Happy Halloween

Halloween is the time of year when I have to take a deep breath and quit being the sugar police and just enjoy! Takes a little work...but I'm getting the hang of it.

Last night we had a Trick of Trunk activity at the church. I love Trick or Trunk. It's short and simple and the kids just love it so much! We made a fishing pond! I had a big sign that said 'fish for candy' and the kids had to use a fishing rod to get the treats. Sometimes they got a toy (good way to get rid of McDonald's toys from the bottom of the toy box!) and sometimes they got a candy. I wasn't too sure people would like it (after all, who needs more McDonald's toys in their house?!) but it was a big hit! The kids liked it, and I had a good time seeing them all have so much fun.

This is Peirce getting ready to dive into his bag of treats! He's a kitty this year....which is pretty appropriate since he spends most of his playing time pretending he's a cat anyway.



After Trick or Trunk we went over to the school to see how things were going at the family dance. Looked like they had lots of people there and like everyone was having a great time!

As soon as we got home the organizing began. My kids spend a lot of time organizing and trading and making deals on so much of this for so much of that. There was no way I could talk them out of taking care of business and getting to bed on time!




Today they dressed up for school. Peirce is a kitty still and Jill is dressed up as Dumbledore. I thought it was pretty cute watching them in their costumes with their backpacks on...so I had to take a picture.

Here's Jill as Dumbledore!

Parvanna's Journey and Mud City (By Deborah Ellis)

Well, I read The Breadwinner and learned that there were two more books with the same characters by Deborah Ellis. I went to the library and got Parvanna's Journey and read it that day...then went to the library the next day and got Mud City and read that one that day.

I was so inspired by these books that I changed plans for my book club and am getting everyone to read The Breadwinner for this month. I hope they'll read these two books too.

All the books in this series are written in a way that makes you continue on and have to read more....lots of Cliffhangers. The Breadwinner ends off with Parvanna and her Father planning to leave to go find her mother and siblings. When Parvanna's Journey starts off they're buying her father and she's now alone....again. I couldn't believe it! The things this girl goes through are just amazing. It really gave me a new perspective on what it must be like to be an orphan in a war-torn country. She ends up collecting a few other orphan friends along the way. The story of their journey is amazing and kept me reading.

Mud City is more the story of Parvanna's friend, Shauzia. Shauzia is like most young girls - she has a lot of dreams and goals, only she's stopped along the way by the simple and sad facts of war. The story starts out in a refugee camp where the conditions are less than deplorable. She eventually decides to venture out on her own and look after herself. This doesn't go so well and she actually ends up in prison. She is then taken in by an American family who lives in Afghanistan in amazing comfort and wealth in parison to the people around them. However, it doesn't last too long, sadly enough.

These stories made my heart ache for the children that suffer in war. Something really must be done....but what can someone like me do?

One thing is I'm going to read these books with my kids!

Booing the Neighbors

In primary yesterday the kids got a handout that they were quite enamored with. It was a cute little poem that you could use with treats to drop off to someone in the ward. Funny thing was I had been thinking of doing the same thing for FHE this week! We did it, but with a little twist.

First I read the scripture from 3 Nephi 13:

1 aVerily, verily, I say that I would that ye should do alms unto the poor; but take heed that ye do not your alms before men to be seen of them; otherwise ye have no reward of your Father who is in heaven.

2 Therefore, when ye shall do your alms do not sound a trumpet before you, as will hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have aglory of men. Verily I say unto you, they have their reward.

3 But when thou doest alms let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth;

4 That thine alms may be in secret; and thy Father who seeth in secret, himself shall reward thee openly.

We talked about what alms were, about giving anonymous service, and what we could do to share with others around us. We made some cookies and then printed off some cute poems from Organized Christmas.com We took them over to one neighbors house, rang the doorbell and ran like mad to a hiding place...but they must not have been home because they didn't answer....so the kids decided to go take back the cookies and try someone else! LOL We then did the neighbors on each side of us. It was a LOT of fun!

Here's the poem we put with the cookies (if you click on it you can see it a little better):

And this is the note they're supposed to leave in their window:

After that we decided we'd try and do some secret service every day. We each made a little poster to put by our beds or in some secret place to remind ourselves to do service for someone anonymously each day. The kids were really excited about it. We'll see how the week goes!

I Love It When Things Comes Together Just Right!

I took my kids to a missionary fireside tonight. It was on the Savior and had lots of music. It was all really wonderful.

Jill tries to be a good missionary. She has a friend at school she invites to activities and is sometimes turned down and she has felt a little discouraged. She's sincere and she's prayerful and seems to do all the right things...but hasn't found success....or so she thought.

Tonight when we were at the fireside we sat on the same row as a man who used to be in our ward that is dating a woman who it turns out has a son that is in her class. In the fireside they had a slide show put to a song about the Savior and there were pictures of the Savior and pictures of recent baptisms in our stake...and low and beyond the son of this woman was in one of the photos!! Apparently he was baptized two weeks ago. Jill was ecstatic to find this out. Turns out she sits right by him too...the teacher has their desks in groups of 4 and there's her, another boy from our ward, this boy that was baptized, and another girl....so 3 of the 4 are members! She was so thrilled to find this out. She said to me, "Mom! I just realized how important it is to be a good example!! What if I was a bad example and he decided not to get baptized and I didn't know! He could have been watching me!"

I was so thrilled she had figured this out. She told me how she's going to always try to be a good example and how you just never know who is watching! :0)

Warms a mother's heart!

Chihuahua Inner Peace??

Jill's really into yoga lately...and she's helping Chico to realize the joy of inner peace:

The Breadwinner (Deborah Ellis)

At our last parent-child book club another parent was talking about this book. They were having the author come speak at their school. Man, I wish I had taken my kids to listen to the author! If she's as dynamic as the book is it would have been an amazing experience. It is like reading A Thousand Splendid Suns...but only a kid's version.

The Breadwinner is a story of a family in Afghanistan during the recent wars. It's one of those books that you can't put down because there's so much action!

Here's the summary from Amazon.com:

Since the Taliban took over Afghanistan, 11-year-old Parvana has rarely been outdoors. Barred from attending school, shopping at the market, or even playing in the streets of Kabul, the heroine of Deborah Ellis's engrossing children's novel The Breadwinner is trapped inside her family's one-room home. That is, until the Taliban hauls away her father and Parvana realizes that it's up to her to become the "breadwinner" and disguise herself as a boy to support her mother, two sisters, and baby brother. Set in the early years of the Taliban regime, this topical novel for middle readers explores the harsh realities of life for girls and women in modern-day Afghanistan. A political activist whose first book for children, Looking for X, dealt with poverty in Toronto, Ellis based The Breadwinner on the true-life stories of women in Afghan refugee camps.
In the wily Parvana, Ellis creates a character to whom North American children will have no difficulty relating. The daughter of university-educated parents, Parvana is thoroughly westernized in her outlook and responses. A pint-sized version of Offred from Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, Parvana conceals her critique of the repressive Muslim state behind the veil of her chador. Although the dialogue is occasionally stilted and the ending disappointingly sketchy, The Breadwinner is essential reading for any child curious about ordinary Afghans. Like so many books and movies on the subject, it is also eerily prophetic. "Maybe someone should drop a big bomb on the country and start again," says a friend of Parvana's. "'They've tried that,' Parvana said, 'It only made things worse.'"

I loved, loved loved this book. I will get both of my children to read it. It's books like these that make me want to teach again! .....or have a kid's book club, or work in a library....or write!

It also makes me so grateful to live here. It makes me think we ought to be doing something a little more to help the people in those countries that are having to live through war. My guess is that there are going to be many more amazing stories to come out of Afghanistan. There's a review and a really good video on this website. Do check it out!

Lots to think about in this book! And apparently there's a sequel. Parvanna's Journey. I'm going to get that one tonight!

Button Day!

I cut Peirce's hair last night. What a handsome fellow he is!

Today is button day in Peirce's class. He wore a shirt with 13 buttons and pants with 3 buttons and a hat with 5 more buttons. What's button day?? I have no clue really. I think it's a math thing. Count the buttons. Graph the buttons. Who knows!

Silly Chihuahua!

One of the phrases we hear a lot when our dear cousins, Evan and Sarah, come over is "Silly Chihuahua!" Tonight Chico was definitely a silly chihuahua.

We were all sitting at the table having a lively FHE lesson. Suddenly we hear something fall and Chico starts yelping. Somehow he got tangled up in Peirce`s back pack (I think maybe he was sniffing around for food left in there). He got his head through the little loop on the top of the backpack that you use to hang it on the hook....and man, was he upset about that. It was so funny. We`re all sitting at the table and suddenly we hear him in the back entry yelping and carrying on. We laughed our heads when we saw he was stuck in the loop on the backpack. Crazy dog!

Update: Jill took a picture! Here's the silly dog:

Peirce's Crafts

Peirce has an amazing knack and patience for crafts. I ordered some craft kids through a website where they send them in the mail once a month. We hadn't done any for a while and so today he decided it was time to get back on track.

I love to watch him do crafts. The world is a good place when there's a craft to be done. He's always very quiet and peaceful while he's creating. Afterwards he's got lots of hugs and 'I love you's' to share as well. It's great!

Here's the finished product:

I love this picture. Makes me just want to hug that little boy. Sure love him!

Swim Meet #1

Today was Jill's first real swim meet. It was in Okotoks and was quite a long day. We hurried to get there - and then sat and waited for her heats. She swam in 4 races as well as a relay. She came in first in two of her heats. In another she came in 2nd. In her IM race she was the only girl that wasn't disqualified! LOL

I think this first meet was taken as an opportunity to log some times, and gain experience. Jill had a GREAT day. It seems like this stuff is right up her alley. Good thing...because we have a lot of it coming up! This "Tired Jill' picture is a big fake. We never saw any of that all day! She just thought it would be good for the camera. LOL

I can see good things coming from this swimming. On Friday she went to bed nice and early so she'd be ready for the meet. Then Saturday she was plain ol' worn out and went to bed early! It's hard for a kid to get in trouble when she's got that scheduled! I think we'll stick with this for a while. :0)

I was concerned about Peirce being bored while we sat around the pool all day. That wasn't a problem at all. There were enough other little brothers around that he could run around with. They watched hockey, played in the curling rink, ran up and down ramps, and just plain ol' ran and ran and ran. He was pretty worn out by the end of the day as well!

I'm So Proud.....That's My Boy!

Peirce is quite entertaining. He often wonders out loud about what he should be when he grows up, and who he should marry. I try to get him to wonder about where he will go on a mission...but he doesn't like to think about that (he wants me to go with him if he has to go).


Today he was musing about what he should be when he grows up. I enthusiasticly replied that it's so exciting to think about all the things he could choose from...and we listed some exciting careers. In it all I told him he should pick something he loves.

He quickly responded, "Then I'm going to work at McDonald's!"

Let The "Home Reading" Begin (???)

I don't know if I've mentioned it or not, but I do enjoy reading. LOL

It's also really important to me that my kids learn to love reading, and so we spend lots of time reading together, looking for great books, and discussing books.

Since my kids are in French Immersion I've often made meager attempts at reading French books with them. It never lasts too long because:

1. They are always picking on me for my bad pronounciation
2. French is more work for us and so they whine and complain and don't cooperate
3. We don't have a lot of French books
4. My French isn't that great (or did I cover that in #1?)

Well, today Peirce brought home a duo-tang (his obsession with the word duo-tang was quite entertaining....I guess he'd never heard that word before). We are supposed to start a home reading program. The only thing we need to keep track of is French reading.

My first thought was that THAT will be a challenge. However, Peirce was very eager to read me his little photocopied A-Z Reading book today a number of times until we'd filled the required 15 minutes. We started in on a French library book he had brought home from the library - but he soon decided maybe we could stick with his little photocopied book.

One thing I appreciate about Peirce is how he really wants to do what is expected of him. I am predicting that that will help us a little with this home reading program. We'll see!

....maybe I'd better start practising French a little more....

The Giraffe, The Pelly and Me (Roald Dahl)

We had a LONG drive home today - so I packed a few books hoping we could read aloud in the car....and it turned out to be a great idea. We read The Giraffe the Pelly and Me...and it provided a nice break from kids fighting, boredom, and the like. My mom travelled back with us so I read some of it and she read some of it.

Here's a synopsis from Scholastic:

Roald Dahl uses rich language and fantastic images to tell the tale of a young boy who is able to make his dream of running a candy shop come true. The adventure begins when the little boy teams up with the Giraffe and the Pelican to clean windows at the Ladderless Window Cleaning Company.
This simple plot explodes into an excitingly zany tale that makes readers laugh out loud while conveying a positive message. Dahl expresses this tale by interweaving poetry, charming illustrations and an engaging narrative voice to make this story enticing. Many young readers will recognize that each character serves a special purpose in the story. For example, the Giraffe becomes a main character because of his long neck and ability to reach and clean high windows.
A great read-aloud, this book is also a spectacular model to use with young, developing writers. Among other things, it is a terrific example of what poetry is and how poetry can be used to tell stories. The book closes with the words "No book ever ends when it's full of your friends, the Giraffe and the Pelly and Me." The last line invites young readers to imagine the wonders that lie within all books. This fun, fast-paced story is a fabulous choice, containing many valuable lessons.


I'm continually amazed at how Peirce loves Roald Dahl books. As a matter of fact, he wanted us to start it all over again when it came time to read a story before bed tonight.

Old Friends in New Places

I remember when I was in University listening to a high counselman talk about how wonderful the friendships you make while you're in University. He said that many of the friendships he made during that time are still his closest friends. Now I find myself thinking about that often when I run into old friends from those days. My goodness, if that guy wasn't right! When I run into friends from University Ward it doesn't take too long to warm up!

Today we went to church in the Peace River branch. There was a woman leading the music in RS and I said to my mom that I thought I knew her. I talked to her after church and sure enough, I was right! We talked for quite a while. I asked about her sister because I've seen a name on my ward list that always made me wonder if that was the person I remember by that name - and sure enough it is her! Interesting thing is that I've really been thinking about that name on our ward list a lot lately and wondered how I could figure out if it really was her or not....short of going and knocking on her door. Well, looks like I need to go knock on her door because it is her.

I also ran into another woman that I knew back then. She's been to school for 12 years and now works as a gynecologist. I had no idea!

It was really fun to run into those old friends again. I'm amazed at how you can find someone from University ward wherever you go, or so it seems!

Look North, Look Way Way North!!

Peace River doesn't have the Friendly Giant - but they do have 12 foot Davis! He was a former prospector and local legend who got his nickname mining $15,000 worth of gold from a 12 foot plot of land between two gold claims.

We took a deep breath and packed out kids in the car this weekend and headed north for 8 hours. We were only half brave and chose to leave late enough so that they could sleep in the car most of the way....which I think was a pretty good idea. We got to Peace River about 2 am....not bad! This is the furthest north I've ever been!

The next day the kids were up bright and early and so we sent them over to Grandma and Papa's room while we fruitlessly attempted to sleep a little more. However, we were soon up and decided to get on with the adventure.

Grandma and Papa took us to visit a town called Fahler (pronounced fall-air) To get there we had to cross a river and they have a ferry to take people across. It was really fun!

This is the little tug boat that pushes the ferry across the river. It really moves! Peirce wasn't so sure he wanted to go (didn't look too safe to him) but it was either that or get left on the shore alone, so he decided to go along. In the end he decided it was pretty fun.

Jill and Peirce were thrilled to be translators for us in Fahler. The town of Fahler is the bee capital of Canada and they have a huge bee in town. They also have a HUGE slide that I think is supposed to be a bee-hive. What fun!
The two lumps there are J&P bowing to the bee. Not sure what was up with that....maybe our next FHE lesson will be about worshipping idols. :0)

Tonight, in honor of Chico, we went to Beverly Hills Chihuahua. I think that one is going to have to be one that our family buys. It's a little silly, but when you own a chihuahua it gives you a different "appreciation" for it. LOL

So we're having lots of fun here. As a matter of fact, we might be talked into doing it again!

Just look how happy everyone looks!

....okay. We'll work on Allen. Maybe he's still a little tired from the drive. :0)

Beware Of The Frog (by William Bee)

I've been reading Mem Fox's book, Reading Magic, about reading aloud to kids and am re-committing to reading tons of stories to Peirce. Tonight we found a gem: Beware of the Frog! This is a lovely looking fairy tale...with a hilarious twist at the end. Well truthfully there are surprises all along the way. It's a good mix of repetetive predictable writing that kids love - and surprises that kids love too. There are a number of other bloggers that have reviewed this book too: here, here and here (although I think the writers of that last one need to just lighten up and enjoy the book a little more). The author seems like a little bit of a character from the info on his website!

Kick Me

I'm thinking of volunteering again....kick me!

We just wrapped up the fundraiser at the kid's school that volunteered to coordinate. I'm so glad to not have to go there every day and keep track of those darn coupon books!! Part of me thinks it's a crazy fundraiser....but we made about $2500 from it....which may be the biggest fundraiser all year (unless we get the darn casino, that is!) However, going to the school that often has been a burden and I haven't been able to fit in exercising like I'd hoped I would once the kids were in school.

Maybe that just means I won't ever fit it in.

No!! There has to be a way!!!

So yesterday Peirce came home with a letter about the school needing volunteers for Calgary Reads. You go to a 3 hour training session and then commit to going to the school twice a week to read for 30 minutes with a struggling reader. There are many things about it that attract me to this idea. I love Language Arts. I want to volunteer more with kids (I actually have a hate on for fundraising...but that's for another post). And it would give me opportunity to be in the classroom more.

Or would it? Would I just go and sit in the hall with a kid and read? Or would that be so bad? Do I really want to commit to going to the school twice a week to volunteer? Do I really have time for that?

It might give me access to some good resources that I could borrow and use with Peirce as well. But then again, maybe we're doing okay with the reading we currently do!

One of the hardest things for me is NOT getting myself over-committed. I have a goal this year to do more for ME. Peirce's teacher is eager to have me volunteer. I asked if I could come in every other Wednesday. The first week was so fun. I got to go with a group of kids and help them with some Science (they had to draw a tree...and I wrote what they dictated about the tree.....cute!) However, last week I did a bunch of photocopying and cutting and stapling and things like that. Is that what I'll do each time I go in?? I really like working with kids........

I don't know what to do. Maybe if I stall long enough on this decision the choices will take care of themself.

...sigh....nothing like taking control of your life!

Politics

Jill is quite fascinated by the election banter going on around her. I'm a bit of a political junkie and do my share of listening to the radio and news to catch the latest scoop. If you want some good entertainment ask Jill to tell you the latest "Dion: Not a Leader" ad that she has memorized. It's quite hilarious. She is always asking me what this party believes and what that party believes, and who "we" are going to vote for.

I thought this video fit well with kids and politics!

Yoga-master Jill

Jill recently got a new book. It's about yoga and how yoga fixes everything in your life. She was having trouble with some math tonight and decided maybe some yoga poses would help her see through these problems (sure enough it did help!) While she was doing some poses Peirce came along and wanted to join her - so she was coaching him into different positions.

Put your knees down.
Now lift up.
Keep your hands as forward as possible.
This is downward dog.
Now breath.....and fart!

LOL Yoga.....Jill style.

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

Jill is reading A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle for a novel study in school so I decided maybe I should read it too. I took the night off tonight (and you can tell by the state of our house!) and read it. It's a GREAT book. It is about love conquering evil. It's about learning to feel good about yourself and the beauty of individuality. It's about honor and family. It's all great stuff for a pre-teen girl to read and discuss!! I'm really looking forward to discussing it with Jill as she reads through it as well.


I thought it was interesting to see some of the covers that have been used for the book. They're all very interesting!

More on the Temple

The Calgary Herald today confirmed it! The temple will be in Royal Oak:

Mormon temple slated for N.W.
by Sean Myers, Calgary Herald
Monday, October 06, 2008

The province's third Mormon temple could be ready to open in northwest Calgary in three years.

With more than 18,000 Mormons now living in the city, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints announced on the weekend that Calgary would get a temple. The news came during the church's semi-annual world conference in Salt Lake City.

"We were all very excited to hear it announced," said Richard Melchin, a Calgary-based LDS elder who supervises church activity in Alberta. "It was during the conference so we had to be quiet, otherwise we would've been jumping and shouting for joy.

"We have a beautiful site with a panoramic view of the city."

Melchin said the church bought land adjacent to its Royal Oak Chapel at 81 Royal Elm Dr. N.W. about four years ago in anticipation of being granted a temple.

He said the decision to grant new temples is ultimately up to the president of the LDS Church in Salt Lake City. Few clues are given as to which congregations will be given permission to build temples until the announcement is made.

Melchin said hopes were raised when a church councillor arrived from Utah to inspect the site a few months ago.

"The best way to have a temple built in your city is to convince the Lord so he gives you one," said Brent Thomas, president of the church's Calgary Alberta North Stake.

Concept designs will be drawn up over the next six months. The temple is expected to be completed in about three years.

The LDS Church also announced it would build a temple in Rome, its first in the Mediterranean region.

Worldwide, there are more than 13 million Mormons, according to the church.

Alberta's first Mormon temple was built in Cardston in 1923 with another opened in Edmonton in 1999.

smyers@theherald.canwest.com
© The Calgary Herald 2008

The temple will be 10 miles from my house! According to Mapquest it'll take 20 minutes to drive there. I think I can do it in 15. A is our house and B is the temple.

Noah Ackroyd The Hermit Crab

We have a new addition to our family.....wasn't my idea!

Our friends were getting rid of this little guy. She had posted something on Facebook asking if anyone would adopt him. I said, "That's too bad. My kids have always wanted one of those but their mom won't let them have one!"

Later that day Allen called and said, "Guess what I have for the kids?!"

Ugh. Clearly we should have communicated!!

The kids named him Noah.

So, now Noah is part of our family. I don't like it...but they sure do. It was like Christmas around here that morning!! They're more than thrilled. I've been quite surprised at how much they play with him and watch him and draw him and all that. We thought we had lost him today....and the kids prayed and found that he had buried himself in the sand and actually wasn't missing at all. (Rats!)

And I'll just try and stay quiet about it all.

[sigh]

Did I ever tell you about the Hermit Crabs the teacher in the classroom next to me had? One day some kid was playing with them. He had them on his desk and had a book standing up on the edge of the desk as a "wall" around the crabs. Then someone walked by and knocked the books over. Dead hermit crabs.

I tell my kids to make sure they take good care of Noah - because I know how to get rid of hermit crabs quite easily! [evil witch laugh]

Did Ya' Hear??!!

It was announced in Conference today that they're going to build a temple in CALGARY!!

#1 song on the day you were born

Do you know the #1 song on the day you were born

Mine was: "I'm a Believer" by The Monkees

Allen's was: "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" by Diana Ross (How appropriate is that?!)

Jill's was: "The Boy Is Mine" by Brandy & Monica (Kind of goes with how I was sure she was going to be a boy!)

Peirce's was: "Foolish" by Ashanti

Mystery of the Martello Tower

This is the book we're reading for the library's Parent/Child book club. I meant for it to be a quick read but seemed to drag it over a much longer period of time than I planned to. I'd give it an 'okay'. I can't tell Jill that I thought it was just okay though because I'm still trying to coax her through it. She seems to be having as hard a time as I did (although I just kept telling her, "it gets really good!") I got kind of lost in the details of it all but kept going because I wanted to find out the story between all the little twists that the author wouldn't budge on all through the story. Apparently the author is a big basketball fan - which would explain the tidbits of basketball info and talk dropped in here and there. I actually thought I'd read it quickly, then read it again just before we meet for Book Club, just to refresh my memory. However, I think one read is enough for this one.

Here's a summary someone else wrote:

When Hazel and Ned’s father disappears without saying good-bye, their summer plunges into chaos. As the siblings work to untangle this and other mysteries and learn who they can trust, they find family they didn’t know they had and learn of a second, darker secret surrounding their mother’s death.

One thing I found strange about this book was the absence of adults in the kid's every day lives. I know that's a common thread in children's books - but this one seemed a little quickly thrown together and not too plausible. That detail nagged at me all the way through it. Then to not only have them alone, but somehow find their long lost relatives, travel to where they lived (by themselves) and then hang out with their equally adult abandoned cousins....strange. All very strange.

Apparently others have loved this book....but as for me, nah!