Carson's future family

Carson made a pedigree chart for scouts and added four children and a wife. His "wife" is in his class at school. She invited Carson to her birthday party a week ago. It was in a conference room at a hotel downtown Kansas City. It was interesting and fun. The invitation said it would be from 6:30 to 8:30pm. We got there at 6:35pm and was one of the first ones there. We also learned that it was a surprise party for the girl's dad. The hostess(the mom and wife) didn't show up until after 8:15pm with the her husband(who was the surprised birthday boy). Before they got there the table that I was at started betting to see when they would arrive. They had $20 pot. A teenage boy ended up winning it. Carson saw what they were doing and came over to make sure his mom wasn't gambling. It turned out to be a huge family party. They had a DJ, tons of food, and dancing.

Anyway, here's the chart. Lucy added a bit of art work.

Catching up!

I've wanted to blog all week but haven't found the time, so I will catch you up on things.

Monday the 12th- School and Parent/teacher conferences. Rain that turned to snow.

Tuesday the 13th- School was cancelled because of icy, snowy roads. We hung out in the house. Played games and watched movies. Went outside for a little. Callie practiced her beauty shop techniques on Lucy.









Wednesday the 14th- Happy Valentine's Day! School was cancelled due to the roads and cold temperatures. It was to cold to go outside and play. We stayed in and played more games and watched more movies. Or hung out in cardboard boxes. We did go play at some friends house in our ward. We hadn't been over there to play before so that was nice. The girls also helped mom in the kitchen some. Notice Ginger's cooking attire and tongue sticking out to concentrate. Carson had scouts and Callie went to her very first Activity Day activity. They made valentines.













Thursday the 15th- No School for teacher work day. We play outside a bit then inside most of the day. We made a desert to take to a friends house that night. There is a lady in the ward whose husband is in Wyoming with a new job and she is here waiting to sell her house. Does this sound familiar? Anyway, on Thursdays David has school till 10:30 so the kids and I go over to her house(since we don't have the room) and have dinner then let the kids play. She has 3 boys and 1 girl. We switch off with dinner and desert. We brought Stripped Delight

Friday the 16th- No School once again, another teacher work day. We were outside some and inside most of the day. We left left a little before 4pm to go to piano lessons for Carson and Callie and realized that it had started snowing. The roads got bad really quick so after piano we returned home.

Saturday the 17th- Happy Birthday Aunt Nancy!


Sunday the 18th- Happy Birthday cousin Nicholas!


Monday the 19th- No School for President's day. The kids and I drove an hour to Whiteman air force base to visit my brother and his family. Nicholas's birthday was the day before so we had cake and ice cream.











Tuesday the 20th- Back to school. The kids were looking forward to their valentine's day parties they missed the week before. Trying to get the house into shape.

Wednesday the 21st- Still trying to get the house into shape. Carson had scouts and I found out that I'm in charge of the ward bulletin each Sunday.

Thursday the 22nd- The girls and I met with some friends at the park today. Still a little chilly but nice and sunny. We had fun.

Parent/Teacher Conferences

I always enjoy going to visit with the teachers.

I first went to see Carson's teacher, Ms. Birks. This is her first or second year teaching. I know its her first year to teach 3rd grade. She really impresses me with how organized she is and how well she runs the classroom. She speaks positively of Carson. In Lincoln, his teacher last year dwelt to much on some attention issues Carson has. She also would comment about how tiring it is to hear about war all the time.(For those of you that don't know Carson enjoys war and being a hero. Nothing terrible, just being a boy) I don't know if she talked about it with him but she voiced it to me several times. It got to the point that he hated going to school and he was always in a sour mood when he came home. Carson is the total opposite this year. He still struggles some with is attention problems but Ms. Birks doesn't label him with that problem. Ms. Birks also told me that Carson has a very unique way of thinking. If any of you know Carson I'm sure you'll agree. Ms. Birks also said she welcomes it because it helps the other children to think differently. While talking,I told Ms. Birks the "No tattoos for this solider" story and found out that she is RLDS. She thought it was neat to have a little in common with Carson.

A few weeks ago Carson, Callie, and I were in the living room. I was probably getting after Callie for something. She started getting really down on herself and saying "I'm the dumbest girl in the whole world". Now, Callie has been doing this lately. Please don't think I tell her that because I don't. I ask her who has ever said that to her and she says no one. She just talks in extremes when she gets frustrated. Sometimes I think she does it for attention or to detract from the situation. Anyway, back to the story. Carson pipes in and says "Callie, Callie remember what the counselor said." I was like what counselor. Carson said that he and Callie went to see the counselor at school. I asked if everybody goes to see the counselor. They said yes. I was surprised that the counselor never called me in any case. So, at the conference Ms. Birks and I talked about it. In her classroom there is a basket to put a note in for the counselor if one of the students have a question or a problem. Well, Carson put in this note.


This note is why they were called into see the counselor. I talked with Ms. Birks about it and later Callie's teacher. I'm glad Carson was able to talk to someone else if something was bothering him. But then again I'm sad because he didn't come to me. It helped me to open my eyes and be more aware though. David had to laugh about how he used the wording,"and she is most mistaken."



I then went to visit with Miss Stacy, Callie's teacher. This is her first or second year of teaching too. She also got engaged at the beginning of the year. She is a very good teacher as well. Callie does well and reminds me a lot of myself in many ways. She hates to do something wrong or say something wrong in front of people. Just before Thanksgiving, Callie came home a told me that she was sent to the "safe seat" in art. The safe seat is like a time out seat. Most of the times that they go to these seats they have to answer some questions on a piece of paper. Like, why were you sent to the safe seat?, what can you do better?, or how do you feel about this?. She said that her art teacher accused her of talking when she wasn't. She was really emotional about it. I asked her a bunch of questions to see if it was anything more then that which I don't feel that it was. We talked about it and decided that we would just learn from the experience. Well, in the weeks that followed Callie would feel "sick" or have some reason to go to the nurse every Thursday. That was the day that she had art. She would also cry and say how much she missed me. Her teacher told her to bring a picture of me(mom) with her to school. Anyway I was noticing a pattern and before Christmas I called Miss Stacy. She returned my phone call and left a message saying she would call me back after the holiday break. That was fine. After the break, art didn't seem to bother Callie as much so I didn't try talking to Miss Stacy again. I did bring it up at the conference and told her of the pattern I saw of Callie's trips to the nurse. I told her of the art class incident. She seemed surprised seeing it all put together and was amazed that I had put it all together. I told her that Callie was my daughter and she had more children in the classroom to be aware of. I think the situation opened her eyes a bit.

Then on to George's teacher, Mrs. Miller. Very nice lady. She is older and has had lots of experience. She is just what George needed. He is doing very well. She said his has gotten over most of his tenderness. She asked me if all my children wear there heart on their sleeve. Hmm... I wonder where he gets that. It is amazing how much he has grown up this year. He is much more confident. I don't have any specific story to tell you about George but I will say that all of his friends are girls. Mr. Sensitive!!

I really didn't mean to ramble on so. I guess I worry more about how they behave or how emotionally stable they are. They seem to be doing really well with their grades though.

Little Miss Independent

Today the girls(Ginger and Lucy) and I went to run some errands. We first went to Costco to get gas(its cheaper there) and do a little shopping. After getting gas we went into the store, noticing I was really hungry we decided to get some pizza. I was trying to help my impulsive spending by not shopping on an empty stomach. I took my time going around and we were all getting tired. Ginger gets quite assertive in wanting to do things like push the cart. At the checkout I decided I would get a hand-dipped chocolate ice-cream bar. I had never had one and wanted to try it. So we got it and Lucy cried all the way to the car wanting it. I got them in their seats and put the groceries in the car. I decided to sit in the car and eat it with them. Lucy was to the point of refusing it until she got a taste. Ginger was in the back seat and I told her to come up front and I would share with her. She didn't want anything to do with it if she had to share. She said "I can do it Mom, I can do it." I said, "I know you can do it sweetheart but mommy needs to help some, its really messy". "I can do it, I can" she said, starting to cry a little. I said, "I know you can Ginger but your not going to do it by yourself its really messy." She then said crying, " I have hands mommy, I have hands." "Ginger I know you have hands, but mommy needs to help you", I continued. She said it a few more times with more desperation. She finally gave in and joined me after realizing she wasn't going to win. I thought it was cute that she would remind me that she had the two things she needed to do things. She is my Little Miss Independent and always has been.

When George was a baby I remember watching a mother and daughter(2 or 3 years old) in the bathroom at church and the daughter was wanting to wash her hands by herself. She was making a mess and couldn't reach anything. I thought the mother should just get in there and help even if she refused or fussed over the help. The mother turned to me and said she's my independent one. I just smiled. Thanks to Ginger I've learned not to be quick to judge. I guess I should say I'm still working on it, I am not perfect.

No tattoos for this solider!

Tonight at the school they had a book fair along with some free activities. David had church meetings tonight so I was flying solo. As soon as we walked into the school one of Carson's friends ran up and said come on Carson. Its hard for me to let my kids go off so I told his friend that he needed to stay with us. Carson's friend looked at me like I was weird so I thought to myself, okay give Carson some room. I asked Sam, his friend, where he was headed. He said, over to get a tattoo. Carson immediately said, "Oh, we belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and we don't get tattoos." Sam then mentioned another place and I let Carson go. It wasn't long until Carson met up with us again. Its so hard to let them go off on their own that little bit. And then the moments when you hear your child's ability to make a right choice brings you such joy.

The kids would get these fake tattoos from school, the doctor's office, or birthday parties and I just didn't feel right letting them put them on their skin. So we decided or someone gave us the idea to put them on paper, notebooks, or folders. The kids get excited about doing it and they feel like they have done something good.

Lucy with a pony tail

I just wanted to share these pictures of Lucy. I finally got all her hair in a pony tail. It didn't last long though. She does really well posing for the camera.

Batteries for talking

Today at lunch, Ginger and I were talking about how Lucy can't say very many words. I told her that when she was a little baby, Carson and Callie thought that if we put batteries in her she would be able to talk She said "Yeah, I was a robot." I said, "No you were just our little baby." With a beautiful smile, she said, "Yep, and now we have Lucy." I'm glad she feels confident in her place. Although, Ginger and Lucy still fight over my lap at least once a day though. Sometimes the other children get in on it too. No wonder our hips get wider.