26 October 2014

Okay, I cannot believe that October has practically gone by me already!  It was a tiring, busy week, but a good one non the less.  Monday I left work early to go to Felicity's parent-teacher conference.  We didn't get back in time from the temple for the conference I had scheduled last Friday, so her teacher very graciously rescheduled for me.  Felicity is doing very well.  I am not crazy about the new grading/report cards, but perhaps that's a rant for a different day.  She's getting "3's" (is achieving at grade level) in all subjects and social areas and her teacher said that she would have "4's" (achieving above grade level) in math, but she hadn't had time to get her any accelerated work.  She's meeting her goal so far for having the most AR points in the class.   The teacher let me know the school gives an award at the end of the year to the boy and girl in each grade with the highest point total, last year they won bikes.  Since both girls got perfect report cards, we went to McDonald's for ice cream.

Arlo is doing well in school as well, he recognizes his written name, knows most of his colors and shapes, and I heard him counting to 20 the other day.  He's doing well on the potty; we're accident-free at home and during the pre-school portion of the school day.  He seems to be only having accidents in the later afternoon when it's more of a daycare-type setting, and even then its only a couple per week.  Lamentably, someone on the staff decided that it would be easier to teach Arlo to pee standing up since he always is getting his clothes wet if he sits and he can't pull them all the way off before having an accident.  I'm sure that's fine and dandy at the school where the toilets are 6 inches above the ground, but at home it's meant some tragic messes.  He's going completely on his own now, not announcing or asking for help and this the standing up thing is driving me crazy.  I mopped every day this week and cleaned pee of the walls, and kid you not the ceiling.  He even managed to pee in his own face.  I will be giving an open invitation to whoever put it in his head that he should pee while standing to clean my bathroom daily!

I talked with the morning teacher about his behavior as I've been discouraged to find him in time out sometimes when I come to pick him up.  She assured me that most of the problems they have with Arlo are his energy levels.  Its typically for running or throwing or not listening while running and throwing; he's not naturally a disobedient or willful child.  I've adjusted his diet to exclude sugar or sweets (including syrup on his waffles, pudding in his lunch, or sugary cereals in the morning) and the teacher said they've been having him do some jumping jacks if he starts to get wound up.  I did have a good chuckle, although not in front of him, this week.  We were leaving the play room one afternoon on our way home and we passed the time-out chair where a child was sitting in time out and Arlo looked the kid in the face and said "Hey! He's in my chair!" He was utterly serious, that kid was in his chair.  I couldn't be embarrassed because I thought it was too funny.  He better start to calm down and be less of a pain at school though!

We had Family Home evening on Tuesday night and talked about the temple.  We watched The Tale of Despereaux as our activity since we finished the book and Felicity took the AR test for it.  Let me just say it was the crappiest adaptation of a book I've ever seen, I'm convinced that whoever wrote the screenplay had never even read the book (and it had such a promising voice cast).  Arlo managed to climb onto the ledge of the tub while he was in there and pull down a razor with which he promptly cut himself.  We ended the night with a little first aid, he was irritated he couldn't suck that thumb.

I spent every night of this week sewing Halloween costumes for the kids.  I was remorseful I waited so long, and I dropped a hint that I might be considering just buying them costumes this year, but was met with riotous opposition.  The girls wanted Mom-made costumes...how could I not?  Well, I managed to get them finished, but at the expense of my sleep and my caffeine addiction recovery.  So I was a little zombie-like at work (which is still going marvelously!), but it was worth it.  Thursday afternoon, Nana went to "kids eat free" with us at Denny's and then the kids and I went visiting teaching.

 I took an hour and a half off of work on Friday to attend the Sahuarita Primary School Owl Assembly where I had heard that Helen would be receiving the "Owl"standing Award.  I think it used to be the "Owl of the Month", but now it's a quarterly thing and a boy and girl get it from each class.  Anyway, it was Helen's goal for the year to get one, so she was pretty excited.  The girls have realized by now that if I show up to one of these things it's because they're going to get something so I could tell she was surprised. They went to visit their dad Friday evening and I worked late into the night on costumes.

Saturday morning I was up early, so I got my grocery shopping done and a run in.  I hit the 1000 Kilometer mark, 621 miles.  That's just unbelievable to me.  I wish I could tell you I was finally at goal, but alas, I'm still working on it, these last 20 pounds are being so stubborn.  Or more accurately, I'm being so stubborn about actually consistently doing what I need to do to get them off.  I tend to work really hard for six weeks and then backslide for three weeks.  Still a work in progress.  Busy week ahead with the holiday, but I'll be glad to be getting good rest at night now that the costumes are done and will be back off the caffeine.  Happy week everyone!

19 October 2014

 It was a lovely week.  I'm really enjoying my new position at work.  I came back from vacation to find that my stuff had been moved from the other location and I could properly set up my desk with all my photographs and nic-nacs; the things that make my desk mine.  I'm finding that I'm not desperate to leave at the end of the day the way I had been.  I'll take that as a good sign!

We finished Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets last week, and so for Family Home Evening we watched the movie!  The kids were so excited, Arlo included.  Our lesson (not at all related to the movie- watching activity) was on memorizing scripture. We have had great success with our memory song of the month so I thought I would incorporate an Article of Faith (to reinforce what we already have memorized) and a scripture of the month.  That reminded me of the talk The Power of Scripture by Elder Richard G. Scott a few conferences ago.  He said:

“The scriptures provide the strength of authority to our declarations when they are cited correctly. They can become stalwart friends that are not limited by geography or calendar. They are always available when needed. Their use provides a foundation of truth that can be awakened by the Holy Ghost. Learning, pondering, searching, and memorizing scriptures is like filling a filing cabinet with friends, values, and truths that can be called upon anytime, anywhere in the world.

Great power can come from memorizing scriptures. To memorize a scripture is to forge a new friendship. It is like discovering a new individual who can help in time of need, give inspiration and comfort, and be a source of motivation for needed change.”

We are working on Article of Faith 1 and 1 Nephi 3:7.  We were very excited to start Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban.  I'm so happy the kids are enjoying it so much.  Even Arlo has taken to waving his spoon at the dinner table and saying, what sounds mostly like, "Wingardium Leviosa".  Too cute!

Wednesday we had Activity Days and the activity was already planned, so there wasn't much for me to do.  The girls were painting pumpkins, so Felicity got to go out to the garden and pick one to bring.  It was the perfect size, and she really enjoyed the activity.  

The kids had 1/2 days on Thursday and Friday for Parent-Teacher conferences.  On Friday, we dropped Arlo off at school and I let the girls play hooky from their half day so that we could go to the Phoenix temple open house.  This is an opportunity for any and all people to tour a new temple prior to its dedication for use by faithful members of the church.  The temple was beautiful inside and out.  While I would have loved to share the experience with Arlo, I really felt inspired to just take Helen and Felicity.  I think I was right in that we were really able to enjoy our tour.  Helen especially took her time to admire the art and ask questions, she held my hand the whole time.  Felicity counted how many paintings of Jesus Christ she saw and at one point I turned to see Helen gently run her finger around a beautifully carved door handle.  It was a little overcast and sprinkled on us when we were done.  We spent a little time in the visitor's tent and the girls were enamored with a smaller-scale replica of the Christus statue.  I've seen many pictures of children looking up to admire it, and mine were no exception.  It was almost not surprising that the first thing Helen did as she approached it was to reach up and feel the nail print in the hand.  I am so grateful for the oppotunity for the girls to go inside and feel the special spirit in the temple.  The open house will continue through November first and is open to everybody; people of all faiths.   The architecture, art, and attention to detail are stunning.  If you have the opportunity, go!  You can get tickets here, but they won't turn you away if you don't have a reservation.  Here's one of my favorite video clips about why we build temples and what they are all about: Mormon Temples: A Conversation with a Church Leader.

We borrowed a few audio books to listen to to occupy our time in the car on the way to and from Phoenix.  We ended up listening to Sarah, Plain and Tall by Patricia MacLachlan, Stone Fox by John Reynolds Gardiner, and The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo.  We felt so accomplished, what a great way to spend the time in the car.  Felicity plans to take the AR tests for them on Monday.  I went to Helen's Parent-Teacher conference when we got back.  She got straight 3's (there are things I like and some that I really don't like about the new grading method).  Basically she is achieving appropriately in all areas of first grade.  Socially she is well adjusted and is a very good student.  The only thing that concerned me, was that her teacher mentioned that she occasionally becomes frustrated and cries if she doesn't understand something or if she feels she'll be unable to do it perfectly.  Sigh, Felicity is the same way.  I don't know if this comes from things I've said and done as a mother, if perfectionism is a behavior they've learned from my modeling, or if this is just part of their personality.  I push myself, too much sometimes.  I put a lot of pressure on myself to excel in whatever I aspire to do.  While this has served me well in a lot of ways, and the same traits in the girls have helped them develop good, studios habits at school, it also makes them risk-adverse and prone to self doubt and stress.  Felicity, especially, doesn't want to try new things because she might not do it perfectly the first time.  I want them to try hard things and then fail and try again.  I don't want it to become something crippling. 

Saturday was very busy.  There was house cleaning, yard work, laundry, and grocery shopping.  We also cleaned out the truck, took it to the car wash and then for an oil change.  We then drove into Tucson to have its emission testing.  In the evening I dropped the kids off with their dad so that I could attend a single adult fireside.  The speaker was Travis Tuttle, who recently had a movie made about his experience while serving as a missionary for the church in Saratov Russia when he and his companion were abducted and held for ransom.  It was a great fireside, I enjoyed getting the "true life story" after having watched the movie a couple of times before.  I would highly recommend the film, it's called The Saratov Approach, and it's even on Netflix currently.  It's not a proselytizing film, just a faith-promoting true story.  

Such a patient, loving big sister.

We had a nice Sunday and enjoyed our meetings and had a nice dinner with my parents in the evening.  I'm hoping for a well balanced, happy week.

12 October 2014: Disneyland

 Horay for Fall Break and Vacations!  We had an amazing week.  Amazingly fun, amazingly stressful, amazingly obnoxious, amazingly happy.  The kids were home on Monday for the start of their fall break, so I worked from home in the morning and then in the afternoon we finished packing and got the house ready for our five day vacation.  I decided to fly to California this time since the kids had never flown before and I thought it would save us some time (it didn't and we'll drive next time).  My mom went with us and booked the flight leaving Tuesday morning.  Since we would be leaving so early, the kids and I spent the night at my parent's house so we could be up and off bright and early.

Tuesday morning we headed for Tucson International Airport and got through security without any problems.  The kids were very excited for their first plane ride and were fairly good in the airport and on the plane.  Arlo relished being able to drag his own suitcase.  Arlo played on the iPad and watched a movie, the girls had an activity book.  We had a short wait in Las Vegas where the kids were able to use the bathroom and we let Arlo run up and down the tunnel between the airplane and the terminal.  The staff invited Arlo to sit in the cock pit with the pilot while we waited.  We landed in Orange County and were able to get to our hotel by around 9:30am.  We stored our luggage and then headed off to Disneyland.  It was very crowded, and pretty hot.  The kids were in a relatively good mood for having been up since 4:00 that morning.  About mid day we went back to the hotel to officially check in and to let the kids take a nap.  Felicity and I headed back to the park in the late afternoon while Helen and Arlo continued to sleep.  She and I had a great time and enjoyed the rides and shared a pretzel.  She was finally tall enough to ride The Indiana Jones ride, so we did that, twice!

Wednesday morning we went to California Adventure and Arlo really enjoyed Radiator Springs.  He had his picture taken with Mater and really liked Mater's Junkyard Jamboree.  We got a fast pass for the Radiator Springs Racers, which was a lot of fun!  We spent time earning our Wilderness Explorer badges which was also a lot of fun.  Arlo and I spent most of our time climbing through the rope bridges while the girls did the tire swings.  Helen really enjoyed the Grizzly River Rapids and the Little Mermaid ride.  We had great seats on Paradise Pier for the Pixar parade, Arlo liked that a lot.  Another highlight of the day was an Aladin show which was very well done.  We spent quite a bit of time in A Bug's Land, the rides were geared more toward Arlo, although he was a little frightened by the "It's Tough to be a Bug" show (I love that one).

We were back at Disneyland on Thursday and again it was so busy!  We headed toward the back of the park at opening time and got to ride Splash Mountain twice without waiting along with the Haunted Mansion.  It was decorated for Halloween and was a lot of fun.  Felicity and I rode most of the fast rides, Helen opted out.  Arlo enjoyed sailing on The Columbia on the Rivers of America.  He and Helen also really liked Its a Small World and Winnie the Pooh.  I took them into Toon Town and Arlo and Felicity and I rode the Gadget Go Coaster and Arlo had his arms way up in the air!  Lunch was stressful as the lines were very long and seating was limited.  Grouchy, tired, and hungry kids and long lines and lots of people don't make for a good combination.  We enjoyed our day anyway, especially after having lunch and a rest.  We slept really well later that night!

Friday was our last day and we let the kids sleep in.  We had breakfast in the park and then enjoyed the rides we hadn't gotten to yet, including Pirates of the Carribean.  We did some shopping and saw all the shows we had missed earlier in the week. We got great seats for the Mickey Sound-Sational parade and the girls chose to spend the remainder of their money having their faces painted.  We also made it over to Tomorrowland and the girls were chosen from the crowd to do Jedi training, that was a lot of fun.  We rode the Buzz Light Year Astro blasters and waited in line for the Finding Nemo submarine ride.  We did some rides in Fantasyland, although the wait times were ridiculous by then.  We had treats on Main Street, and tried to have a more relaxed approach to the day.  I let the kids pick one ride each to round out our evening.  Helen picked Winnie the Pooh, Arlo picked the Astro Orbitor, and Felicity wanted to ride The Matterhorn.   The park closed at 7 for a Halloween Party which was a good thing because we were pretty tired and starting to get crabby.  We finished up our souvenir shopping and headed back to the hotel.  After dinner we watched the fireworks from Nana's room.

We were up early and at the airport for our departure flight Saturday morning.  We had a little trouble with our boarding passes, but everything else went really smoothly.  We ended up back home around 1PM.  It was a fun trip, but it was a lot of work, especially keeping a handle on Arlo.  The kids went to spend the rest of the weekend with their dad and I did the laundry and unpacked.  We had a nice quiet Sunday and the kids went to bed early.  I think I need a vacation now that our vacation is over!  Back to work and school on Monday.

 

05 October 2014

Oh, what a week!  So I had grand plans of making up extra time for vacation by working some additional hours from home this week, but I had computer problems all week at work which made things a little stressful and less than productive.  I did manage to get in a few hours toward next week’s vacation.

It was relatively quiet around here for the most part.  I taught my first Activity Days on Wednesday.  I brought Helen and Arlo with me, and I don't think I'll be doing that again, they were such a distraction.  We talked about the importance of maintaining a healthy, active lifestyle.  We tried a variety of activities from running two laps around the building, to learning the yoga sun salutations, working on our buns and thighs with a 20 minute Pilates routine, and ended with some Just Dance Disney.  I think the girls had fun and we all got in our exercise.

 Thursday evening I was so tired that we just went to Denny's for Kids Eat Free dinner.  The kids did really well.  They ate well, they sat nicely, and it was pleasant...until I got up to pay.  Arlo took off and Felicity went off after him.  I'm standing in line, trying to pay my ticket and two of my kids are running all over the place.  Then they found their way back to the table and Arlo took off his shoes.  When I finished paying I came back to find his shoes and help him get them on.  He wanted to take his water (which he ALWAYS spills) in the car with us and when I told him "no" he threw himself onto the floor for a full blown-arms flailing-legs kicking-screaming at the top of his lungs temper tantrum.  It was embarrassing and what made it worse was an elderly couple nearby shot me a nasty look and the gentleman made a comment about what a brat Arlo was.  I stood there just exhausted and frustrated; tears stinging in my eyes, arms hanging hopelessly down.  I apologized to the couple, explaining he was only two, and drug Arlo out of the restaurant, still screaming and kicking.  Once everyone was loaded up in the truck I just sat there for a few moments and cried.  Some days I feel totally spent.

Friday morning I got up with the intention of putting in a long run.  The weather was beautiful and I was feeling really energetic.  I dropped the kids off at school and then set out.  I decided that I would run 10 miles.  After I got to the half-way point, somewhere along La Vallita between Sahuarita Road and Rancho Sahuarita Blvd., I reasoned that if I only went another mile and a half before turning around I would hit 13.1 total miles; a half marathon.  So I went for it.  Around mile 9 I was regretting that decision and miles 11-13 were pretty slow going, but I made it.  I couldn't believe it.  I ran a half marathon!  I took a short rest and then picked Arlo up from preschool and he and I went grocery shopping and finished up the house cleaning and laundry in preparation for our trip.  We had pizza and watched Old Yeller as our family movie in the evening.

It was General Conference weekend, so the kids and I enjoyed watching conference and having donuts for breakfast.  I printed activity packets for the girls and coloring sheets for Arlo.  They had a conference BINGO card and the girls each got a journal with a picture of the speaker and place to write about what they spoke on.  I will say they were pretty well behaved and attentive.  My favorite talks given this weekend were Approaching the Throne of God with Confidence by Elder Jorg Klebingat and Are We Not All Beggars? by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.  I know there were others that I really enjoyed, but these are the two that stuck out to me.  In between sessions on Saturday, we went out for lunch and started to pack for our trip. 

Sunday was spent much like Saturday; in our PJs in front of the computer absorbing messages from our inspired church leaders.  The girls and I painted our nails and at some point Arlo got a hold of the nail polish and managed to paint his lips and flick it all over his face, torso, and hands.  I just laughed that one off and took a picture, little booger.  I let the girls go through the change jar and pick out quarters and pennies to take with us on vacation next week.  I told them they could smash the pennies in the souvenir shops and I would make something out of the smashed pennies.  I'm really looking forward to a week off!