So Proud

Just a quick little post while my kids are at recess. Right before recess we had the opportunity to go out and welcome home some soldiers that have been gone fighting in Iraq for the last 8 months. There were about 12 men that are residents of Eagle Mountain that have been away from their families for this time. One of those dads is the father of my sweet Reuben in my class. He has been so excited all week for dad to come home, and thats all he talks about and writes about in class. When I was standing out on the playground with my class waving to the cars driving past, I felt so proud, I actually got choked up in front of my kids. I just was thinking about Reuben and his family, along with thousands of other families across the country.  To me Reuben is just as brave as his father. I know there have been times that have been really hard for him to have dad gone, but he never complains.   Thank you sweet Reuben for teaching me!!
When we got back into class, I had my kids just write for a total of 10 minutes about it. I didn't really direct them, I just said they could make of list of describing words, they could write a letter, they could tell a story, or draw a picture. The only rule was they had to be quiet so that they could think about it, and they had to be working. I am not kidding but you could hear a pin drop in here. It was really cool, and the kids loved it.

Who has the most perfect Child? I think that would be me!

We took Hannah to the dentist yesterday for the first time.  I was a little bit nervous about it, because lets face it, it can be a scary place.  We did as much prepping as we could before the big day!  We talked to her about what the dentist does, we bought her a Dora goes to the dentist book that we read over and over.  We even watched Jon and Kate Plus 8 when they took all 6 kids to the dentist at once.  Talk about a nightmare.  Well the big day arrived and she was amazing.  She sat right in the chair and didn't argue a bit.  She didn't cry, she didn't fuss, she just did what the dentist told her to do.  Have I mentioned before that she is amazing.  I was so proud of her!  

If you think it couldn't get any better... it does!  The diagnosis was great!  Her teeth look perfect, her spacing is perfect, her bite is perfect (even after years of sucking her fingers).  Everything is great.  I was a little paranoid that she would have 10 cavities since she is a "candy freak"- her words not mine.  I was relieved to find that she doesn't have any cavities at all!

I thought this x-ray machine would freak her out, but in her little mind I could just hear her saying, "Bring it on!"

She sat right up into the chair and opened her mouth like this. Who says prepping your kid doesn't pay off?

The Cleaning!

And the perfect Cheeser Grin!

The Dinosaur Museum

The other day we took Hannah to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.  She has been wanting to go forever, but we just have never done it until now.  She had a blast.  Actually, I don't know who had more fun, Chad or Hannah.  It was fun to watch the two of them together.  I think Chad has always wanted someone to share his wealth of knowledge with, and unfortunately a lot of times I'm not really that interested in Reptiles, bugs and ancient things.  I'm sorry hun, sometimes I try.  Anyway, Hannah really is interested in all of those things.  Chad really enjoys having someone really listen and care about the same things he loves!!  Here are some pictures to mark our fun family day!

So gross!! Creative but gross!

Hannah has been really into make believe and story telling lately. It is really hard for me to discipline her and not laugh when she really does get so creative. Last night she had a little accident in her pants. I know gross that I am even talking about it, but it is a fact of life with a 2 year old. When I questioned her about why she did that she responded with, "Mom, it wasn't my fault! It was the magic poop! It just appeared in my pants." After taking the next couple of seconds to contain my laughter I responded with "You know what I have to do right?" To which she quickly responded, "Mom you can't spank my bum, it really isn't my fault! If you have to be mad, be mad at the magic poop!" What a story teller.
It really is hard to be upset with such a cute girl.

So busy!!

So I haven't posted in a while, because my life seems so crazy.  The last couple of weeks I have felt a strange connection to the Little Engine that Could.  I just keep telling myself "I think I can."  eventually I will come to the point where I say "I knew I could".


 Well last week started off with me being sick again!  I think this is like the fifth cold I have had this school year.  I have heard that once you get into your third year, your body is  better at fighting off germs.  I sure hope so, because I have never been sick this many times in my life.  Anyway, to make matters worse last Wednesday and Thursday were parent teacher conferences.  This means that I was at school from 6:30 am (my normal time of getting to school) until around 9:30 pm.  For those of you who are bad at math, that is a 15 hour day for two straight days.  CRAZY!!  To add insult to injury for some stupid reason, I signed up to have my principal's evaluation on Wednesday afternoon, so I had that stress to deal with.  What was I thinking?  

You are probably thinking ok, so that was last week your life should be better by now.  I thought that would be the case as well, but it just hasn't been.  This week is not as crazy, but it seems to be filling up really quick.  Thank goodness for President's Day coming up on Monday.

(Thanks for letting me vent, I really am not a complainer, I really love my job, my family and all my responsibilities, I just have to let off some steam every once in a while and then I feel better)

Here I come, FULL SPEED AHEAD!!!

A Little Embarassed!!!

So Hannah has been a little obsessed lately about when she was a baby.  She asks about it all the time, questions like "When I was a baby did I have teeth?" or "When I was in your tummy did I drink apple juice?"  Fun little questions that are so cute you wish you could remember them all.  

Well apparently the other day she was feeding her baby doll and asked Chad if she drank milk or apple juice in her bottle when she was a baby.  True to form, he didn't just give her a simple answer, he explained everything to her (like she was an adult) and told her about breastfeeding and getting milk from your mommy!  Ok fair enough, but I say warn me that you have had that talk with her.  So last night after parent teacher conferences, Chad and Hannah came to pick me up from school. (we still only have one car, but that is another story!)  Hannah and I walked to the teacher's lounge to see if there was any more dessert in there and we ran into my principal.  After a while of talking, he started showing us pictures of his baby daughter.  Hannah just looks up at him and says "When I was a baby, I drank milk from mommy's boobs!!!"  At that point I just wanted to die.  I guess in situations like these you just have to laugh and be grateful that your sweet little two year old is so inquisitive, bright, and can remember EVERYTHING!!!

Funny Little Girl

The past couple of days have been really nice around our house.  Monday was a professional development day, which means that the kids didn't come to school, but the teachers had meetings all day.  And then yesterday, I took a personal day to go to the doctor and get myself ready for parent teacher conferences.  It seems like with the weekend and then a more relaxing start to my week has given me a lot more time to be home with my family.  They are so fun, and I realized how much I miss them during the day.

So Monday night for Family Home Evening we had a lesson out of the Friend magazine.  We were talking about Heavenly Father creating the world for us and all the beautiful things that we get to enjoy.  We started off the lesson by telling Hannah that there was a time when she  lived with Heavenly Father and Jesus.  We asked her if she knew when.  She answered by saying "Um... I think it was in July!  What a funny girl. (she is obsessed with time right now, months, days, hours, etc.  I think it's because she is always asking when her birthday is!)  Anyway, we informed her that she lived with Heavenly Father before she lived with mommy and daddy.  She then responded by saying "Was it after I lived with Grandma and Grampy?"  Again, we both just had to laugh.  What a funny girl!

The rest of the Family Home Evening went great and the lesson we all learned was two fold.  

1.  Don't ever live with your parents after marriage

2.  Family Home Evening is so important and kids are never too young to learn!

Just another cute video

So lately Hannah hasn't wanted to listen to any music in the car except for her new "kids CD" .  This CD is one that we found at the DI, which Hannah absolutely loves.  The other day she just started singing one of the songs like full blast.  Of course it is probably the most annoying song on the CD.  I have to admit that she is really cute singing it though.  Have a look for yourself.

Fun Tag

I have really been liking these tags lately.  Here is another fun one that I found on my friend Jessa's blog.  A couple of these things I might decide to add to my list of things to do in my lifetime.

1. Started your own blog.

2. Slept under the stars

3. Played in a band

4. Visited Hawaii!

5. Watched a meteor shower

6. Given more than you can afford to charity

7. Been to Disneyland

8. Climbed a mountain

9. Held a praying mantis

10. Sang a solo (are you kidding me)

11. Bungee jumped

12. Visited Paris

13. Watched a lightening storm at sea

14. Taught yourself an art from scratch (I had to teach myself how to play the piano on my mission)

15. Adopted a child

16. Had food poisoning

17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty

18. Grown your own vegetables

19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France

20. Slept on an overnight train

21. Had a pillow fight

22. Hitch hiked

23. Taken a sick day when you're not ill (who hasn't)

24. Built a snow fort

25. Held a lamb

26. Gone skinny dipping

27. Run a marathon (The Rock n' Roll marathon in 2007, it was fantastic and I want to do it again)

28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice

29. Seen a total eclipse

30. Watched a sunrise or sunset (I really do miss watching the sunset at the beach)

31. Hit a home run

32. Been on a cruise

33. Seen Niagara Falls in person

34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors

35. Seen an Amish community

36. Taught yourself a new language

37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied (pre-marriage)

38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person

39. Gone rock climbing

40. Seen Michelangelo's David

41. Sung Karaoke

42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt

43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant

44. Visited Africa

45. Walked on a beach by moonlight

46. Been transported in an ambulance

47. Had your portrait painted (It wasn't really a painting, but Chad has sketched a picture of our family)

48. Gone deep sea fishing

49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person

50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris

51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling

52. Kissed in the rain

53. Played in the mud

54. Gone to a drive-in theater (I miss going to the drive-in in San Diego)

55. Been in a movie/commercial

56. Visited the Great Wall of China

57. Started a business

58. Taken a martial arts class (not an actual martial arts class, but a self defense class)

59. Visited Russia

60. Served at a soup kitchen

61. Sold girl scout cookies (I just bought girl scout cookies the other day, and they are 3.50 now, when I sold them, they were 1.25 a box)

62. Gone whale watching (thanks to my third grade teacher)

63. Got flowers for no reason (thanks Chad)

64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma (donating plasma paid for our trip to Disneyland)

65. Gone sky diving

66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp

67. Bounced a check

68. Flown in a helicopter

69. Saved a favorite childhood toy

70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial

71. Pieced a quilt (this is one of my favorite thing to do)

72. Eaten Caviar

73. Stood in Times Square

74. Toured the Everglades

75. Been fired from a job

76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London

77. Broken a bone

78. Been on a speeding motorcycle

79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person

80. Published a book

81. Visited the Vatican

82. Bought a brand new car

83. Walked in Jerusalem

84. Had your picture in the newspaper

85. Read the entire Bible

86. Visited the White House

87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating

88. Had chickenpox

89. Saved someone's life

90. Sat on a jury

91. Met someone famous

92. Joined a book club

93. Lost a loved one

94. Had a baby

95. Seen the Alamo in person

96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake

97. Been involved in a law suit

98. Owned a cell phone

99. Been stung by a bee

I tag anyone who wants to do this.  Just bold all of the things that you have done before in your life.

Story Time

I have been trying for months to get Hannah reading a book on video.  Last night she was cracking me up while reading "Lily and the Purple Plastic Purse."  She is so animated and she comes up with the funniest lines when she reads.  One of my favorites is when she says "Mr. Slinger was not impressed, but he was really mean."  Of course as soon as I got the video camera out, she froze and wasn't as animated, but it was the best I could do.  If you are wondering why she is walking around in circles, it is just something that she likes to do.  She has always walked in a circle as she reads a book. (She is going to be a nightmare for her first grade teacher during silent reading time).  Well, ENJOY!!