April

This has been a busy month. I had my spring break, which was wonderful! I want more free time!
Several weeks ago CPS called us to see if we'd be interested in fostering two siblings that were likely to go up for adoption. When we prayed about it we felt very peaceful and excited. We said yes, but we weren't licensed yet and their current foster mom has had a hard time with the idea of parting with them. We were also thinking it would be great to take them when I'm off for summer break, but beggars can't be choosers.

We got to babysit C & D on a Saturday about two weeks ago and got to know them a little bit. They are adorable and D was the easiest baby I've ever taken care of. C didn't stop moving until bedtime - 4 hours of constant movement! 16 month olds have energy I'm envious of.

Last week they called again and said this was for real and so we started getting ready like crazy (and losing sleep) for two babies in our house. Our ward(s) has pulled stuff out of the woodwork to help us get ready, they are amazing. Some friends even bought us new stuff because they were so excited for us! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU! We are now almost fully equipped and we've completely rearranged two rooms of our house to accomodate the extra storage needs and furniture (two cribs).

The current foster mom asked us to babysit D. last Sunday which was right during church. I said yes, then had a 4 month old to take care of for three hours while trying to be in all my meetings and do my calling. That was fun but hard to do! Eat - sleep - daiper - sleep - eat... Everyone thought he was the cutest. I really enjoyed getting to know him better.

When the licensor came over to finish the process on Wednesday we found out that we have to ALSO get a background check from Washington since we've lived there in the past five years. WHAT a bummer! That can take anywhere from a couple days to a month! So, there was a mad rush and now waiting. We were sad but I still feel like everything is going to be okay. Their current foster mom has decided again that she is going to try to keep them. Maybe if she changes her mind again in a few weeks we'll be licensed by then. Although we know it would be really hard work to take on two kids at once, we are really excited to finally have kids in our home.

Ian had his birthday this last week as well. We had a couple families over and that meant about 20 people in our little apartment! And over half of them were kids! Our poor cats were scared out of their wits as the kids chased them around the house then jumped on our bed when they tried to hide under it. One of them made a mad dash for safety and scared a kid to tears who was in their way!
Ian got his german chocolate cake and I finally got him his replacement wedding band yesterday...late but with all the baby prep I had no time within business hours!

Good News

In perfect timing for my birthday (on which Ian threw me a surprise birthday party at the bishop's house with barbeque and Coldstone ice cream cake, yum!), the doctor who did my procedure last August called me this week to inform me that my '6 month waiting period' was over. I've had 6 negative tests. Then she told me she'd go do some research to make sure that we were free and clear to start trying to get pregnant again.
She called me back a few hours later to confirm that: all was well and; there was only a 1% chance of having another molar pregnancy again.

I find this humorous...even though 1% sounds like a really small amount, it is actually 10 x greater a chance than we had of even getting one in the first place!

I'm still happy about it, we hope that it won't happen again!

Someday...

I've been listening to the Book of Mormon during my commute this year. This month I'm in the book of Alma. This week the sons of Mosiah are converting and relocating the Lamanites. Apparently NONE of the Amalekites, save one, were converted, thus proving that once a people had been partakers of the gospel -then turn away from it -will never return.

Someday I want to meet that 'one' Amalekite that came back. I think that will be a really awesome story. Too bad it wasn't included in the Book.

Mande Underfoot Walker

So, last week Ian asked me to spray him with Biofreeze to relief his aching back. After a minute he called me back into the bedroom giggling to observe Mande licking the Biofreeze off his back. Our cat is crazy!

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Tonight my mom asked me about my cats. We reminisced about some of the crazy things about them, like: they like asparagus, Mande likes avacados and Razor likes licking ANYTHING plastic.
Right after I got off the phone with her I sat down to eat a half plate of Ian's Amazing Turkey Enchiladas. Yummy. When I was done I set the plate down next to me and it promptly found itself the center of dear ol' Mande's attention.

I'm thinking: "there's a little turkey left, but most of the plate is salsa...so she's not going to be too excited about it."

I turn around and SHE'S LICKED THE PLATE CLEAN! My cat IS CRAZY!

Real Life Heroes

A friend sent this to me and I LOVE it!

Teachers as Heroes
An essay written by an assistant principal in Ohio. By J. Bradley:

"Where are the heroes of today?" a radio talk show host thundered.
He blames society's shortcomings on education. Too many people are looking for heroes in all the wrong places. Movie stars and rock musicians, athletes, and models aren't heroes; they're celebrities.

Heroes abound in public schools, a fact that doesn't make the news. There is no precedent for the level of violence, drugs, broken homes, child abuse, and crime in today's America . Education didn't create these problems but deals with them every day.

You want heroes?
Consider Dave Sanders, the schoolteacher shot to death while trying to shield his students from two youths on a shooting rampage at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado . Sanders gave his life, along with 12 students, and other less heralded heroes survived the Colorado blood bath.

You want heroes?
Jane Smith, a Fayetteville, NC teacher, was moved by the plight of one of her students, a boy dying for want of a kidney transplant. So this woman told the family of a 14-year-old boy that she would give him one of her kidneys. And she did. When they appeared together hugging on the Today Show, Katie Couric was near tears.

You want heroes?
Doris Dillon dreamed all her life of being a teacher. She not only made it, she was one of those wondrous teachers who could bring the best out of every single child. One of her fellow teachers in San Jose , Calif. , said, "She could teach a rock to read." Suddenly she was stricken with Lou Gehrig's Disease which is always fatal, usually within five years. She asked to stay on job ... and did. When her voice was affected, she communicated by computer.

Did she go home? Absolutely not! She is running two elementary school libraries! When the disease was diagnosed, she wrote the staff and all the families that she had one last lesson to teach .... that dying is part of living. Her colleagues named her Teacher of the Year.

You want heroes?
Bob House, a teacher in Georgia, tried out for "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?". After he won the million dollars, a network film crew wanted to follow up to see how it had impacted his life. New cars? Big new house?

Instead, they found both Bob House and his wife still teaching. They explained that it was what they had always wanted to do with their lives and that would not change. The community was both stunned and grateful.

You want heroes?
Last year the average school teacher spent $468 of their own money for student necessities ... workbooks, pencils .. supplies kids had to have but could not afford. That's a lot of money from the pockets of the most poorly paid teachers in the industrial world.

Schools don't teach values? The critics are dead wrong.
Public education provides more Sunday School teachers than any other profession.

The average teacher works more hours in nine months than the average 40-hour employee does in a year.

You want heroes?
For millions of kids, the hug they get from a teacher is the only hug they will get that day because the nation is living through the worst parenting in history.

An Argyle, Texas kindergarten teacher hugs her little 5 and 6 year-olds so much that both the boys and the girls run up and hug her when they see her in the hall, at the football games, or in the malls years later.

A Michigan principal moved me to tears with the story of her attempt to rescue a badly abused little boy who doted on a stuffed animal on her desk .. one that said "I love you!" He said he'd never been told that at home. This is a constant in today's society .. two million unwanted, unloved, abused children in the public schools, the only institution that takes them all in.

You want heroes?
Visit any special education class and watch the miracle of personal interaction, a job so difficult that fellow teachers are awed by the dedication they witness. There is a sentence from an unnamed source which says: "We have been so eager to give our children what we didn't have that we have neglected to give them what we did have."

What is it that our kids really need?
What do they really want?
Math, science, history, and social studies are important, but children need love, confidence, encouragement, someone to talk to, someone to listen, standards to live by. Teachers provide upright examples, the faith and assurance of responsible people.

You want heroes?
Then go down to your local school and see our real live heroes - the ones changing lives for the better each and every day!

Now, pass this on to someone you know who's a teacher, or to someone who should thank a teacher today. I'd like to see this sent to all those who cut down the importance of teachers. They have no idea who a public school teacher is or what they do.

Nerves and Jury Duty

Last week I went in for one of my monthly blood checks required by the molar pregnancy last August. On first try the flabotomist hit a nerve in my right elbow. Then had success in my left arm. After the searing pain went away after about 15 minutes I thought I might be okay. However, complications started getting worse each day (even having problems in other limbs) to the point that I contacted my Dr. and got an appointment.

Oh blessed! That Dr. appointment got me out of being on a jury for a 3 week rape trial! I'm rescheduled for jury duty in June, maybe then I can finally ease my guilty conscience about doing my citizenly duties without conflicting with work. I was kind of excited to finally be called in to serve jury duty, I learned a ton that day. I'm really glad Ian forwarned me to bring a book.

I went to see my Dr. this morning. He says the symptoms I'm showing are nerve damage to the right arm and I'm starting to show markers for fibromyalgia! I don't like hearing news like that! I really need to start eating better.

Camp Loma Mar

When I was first driving there, I almost started crying when I first saw the ocean. I miss it so much and it's so beautiful. It takes the breath away to stand and listen to the waves and feel the sea breeze in your face.

I didn't take enough pictures. But here's a few from the beautiful two days I spent at Camp Loma Mar with the 6th graders. These are from the day we were out at the beach of Half Moon Bay.

Tidepooling. Snails, hermit crabs, sea anemones, crabs, seaweed...

The rocks were fun. For about five minutes there were whales breaching a couple hundred feet offshore. It was awesome! I've never seen them in the wild before! Too bad my dinky camera couldn't have captured them. I'll try to get pictures from the other teachers.

We had lunch sitting on these 'ice plants' that aren't native and some bozo brought in to stabilize the sand dunes. It's taking over the landscape. It was awesome to sit on, much like sponges. I wouldn't mind sleeping on top of it. If you look really close you can see all the white dots - there's a gull convention going on down on the beach.

After the beach we trekked across a big bridge to see the marshes. The creek estuary was amazing and trailed along until it entered this cave to get to the ocean.

I've decided I never want to hike on sand again, my ankles are killing me!

At the end of this marsh walk we came across 'Talking Eudora' who talks if you listen really quietly with your ear up to her branches. She was lots of fun to climb in!