Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Elementary awards.  Of course Benjamin decided to sleep in, so I had to wake him up.  But overall, he behaved pretty good.

 Callum received a certificate and medal for getting 100 AR (Accelerated Reading) points.

 He's in the light blue shirt.

 Emmalee receiving an award from her kindergarten teacher.

 She is shy and bashful being in front of everyone.  She is so adorable!  The award was:  Super Citizen & being a great helper in the classroom. 

 Callum receiving his award from his 4th grade teacher.  (She had a tough class this year--behavior wise).

 Callum & one other student received a good citizen award.  His certificate was the Responsibility Award.

I tried to get a picture of him holding it up, and he kept holding it in front of his face (on purpose).  But I managed to sneak this one in.  The certificate also said that he completed every assignment & always did his best.

I attended the special school board meeting with the intent of finding out what the teacher's salaries would be.  But they didn't have the final numbers because the still didn't have the budget from the state.  They intend to go back to the 2009 pay scale, so we are hoping for a bit of a "raise" (after years of cuts).  But we're not sure because the state had more cuts and they are projecting another 6% cut for the next year.  We passed a levy (in our community) to help compensate for the cuts.  So by the next board meeting we'll know what the final numbers are.

My parents called during dinner and said they were in West Yellowstone, MT & wanted to know if they could come for the next couple of days. I wish I had videoed Emmalee's reaction when she found out they would be here on her birthday.  Her smile and reaction was priceless!

After dinner I took Brienna & Zane to mutual, and almost got stuck at the church while sheep were being moved down the highway.  I was able to go down Grover's road & the back way home.  So I quickly loaded up the younger kids so I could take them to see all the sheep.  And then I ended the evening with a chat with my sisters.

Monday, May 23, 2011

Today was a wet and rainy day.  I did some more laundry, dishes, cleaning and then baked another double batch of chocolate chip cookies so I could take some to school to celebrate Emmalee's birthday.  And I had to go get Callum from school--he was sick.  (but it's the last week of school!!!)

Her teacher wanted me to bring her treat Monday afternoon since Tuesday was their last day of school and there would be lots going on.  And Wednesday is her birthday, but the kindergarten has no school.

Emmalee was really excited to see me Monday with the cookies.

Then I mixed up bread for scones (dinner was Navajo tacos), cooked the meat & got the lettuce & tomatoes cut up .  I decided to go to the special school board meeting about teacher negotiations.

When I got home, the kids helped me roll out the scones. 

 Ben wanted to do all of the dough.

 Now he's happy because he rolled out a few of them.

 Emmalee and Callum did the rest.  

 It was nice not having to roll out the scones.

They got flour everywhere--but I love it when they want to help out.

We also had chili relenos (that Rusty makes) so we could use the peppers from our Bountiful Baskets.

Ethan's "First" Haircut

Ethan posted this picture on Facebook:

His first haircut from someone other than his mother! He said that she started cutting his bangs with the buzzer before he could tell her he wanted them cut with scissors.  So he said his bangs were shorter than he wanted, but overall the haircut was okay.

So my son is growing up and venturing out!   (ha, ha!)  I guess he needed to have someone else cut his hair since I won't be   going on his mission with him to give him hair cuts.  

I think he looks great! 

Sunday, May 22, 2011

I had early-morning meetings (and after church meetings also).  So I got up "early" (7:15) so I could shower.  I gathered all the bags (scouting, 2 primary, my scripture bag, quiet bag, and I let the kids get their own scriptures) and grabbed a piece of left-over pizza & yogurt for breakfast.

I had a phone call the night before from a teacher saying she was hoping to be back to teach primary, but if she didn't make it, then I would know where she was.  

After ward council, I went to the chapel for sacrament meeting and Annette (one of my counselors) had me talk to a boy that hadn't come in a while & invite him to stay.  I also let him know that he could go to class with his friends (even though his birthday would put him in a different class--they get the same lesson).

During sacrament meeting, Benjamin was really restless.  Rusty took him out twice.  After the second time, the phone rang in the foyer.  The deacon that was by the bishop went and got it.  I turned my attention back to the speaker (and to the restless Benjamin) when Rusty poked me and said the phone call was for me.  I immediately knew it was one of the teachers.

And it was--she had already gotten a sub. but her daughter lives in a house/cabin just up from her and when she didn't see her car go by, she got worried (daughter doesn't have a phone) so went up to find out what was up.  Her daughter had a flat tire & she didn't think she could change her clothes, then change the tire, and then change back into church clothes, and make it in time to teach primary.  (These 2 teach our 2 CTR 5 classes).  

I was hoping to combine the 2 classes & have the substitute teach both of them.  But after sacrament meeting, we saw how many kids were there.  We had a few less-actives and some visitors too.  And I knew that we needed another teacher.  The first 2 people I asked couldn't stay the whole time, and then I saw that the other CTR teacher had still not made it back.  So I decided that I would just teach the CTR classes left (Emmalee is in CTR 5).  So I grabbed a book & had Rusty come in to be an extra set of hands.  There were 10 in the class.  The lesson actually went really well.  It was about obeying and how Nephi obeyed Heavenly Father.  We sang "Nephi's Courage" about 4 times.  And each time I got to the word "obey", I would pause and the kids would sing it for me.

Needless to say, although everything went great for me in the classroom, this is the time that we meet as a presidency & get things set up for sharing time.  So it almost felt like a scramble.  We are concerned about the reverence and respect (or lack of) in our primary.  But we have decided it's not just in our primary, it's also at school and maybe in the homes also.  So for our 5th Sunday, I will be doing a sharing time about reverence and respect.  

After church, I had a scout meeting.  I was a bit frustrated because our Cubmaster didn't attend.  It's hard to plan pack meetings without him.  Anyways, we got some things settled and when I got home, the roast was done & cut, Brienna had made the Au Jus sauce for french dip and had also toasted the buns.

After we had cleaned up the table, Emmalee, Callum, Brienna & myself played Crazy Uno & Mormon Bridge.  Zane was sleeping.  He got home Saturday afternoon very, very tired.  He slept most of Saturday afternoon, got up about 7:30 and ate some dinner.  Then fell back asleep before 9 pm.  And then slept some more Sunday afternoon.  He definitely needs his sleep!