Sunday, May 14, 2017

Happy Mother's Day!!

This past week felt long, but it was a good week. Van had a second field trip that I got to parent chaperone on Thursday. We went to the Sea Life Aquarium and Legoland. The kids in his class are so cute. I actually felt a bit of sadness that I won't be teaching Van and his friends next year. I'll just have to throw parties and join the PTO to get to know the kids. The best part about being a parent chaperone is that I didn't have to stay at school after the field trip. I got to come home, relax and watch the Queen of Katwe (an awesome movie btw).

William learned the pig pen cypher at Cub Scouts on Tuesday. He and Isaac taught it to Will's class on Thursday. Isaac also did a robot lesson for the kids with the robots and iPads he received with his grant. The students LOVED it, of course. I'm hoping he can do it for my class this week too.

Thursday night, we went to the PTO Carminati Peter Piper Pizza night. Afterward, we went to our friends' the Skidmore's farewell/graduation party. Jeff Skidmore serves in the bishopric with Isaac. He just graduated with his Ph.D in Mechanical Engineering. He was also awarded outstanding graduate student for the engineering department. His wife Elisa, has a beautiful soprano voice. We sang a duet at stake conference a few months ago. She did a few musical numbers at the party. They're moving to Ohio next week where Jeff will complete a post doctorate. I felt very emotional at the party. It's so hard to make dear friends and realize that it is very likely that I'll never see them again. :(

Friday after school, I went to our end of year staff celebration. It was fun to visit, but I got homesick. People were talking about their weekend plans--going to breakfast with their moms, grandmas, and sisters. It's nice to be spoiled by Isaac and the boys on Mother's Day, but it's so hard to be away from the special women in my life! To ease my blues, we went on a hike at the Lost Dutchman state park Saturday morning. The desert landscape was beautiful! I will miss seeing the cacti and red rock. The boys stayed the course. I was so proud of them. At one point, Van said, "Mom, I'm a brave hiker!" There was a breeze which gave us a reprieve from the heat. On the way home, we stopped at Goldfield, a ghost town. We ate ice cream in the ice cream parlor. Van looked around and said, "This place is fancy!" which was hilarious, because it was decorated to resemble the early 1900s.

Last night, we watched Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban. It really spooked Van. When it was time for bed, he kept saying, "I'm scared of Harry Potter. It was creepy!" We sang a bunch of primary songs and said a few prayers. Van said, "Mom I want you to lay by me because when you lay by me I think of good things, but when you're not here I think of bad things." I stayed there until he fell asleep. An hour later he came into our room, so I just let him sleep beside me for the night.

Today was a wonderful Mother's Day. The boys brought me breakfast in bed. I laid in bed for a few hours. Church was so great. The primary children performed a few songs in sacrament meeting. Van sang very loud and off pitch and added some actions. He pointed right at me and smiled when they sang, "Mother I love YOU, Mother I do." It was really sweet and funny. In Relief Society, we talked about testimony. The teacher asked us to think about how our mothers have strengthened our faith. I thought specifically about my mom's faith and how she is so reassuring with her words, "things will work out." I've also been thinking a lot about how she has the gift to see everyone as a child of God. I remember growing up and RARELY hearing her speak ill of another person. I didn't realize it until I would go to my friends' houses and hear their families talk about people in the ward. Thank you Mom for your example! The one thing I wanted for mother's day was to watch the Sound of Music and it happened! We watched it tonight. I love that movie so much!

Overheard at our house:

Van: "Mom, I turned on my fart machine 100 percent at school today." Me: "What did the teacher say?" Van: "Oh, she couldn't hear me. It was quiet."

Some things Van loves to say lately are, "You don't know my future," and "No offense, but"