The P-word

This topic terrifies me.

Always has.

Odds are, always will.

 

I have to confess I felt pretty surprised

when I started hearing about a fireside (meeting) tackling this topic,

a fireside for parents AND teens, including kids eight and up.

It seemed too mature and too intense a topic for my nine-year-old son.

 

But then I started to think about the iPad that Bennett and every other

third through fifth grader at his school have sitting in their desks.

I thought about his friends with phones,

and the images they have on those phones.

I thought about the kind of garbage

that pops up on You Tube without your even trying.

 

I realized if it hadn't happened already,

it was bound to happen sometime soon.

My son would possibly seek or be exposed to pornography.

 

So I stopped feeling shocked about this fireside

and started seeking the courage I naturally lacked

to talk to my kid about it 

and bring him along with me.

 

What is this fireside?

It's a program called FIGHT THE NEW DRUG.

 

http://www.fightthenewdrug.org/

 

Click on "Get the Facts" and you'll get an idea of what the kids learned.

If it comes to your area, I encourage you to go.

The speaker = engaging and perfect for tweens/teens.

Benito loved it,

despite the awkward subject matter.

 

 

The End of an Era

Today marks the last time I will teach co-op preschool.
Ever.

Super strange.

I've been doing this for six plus years,

since Bennett was a little tike.

We went from a co-ed group with Benito

to an all boys group with Eli,

then a co-ed group with Eli

to a now all girls one with Millie.

 

I didn't think to take a picture of the five of them today.

I had a few other things on my mind, I suppose,

like practicing the letter Z,

 

 

 

teaching basic addition with a math egg hunt,

 

 

 

helping them paint thumbprint eggs on their "baskets,"

 

 

 

discussing why we have eggs and bunnies at Easter time,

 

 

 

and of course mediating turns on the swings, trikes,

and hammock in the backyard.

 

The finality of today didn't hit me until after it had ended,

so poor Millie and friend had to put up with me taking photos.

They decided to do some drawing and cutting.

It seemed like an extended preschool kinda moment.

 

 

 

Thanks to all those we have co-oped with over the years.

It's been a fun ride!

 

 

 

**Friends to the rescue!

 

One of the other preschool moms saved me

by sending a few shots

of the girls from last December:

 

 

 

Wanna Go To The Final Four With Me?

Hello Family and Friends,

Thanks to my good luck or perhaps exceptional college basketball prognostication skills I have won 4 tickets to the Men's NCAA Final Four tournament in Arlington, Texas for the April 5th Saturday games and the final on Monday April 7th.

Who knew that online bracket challenge games could be so much fun and so rewarding!

The only problem is that I only have 1 ticket.  I am taking my two boys, but I am having a bear of a time finding someone else who either wants to go or is available to go. 

I asked if I could sell the 4th ticket, but they won't let me.  It was a family bracket challenge and I am only allowed to bring family members and pick up the tickets when I get there.

They will email a ticket confirmation that I will redeem when we arrive. 

All airfare and the hotel are covered as well.

I thought about returning the extra ticket since I cannot sell it, but you know I can't refuse a freebie.

The only problem is that if I bring one of you with me, you will have to pretend to be part of the family. 

No biggie, huh.

So anyways, I need to know by end of day today at 4pm.  So the first person who can provide a convincing argument for why they should be the lucky 4th wheel will earn themselves a free ticket to the Big Dance:

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention one item...today is a day that is near and dear to my heart.

So Happy April Fool's everyone!

Cheers :)

Stephen

Soccer Girl At Last

For a kid who has been going to soccer games since she was a newborn, eager seems too mild a word to describe how Miss Amelia Jane has felt about trying her own hand at the sport beloved by her older brothers.  So the news that she would be taking her first Kids Love Soccer class came with much joy, albeit sadness that she would stop dance class to do so, and anticipation.

We had a great experience with KLS for the boys' first soccer classes, and so far so good with Mills.  They incorporate quite a bit of silly and fun to keep the little ones laughing while learning some basic skills.  For example:

"Touch your head to the ball"

 

"Touch your tummy to the ball"

 

 

"Sit on the ball"

 

 

 

"Get the cookies in the cookie jar"

 "Chicken in the chicken coop"

 

 

 

Millie in the coop for knocking a cone over

 

 

Working the cones

 Millie having fun with Coach Adam

 

Running out of steam in her first-ever scrimmage

 

 

Jumping back in the game

"Goal!"



 

 

"Next time I want to wear shorts, Mommy"

 

 

This kid loves soccer all right

Early Spring

Morning walks,

popcorn trees popping,

roll-up-your-jean-bottoms-weather,

green hills,

evening soccer practices,

bright flowers coming alive,

family whiffle ball,

blossoming trees with their bright green buds,

Saturday night at the park,

wildflowers all around,

sunscreen and hats,

orange California poppies waving hello,

playing in the backyard,

Slurpees and popsicles and ice cream bars,

naps in the hammock,

open windows.

 

Who doesn't love this time of year?

 

To the woods

We took a little trip north to Muir Woods on President's Day, a place we haven't visited in a lot of years. In fact, the last time we went little Benito was so small he was in a pack on Stephen's back. How could I forget how breathtaking that place is? 

It's a good thing we weren't deterred by the five million other great minds who thought a sunny Monday off in February would be the perfect day for a hike. For being a national park, that place does not seem equipped to handle a crowd. Either that or everybody values the beauty and serenity of Muir Woods enough to hoof it two miles from a parking spot to the park entrance.  Anyway, we hiked it. We loved it.  We shushed and hollered at our kids way too much, however, as we realized they have absolutely no respect for trail rules and quiet signs. Sigh... Someday I will have the Zen experience I long for at Muir Woods. Maybe.

Pre-hike bathroom stop, I mean bear ride

Foreshadowing of what's to come on the trail

Poor wooden bear having his nose picked by Eli

We saw some HUGE salmon in the stream



Benito striking a lovely pose
(Alisa, do you recognize this sweatshirt?)

And we're off

We let the kids take over the camera and look for wildflowers

They did a pretty good job, eh?

Moss popped up on here too

And ferns

And bridges

And Eli?  So much for wildflowers...

The yahoos, all of them :)

Missionary Monday

Mondays have never been my favorite day of the week,

but they sure have improved since having a brother and a niece in the mission field.

 

Monday is the day Brett and Shemaina send their emails out to family,

hence the day I get to be uplifted by their testimonies and experiences.

I love reading about their areas, their companions,

their investigators, their wards, their baptisms,

not to mention the general highs and lows of the mission.

 

Regardless of what is happening or how they're feeling, however,

the strength of their conviction that this is the Lord's work
shines through every email.

I walk away from those emails wanting to be a better person.

It has become precisely the kind of inspiration
I desperately need on a Monday morning.

 

Hooray for missionaries!



Elder Jory in Chile

Irma Jory Miller, originally Brazil-bound, in Detroit