. Brynne opted for a backwards shirt, inside out and backwards skirt, non-matching socks, slippers, and a funky hairdo. Doesn't she look cute?!

Here's a picture of the hairdo up a little closer. My kids are amazed anytime I actually do something with their hair. They think I'm super woman or something. (Here's hoping they don't look at all the other cute hairdos and realize how plain and basic mine are!)

So...anyone want to move here so their kids can have "Show and Teach" and "Wacky Wednesday"? I have to warn you; however, that you'll also be called upon to make a Valentine's Day box! :(

The Things We Do For Our Kids...

I just spent 45 minutes this morning standing in line to sign Morgan up for an after school 4-H club.

The principle at our school is really into these after school clubs, and I'm glad. The first year they had them, I showed up five minutes early and walked right in. I had Morgan signed up for the class she wanted and was back home within 10 minutes. The next year, the principle actually got funding for a 4-H after school program; so now there were more class options, t-shirts for the kids, and snacks before the clubs started. I don't know if that's what made it more popular or if parents just caught onto how great these clubs are, 'cause the second year the lines were much worse. I got in line 30 minutes early and barely got the class I wanted.

This year I warned Morgan that she might not be able to do a club. I gauged her response as a factor in how willing I was to do what I had to to guarantee she'd get in. I then gauged how important her "1st choice" was to her. I realized Morgan really wanted to be in a club, but she was flexible when it came to what club.

So now it was decision time. Do I go stand in line? If so, what time do I go?

The other issue I face is that they don't start registration until 7:00, but that's what time I need to start getting the girls up to get to school on time. I finally decided I'd rather wait in line longer so I could get out of there and back home as quickly as possible. When I arrived at the school at 6:13 (had to beat the people who were shooting for 6:15!!), I was about the 20th parent in line (nice equal mix of fathers and mothers). Unless each parent in front of me were signing up all their neighbors' kids, I knew I'd have to problem getting Morgan in the club she wanted. (Last year the first person in line had the sign-up papers for 20 people!!!! Annoying!!)

After the first five minutes of waiting, they let us in the school. I sat and talked to one of my neighbors, read a little in the book I brought, and entertained myself by watching the sleepy parents walk by. I loved saying, "How are you?" to the ones I knew. It was hilarious watching them try and form a coherent thought to answer me. Everyone commented how crazy we all are to do this for our kids.

As the line was getting ready to start moving, I realized I really don't mind waiting in line in the morning. If every year gets earlier and earlier, I might reach the point where it's not worth it and I'll have to tell the kids sorry; but for now it is well worth waiting in line for 45 minutes for Morgan to get to do something she enjoys. And since the program runs for 12 weeks, I figure that 45 minutes of waiting in line gives me 18 more hours of "get-things-done time" before Morgan gets home.

Maybe next year I'll go even earlier and sell hot chocolate and breakfast bars to the poor parents in line. :)

A Quick Rebuttle

Denise asked if I enjoyed the first day of kindergarten. Admittedly, it wasn't much difference yet on that first day. I'm used to Brynne going to preschool for 2 hours/3 days a week. Kindergarten here is only 2 1/2 hours/5 days of the week. Although I wish it were all day, I'm sure this will be a good transition for Brynne.

There was one nice thing about the first day of kindergarten for me. I went to the gym a little bit earlier than usual (and didn't have to schedule around day-care openings at the gym!). I did my regular routine and then felt like I had more in me, so I stayed! I was at the gym for a total of two hours!!! This is significant because you are limited to 1 1/2 hours with day care.

Thankfully, Brynne wakes up easier than Morgan. I still have to work at it, but it's not a 20-30 minutes ordeal like with Morgan. How do moms with lots of kids get all of them up and to school on time?

One last thing about car seats...I had told them I could take two other kids with one buckled in the middle if necessary, but I was mostly worried about making sure Brynne was always buckled legally and safely in other cars (when I'm not there to be sure). Sorry Lee, the pickup lane isn't wide enough for your plane... :)

Brynne's First Day of Kindergarten

Today was Brynne's first day of kindergarten. She's been counting down the days and was very excited for today to come. Brynne is my girly-girl and loves to wear dresses. I was quite shocked when I asked her what she was going to wear today and she said her High School Musical shirt. Oh well, at least she let me fix her hair! This first picture is of Brynne in our house getting ready to leave for school.
Brynne was a little shy about having her picture taken in front of her class, but I finally convinced her that no one in her class could see her if she just stood by the door. This last picture is of Brynne sitting at her table. The teacher had something for them to cut and color as they waited for the bell to ring.

There were only a couple small problems during the day. The first problem was when someone sat in "her" spot on the carpet. She had picked out a certain spot during the first part of the day, and when they went back later she fuller expected to have the same spot. Apparently she was sad and cried for me a little bit, but the girls moved and it worked out.

The second problem is that I was 20 minutes late picking her up. I totally forgot that today was Wednesday and, therefore, early-out day. Thankfully, a few other moms forgot too. When I did go to pick her up and arrived at her classroom, I discovered only an empty room. Another teacher was walking by just then and told me the kids all go wait out by the door. Hello! No one told me that! At least it all worked out in the end.

A lady in my ward was there waiting for me to come so she could ask if I was interested in doing a carpool pick up since there are 14 kids from our ward/neighborhood in kindergarten this year. I told her I was but then realized that would be a problem because I'm really only equipped to take one additional child. She said it's up to me if I'm comfortable squishing kids in my car or not. I told her I definitely wasn't comfortable with that, nor was I comfortable with Brynne not riding in a booster seat. I told her I wouldn't be offended if I had to be left out of the carpool because I'm not willing to give on safety (and because I'm one of a kind not having a van). We'll see what happens.

Hooray for a successful first day of school!

Morgan's First Day of Third Grade

Is it that time of year again? I sent Morgan off to school because I was told it is the first day of school, but somehow it just doesn't seem right this year. It totally snuck up on me. I guess that's a good sign that I'm not anxious to have Morgan gone for school all day. In fact, I'm going to miss her!

Here's my girl in front of her new class -- Mrs. Penrod's 3rd grade.
And here's Morgan getting ready to ride to school on her brand new bike -- birthday present from Mom and Dad.

Have a great day at school Morgan!

Summer Vacation!

Today was the last day of school for both my girls. Brynne got done at 11:00 and Morgan got done at 12:00 noon. From the way things are in the house right now, you'd never know it wasn't just any other Friday...but for some reason I'm really feeling the change. I've been looking forward to not having to wake Morgan up in the morning, and I've been excited for a free summer to have quality time with the girls; but I find that I'm quietly mourning the end of this school year. Is it that my girls are growing up? Is it that I'm worried about all the fighting I will have to listen to this summer? Perhaps it's that I'm totally going to miss the girls' teachers. Yes, that's definitely part of it!!! I posted a picture of Morgan with her teacher a few posts back. Well, here's Brynne with her teacher, Miss Erica. She was wonderful with Brynne this year!
And here's a picture of Brynne with her class. It's easy to spot Brynne as she's the tallest kid in the class (thanks for the tall genes, Lee). :)

One thing's for sure...I'm going to sit around and enjoy my yard as much as possible this summer! Here's a recent picture of the front corner of the yard. I think it looks beautiful with the purple iris flowers and the white flowers on the bushes. What fun! :)

I also have something else fun to look forward to this summer...Stay tuned for a post with some exciting news! :)

A Few Good People

A few weeks ago, I got an email from Jack Jenkins letting me know he and his wife Barbara would be in Provo. Jack was my Branch President (church leader) when I lived in Seattle right after graduating from BYU. My friend Denise and I were roommates there, and that's where we met our husbands. Anyway, both Denise and I made arrangements for our families to go see them last Monday evening. Imagine our surprise when we pulled up at the house at exactly the same time, but coming from opposite directions (I followed googlemaps, Denise followed logic). We had a nice visit, and I was very glad for the chance to see them. Here is a picture of me with Jack, Barbara, Denise and Paul.
This is Morgan's last week of school (and wouldn't you know she is sick with a fever and is missing all her fun last-week things...). Her 2nd Grade school program was last Thursday. I took the opportunity to get a picture of Morgan with her teacher, Mrs. Alger. This is Mrs. Alger's last year teaching (she has a one-year-old girl she will stay home with), and we will miss her. She was an AMAZING teacher for Morgan -- I can not praise her enough!!!! Morgan can have a tough personality sometimes, but Mrs. Alger saw Morgan for who she was and really loved her. What more can a mother ask for in a teacher? (tears...)

And here's just a cute picture to round out this blog. Sweet Brynne has been learning to swim. She is becoming a proficient doggie-paddler and is also very good at holding her breath and retrieving items from the bottom of the pool. Lately, she has shown interest in learning to swim on her back. Isn't she cute?! :)

Morgan Starts 2nd Grade

It's hard to believe, but our fun and crazy summer finally ended. This morning we actually sent Morgan out the door for her first day of 2nd Grade. How did that happen? My baby isn't much of a baby anymore. Doesn't she look all grown up and cute?!!

For Morgan's first day, she was asked to bring seven things that in some way represented her. Here's what Morgan selected:

1. Her karate belt.
2. A picture of her holding her favorite stuffed animal, Perdey.
3. A picture of her family.
4. Some lip gloss (it's pink, and it is High School Musical).
5. The Celtic Women CD (she loves to dance to the "drumming song" at the end).
6. A ticket from Disneyland.
7. A picture of her jumping off the diving board (see picture below -- sorry it's a bit dark).

My previous post showed Morgan jumping off the board with a life jacket on. Last Friday, she discovered she could jump without the life jacket. She also discovered she could swim the whole way across the deep end once she jumped off. At this point, the sky is the limit! I think she's dreaming of Olympics (which could be due to the fact that we've been watching Olympic swimming every night for the past week). In all seriousness, though, I'm very proud of her!!

The other new thing Morgan discovered this past week is roller blading. She has a really good friend in Rawlins, Courtney, who gave her some roller blades and safety gear that she no longer uses. Courtney lives next door to my parents and is really great to play with Morgan. Here's a picture of the two of them:
So there you have it folks. We survived the summer. Now we just have to survive one more school year. By that point I'm hoping to have super great news that entails our family being a complete foursome again! :)

The End of a School Year

We're finally reaching the end of this school year. I'm most excited to be done with Brynne's preschool, which was really just Brynne along with two other neighbor girls. The three of them have a had a great year, but it's been a tough time for me. I was worn out by the end of the year and was trying to figure out how moms could regularly handle doing the whole neighborhood thing (where everyone takes turns teaching). Denise was kind enough to point out that I'm probably exhausted because with only three moms, I had tons of turns to teach. Most neighborhood preschools have more kids so the moms don't have to teach as often. Thanks, Denise. I feel much better now! A few weeks ago, we went on a preschool field trip to Thanksgiving Point. They have a little farm place where you see various farm animals, find out how milk is made, and have a chance to ride a pony. Above is Lillian, Brynne, and Emma (the three preschool girls). I'm really grateful to have such good, nice friends for Brynne.

Below is a picture of Brynne riding on a pony at the farm. She got to ride twice. The first time she picked the biggest pony (which was pretty much the size of a full grown horse). The second time she picked the only pony that hadn't been ridden by anyone the first time -- she had a kind heart and felt bad for it. What a sweet kid!
Morgan recently had her end of year 1st grade production. I'm still trying to figure out how I have a kid who is old enough to complete 1st grade. It makes me feel old. Below is a picture of Morgan with one of her teachers, Mrs. Peterson. I really hope I get a picture of her with her other teacher, Miss Berger. Her teachers have been so wonderful with her! Unfortunately (I think), she inherited a lot of my personality and tends to have a hard time staying on task, but her teachers have really done a lot to help her individually. I hope we are just as lucky with next year's teacher!
Back to the whole problem of me feeling old. I think the real problem is that I AM old. There are plenty of people in their 20s with kids the ages of mine (and I'm in my mid 30s), but I was a bit older when I started the whole family thing; hence, I'm old!!! And having a husband who has been gone a lot lately hasn't helped. I seriously feel like I should be retiring any day now. (sigh...)

My friend Jen Hoisington recently wrote something funny on her blog about getting old. Hopefully she won't mind if I copy it over for you to read. (I should mention that Ethan is her five-year-old son.) Here's what she wrote:

The other day, in discussing growing up, Ethan pointed out that

“Mom, you must be old.”
“Why yes I am, how can you tell?”
“Well, you’re bottom is really big, so that means you’re old.”
Really?