My Kids School

I find myself volunteering a lot at my kids school lately.  Either in Neil's classroom or with hot lunch days.  I love how the kids are all happy to see me and depending on the grade, they will either say 'Hi Neil's Mom!' or 'Hi Jamin's Mom!' or whispering 'that's Gordon's Mom.'  and then turn and wave.  It makes me happy that they remember Gordon and a little sad to see them growing up without their friend.
It has been really cold here, so while I'm up at the front helping with hot lunch, the kids walk up and down the hallways.  That's how they get exercise on cold days.  They wave as they come by.  There is something amazing about a school. I don't know if all schools are like ours, but seeing all the kids learning and communicating with each other and helping each other is amazing to me.  
I bring Tegan and Dallin with me to help with hot lunch and they love going there too.  Today they ended up not needing me, but Tegan and Dallin didn't want to go right away, so we went to visit Jamin and Neil.  I caught Jamin lost in a book at recess and Neil was stringing 100 fruit loops on a necklace, colour coordinated of course.
There was lots of excitement in the school today as the olympics have been on and during recess, they let the kids watch it.  Today was hockey between the US and Canada men.  I heard the countdown and the excitement when Canada won.  I imagine it is an experience that they will remember for a long time because they experienced it with their friends.
The technology at our school is amazing.  These 'smart boards' that all the classes have are amazing.  I remember how excited teachers were to get dry erase boards instead of chalk boards.  It's a different world now.  The teachers have all the online resources right at their finger tips.
I know lots of Moms that homeschool and I have thought about it before, but I love my kids school.  The Moms I know that homeschool do a really great job, and some of their children are super advanced, some are big into sports and spend lots of their day doing that, and some have jobs that require lots of travel and it fits for their family.  I think this fits for my family.  I am glad there are choices for schooling in this country public, private, language immersion programs, and home school.  It all serves a purpose.

The Quest to Get to the Park

Tegan fell asleep on the way to drop Jamin off at piano lessons.  I asked Neil what he wanted to do while we waited for Jamin.  He said he wanted to go to the park.  It was a warmer than it has been kind of day and he had all his snow stuff on, so I thought that would be fine.  We got there and it looked like no one had been to the park for a very long time.  His first step into the snow was a doozy.  It went up to his waist, but he was determined.

 He discovered crawling made it easier to not sink into the snow.

 After about 10 minutes, he made it!

 Then he came back.   It was easier for him to come back, but I did get him to pose for me standing up.

 Snow.  At least someone in our family likes it. =)

Will You Be My Valentine

I get a little excited about Valentine's Day.  I designed these a month ago.  I love being a little creative with my kids valentines.  I don't really like giving candy.  Other parents do, so they still get some.  I like to give a cheap little toy with a cheesy line that fits in.  =)  Yay!  I was happy with how these ones turned out.  Jamin didn't want a picture of him in it this year.  He picked out this cute dog picture I found online.  Now to just finish cutting them out, have the kids write the names of their classmates on the back, and put them in little baggies.

My Mom's Kitchen

I was talking to my mom the other day on FaceTime and took a couple pictures from her kitchen.I love technology and I love this.  I want to make one for my kitchen when we move into our new house... if they ever finish it.  I need less things in my kitchen right now as we are trying to sell our house.

And this is very important.  lol.

And my mom still has this up.

We made these a looong time ago during FHE(Family Home Evening).  I love that she still has it.  We all came up with the rules together.
It's a little hard to read.  It says...

Home Rules

Try to be happy "SMILE"

Read Scriptures each day

Take care of own bedrooms

No name calling

Show good manners

Clean hands after restroom use

Do not unlock restroom door when in use 

Do not disturb someone in their bedroom

Ask permission from parents before doing things

Show reverence

Do what parents say without complaining

Keep hands to yourself

I was telling someone last week about my family and some of the challenges we had growing up and about my siblings and how awesome they are.  I love my family.=)  So they asked me how I think all of my siblings turned out so well.  I have a few theories and told her a few, but I think this list has lots of great ideas.  My parents really tried to be good parents and I'm very grateful to them for doing their best.

A Little Girl That Loves Jamin

I had a cute moment at church yesterday.  There's a little 5 year old girl at church who whenever she sees me, she yells, "Lisa!" and she comes and gives me a hug and grabs my hand or climbs up on my lap.  She is so sweet.  So we were sitting at church yesterday, and I brought pretzels for my kids for a snack.  So this little girl came back with us to get some pretzels too.  I didn't mind sharing.  Everyone was happy.  After the pretzels were gone, Tegan went to go sit with Grandma and this little girl climbed up on my lap with Dallin. =)  Then Dallin climbed down and sat in his own seat.  Jamin was sitting next to me.  The little girl puckered her lips toward Jamin.  He backed away a little, and she said, "Jamin, I want to kiss you."  Jamin laughed and said, "Uh, I think I'm a little too old for you."  Then she said, "I want to be older so I can kiss you!"  She said it so loud that everyone in the room could hear her.  It was hilarious.  I whispered in her ear that Jamin isn't aloud to kiss girls until he's much older.