February 2016

I think February is probably my least favorite month second only to January.  It's only saving grace is that it is short.  I really struggle when I don't get enough sunshine and so you will find my door open even on cold days just to get a little extra sunshine through the storm door window.  Working in the afternoon has been a blessing and a curse.  It's a blessing because have to make my self look presentable and get out of the house and a curse because I am not home when the kids get home.  That is usually the time when they tell me all about their day and all the stuff we need to do to prepare for the next day.  It is also when I like to have my kids get their jobs and homework done. Strangely enough none of that happens when I'm not home.  When I do get home I am usually pretty tired and have to swing right into transporting kids to various activities and getting dinner ready.  I really have come to hate cooking.  I make lots of goals about making menus and putting stuff in the crock pot but by February it seems like I just can't find it in me to care anymore.  I did join a group on facebook that has helped me a lot.  People just post in the group what they had for dinner. It really helps when I have run dry of ideas of things to make.

Dress Like a Book Character Day

The kids are getting almost too old to want to do very many of the school dress up days.  Asher really doesn't want to most of the time.  This time however both Hannah and Asher wanted to participate.  It was fun and challenging to put a costume together that went with a book they liked with out going out and buying anything.  My favorite really has to be Hannah's Bad Kitty costume.  It was so perfect because we have our own version of Bad Kitty!

 Asher's was fun too. He and I have been reading the Fablehaven series and so he wanted to dress up like the character Seth.  That was easy. He's a boy about Asher's age who loves to carry around his cereal box survival kit (just like Asher). Asher wore camo because Seth likes to sneak around in the woods of Fablehaven.  

More Basketball

Hannah

Hannah had such a great experience this year with basketball.  We were fortunate to have Missy and Teresa as the coaches of her team.  They are both so positive and up beat and helped build up the girls self esteem while teaching them basketball skill.  

Hannah had a TON of friends on the team this year.

Including her bestie RegAnn!

Hannah was much more confident this year and it showed in her playing.

More than half the photos I took of her she has her tongue hanging out while she's playing. Hannah surprised herself by finding her competitive nature coming out while playing.

JJ

JJ didn't play Rec ball last year so he wasn't on a team with any of his close friends.  It is proof of how much he loves the sport that he was ok with that.  He had a good coach and made new friends on the team.  We were all surprised when he was suddenly the tallest kid on the team.  When did that happen?  He struggled with being put into the center position that he had never played before but learned a lot.  We witnessed an embarrassing amount of bad sportsmanship from other team coaches, player and especially parents.  A few games were truly awful due to some of the parents.  Many a time I wanted to scream out "IT'S REC BALL PEOPLE! TEENAGE BOYS PLAYING FREAKING REC BALL!"  We saw some bad sportsmanship at some of Hannah's games but nothing like at JJ's games. That is probably the hardest part of allowing the kids to participate in sports. Some parents should be banned from coming to the games.

BYU Basketball games

 Bright Ideas

Asher has struggled with being motivated this school year.  Well most school years really. He has a great teacher but he gets very bored.  He really is so focused on science that if what he is learning isn't related to science he really isn't interested.  In an effort to help him enjoy learning a bit more and have something to look forward to - since he can't play sports due to his healing arm- we signed him up for Bright Ideas.  During the school year Bright Ideas is a Saturday class where the kids get to do lots of science and STEM activities geared toward gifted and talented kids.  Asher has really enjoyed it especially that activities that are about Space.  

Pack Meeting - Blue and Gold

Pack meeting this month was the Blue and Gold Banquet. We had a Star Wars theme this time around.  There were several bloopers, miscommunications etc but we made the best of it and everyone seemed to have fun.

Pets and other stuff!

Mouse likes to watch the neighborhood from the roof of our house.  I hope he can spot some mice and catch them!

 Jax is just like me. He loves the sun. He has a 6th sense for when the door is open and immediately takes up residence in the patch of sunlight on the floor.

Lucky Hannah got to have more teeth pulled!  Poor girl has very few teeth to chew with!

 Valentines Day

This year I only had to create 2 sets of class valentines and 1 valentine box! It was a piece of cake!

6th grade is an interesting year.  For some of the kids it signals a time to act like adult or at the very least teenagers about Valentines day.  Some girls got tons of gifts from boys in their class and some got nothing.  Carter decided to make sure that every girl in the 6th grade at our school came home with at least one valentine from a boy - him!  He with the help of his mom Missy took a red rose to each girl in the 6th grade.  It was so thoughtful and sweet!  It really made it a Valentine's day to remember.  The person hugging him in the video is his sister RegAnn.

Another rite of passage for 6th graders at our school is the Valentine's dance.  It was a little more like a dance party not a date dance (for which I was very happy) this time around.  The kids dress up and have lots of fun.  Hannah missed the first half because she slipped on ice at lunch recess (just minutes after this photo was taken) and rebroke her nose.  She came into the office where I was working and was covered in blood and it was obvious that she had broken her nose again.  I ran her home so she could clean up and put on clean clothes and brought her back so she wouldn't miss the whole dance.  After the dance we went to the doctor who verified that it was badly broken and we got referred to an ear nose and throat doctor.  The nose doctor said that it was the worst broken nose he had ever seen in someone her age.  One nostril was completely blocked off by the septum.  We scheduled surgery for after her performances in the Shrek play which meant that the doctor would have to re-break her nose in order to fix it.  It was so upsetting for Hannah not just because it was painful.  Being a twelve year old girl means you are sensitive to anything that makes you stand out especially if it has anything to do with your looks. Several rude classmates thought it was funny to tap her already sore nose and tease her.  

Before vs After

She tried really hard not to make a big deal out of it but she was in a ton of pain.  She toughed it out until the end of the dance.

When things calmed down a bit Lance and I were able to do our Valentine's dinner out at Sushi Ya in South Jordan.