CIMI update

"The girls had a great visit at the Long Beach Aquarium. Stephanie says they got to drag net some plankton, look at lots of marine life, and were still pretty excited to be on the way. There was also a chance that the girls were going to be shuttled to the ferry, eliminating the dreaded 10 minute walk with luggage. The girls were enthusiastically supportive!"

The above came in e-mail today from our "at home" contact. Every time a group of Girl Scouts travel, there has to be a "at home" contact person. This way if there is a problem, or in the CIMI trip case updates, this contact person does the contacting.

I ran into (not literally) Mr. Halling at WalMart. I have only met him once at Parent/Teacher Conferences. I kept asking myself "who is that man? why does he look familiar?" On the other hand he remembered me and asked how D was managing on her trip. Actually he asked "how's the world traveler?" It's interesting some of her teachers were excited for her opportunity to attend CIMI and others only saw it as missing class time. As a teacher, I know that what we do in class is the most important thing (it isn't really, but we all like to pretend). As a parent, I know that opportunities like this can't be missed.

On that point of not missing opportunities I nominated D (sneaking of me I know) as a student for the People to People Leadership Summit program. I also nominated some of my students, which is what they wanted me to do. I read about this program that was started by President Eisenhower in 1956 and it sounds fantastic. Of course I scoured the site for information regarding the cost, but it couldn't be found. I believe that by nominating her, we will receive information. All they wanted was an address, gender, and grade in school. The summits are held at places like Harvard, Stanford, UCLA, Johns Hopkins, George Washington University, and Columbia. According to the website "As a Leadership Summit Student Leader, you'll join some of the world's top 6th through 12th graders for a week of interactive and hands-on training from top college students, college educators, and professionals in your area of interest."

The Beauty of the "Yester-years" of Gymnastics

This video of Oksana Omelianchik at the 1987 Worlds just blows my mind. No one has done a triple full punch front in years.



And just in case you thought release combinations on women’s bars were something new, take a look at Natalia Yurchenko back in 1983! The bars were closer together in 1983. Some of the moves couldn't be done today, because of the current distance of the bars. She just flies through the air. Ashley Postell of Utah, who finished her NCAA career last spring, and Courtney Koupets of Georgia are two of the best bars workers in college gymnastics right now. They both do absolutely amazing bar work with numerous release moves.

CIMI

This is the whole group that left for Catalina Island Marine Institute (CIMI). There are 28 girls from sixth through tenth grade and four adults. The girl immediately to the left of Deirdre is the one who she will probably hang out with the most. Hopefully she is in D's group. I don't remember her name or I could look it up in my information packet. They flew out this afternoon and return at 10:30 Friday night.

One of the girls designed the picture and at their last CIMI meeting they tie-dyed the shirts. They decorated flip-flops too, but I just remembered that so they're not packed with D's things. Luckily the adults made the reservations before all the new flight rules went into effect, so everyone could check two "bags"—for most this meant a suitcase and a sleeping bag. They snorkle several times—once at night, disect a squid, learn about the ocean and science.

Update

Well to save myself a little bit of money, I decided to become a Stampin' UP demonstrator. I did not do this to start a club or host scrapbooking nights. I have no clue what I am doing when it comes to cards or scrapbooking. I did this solely for the discount. I haven't decided if I will set up a website or not. It seems a bit much for something that will probably never be used. I already maintain a school website with numerous pages, a scout website with numerous pages, and this blog. That is about as much as I can reasonably do. Jeff only let me become a demonstrator with the understanding that it doesn't add any time to my life. Doing a club or anything would add time, so those are out. Scouts and scrapbooking/stamp club seem to take more time than he would like anyway, no sense in adding to those.

Bridging Invitations

This is the invitation I made for the ceremony. I sent the cards through my color printer and then did the fronts. I used a musical wheel that I bought off of e-bay. The wheel is stamped in Brocade Blue, while the words and star is in Night of Navy. I used Apricot Appeal for the other stars and the ribbon. I used the new SU scallop edge punch for the front right edge. I didn't really know what I wanted to do with the invitations, so I just "winged" it. I thought they turned out rather well.

Below are all five of the invitations with Jessie, Samantha, and Deirdre behind them. They wouldn't let me take a picture without them in it.I edged the circles with Night of Navy for the smaller one and Chocolate Chip for the larger one. I used my favorite set for the stars. As you can see from the photo each invite was slightly different. I let the girls pick which one they wanted.

I have to add that the pictures were taken in the 4th ward's Primary room—our new home for scouts. Or it was our new home until the Achievement Days decided they would meet there at the same time! So, we are moving into the Relief Society room across the hall. Makes more sense anyway. All of the girls will be moving into Young Womens at some point this year, except poor Samantha has to wait until August. They won't want to meet in the Primary room after they have moved up to YW.

Paul Newman's death

One of my favorite actors died last night. Paul Newman was only 83, but cancer can get you at any age. When I came home from the Bridging and Awards Ceremony, Jeff told me. I realized that I really don't know any of the "young" actors. So, all the actors/actresses that I love are dying off. I loved the following quote from Robert Redford:
"There is a point where feelings go beyond words. I have lost a real friend. My life — and this country — is better for his being in it." — Robert Redford.
As a family, we watched in August The Sting and "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. So, Deirdre knows who he was and, of course, he was in Cars two years ago.

What a sad day for Joanne Woodward and the world in general. They were married for 50+ years. Such an uncommon occurrence in Hollywood. It probably helped that their main home was Connecticut. There are certain actors that you really don't want to ever die, because when they do, it draws home the age of your parents.

Yesterday was my mother-in-law's 75th birthday. I have decided that parents are not allowed to ever die. I, personally, can't imagine life without those people in my life. Even if I don't contact them as often as I should, I know that they are in Salisbury, MD or LaGrange, IL living their lives. The very thought that they might not be is awful to say the least.

Deirdre had Parent/Teacher Conferences on Thursday. She has straight "A's." Her mid-term shows a "C" for Orchestra, but she didn't know that she was supposed to be handing in practice sheets. That grade was resolved, and even more importantly by Deirdre, not me. She has had to learn to talk with teachers herself. I can't always "bail" her out. This becomes even more important as she gets older. Her current goal now is to start college two years before the rest of her age group at 16 instead of 18. With the grade skip and the fact that she can easily earn 7 credits a year instead of 6, like the rest of her friends, it will probably happen. This means that in five years (!!!), she might be off to college.

Tomorrow, I will post pictures from the Bridging and Awards Ceremony for Scouts. My girls are now official Cadettes.

What's my name?

I "stole" the following from Heather Atwood's blog. As a teacher, I am used to "borrowing" ideas from people all the time. No sense re-inventing the wheel, or in my case lesson plans, when I can let other people put the time and energy into it. :)

YOUR ROCK STAR NAME: (first pet & current car): Thisbe Odyssey

YOUR ROCKSTAR TOUR NAME: (”The” + Your fav hobby/craft, fav weather element + “Tour”): The Reading Raining Tour

YOUR GANGSTA NAME: (fav ice cream flavor, favorite cookie): Mint Chocolate Chip Oreo

YOUR “FLY Guy/Girl” NAME: (first initial of first name, first three letters of your last name): C-car (yeah, that makes sense)

YOUR DETECTIVE NAME: (favorite color, favorite animal): Purple Cat

YOUR SOAP OPERA NAME: (middle name, hometown city): Rebecca LaGrange

YOUR STAR WARS NAME: (the first 3 letters of your last name, first 2 letters of your first): carca

SUPERHERO NAME: (”The” + 2nd favorite color, favorite drink): The Green Water (ooh, that sounds sooo scary!)

STRIPPER NAME: (the name of your favorite perfume/cologne/scent, favorite candy): Chanel #5 Chocolate

WITNESS PROTECTION NAME: (mother’s & father’s middle names): Francis Theodore

WEATHER ANCHOR NAME: (Your 5th grade teacher’s last name, a major city that starts with the same letter): Farland Frankfort

SPY NAME: (your favorite season/holiday, flower): Fall Rose

CARTOON NAME: (favorite fruit, article of clothing you’re wearing right now + “ie” or “y”): Apple Sweatie

That was a ton of fun. Just what I needed today. The whole school has been sick. The faculty is falling like flies: headaches, sniffles, etc. I went to school and stayed until 9:45, which is when the sub got there. Of course by the time she arrived, I was feeling a little better. I came home and slept from 10:45 until Deirdre came home and slammed the front door at 3:10. My body just shuts down like that when I get sick. Of course there is tons to do this week, with the girls bridging on Saturday.

We sat outside WalMart for 5 hours on Saturday and didn't get any stuffed animals. We have a ton, but still a few more wouldn't have hurt. I had to deal with bored and fractious girls. Plus, a ton of people who wanted to buy Girl Scout cookies. If we had been selling cookies, we would have made a killing. But, no, we sell those at booths in the colds of March :( and go door-to-door in the "lovely" weather of late January/early February. For those wondering, cookie sales start Jan. 17. (I have students asking all the time when they can buy cookies. I should just sell the extra I have in my garage.)

This is what my nickname means, although I have been called by "Kate" as long or longer than "Catherine".

What Kate Means

You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life. You are also a keeper of knowledge - meaning you don't spill secrets or spread gossip. People sometimes think you're snobby or aloof, but you're just too deep in thought to pay attention to them. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Above it says that I can flaky and irresponsible, Never!!


And this is for "Catherine" similar, yet different :)

What Catherine Means

You are a seeker of knowledge, and you have learned many things in your life. You are also a keeper of knowledge - meaning you don't spill secrets or spread gossip. People sometimes think you're snobby or aloof, but you're just too deep in thought to pay attention to them. You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are a seeker. You often find yourself restless - and you have a lot of questions about life. You tend to travel often, to fairly random locations. You're most comfortable when you're far away from home. You are quite passionate and easily tempted. Your impulses sometimes get you into trouble. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

Just like a horoscope, I can see parts of "me" in this. But it's all fun and games. We need some of that right now.

Violin

All of the sixth graders have to take either orchestra, band, or chorus; Deirdre chose orchestra. When she moved into seventh grade, she stayed in orchestra. She chose to play the violin. I have no idea how difficult it is in comparison to other instruments having never played anything except the recorder (badly) and "banging" on the piano. I do know that many children (students) play the flute. Three of my Girl Scout troop girls are playing the flute.

With my tin-ear, or whatever it is, I can sort of tell when D can't hit a note correctly, but other than that I have no clue. I have almost no rhythm sense. When I had bad days during my dancing years, my teacher would have to clap the beat for me. When we did solo work across the floor I had to count from the start to the end of the entire group demonstrating. This meant counting to eight for five minutes or so. Anyone reading this who was a student when I did the Junior Prom will now understand why every song had to have a strong beat. If it didn't, I couldn't pick it out and teach the dance.

Deirdre is one of four new violinists in seventh grade, so they are "taught" by an eighth grader. Clarissa must have the patience of a saint to help these seventh graders. She is awesome fierce on the soccer field too! We love Clarissa!! And she lives around the corner!!! (I'm liking exclamation points tonight!!)

Deirdre is following in her great-grandmother's footsteps by picking up the violin. My grandmother played until she got married. My great-aunt, her sister, played the piano and could have been a concert pianist, but in 1924 women didn't do that. They got married instead. In hindsight, she should have been the concert pianist; she would have been much happier. My cousin, Jim, also played the violin. I always wanted to play and instrument, but there wasn't money for my ballet lessons ($1200 a year+), and instrument lessons. Plus, it wasn't like here in Ephraim where someone knows someone who teaches piano or another instrument. The suburbs of Chicago are a lot harder, surprisingly, to find teachers of instruments.

Right now, Jeff is helping D with her timing on "Ode to Joy". She has the notes down, but her timing is lacking. Some of her lack of timing is that she is not 100% sure of the notes yet, but as she improves, so will her timing.

Soccer and CIMI

Deirdre had an overnighter on Friday at the Girl Scouts of Utah's main office as a trial run for CIMI. We are in countdown mode for that trip. Oct. 5 will be here sooner rather than later. They tie-dyed their airport shirts, ate (it seems non-stop), discussed The Island of Blue Dolphins, played games, and ate some more before going to sleep at 10:45. Parents begin picking girls up at 8-ish, but most didn't come until after 9:00, which was the actual pick-up time. D said she had fun and can't wait until October. She really likes the PA's (program aides) assigned to her group of nine girls. There are 24 girls including six PA's and 4 adults going.

They won their last game in soccer. It ended in a tie, so a best out of 5 shoot-out was done. The girls scored on three of four kicks. D was the goalie for the second half and missed one, but stopped several from entering. In defense, she has much improved. She goes up on the ball and has quite the leg on her. As goalie, she was drop-kicking almost to the center of the field. A shame there aren't more games. We only have four plus one "practice". The No. Sanpete teams are the same. No one is quite sure why the northern teams aren't playing us and vise-versa.

Learning to cook

Today Deirdre made the jump into making brownies. She has helped with salads and other simple things in the past, but this is the first time of making anything by herself. Jeff was at WalMart and I was at work (sounds like the start of 'Twas the Night Before Christmas) when she decided to make brownies. I only had about three phone calls. She followed a mix, but there were still eggs to break open without getting shells into the mix. I haven't tasted one yet, but they smell good.

On the soccer front there have been two games against the other Ephraim team. They won the one on Thursday and lost on Saturday.

Huge News!

All we did was ask for a placement math test to see if we could move Deirdre into Pre-Algebra. Well, we got that and more! Based on her Algebra I test score of 76%, her CORE test scores from last spring, and her IOWA test scores, the school recommended we move D into seventh grade. After much deliberation, we did just that on Thursday, August 28. She spent seven days in sixth grade!

So far, it is working. Based on her ability to finish a Pre-Algebra assignment during class that the rest of the students had been working on for two days, we are pretty confident we made the correct decision. She did the entire assignment in her head too, to the amazement of her classmates. She isn't too happy that she has to show her work in math, but hopefully math will get harder and she will have to show her work.

Soccer begins on Tuesday. We are all quite pleased with her coach. Last year was such a disaster. In Scouts we are trying to finish a bunch of badges, a Bronze project, and bridging requirements before September 30.

Every Saturday in September is devoted to Scouts. After Labor Day weekend, the next Saturday I have that currently isn't full is in October! And, I know that I will be packing D for CIMI on the first Saturday of October. We will have spent the night in SLC on the following Friday to pick her up from CIMI, so that Saturday is shot too. Looks like UEA weekend is currently open—six week from now. :)

We Did It!

Today is our 20th anniversary. We did absolutely nothing!!!! School has started and as usual it's the end of the month.

I remember when we lived in Chicago and raided the laundry jars for money to buy food at the end of August. With Jeff not getting paid from June until the end of September, money was extremely tight. At least now we have credit cards to help us when money is tight. Of course that's probably why money is tight today (as in the present).

We spent our anniversary making decisions about D's future (see above). At least it was family oriented.

I do have sad thoughts about Jane and Rich. This would have been 30 years for them last June. I always thought families were supposed to increase in size, not decrease.

Rich's birthday would be in a week or so—Sept. 5 and Jane's on Sept. 23. I really hate the month of September. Birthdays and death anniversaries abound. On the bright side, my parents will be celebrating 44 years of marriage on Sept. 19. My mother-in-law's birthday and brother-in-law's birthdays are also in September, the 26 and 30 respectively. Hard to believe that Jordan will be 19!

Well here's to hoping for twenty more years.

Gooseberry

We are back from our Gooseberry/Fishlake troop camping experience. We left Monday, Aug. 4 and returned on Wednesday, Aug. 6. The girls and I had fun and now they can bridge up to Cadettes. The other girls will move up too, but they won't have earned the bridging award. The girls rotated through several activities on Monday and Tuesday. I helped with the "Flower Pounding" class where they dyed fabric from pounding on fabric with flower petals taped on. They turned out for the most part much better than anyone can imagine. Sami's was the best and I am horribly jealous :). It rained off and on all of Tuesday, but when it was time for the skits and campfire the rain started coming down heavily so everything was moved to the barn.

This is on our last day outside the cabin the girls slept in. It was a messhall originally when the Forest Rangers lived at Gooseberry during the 20's to 50's.

With Samantha watching, Malynn, Sarah, and Deirdre teach the "Elephant Song" on Tuesday evening in the barn. All three girls had been to Camp Cloud Rim in July and learned it there.

This is the whole group on before everyone left on Wednesday. Deirdre is in the back third from the left; Samantha is in the middle; and Sarah is on the right side with the bright blue jacket.

PMS—7/23

I love that title! Last night I went to a PMS party at Erin's. We scrapbooked for hours. This is what I accomplished.

Several people wanted to know who the little girl in the pictures was. Boy was everyone surprised when I said "Deirdre." Of course the pictures are from nine years ago. I found them in a drawer in the laundry room. A strange place for pictures but they worked for what I was doing. Now only 11 1/2 years of scrapbooking to do.


Today I made this card for my former yearbook rep. She is getting married on Aug. 1 in the Salt Lake Temple. I am so happy for her. I don't have a "wedding set" of stamps, so I used my "Dreams and Dragons" set. I love that set and am so glad I won it on e-bay. The set is from 1996 and was re-issued in 2003 for the 15 anniversary. I could probably get rid of half my sets and just use this one over and over. I am sure Jeff would be thrilled.

front view

inside view (or at least part of it)
I used Pale Plum, Perfect Plum, WW, SU pastels for the dragon (the picture doesn't do it justice, it's a beautiful purple shade; the first picture shows the Pale Plum around the CB white)

I goofed on my sentiment. I hope they don't mind. I knew exactly what to write, but that isn't what I put.

More softball

The softball team won last night 15-3. They play tonight at 8:00 for the championship. The team may also be going to state playoffs. We find out on Tuesday.

Can you believe?

It is hard to believe that June is almost over. The Ephraim Lions Tournament is happening right now for the softball team. Jeff's team finished the regular season at 4-4. If the Mt. Pleasant Lions Tournament is added then the season becomes 5-6. Still more wins than the girls have seen in the last few years.
June has been a month of sickness. Kate had Bronchitis from the end of May through the beginning of June. Then the stomach flu or Rotovirus hit everyone the middle of June. Deirdre ended up not doing the second session of swimming lessons because of it. Although, she did pass all but the butterfly in her first session of level 5. She hasn't taken swimming lessons for at least two years, so a repeat of level 5 was necessary.
The girls in Kate's Girl Scout troop have picked their Bronze Award project: the Ephraim Softball complex. The Bronze Award is the highest award a junior girl scout can earn. The girls have to have the project completed before the end of September when they bridge up to the next level—Cadettes.
We need to add some pictures to this blog to make it more interesting. Well that is all for now. The next game in the Lions Tournament is Friday at 5:45.

School is OVER!!!

Deirdre and Kate are finished with school!!!
More people complimented Kate on her final yearbook than ever before. An irony in the making. It was certainly nice to hear no complaints about the book and to go out with a high. Her last book was the centennial and the 50 year edition. North Sanpete High School is 100 years old and 50 years ago Moroni and North Sanpete high schools combined into one school. Kate found the largest fun researching the beginnings of the school and why the school combined.
Deirdre brought home a huge amount of awards. She received the typical "Spelling", "Junior Genius", "Reading", and "Golden Sneaker". This year she also received IOWA Basics 90% in all areas. She should have received 99th percentile in all areas, but hey we can't have everything. She also received the "President's Education Awards Program" award. About 25% of her class received the award that was for academic excellence. The fifth grade teachers nominated members of the class for the award.
Now that school is over, the summer begins. Softball, swimming lessons, house cleaning, Scouts are all part of summer. It sometimes seems that summer is busier than the school year.

Braces!

Deirdre received her braces today. She has been excited to get rid of her retainer, but now her mouth hurts and she isn't quite sure about the change. Besides her mouth hurting, it feels funny without her retainer in it. But, the braces are only for 18 months; soon they will be off.

The school year winds slowly down. Everyone is ready for summer vacation, although the tasks in front of us are huge. We are moving four rooms of furniture and various items. D is moving to the basement; the "sitting room" is moving into D's room; the family room is becoming D's bedroom; and finally the downstairs guest room is moving upstairs into the "sitting room" and the guest room turns into my craft and sewing room. I would have had a craft and sewing room all along if the builder hadn't suggested moving the basement bathroom, because of the whole-house shut-off water valve, which has been used once in 14 years and it wasn't an emergency. We love builders (NOT) :(

Softball practice has started and games start the last week of May. The junior troop is looking for a Bronze award activity. It has been difficult to find a service project that will take about 15 hours and include the majority of the girls.

Tata!

Wow we have a blog

4/29
News flash!
Kate no longer is the yearbook adviser starting in August 2008! Hallaluh!!! This has been an interesting Spring here in Central Utah. One day we have 70 degree weather followed by snow.

Jeff is coaching the city-league softball team this summer. The first practice is tomorrow. There are 17 girls on the team with 4 sixth graders and the rest are 5th grade.

Kate just spent Friday and Saturday with her Junior Girl Scout troop at Trefoil Ranch in Provo Canyon. After a night of not sleeping very well, and standing almost all day teaching classes or serving meals, it was no wonder that her back froze up on Sunday. Between the back (which has been a problem for years) and her knee (which probably need surgery this summer), it's amazing that she actually gets out of bed each day.

Deirdre is busy with testing at school and learning the May Pole dance at school. Ephraim Elementary is one of the few in the area that still has a may pole dance for the fifth graders. She gets her braces on May 5 and ironically enough is looking forward to it. She is quite tired of the retainer that she has been wearing for the last year and looks forward to not having to deal with one for 18 months.

Less than four weeks and D and Kate are out of school! Yipee!! Jeff is on finals week right now and graduation is Saturday. Lucky duck!