Update on the girls

This is the second post of the day, if you are interested in May's books that is posted under this one.

This past month was an eventful one which is evidenced by my lack of posts. So here is a big update on everyone.

MacKayla: This month MacKayla graduated from kindergarten. The kids had a fun little presentation where they sang the songs to us that they had been working on all year. The kids then each received their "diploma." Unfortunately I don't have a picture when MacKayla actually received her certificate as for probably one of the only times in her life, her name was called first. We were expecting that as she has a W last name she would be called last and the camera was not ready. We did record the show and can show that to interested grandparents when we see them soon. MacKayla also received an award at school for having perfect attendance, quite a feat!

With some of her best friends

With her teacher Mrs. Taylor
Another great friend. I was able to get a picture of them together on the first day of school as well...look how much they grew.

MacKayla also performed in her third dance recital and enjoyed it greatly. She received a trophy which she thinks is just about the coolest thing in the world for her third year of participation.

What a ham

Lastly today MacKayla got her third haircut of her life. She again donated her hair to locks of love. We are proud of her for being willing to give of herself.

BeforeAfter

Way to go MacKayla.

Annika: This past month Annika finished her first year of preschool, and boy did she love it. She was very sad to learn that the week after she finished the three year old program that the four year old program didn't start until after the summer. She was ready to go back the next week. Annika has learned how to count to 100 (with minimal help on some transition numbers), all of her letters and most of their sounds, as well as the usual of colors and shapes. She has also learned a lot about reading while we were working with MacKayla and at times she is the better one at sounding out a word.

Annika also finished her second year of dance and had a blast in her Beautiful Baby dance. She looked so cute up there and smiled and danced really well this year. She received a medal for her hard work and participation this year.

Such a ham
Showing off her medal

Annika has also reached the wonderful "why" stage. We were able to skip that with MacKayla, but every other phrase out of Annika's mouth is why. "Why is there a mirror" "why is there a line in the street" "why can't we hit other cars" "why do they have sinks here"...these were just a few of her questions while we were out today.

Arabella: This past month has found Arabella improving her walking and taking off. She is developing quite a little personsality as well, she knows what she wants and she will get it. We have also worked on signs with Bella and she is doing really well at communicating what she wants, especially eat and please. She will sign and say "ple" whenever she wants anything. When she is hungry or thristy she signs eat and please.

Hot stuff coming through

Books read in May

Pastwatch: The Redemption of Christopher Columbus
Orson Scott Card - 416

This was a great story about a world that could have been. I love that here Columbus is a good guy, the story does not make him out as the evil white conquering man. This was a lot of fun to read.

The Lightning Thief (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 1)
Rick Riordan - 392

The Sea of Monsters (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 2)
Riordan - 304

The Titan's Curse (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 3)
Riordan - 336

The Battle of the Labyrinth (Percy Jackson and the Olympians, Book 4)
Riordan - 368

The Last Olympian (Percy Jackson & the Olympians, Book 5)
Riordan - 400

Thanks goes out to Brad R. for introducing me to this series a few years ago! I have really loved these stories. And as glad as I am that the series has concluded and I am not on the edge waiting for the next one, I would still like to see more of Percy and his friends.

Breaking the Silence
Jersey - 89

The conclusion to the online story that I had been reading. The author tied the whole thing up nicely.

The Memory of Earth (Homecoming Saga Vol. 1)
Orson Scott Card - 332

The Call of Earth (Homecoming Saga Vol. 2)
Card - 352

The Ships of Earth (Homecoming Saga Vol 3)
Card - 384

Earthfall (Homecoming Saga Vol 4)
Card - 384

Card is one of those authors with the Midas touch, I love his books, they are imaginative, they make you care about the characters and he is always true to his characters. This series is no exception. The books are somewhat of a retelling of First and Second Nephi in the Book of Mormon. They tell the story of a family that had been commanded by the Oversoul to leave the city, create a haven in the wilderness and eventually leave the planet of Harmony altoghter to return to Earth. If you are looking for something fun this series does provide. I will admit that I have had a harder time getting into the last of the series Earthborn as the characters are new ones and the story is set farther in the future.


Total for May: 3757
Total for 2009 thus far: 16636

Calling evil good

I was reading an article on FoxNews here about a curriculum being adopted in elementary schools. The curriculum begins in kindergarten and as I read the curriculum here, it's one of those cases where evil is masked as something good. The lessons begin with accepting friends and new people even if they are different, which seems like a wonderful thing to teach the kids. We want them to make new friends and to accept the kids who might be different then they are. However, it progresses quickly over the years into accepting alternative lifestyles and preferences as normal and good.

This is where I have a problem, I do not think that the schools should be able to dictate what is taught as "good" to my children. The article states that parents will not be able to opt their children out of the lessons. I can imagine that this will cause a great deal of confusion for kids. I know that when a teacher tells my children something it holds more weight than when I tell them. Is this going to cause them to question me and my teachings, or will the lessons taught from early on be able to combat the lessons that they are given?!?

Part of my problem with the curriculum is that I feel that it introduces topics that are far beyond those of the ages of the children. I don't have kids in third grade and up yet, so correct me if I am wrong, but how many of them really understand enough about "adult relations" (I am trying to avoid key words that can end up on weird searches) to be able to understand the different lifestyles that are being taught? I wonder if it is taught before they can understand so that they can be confused and call evil good.

I understand the need to teach children to respect others and their choices, but why should the schools be allowed to teach morality and what is right? I understand teaching them not to tease or bully, but I don't like the idea of the schools teaching that alternative lifestyle choices are perfectly normal.

I think this idea of the schools having ultimate control over what they teach our children is a slippery slope, if we allow things of this nature, what's next?!?

Good Deals and Cute Kids

So here's the awesome deal of the day. What can you buy for $20.90...


8 boxes Frosted Mini-Wheats
4 boxes Raisin Bran
1 Box Frosted Flakes
3 boxes of Pop-tarts
9 bag of Steamers veggies
5 boxes of Crystal Light on-the-go
2 4 packs of Yo-Plus yogurt
2 Triscuit Thin Crisps
1 box of Ritz crackers
1 box of Wheat thins
1 Vitamin water

Here are some dang cute kids :)

Monkey baby learns to walk

At 15 1/2 months the monkey baby has finally learned to walk. Why call her the monkey baby you say, watch this...



She learned to crawl the normal way, but for whatever reason she only crawled that way for about a day. She loved to crawl this way and is very fast at it. She can keep up with us when we are walking.

Over the past week she has made great advances in her walking and is now pretty confident and can make it across the room. Check out the walking Bella...




Ignore the crazy hair, we hadn't gotten to comb it yet.

Congratulations baby bug, we love you and are proud of you!

I was never able to get a smiling photo of her for her updated wall photo, but I think this captures her personality pretty well.

Good Deal

Good deal of the day

8 boxes of Kraft easy mac
2 bottles of Kraft BBQ sauce

Total $1.42

1 bottle of Kraft BBQ sauce
2 bottles of Kraft salad dressing
1 bottle of Kraft mayo
1 bottle of Miracle Whip

Total $1.42

2 bottles of Kraft salad dressing
2 bottle of Miracle Whip
1 bottle of Kraft mayo

Total $1.48

You can do this one as well. Albertsons has Kraft buy $10 get $3 off instantly. If you go to coupons.com and kraft.com you can get a $1 off coupon for each of these things. Also if you got the Sunday paper use one doubler on the second order and two on the third. If you didn't get the doubler, you can still get the deal but for $3 more total.

Pet Peeves

I have a pet peeve with young children at adult movies. We went to see X-Men: Wolverine last night and someone had brought a three year old to see the movie. I have no problem with children at kids movies or even some adult movies during the day. However, an adult movie that is this violent should not be shown to that young of a child. Thankfully the kid was mostly quiet in the movie, but still...How do you feel about this? By the way for those who like the X-Men movies, this one was awesome!

I also have a pet peeve with idiocy, especially my own. Yesterday was a beautiful day so I put my plants out to soak up some sun. Well wouldn't you know that Idaho nights are still cold. I forgot to bring the plants in last night and all of my hard work is now for naught. I killed all of my plants last night. What a bummer...

What pet peeves do you have that drive you nuts?