Celebrate Good Times...Come On!!!

Today was Drew's graduation day....for the 3rd time in her life. In June 2006 she graduated from High School. One year later, May 2007, she graduated from Beauty School (which she started while still in high school mind you). So she has been a cosmetologist/stylist for over 2 years. Today she graduated with her Master Esthitician! YEAH DREW!!! She worked hard and it only took her 4 months because of already having her cosmetology license. So Wynn took the day off and he and I drove to Salt Lake to be there for her at this momentous time of her life.

Tomorrow she will take her state exam and get her Esthitician license....because we know that she will pass. Then she will be moving back home for now because her next goal is to work for a cruise line in their spa on a Cruise Ship. She already has an interview lined up...but it isn't until October. So she will live with us and work until then. WAY TO GO DREW!!! We are sooooooo proud of you!

Drew getting her turn in the 'spotlight'

Drew and her friend-ly graduates

Wynn, Drew and myself

Breakfast of Champions

The alarm went off early this morning. Wynn went in to work late. We needed to be at Cedar Ridge Middle School at 6:30am. Why?, you ask. I know because I asked too. But it was for a good thing. All the 6th graders that had earned a 4.0 for at least one trimester this year were invited to the Breakfast of Champions. They and their parents got a small breakfast. They had a couple of speakers (one was Sky View High Schools top student who happened to go to the Breakfast of Champions when she was at Cedar Ridge), and they each received a medal and a box of Wheaties, the 'TRUE' Breakfast of Champions.

Lexie received a 4.0 ALL 3 TRIMESTERS!!! WAY TO GO LEXIE!!!

Lexie receiving her medal and cereal.

(The guy walked there just as Wynn clicked the picture!)

She is the Champion!!!

Lexie with the Principal, Mr. Michael Thompson

Wynn, Lexie and Loretta Jenkins

Lexie's medal

Wheaties, medal and program

In like a lion, out like a

well......LION!!! What happened to the lamb part? Well, I think it was counted in a few random days of warm spring weather we had dispersed throughout the month. There were actual times that I left the house in tee shirt and jeans, perfectly comfortable. Today it is snowing, blizzard looking at times even. It is cold.

Working as a reading aide at Tanners' elementary school, I work with 2nd graders and kindergartners. The second graders come to us in the reading room where they are grouped with others at the same level. I do that with 2 different groups for 1/2 hour each. It is nice and toasty warm in that room. Almost too warm for the way we are dressed for the day, where, even though there are windows, you can forget the blizzard and cold outside while focusing on the kids. Then I work with the kindergartners for an hour, which means we go to their rooms. It is cold there. We wear sweaters or jackets and are too warm in the reading room for this very reason. Then we go back to the warm reading room for a 45 minute break, then kindergarten for another hour. I think this has contributed to our, the reading aides, colds throughout the year.

Today I was fine, until that last hour of kindergarten. In the first 1/2 hour I started getting really cold. I looked outside and noticed it was darker and really snowing. I figured that was why I was getting really cold. We moved rooms and were in the last 1/2 hour of the day. I was teaching the lesson when all of a sudden I felt very sick. I thought I was going to have to run for the bathroom. I told the kids I wasn't feeling well and needed them to really pay attention and focus. They were so good about it and I made it the last 10 minutes okay. I went to the reading room, got the kindergarten stuff switched for the next day (it takes only 2 minutes because I have it pulled a week in advance) and left for home. Though I'm not feeling quite as nauseous, I decided maybe I just needed to eat lunch, I am still freezing. My bones feel like ice. I am starting to get queasy again and I think I am going to go downstairs, curl up in a nice warm blanket or quilt with a heating pad, and watch something mindless on tv or the dvr. I really don't feel well.

I think I am going to blame it on the disappointment of March leaving like a lion instead of a lamb. I was really looking forward to the lamb. I guess I'll be grateful for the water this summer. But for now, I'm going downstairs.

Joyful Seasons of Life

We had a bi-stake womens conference this morning with Ardeth Kapp. If you have never had the chance to hear her speak or read one of her books, I feel bad for you because you have missed out. She had us laughing. She had us crying. And sometimes she had us laughing AND crying. The whole conference was on joy. She spoke on the different seasons we have in our lives and how to find joy in each of them. Everyone, all 700 women, went to her workshop,then we each went to 2 different workshops and we had lunch. We signed up for the workshops we wanted about a month ago, with a couple of alternatives. With 700 women attending, I can imagine what it was like to get it all organized!

My second workshop was Finding Joy Within, given by my very dear friend, Leslie Austin. She is a 7th grade teacher here at Cedar Ridge, plus I have the fortune to be in the same ward as her. I don't get to see her much because she is a Stake Relief Society President in one of the University Stakes. She was as delightful as ever. We laughed so very hard and when she accidently knocked over her glass of water on the podium, I could so see myself doing that very thing. She was awesome about the whole thing as she wiped it up while talking to us still. She talked about learning to own who we are. The good and the not so good and made it all seem so natural to do so in such a humerous way.

My third workshop was Facing Adversity Cheerfully given by Lila Cooley. I chose this one because the name of it sounded very interesting. She did a wonderful job. She showed how sometimes we don't always face things cheerfully, but come around to the cheerfulness after it's over. The joy is in the journey, not the destination. When we reach the destination we are then on a new and different journey, so we should learn to be cheerful in getting there.

I am going to try to put what I learned into practice. I am going to try to laugh more and have more joy in the everyday things. The spilling of milk, the breaking of glass, the typical everyday life as a mortal. I think I might start with the laughing more. What do you think?

After much weeping and wailing and nashing of teeth

I finished my online CERT course today!!!

Colleen and I have been printing off the lessons, 2 to 3 at a time, and taking them home to read and highlight them. Then we would go back to school the next day and answer the questions from the lessons we highlighted. Then we would do it again for the next couple of lessons. Yesterday we printed off the last 3 lessons...and the test. We have been working on this since January. We highlighted 2 of the lessons at school, so we only had 1 lesson to highlight and the test, 40 questions, to answer, and since it was 'open book' it would be no big deal. Then we could just go through and mark the answers on the computer.

I went to get my hair cut, help Lexie shop for a couple of things she needed, got home and had forgotten about Morgan and Lexie's basketball game. We were going to be late so decided not to go. Then Drew got off work and texted that she was just going to meet us there, so we decided to go. I figured I could just read and highlight while they played. Started highlighting and then my friend got there so we visited instead. Got home and still needed to get dinner, Tanners' homework done, and my CERT stuff done.

I got it all highlighted and started on the test. It wasn't too hard but not everything was phrased the same on the test as they were in the lessons. One question in particular could have had 2 answers because of the phrasing and I just couldn't figure it out. I searched and searched, and worked on it and worked on it and just couldn't find which was the right answer. Since I was tired and frustrated, and just tired of CERT, I started to cry and worry (weeping wailing and nashing of teeth) about what was I thinking. How could I go back to school if I was too stupid to do this test? Wynn talked me through it, told me I wasn't stupid and I would figure it out. I watched some Burn Notice (always cheers me up) and I eventually finished the rest of the test, late last night.

I only had to teach for one hour today so we spent the rest of the time answering the lesson questions then took the test. That question was still bothering me & she wasn't sure either. She answered one way & I answered the other. It still bothered me. She got them all right, 100%. I had gone back and changed my answer, so I got a 100% as well!!!

So now I know that I was so frustrated because in my subconscience I knew the other answer was right. If I will just listen to my gut, still small voice, or what ever you want to call it, I will do fine in school. There will still be frustration & feelings of being overwhelmed, but I will be fine.

And did I mention.... I GOT A 100%!!!!!

Shame on me and this is what I do

It's been a week-OK, and a day- since my last blog. Shame on me, I was doing so well! And I realized I've had a few blogs that I said, "I'll explain later" or "expound later" or something along those lines, and I never have. Shame on me again. I admit last week was crazy, I have had some long, late, grueling days at work lately, which with my job, I shouldn't be having. But with AmeriCorps, we're the 2 that get to do the extras. Which brings me to........

AmeriCorps. I said I would say what keeps me so busy, and at times, so stressed. So... What is it and what do they do? Think of the Peace Corp, only for literacy. Volunteer for 1-2 years (Aug-July) and get a living stipend for 10 months each year. You can do AmeriCorps for only 2 years in your life. At the end of each year, they give you an educational stipend. You can use it to pay off student loans or to go to school. At the end of 2 years I will have enough in the stipend I get for 1 year at USU. That is depending on what tuition is at that point! I'm in the middle of my 1st year. There are requirements, some are the same year to year, others are different. This year:

• 900 hours for part time (me)--split between training, community service and direct service
• Week of training in Ogden, which coincided with the first week of school here for my kids, so I drove back and forth
• training--study groups once a month (sept, oct, nov, feb, mar, apr) about an assigned book. First book was a simple yet redundant skinny book about teaching phonics. Quick, easy read. This time it is a book with 300 some pages called Twenty Wishes by Debbie Macomber. First 10 chapters for Feb study group. Not bad but they also give us a book of questions to have answered, go to her website, visit her blog, sign up for her contests, and then start a scrapbook about our own wishes. I don't scrapbook. We also have to have CERT training. We had the choice to do the 20 hours on line and not be fully certified to be called out for disasters, or take the actual 7 week course and be certified to be called out. I opted for the online course! Plus we have individual 1 hour training with our leader 3 times a year, plus another week long training.
• 50 hours of community service--25 that can fall in an 'easy circle' (I drove the girls for color guard practice and competitions) and 25 that have to fall in a hard circle. I did the kits and toys for CAPSA plus volunteered at a care center. We also had a MLK day 6-8 hour project with our study group that didn't count toward the 50 hours. We tied quilts for DI (the Humanitarian project) And we have a week long project in May for AmeriCorps week that we have to come up with. Doesn't count toward the 50.
• List any service we do on a Presidential website. I have a lot of hours listed here. I was actually quite surprised. Of course everything you do counts here, including Church callings, taking dinner to a neighbor, etc.
• Homeland security project and a literacy night project.
• Direct service is what I do every day--I teach 2nd grade and kindergarten reading groups--5 hours every day. Being in AmeriCorps, we have the most at risk groups. It is sad to see them so far behind, but so great to see how far they come. Sad for those who don't really progress because of non-attendance or no help at home.
• Report all dibels scores 3 times a year. Listed by child.
• Any time anything extra needs done at school, we get to do it because we aren't on a time clock. And there is always something extra. I'm supposed to work from 8:30-1:30. There are times I don't get off anywhere from 3:30-6:00.

I had a wedding in November in the middle of all this as well. By Christmas I had wedding done, my 50 hours service done, Homeland Security done, Literacy night done, Presidential site up to date, had helped Colleen get most of hers done (she's going to college right now!). We are 1/2 through with our CERT course now. And yes, I'm planning on doing my 2nd year next year. #1-It pretty much guarantees me a job at this point. #2- the educational stipend.

Now I'm tired just listing it all. Think I'm going to go watch some NCIS until it's time to go to the rec center. Oops, maybe not. I have to take Morgan to her orthodontist appointment. And numerous other 'mom' things.

And I fell on the sidewalk this morning on the newly fallen snow, and think I broke my thumb.

Tannerisms #3

This has a long background to get to the point. Bear with me, it's worth it.

Last summer Tanner & I were driving in town. This was the summer right after kindergarten. Just out of the blue he says
"Mom, I know what 1000 x 2 is."
"Really? What is it?"
"2000."
"Who taught you that?"
"Nobody. I just figured that if 1 x 2=2, then 1000 x 2=2000. This is easy. I don't know why people can't figure this out." (remember, he is only 6 1/2 at this time. He gets this math thing from his dad who is such a numbers person, doing them in his head all the time)

So forward to 1st grade. Right after Christmas I was talking to his teacher. I wrote the problem on the board & Tanner just looked at it because up to this time, he had just done it all in his head. I explained that the 'x' was for times & the line under the numbers was for equals, so he wrote the answer. Then as I proceeded to tell her the story from summer, he proceeded to do math problems on the board since he knew how to write them now. By the time we got done talking he was up to 10,000 x 5=50,000. He looked at me & said,"That's where the comma goes, right?" A few days later I told this to the principal. Remember, Tanner just turned 7 a week before this.

Forward to the next week. Tanner was sent home with a letter from school that since Mrs. Skidmore felt the math they were learning in class was too easy for him, he would be going to an excellerated math class on Tuesdays. We talked about what a cool opportunity this was for him. Then a couple days later we got a letter saying that he would be going to another excellerated math class on Thursdays. So now he has 2 different excellerated math classes he attends each week. We talked about how cool this was. He already does something different for reading group because his reading level higher. (gets that one from me)

Forward to last week. Tuesday got here & it was his first day for excellerated math. I could tell he was a little curious/anxious as we talked that morning while getting ready for school....
"Mom, why do I have to go to a different math class now?"
"Because the math you are doing in class is too easy for you so you aren't learning anything new. They are going to try to challenge you with these math classes so you can learn more."
"What if this math is too easy for me?" (no longer anxious)
" Then I guess you will just have to go to high school."
"I can't go to high school!"
"Why not?" (figuring there will be some concern about going with big kids)
"I'm not tall enough to play basketball yet!"

Seriously. Being tall enough for basketball was his ONLY concern with going to high school at age 7. This kid is going to keep me young from laughing all the time!

It's only the future of our country/world after all, so what's the big deal?

I am talking about the budget that is spent on the education of our children. It is pathetic, to begin with, and now it is going to be cut even further. I don't know where the rest of the country gets its money, or how they divvy it up, but I do know a little bit about Utah.

We just found out last week that the Trust Land money will be cut by about 25% next year. This is where our district gets money (not sure if they get some from somewhere else as well) for the Paraprofessionals (reading aides) & I think it is pretty much the same for others. The reason for this is that they don't spend the principle, only the interest on their investments. Of course, they have had the same losses as the rest of us in investments, so they can already see where this is going to be. This is after the Para budget was cut for this year. So they really had to tweak the schedules to keep everybody.

This morning we had a meeting that we didn't know we were going to have. We all know that the Legislature is in session in February. We all know that the Govenor & the Legislature will have proposals that they each want to get through by the end of the session, so the end of February. They each have a proposal to cut the education budget.....by MILLIONS of dollars! So this is even more than we were cut this year.The Govenor wants to leave this year alone & his cuts start next year. The Legislature disagrees & wants their cuts to start immediately this year. They want a certain percentage cut this year & then an even bigger percentage cut next year, & the cuts they want are bigger than what the Govenor wants. I'm not very good at remembering numbers, hence being a reading aide & not a math aide, but I'm sure the figures could be easily looked up. So, if one of these goes through, what does this mean for our schools/children? The future of the country/world? Not good things, that's for sure....

• Possibility that:
• Teachers will be cut, meaning even less one on one for the kids because of bigger classes
• Administration will be cut, meaning less people to cover all the kids at the school AND district levels (can you imagine schools with no principals?)
• Possibly cutting programs and/or teachers (or aides) from all schools, meaning at risk in learning kids might not be able to get the help they need in the subjects they need it in or have too many kids per group so the ones needing it the most get left behind
• Or that the 'gifted' or excellerated kids won't have the instruction they need to move on to the levels they are at, therefore becoming bored with school & acting up to pass the time, etc
• And so on, and so on...

These are just some possibilities that are lurking in the very near future. But hey, we'll have some pretty roads to drive on at the expense of education, so the lack of education in the state won't matter. I mean the quality of the roads IS the more important thing. Right?