Lesson Learned

I bought some of these :


for the Salt Lake 1/2 Marathon I ran a few weeks ago. My kids love these little individualized Crystal Light packets to add to water. But I wasn't about to let them have any of these babies because drinking one is equivalent to drinking about 4 cokes- which is okay for a race but no so good for already energy-laden children like mine. I attempted to hide them in the back of my cupboard, but my kids can sniff out anything that is off-limits... Annie especially. (Although I have found one food hiding place that no one has yet to find. It's pretty good, so it may take awhile to be discovered.)
Anyway Annie asked several times if she could have one of my Crystal Light Energy packets with no success. So the other night while I was at my class she hit up Mr. "Sure, whatever, have what you want"- aka- Eric. And in Eric's defense he didn't know they had so much caffeine and I can guarantee Annie didn't say anything about that fact. She probably just casually asked, "Dad, can I have one of the crystal light packets in the cupboard?"
Well the minute I walked in from my class I could sense something was amiss. Annie was standing in the front of the TV cheering extremely loudly, "GO, RULON GO!" She was watching "Biggest Loser" and there was some competition with the contestants. She was jumping up and down wildly like it was a horserace. Annie is an excitable child anyway, but this was over the top for her. I sat down with my dinner to watch the show with her and she kept coming up in my face and saying things. I think Eric told her 5 times in 10 minutes some version of "Settle down" or "Quit freakin' out." I wondered what was going on with her when I saw the almost empty bottle of pink tinged water and all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
I asked Eric, "Did you let Annie have a Crystal Light?"
Eric: "Yeah, why?"
Me: "Cause that is like drinking 4 Diet Cokes. I bought them for my race, but I tried to hide them in the cupboard."
Eric: "Uhhh... you might want to find a better hiding place."

Things I Don't Want to Forget

If I weren't in school right now or trying to get my job application ready to be sent or getting Easter baskets ready than I would weave these stories into a great, funny tale. But the truth is I don't have the creative energy to make integrated units for kindergarten and resumes and easter baskets and witty blog entries. So the well-thought out blog entries will just have to be put on hold for now. But my kids' funny sayings never stop so I am getting them written down so I don't forget.
Suzie: I don't know if I have mentioned this before, but Suzie has the most endearing quality of saying "She" in the wrong part of sentences. (I could go into a lengthy discussion here of the different parts of a sentence here- the subject, predicate, prepositional phrases, etc. to give you further understanding of where Suzie uses "She" inappropriately, but I don't want to lose my sister... since she is probably about the only one who reads my blog these days!:) Anyway she says things like "I want a dress like she." or "Katie won't let me play with she." It is so cute and I don't want to correct her because it is such a hallmark of her age and I'm not ready for my baby to not be a baby. There is a little girl, Hannah, almost exactly Suzie's age who comes over to play regularly. She was over the other day and they started having a fight. Suzie came up to me and said, "I want she to go home." Then the other little girl came up to me and said, "Hers being mean." I think these two were made for each other. They may not complete each other's sentences, but together maybe they could properly complete a sentence.
Also this week I was "itching my nose" and Suzie walked into the room. She looked at me and said with disgust, "Oh, you are picking your nose. You're like a child." Nothing like being chastised by your 4 year old.
I took Katie and Suzie over to Wheeler Farm as part of the integrated unit I am creating for my class. Our professor encouraged us to do some of the activities with children so we get a good idea of what works and also so we can get real examples things like qualitative and quanitative assessment- (again not the time for that discussion.) Anyway we were talking about the difference between boy and girl animals. As we were looking at the piglets, I asked them if they could tell if it was a girl or boy. They correctly answered that it was a girl. Then I asked how they could tell she was a girl (Or as Hannah would say-"Hers was a girl"). Suzie replied, "Because she has eyelashes." A much safer, less anatomically correct answer than I was going for.
Katie- On the same above mentioned trip to Wheeler Farm I was asking the kids a lot more questions than I normally would because I was "supposedly" taking them on a kindergarten core curriculum supported field trip. During one of my question and answer periods Katie said, "Mom, could you stop asking so many questions and just let us look at the animals?"
Annie- At the kids' school ,there is a playground aid that goes by the name "Po-po". He is an older, retired gentleman who I assume enjoys being around children because I can't imagine who would want a job that pays approximately $7 an hour and only works 5 hours a week. Anyway I have been hearing stories about "Po-po" for years. He gives out little candies and tells you not to clog up the slide. Katie and Annie were having a discussion about Po-po while we were driving. Katie asked Annie if she had ever gotten in trouble by Po-po. Annie said, "Yeah, once when I was in 1st grade I was giving Finn a hug and he told me to keep my hands to myself." I don't know if you have to have an understanding of Finn and Annie's relationship to truly appreciate this story, but it so tickled my funny bone. I laughed out loud when Annie said it and I laughed as I typed it. And i just reread it and laughed again.

My baby is all grown up...saving china!

If you haven't seen "Mulan" the title of this post will make no sense to you. But my first baby is all grown up. Finn turned 12 last month and it has been a whirlwind in our house since he turned 12 so I am finally getting to posting about it. He received the priesthood about a week after his birthday and today was the first day he got to pass the sacrament. And I'm not too proud to admit that I got a little teary-eyed watching him. He also got to sit on the stand, being the bishop's right-hand man and every time I caught his eye, he would give me a sly smile. I can't say it enough, he is such a good kid.

He also went on his first scout camp-out this weekend. He was so excited, despite the snowy, cold weather and the fact that the campout was about 10 minutes from our house. He probably asked me no less than 15 times during the day whether I thought it would be cancelled. He had his stuff all packed a few hours before and was the consummate boy scout being prepared for himself and then some. It reminded me of when he was 8 and became a cub scout. He was so excited to go to his first den meeting that he got his blue shirt on with the yellow scarf and then went and sat on the curb by the mailbox with his Cub Scout handbook in hand waiting for his ride to pick him up. I wish I had taken a picture. I only have the mental picture, but believe me- it is pretty darn cute!

On the night Finn was ordained a deacon we had a special dinner with his grandparents to celebrate him. I'm usually not a fru-fru, centerpiece kind of girl, but I wanted to do something special to recognize him. So I decided to put the lego space shuttle he made as the centerpiece along with a picture of him. Then I put some of his hats that represent his hobbies- like one with a fish on it, a camouflage hunting hat, a red Utes hat, etc. all up and down the table. I was so impressed with myself that I took a picture.

Also in honor of Finn's big day, after dinner we went around the table and each shared something we love about Finn. I wrote down what everyone said so we wouldn't forget:

Grandma Shauna- His sense of humor

Grandpa Mike- his acting skills

Katie- that he shares his car mat

Annie- that he plays with her but doesn't tell his friends about it.

Suzie- that he lets her sleep with him

Grandpa Craig- his thoughfulness and tenacity

Grandma Susan- that he says "I love you" back

Dad- that he loves to do the same things his dad loves to do

Mom- that he has always been so obedient and responsible and he is a protector. I tell him that he will be taking care of me when I am 80. (I like to encourage this line of thinking now so it won't even be a question 40 years down the road.)

And even though Finn's 6th grade teacher wasn't at our dinner she did recently share what she loved about Finn too in an email to me. So in her own words, here is what Ms. Allred loves about Finn too:

"He is such a WONDERFUL kid. He is so kind to the other kids and he works really hard to get his work in. I am just really impressed with the way he treats other and how responsible he is. I love ALL the kids. But there are a few that I could clone and mass produce and have a class full of that would make my job stress free and Finn is one of those kids."

Now that I am done bragging about Finn, I am going to do one last thing. I am posting his VERY favorite meal. So now you can try Finn's "Can we pleeeeeeeease have Shepherd's Pie for dinner?" shepherd's pie.