Adria's First Day of Preschool

I just dropped Adria off at her new preschool. She has been begging to go ever since we did a tour of the facilities two months ago. So, I decided to put her in two days per week this summer. I felt like it was an easy way to provide an activity that is just for her. So, Andrew and Danae have two days of school left and Adria starts her first day.



COME ON, MOM!

She is just over the moon to be able to go just like the big kids. How could I deny that sweet little face?

K/1 Pot Luck Breakfast

This week is the last week of school for Andrew and Danae. This morning there was a pot luck breakfast for all the K/1 classes. There were hundreds of people there, it was crazy. But it was lots of fun and at the end all the kids got up on stage and sang for us.

This is Adria playing with my camera. Pretty funny. I signed her up for preschool for the summer. She is SOO excited, she can barely contain herself. :o) I'll post 'first day of preschool' pictures tomorrow.

Into the Woods and Home Well After Dark

On Friday we went to see my two younger sisters perform in Into the Woods at a small Yuba City theatre. Esther played the Baker's Wife (the lead female role) and Selina played Red Riding hood. They both did wonderfully. It was so great to go see both of my younger sisters so happy doing something they love. The kids loved it too. Andrew laughed a lot. I love hearing him get some of the subtler jokes and belly laughing at them.

One of the things we didn't really expect from a small theatre was such a well planned and well done stage. Into the woods is kind of difficult because there are 6 locations and the woods that have to be depicted. They did a wonderful job taking a 30 foot stage and comfortably incorporating 6 locations. After the performance we went up on stage to greet them. The director came up and showed the kids how things worked. They loved it.

And yes, my mom did make both their amazing costumes.
Good job, girls. We LOVED it. :o)

Sleepover

A few weeks ago, the boys in the family all packed up and went on the Father/Son camp out. The girls thought that would be a great opportunity for some girlie time. We started the evening off with dinner; a big salad with all the fixings. Then we all sat down and made some jewelry. Grandma brought her big box of little girl stuff and they made a few pieces each.



After we were done making jewelry it was back to the back bathroom for nail polish and mud masks. We happened to have cucumber in our salad so we were prepared to make the mud masks very official. The girls called them their zucchini all night.

There was a new video game to play, movies to watch, music to sing and dance to, and at one point they actually went to sleep.

The next morning we had a yummy breakfast. Genella was kind enough to volunteer to watch my girls while I went to the gym for a step class I had wanted to take. So I got a few hours off. While I was gone there was play dough, makeovers, more video games and the boys came home dirty and full of sugar. They all played in the backyard and then our family went home. Then about two hours later Genella and the kids all came over to swim. It was a full, fun weekend with the cousins.

Here are a few pictures of what the boys did.

All I know for sure is that they "helped" pitch their tent so they could pass off their Outdoorsman in Webelos.

Back to School Night

For fourth graders in Rocklin, back to school night means Square Dancing. I had to do it when I was in the fourth grade. Andrew got to do it too. The difference? I LOVED it. Andrew, not so much. I made him smile for this first picture.

I'm not exactly sure who is leading here. . . Well. I guess it is obvious it isn't Andrew. When they had to promenade around the circle she would grab his hand, duck under it and spin around, grab his other hand and start promenading.

Then half way around the circle he would take control and start dragging her. When they got back to their starting spots he would abruptly stop in place and kind of throw her into hers. Pretty funny, but really, someone needs to teach that kid some manners.

Danae's class did a little performance too. They sang some songs together and recited poems in little groups. Everyone got a little giggle out of watching Danae. She made up her own hand signals to 'demonstrate' each phrase in the songs. She was enthusiastic, that's for sure. Too bad no one else was.

This was one of her poems.

After Danae's performance we went to the VAPA (Visual and Performing Arts) room and looked at their handmade art. In her left hand she is holding a giraffe made out of wood and paint. In her right hand she is holding a ceramic owl. VAPA was Danae's very favorite part of school. I think she even liked it better than recess. She came home from school today and with a sad face told me she went to her last VAPA class of the year. Good thing we have some art classes scheduled for the summer. :0)
This is Andrew's ceramic creation in VAPA. I think it would be fun to let you all take guesses on what he made. No cheating, decide what you think it is before you click on comment.
I'll edit the results into this post next week. Good luck with that. :0)
We had a lot of fun wandering the school and enjoying the end of year activities. After the classrooms we went to look at Danae's class science project in the cafeteria. Then we went out for ice cream. That is what you're supposed to do after a performance night. Just so you know. :0)

Andrew's 10th Birthday

This month we celebrated Andrew's 10th Birthday. My kid's age contains two digits now. I'm pretty sure I don't like that. At all. Anyway. We went to John's Incredible Pizza for his family celebration. We had lots and lots of fun.

In this first picture, Andrew is holding up one of his favorite presents. When he read it he barked out one loud, "HA!" It was pretty funny. The shirt says, "Just one more level... Just one more level... Just one more level..." . . . The picture of Danae is her proud moment of the night. She won that cookie monster out of a claw game all by herself. She ran across the entire establishment to come tell me. Pretty impressive, I think.




Adria ran from game to game. She barely even asked you to start them for her. She was just happy pushing all the buttons and 'playing' along. . . In the other picture, Trinity is pretty proud of her 250 tickets that she won on one of the timing games. FIRST TRY. That's pretty impressive too.

There were tons of rides and loads of games. I think everyone had a pretty good time.

The dining room that Andrew chose to eat in was the Cartoon room. There were TVs on all the walls playing cartoons constantly. Like they needed anymore stimulation.

Thanks for coming, everyone! Andrew had a great birthday!

Sacramento Temple

In May, Genella's ward primary's activity day was to go to the temple. She asked if I would come along to take pictures. So, I got the kids all gussied up and we spent the morning at the Sacramento Temple. First, we took a tour, guided by our own Genella. Then we had lunch on the lawn, played a few games, ate some temple shaped cookies and even got to see Grandma and Grandpa Bender after their shift was over. It really was a wonderful morning.

Better Late Than Never

There were some pictures that I didn't want to post until Jeff had received them in the mail. And, now he finally has them in his possession and up on his wall. So, I can finally share them with everyone else. :)

Jeff's Award

This entry is today's weekly email from Jeff in Iraq. . . Sorry, honey. Had to do it. :o)

Lots to be thankful for this week and today in particular. I am grateful to my mother today and all the women in my life, most notably Sarah! I wish I could be with you all and join in the celebration of womanhood, but instead I'm here, helping my company commander shop for shoes online to help her feel better about being out here. So, in that way, I guess I was celebrating womanhood, the kind of womanhood that enjoys saucy high heels in shimmery colors.

While I do enjoy having a good mix of males and females on my FOB, when I travel around to the smaller outposts, I get to observe populations without females. And let me tell you, strange things happen to men when women aren't around. Strange, strange things. I'm heading out tomorrow to one of my favorite locations, but it's definitely a Lord of the Flies situation, with a bunch of grown up boys still living by the law of the conch. I think it provides a good illustration of what Paul taught in the Bible, that men are nothing without women. I don't know if I'd say nothing, but definitely a more carnal, harsh sort of beast.

Another week down, another week closer to taking leave (in Aug) and reuniting with my family. Looking back over the months, the amount of professional growth has really been remarkable. I wish, though, that the cost hadn't been so high. But, this is what we do out here and my sacrifice is no greater than anyone else's. I am really impressed with the soldiers that I talk with who have done this longer, more frequently and are keeping their values and families together.

Well, I hate talking about me (no, really), but Sarah made me bring it up. But, last night, the officers in my battalion got together for a social hour. They introduced the new officers, said goodbye to a few others, and handed out some awards. The first award was the "broken link" award, given to someone who really, really had a colossal failure in something, although it had to be funny and at least 50% accurate. There were some good stories, like the Major in charge of operations trying to explain to a company commander how when calendaring events, there are really 8 days in a week (Sunday through Sunday). But they also handed out an award to an outstanding officer for each month of the deployment so far. I was nominated and given the award for March, recognized for my support of the soldiers and leaders in the battalion and across the brigade. The battalion CO commented on my willingness to go to where the soldiers are and for frequent consultations with the command leadership. I was really touched that my work was noticed and appreciated. I really feel grateful that I'm in a unit that values the mission of mental health and support me in my role. Too often, it's marginalized or overtly disrespected.

I decided to attach a photo of the award, for its uniqueness and symbolism. It is in the shape of what we call "t-walls", barriers that are located all around the FOB and act as protection. Each wall stands about 20 feet tall, 6 feet wide (ish), and are linked together to form a protective barrier. As our battalion CO explained it, the t-walls allow for the soldiers inside to be protected from the danger on the outside. Especially when linked together, they form quite a shell. As we are in the support battalion, he drew the symbolism to represent the protection that we all contribute for the well-being of the brigade. Anyway, it's a nice little reminder of my time within the unit, containing within it the unit seal, a personal message from the commander on the back, and a metal plate on the bottom inscribed with a serial number, representing its uniqueness.

Well, that's enough about that. A quick shout-out to my cousin, Andrew, for graduating from Duke this week! Well done, and best of luck with your options. I have no doubt that you'll excel at whatever it is that you decide to dedicate your talents to. I hope that you all have a wonderful week and have time to stop and thank the women in your lives for not letting us live like savages! Thanks, mom, for teaching me to eat with a fork, to say please and thank you, and to mind my language. Love to all, Jeff

Danae's Talk

Well, two weeks later Danae was asked to give a talk. I thought it only fair to record and post it for Daddy too. Danae wrote the talk by herself with a few hints here and there.

This is a reenactment because I forgot to come in and watch. I asked someone to play piano for the closing song for me and everything. Then I was sitting there, the RS lesson was being wrapped up and I looked at the clock and remembered that I was supposed to be in the primary room listening to Danae's talk. So, I ran out to try to catch it. But, alas, I missed the entire thing. I was more upset than Danae was. After primary was over I asked Danae to do it again so we could record it for Daddy. The sad thing is that the room wasn't any louder after primary than it was during primary for Adria's talk. Anyway.

Good Job Danae!