Young Author's Night at the Library

 

Well, they were published!! We are so very proud of their hard work!!

 

We got there a little early with Yaya and enjoyed reading some books and looking at the cool displays.

 

The girls got to read their pieces. They did WONDERFUL!!! I was so proud that they smiled, read with inflection, were loud and animated!! Not only did they have great writing pieces, but they had great presentation!!! I'm glad they are confident little girls. They should be!!!

 

It was cute to see all the kids just so proud while everyone clapped for them!!

What a neat library program!! We'll definitely be doing it again!

Faith in God - FREE MEAL!

 

We were looking at our Faith in God program and Nina had 2 more to complete for her 9 year old year. She chose the "Plan and prepare a nutritious meal". She spent a good 20 minutes on pinterest and chose a recipe that looked good to her. She made a shopping list for me and the next day we feasted!

 

She did EVERYTHING!!!

(Except pour the pasta and turn on the stove... gas and hot water scare me)

She also followed the recipe really well... she did add some extra butter! Paula Dean would be proud.

It was DELICIOUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

One of the best meals I've ever had!!!

T Minus 3 Weeks

 

Wow! Where did the time go!! I guess when you are having fun... :)

This pregnancy has been great.

Sweet lil' Ella has been moving around great, is turned the right way, and we just can't wait to meet her!

I've craved potatoes and orange juice. But that's about it.

Jody has been good about rubbing my legs. Fortunately, I've gotten legs cramps but they haven't been too severe.

I do feel like a whale. I've only gained 20 pounds... but I'm proud because I can still shave my legs. Yes, it takes some doing.

Thanks to my friend Keyonna, I've been able to do some Yoga. WOW! What a wonderful difference that has made. Not only does it stretch you out, but it's empowering.

 

My parents bought Ella a new crib mattress. It was a wonderful day we spent together and they treated me to a delicious salad at Whole Foods as well as... another... tank of gas. :)

Yaya Sofia has stocked us up on diapers.

 

We are truly so blessed. All I need to do is get our bag for the hospital ready.

 

Of course, we got out all the old clothes.

However, there have just been too many cute outfits to resist!!

Thank you 99 cents. From Gap to Gymboree, FAO to Rare Editions....

this little princess will look the part!

FAME

 

Ok, so I had to post this. The other weekend was a huge football game between Seattle and the 49ers. Lateef and Colin Kapernick are in a fraternity together and so they got free tickets to the game.

 

They enjoyed free food by being confident and walking into a pre-game party.

 

And, this is why I love Ramya... because she was super thoughtful and got Jody a bunch of trash on the ground that was Seattle. Honestly, one man's trash is another's treasure.

 

He was so excited. Sure, we might (??) have to rinse out some alcohol from the cups... but ultimately, it was just so awesome of them to think of Joe! He was seriously ecstatic! I guess this is the first time in a long time that the Seahawks are going to the Super bowl. The last time, he had watched it with Nono. I'm just glad football season is almost over. It's been super annoying to have the TV on, on Sundays.

 

Also, Colin just seems like a really nice guy. Feel bad he lost.

Dr. King Dinner

 

Wow! What a night! Christina is such wonderful company and we enjoyed a fancy night celebrating the legacy of Dr. King. We started with a reception preview by the pool in the Nugget. Christina was excited to have a couple Shirley Temples. When she wasn't able to get one of her cherries out of the glass, Joe went got a small cupful for her. She loved that there were little swords in the appetizers also!

 

Here's Christina with the other scholarship recipients and the General of the Air National Guard, who presented the award.

 

Love Mr. Hardaway!

 

The escorts were really nice this year. Christina was treated like the proper lady she is!

The food was pretty good. A little scanty. Steak, mashed potatoes, vegetables, salad, and a yummy cheesecake.

 

Christina did a great job!!! Her work was printed in each program and she received this medal. She's so proud of it and wore it to school today.

 

 

 

Quite the facial expressions here for Lonnie and Joe.

 

Tiffany was the coordinator for the scholarship recipients. She was very organized and kind.

 

It was a really fun night. The speaker was excellent. I especially like when he admitted he had drug problems in his youth. He confessed that yes, here in Reno, he is willing to share that his drugs included being drug to church, being drug to do weeds when he mouthed off, drug to the shed to clean when he didn't give his all to school... he made the point that if kids had drug problems like he did, they wouldn't need cocaine.

 

I also loved that the youth scholarship recipient acknowledged and gave thanks to Jody. They work together really closely at UNR and I just thought it was classy of him.

 

And of course, we waited at least an hour or 2 while Joe talked/mingled. He met a long lost Alpha brother in the elevator. We relaxed on the couch and admired Christina's medal.

 

I also love that a man won a big flat screen TV in a raffle. He was so excited.

 

The prayers were awesome. I love hearing Baptists pray.

 

Music was Ok. A little slow for my taste.

 

Overall awesome night! Thanks Yaya and Papa for playing and having fun with the littles so we could have a night out on the town.

Saturday With Yaya and Papa

 

Jody had to work Saturday, so my parents were great and we headed off for some fun.

The thing was, coming up with something to do!

We went to Claire's and the girls got $5 to spend. Fortunately they were having one of those 10 for $10 sales, so the girls loaded up on cute stuff. Yaya noticed some beautiful sparkly boxes that happened to be make-up kits. They are gorgeous and make our bathroom so girly and fun!

Anyways, we saved $143... a total of around 80%.

Thanks for the fun treats!!!

 

We got some sandwiches and headed to the park. Unfortunately, Christina's bike had a flat!!

 

A weird event happened at the park. There was a creepy bully (about 5th grade) that was not letting kids down the slide. I confronted him because of what he had asked the girls to do, so they could go down the slide. They were wise and didn't do what he asked, but I was really livid. I actually chewed him out and yelled at him. They are so young and it was such a horrible thing to demand of them. I hate that in this life there are so many... and so young apparently... that are willing to destroy everything virtuous and pure in life.

I honestly hope that the kid gets help. He didn't have parents there, there was just some guy who was totally ashamed and looking down the entire time I chewed the kid out.

The thing is the kid kept on denying what he had done. Christina doesn't lie, neither does Maria... neither could they make up a story like that.

I told the boy (at this point screaming) if you don't take responsibility for what you do in life, you'll end up in prison.

I doubt I had much effect on the kid.

Unfortunately, the kid kind of ruined this park for me. I don't think we'll be going back for awhile.

 

We had tasters at Costco and then relaxed at Yaya and Papa's. The weather was gorgeous and the kids enjoyed playing in the sand as usual.

 

Thanks for such a lovely weekend day Yaya and Papa!!!
BEST. GRANDPARENTS. EVER.

Grades - Straight A's Again

 

So proud of the ladies for all their hard work!!!

My Moment of Glory.... Gone

 

So a few months back I was contacted by a lady from lds.org saying that they wanted me to participate in a conference for Mormon bloggers.

 

I was totally honored. 15 million members of The Church around the world and they emailed me.

Of all weirdos.

 

Basically, my primary blog is a place where I come up with curriculum ideas based off weekly topics.

 

I am a person who does well with outlines. The sharing time outline is like the common core is to public education. It's a standard/expectation of what we need to learn.

 

One time, a long time ago in high school.... we needed an idea for a wall for homecoming. I just remember Ramya telling me that I should share the idea and I did and people liked it.

It made me feel special. It was a developmental time, but I learned that I could think creatively, outside the box. I vaguely remember something to do with a rockslide??

 

My parents always encouraged me. Being an only child, I had time with my own mind and to discover my own worlds. My mother always told me I was the best. I believed her and was the snottiest kid EVER. Holy hell. I remember writing a note in 2nd grade telling a little girl I hated her because she played with someone other than me. If someone did that to my kids... .... ....

 

!!!!!!!!

 

I grew out of that though and acknowledge freely that I am anything other than the best.

Thank you fondant fail.

Sewing fail.

Cooking fail.

Cleaning fail.

Complaining fail.

Holding a grudge fail.

Parallel parking fail.

Supportive frat wife FAIL.

Keeping up with homework so Christina got her first ever B on a spelling test FAIL.

Believe me... the list goes on and on. And on and on.

 

And yet, it's not like I'm a downer on myself. I have weaknesses and that's OK.

I have strengths.

 

And I'm just so happy that God has blessed me these years to share ways to teach children about Him and His Son. I know that all the ideas come from Him. I see my patriarchal blessing being fulfilled and it's very humbling.

 

I'm not able to go to the conference though.

They were having Stephanie Neilson as a featured speaker.

Free food.

I could have met a lot of cool people.

Maybe even an Apostle.

 

Seasons and times right?

 

I found out from my friend Melanie who runs sugardoodle.net that out of all LDS blogs mine came in 2nd for hits to lds.org from my site.

I love lds.org. I love search engines.

I love the words of the prophets.

 

I love sleep. I really need to go to bed. I'm sure this post made no sense whatsoever.

 

I just kind of wish I could have gone to the conference. I really hope I get invited again.

Beaming with Pride

 

First off, I feel like Martin Luther King Jr. is a hero who should be celebrated more than he is. His life was dedicated to making right out of wrong. He was a leader in every sense of the word.

The girls have been memorizing quotes and one of my favorites is, "Darkness cannot drive out darkness... only light can. Hate cannot drive out hate... only love can."

 

Jody called me and said that the essay competition entries were due that very day.

I wasn't expecting anything, I just wanted to take the time with my girls to honor a man who did so much for us. I wanted them to think about his life and again, just take the time, to ponder and reflect and honor him with some words.

 

And then... of course... Christina won!!!!! Out of the entire Washoe County School District, Christina won on the Elementary School level. It was judged by the Air National Guard and she will be receiving $100. She also won tickets to the Martin Luther King Jr. dinner at The Nugget this year. She will be invited to a special scholarship reception before the event to meet members of the community. Free food! Woot!

 

In all honesty I'm so impressed by what she wrote. But more so with her reaction to the award and money. The very first thing she said was, "Well that means I'll need to pay $10 for tithing."

 

I think Martin Luther King Jr. would be proud. Because she recognizes so early that God has truly given us everything. He asks little of us and blesses us freely. She has a Christ centered heart.

 

Maria also participated in the essay competition and wrote a beautiful piece. We edited out one part, but it was my absolute favorite part, "Really, if people would just get baptized in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and follow the commandments it'd be a peaceful world."

Mormons aren't perfect!! But I'm glad she understands the importance of baptism and keeping the commandments.

 

Everyone came to support. Yaya Sofia, Yaya Kota, Papa, Daddy... a family email was circulated and her teacher was super supportive too. Quote, "OMG!!! THAT IS SO EXCITING!!!"

Thank you Mrs. Hensley. She had Christina read her paper to the class and everyone clapped. I guess at recess she had a lot of people asking to play with her too. Ah, the joy of fame.

 

At recess, Maria got whacked in the face with a tetherball. I got a call from the clinic. We're lucky she was just hit in the jaw. It hurt. The boy who did it apologized.

I was a nervous wreck driving to the school.

But she was fine, thank The Lord!

 

 

Here were all the winners. I love Brother Hardaway. He is a talker!!! But when he talks, you listen! He is the President of Northern Nevada Black Cultural Awareness Society. He truly loves children and wants them to succeed. He volunteers countless hours and is always so positive and supportive.

 

Practicing!! For the Washoe County School Board Meeting, they wanted her to read part of her essay. She did so beautifully. Not too fast, with enthusiasm and inflection.

She is so articulate and confident. What a blessing she is.

She will do much good in the world.

 

Papa... always taking care of Eli. The poor little guy had to wait quite a while because the meeting was running late. He had a meltdown with Mommy, but Papa to the rescue.

 

Here she is with our Superintendent Pedro Martinez. And do you love I have no clue who the woman is. I love that she invited Maria into the picture. Maria is a winner too. Anyone who takes the time to write about love, peace, and what we need to do to help the world is a winner!

 

Papa and Yaya took us out to celebrate!! Christina chose Olive Garden.

 

It was a wonderful day/night. Maria went on a daddy daughter date and I hope they took pictures!! I'll blog about that one later!

 

Here are their essays:
Christina-

Who was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.? He was a good man that tried to make peace with mean people. He was a humble peacemaker.  In a time when slavery was over, but segregation still existed, Dr. King said it was not right! It was not right because it was not fair and all people deserve freedom, choices, and to go wherever they like. No person is better than another, we are all the same… even if we look different! We are all the same because we are all the children of God.

            As a boy, Martin wanted to speak great words and he did! When he grew up he became a minister like his father and taught people from the Bible. He set things right! He went where people needed help. He marched with others for their rights. He walked with them, talked with them, prayed with them, and sang with them. He was never violent. He was like a peaceful dove gliding over a chaotic lake.

            Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a very honorable man. He taught us peace, love, and to be faithful and have hope at sorrowful times. How do we continue his dream?  I am speaking to you because the world needs peace. Peace is supposed to be strong. Hate is harsh and harmful. We should be like Martin Luther King Jr. and teach people to fight with words not fists. We need to STOP hate because hate kills and hurts. We can think about our actions! Before we speak we can think about what we are saying!

            If we want to continue his perfect dream we must drive away hate. We must be like Martin, peaceful and full of love. I’m grateful for this strong man because he changed the world for the better.

 

Maria-

 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was loving, kind, and faithful. He went to church a lot, every Sunday. He also protested WHITE ONLY signs. He had the right to protest because he, his family, and all black people deserved freedom. There was too much hate and his dream was peace.

            I know how to make his dream come true by being like him- loving, kind, and faithful. We should teach EVERYONE about love, hope, and peace. We can help others when they are hurt.  At school we can help others with their work. When someone doesn’t have a friend to play with, you can play with them. We can help a person read a book.

            I think Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is excellent. I’m grateful for his life because he taught good things and even died for it.