Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Great Attitudes get us through
Today when I picked the boys up from school Ash got in the car and was totally excited about passing another level in "mountain math". He said, "Mom! I passed the next level of mountain math- and it only took me FIVE tries!" He made me smile because no matter what the occassion, no matter what stands in his way, he is always positive. So, if you try something once, twice, three times or four times and you still don't get it, keep working at it. Don't give up! Someday you will get to the top of your own mountain math. And just like Ash, you will be proud of your accomplishment.
Tuesday, February 8, 2011
Journal Starters
I found a fun list of journal starters that sounded interesting and inspired me to write in my blog more. Every once in a while I will try to use one to jumpstart my writing again. Today's topic is "Describe a childhood friend and what you did with him or her".
I would have to pick Jocelyn Hunter. Perhaps it wasn't EVERY day, but most days after school I would call Jocey (jaw-see) and ask her if she could play. If she said yes, my mom would open our back gate and Jocey's mom would open her back gate then I would walk through the back alley into her yard to play. We played Barbies A LOT, played house or school, rode our bikes and swam. I also remember going to the Tempe public library with her. When we would swim we would pretend to be Strawberry Shortcake and it was one of the only times I enjoyed having red hair as a kid because I could say, " I have to be Strawberry Shortcake because I have red hair. YOU can be the bad guy." Nobody ever wanted to be the bad guy. We always played at her house insted of mine because she was afraid of teenagers. As the youngest of six children, there were always teenagers at my house.
As many kids do, I became a bad friend as we got older. Long about 6th grade I began to think I was too cool to play with someone younger than me. There were girls my age who were in the "cool group" whom Jocelyn didn't like. I had to make a choice and unfortunately, I chose the wrong friends. I wish I could go back and change my actions but I can't. Thankfully, Jocelyn has a forgiving heart and we are friends again. She was a great friend and I couldn't imagine my childhood without her.
I would have to pick Jocelyn Hunter. Perhaps it wasn't EVERY day, but most days after school I would call Jocey (jaw-see) and ask her if she could play. If she said yes, my mom would open our back gate and Jocey's mom would open her back gate then I would walk through the back alley into her yard to play. We played Barbies A LOT, played house or school, rode our bikes and swam. I also remember going to the Tempe public library with her. When we would swim we would pretend to be Strawberry Shortcake and it was one of the only times I enjoyed having red hair as a kid because I could say, " I have to be Strawberry Shortcake because I have red hair. YOU can be the bad guy." Nobody ever wanted to be the bad guy. We always played at her house insted of mine because she was afraid of teenagers. As the youngest of six children, there were always teenagers at my house.
As many kids do, I became a bad friend as we got older. Long about 6th grade I began to think I was too cool to play with someone younger than me. There were girls my age who were in the "cool group" whom Jocelyn didn't like. I had to make a choice and unfortunately, I chose the wrong friends. I wish I could go back and change my actions but I can't. Thankfully, Jocelyn has a forgiving heart and we are friends again. She was a great friend and I couldn't imagine my childhood without her.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Life Update
No memorable life experiences in this post, just day to day business. Since I use this blog as a quasi-journal I figured I need to put some of this stuff in here.
First, we got Aspen and Ash's report cards this week. Overall they are both doing well. However, Aspen is beginning to fall behind in his reading- something he has always struggled with. The teacher and I have been monitoring it very closely since the beginning of the year because he has had trouble in the past and so far he was barely in the "normal" rage. He has now fallen below and needs to pick up his game.
Ash got a few poor marks because he doesn't do his homework as often as he should. Wait, let me rephrase that. He NEVER does his homework- literally. During our last parent teacher conference I asked the teacher to explain how she wants the homework done. Even Dallas and I were confused by her directions. If we can't get it I don't expect Ash, a second grader, to understand it. Needless to say, we don't do his assigned homework with him but I do read with him every night. The teacher has him reading things like "Froggy goes to the Dentist" at school while at home he is reading "Charlotte's Web". I am not worried about him getting an education. No matter what, he will be taught to read and write, at least at home.
Dallas has been sick for the past couple of days. He has a cold and a really nasty cough. One of the guys at work claims he accidently gave it to him and apologized this morning. Hopefully he will begin to feel better soon.
Speaking of Dallas, he got a new calling in the ward- cubmaster. I don't know how he really feels about it because he doesn't talk much about things like that, just shrugs his shoulders. He said yes though so I guess he doesn't think it is THAT bad.
Homeschooling is going fine. We finished reading Tom Sawyer and now Alexis is on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde while Aiden is on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Aiden said he may want to go back to public school in the fall. I am fine with his decision. As long as he sticks with a decision and doesn't think he can quit whenever he wants to, I am happy to support whichever path he wants. Alexis on the other hand has no desire to ever step foot inside another school. She is done and frankly, she is so self motivated that I can see her going a lot further with homeschooling that I can with regular school.
First, we got Aspen and Ash's report cards this week. Overall they are both doing well. However, Aspen is beginning to fall behind in his reading- something he has always struggled with. The teacher and I have been monitoring it very closely since the beginning of the year because he has had trouble in the past and so far he was barely in the "normal" rage. He has now fallen below and needs to pick up his game.
Ash got a few poor marks because he doesn't do his homework as often as he should. Wait, let me rephrase that. He NEVER does his homework- literally. During our last parent teacher conference I asked the teacher to explain how she wants the homework done. Even Dallas and I were confused by her directions. If we can't get it I don't expect Ash, a second grader, to understand it. Needless to say, we don't do his assigned homework with him but I do read with him every night. The teacher has him reading things like "Froggy goes to the Dentist" at school while at home he is reading "Charlotte's Web". I am not worried about him getting an education. No matter what, he will be taught to read and write, at least at home.
Dallas has been sick for the past couple of days. He has a cold and a really nasty cough. One of the guys at work claims he accidently gave it to him and apologized this morning. Hopefully he will begin to feel better soon.
Speaking of Dallas, he got a new calling in the ward- cubmaster. I don't know how he really feels about it because he doesn't talk much about things like that, just shrugs his shoulders. He said yes though so I guess he doesn't think it is THAT bad.
Homeschooling is going fine. We finished reading Tom Sawyer and now Alexis is on Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde while Aiden is on The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Aiden said he may want to go back to public school in the fall. I am fine with his decision. As long as he sticks with a decision and doesn't think he can quit whenever he wants to, I am happy to support whichever path he wants. Alexis on the other hand has no desire to ever step foot inside another school. She is done and frankly, she is so self motivated that I can see her going a lot further with homeschooling that I can with regular school.
Monday, January 17, 2011
Funny Joke
Every morning before we leave for work I leave a list of chores or reminders on the whiteboard for the kids. Sometimes I will make the chores silly, like give mom a back rub, rub mom's corns, file mom's toenails, etc. This morning Dallas got into the act and gave everyone the day off of chores except for Aiden. He gave Aiden a huge list of real chores but had no intention of following through with it since it was a holiday for the kids.
My mom woke up and assumed Aiden had gotten in trouble and she made him do every single chore on the list while none of the other kids did anything. Hahaha! He ended up vaccuming the entire house, sweeping, mopping, scrubbing the bathroom, cleaning out the car, cleaning the family room and getting my mom a drink every time she wanted one. He tried telling mom it was obviously a joke but she didn't believe him. Thankfully he was a good sport about it, did the chores and was able to see the humor in it at the end of the day. (The fact that he is exempt from chores for the next few days probably helped too.)
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