So Sad...

Yesterday was a tragic day for our little town. Five kids ages 12-15 died when their car slid off an icy road into a 20 ft. deep pond. The water was 38 degrees and it was two hours before rescuers pulled them out. Somehow at least a few were still alive when they were found but by 2:30pm they had all died. Pretty sad, huh? It gets worse. Three of the kids were from one family and the other two were from another. The family who lost the set of three also lost a two year old a couple years ago. I can't imagine enduring the excruciating pain of losing one child, let alone two or three. These kids are from two LDS families who live in Sweet, one of our tiny outlying towns. They were driving in to Emmett for school when it happened. I've seen these kids around town and at community events although I didn't know them personally. I'm hoping we can all say a prayer or two for these families. I'm sure they could use as much comfort as they can get. Here is a link to an article in the Idaho Statesman about the accident if you'd like to know more. http://www.idahostatesman.com/273/story/73387.html

This Week...

Not much has been going on this past week. The kids were off school all week due to Presidents Day, two teacher in-services and two days of parent/teacher conferences. Austin and Amanda took turns going to work with Aaron all week. They love to go with him and spend one-on-one time with him. Aaron loves it too. He enjoys seeing how different each kid is when they're on their own rather than in their pecking order. Lauren thinks going to work is "boring" but she does sometimes like to hang out at the shop with him.

We had our parent/teacher conferences on Wednesday and they went really well. Lauren is expected to be at a "level 8" in reading but she's at "level 14"! Not bad. Her teacher also says she has perfect penmanship, which is a first in our family. Amanda is doing great, she received almost all "oustandings" on her report card. Austin had a little bit of a rocky start in the beginning of the year but now has almost all A's and is on the honor roll. I'm so proud of them for working hard and having the desire to do well.

Another Year Older...

Today is my birthday. According to my kids I am 32 years old now. I think I stopped counting at around 25 but for some reason my kids keep track and remind me every year of how old I really am. Actually, I'm not too bothered by my increasing age. So far I am enjoying my thirties much more than my twenties. With my kids being older I have less stress and more fun in my life. I just recently realized that I can now begin to focus on some personal goals of my own (something I kind of put aside when the kids were little). Here are some of the things I am planning for my thirty second year of life:

1) This year I will finally get around to taking a photography class or two. I've talked about it long enough. It's time to actually do it.

2) Working on this blog has reminded me how much I used to love to write. I've been thinking that this year I might try to write some articles to submit to either Ensign magazine or a parenting magazine. I don't know that I have what it takes to get them published but I will be just as happy that I tried.

3) I really want to focus more on healthy living. I want to eat healthy and exercise regularly. Not because I want to show off a great body but because I want this body to last me a long time. There are a lot of things I want to do later in life and I really don't want those things limited by bad health.

4) I am really looking forward to the end of July. That is when I will get to spend 4 days in San Antonio, Texas with my 5 buddies from high school (Rachel, Jodi, Mandy, Leah and Thorey). I believe there is a feeling among us that we are kindred spirits and that we will always belong to each other. We are now spread out through four different states but our hearts are always with each other. It will be a blast to all be in to same place at once!

I think thirty two is going to be great. Here's to another year!

Lauren Lost a Tooth!

The long awaited day has finally arrived. Lauren has been enviously watching all her friends at school lose their teeth, wondering when her turn will finally come. A week or so ago we noticed that her bottom tooth was really loosening up and since then she's been eagerly helping it on it's way out. Last night after I tucked her in to bed she worked on it some more and she was so excited when it actually came out. The only disappointing part was that everyone else was asleep so she had no one to tell!

Love My Puppies

These are my precious pooches, Opie and Sadie. Opie is the one on my lap. Apparently, we forgot to tell him that he's a little big to be a lap dog. He is such a big teddy bear who pretty much demands love and attention but also loves to give it. He has many idiosyncrasies that make him very unique and entertaining. Sadie is a great dog too. She's extremely smart and loves to chase anything you throw for her. She has a love for water and will jump into the river even in the middle of winter (Opie prefers not to get his footsies wet). They were outside dogs until winter rolled around and poor Opie was just shivering and shaking in his dog house. I would go out and tuck him in at night, piling blankets on top of him, but he still didn't seem to stay warm. Finally we realized we were going to have to bring them in or Opie would freeze to death. They have done great as indoor dogs and it is fun having them be more a part of the family.

Amanda's Program

Friday afternoon Amanda had her third grade musical program. Each third grade class performed a song and/or dance representing a different cultural group and they all wore tie-dyed shirts . Amanda's class performed "Follow the Drinking Gourd" which was a song the slaves in America used to sing. The kids got to make a maraca-like instrument with an actual gourd and they used these during their song. The whole program was really good and each class did really great with their presentations. One thing that bothered me though was that they held it at 2:00 in the afternoon. The kids put a lot of effort into this program and then they held it at a time when so many of their parents couldn't come. Who's idea was that?

Motherhood

I feel so blessed that I have been able to be a stay-at-home-mom since the day Austin came into the world. Being a SAHM has been great and there is nothing I would have rather been doing during these past 11 years of my life. Motherhood has always been rewarding but definitely hasn't always been easy. I remember when all 3 kids were little and Aaron worked ALL the time. There were more than a few occassions I thought I would lose my mind. There were even more occassions when I felt I had no idea what I was doing and questioned why I had thought I could be successful as a mother. Those were tough days but the good news is...we survived them. We have moved past those crazy, chaotic years into much more relaxing ones. As I watch the way my kids live their lives I am beginning to think that MAYBE, inspite of all my blundering, I actually did something right. Two weeks ago Austin was playing at his friend's house and accidently broke an irrigation pipe. He came home very upset because he knew he needed to tell his friend's dad what had happened and facing this man was pretty scary for him. I was so proud of him when he went over there that evening to make things right. About a week later Aaron and I went out on a date and the kids stayed home with a babysitter. They were all watching "Willie Wonka" when nine o'clock rolled around and the kids suddenly turned the TV off to go to bed. The sitter told them she was sure it would be okay if they stayed up until the movie was over but they insisted that they go to bed then, because I had told them to be in bed at 9pm. This absolutely shocked the sitter who usually has to wrestle kids into going to bed. Two days ago Austin's teacher who is quite a grumpy woman, unfairly blamed him for something he didn't do. In his frustration, he said something to her with a bit of an attitude. The next morning he apologized to her, knowing that what he had said was disrespectful. She told him cheerfully that he was 100% forgiven and she was unusually nice the rest of the day. I know I sound like a prideful bragging mother but the truth is, these kids seem to be turning out pretty good. I love that they have integrity. I love that they are willing to do what's right even when it's uncomfortable. I love that they have compassion for others. There are so many things that I love and admire about them. My point in all of this is really not to pat myself on the back for a job well done. Honestly, it is more of a sigh of relief. What a RELIEF it is that they seem to be on their way to becoming good, responsible, people with a strong desire to do what is right. Now, if we can only make it through the teen years....

New Look

Well, I decided it was time for a blog makeover. I am so proud of myself for coming up with this new look (although, all I did was tweak a template). Thank you Meggan for getting me started. Hopefully it will inspire me to write more often.

Lauren's New Baby...

I should have updated earlier that Lauren finally found a guinea pig. I think we found her right after my "guinea pig quest" post. She's very sweet and Lauren named her Violet. Unfortunately, Amanda's guinea pig is a bit of a stinker and keeps picking on Violet. If Violet tries to enter the dome they like to hide out in, Magic chases her right back out. Last night before I went to bed I went in to check on Lauren (will I do this forever?) and discovered there were only two little balls of fluff in the cage. Violet was gone. I was a little baffled until I realized Lauren was fast asleep with the light on and her books still spread across her bed. I lifted the covers a bit and there was Violet underneath, snuggled right up against Lauren. Lauren had fallen asleep before she could put her back and turn off the light. I'm sure Violet would have been perfectly happy to continue snoozing there but with the way Lauren sleeps, she would have never survived the night.