Kindergarten

Today i am registering McKayla for Kindergarten. She is very excited, but would like to start tomorrow. She is my oldest child and I worry about her entering the public school system during a time when cuts are being made right and left. The teachers have to be discouraged, there are no supplies, and parents can't really do lot to help the situation. I know that the teachers are doing their best not to let this affect their teaching, but can they do it? I worry that McKayla will end up in a classroom with a teacher that is frustrated and doesn't want to deal with it any more. Having good teachers is so important. I had a couple of bad teachers in elementary and it was not a good thing. Somehow I figured I was stupid and a C average was all I could achieve. Then I had some great teachers during my jr high/ high school years that made me believe that I could do better than that. Oddly enough I did. I am grateful for the teachers that believed in me. Due to their belief I went on and received a degree and will some day earn a masters. However, back to McKayla. What is in store for her? How long will the Idaho government keep cutting? How will the school districts manage? I feel sad because my kids will have a less fulfilling education. Extra art or humanities will be cut, no field trips, no science experiments, no extra incentives. I have been worried about this for a while and Chad and I are going to make an extra effort to try to supplement their education. We want to be able to take them on field trips to help them further what they are learning at school. We want to try and make education exciting in any possible. I am also going to try and help out in the classroom if it is at all possible. I pray that our economy will recover soon and that education will once again be pushed to the front of the line.

Dance, Dance, Dance

McKayla had her first grand dance experience. It was an all day event that included 9other dance companies. Thankfully McKayla was in the first 2 hours. We stayed longer to watch my nieces dance and then we left. McKayla did so great. She wasn't the best dancer, but she was the most enthusiastic. I told Chad that I simply wanted her to have fun. There is no way that I am going to make her practice and practice and then yell if she gets it wrong. (Not that I know what that is like). Instead I told her to dance because she loves to dance. I loved watching her. Her dance teacher set up a daddy/daughter dance called "Cinderella" It was so cute. Chad practiced really hard so that he wouldn't mess up. I am grateful that he worked hard for McKayla and I am glad she had so much fun. In May, she will have a dance recital that only her dance company will be at, so that will be nice because it won't take all day. I wonder how long she will want to dance until she finds something else to entertain her.

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Hair Cut

McKayla was able to go to her first hair appointment. She has been very excited to do this and it really needed to be done. We have never really done anything with her hair except for cutting some bangs. Her hair is naturally curly so I never noticed how uneven and nasty the ends were. Then one day I decided to straighten it. Wow! He hair was so uneven and needed some real help. I hoped she wouldn't be too upset when she saw how much hair needed to be trimmed away. It does look shorter, but more healthy and full. I couldn't take her to the appointment due to an unexpected change of plans, so Chad took her and took all of the pictures. I am happy that she is so excited, yet I feel sad because she is getting so big. So here is a slide show of the pictures that Chad took of McKayla's first hair appointment!

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Chad

I have a great husband. We have both been under a lot of stress lately. He has a lot of school work that needs to be done, plus homework, plus church callings, plus a wife that needs help, plus two little girls that adore their father and won't let him out of their site when he first gets home. I have do run the household often alone which involves all of the cleaning, cooking, scheduling of appointments, remembering birthdays, planning, shopping, budget/bills, and taking care of our kids. Our burdens are pretty heavy right now. I had one of those, this is not working for me days lately. I was frustrated because sometimes my husband has a gad tie keeping up with all of the information I throw at him. I have a family calendar that he can check, I bought him a planner, and I try to have a family planning meeting on Sundays to outline the week, but he still has a hard time remembering all of the different obligations that we have going on. I took a preliminary test and may have sleep apnea. We need to have him really tested and if he needs help breathing at night, get it going. I knew sleep apnea could account for his lack of energy and always seeming so tired. What I didn't know is that it could be why he has a difficult time processing information, remembering things, and slower work performance. I feel so bad for him because he is trying his best, yet his body is not cooperating. So, today I wanted to list 10 reasons why i love him and what makes him a great guy. I think he needs to see this:)

1. He is always soft spoken. he rarely speaks in anger and really follows the "a soft answer turns away wrath".
2. He is willing to do anything to help out, I just have to remind him often.
3. He leads our family in scriptures and prayer morning and night.
4. He always gives the kids a bath and gets them ready for bed at night.
5. He will go to the craft store with me and be interested in what I am looking at because it is important to me.
6. He will arrange with his boss to come in late or leave early if he needs to.
7. He is the best father ever! I have never found him lacking in the area of involvement, love, or providing care when it comes to our girls.
8. He does his best to provide for us and make sure we have what we need.
9. He likes to spoil me.
10. Last, I love him because he loves me. I have many faults. I am grumpy and demanding. I run at a super pace and often stress myself out. I have crazy ideas and he goes along with it. I have a terrible temper and it takes time for me to cool down. Yet, he chooses to love me. He stays by my side when I am at my worst and helps me to be my best.

There are so many other things that make him a great guy. Really, I could write pages and pages. These are not in order of importance, they are written as they came to my brain. I just wanted to let him know I love him and appreciate him.

Camp

I found out on Sunday that I will be doing most of the work for girls camp. We had a camp director and then she got released. Somewhere along the way they didn't call a new one. However, I was called as assistant camp director and now I am trying to wade through a lot of stuff figuring out what to do. In all fairness, the YW president is the camp director, but she has a lot going on right now and needs help. I am feeling overwhelmed, yet I can see how I could really grow from this experience. I think that this trial is like many others. Once you find a place to start, you can start to plan on how to reach your goal. We should be further along in some areas, but I think we can catch up. I just need to pray often and work on doing the best job as I can. However, I still have this nagging fear that some one planning girls camp should have more experience than I do. The one time I went to girls camp, I had not been baptized yet, and while it helped me choose to be baptized, I still don't recall a lot of the specifics. Although I did find a certificate that said I passed off the lever two requirements, so that should mean something right? Please pray for me and pray that the girls don't suffer for my inadequacy.

Why I Laugh at Random Moments

My kids crack me up. They are so funny. I wanted to share a conversation that I had with McKayla today.
McKayla: No one has a birthday in July huh?
Me: Well, Grandma Porter and I both have birthdays in July.
McKayla: You didn't last year.
Me: I'm pretty sure I had a birthday last year.
McKayla: What did we do?
Me: I don't remember what we did on the exact day. Your day paid for me to have my hair done and a little spa day. I'm sure he took me out for dinner on my birthday.
McKayla: Why?
Me: Because he likes to do that.
McKayla: Because he is awesome huh?
Me (laughing): Yup, he sure is.

Chad came in and have McKayla a high five for that. We both chuckled about her comment.

A conversation between Chad and Ariana last night.

Ariana: Dad I want princesses. (She wants a princess movie to watch)
Chad: Well, guess what?
Ariana: What dad?
Chad (very excited): It's time for bed!
Ariana (with a very grumpy face): NO!

I love when they start talking and saying funny things. Ariana is very smart and can say a lot of things. It's great when our conversations with her make sense.

Monday Morning

I have been up since before 5:30. I have been very productive. The first of every month I sit down and pay bills and budget for the entire month. It works out well for the most part. I dislike having to do it all at once, but it makes it easier to plan for things. As i was doing bills this morning, I couldn't help but think of my many blessing. I am so grateful for all that I have. Then my thoughts turned to Chile. How crazy that 2 large earthquakes have hit so close together. It makes me wonder if the plates in the US are going to shift soon. I am not fearful, but rather I am taking inventory of our emergency kits, food, and water. We have some food stored away, but I know we could use more. Maybe I will have to start stocking up again. I will have to re-assess what we have and look at what we need to buy. We need to work on being more prepared physically and spiritually.