Wordless (not)Wednesday

I had this one planned all week and then somehow I blinked and totally missed Wednesday so here it is...

Zach turns 13! (When did he get that big?)

Monday was Zach's 13th birthday. Ken and I went shopping on Monday night to see what we could find for a present for him. I have a limit on what I will spend on birthday's and with the little kids it's almost too much money but with the big kids it doesn't cover anything. I wasn't getting him a cell phone, I don't want to pay that much for an ipod and any type of video game system has been outed since we are trying really hard to work on grades this year. So we were stumped and went home with nothing. I asked him that evening what he wanted for his birthday. He smiled and said "Lots of things, but not anything you can afford." I guess he put me in my place.

Ken picked him up the next day after track and they went shopping together. What he came home with was definitely not what I would have picked out for him. After agreeing to pay his Dad for a portion of it, he came home with a portable DVD player. He is one happy kid. He also wanted an Oreo pie with Oreo ice cream. That I could do!

So, here's 13 things about Zach:

1. He is in 7th grade. (AHH, I have a kid in Jr. High!)

2. He has joined the cross country team over at the Jr. High this year. Since he is attending the charter school and they don't offer sports, we pick him up after school and take him over to the Jr. High each day so that he can participate with that schools team. His school gets out about 45 minutes before the Jr. High does so it's been a slight pain for me but he loves it so I suppose it's worth the inconvenience!

3. He has become very social this year. His confidence level is so high. He seems to have no problem being friendly to everyone.

4. He has his dad's natural curly hair. Every time I cut it, it comes back in curlier.

5. He loves to play the electric guitar. I really need to get him in lessons but for now he just hauls his guitar and amp to school (along with his lunch box, trapper keeper, and backpack!) 3 days a week.

6. He enjoys performing in front of people. His dance class in school last year helped teach him a little but when he spent the last 3 months preparing for the youth temple performance he really decided that was alot of fun. I don't know how much he'll continue with "dancing" but he enjoys being the center of attention.

7. His favorite sports are still basketball and baseball but he has added track to this list.

8. He is the deacon's quorum president in our ward.

9. He spent the entire summer reading Twilight and mowing my lawn. He had hopes of working out in Rupert on Grandpa's farm but with the youth celebration to prepare for each week, I made him stick around here for the summer. He'll be gone soon enough. I was thankful for one more summer!

10. He enjoys helping other people, especially his YM leaders. I likes the responsibility and the opportunity to interact with other people, and he really likes his YM leaders so I think he'd do anything they asked.

11. His electives in school this year are Creative Writing, Publishing(the school's year book, newpaper, and web page), Instruments, and Specialty Art(which is, according to Zach, full of more "special" art things than the regular 7th grade art class).

12. He has allergies to things outside, which we knew, but this month we discovered his allergies trigger his asthma. He would come home from cross country coughing and almost in tears because it hurt so bad to breathe. I took him in to the doctor and he put him on an inhaler. The first day he used it, his coach asked him where he had been hiding his energy button. Now he can't seem to run far enough or hard enough. Apparently, breathing is a pretty important part of running.

13. And finally, his favorite book series is still Harry Potter, though Twilight may have moved into a close second. I have been thrilled to just see him reading.

Happy Birthday Zach! We love you!

Bye, Bye Binkie

This week we said good bye to this:
We lost them all I decided I wasn't going to buy anymore. Henry is 18 months. It's time to be a big boy! He also is not talking at all so before I consider outside help, I want to see if pulling this out of his mouth changes things at all.

Now we see lots of this:

And hear lots and lots of this:

He was really attached. He is learning how to console himself in other ways now and he is slowly learning that he really can live without his plug. It's been a really rough week though!

I'm really missing this silly little boy:

This is as close to a smile as we have come in over a week.

Is it worth it?

Helpy?

KATE: Mom, can I help you?
ME: Sure! (I hand her a bag of groceries to take in the house) Wow, Kate! You are such a great helper.
KATE: I know! It's because I'm helpy and strong.
ME: Helpy and strong?
KATE: You know, in our prayers we ask Heavenly Father to make us helpy and strong?
ME(laughing a little): Your prayers are working then aren't they.
KATE: Yep!

My brain hurts....

My kids aren't the only ones who started school this week. After taking 15 years off to live my dream job of being a stay-at-home mom and supporting my husband in getting through his education and a few solid years in his career, I've decided it's now my turn. I've gone back to school!

I am currently taking 17 credits. I have Intermediate Algebra, English 101, Music Appreciation, Health and Wellness, and Fundamentals of Education and the Field Study class that goes with it. They are all online classes except the Field Study class (it's one hour on Monday and several hours a week in a classroom) so I'm still home with my kids but instead of blogging all day, I'm studying. I haven't worked my brain this hard in years and it's just the first week.

I'm not sure why I thought I could do this. I've only broken out in tears twice (each day) so far. It's just all so foreign to me. They didn't even have the internet when I was last in school. We had to go to class and stare at the white pull-down canvas at the front of the room that was covered in BoxElder bugs (I went to Utah State). The lecture was done on an overhead projector. I remember when Ken came home from school and talked about this new thing called email and the World Wide Web. It all blew my mind. I couldn't even get my mind around what he was talking about. Then we moved to BYU and bought a real computer, got hooked up to the Ethernet, and I watched over his shoulder as he did research online and made class presentations using Power Point.

Ken gave his yearly back-to-school father's blessings to the kids on Sunday. I told him I was starting school on Monday also. He just laughed at me. I'm not sure that he realized how serious I really was. I'm scared to death! I'm just asking my teachers lots and lots of questions and making lots and lots of mistakes. (I hope they are patient!) I had to turn in an English paper to confirm correct placement. I submitted it in the wrong format. I've never even heard of MLA but now I know all about it and I'll turn the next one in correctly. Ken, who is an English graduate, started to read my paper and after completely tearing apart my first two sentences, I left the room in tears and he kindly closed the paper and didn't finish reading it. (I haven't heard back yet if she thinks I'm in the right class yet so I'm still crossing my fingers.) I just keep telling myself that "I'm learning!" and it's good to "DO HARD THINGS!" I'll figure it out. I'm determined! Next week will be a better week.

For now, tomorrow is Friday and it's our county fair this weekend so I'm going to go to the rodeo, ride the carnival rides, eat lots of greasy fair food, look at all the craft entry's (my favorite), enter all the free give aways and fill my lungs with the sweet, clean air of animals, dirt, and this great community of Twin Falls, ID that I call home!

Wordless Wednesday

2008-2009 school year has begun!

The kids are all over at the Charter School this year. Hooray! Last year Alexys was in a different school and while that was a good experience for her, I'm so happy to have them all in the same school this year. Zach was determined to play sports this year so he was convinced he was going to the Jr. High. We withdrew him from Xavier Charter and registered him over at Robert Stuart J.H. and we got his schedule and met his teachers and found all his classrooms. He started cross country and he thought life was really good. I struggled with his decision but I told him that if he would pray about it and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, I would support him in whatever he decided. Registration for Xavier was next day so I left Zach home babysitting and took the other 3 over to meet their teachers. While there, several teachers talked to me about Zach. I was told that he could actually do sports in the other school and still attend Xavier. They were proposing to the school board that night to allow the remaining 7th and 8th grade students on the waiting list to be admitted in and that if I put his name on the waiting list, he would probably be able to get back in this year. I went home to visit with Zach about this new option. At first he was very against going back to Xavier. By the end of the evening, he had thought about it and decided that if he could get back in, then he would go another year. The next morning he came into my room bright and early to see if I had received a phone call yet. I hadn't but I agreed to call them as soon as someone was in the office. The proposal was approved and we headed over to move his records back. He was still a little hesitant but willing to see what happened. He met with the principal, who is actually one of his favorite people over there, and she helped him work up his schedule. Then she visited with him about his decision and gave him lots of positive reinforcement, which as a mother, I am so thankful that she cares enough to take a personal interest in him. As he walked out of the building, several of his teachers saw him and asked him if he was returning. When he said yes, their responses were cheers and hugs and lots of hoorays! One teacher even pulled him in to meet a couple of the new teachers and introduced him as a favorite who was lots of fun and a great student. Once again, I was so thankful for these adult leaders who took a personal interest in my son. Sometimes as a parent, I can only take my children so far and then I find myself looking to other adults who will step in and take their hands when I can't. Zach seems to be at this point and I can't raise him alone any more but I'm not about to turn his life over to just anybody either so I find myself praying for good church leaders and teachers and that they will recognize his needs and be those answers that he needs. My sister just posted about her children's first day of school and she talked about how no one else will care for or protect her children like she does as their mother. I'm learning that I have to turn my faith over to the Lord and allow him to work miracles in our lives. So, as we drove home that day, Zach was so happy. I asked him how he felt about everything and he said, "It's like the decision to go to Robert Stuart was a good choice but Xavier is the better choice." After we discussed how answers to our prayers often come through our feelings, we then talked about how one decision led to the next and in the end his answer is that he gets the best of both worlds, the education at Xavier and the sports at Robert Stuart. (Ken says I'm wishy-washy. I say I like to explore ALL my options.)

Alexys- 1st grade


Shaelynne-3rd grade


Justyn- 5th grade


Zachary- 7th grade