Important Things

I have been thinking about what things I find important to teach my children and what things would make me the most proud of each of them. I loved playing sports as a kid and was super competitive so I find it rather odd that I am not jumping on team sports for my kids. I hope they get to play when they are older, but if not that is okay. I thought about their academics and being the top of their class, but really all I care about is them trying their best. I also don't want them to get bored in school because I really want them to love learning, not test taking, but LEARNING.
Today I went to pick up Miya from school and her teacher, Mrs. Jones said, "thank you for Miya. She is such a gift to this class. She is bright and comes to class with great skills, but mostly she is just kind."

I thought now that is really important. MY CHILD IS KIND! I am so glad I have Miya. I am not sure Cannon would always say that she is kind, but she tries really hard to do the right thing.

Berry Stain

Just a little helpful tidbit I learned this weekend while blackberry picking with Phil's mom.

Boiling water takes out any berry stain in clothes. There is no scrubing just stick the clothes in the boiling pot and within seconds the stain is gone.

I have already used the info again today when Lyla drank a blackberry smoothie more got on her shirt then in her mouth.

Light

Yesterday we had a really great Stake conference focusing on missionary work. This morning as I got up to run the moon was so beautiful and full giving off tons of light and just as I finished my run the sun was coming up with the great colorful sunrise. I thought of the scriptures I have just read in Genesis about the Creation and the gifts of beauty we have been given. In it is talks about the sun and the moon being created to be symbols of light and truth. I had to think as I was out among these creations how wonderful the Plan of Salvation is and how blessed I feel to have so much truth and light in my life. I also had to reflect on my life and the things I am doing to be a symbol of His truth and light to those around me. Lots to do!

Stolen Lunch

So school seems to be adding a lot of drama to our lives and is giving me many things to journal. Here is another conversation between me and Miya after school today:

Miya: mom I at all of my lunch today...

(I didn't think much about this comment until ten minutes later when I saw her eating snacks out of her lunch box that I had packed earlier today.)
Me: when you said you ate all of your lunch did you mean the school lunch?
Miya: (silents then lots and lots of tears, through the tears I heard something that sounded like) well mom, I wanted the school lunch.
Me: Miya I am really disappointed that you would eat the school lunch after all we talked about last week.
Miya: (still crying) I know, but I REALLY WANTED IT.
Me: Would you steal lunch from the grocery store?
Miya: No
Me: Well we are going to have to talk to your teacher and let her know that you are not to be eating the school lunch and pay for the lunches you have already had.
Miya: No you can't talk to my teacher because she will tell the whole school over the speaker and everyone will know. (lots and lots of crying)
Me: Well it is more important that we do the right thing and feel bad about what we did wrong and not worry about what others might think of us. We will go talk to her together and ask her not to tell the whole school.
Miya: I already know that she will tell the whole school.
Me: Well maybe that is what it will take for you to stop stealing the school lunch.
Miya: It isn't stealing I get a card from the teacher...(mother interuption)
Me: Miya I told you that you would not be eating school lunch everyday and that is enough. We will go talk to your teacher tomorrow. I love you, but we really do need to do the right thing even when what we really want to have is the wrong thing.

She liked that I ended on that idea and told me we could talk to her teacher, but to please ask her not to tell the whole school. I am pretty sure we don't need to worry about any announcements over the loud speaker.

"Good morning everyone at Tillicum Elementary, we have some very bad news today. Miya Combs has eaten two school lunches without permission from her mom and without paying her teacher. Everyone must laugh at her as she walks into the lunchroom eating her lunch out of her lunchbox that she brought from HOME!!!"

P.S. I thought the new song was so fitting!

Mornings

So this really is just a journal entry, but something I don't want to forget. I seemed to have one of those mornings where I just handled everything wrong. I thought I was doing things right, getting up super early to run, packed Miya's lunch for school, fed Cannon breakfast. I think things made a turn for the worse when I let Miya sleep in 15 minutes longer so was doubling up on getting her ready for school. I thought I would let her eat while I brushed her hair. I know better, and should have let her eat before beginning the process of brushing her hair. It is always a fight to get done with her hair. The conversation of a hair cut comes up about a million times during the five minutes of brushing and pulling all the tangles out. I just didn't act very caring or understanding of the pain I was inflicting, but we were in a hurry and she was going to be late for school. Well, she didn't eat her breakfast and was in tears long before we left for school and they continued up until the school doors. She said she didn't want to go to school and wasn't happy about today. She is now sitting in school hungry and sad just for brushed hair. I don't like it when I do things this way and am writing this down to remind myself that I would rather have her with food in her belly, a smile on her face and really messy snarley hair then how it went this morning.

But I guess as Mr. Slinger says in Lily's Purple Plastic Purse, "today was a really bad day, tomorrow will be a better one."