Mmmmm, that "New Car" smell!

Well, we finally said goodbye to our old Honda (12 yrs with 135,000 miles) and hello to our new Ford Fusion. We had been talking about getting a new car for a little while and Carl and I always take our annual drive to Vegas and this year he said the Honda may not make it, so... We took a test drive with the kids in tow and they enjoyed the car so much we decided that with Ford's $1,000 rebate for trade ins we would do it. Our Honda's paint job was in really bad shape and we knew it wouldn't bring in too much, so with the value of the car (about $800) and the incentive of $1000, we did pretty good! So today I get to pick the kids up in the "new car". The Honda was known to the kids as the "Black Car", don't know what this one will be called after it is no longer new. So there you have it. Carl and my 3rd new car since we have been married. First the Honda, then the Excursion and now this one! Yay!

End of the Year-Spring Band Concert

So last night was Kaleigh's final band concert. They did a nice job and at the end of the program they all got certificates. Well, after they gave everyone their certificates, the Music teacher explained that each group voted for one of their own to get a special award for an outstanding job in band. Someone who is diligent and works well with others etc. Well, out of about 25 band members they voted Kaleigh as the most outstanding and she got a trophy! Yay, Kaleigh! She got to do a bit of a solo too. But we enjoyed the evening of band music and the choirs. Her two best friend are in choir so we stayed for the whole thing. Not too long, about 1 hour and 15 minutes. So, that is the end of band for this year. Kaleigh is still debating on whether or not she wants to do it next year. We are encouraging her to, but not forcing. She will still be swimming in the fall and band requires part of lunch each thursday which she may not be willing to give up.

Ah...well. She has the summer to make a decision.

Roar and Snore Part 3 - Some Cool Animals

So, here are some more photos. There are so many more! But these are some of my favs. Kaleigh of course had a great time even though at first she was a little bothered by what her two best friends got (they were in the premium tents), but soon she took it in stride and even went on to say she thought our tent was more camping, less hotel roomy, which is what she wanted. One of the moms was really nice and gave Kaleigh one of the 3 travel mugs she and her girls got. She figured they didn't need three of them! I had given her a 2 for 1 coupon for one of the attractions in the park so she was nice enough to return a favor. They try...sometimes. Mostly I was disappointed by the leaders, that they would allow the troop to be separated like this. You would think that Girl Scouts should see each other as equal, playing on an even field. This just pointed out to the girls that some have and some have not. There were even a couple of the girls bragging about their cool tents and treats they received. This is something that would really make me want to pull Kaleigh out, but that would do more damage than if I bite my tongue and let her continue. So we are signed up for next year. She will be a cadette and from what I understand, the leaders will be communicating directly with the girls and the girls will have more control over certain things. I am curious to see what will happen. I think there will be some girls that are still overly influenced by their moms, but then their moms make poor choices, so I don't really expect too much change. At least I can let Kaleigh fight for equality vs me!

If anyone wants to see more photos, let me know, I will post more! : )

Roar and Snore part 2

So, here comes the part where I explain a few things about this troop. The top photo is of a premium tent. They have a bed, a water cooler, lights, bedding, a fan and a gift bag with travel mugs for everyone. Ok, we all got t-shirts, but this was a big difference between the "haves" and the "have nots". Unfortunately, our troop decided that it was ok to have some of the girls that had wealthy parents stay in the premium tents and those that did not have wealthy parents stay in the other tents. Out of the girls that came, only 4 out of the 9 girls stayed in the regular tents, the other girls not in the count were siblings of girls in the troop. There were two that stayed in the premium and one that stayed in our area. The only reason the premium tents were offered to begin with was because one of the moms required electricity for her breathing machine that she wears to sleep. Thus began the division. My second complaint was that when we were supposed to meet at 6:15 with the tour guide, only about 8 of the 21 were there on time. We didn't get going until 7pm! Now I may be a little less laid back than most people, but I figure that girl scouts should be punctual especially if it is an inconvenience to someone if they are not! Ok, so that rant is over. So then we went on our little tour and some of the moms noticed my little clip on "off" fan. They thought it was pretty funny that I was so bug paranoid, but hey, it was dusk and there was a lot of water area we were going through! Those of you who know me know that I am the first one the bugs migrate to, and I wasn't about to sleep with bug bites, so sue me! Anyway, by the end of our little hike/tour, they were all standing by me! Kaleigh had one too and all the girls were hovering around her too! : ) hehe.

So the tour was cool we saw a lot that we normally wouldn't see so well, and it was interesting.

So on to the last part of our adventure!

Roar & Snore May 2010 Part 1

Ok, so here is part one of the Roar and Snore event with the Girl Scouts. This is the start of the saga so to speak. The photos are pretty obvious. We got there, entrance, we saw "Monty the Meercat", we took a photo once inside and the last is a photo of our tent. If they end up showing up in that order on my blog. Sorry if it doesn't. We started out well, took a 1 hour 45 minute drive from home and got there in plenty of time. Unfortunately that meant we were waiting for quite a while for something to happen. The girls had fun and so did the moms. We chatted about anything and everything. Finally, everyone was there and we gave the staff the luggage to be brought to our tents. We then waited some more in the waiting area, where they had a girl with a lizard (blue tongued skink to be precise) and she told the girls about the animal for about 15 minutes. Then it was more waiting...about 30 minutes or so. The park closed at 5:00 and we were then escorted into the park and moved to the area where we were staying. We did not have time to go to our tents to check them out because it was dinner time! So, we sat down and ate our dinner ( the line was long and troops allowed all their girls and mothers to cut in with them, which was pretty ridiculous! Then, after dinner we were to go meet at 6:15 to meet with our tour guide. We ended up sitting to eat at 5:50 so it didn't give us much time to eat! I ended up getting my long pants on and getting my "Off" insect repellant fans for K and me, just in time to come back and still be on time! Too bad no one else was! But more on that later. We had a long 2 1/2 hours or so walking around the park where our tour guide "Candy" was explaining that the girls would be learning about animals and also using their wits to figure out the Mystery Animal. So we saw many animals while walking and the girls were pretty attentive. The best were the cheetahs that were becoming more active since the tour was in the evening. We got good photos (later) and the girls were the only ones at each location so they were able to see all they wanted of the animals. It was a might tough for me since I had worked that morning and I did the driving. The walking was fine, the standing started making my back ache a bit and I was relieved when we got back to sit down at the campfire. The girls all got s'mores and hot chocolate and then they started singing and whatnot. I stayed to get K settled and then ran back to the tent to make sure the stuff in our tent was ours and to kind of unpack. I found some other peoples stuff in our tent, but they were part of our troop and next to us. Then I unpacked the sleeping bags and went back down in time to see the troop perform for the rest of the group.

After that it was close to 10pm and we all dashed off to the restrooms to wash faces and brush teeth and go potty. Then it was bedtime. It was wonderfully dark and quiet...for about 20 minutes. Then our tent mates fell asleep. The mom that was in our tent snored...LOUD. I am not talking loud, loud, I am talking train, bear and jackhammer all in one! I was wearing ear plugs ( I usually do, because Carl snores) and I could hear quite clearly through the earplugs! So to be clear, when I wear ear plugs at home and Carl snores, I do not hear a sound. This woman snored so loud that I not only could hear her through the earplugs she was louder than any of the elephants, lions and birds that were making noise right outside our tent! So, I got about 2 hours of sleep. Dozed in and out the rest of the time...but still exhausted the next day. I think K faired better because she fell asleep before the mom did. Now, I figured not too much sleep would occur so I do not blame this mom, she is very sweet. But I think I was a little disappointed because I figured lack of sleep would come from discomfort or the animal noises, both of which I was more prepared to deal with! But to continue...

Cole's "Buddy Club" Birthday Party

Today was Cole's birthday party with his best friends. They call themselves the buddy club and they are all very sweet very nice boys. We started out with Pizza and drinks and then went outside to do the Obstacle course. This was a big hit! We had a chalk track with wooden blocks and cardboard cars that they had to crush like a monster truck, with monster feet walkers. Then the boys played a game of "Hot Monster Truck" (like hot potato) so that the helpers could remove the obstacle course items. Then we got Cole's RC truck out and the boys all got a turn to drive the truck around and generally have a good time on the back hill and running around. After that, we came inside to open gifts. Cole was very happy with his presents and the boys were all very excited! Then came cake and ice cream. I must say I am very proud of my cake. The last post showed Grandma's cake and I did my cake similar but a little different. The parents that came thought the cake was totally cool! I was happy, Cole was happy, and his friends were happy! I think the parents just really appreciate the work that went into the things we put together, so yay! Then after the cake and ice cream the boys got to race their monster trucks they got in their goodie bags and then were able to paint the leftover white cars that we had used for the obstacle course! Thanks to Spencer, who made all the cars, they were a giant hit! I think that was the favorite part of the obstacle course! So a good day. I am exhausted but happy everything went well! I think this was probably the least expensive party we have done so far! Yay!

Cole's Family Birthday!

Well, today was busy but a lot of fun! We had Carl's family all come for a pulled pork sandwich lunch, with baked beans and strawberries. The sandwiches included the pulled pork and coleslaw (from Stater Bros. which was very good!) and then we had some chips and for dessert a delicious cake made by Grandma! You can see in the photo of Cole with his cake what a great job she did! We always take the cousin shot and this year marks the arrival of another cousin! Tobias is being held by Kaleigh and he is only 2 weeks old! Neither of the big boys wanted to hold the little guy, but Kaleigh did great! Taryn is the little girl in front of Spencer on the left and Trenton is being held by Tyler. Spencer and Tyler also have an older sis Jackie who is away at Trinity College in Illinois. Cole had a great time and got some money and a bunch of legos and other cool stuff! Omi sent money for a gift and he was thrilled to get the "Apple tree House" which is in the photo of him. The one in the kitchen is Carl's dad, his sister and his aunt (dad's sister), they are putting together their sandwiches and all the fixin's. So one party down, one to go! Whew! I just have to keep the house clean for a week! Then the boys come to play!

Happy Birthday Cole!

Happy 9th Birthday, Cole!

Photos coming after parties!

Happy Birthday, Sistol!










Have a Great Birthday, my sister dear! I miss having you near, to talk to and go out with! I am glad you have such a great family that makes you laugh and that loves you so much! Hope you enjoy your day! Love you lots!

I am so Proud!

Well, today Cole was recognized in Chapel for his participation in the Math Olympics! He got a second place ribbon and a medal too! Carl and his mom went to see him and got these photos. Cole is definitely his Dad's son. Not like me, that is for sure! I am a math dope. I can't figure my way out of a paper bag! Kaleigh, unfortunately, is more like me when it comes to math. Good thing is she is very talented in other areas! But today was Cole's crowning moment and I am very proud! He took numerous tests that had to do with reasoning type math rather than the comprehensive type math. Don't ask what that means, because all I know is that most of his problems were word problems which is the worst possible math outside of algebra to me! So, they had about 29 kids in the 3rd and 4th grades that participated. 18 got ribbons and only 4 got medals! Cole was one of the medal winners! I think Carl said that out of all the questions, he got an 85% or more and that got him second place! So YAY Cole! He will get a small lego set for his effort!

What I like about teaching Preschool.

I was told many years ago (even before I had my own children) that I would make a good preschool teacher. I really didn't think so at the time, seeing as I didn't really like kids...yes, the nieces and nephews weren't so bad, but I did like going home to a place without the little rugrats! Obviously, at some point Carl and I changed our minds. Mainly the fact that we no longer worked at Disneyland made it easy to see that all children weren't horrible little beasts! Anyway, we had ours and then we ended up having the kids go to a private school that we couldn't afford without me working there. I got my ECE certificate and started teaching. I was terrified at first, but then I realized that the person that had told me I would make a good preschool teacher had been right all along! I enjoy teaching (for the most part) and there are more good days than bad (this year has been tough), but I really enjoy the creativity that goes along with it! When I first started teaching four year olds, they had some lame crafts. I asked if there was a chance that some crafts could be updated, and was met with a very enthusiastic YES, Please! So since then I have worked to make the crafts and other aspects of the curriculum a little more fun and new. One other thing I have done is made up some special days of fun for the kids. One such day, as you can see in the picture, was "Silly Dress Day". This stemmed from April Fools day which normally we take photos at the end of March with the kids putting on funny hats and we put the photos in our classroom window, saying "April Foolishness". It is fun and the kids love seeing themselves. Well, since Easter vacation happened at that same time this year, I decided to have "Silly Dress Day" instead. I send a flyer home before the break, saying that the week they return our class would have a silly dress day. So last Friday we (yes, me too!) all dressed up with mismatched socks and shoes, funny hats, inside out clothes, and anything else we could think of! As you can see we had quite a few participate. The girl in the front with the "Fro" wig, didn't want to dress up, and took off the wig and sunglasses right away. Everyone else was fine with it. I had fun dressing up too! I didn't get a shot of myself but basically imagine messy hair with flower clips everywhere and swim goggles as a headband. Lots of stripes and different shoes and socks and an apron tied on backwards! It was fun and the teachers had a blast too! So, sometimes my work is fun! I look forward to the next fun thing!

Another Spooky Tree

This one is again, from Oak Glen. It isn't so much spooky as it is weird looking...but hey, that can fall into the Spooky catagory!

The way the branches are so thin compared to the truck makes it eerie looking. It got a little less spooky when the sun came out. At dawn it was more eerie looking, but I didn't have my camera at that time!

Easter 2010 Photos

Easter was great! Outside of the fact that I have a work thing hanging over my head that I might get in trouble for when I get back, I tried to relax and enjoy Easter with the family. We had a good meal and yummy dessert and the kids got to search for 215 eggs with their little cousin Will! So three kids and 215 eggs! Whew! The older cousins got to hide them this year and I think they enjoyed doing that too. What was funny is they are both very strategic and it took them a while to hide the eggs. My sis in law Lisa and I went out and took some of the eggs to hide so we could move things along! We just dropped into bushes and so on. Spencer and Tyler were very methodical and were trying to find the perfect spot for each egg! I think Will had the most fun! Cole kept yelling out, "I think my bucket is getting too full!" Kaleigh was more subdued, but when Cole took one of her eggs she was going to pick up, she was not happy!

Competition is fierce in egg hunting! But having a lot of family there is always nice. It is very different from what I grew up with. Nice. So I hope everyone had a nice Easter, this was ours.

Happy Easter, 2010!






Happy Easter to friends and Family! I had more photos of our nice day, but I forgot my camera at Grandma's house! So I will post more photos later! This was a pretty flower that I was able to photograph up at Oak Glen! Purdy!

Things to do at Oak Glen

So outside of a decent place to sleep, good food, beautiful scenery, there are quite a few things to do! We do have services we go to (after all it is a Conference Center and we go to listen to speakers and Missionaries) and crafts to do, but there are fun things for the kids to do outside of all that. There is a little Putt putt golf course that is free and of course there is the game of British bulldog to play (I have explained this game in the past, so if you don't know what it is just ask), but this year they brought back the Pine wood derby races. This is where Kaleigh and Cole's Uncle Scott brings his equipment and the kids get to design their own cars, paint them and then race them. Kaleigh and Cole both participated but didn't win. The photo above has Kaleigh's car "the Lucky Penny" and another car racing down the track. They had the 14 and under group and then the 15 and older group. They all had a great time! Carl helped a lot since the kids could not work on the machinery. Some of the older boys knew how, but mostly the dad's did the machine work.

Things to See at Oak Glen

Ok, so I don't really know how these photos will be aligned in my post so you'll just have to figure things out! While at Oak Glen we like to look at the different animals! Sometimes we see a lot and other times (it was cold this time so a few less than usual) not so many. We did see a lot of squirrels, a couple of Jays that didn't want to be photographed, and a woodpecker and a nice plump little robin! The kids don't usually see these guys, but this time the birds were out a lot!

I turn into the amateur photographer and try to get as close as I can to get some nice photos! Enjoy!

Oak Glen 2010 - Family

Well, I am not exactly sure how long we have been going to Oak Glen but those who have been reading my blog know, that we go once a year and I have posted many photos of our trip. We go up on a Thursday, stay Friday into Saturday and leave on Saturday afternoon! It is a fun family time that we can share. Lots of things to do, people to see and things to see too! So there will be a couple of other posts including a shot of another "Spooky Tree"! Enjoy!

Oh the photos above are of the Chapel in the trees, the prayer chapel with Kaleigh and Cole in front, and then me and our family.

No, really, are you SERIOUS?

I am a relatively obedient person when it comes to laws, rules and regulations. We got a memo at work saying that we need to keep children supervised at all times. Ok, that is a given. What I was not aware of (and apparently neither was anyone else around me) was that we need to keep them in sight at all times...this includes the bathroom. Now the usual way that I take my class of 4 year olds to the bathroom is this...we go to the restroom area. I scope out the bathrooms (peeking in boys room then girls) just to make sure no "Bad" adults are in there. Then I stand in the hallway where I can see the entrance to both bathrooms and I send the little tikes in 3 at a time. I am supervising the ones that are on the outside, while keeping an ear out for any mischief in the bathrooms. There are no other doors in the bathroom and I am certain there are no magical portals either! So when we get a memo saying we must go into the bathroom in order to have the children in sight at all times, we (yes, all the teachers feel the same) start to grumble. Some in fact are mortified that we have to stand in the boys bathroom and watch the little boys as they are peeing into the urinal! Not our idea of giving these little guys privacy to do their "business". Our view is that if no harm can come to them, we are supervising in a way that should be appropriate. This is an interpretation of a rule set out by the Department of Social Services. There was a meeting (all I can really say) of the muckity mucks and it was brought up as a point in this meeting. So the interpretation is not a mistake on the part of the Social Services person that came out. What I would like to know is why. Why is it so neccessary to watch the children in the bathroom? They never gave a reason and I don't know why no one asked. The teachers all asked but got no answer. Because there was none. So now we have to have an additional person to split up the boys and the girls and they have to remain in the bathroom after finishing and washing their hands so that we can keep an eye on them and the little ones going potty. It is hard enough to get the kids in and out of the bathroom, now we are forcing them to wait IN the bathroom (near sinks, and paper towel dispensers), until everyone is done. We don't have an extra person that just stays at the restroom the whole time and there isn't a plan to get someone either. So before one of the kids can go to the bathroom, we have to call someone on the radio to come so we can have this child go to the bathroom. Of course there are times when we have to wait for someone. My question is this...what is worse, sending a child into a bathroom alone, or having them pee their pants in front of their friends? Comments welcome.

It's Baaaad, but I like it! (but only once in a while)

So, I was raised in a pretty strict household when it came to food. Very little sugary snacks, cereals etc. We also ate with little extra fat like gravy or sauces. My mom is a great cook and so was my dad. We ate good and healthy for the most part. We didn't really eat a lot of pork, other than sausages (but that was the german part of us), and none of us were that fond of pork chops or pork loin anyway. I don't cook a lot of pork either, it just isn't my favorite. If I am going to eat pork, I would rather have bacon or black forest ham. We don't have it that often and it is considered more of a treat than candy. So when Carl came home the other day with a "no brainer" meal (which is what I asked him to get, so one night of the week would be an easy meal) he brought back "pulled pork" from Costco. Now, I don't really know what you are supposed to do with pulled pork, so he explained what HE will be doing with it, and we can do the same or a couple of other things. Well, the photo is what I did with it...which incidentally was what Carl suggested. A nice kaiser type roll, barbeque sauce on the bottom, pulled pork on that and then a nice coleslaw on top of that topping it off with the other half of the kaiser roll. Now, I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by the nice combination of flavors! It isn't something I would do that often, but it made me feel like I was at one of those places you see on tv for their awesome sandwiches. So, it was a success. I am not trying to push this on anyone mind you, just wanted to share. : ) So all you vegetarians out there, no negative comments please! You don't have to eat it! : )

Consequences vs. Compliance

As a preschool teacher at a private school, we have a little more control over our classes due to the fact that our director supports us in our disciplinary actions. There are, of course, things we cannot due by law, but we can do some things that other schools cannot because they are more about "self esteem building", than modifying bad behavior. In my class we use a "Clip Chart". This is a chart with faces and words that describe where each child is on that day. On Monday, they begin at "Hello" and can either work their way up to "Outstanding" or move down to "Sad Day". There are seven slots ranging from "Sad Day"(the bottom) to "Outstanding" at the top. In between are those like, "Great Effort", "Good Work", "Try Harder" and "Think about it". Each day they are in school is an opportunity to "Clip Up" or "Clip Down". For each day when we have a specialty teacher like Perceptual Training (little kid PE) or Music they will get "clipped up" if they obey and behave. They do not get clipped down if they don't behave. They will get clipped down, however, if they hurt someone, break something on purpose, disobey in a manner that is way defiant and other things that may be to the teacher's discretion.

I try really hard NOT to clip down, it is hard on a 4 year old, and they may not always understand why even if we explain. There are times that I have clipped kids down and they get upset but that is what the clip chart is for, to teach them what is unacceptable behavior. At the end of the week if they are in either "Great Day" or "Outstanding"(the two top spots on the chart) they will receive something out of my "Treasure Box". They look forward to this a lot!

Now, in some instances, I am sure I have given a child treasure box when they shouldn't have gotten it, but if they are on the fence, and they can redeem themselves I will help them to acheive the goal. Most of the time, all the kids in my class will get treasure box. This year, unfortunately, there has been a child that has missed treasure box quite a few times with no chance to redeem himself. It is difficult and he gets upset, but after talking to his mother, and understanding more about how this child works, it seems to be the best thing for him. (By the way, it is not the child in the photo). So, I continue to work on the behavior as best I can and I will be praying for the teacher that gets him next year in Kindergarten. Think about how difficult it will be for her to watch him out of 20 kids instead of 10! I will be praying hard!

I cannot imagine how hard it would be for this child in the public school system. We are able to teach about God and His love at our school and it is a great help in teaching the Why factor. Why should we behave? Why should we not hurt our friends? Why is it important to do our best?

We can also pray with the children and ask for God's help in doing good. Believe me, it makes a difference! This child will have a hard time no matter where he goes but at least the teacher will understand better and will be able to pray for and with him!