D.A.R.E Graduation

Two blogs in one day. WOW! This is a rarity but I was so amazed by a few words I heard that I had to write something about it. So, if I'm excited to type it all out, you better be excited about reading it.

Today was the D.A.R.E Graduation at Trent's school. Only three 6th grade classes participated in this program. Why? I know there is at least one more 6th grade class and they didn't participate. Does that automatically tag them as the kids who are a lost cause or were they gifted with the common sense to know right from wrong? If it is the latter, I'd like to introduce them to a few people. Anyway, I was going to skip this because I honestly didn't think it would be that big of a deal but I'm glad I went. I learned something new. It started out with two kids from each class reading their essays they wrote. Trent claims his was ranked third in his class. He just missed out on that one...darn it! I sat through and listened to each essay. I learned that Marijuana has more tar than tobacco. Hmm..didn't know that. I've always heard that Marijuana is natural, so therefore it's not as bad as cigarettes. What do I know? I've never done the stuff before and I figured others knew what they were talking about. Guess I should've just Googled it.

Anyway, Trent has taken the pledge to stay drug free. Please God, let him stick with this one. Drugs is one thing I never got into, unless you count alcohol and I did try smoking but I don't count that. Smoking is a disgusting, nasty habit. I really don't know how anyone does it. I do not hold it against those who do it, it's just not my thing and I really like my lungs and being able to breathe. Anyway, I'm kinda getting off topic here.

So, the officer who was there speaking said something that really surprised me. He told us parents, "I DARE you to look through your childs pockets, in his backpack, go through his dresser drawers, etc." I was taken aback. I mean, in this day and age parents are always talking about how kids need their privacy and parents shouldn't infringe on that. Parents should never go through their childs things. Oh really. These are the same parents who claim their kids share everything with them because they respect their privacy...uh-huh. Sure. I don't care if you are parent of the year, your kids will hide things from you. My kids know I will go through their stuff at any given moment. I mean, it's not something I told them, it's just understood. I don't literally go searching for anything but nothing is off limits to me. I have access to their rooms. I go through their backpacks (mostly to make sure I'm getting the papers I should be getting). Trent has an e-mail and a Facebook account and when I let him have it I told him I will have full access to it. I will see everything he does and everything he says so he better be careful and not be stupid. It all comes back to common sense. I think that kids can and should have some privacy when it comes to certain things. Some things should be "their own" but for the most part, parents should be checking up on their kids. If the kids had a journal, I think I would leave that alone. However, if they acted like something was wrong and they were just down, you can bet I'd be reading but I hope they know they can talk to me about anything.

So, I guess I don't see anything wrong with going through your kids stuff. I think sometimes parents give their kids way too many freedoms too early in life. And going through their stuff isn't such a bad thing. If I was one of those parents who felt the kids things were their things and they were totally off limits and something happened which could've been avoided if I had snooped, well, I'd feel pretty bad. I'm not taking that chance ever. I'm proud to say I snoop through my kids stuff...kind of. And I only say kind of because it's more like stumbling as I'm doing daily chores.

JUST SAY NO!

Wrestling and MY daughter :o)

Wrestling is in full swing, which means traveling to matches for us. This last tournament was here in Delta. Trent had to be there at 8 AM and then I FINALLY arrived at 9:45 AM. I was supposed to be there at 9 AM but I wasn't, so oh well. I didn't miss anything anyway. Trent didn't win any of his matches that day and it was a long day. I sat in my same seat for 9 hours and only got up once to go to the bathroom. Nine hours is a long time to sit in a seat without really getting up to stretch. While there Kaela did something that cracked me up. Maybe it shouldn't be funny but I think it's hilarious. She was off playing with her friends when they came upon some wrestlers from Wasatch who were staring at them I guess. Apparently, Kaela (who is apparently very brave when around friends) said, "What are you looking at?" And then went on her merry way. I guess they started doing the typical boy thing at this age where they say, "He likes you" and so on. Just to remind you, Kaela is 8. Anyway, she then started calling them black and gold cows, which I know, is rude but whatever. I look over and I see her being dragged on the floor by one of her friends. Kaela is looking over towards this group of boys (there were probably 6 of them) and is mooing at them...LOUDLY. Like, so loud I can hear her and the Palladium was not quiet. I thought, "Oh.My.Gawd!" They turn around and look at her and start laughing. Is this what I have to look forward to? Is she really "flirting" already? I might have to sit down and have a little talk with her. Sigh. GIRLS!

Oh my craziness

Things have been crazy around here so that explains me not updating this thing. So, here's a quick blog for your reading enjoyment and just to show you I have not forgotten about it.

I'm trying to keep up with two blogs these days. Amazing since I can't even keep up with one. I've got this one and then one for my Girl Scout troop. So, that is thing one that is keeping me busy. I have meetings every two weeks and it is insane how quickly two weeks can fly right by. Between trying to keep up with everyday things and then trying to plan for the next meeting, I think I might just lose my mind. But, it's all fun right and totally benefits the girls in my troop...right? Right! I'll keep telling myself that. Then on the weekends I have Kaela wanting to earn more Try Its which is fine and we have a lot of fun learning and doing. But, some of them are kind of a pain because I'm running around searching for things that we can use in order to pass a Try It off. Whenever she is bored, I know I'm going to be asked to do a Try It with her. I really need to find something to keep her busy. Maybe clean the house since that always needs to be done. Then again, that is boring and just not as fun.

Thing two...getting ready for Christmas is always a huge chore. Just when I get everything decorated it feels like it's time to take it all back down again. As much as I love the house to look all festive, I hate that the time goes by as quickly as it does. Maybe I'll have to be one of those people who I complain about and start busting out the decor before Thanksgiving. I hate to do that though because I just feel like Thanksgiving isn't getting the proper attention and my cute fall decor is getting overshadowed by the Christmas stuff. Besides, we all know that holidays have feelings and stuff.

Trent just started wrestling so there goes my weekends. Fan-tas-tic! Love to watch him do his thing but we have to travel with this sport. So, it literally takes up my whole Saturday. I will be counting down the days til this sport is finished.

Well, I think that's about it. The kids are still wonderful and are looking forward to Christmas. Why wouldn't they? They are so damn spoiled when it comes to Santa. He always gets them everything they want. I'll need to have a talk with him because as he is packing his sleigh full of crap for the kids, he is somehow forgetting my stuff! Not cool! I make the cookies and leave the milk out for the fat guy. He better not bite the hand that feeds him this year :o)

HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!

A Christmas Carol

Can someone tell me when Disney went from this:

To this:

I took the kids to see A Christmas Carol in 3D on Sunday. The movie was good but was not at all what I expected. I grew up watching the sweet and cute version with Mickey & Minnie Mouse, Donald Duck and Uncle Scrooge McDuck. This years version is not even close to sweet and cute. More like just a little scary. Trent had warned me there were a few scary parts. He had gone to see it with his friend on Friday night. Trent scares really easily so I just brushed it off. It's Disney. How scary could it possibly be? The movie wasn't too bad until Scrooge goes home and is trying to get into his house and then the ghosts come. I probably jumped out of my seat a couple times and there were a few times Kaela was curled up in a ball. I kept asking if she was okay and she kept saying yes. There was one part where I literally jumped and then said, "Oh my God!" Freaked me out!!! Trent jumped too and he knew it was coming. The story itself is a good one but for kids, I think it would be hard to get past the darkness of the movie and the two ghosts who were pretty creepy in order to fully understand the point of the movie. Maybe they wouldn't get it anyway. I'm going to try to find the Mickey version of this and have them watch it. The movie is a good movie and you should go see it. However, I recommend possibly watching it yourself before taking your kids to it. Depending on your child, they could quite possibly have nightmares from it. So, just sending a kind warning your way.

This is why I can't seem to get ahead on the cleaning..

This is what four girls managed to do yesterday.

And only one girl will be cleaning it up.

Trents room. I FREAKED out when I walked in there.

It looked much worse than this. He had eight

pairs of pants lying all over his floor against

the wall in that pile that looks small now.

The kids obviously have some MAJOR cleaning to do after school. Trent has been told several times about his room. I rarely go down to check it out so I only see it when it's a major disaster. Looks like I'm going to have to start checking it everyday.

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!

Parent/Teacher Conference

Today was the day I dread....parent/teacher conference day. I don't know why I dread it but I do. Kaela's was first and as usual we got a good report. She's been forgetting to turn in her homework because she won't pack it up the night before but this problem is easily fixable. She got great grades and is a great student.

Trent's P/T conference went well also. First time since 3rd grade. He hit 3rd grade and just got in a slump or something. There was always something from he's not getting his work done to bad scores on tests. Now in 6th grade I'm being told he's a great student and is getting his work done and handed in ON TIME! WOW! AWESOME!! He has a 3.7 GPA and is going for a 4.0. Could I be any prouder? I think not. This is a totally different Trent...at least when it comes to school. I'm so happy I'm not having to look at C's or D's or even F's. I'm glad to finally see the grades that I have always known he was capable of getting. All A's and two B's this time around but he's going to work hard and get those up. I'm beaming right now :oD

This Is It

I went up to SLC to have lunch with some friends and then we went to see Michael Jacksons This Is It. There was a whopping 8 people in the theater. I really can't decide what I think of the man himself. I mean, if allegations are true, I am personally not a fan of him but I do enjoy his music. He was what I listened to growing up...along with New Kids On The Block. I still to this day remember our last night in California before we moved here when I was in 8th grade. We had gone up to a family friends house to say goodbye and to watch the *BRAND NEW* Michael Jackson video....Black Or White. This video was a big deal back then. The morphing of faces was technology at it's best in those days. When you look at what they do now with videos, the morphing is hardly impressive but back then, it was so cool! I will never forget that night...ever. It also happened to be the night the Bart Simpson also debuted his music video but anyway.....

The This Is It movie was interesting. It was all the video taken at rehearsals that was to be a part of Michaels personal library. It gave you an idea of what this concert was going to be and it looked like it was going to be spectacular!! It's too bad that we will never see the finished product. I kept saying throughout the whole thing, "How amazing would this have been if we could've seen the whole thing put together?" The man knew what he was doing and he was doing what he did best and that's being a performer. Think what you will about him but you cannot deny that he was an amazing performer. At 50 years old he kept up with his much younger dancers. This amazed me! He still moved like he was 20. The Thriller performance looked like it would have been a pretty cool performance. I have never said wow so many times throughout a movie. The amount of work and thought that was put into this production is just crazy and to not have anyone see the final product is just crappy but this is the next best thing I guess.

I would recommend seeing it. If you aren't a fan of the music and/or him, then I would say pass. Some of his songs I listen to now and hear his message. When I was younger, it was just a song. I never understood what Man In The Mirror was about til right after he died and I was really listening to the words. Its always been a favorite song of mine even when I was a kid. But now, it's a favorite song for a whole other reason.

RIP Michael...I know you are somewhere gettin your moonwalk on :o)

Peace....Love....and Sunshine