Christmas Has Come and Gone

Getting outfitted for the ski season

Christmas PJ's

Too many presents!

Can't wait to wear this!

"HyperActives" -very fitting.....

Mom and Dad trying to figure out what to do with an IPAD

It was a pretty quiet Christmas this year with just me and my parents. We decided to do Christmas at our house this year (for the first time), since it may be our last Christmas in this house. We fondued and just hung out together. Because my parents slept in my room, I slept with Cooper in his double bed. Not wise planning on my part. Literally, EVERY HOUR was met with a tap and a "Mom, what time is it? Is it almost time? Finally at 4AM I got smart and handed him my cell phone and said, "Here, now you can check the time all you want." 

Might as well add to the zoo. Cooper's Frogs.

Street hockey on the menu for 2012

The kids had a good Christmas and were pretty excited about everything they got. After church, we had a small Christmas dinner at my parents, again, with just me and them. My sister and her family came later that night. 

Boxing day was spent playing with the Williams side of the family at the school. It was fun, organized chaos. It think there were 20 kids there ranging in age from 14 down to 5 months. We had a grown ups verses kids dodgeball game, which was a blast. We also had several rounds of speed ( a bball shooting game) There is no better feeling than beating out all my nephews and brothers-in-law. There was even one game where Reg and I were the last ones in. It really made me take a step back and realize how fast the time is going by. I have been waiting for so many years to play serious sports with my kids and now it seems it suddenly sneaked up on me. The "big" kids also played 

some laser tag, which was a big hit. I swear I could play that every day 

and never get tired of it. 

The Paleontologists during mid-excavation! (Caution for parents: Mess to the Max)

Now were are in full cousin mode with play dates back and forth between houses. Tonight Grandma W. Is having her annual grandkids sleepover. Guess I'd better figure out something fun for me to do. Kid free time is premium around here and I don't want to waste it. Maybe I'll just stay home and read and eat the 25 pounds of chocolate I got for Christmas.

I love having Christmas over with early and having the whole rest of the break with no pressure and other junk. Next week we are heading to the states to snowboard and I am really looking forward to that! 

Pretty Good Weekend

I have felt kind of derailed the last few weeks so it was finally nice to have a good weekend. It started with a party and ended with some snowboarding.

Let's talk party first. I hate parties. I avoid them like the plague. They are uncomfortable, awkward, and a constant reminder of the gaping holes in my life. I only go to them when my kids beg and beg. I used to be quite a party animal. In my other life, Cam and I used to be invited to lots of parties and we really enjoyed them. We liked the competition kind of parties like amazing race ones, and commandoes. Usually we were the victors.

I recall a very uncomfortable experience that happened during my first Christmas season alone. An "acquaintance" called me up on the phone with an invitation. She typically held a Christmas party each year whose guests included several couples in our circle of friends and ward members. She mentioned that she would be holding the party again and knew that I probably would know it was happening. She THOUGHT it would maybe be nice if I could COME AND HELP SERVE at the party since I wouldn't be involved in a typical way and that this way I could still be invited. Well, let's see...............I would just love to come and dish up your food and serve it to all my friends who have husbands and are having a fantastic Christmas season, because mine is shaping up to be just delightful...................
..........................NOT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I know she meant no harm and that she was truly trying to reach out in kindness, but when you are not part of the club, you just don't get it. There is probably only one or two people reading this blog entry who actually get it. What is the club, you may ask? Well some like to call it the widows club. I hate that word---widow. It denotes weakness,  dependence,  and pity. I am none of these things. However, this weekend I was invited to a club type of activity. I have a friend whose late husband was in the hospital with Cam in Calgary. I got to know her husband really quite well. Cam and I visited with him for hours. The interesting part is that the first time I met her was at Cam's funeral. We have kept in touch since then. There are a group of people, like us, who get together in Lethbridge from time to time. She had invited me to these get togethers before, but it just never worked out. I finally decided to go. To my utter surprise, it was the most comfortable I have been at a party in a very long time. It felt so safe and accepting, and the kicker was, we were all in same boat--single moms (and one dad), trying our best to get through life and raise our kids. I spoke with a women whosw husband went to bed healthy and woke up dead from an embolism. I felt like I had know her my whole life. But that is how it always is with "the club". It connects you to people like nothing else.

The kids got to play sports in the gym and jump around in a gynormous boucy castle while the grown ups visited. It was also very interesting how the kids hit it off. It was great.

Today we went snowboarding to Castle. It was so fun. I forgot how much I love doing it. We went with my bro-in-law and his kids. I'm so grateful for Cam's siblings. They are so very, very good to me. I don't come from a large family, and I'm the oldest so Cam's brothers and sisters make me feel like I have some older siblings to rely on and have fun with. I only had two bad wipe outs and there was only one kid meltdown. If that isn't success I don't know what is. Fun times. Can't wait to have more during Christmas break. 5 more days 'til FREEDOM!!!!

Count Your Blessings

Today in the mail I received the December issue of the Ensign. In it was a little activity meant for youth, but nevertheless it caught my eye. The activity asked you to list 100 things you are grateful for, broken down into categories. I decided to do it and share.


10 physical abilities you are grateful for:

1. To be able to play sports        2. To have working fingers that can play the piano
3. Sight                                                  
4. To have a voice that can sing.
5. Smell                                                
6. To have a digestive system that allows me to eat whatever.
7. Hearing                                            
8. To have a brain that is not seriously disabled ; )  
9. To be able to give birth to my kids
 10. To have a body that is disease free.


10 material possessions you are grateful for:

1. Books                                                  6. Photo Albums
2. Piano                                                   7. Mascara
3. Comfortable Bed                                 8. Camping trailer
4. Car/Truck                                            9. Computer
5. Wedding ring                                      10. Temple Picture

10 living people you are grateful for:

1. Reggie                                                 6. Sister
2. Marin                                                   7. All my in laws
3. Cooper                                                 8. President Monson
4. Mom                                                    9. Mom in law
5. Dad                                                    10. Many other wonderful friends (Its hard to list)

10 deceased people you are grateful for:

1. Cam                                                    6. President Hinkley
2. Grandma Sheen                                  7. Father in law
3. Grandpa Johnson                                8. Grandpa Sheen
4. Grandma Johnson                               9. Our many friends we met during our hospt. time
5. Joseph Smith                                      10. Uncle Gordon


10 things about nature you are grateful for:

1. Sunsets                                                6. The ocean
2. Sunrises                                              7. Sandy beaches
3. Mountains                                           8. Whales
4. Flowers                                               9. Blue sky
5. Summer days                                      10. Wheat fields


10 things today you are grateful for:

1. Good exercise partners                       6. The awesome people at my job
2. Beautiful frost on the trees                  7. Hired help
3. Four wheel drive                                8.  A warm house
4. Kids who make me laugh                   9. Rice Krispie Squares
5. My job                                               10. A daughter who really enjoys piano lessons.


10 places on earth you are grateful for:

1. The temple                                         6. My parent's house
2. My home                                           7. Waterton
3. The cabin                                           8. Church
4. Kalispell                                             9. Hiking trails
5. Logan's Pass                                     10. Warm places to visit

10 modern inventions you are grateful for:

1. Dishwasher                                        6. Defibrillators
2. Washing Machine                              7. Modern medicines
3. Dryer                                                  8. Software that organizes your grades
4. Internet                                               9. Movies
5. Cell phone                                        10. E-books


10 foods you are grateful for:

1. Chocolate                                           6. Pasta
2. Bread                                                 7. Chicken
3. Mangoes                                            8. Peas out of the shell from the garden
4. Nectarines                                          9. Ice cream
5. Strawberries                                      10. Cheerios


10 things about the gospel you are grateful for:

1. Jesus Christ's Atonement                    6. Callings that make you stretch
2. The sacrament                                    7. Patriarchal Blessings
3. Temple covenants                              8. The priesthood
4. Eternal Families                                 9. Modern day prophet and apostles
5. The Holy Ghost                                10. The scriptures


Wow! It wasn't too hard to come up with that stuff and it is really only the tip of the iceberg. I dare you to do the same!

All I Want for Christmas Is.......

Today some of my students asked me what I wanted for Christmas. It kind of took me aback. I don't really think about that kind of stuff too often. Of course the kid's lists have been on my mind, but I took a minute to think about what I really do want for Christmas. Here's the list:

I really want.............

Kids who are kind to each other.

Kids who clean up their messes.

Someone to tell me what to do about a tough career decision that I have to make in a few weeks.

Some time for me.

Health and happiness for my kids.

For one of my good friends to have a baby.

For my "big plan" to move ahead smoothly.

For my grade seven classes to suddenly jump 10 notches on the maturity scale.

For my good friend who is facing her first holiday season alone to have gentle Christmas.

To go somewhere warm soon.

And chocolate of course!

Tell me what's on your list.

Thank Goodness For Daughters

I was talking with someone the other day about how scary it is to be raising daughters in this day and age. There are so many ways they can go wrong. I see it everyday at school. It is true, daughters can be a lot more difficult than sons in many ways, but there are also many extraordinary things about daughters as well.

Case in point, Tuesday. I had a an unusually long and exhausting day. I felt as if I had the weight of the world on my shoulders. I felt so unequal to the tasks given me. The constant commitments and being out of the house every night for the last few was taking its toll on me and the kids. The day ended with a long visiting teaching appointment--the kind that lasts more than an hour. I straggled in when I should have been tucking my kids in. I knew when I walked through the door I would be met with the disaster of the last few days. To add to the stress, I knew I had at least two hours of cleaning ahead of me that I had to get done, due to something that was happening the next day. Shocked and astounded, I entered in to a spotlessly clean house. Everything was picked up and in order, the kitchen was clean, supper had been made and cleaned up, and laundry was sorted and started. The love note left on my pillow was the final touch. I couldn't help it. I burst into tears. It was what I needed right then more than anything in the whole world, and it was all because of my sweet daughter. She is only 10 but has skills that many 16 years olds don't. How could I be so lucky to be blessed with such a remarkable individual? The boys couldn't fathom what I was so emotional about. Boys just don't get that kind of stuff. It wouldn't even OCCUR to them to do something like that.

I remember thinking when we were contemplating starting our family that I could definitely be an all boy mom. I didn't think I needed a girl. I couldn't have been more wrong. Surviving my life without her would be impossible. God has taken some important things away, but He has sure given me some amazing things in return. Thank goodness for daughters!!!!

The Great Escape

About a month ago I had a lapse in judgement. At the time I thought, how bad could it really be? Well, I sure found out the answer to THAT question. It all started when my oldest started making his birthday wish  list. It was surprisingly short. At the top of the list circled and starred was the word GERBIL. This word has since been cursed many times in my household, with me being the primary cursor. My first instinct was, NO WAY am I having a little rat like rodent thing in my house. But then came the ammo of reasoning fired right at my heart and mind. "But, mom...........I don't want an ipod, a game system, a toy, just this, that is it". How could I defend that? Most kids his age are glued to a screen, phone, system, ipod, or even worse a dirt bike or gun. It seemed pretty harmless. I caved.

Everything was going really well, UNTIL last night. I had been gone several hours. I walked through the door and to my ultimate horror, I hear Coop yell, "NOSY IS GONE MOM! ( Nosy is the name of one of them. The other is Meep) I came in and saw the gaping hole in the cage that should have been secured wire. I admit it; I completely lost it. I was screaming and yelling, Marin joined me and the boys began running around in panic stricken terror.  Where could we even look? That critter had been on the loose for hours. I knew I would never sleep with the knowledge that there was the potential for that THING to be nibbling on my toes in the night. I immediately called my dad and asked if he had a mouse trap. This overheard conversation was met with shrieks and violent sobs by the boys. I could have cared less at the moment. All empathy was gone. If the only way we could locate this thing was to snap off its little head in a trap, so be it.

My hatred for rodents and pumped up adrenaline was immediately extinguished when Reg said, "Mom, I think we should say a prayer." I felt quite humiliated by that statement. Here I was resorting to violence and his first thought was to request divine intervention. He said the prayer; simple and to the point. After he finished, I had the immediate thought to search the living room. It wasn't 5 minutes until they spotted him under the couch. Marin and I blocked off the room and let the boys worry about how to capture Nosy.

After many failed attempts and a lot of disgusting skittering around, Coop piped up and said, "Mom, we said a prayer to find him, but not one to catch him." Good point. So Coop led us in prayer to move the rescue mission forward. Another miracle shortly followed when the perpetrator emerged and hopped right into his cage. Who knew that a faith promoting experience would involve a gerbil?

It was still hard to sleep. That critter kept finding its way into my dreams. I think I checked the cage about 50 times today to see if the door was shut. I ended the experience by uttering the threat that they would never own another pet as long as they lived if it escaped again. They promised vigilance. I'm sure we will laugh about it in a few years, but I'm not quite ready to do that yet.

Random Thought Blurbs

I don't really have anything great to post about so I'm just going to spew out some random things that I want to say but don't have anyone to say them to.

*  Mini chocolate bars magically make self-control EVAPORATE!

* I love the ladies I'm doing P90X with. The 5:30 alarm......not so much.

*  I need a big change. Not sure what.

*  I hate bureaucracy, red tape, and jumping through hoops just to get something done.

*  I want to be able to do something UNINTERRUPTED for just 15 min.

*  I am suddenly addicted to smoothies. I have been having one every day for a long time. I am even   sneaking lettuce and spinach in there and my kids have no idea. Ha!

*  I haven't had a good hair day in a really long time.

* I love being able to see my kid every day in my class.

*  I need some motivation to enter another race. It has been a long time. I wish I wasn't so competitive about it and that I could just do it for fun.

*I think I should have been diagnosed with ADD as a kid.

*I'm so grateful for the sunrise I saw this morning. BEAUTIFUL!

* The travel bug is starting to nibble away at me again. I need to plan something.

* I wish some people didn't have to carry such heavy burdens. It is hard to know how to help sometimes.

That is all..............................for now.

"The man who doesn't read good books has no advantage over the man who CAN'T read." Mark Twain

Today I am going to convert you to my favorite past time. Maybe I am preaching to the choir, but preach I will. If I had a day to myself (Yeah, right!) , I would most likely spend it READING----on a beach preferably.  It really is the most superior past time. No matter how old I get, how broken down my body becomes, how poor I am, how little companionship I have,  I can always engage in this, the king of all recreation.

I hear people say often, "I don't read." or "I don't like to read." To me this is like saying I don't breathe, I don't enjoy sleeping, I don't enjoy eating. You may think it extreme, but to be a well rounded, well grounded person, I really think you need to read something---quite often. To deny reading is to deny living a full and rich life. None of us will have the means or time to travel to every country, experience every culture, to be the fly on the wall in someone's unique experience. However, you can do all this and more with books.

The reasons to read are endless. Escape, Knowledge, Wisdom, Epiphany, Experience-----there are so very many reasons to lose yourself in between the pages of a book. There is a reason for every season of life. When I was in university I read to gain my degree. When I was newly married I read for enjoyment and because I had the time. When I was a young mother I read so I felt like I conversed with an adult or to escape the repetitiveness of my routine. Now, when I am lonely I can read to not feel alone. I can't wait for the next season when I will get back to more time to read.

I am so fortunate to have a couple of friends that feel the way I do about books. I have one particular friend who finishes an amazing book and then immediately comes running to give it to me. I do the same for her. I love that books are a principal part of our friendship.

To those parents out there, there is yet another reason to read---YOUR KIDS. For the last few years I have been tracking some information about reading with my junior high students. One of the most interesting pieces of information I've gathered is the impact of parents' reading habits on their children. The biggest influence was the father figure in the home. If the father read frequently, almost always the children would be readers. When it came to boys, this was true pretty much 99% of the time. Mothers have a big impact as well. Mothers seemed to have the largest impact on their daughters' reading habits. Students who reported that they NEVER saw their parents reading in almost every case were not readers themselves. Interesting stuff.

So what does all this mean? In short, I guess it means shut your computer off and go read a good book RIGHT NOW!

Invisible Mothers Building Cathedrals

Ran across this little story today that I love. I needed to hear this stuff today. Maybe you do too.

Invisible Mother…

It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I’m on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I’m thinking, ‘Can’t you see I’m on the phone?’ Obviously not; no one can see if I’m on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I’m invisible. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more: Can you fix this ? Can you tie this? Can you open this?

Some days I’m not a pair of hands; I’m not even a human being. I’m a clock to ask, ‘What time is it?’ I’m a satellite guide to answer, What number is the Disney Channel?’ I’m a car to order, ‘Right around 5:30, please.’

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude – but now they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She’s going, she’s going, she’s gone!?

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England. Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was
feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, ‘I brought you this.’ It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe. I wasn’t exactly sure why she’d given it to me until I read her inscription:
‘To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are
building when no one sees.’

In the days ahead I would read – no, devour – the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals – we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit.The passion of their building
was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, ‘Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof, No one will ever see it. And
the workman replied, ‘Because God sees.’

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, ‘I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does. No act of kindness you’ve done, no sequin you’ve sewn on, no cupcake you’ve baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can’t see right now what it will become.

At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to
sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don’t want my son to tell the friend he’s bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, ‘My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for three hours and presses all the linens for the table.’ That would mean I’d built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his
friend, to add, ‘You’re gonna love it there.’

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we’re doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Brandon Flowers !?!

Just discovered yesterday that the lead singer of one of my favorite bands, The Killers, is Mormon! Had no idea. So cool. For all my non-mormon friends out there this means he is a member of my church (The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints)

I then got obsessive about the whole thing and started purchasing a whole bunch of their new songs from itunes. Now I've got to add their concert to the bucket list.

A Beautiful Life

Three years ago I watched as my best friend left this life for a better one. Although I'm sure it was an exhilarating experience for him, my perspective is much different. I would not wish what I witnessed that day, or the previous two and a half years on anyone. The excruciating loneliness and the void in my life left by his absence are crosses that I have be called to bear. On days like today they are ever so heavy.

C.S. Lewis became my best friend in the weeks and months that followed. Even though we have never met, his inspired writings and voice within them reached out to my wounded heart. In the pages of his books I found understanding and solace.

"There are moments, most unexpected, when something inside me tries to assure me that I don't really mind so much, not so very much, after all, love is not the whole of a man's life. I was happy before I ever met H. I've plenty of what are called 'resources'. People get over these things. Come, I shan't do so badly. One is ashamed to listen to this voice but it seems for a little to be making out a good case. Then comes a sudden jab of red-hot memory and all this 'commonsense' vanishes like an ant in the mouth of a furnace..."  (From A Grief Oberved)

Such beautiful and wrenching writing!

Fifteen years is what I had with a very remarkable person. I count myself so blessed. I learned many lessons at his side. I am still learning from the lessons he taught me. He was the ultimate example of how to live, how to treat people, and how to prioritize what really matters. It is a miracle that he chose ME. I was promised that my home would be a bit of heaven on earth, and there were many times that it was, and he was the reason for it.

I can't wait to get back to that bit of heaven again.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life.  It turns what we have into enough, and more.  It turns denial into acceptance, chaos to order, confusion to clarity.  It can turn a meal into a feast, a house into a home, a stranger into a friend.  Gratitude makes sense of our past, brings peace for today and creates a vision for tomorrow.  ~Melody Beattie


In my online travels this week I ran across this quote. I am kind of a quote junkie.  As I have been pondering the Thanksgiving season this week, that first line really gnawed at me---"Gratitude unlocks the fullness of life." Being the carnal species we are, we fall into the trap of taking the common things for granted. The more we are around them, the less we actually see them. They become the backdrop of our lives, exempt from our list of blessings. Just because they are common doesn't mean that they are not incredible gifts. They are just shrouded with the film of everyday life.


I remember driving home after a two and a half month stay at the Calgary hospital. When that familiar, yet picturesque mountain range came into view I was overcome. I couldn't help but weep at that stunning sight that had been mine to enjoy every day of my life previous to hospital time. It was a moment of pure, unrestrained gratitude. How could I have taken this for granted every single day! I vowed to never again look at those mountains without offering a silent prayer of thanks and summoning a genuine feeling of awe. 


This is just one example. Think of those things that are around you, a part of you, each and every day. Your healthy, happy kids, the absence of war and oppression, the good job, the caring friends, the family that lives close by, the library that is only 1 block away, the chocolate bar in your cupboard begging to be eaten, your ability to see, touch, walk, think, and express. How blessed we are! 


During this Thanksgiving week I am pledging to look for the magic and miracles in the common and every day of my life, because they are not so common to some..................


HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

6 Hard Things- 6 Good Things

Well, do you want the good news or the bad news first? Everyone takes the bad news first right?

Hard Things

1. Had to spend almost four days away from my kids. (They cried)

2. I can't hardly keep up to all my commitments and responsibilities of school and home and feel like I'm a
    failure at both most of the time.

3. It's raining. Cloudy weather and I don't really like each other.

4. I want to help and be there for my friends more, but I don't have the time I need to do that.

5. My daughter still cries most nights for her dad  : (

6. Realized again that cancer is no respecter of persons. It doesn't matter how famous or rich you are.


Good Things

1. One of my best friends adopted a baby in the last two weeks and he is the sweetest thing ever.

2. Got to spend a bit of time with a nephew who I don't see very much, but love. He is feels more like a little brother.

3. It is the long weekend.

4. I don't have to prep and teach gospel doctrine class this week.

5. Reggie did awesome in his zone cross country meet.

6. I have something in the works that I thought would never be able to happen in my situation. Can't
    reveal too much about that now, but I'm pretty excited about it. Maybe I'll tell after Christmas.  
    Maybe.


P.S. I am getting some hits from really interesting places around the world. Who are you people? I really want to know. If you read my blog regularly, get some guts and be one of my followers so I can find out who you are. I'll follow you if you follow me...................

A Request From Your Child's Teacher

1. Please don't show up at the school and tell me that you are going on vacation for 2 weeks and you want homework assignments for the time you will be gone within the next 10 min. Your child won't do them anyway.

2. Please don't give your child everything they ask for. The kid with the cellphone, the ipod, the trendiest clothes, the best shoes, and a mom who still makes his bed for him is usually the brattiest kid with the worst work ethic.

3. Please observe what your child is wearing to school. Many of your daughters are becoming borderline walking pornography.

4. Please don't sit down at my desk at parent teacher and exclaim that this class is your child's lowest mark and make me feel like I am the cause of it. One of their classes has to be the lowest mark.

5. Please know that your child reveals to me a great deal more about you and your home life than you would like them to. Let's just say I know you better than you know me.

6. Please understand that your child's education is a partnership. You and I both have a role to play.

7. Please quit bad mouthing teachers as people who have "the easy life".  Get real. Most teachers put in more work hours than many other jobs. From what I hear, the road to the university is still paved. If it is so wonderful maybe you should give it a try!

8. Please know that I love your kid. I treat them as my own and hope for their success just like you do. I am on your child's team.

There....................I feel much better.

Crazy Week!!!!

I keep thinking, surely my life will slow down soon, but it just never happens. Using a swimming metaphor, I would be the kid that is about two inches too short for the shallow end and standing on my tip  toes with just my mouth surfacing the water. I definitely need some water wings or something. For now I am a great actress.



Monday- Usual psycho day at school.
                Coach volleyball after school.
                Supper, homework, school prep and family home evening.
                Hurricane in my house-----ignored.

Tuesday-  Doctor appointments all day for Coop
                 Coach Volleyball
                 Champs basketball
                 Supper, homework
                 Marking
                 House----still ignoring.

Wednesday- Pick up the damage the sub left at school.
                     Achievement Days
                     Piano Lessons
                     Supper, homework
                     Laundry
                     Scouts
                     Mow lawn
                     Work on the hurricane

Thursday-  Marking begins to reproduce on my desk
                   Investigate and nail perpetrators of pranks pulled in the boys locker room, by members of               my 7 boys volleyball team. Little turds!!!!
                   Volleyball Tournament in Magrath until 7:30pm
                   Supper, Homework
                   Prepare Presentation for PD Day

Friday-       PD Presentation
                  Laundry
                  Pick up house
                  Babysit niece
                  Work on Gospel Doctrine Lesson

Saturday-  Donate Blood with Mindy and Graham
                  Corn Maze- This was a blast!!!
                  Shop for presents for Reg and a nephew
                 Finish gospel doctrine lesson
                 House pick up
                 Get church clothes ready
                 Help Cooper get his church talk ready

Sunday-    Teach Gospel Doctrine Class while Marin helps Cooper with his talk (same time slot)
                  Dinner
                  Much needed nap
                  Home teachers
                  Family birthday party

 

Reg, Graham, Mindy, Mar, Coop, Yours truly

They had a fun petting zoo as well!

Start all over again! I'm sure when I'm sittin' in the old folks home I will be thinking that these were the good old days.
                

Cooper/Mommy Date

We had big plans to make our date and mini vacation away from school a smashing good time, but most of it was burned up in doctor's offices and waiting rooms. You know my love for hospitals ---------ugghh. I swear I could write the handbook on waiting rooms, parking lots, hospital navigation, and how to handle health care personnel.

Cooper had follow up appointments to make sure everything was cool with his noggin after that scary seizure in August. The pediatrician stuff took most of the morning. Next, a break for lunch and a quick trip to Toys R Us to purchase the latest coveted Star Wars Lego set that he has been saving for. Then, the afternoon was mostly gone with the EEG test (electroencephalogram). This test consisted up having a ton of goop on his face and hair and connecting dozen of wires to read the electrical activity of his brain. They wiped the goop off his face, but made him leave the hospital with it still in his hair. We got some pretty funny looks.

 
I had to dash home for volleyball practice afterwards so that ended the day. I think we'd better do it again and make it a lot more fun next time. However, we did get to sing as loud as we wanted in in the car to all the songs on the radio without Reggie there to have a freak ; )

Really, I'm too old/young for this!

Do you know what is really unfair? Having wrinkles and pimples at the same time. This is one of Mother's Nature's cruelest tricks. Don't you think that when you graduate to wrinkles you should be able to say a forever good bye to zits. I certainly think so, but my skin certainly doesn't. Doesn't any one else have this problem, or am I the only cursed 30+ year old out there? SO ANNOYING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Marathon of Hope

 While most people were bedding down for the night, the Junior High X-Country team was just getting started. In connection with the Terry Fox Run, the school hosted an all night Marathon of Hope to raise money for cancer research in Canada. From 8pm to 8am kids, teens, parents, friends, brothers, and sisters, ran a continuous relay throughout the night. Tents were set up on the school grounds to sleep in between running shifts.

It is funny how sometimes we can discover, suddenly, things about our own kids that we never knew previously. To my delight, I found out that my Reggie is a running fool. After setting up his tent, he took the glow stick baton from a team mate and began to run a stretch that would last for 12km. I kept telling him to save some kms for later in the night, but he had heard that the record for a continuous km stretch was 10kms and he was determined to break it. When he was done he crashed in his tent while I watched the Terry Fox movie with my other kids and about two dozen others projected on the back of the school.

Unfortunately Reggie got sick in the night and had to come home : ( .   He was pretty mad. I think he over did it and his GI tract paid the price. He seemed ok by the morning and we headed out to the Community Terry Fox Run, which I am the organizer of. The cross-country team finished their last kilometer of the night joining with the community run. It was amazing. They ran over 700km as a team and raised over $2000 in a single night. One kid ran a full marathon (40km) during the night. Rachelle Sugden and Nathan Smith did an amazing job of planning and putting on the event.

 
I was so grateful for all my family and close friends that supported me for the community run. Ironically, Cam and I took over the organizing of the run about a year before he was diagnosed. With cancer, there is not much you can do to help someone fight it, but this run is one thing that can be done. It was a great day! Special thanks to Mom, Dad, Erica, Shannon, Mindy and Graham for all your help with the set up, registration, and food. Love you guys!

And That's How I Feel Today

I was listening to my Wicked soundtrack today while I was working on my 100 item to do list before bedtime. The song 'I'm Not that Girl' came on, and for some reason really hit me hard.

Especially this line:

"Every so often we long to steal
To the land of what-might-have-been
But that doesn't soften the ache we feel when reality sets back in."

Yep, and thats how I feel today.

What I've Been Up To...........

The last week or so has been crazy. I've forgotten what the start of school does to my life. The most mind blowing part of the last couple of weeks is the realization that I have a JUNIOR HIGH STUDENT!

It really hit me hard when I was doing supervision in the hallway between classes and I felt a tap on the shoulder and a voice that said, "Hi Mom." That made it all too real. So very fun though. He is in my language class and I also get to coach his volleyball team. I have been waiting my whole life to coach my own kid in a school sport.

Above are our first day of school picts.


After that abbreviated start up week, it was time to relish the long weekend. I have been looking forward to this Sept. long for a while. We have started a tradition of doing Cam's favorite hike on this weekend, the Carthew-Alderson. It is rated as one of the toughest hikes in Waterton, but also the most beautiful. We couldn't have ordered up a more perfect day. Not a breath of wind, no clouds in the sky, and great company.

 

I can't really remember a day when I felt so alive. The crisp mountain air, the taste of fresh thimble berries, dipping my toes in a cascading waterfall, the tug of a rainbow trout on the end of my line---it all added up to an amazing day that I hated to see come to a close.

From start to finish it took 8hrs. It is an 17km hike which we probably could have done in 6 hrs, but we took off time to fish. I caught 5 and Reg caught 6. Wish I would have got a picture of mine. Thankfully Sunday was the next day, so we could take time to recover. On Monday we did the bike trail from the town site to the gate, which was 16 km. Loved every minute of it! It all ended with a well deserved large Rocky Road Big Scoop ice cream.

Reluctantly, we packed up the trailer and said good bye to the summer life style of the last few weeks. Great memories!