Sofia Second Year of Preschool

The air is electric with excitement.

After waiting a full week after Noah started school.

Sofia finally gets to go to the magical Teacher Pat again.

 Sofia is a girl in motion.

So happy to go to school again.

 When Sofia awakes in the morning.

To cope with the day, she turns into a puppy.

Today her name was Rainbow Sparkles.

She has to wear puppy ears to school

and we had to wear a bit of makeup.

It is a special day after all.

Mollie, Sofia and Myka ready for school

Sofia sitting on the rug with her girls from school.

I know she will have a magnificent day. 

It is time to be back on a schedule.  

Noah the 3rd Grader

 Another school year begins

for my so grown up boy Noah.

Wow,  I can't believe he is in 3rd grade

 Here is his silly picture.  

 They received Space glasses so they are prepared to 

Explore new things this year.

His teacher this year is Ms Brynn.

He was super excited.  He did not want me to call his friends

to see what class they were in.  So he would not have time

to be sad if they were in another class.  

And most of them are in a different class.

"Don't worry, Mom.  I will be fine."

I know I was more worried than he is and was. 

Cub Country

Now that Noah is eight, he has started Cub Scouts and is now a Wolf.  He had his first Cub Country Scout Camp June 29-30.

This is him on his way.  Luckily his good friend, Ry from across the street went with him and they had a blast.  Kersten's family has a tradition for the boys to get their first pocket knife when becoming a scout.  Noah sure felt big.  We told him the story of when Uncle J got his first knife he cut himself.  We had good laugh over that one.
His first day was at Super Hero Camp,  they got to shoot BB guns and go on an obstacle course.  One of the counselors did a skit about the Hulk that made the boys laugh a lot.  He came home filthy and tired and super happy.

The second day was at Jurassic Park.  They learned a lot and he said it was more "learning instead of doing."  The did get to shoot a bow and arrow and learn about bones.  Which are fascinating.

Again he came home dirty tired and talkative.  Kersten was amazed at the dirt on this boy when he arrived home that we took pictures

And his feet had socks on.

Noah says he definitely loves being a scout and is glad he is old enough to go now.  I still can't believe my boy is so grown up.

Sofia Preschool Graduation

Sofia's Preschool Graduation

I still cannot believe my Fia has finished her first year of Preschool.

She has absolutely thrived and loved every minute of it.

I think that fact that she plays "Teacher Pat" and is constantly telling 

me things she learned at school is a good sign.

For the celebration, they had a musician come

He called up one of the father's to help.

Kersten was the lucky one. 

He abhors going up in front of people for entertainment.

He can teach or talk but not entertain.

He is embarrassed for anyone who has to do that.

 The fact that he did it happily shows how much he loves his girl.

I know it meant a lot to her that he showed up for a little bit of the party.

 The whole thing was a water party.  

Sofia is a water girl and so so loved it.

While other kids wandered off to the slides etc

my girl stayed in the water.

Teacher Pat gave them a gift and a certificate to show their acheivement.

There are not many people like Teacher Pat. 

She LOVES what she does and the kids LOVE her.

I want to be like Teacher Pat when I grow up.

Noah's Baptism Day

 Noah's Baptism Day

Oh, what a glorious day,

on Cinco de Mayo,

My son decided to be baptized. 

He was so excited, his energy was electric.

He chose his Dad to baptize and confirm him a 

Member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints.

There were a total of 7 kids getting baptized in our stake,

they most they have ever had in one month.

Our ward went last and his friend Maci was baptized with him.

My favorite part was when Kersten 

choked up when he was baptizing him.  

His Grandpa's on both sides were the witnesses.

 Here he is fresh out of the water.

So many people came to witness this blessed event.

The Primary President had every one write him a note 

and presented him with a book at church today.

He then received the gift of the Holy Ghost.

Which was Noah's favorite part.

He kept talking about how cool this was.

 He picked out his own suit and tie.

When the Bishop commented that he 

looked like a missionary,

Noah said "Yeah and I look like James Bond too."

We had a bit celebration afterwards at our ward house.

We had taco salad and 

cookies provided by Aunt Christel (she works at a bakery).

Kieran provided a Killer Whale pinata for the kids to hit.

My Bro in Law Jason M made a slide show video of Noah's life till now.

It made me cry.  I cried a whole lot of happy tears.

I can not put into words the joy, peace and happiness

it brings to this mother's heart to witness her boy 

take such a big step in his life.

Sofia bore her testimony at church today about her brother's baptism

He bore his testimony at church.

I choked up.

And then bore my testimony, telling Noah that I especially

wanted him to know what I know is true.

He came up, and held my hand as I bore the truths that I know.

He smiled and waved at the congregation.

He had so many people greet him as one of the newest members of our ward.

It has been such a great weekend. 

Happy Birthday Noah 8 years old

 Noah turned Eight!

Is that just Great!

The Saturday Morning of April 14 

started out a bit grey outside but beautiful.

We ate Pancakes for breakfast

and opened tons of books and Legos.

And as the afternoon hit it started raining and

ARMY BOOT CAMP

 Sgt. Uncle Nik was in charge. 

Each cadet got a dog tag to welcome them to the army.

Then they were told what would happen for training. 

Sgt. Nik can yell really loud.

He only made one kid cry, 

he did not know birthday parties had so much yelling.

(It was his first birthday party)

 The kids had to do pushups 

 A training course to help their skills

 They were taught gun safety and each got to shoot a BB gun.

By now it was snowing outside but the kids just stood in line.

They did not want to miss their turn.

I just kept thinking that this would be how real boot camp would be.

 Birthday cake:  Army men battling a giant beast.

We also played Noah's favorite donut game.

Eating a donut from a string.

 They then went off to battle and play.

 It was so cold and wet they started setting up 

the army men from the cake and the leftovers and had

a major battle in my front room library.

 That kept them busy for a while.

 Just as Boot Camp ended. The rain stopped.

The boys ran outside to fight.

My bro in law filmed the battle scene.

Spent up till dinner building legos

and went off to dinner at Jason's Deli.

Grilled cheese and fruit for my Noah.

It was a grand day for an eight year old.

Happy Donut Day 2012

21 years, 21 years, 21 years, and 21 years.  Wow, it has been 21 years since my Dad (in full beaver makeup) and I stopped at a donut shop on our way to the eye doctor.  I have such disjointed memories of that day.  There are some that are so so close and vivid that if I reached my hand out just enough I could feel them through my fingers.  And others are so fuzzy, confusing and fearful that I want to push them so far away that I won't have to see them anymore.

21 has been an important and lucky number for me my entire life.  I was born on the 21st,  I got married on the 21st and I got married when I was 21.  So I have a feeling this 21st year is going to be pretty amazing.  This number has brought me so much joy, understanding and peace in the past.  I strive to make it work for me again.

I have a wish that I could be one of those people that embrace their challenges head on with enthusiam and vigor.  I still have not figured out how to embrace or even handle all daily struggles you  have with a chronic illness.  Doing the same things over and over has said to be a sign of insanity.  Doing the things I HAVE to for survival and a healthy body, seem to drive me to a crazy place.  

My whole life seems to be in waves.  A long rolling, stretch of a roller coaster, sending me up to the highest highs and the thrill seeking falls.  In every aspect, I guess the challenge is to learn to do the things that speed you to the funny farm and enjoy the thrilling ride along the way.