Trying to be girly

If you know me, you know that I have a difficult time with some things that just come naturally to most women.  Make-up is a mystery to me.  Style is a struggle.  Hairstyling is such a hassle.  Amanda better make friends with some girls and women that are good at these things or she's doomed to look like her mom.  THE HORROR, THE HORROR!!

However, we did receive a mud mask when we attended our Relief Society Birthday party last week.  Amanda was absolutely intrigued and kept asking me when we were going to do it.  So in an attempt to introduce her to one thing girly, we decided to try it out.  Slathering mud all over your face shouldn't be too tough, right?  I think she was much more impressed with it in the package than she was with it on her face.  But we had fun and here are the picks to prove it, and I have to admit that I don't look half bad in the pic of the two of us together.

Don't we look rested?

405 minutes

School fund raisers.  Those three little words can drive me crazy on so many different levels.  First, I find it frustrating that they even have to exist.  In my perfect world, they wouldn't be necessary.  However, in my perfect world, teachers and professional atheletes/entertainers would swap salaries.  It would be a sacrifice, but one that I'd be willing to make.

I should count my blessings because Amanda has only had to participate in two fund raisers so far this year.  The first found us trying to sell a box of 48 candy bars for a dollar each.  This is my least favorite of the two.  I have a hard time sending Amanda out to sell an over priced item to friends and family knowing that only half of that money at best will go to her school.  However we participated, and this year I only ended up having to buy 11 candy bars.

This most recent fund raiser was a Read-a-Thon. I like this format much better because all of the money raised goes to the school, and Amanda is engaged in a worthwhile activity to raise the money.  She obtained pledges and then read like crazy; 405 minutes in 2 weeks!  Thanks to generous pledges from my family and ward members, she was able to raise $83.  This turned out to be enough to earn 2nd place in her class for which she won 4 passes to go ice skating at the Ice Sheet.  She was ecstatic!

Well tonight, we redeemed 2 of the passes.  I was a bit trepidatious because the only other time I have been ice skating was a Young Women activity when I was 12.  I remember spending much more time on my butt than on the skate.  I was expecting this experience to be much the same.  However, I'm happy to say that we had a GREAT time!  Amanda only fell 4 times, and I actually only fell once!  Sorry we don't have any pictures to document the occasion.  I didn't think my phone would fare too well sandwiched between the ice and my fanny.  Maybe we'll get some pictures next time.

Warning!

Too much multi-tasking and too much on my fragile little brain can lead to this!

Surprise Encounter

Some people may say that there are few perks to being a teacher.  First on the list would be those glorious summers off work.  Hopefully that will be the topic of many posts in the future (actually in 7 months, but hey who's counting).  A lesser known perk especially to elementary teachers are the rare opportunities when you get to see students outside of the school setting.

That's just what happened tonight.  Amanda and I were at Walmart getting a rotisserie chicken for dinner, and we saw one of my students and his family.  Of course, he didn't want to acknowledge my presence, but his brothers sure did.  His little brother was quite happy to see me.  Then his older brother saw me, and with this look of amazement on his face, he says, "Why aren't you in your classroom?"

Absolutely priceless!

The LOOK!!!

We had a fabulous Halloween, but I will post more about that later. There are much more pressing matters at hand. My salvation!

We worried that we wouldn't make it to church on time today because my new bed loves me so much that I didn't wake up until 10:00. Ahhhhhhh! However, after much scurrying and rushing we made it, and on time no less. Quite an accomplishment! If I am teaching Amanda nothing else, I am teaching her how to get ready quickly.

We sat behind the cutest little family with 2 boys ages approximately 3 years and 9 months. I was playing with the baby a little bit by pulling faces at him and patting his hands. We were both pretty happy with that arrangement. But all good things must come to an end and his mom had to take him out to change him. Cue the older brother...

We started off innocently enough by sharing fruit snacks with him. Then Amanda's pocket calendar caught his eye. Knowing that Amanda would be upset if he took this, I quickly made a paper beak for him. Not wanting Amanda to feel left out, I made one for her as well. The boy's hand proved to be too small to make the beak open and close so he handed it back to me. Let the fun begin! That crazy beak chomped on his fingers, his nose, his ear, his cheek and his chin. All of this was met with quiet little giggles that progressively got a little louder. Next, the beak turned into a hat and sat on his head. This was met by a little squeal and he knocked the hat off his head. This action proved to change the rules of the game. Sensing that he didn't really like the hat, the beak came back. However, the response was the same as it was for the hat. He quickly swatted the beak away and was quite please with himself for doing so. Of course he wasn't afraid to voice it. After a few more attempts and close to raucous laughter, the moment came.....

Amanda taps my shoulder, give me the look and commands in quite a firm voice, "Mom, STOP!" The mother of the little boy got a better view of "the look" than I did, and she quickly turned away. By the shaking of her shoulders I could tell that she was laughing about as hard as I was.

And there you have it. I was officially chastised by my 6 year old for inappropriate church behavior! I won't be surprised if she doesn't let us sit by that cute little family again.

So I'm a little slow....

Well, I'm only about a month late. My brother and his wife welcomed a baby girl into their family in August. (Forgive me for not remembering the exact date. That old age thing is really kicking in.) Amanda and I had the wonderful opportunity of going to the baby blessing in September.

It was a great trip. We met my mom and dad in Burley, and then rode with them the rest of the way to Prosser, WA. We got to Steve & Nicolle's house on Friday evening and had Nicolle and little Ellie all to ourselves. We felt so SPOILED and got some great photo ops!
On Saturday morning, there was a hot air balloon festival in Prosser. About 25 balloons launched that morning and it was a pretty neat sight to see. I'll post some pics of that later.

We got to spend the rest of the day with Steve & Nicolle, and Lori & Curtis made it to Prosser as well. Nicolle's family made it to Prosser later that day. Nicolle has a niece that is about Amanda's age and she and Amanda hit it off. It was a lot of fun to watch them play, and I'm sure Amanda felt that Kirsten was a welcome relief from all of the adult company she had endured to that point.

All in all, we spent about 20 hours in the car to get to WA and to get home, but every minute of it was worth it to be able to spend some time with my brother, his wife and their new little munchkin. Just wished they lived a little closer so we could see them more often.

Time For Thanks

At 10:38 on a Sunday night, I look back over the past week (which has seemed like several) and feel thankful. First, I'm thankful that I made it to this point. Parent Teacher Conference week is always draining, but the conferences went well.

I'm grateful for a family friend that treated Sunshine (our parakeet). Hopefully it really is an absess and will heal and not a tumor like he originally thought.

My great Aunt passed away recently and her funeral was Saturday. I was fortunate to have 2 great aunts and uncles live within a block of me growing up. I was able to get to know them and also get to know my grandparents through them. Their generation truly is the greatest generation, I'm grateful for their influence in my life and I miss them very much.

I'm thankful for amazing parents that do so much for me and Amanda. It was so nice to have them come to the Primary program today and have dinner with us. We are very spoiled!

I have an AMAZING daughter who teaches me so much. She is so sweet, kind, caring, and tender-hearted. I am so proud of her, and can't imagine what life would be like without her. Loved the fact that during the funeral she told me that she would buy my casket when I die.

Bottom line is: I am VERY blessed and VERY grateful!