New Glasses

Ten

A decade, Ten years, a lifetime.

That's my Sierra.

10 things about her (in no particular order).

10. She is a good friend. She invited two best friends to a movie Saturday. That is a hard thing to do when the friends don't know each other, but they all 3 were great friends by the end of the night.

9. She is a great student. Sierra has a keen mind, she loves to learn and is a voracious reader. Voracious in that she read a 7 book series in a weekend.

8. She is athletic. She likes things that make her move. She is an awesome soccer player and really came into her groove this fall putting goal after goal away.

7. She is musical. She loves to play the piano and I love to hear her practice. She is probably the best at my house in remembering to sit down and tickle the ivories.

6. She is creative. She loves to create. She learned how to weave at school and in an afternoon had a new weave on a home made loom.

5. She is brave. She will try almost anything. While she may seem quiet to some, she is fearless.

4. She is a good example. She works hard, is obedient & kind. She is a peacemaker...comes with the territory as a middle child I guess.

3. She is patient. She rolls with the curves and the waves that life's wind blows her way.

2. She is beautiful inside and out. When told about the opportunity to share her hair with someone that had none she never looked back.

1. She is a very important part of her family and we love her very much.

HAPPY 10th Sierra!

Light and Airy

That's how Sierra's hair is now. :) gone are the long long brushing sessions full of snarls and pain. Here is the dawn of an easier hair do. I will miss her braids though...and hope she'll wear them again some day.

Those are some killer eyes I tell ya!

Random Updates

This is the face of a girl that made her first goal of the season in her last game to help her team go undefeated. She often spends a lot of time on the defensive end of the field and she did make a spectacular block on a penalty kick as well.

Fancy footwork...her specialty.
The SCORE!
THE SMILES!
I almost didn't bring my camera...forgot it, then went home. But on the way, I said, well I didn't bring my camera so I guess that means you'll score today and she nodded in the affirmative. I snuck home and brought it anyway...so glad I did. :)

This is the face of a girl peeking through the crowd to find Mom and Dad looking back. She sang her heart out at the Kindergarten Hero's program. Meanwhile Mom cried her eyes out. They sang First Grade, First Grade (to the tune of New York, New York) Her teacher told me Savanna cried everytime they practiced...she made it through just fine in her performance but I didn't. Of course it didn't help that the also sang The Hero Lies Inside and I'm Proud to Be an American. Just not fair to emotion ridden mom.

This is the face of a 'Cool, Awesome, Medium Biggish' Boy wearing his 'Very Handsome' (not the shirt itself--just makes him that way) shirt, graduating from Joyschool.This is how Ethan 'looks at the camera for me...just don't make eye contact!

Throwing the cap!

OTHER FUN THINGS THIS WEEK:
Sierra's Celebration of Learning complete with readings from her first Sci-Fi Novel read in spotlighted darkness and fog from a fog machine.

We learned the truth about Ethan's noise allergy. It's not TOO much noise he's allergic to, it's not enough.

Tim has only 8 days until his school camping/river rafting trip starts.

Looking forward to another Celebration of Learning for Tim and Emily and a band concert to round the year out.

I can't believe summer is here already. Overall this year went by way too fast.

You Go Girl!

Sierra has decided that Peach {the princess in the Mario games} is too 'Kidnappable'.

She is now designing the next game where Peach saves Mario.

I like how this girl thinks!

Not Yet...

Honesty. Who has it? Politicians--no. Sport Super Stars--nope. 4 Year Olds--Oh yeah.

Ethan was lamenting that Emily was going to be in school ALL DAY LONG. The conversation went like this:

ME: I said, do you love Emily?
ETHAN: Yes.
ME: Is she your favorite sister?
ETHAN: No, She's my best FRIEND.
ME: Who is your favorite sister?
ETHAN: Sierra (in a DUH MOM voice)
ME: What about Savanna? Do you love Savanna?
ETHAN: *deliberating*. Um...Not yet. She fights with me all the time.

One encouraging point is that he hasn't ruled out love for his next oldest sibling all the way. There is hope for the future.

Nine

For almost a decade this girl has been sunshine in our family!


Happy Birthday Sierra!

Show and Tell--Sierra Style

Sierra in her baptism dress. So what if she is 8 years and 11 months old TODAY--we finally got the pictures done. :)

And I had to try the silhouettes again. :)

A Comedy of Errors Transcontinental Railroad Style

A trip with Sierra to Gold Spike National Historic Site revealed that even in 1869 people had bad days.

You see it was really a comedy of errors that all came together on May 10, 1869 to bind the nation together from one end to the other.

• Originally the meeting of the rails was scheduled for May 8, 1869.
  

• Neither engine present in the famous joining of the rails photo was actually the scheduled train for the occasion.

• Coming from the East the scheduled Union Pacific train that carried the railroad's Vice President Thomas Durrant was delayed in Wyoming by 400 laid off workers waiting for back wages. The workers chained the train in place and refused to budge until they received their pay. After the delay, heavy rains in the Weber River weakened a bridge enough that the engineer would not cross with the engine. Instead he gently gave each passenger car a push across the unstable bridge. On the other side Engine #119 came from Ogden, UT to their rescue.

• Coming from the West the Central Pacific Railroad train carrying Leland Stanford was delayed when workers failed to notice a green flag on the first of two trains traveling together. The green flag signaled that another train followed behind. However, workers did not heed the flag and a log tumbled on to the track. The second Engine (called the Antelope) hit the log and was severely damaged. Leland Stanford had to transfer to the first train at the next station to continue on to Promontory.

• It took some effort to decide where the meeting spot for the railroads should be. Each side wanted to get as much money from the government as possible as they were paid per mile of track on a scale that took into account difficulty and terrain. Because of that before Promontory was chosen each company prepared and graded parallel land for track for 250 miles.

• Once at Promontory they prepared to celebrate the joining of the rails. Unfortunately all those in charge had somehow forgotten to bring an American Flag to fly at the occasion. After asking those attending the festivities if anyone had a flag they finally found a small regiment of soldiers that was attending and someone had a flag in his knapsack. However, the flag only had 20 stars. In 1869 there were 37 states. The 20 star flag only flew for one year in 1818 before another state was added. This flag, no doubt an heirloom, was 51 years old! Still today at the Historic Site they fly the 20 star flag to reflect what happened that day.

(I love this photo...all the kids and tourists moved out of the way so I was able to get just the locomotives and their engineers. All in period costume. It's a bit hard to see in this picture, but I think I might print this one LARGE for Ethan's room.)

INTERESTING FACTS:

1. There were 4 spikes 'tapped' into place at the Gold Spike Ceremony--2 Gold, 1 Silver & one Gold and Silver Spike
2. The replicas of the Locomotives are painted in the same colors and manner as the originals. Engine #119 has a pictures of Johnny Appleseed on it.
3. The Jupiter (Central Pacific Railroad) was a wood burning locomotive and Engine #119 (Union Pacific Railroad) was a coal burning locomotive.
4. None of the ceremonial spikes are at the Gold Spike National Historic Site. They are housed in other collections in California and New York.
5. I 'think' I have a relative that was there. Peggy can you help me out here? Is it true or just a rumor?

P.S. I had so much fun photographing yesterday I just had to share one more.

Random Bloggy Blogginess Again...

I am going to have to become very creative if I want to keep my unique random blog titles unique.

The sub-title for this post is

How my Kids Rocked Their Day At School.

1. Emily's teachers had a meeting yesterday after class to discuss their upcoming expedition that starts in January. Some of the topics in the running were 'Ghostowns of Utah', 'Water', and well the third one escapes me. Needless to say, Emily was NOT impressed with the possibilities. She suggested to her teacher that they might do an expedition on Food. While her teacher took that as somewhat a tongue in cheek suggestion, Emily set to work writing a persuasive essay for the cause. Yesterday her teacher read it to the school director (Principal) and all the other 6-8 grade teachers. She was informed this morning that while they may or may not use her idea (the kids won't know until January) that her paper received a 4 out 5 on the AP English scale of writing. Being only an 8th grader, this news DID make her day. Some of her supporting themes included the topics they could study might be nutrition, agriculture, manufacturing and distribution. I think Emily rocks because she even thought of getting her point across in this way. She may not get extra credit for her paper, but I giver her an A+ for her GoToITiveness.
2. Tim...well Tim is a great thinker but sometimes struggles getting his thoughts on paper. So I was very happy that Tim rocked his day by getting his 'From the perspective of an Oil Drop' essay, his poster and all other assignments in on time and complete. Hallelujah!
3. Sierra (the third grader) rocked her day by finding out that on her recent Math test in her (mostly 4th grader) class--she was the ONLY one to get a perfect score! You go girl! We do love math around here. :)
4. In a somewhat random form, I learned Savanna has a lazy eye from her Kindergarten teacher. Am I the only one that is clueless about their children's eye problems? Whoops. On a good note, it doesn't seem to be holding her back in the reading department and her teacher gave me a great report on her behavior too. Thank goodness.
5. Ethan...well he didn't rock school today, but he did participate in Library time with gusto and that in and of itself is rock worthy.
   

Miss Photogenic...

More Random Bloggy Things to Blog About

*Emily had her first fieldwork of the new school year yesterday. They are learning about Utah and transportation starting with the Mormon Pioneers. So yesterday they hiked 4+ miles of the path the pioneers took to come into the Salt Lake Valley. The highlight of the trip? 2 dead Moose. Yeah...I'm shaking my head too.

*Tim's Math and Astronomy teacher met me by the car today when I picked up my kids from school. She started the conversation with,

"Are you Tim's Mom?"

Surely a phrase that makes a Mom's heart skip a beat. ;) But as it turns out she just wanted to 'say hi' and tell me he is 'doing great'. ~Mom's heart beats again and urges lips into a smile~

*I am so OVER allergies. Or at least I wish I was..."bwahhhaaaahhhaaa"

*Ethan on our way home from walking Savanna to school yesterday morning.

Me: You are getting to be a big boy.
Ethan: No, I'm a medium boy.

*Savanna upon finding out that she got to go to school YET AGAIN this morning.

"Oh Goody!!!"

*Sierra's constant refrain over the last couple of days.
"When does soccer start again?" Thanks goodness for tomorrow. I hope we can find some cleats that fit!

My hopes for 3rd Grade...

*Challenges.
*Excitement.
*Exciting Expeditions.
*New Talents.
*Stretching.
*Can-Do Attitude.
*Friends...one or two really good ones.
*Smiles.
*Fun, Fun, FUN

Back to School 'Lunch' Night...OVERLOAD

Tonight was Back to School night! But in Ethan's mind the only thing worth going to school for is lunch so he keeps calling it Back to School Lunch night. Sadly for him...there was very little food.

We started out at what I THOUGHT was on time. Savanna's teacher requested all the parents and students arrive at 6:00 pm for a meeting. We got there at 5:59 and it seemed it was standing room only and she had been talking for a good 5 minutes.

LESSON LEARNED: BE PUNCTUAL!

I can't believe I am doing the Kindergarten schpeil for the the FOURTH time! Luckily for Savanna it is only the first. And she is VERY excited. She met Buzzy Bee the Puppet (of fame from her friend Whitney who had Ms K last year.) It was a thrilling moment. ;) Only problem with Kindergarten back to school night is that now school doesn't really start for 10 more days! That for a 5 year old equals eternity.

We then headed to our other school, where Emily, Tim & Sierra got to checkout their new digs. A brand new building finished just 'seconds' well maybe an hour before the ribbon cutting. It is very nice...three 'pods' consisting of 6 classrooms each that open up to a commons area. The middle school pod walls are lined with lockers. You can probably hear the cheering from Emily still.

LESSON LEARNED: PRAYERS ARE ANSWERED! I really wanted Sierra to have the right teacher for her. I had 2 or 3 in mind that I thought would work and she got one of my favorites. He just happens to be the husband of her teacher last year. Kinda quirky, but I think it will work. Also it appears that she will be placed in the higher math class and for that I'm thrilled. One of the reasons we switched schools was the lack of understanding the individual child and helping them reach their potential. I see real progress on this front here.

One interesting concept with the combined age groupings is that the kids are placed with a teacher for crew and keep that teacher for multiple years. So it is really more important than with traditional schools to get a teacher that meshes well with your child.

I am pleased with the choices for each of my children. Emily has a great rapport with her teacher from last year and Tim has one of the teachers on my short wish list for him. And of course I think Sierra is in good hands.

Overall it was a great night...but boy are we tired...tired and now officially READY FOR SCHOOL! It can't come fast enough at this point. :)

Ruby Raptors 2 Orange Tigers 0

SOCCERFIELD, UT, USA---With just a few seconds left in the first half, Sierra drove down the field and hefted a powerful kick into the goal just inching past the keeper's hands. Both teams played hard and each goalie stopped several goals, but it was Sierra that blazed the path for the Raptors Victory on Saturday. She parried, dribbled and shot with the best of them. The second goal was made by her teammate as Sierra's shot was blocked, bounced off her leg and kicked in by 'A'.



Sierra's mother was thrilled to be in attendance as she recently thought she might be some kind of bad luck charm as her children always seem to shoot, score and perform better on the games she is absent.





After the game, it was agreed that this was Sierra's best effort to date. Her mother could be seen high fiving and yelling, 'Way to go!' The Raptors have one more game this season.

A night out with Sierra

My middle child.

Sierra

She is sweet, quiet (not shy), thoughtful, smart, wise, friendly, dependable and sometimes lost in the shuffle. It must be hard to be the middle child--not leading the pack, and not commanding the attention of the caboose.


Tonight, Sierra and I had the grand opportunity to go on a bike ride together. We talked, laughed and shared ideas. It was thoroughly enjoyable. Some things I RE-learned about Sierra.

• She is a leader. Not readily apparent at first glance because Sierra is quiet, but Sierra is a go to girl for her friends. She is generous with her advice, whether it be how to make friends or learning new things.
• She is an oak tree, not a willow. Meaning--even though her peers may blow one way or the other, she stands firm on her ideas and opinions.
• She is physically as well as mentally strong. She biked and talked nearly 4 miles with me tonight with not a touch of getting tired.
• She is thoughtful. We discussed some things that were on her mind and I was amazed at the thought processes she used to figure out the dilemmas.
• She is a great conversationalist. She thinks of the other person and makes interesting comments.

We do a lot of family activities together, but sometimes the one-on-one times are too far between. Thanks to Sierra I have a definite desire to make them much more frequent with each of my kids.

CHUCKFEST 2009

CHUCKFEST 2009 started Saturday at our house. That is not to be confused with UPCHUCKFEST which I do not recommend at all. CHUCKFEST (coined by my good friend Brenda) produced two GINORMOUS black plastic bags full of clothes and toys whom have served their purpose and are ready to be sent on to new owners to love and cherish. (Only to be chucked again at some future point--but we won't tell them(the toys) that.)

Sierra (age 8) actually said to me as I explained our plan of action on Saturday. "I was thinking I had too many things." Hallelujah it would be that much easier. Savanna is still the packrat, but we managed pretty well with her too.

In the past I have started out with gusto then as the day progressed I remembered all the good memories of each toy. Or the reason why I bought it in the first place. Or the smile that was on the face of my kids when they received it then stuck it BACK in the toy box. This year I had a secret weapon.

Emily...Old enough to plow through the physical mess, unattached enough to plow through the emotional mess. The moral of the story is, bring along reinforcements. Thanks Emily!

Now that we have completed the first phase, we are pretty much down to books and stuffed animals in Sierra's and Savanna's room. Seems like NOTHING else gets played with anymore. But you can often find a herd of animals on their way to church, school, or play with their handlers close behind.

What toys of your kids would survive a CHUCKFEST?

Oh Where, Oh Where...

have my little children gone?

As I sidle off to bed each night, I have to peek to see that they are alright. Yoohoo Ethan...where are you????

One night this is all I found in Ethan's bed...no child, no blanket, no sign of a struggle, and snakey sleeping peacefully.

Ahh there you are...bunk beds should be for two...right?

The next night...Savanna and Sierra were missing...Do we REALLY need beds in our house?