An Unabashed Brag or Two

BRAG #1
School pictures are a total wild card. You never know if your kids' photos will come back with them looking like super models or short-bus students. (Okay, that was naughty, insensitive and sooooo politically incorrect for a school psychologist but I just couldn't resist.) This year Kenna and Todd looked pretty darn good in theirs. Maybe not like super models but possibly good enough for the JC Penny catalog, or at least ShopKo ad.

BRAG #2
I went to Parent-Teacher conferences for both children today.
Todd's meeting was short. We ended up talking a lot about my job because the teacher had nothing but crazy high scores and good behavior to report. I'm certain that his grades will stay high but I'm praying that his attitude and classroom actions will remain positive.
Kenna's meeting was equally glowing but took a little longer because her teacher was trying to convince me to enroll her in the district's gifted program. I have no concerns that her smiley face will stay glued all year. She loves school and seems to be comfortable around lots of different friends.

Okay, I'm finished (and blushing). I love these kids through the good and the bad but I sleep a little easier during the good.

SGM #2

You may have noticed the counter in my margin clocking the days, hours, and minutes until I run the

St. George Marathon.

It's happening whether I'm ready or not...and I'm not. I don't care, though. This will be my second marathon and I'm running it to feel pride in the accomplishment of finishing. My sweet Brent and fun sis-in-law Andrea are running it with me. (To be more accurate, they are starting it with me but may decide to leave me in their more athletic, better trained, extra confident DUST!) My father-in-law is planning to run the last several miles.
I'm excited and can't wait (until it's OVER)!

Our next big trip will be to...

LIMA, PERU!

Brent's mom and dad were scheduled to begin their service as missionaries for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day in July, 2008. My father-in-law's chronic but managed heart problems began to cause serious concern as their departure date approached and he and my mother-in-law were sorely disappointed when their mission to Peru was not only delayed but likely to be changed to a location within the United States.

I was surprised to see my in-laws continue to train, study, and prepare as though they would go to Peru. The successful surgery and their faith and hard work confirmed what my mother-in-law sensed in the temple one day--that they would still be able to serve in Peru. They are such examples to me of undaunted hope and faith backed by work and prayers. I love them.

We attended their farewell on Sunday and they will enter the Missionary Training Center in a few weeks. You can check out their mission blog for updates if you're interested.

Thank you!

I had only to mention that I was a little down last week and received an outpouring of kindness in the form of peaches and pie (see related, delicious post), funny reminders of happier times, sincere inquiries via email and phone, empathic expressions of concern and understanding, offers of respite, encouraging comments to hang on or work out harder, etc. I could go on. Thank you, everyone for your tender thoughts, words, and actions.

The batch of frownies (stole this from Ned Flanders in the Simpsons Movie) I cooked up is almost gone and has been replaced by an assurance that my Heavenly Father loves me and has blessed me with millions of things to be happy about. My top three are Todd, Kenna, and Alec.

Most of my blue mood last week was due to feeling discouraged about parenting my little sweeties. Transitioning back to school and work has been more difficult than I expected and I tend to blame it all on myself. Perspective, deep breathing, and consultation from sweet friends calmed me down and things are looking brighter. Todd and Kenna have been getting along with each other really well this week. Todd has had a couple of rough things happen at school but has discussed them calmly and accepted my suggestions and help. Kenna has been Brent's little shadow while he engages in the nerdy automating of our home with stuff from his work. I love to watch the wheels spin in her giant head, I mean, brain. She's the only one who really gets how to work the whole system. Alec has been especially affectionate, sweet, self-entertaining, and funny. "I love you, Mom," exits his mouth several times an hour and he stops me frequently mid-task for a leg hug. I love these kids.

P.S. Couldn't I so get zapped for mentioning Deity and the Simpsons in the same sentence?! Sheesh. I'd better lose a guilty indulgence or two.

Primary Program

Today was our ward's Primary program. This has always been my favorite sacrament meeting--even when I didn't have the cutest kids in the choir seats ;D Today I was impressed by sweeties...

Alec was nearly a head taller than the other nursery kids. He only stuck his tongue out at us once and sang "I Am a Child of God" with great fervor...at least the chorus of the song.

Kenna had memorized her part on her own. I give up on making my kids memorize their parts as soon as they can read. Most children can't resist taking a peek at the back-up script no matter how practiced they are so why bother? She sung her heart out and appeared to know the words to all the songs despite her contrary insistence during last week's Family Home Evening.

Todd inserted expression into his bulky narrator role, sang well, and even smiled once or twice. I was proud of him for swallowing his frustration and for doing what we ended up bribing him to do. (Insert eye roll here.) He turns 12 in NINE days and has been complaining that he would not have had to be in this program had he been born just a little earlier. (Yes, I reminded him that he was past his due date so he had no one to blame but himself!)

Cookie Monsters

Alec's cousins, Skylar and Trevor, spend Tuesdays and Thursdays at our house. Sometimes I'm a lousy aunt and mom and we end up watching 14 episodes of Sponge Bob and eat hotdogs for lunch. Last Thursday was a good aunt and mom day. We had fun making cookies and took a plate to a neighbor. We all had a great time and Sky was relieved when I told her we were keeping some of the cookies for us to eat. :D

Future Cardinelle

Kenna doesn't "do" dance. She hasn't expressed much interest and I haven't pushed it in the case that she inherited my agility and coordination. Last week, however, she spent an hour each night learning a cute number taught by the high school dance team. Two of her friends also participated and the whole group performed at halftime of the Northridge High School homecoming football game. Lots of fun.

WISH and ye shall receive?

Last week my friend posted a blog photo of her van filled with bushels of peaches. My mouth watered as I read about her plans to can them and make fresh pies. I left a comment wishing her well in her fragrant endeavors and went to Bath and Body Works to buy a peach-scented anything to satisfy my cravings. Today that same friend surprised me with a bag of peaches and a fresh peach pie!! Mmmmmm.

Thanks, Kristen. YOU are a PEACH!!

My Favorite Mountain

This is Old Chief Mountain. It's in Montana--a fact I was shocked to learn from my Biology 20 teacher whose great delight it was to burst anyone's happy anything, even if it was a minor false geographical notion. You can see this beautiful mountain out any of my parents' west-facing windows and it represents Southern Alberta and HOME to me. I've had a rough week and have been feeling down...tired, lazy, misunderstood, unbalanced, PSYCHO, etc. Today I saw this picture on my friend's facebook profile and it made me long for thick-cut, buttered bread, hot chocolate, a footrub from my mom, and a joke or poem from my dad.

(I didn't even ask to 'borrow' this photo, Deanna. Let me know if I'm infringing on your copyrighted genius. You are amazing!)

Sooo dang cute.

My sis-in-law's sister...yeah, it's a mouthful...is an incredibly talented seamstress and creative genius. She has been working on starting her own baby stuff company and just got a website. You will LOOOOVE all of this stuff. Take a visit.

Miss Mae Baby

I am

I saw a poem on a friend's blog that her little boy had written on his first day of school. I borrowed the prompts and had Alec and Sky (my cute niece and Alec's BESTEST friend) fill in the blanks today.

SKYLAR

I am a kid.

I wonder about playing soccer.

I want to be a teacher.

I am a kid.

I pretend to be teacher.

I feel happy when I hug my mom.

I worry about the printer falling down.

I am a kid.

I say I want a drink, please.

I dream about kittens biting a person.

I try to push the button on the comote (remote).

I am a kid.

ALEC

I am a church guy.

I wonder about combing my hair.

I play basketball.

I want to be a daddy.

I am a church guy.

I pretend to be fireworks guy.

I feel happy when I kiss somebody.

I worry about the bug catcher thing.

I am a church guy.

I say I love you.

I dream about Gary the snail.

I try to do baseball.

I am a church guy.

Beards for Beverly Hills

The guys on my team at work decided to not shave until we met our deadline. The project is to deliver our product to the Montage Beverly Hills Hotel. We called our little game "Beards for Beverly Hills". These are the results:

My "Beard for Beverly Hills"

"I'm a rocker through and through. Here's a list of my favorite bands: AC/DC, Van Halen not Van Hagar, Skynyrd, Def Leppard... "

"Now, just imagine you're weightless, in the middle of the ocean, surrounded by tiny little seahorses."

I can do it myself...or maybe not.

One of my numerous vices is that I hate to ask for help. I wear being independent like a badge, a really heavy badge. Wednesday my truck died TWICE and I had to enlist help from strangers at a restaurant, my friend's father-in-law, and finally my principal. My principal spent quite a while trying to fix things before he gave up and drove me to AutoZone to buy a new battery. He is such a nice man and only cringed/snickered a little at my corroded battery posts and lack of mechanical prowess/interest. Today I gave him a note with some candy.

It was nice of you to

to help me with my car's

You were a real

Hopefully I learn the lesson the universe is trying to teach me and I'll lose a little of my stubborn, egotistic self-suffiency.

Score some points with your wife.

This morning Brent and I got up at 4:45 to get in a long run. It was fun to be together even though running that early and that far is not an inherently enjoyable activity for me. When we returned home Brent barely had time to shower and get ready to meet his 8 a.m. carpool. About 10 minutes after he left for work he came back...with a gallon of milk (we were out) and 44oz of Diet Dr. Pepper with a squirt of vanilla flavor. This guy loves me!!

I meant what I said and I said what I meant...

Alec loves nursery. I'm sorry to mention the fact to all you parents who have suffered through the crying and separation anxiety that this situation can provoke but he really does looove it. After each sacrament meeting song and/or prayer he asks, "Is it time to go to class yet?" When my reply is finally in the affirmative, he does a little fist pump and whistles, "YESSSS!"

Today I asked him who his favorite church teacher is. He thought for a while before answering, "Horton the elephant one." The nursery leader's name is Sister Horton. Ha ha. What a kid.

Cool Runnings

Brent, my sis-in-law Andrea, and I are training for the St. George Marathon on October 4, 2008. We've made a bad habit of shortening our long training runs due to various extenuating circumstances--
time, injury, laziness, wimping, etc. Labor weekend was another abbreviated attempt. Our planned 18 miler beginning just beyond South Fork Canyon to Provo Lake ended at 14 interrupted by NATURE this time.

We were thankful for the overcast day but the cloud cover began to mist, then sprinkle, then POUR rain. Some equally crazy soul running the other direction let out a loud, "Wooohoo," as we passed. It was kind of fun and then it started to HAIL. Ouch. We finally gave up when we could no longer see through the pelting and when we got scared of the surrounding lightening. Here we are soaked through to the bone.

Jelly Bean Junction

My big boy, Alec went to his first day of preschool today at Jelly Bean Junction. He was excited to take the snack, use his cool, new backpack, and wear spiky hair (his idea).






Alec's favorite part of today was attending with his best friend and cousin, Skylar. They are a great pair.