And the award for Mom of the year goes to.....

Not me...that's for sure. In case some of you out there thought I was "super Mom" and talented at parenting in any way...I'm here to dispel those myths and state emphatically that I have never pretended to be all that in any way, shape or form :)
So my two middle boys got up this morning and while I was rushing to get ready for work myself (really bad hair day, had to do it over again 3 times...ug!) they got dressed, had breakfast, brushed their teeth, did their hair and set out their shoes. They still had time left over so they decided to make all the beds in the house, put away their clean clothes pile, made sure all the house lights were turned off, made breakfast for their older brother and put away his clothes, washed off the table and stacked the dishwasher. I thought "who are you and where are my boys?" but I wasn't about to complain...who would?
I went on and on to them about how peaceful our house was thanks to them, what a wonderful example they were and how thoughtful and charitable they had been. I was on cloud 9 thanks to them, and we were on time leaving the house...again, thanks to them. Yes, life was blissful and perfect for a small moment...that is until we got into the car. Suddenly all *$&%# broke loose. G-man got after Seichi for being annoying and too rambunctious and when he didn't listen took it upon himself to hit his brother in his efforts to make him behave. Seichi started wailing and pushing G-man back then they were yelling at each other and generally looking for things to pick on each other for. Well, you guessed it...there went our peaceful, glorious morning...back to reality.
I tried at first to calm them down and offer suggestions for positive communication while trying desperately to keep the vehicle on the road. When that didn't work I started raising my voice and threatening to revoke privileges...by the time we got onto the freeway I was full on screaming and by the time we got to school I was fuming and issuing a rather effective 'silent treatment' to my two middle boys, by the time the first bell rang I had tears streaming down my cheeks out of frustration and general guilt for raising my voice.
Definitely, not the way I wanted to start off the morning. I am still reeling from this morning feeling so guilty for the screaming that is probably ringing in their little ears to begin their day, probably preventing them from focusing on complex mathematical equations, eating well balanced lunches or being involved in stimulating, meaningful conversations with classmates...instead they are probably sitting in the corner of their classrooms rocking back and forth blowing bubbles and humming "you are my sunshine". I've ruined my children forever!

Grand kidless....?

The boys and are were folding laundry the other day and somehow we got on the topic of babies and families etc. (My boys LOVE to hear who "came out" of Mommy's tummy vs. who was "cut out" of Mommy's tummy, not sure why exactly).
G-man stated emphatically, "I don't think I will get married...ever!" I probed and asked him why to which he replied "it's just so much work and then you have kids and then there's diapers and potty training...it's just too much work, besides, I don't even have a girlfriend yet!" Well, I guess he has thought it through; at least its not an impulsive decision.
After hearing G-man's statement Biel chimed in "am I the ONLY one that is going to give Mom grand kids and especially grand-daughters?"...G-man replied "I guess so bud, I guess so."
It will be interesting to see what the future holds.

news to take home to parents...

One things I LOVE about our school is how well they keep up with current technology in the classroom. They really make a concerted effort to ensure teachers needs are supported by technology to make their lives easier. This year the administration bought me a bluetooth compatible drawing pad to use while I walk around the classroom so that I don't have my backs to the students...so smart. They also bought me a high resolution document camera, which I must say is amazing. It allows me to draw, sketch or do a demonstration which is projected onto my whiteboard. The students no longer have to gather around my table, craning their necks trying to see my latest demonstration. It's amazing and has simplified my life in the classroom tremendously.
One of the major pitfalls of the document camera is the high resolution...it is so good, a little too good. Earlier this week I was doing a sketching/shading demonstration for my 8th graders. They asked me to put down the blinds cause it was causing a glare and they couldn't see very well. As I reached and put down the blinds they started laughing. I asked them what was so funny. One of the girls in my class replied "when you put down the blinds the document camera showed right down your shirt!" I wanted to die, just shrivel up and become very very small and invisible. I thought to myself "don't make a big deal of this and they won't", I took a deep breath and said "well, it sure is a good thing there isn't much to see there isn't it, that sure is a great piece of news to bring home to your parents I'm sure they'll appreciate that...ok back to our shading exercise". And...that was the end of it, at least I hope so. I realized that if ONLY I were just a few inches taller that blasted document camera wouldn't have had a clear down the shirt viewpoint, yet another thing to blame my vertically challenged frame on.

It's Birthday Time again!

Late August through September is a busy time for our family. We have 3 birthdays within 3 weeks of each other just in our immediate family alone...not to mention my sister, brother in law, (my Mom when she was with us), and my father in law to top it all off. Phew!
On Sunday it was my handsome hubby's 35th birthday. In our church we fast for two full meals on the first Sunday of each month and donate the amount we would have spent on food for humanitarian aid to help those in our community with basic shelter and foods costs. The first Sunday of the month fell on...you guessed it my handsome hubby's birthday! He requested chicken parmesan for dinner and a triple layer lemon cake with lemon cream cheese frosting for his birthday cake. I just have to say its really hard to cook and be fasting at the same time...just sayin'.
My handsome hubby likes to keep tickets from every movie we have been to in addition to little memorabilia from different events. I have wondered for the last couple of years why they were collecting on top of his dresser to which he replied "I don't know I just like to keep them to remember the event". I have to be honest, it made my heart melt a little to hear his sentimental statement. I made him a bulletin board to match our room for him to pin all his memorabilia and ticket stubs to. He was thrilled with my "thoughtful" gift! Brownie points for me :)
I learned a little over ten years ago that the most important thing that needs to happen on any special day in which my husband is the center of attention is breakfast in bed. And as tradition would have it, donuts for breakfast is a must. Since he was fasting on his birthday he got a birthday celebration on Sunday and breakfast in bed along with donuts (having waited at the grocery store at 6am on labor day for the 'just barely made' donuts). Can you tell I adore this man? Well, I really do...he is the best and I'm lucky to have sifted through the frogs to find this lemon cake and donut lovin' prince!

Girl On The Run

This past weekend I had the fortunate opportunity to run the Hood to Coast relay in Oregon. It is a 200 mile relay that goes from Mt. Hood to the Oregon Coast (seaside beach) over the course of approximately 30 hours. Our team was of 12 people, 6 in each van. I ran with several of the awesome women I teach with, we had a great time.
My adventure began with me arriving at PDX in the evening and then meeting up with a few teammates and driving 1.5 hours to a lodge in the middle of no-where for the night. The lodge had a "girls" sleeping quarters and one for the boys with about 20 bunk beds in each. By the time I got into bed it was around midnight and I had to tiptoe in and with the use of my headlamp locate a bed for the evening. An hour later the snoring began. I wish I were one of those people that can sleep whenever and wherever they want but sadly 11 years of parenting has made me the worlds lightest sleeper. I laid there listening to one of the other girls snoring as I tossed and turned and thought of a variety of things I could do to this fellow bunk mate...throw shoes at her? yell at her? put a pillow over her head?...you get the picture. At 3am some of the bunk mates began to arise and leave to begin their relay (they had earlier start times than we did). At 4am another batch left and I kept praying that the snoring girl would be amongst them...no luck. The snoring continued only this time accompanied with the LOUDEST thunder and lightning storm I have ever heard. The rain pelted down as I laid there praying for a few minutes of sleep. The rain stopped around 5:30 but the snoring continued. We got up at 6:30am only to find out that the "snorer" was one of my teammates that I had not yet met. I felt bad thinking those horrible thoughts of how I wanted to hurt her as I discovered that she is the most amazing, interesting and sweetest girl. I feel honored to have gotten to know her...even if she does snore :)
Our team name was "running time machine" so we dressed up in 80's garb and boy did we look sweet! I'm including a few pics of our rad outfits, please take note of the torn/woven t-shirts and my friends huge wig that won her more photo ops than we could shake a stick at. Half way through the race we began doing random "dance parties" on the side of the road in order to encourage our runner. Soon other vans approached us and asked if we would dance and cheer on their runners but making complete fools of ourselves...which of course we were happy to do. We made a lot of friends this way!

I have been wanting to do this race for over 4 years now but couldn't find anyone crazy enough to do it with me. I am so thrilled that I got the chance to run with these amazing women. We had so much fun, they are such great sports and the course was superbe. I only ran 17 miles of the 200 but I would definitely do this race again, not to mention ending at Seaside beach which is breathtaking and has the softest sand ever!
I will say that being the "token Mormon" had its drawbacks especially when you are the only one painfully aware in your sober state of what a fool you and your whole team are making of yourselves and your the only one that cares, oh and being designated driver when your exhausted and trying desperately to keep your eyes wide open. But it was a great experience for this girl on the run.