Reeghan's Weekend

I returned home from a wonderful girls weekend getaway with my college roommates to Reeghan telling me all about her wonderful and exciting weekend!

First she was invited to a Daddy Daughter date with our church. You see its for 8-11 year old girls but she got to go because her birthday is very soon. Trent even videoed her dancing on stage with the girls to the Justin Bieber song, "Baby, Baby, Baby, Oh! It was hilarious.


Then she was able to attend a Baptism Review which was a special night for those in our church who are turning 8 years old this year. They will be baptized this year and its a big deal.

I happen to teach them in Primary so I missed out on a great night I'm sure.

They each were given a binder with pages of memories that they will write down as their day approaches and the experience they will have. They were also given a white bag with a white towel, white soap and white socks.

To top it off they received a copy of "My Gospel Standards" which lists the goals and standards they are to strive for and accomplish.

Then about an hour later she was disappointed with me trying to tell her what to do to get ready for the next day and she had this box sitting outside her door to her room. Note "My Gospel Standards" under her paper!


Her paper says:

Dear Sarah,
I hope you have fun with another 8 year old. She can have my clothing and this stuff. From somebody named (arrow pointing to her crossed out name then a ?)

The box had her Valentines day letters and cards from her classmates at school along with her white bag she got from her Baptism Review.

She has had a few episodes of this type of behavior when she just wants to leave us and pack up and get "sold" by the curb. But she ends up realizing what she has and then humbles herself with a little talking to about what she has and what other kids don't have in this world.

Times like these make me hurt inside that she truly isn't happy and what I have done to make her go to these extremes in my mind to try to run away or sell herself.

I watched this video today and was reminded that this little girl will one day be like these girls and I want so much for her to realize her potential and to just strive to be the best example for her.

I have really been putting forth effort into learning about Reeghan and how she thinks and what she needs from me. She loves spending quality time with me and being artistic and creative. She loves to figure things on her own and I know that I can help her become her best self when I sacrifice my wants.

Good Friends

Easton went to his first friend birthday party. It was Jones Martindale. We met Jones and Errin (mom) through my other friend Shauna who happens to be her SIL.

This party was so much fun. Her mother is a party planner and did the two of them present quite a party for this 3 year old. Color coordinated, cotton candy, snow cone, sawdust dinosaur dig, and the best part was Oreo cupcakes! (I need that recipe) Wow so much fun and Easton had a ball. Thanks Errin and Brent!

Errin and Shauna are fun to hang with and we have some good times. They have only lived here in California for a short time and have both have showed me places that I hadn't been too and I have lived here for almost 10 years! Even a tour of Trader Joe's! Man I need to get out more.

Queen Califica





One of our adventures was to Queen Califica (sp?) an art structure in Kit Carson Park. What a hit for the kids! They had so much fun climbing these very interesting pieces of art and it was very colorful and engaging. Thank goodness for Shauna's camera and her talent and that she takes pictures of my kids. The first 3 are of my Iphone which you can tell and the last on of Easton is from her camera. Then the two top ones of Easton at the party are her's as well.

I really want to use my nice camera too. I just don't want to lug it around. Any suggestions to get me motivated to use it and to lug it around? Maybe I need a new handbag that will hold it?

Let's Play Music Program

The girls have been involved with a phenomenal music program that teaches them the basics to the piano. It's called Let's Play Music and you can check them out here.

I found out about this when Reeghan started Kindergarten when she was 5. Her teacher, Lori Halverson from Oceanside, gave word to my then weekly basketball get togethers with some girls from Vista. So I decided to go check it out and feel instantly involved and I love the company's philosophy of how they introduce concepts of basic music notation in a very fun kid friendly way.

It's a 3 year program and now we are here 3 years later and now Paetan is in her 2nd year of which her teacher, Allison Browning from Escondido, had been teaching piano and I introduced her to the company and she started teaching Paetan last year.

Each year I get more and more excited about this stuff. I am learning right along with these two because its not one of those classes where you drop them off and are never involved but making sure they are practicing. This program the first year you are going to class with them every other week. Then 2nd and 3rd year you only go once a month.

The 3rd year is where you get to see all the magic happen and watch them just blossom into these piano players! Its so fun to see all of them and see their excitement when they get something. I myself get impressed with myself in what I am learning and catching onto. Reeghan is a wonderful teacher for me because I only go once a month she teaches me at home what she was taught by Lori.

This week in particular after class she was bummed a bit because each week for practice at home they are to memorize the notes on the staff and this time Lori timed them to see if they could do it under a minute. Reeghan said she had only 5 cards left and was so close and happened to be the closest out of all the other students.

So I thought that this would be a golden opportunity to give her a challenge because she was so upset about it. I told her that if this next coming week she practiced with a timer over and over again she would be able to finish the stack of cards to memorize.

She has been working hard everyday and its fun to see her work for something. I don't know what Lori will give to them if they do but she is trying her hardest to make sure that by Thursday if she times them she will finish.

Puppet Shows

Along with the program is that each semester which happens to be two a year they get to witness and participate in 4 puppet shows a year for a grand total of 12 by the time they finish the program. These puppet shows are amazing to witness and just puts a smile on your face each time you witness one. Well I wanted to make sure that the girls take good care of their copies so I decided to laminate and color code each show into their year of the program. The girls got them out the other night and wanted to do them all to see if they remembered them.

The puppet shows create a story line from a classical piece of music. It's hard to describe but until you see one you will know what I mean. I'm sure the girls will be doing them all the time now that I have them in a safe spot in the home.

My Organizational skills are getting rubbed onto........

Reeghan!

Last night I found my favorite household item on my stairs with some remains of unwanted labels that someone had created. This item is my label maker. Every household needs this item because it will not only help you but also your husband and kids find things.

So I put it away and just thought they just enjoyed making a few labels and then I find today that she actually put it to good use. I have at the bottom of my stairs a console table with 4 openings with these baskets and each one of us has a basket for our things to go into it and then haul upstairs each night after the day is done.

I made some cute labels for the baskets with our names on them but they never stayed on the basket so Reeghan last night decided that she was ready to get smart and do her first organizational task all on her own.

So proud of my little girl! Taking after the footsteps of her mother. It will be a good thing for her, right?

Another note about Reeghan

Trent has been out of town the last 2 nights and he typically puts Easton down for bed and so the last 2 nights I've had to do it and its been very enjoyable to sit down on his chair in his room and read him a few books and cuddle before he goes down. He did a great job with me.

But tonight Reeghan asked if she could read to him so she took him up and later came back down and said that she read him 6 books and put him in bed. Wow! I was so impressed but I'm glad that I gave her that opportunity to do such a minimal task because I asked her if she liked that time with him. She said, "Mom, he is so cute and I love to read to him I think I will have to do this more often!"

Reeghan I am sure you will have many opportunities to do so and it just made me sit back and think that you are very capable of alot of things that I don't think that you are. You impress me each day with the way you carry yourself and how responsible you are and how dependable you are. I can't wait to see you grow!

San Diego Quail Botanical Garden and Field Trip

We went with some friends to visit the gardens. I had only been once before and they told me that they had made some changes and had this amazing kid zone. So we went on a play date all of us to see this place.

Wow it was incredible and the kids loved playing in the giant tree house and the little water creek. They also had a musical station and an art station. Very creative I felt like I was in a children's museum but outdoors.

So we ended up buying a membership!

Reeghan's School Field Trip


We were able to use it again when I chaperoned Reeghan's class field trip to go on a tour of the gardens and find out some interesting things about plants that live around us.

They were able to eat lunch there by the play area and then we let them run loose for about 2 hours and then headed back to the school. It was a pretty easy chaperon field trip.

DSC-CM Thanksgiving Feast

Each year around Thanksgiving the girls school does this feast with all the students and family. This school is only 2 years old so its their second one and I wasn't able to attend last years because we were out of town.

This year was great and we had a ton of food that each of us brought to share. The students performed the entertainment. Each class did their own presentation and Val Beh is their music teacher which I love her! I've been taking my kids to her music classes since they were babies.

Reeghan's class did the Indian section of the program. They sang "Hey, Yaunna, Hoe Yaunna!" song. She already knew this song because of Val's music class but it was fun to see their hat creations and then dancing around.

Paetan's class did a funny one about not eating too much food at Thanksgiving and when Kindergartners are doing it its going to be hilarious and they just kept going on and on around in circles. They didn't create anything for their song they just sang.

They have it at Felicita Park which is a great setup for our school. They have the stage and then a play area close by so they were able to run around after the feast.

Love Languages

Susan did an absolutely great job presenting the "5 Love Languages" session. Right at the beginning she took us through the emotion of having our first child and the first few moments of the baby being placed into our arms. She delivered it with so much passion and conviction it was incredible. She was so concerned about it but she did wonderful.

I've read the book and have been aware of the love languages particularly the last 2 months but I still learned more about my own, Trent's and our childrens' love languages yesterday as she went into more detail and posed many different situations that I hadn't even thought of before.

It was another eye opening experience for me.

Sarah

Mine is definitely, without a doubt, Acts of Service! My secondary however is Quality Time and those two just go hand in hand in my opinion. I feel and show my love by doing kind deeds and acts of service to those I come in contact with. I tend to be the first one to volunteer myself for a lot of things, but I do it in moderation because I don't want to juggle too many projects.

I've concluded why I struggle so much to prepare meals and cook in the kitchen... I want to have someone right by my side with me helping me and serving right along with me! Is that funny or what!?!

I give and give, and love to fill my bucket, but its hard to see my children not understand my love language. I wish I could just tell them that cleaning their room all by themselves would show me that they love me but I've tried and it didn't work. I wonder what age that will happen?? When will they recognize that they need to be of service to me or others to show that love language to me?

Trent

Trent's love language is Physical Touch and his secondary is Quality Time. As his wife, in order for me to show him I love him I need to grab his hand when he least expects it, rub his back, etc. For both of us we really enjoy just being together and it doesn't matter what we are doing. That is why we travel a lot especially alone as a couple.

Reeghan and Paetan

My girls are both Quality Time and their secondary is Gifts. Reeghan always uses the line when every she gets frustrated with us that she wants to leave our family. I know its not a good line for her to use, but I finally figured out that she just needs me to spend "time" with her, which I have really neglected to do, especially the last few weeks. She's growing up so fast that I want to take this time to show her that I really do love her. Its also important to use eye contact while spending time with them as well.

Paetan, on the other hand, is only 5 and she can still change her love language(s). As Susan talked about her daughter Emma, who is a very well rounded person and responds well to all 5 of the love languages, I thought of Paetan. Paetan enjoys all of them and I've recognized that she feels love in all 5 of those areas, which is a good thing. At times I wish I really enjoyed Physical Touch or Gifts but those two are at the very bottom of my list.


How do you figure out what your child's language is?
First, ask yourself this question: What are they constantly asking for?
Next, ask your child:
How do you know Mommy and Daddy love you?
Or you can give them an actual 'love language test' as is found in the Love Languages books (In the kids edition of the book, there is a "kid friendly version" of the test)

As I push away the girls while I am working on 'busy work' or my own little projects, it tells them that I don't love them and I'm withholding something... am I conditionally loving them? A great idea, to overcome this, is to spend 30-40 minutes before you have to go tackle a "to do" and spend that time focused on them and what they want to do and need and then after a time limit is set then you can go do your "to do".

This not only fills us but more importantly it fills their love bucket as well.

It's a very interesting ideology and I am so fascinated by it and wonder what other people's love languages are so that I can use them to better show love towards them. So let me know, ok?

Susan and I plan on presenting this in our workshops and retreats that we will be doing in the future but go ahead and go by the book. The book is written for adults, kids, teens, and even a Men's edition. Its written by Gary Chapman (same name, but no, the author is not my father-in-law)

A Lesson to be learned.....

What a mom day this has become. To start off we are Day 3 of school and the girls are thrilled as can be to be back to school and we have begun our Lets Play Music classes as well click here if you want to learn more about that. So schedules are put back into place and life seems to be flowing nicely.

Trent's mission friend and his wife and daughter came for a visit from Scottsdale, AZ. Their daughter, Miley, is 4 years old and my girls hit it off instantly with her and they just really enjoyed each other and we had no contention which was great. They invited us to go to dinner because they are staying with us and we suggested Ruby's diner on the Oceanside Pier. It a family fun atmosphere and the kids really enjoy walking the distance to get to it.

On our way back after dinner Reeghan and I were at the tail end of the group and out of the blue she said, "Mom I enjoy being with you, Do you have space in your heart for me?" Of course I immediately answered YES! and we had a special moment together walking along that pier and it was in this moment that I needed to fill her love bucket. Reeghan wanted me to just be with her and spend time alone with her even if it was walking together.

It was ironic that this situation would come up because the last two days Susan and I have been planning our Power of Mom retreat, which by the way we have a few spots left, and we were discussing what we'd like to present to the group. The love languages kept coming back to us because after our first retreat we concluded that all we learned all steamed from what each of our individual child's love language is and the order that they are born in. Its a very fascinating concept and philosophy and I am eager to learn more.

As that moment happened with my daughter I recognized that she loves quality time with me and I was speaking her love language and she preceded to tell me that I was the best mom in the world and that she enjoys asking me questions and learning from me. I then asked if she would prefer me spending time with her or a gift because gifts is her second love language and she told me that gifts don't matter that she would rather just be with me.

I was so grateful for that experience because when we returned home the girls all went up to play and then we hear this screaming and crying. Reeghan decided to throw a plastic bracelet into the toliet that the other two girls were playing with and yada yada yada. DRAMA! So Reeghan began throwing her upset fit kicking the floor and the walls and just letting us know that she was angry and frustrated. This was all happening while we were downstairs having a conversation so I causally went upstairs and decided beforehand that I would remain calm.

I get up there and she is just out of control and just not settling down. I tried the trick that always seems to work at least with my girls and that is to smell the roses and blow the bubbles concept. A deep breathing technique. It didn't work this time. She was just far from calming down. But I kept telling myself to remain calm. I was so glad I followed through it was rough and wanted to throw in the towel but in the end it worked out.

I had to leave and let her vent some more by herself and then I came back in a second time and she then told me why she was so frustrated. She felt left out and not loved. She told me that I only loved her this much (her hands signing with palms facing eachother only an inch apart) and that I loved Paetan and Easton that much (which was about 5 inches apart)

Right then and there a distinct impression came to my mind to go grab a book in our library for the kids a book called, "Your're All my Favorites" It talks about 3 baby bears with their parents and how each of them wonder if their parents even love them. They begin to wonder how their parents could love them with patches or if daddy loved the other two more than the other or that the others are bigger then the littlest one.

So they then go to their parents and ask them who is their favorite because they all can't be the best. The first baby bear asks and is told that he is the most perfect first baby bear that anyone has ever seen. The book then goes through the same with the other two but substituting the words to second and third. The lesson to be learned is that the parents love them just the same and that they are all favorites.

It was a great reminder to me to analyze the time I am spending with each child and how Reeghan and Paetan both have the love language of "quality time" and that I need to reach out to them more equally and to not show any signs of favoritism. Reeghan is alot harder on herself than Paetan is and I believe that comes because she is the first born and she wants to please Trent and I.

Parenting is hard work but if you can learn about each child individually and find out what their needs are it will be a win win situation for both of you. This is about teamwork here and I have been constantly telling my girls our family motto of "Yes You Can" because at times life can get real hard and Yes I can be a good mom and love my children the way that I know how.

I just pray that this all made sense because it was a powerful lesson for me to learn today and now I want to share it so there you have it. Now go get "The 5 Love Languages for Kids" by Gary Chapman its a great read and will blow your mind!

Train and Car Puzzle Project

For our masterpiece today we created a train and a car that I picked up from Michael's for $1 for our project today. The girls enjoyed taking all the pieces off the wood sheet but they weren't really interested in actually putting it together because it had some intense pieces.

They call this type of project "a puzzle" and I was really getting into it for a while there and really started to enjoy it. I even started a third one of a plane but I didn't last very long because this one piece wasn't cut correctly so it was causing alot of problems so I took a break from it.

Next on the project is to paint them and I think I am going to display them in Easton's room and maybe start a room decor project from these pieces. We shall see.

Summer Schedule

I took an idea from a friend of mine that she did for her children one summer and tweeked it a little and I'd like to share it with you now. Its a weekday schedule to keep your children entertained and to look forward to a particular day of the week.

Sabbath Sunday - a day to rest period.

Masterpiece Monday - is a day of creating or doing an arts and crafts project.

Take a Trip Tuesday - is a day trip day to a museum, park, library, etc.

Wet Wednesday - a day to go to the beach or swimming pool or create a waterslide.

Take Time to Serve Thursday - a day to give service to someone or do a service project.

Friend Friday - invitation to bring a friend over to the house to play also Wii day.

Spontaneous Saturday - surprise your family with a spontaneous activity for them.

I am looking forward to seeing how things will go so far its been great and the kids are asking me what day of the week it is and have now memorized what each day means. It been about 1.5 weeks since it started but I can see that it will keep my kids from asking the question this summer, "I am bored what can I do now?"

Let me know what ideas you may have in regards to my day of the week program

The Day After Effect

Drive up to Costco parking lot and I jump out to get the cart to get my chore done of grocery shopping. My almost 2 year old refuses to get into the cart which happens to be one of the very few times that he has done this.

My 5 year old didn't bring her shoes so she has to get into the cart with her brother too. I get them all buckled after I think is 5 minutes but really was probably one minute.

I then turn to find my 7 year old is opening the back of the car to find her sister's shoes and balloons almost fall out of the car that belong to the 5 year old who starts screaming to shut the door so that they don't fly away.

By this time my 2 year old son has already been in standing position in the cart with the buckle at his ankles. I continue to put him into the cart once again and then my 5 year old thinks she needs to be a "big girl" and sit in the bigger section of the cart.

"Really! Is this what is happening to me?"

I try to keep my cool because others are walking too and from their cars and I really don't want to make a scene. I finally get the two back into the buckles and just start walking hopefully the 2 year old will be distracted by others and watching cars go by.

My vision didn't work out he continued to scream and climb out of the buckle once again and then my 7 year old pipes up that she is hungry and wanted to stop and get a Costco hot dog.

Then my 5 year old agrees and all 3 at this point are all just talking, asking and screaming! I didn't even get 5 car lengths away from my car and just threw in the towel and just gave up on my mission to get my chore of grocery shopping done and just turned around and walked back to the car.

How many of you have done that before?

Everyone is crying by this point and everyone refuses to get into their car seats. I already have a hard time putting my 2 year old in the car anyway so this didn't help out.

The parking spot next to us was open I love when this happens when I have to get my son into the carseat so I can climb in and put my body over the carseat to get him in. This time a car had to wait for me because I was just fuming at his point and I could tell that my face was getting red and his carseat buckle was having issues. So needless to say this car waited for about one minute until I got it figured out.

I tell you this story because I know some of you out there have related to this in some way or another. I just returned from the Power of Mom's retreat and this is why I called my story "The Day After Effect" because I'm sure its happened to alot of us. We go off to enjoy ourselves for a couple of days to come back to our children really missing us and just out of whack!

I was taught while I was away about perspective and I thought about this while on the drive home from Costco and decided that I just needed to do something fun.

I got out of the car and asked the girls to get ready for a bike ride and they were thrilled. I just needed to get fresh air as well as they did after all that had happened. I just knew that if I did this spontaneous activity with my children my perspective would be changed a little and really enjoy the moment.

Well it lasted for quite sometime and we were enjoying the weather and Easton and Paetan were sitting in the bike trailer so Easton had had enough and started to pull her hair.

Why do boys find this to be funny? Honestly he does it to get their attention and its his way of picking on them because they do it so much to him.

So needless to say we ended our bike trip early! But in the end they were just happy to be back with mom and gave me alot of loves!

Summer Bucket List

Summer goals for each family member:

Dad
* weekly interview with children
* lunch date with a child once a week
* turn off computer and limit phone use while at home

Mom
* print a blurb book of our family blog
* teach the girls how to make a meal (but I should learn how first, haha)
* focus on my weekly schedule and execute the planned activities
* schedule all retreats and workshops for the rest of the year and find locations
* read one book a week
* take 2 dance classes

Reeghan
* piano practice 3 times a week
* learn swim strokes and diving
* set up a tent

Paetan
* learn to ride a bike
* Finish 100 Easy Lessons of reading
* swim lessons
* swing on the monkey bars

Easton
* practice being soft and not hit
* learn 5 new words and speak them


List of activities to earn this summer are:

Camping trip
Legoland Waterpark
San Diego Fair
Sea World
San Diego Children's Museum


I really do enjoy the area that we live in. We have alot of activities for the children and of course we have alot of the amusement parks as well.

Girls and Bandaids

We had quite the episodes today in regards to getting hurt and TRYING to put on bandaids. Why is it in my household that these girls are such sissy's when it comes to getting hurt and its really not that bad.

First one was with Paetan and she got new shoes but didn't wear any socks so she got a blister on her ankle and was going crazy in the back seat of the car. I couldn't calm her down with anything I even got to the point that I would bribe her to go to get something to eat. Didn't work! She saw the excess skin and just went nuts!

Its like pulling teeth to get these girls to put a simple bandaid on. Really does it have to be this difficult?

Second was Reeghan and she was putting her pants on and somehow cut her fingernail and it was bleeding. I was in the garage when this happened and her hear screaming uncontrollably in her closet of her bedroom. That's quite a distance but that's what happens when she sees blood its just instant panic attack and screaming.

Try putting a bandaid on her too, Oh no!

So she decided to ask for us to pray with her and she said her first one and noticed that it didn't work so she had to do another prayer. The second one was much more detailed and she said something along these lines:

Heavenly Father bless my owie on my finger. Bless it to heal tonight and make it so that when mom puts on the bandaid it wont hurt and then help me to calm down.

Reeghan and the word "Beautiful" and God's Creations

On mother's day I got a shocking statement made by my 6 year old daughter, Reeghan, she said something along these lines. "Mommy I am not beautiful! Paetan is prettier then me and I just don't feel beautiful!"

Hold on I didn't think this statement was supposed to be made until she was a teenager! I wasn't really ready to tackle this situation yet. I started to get tears in my eyes because I realized that she was being really serious. I was trying to hold back the tears and talk to her about how loved she is and how Heavenly Father would not create someone who was ugly. He created only beautiful human beings and more importantly he created a beautiful Reeghan Chapman.

That's all that could come out of my mouth at the time. Now I know what to have our Family Home Evening lesson about. That is why I enjoy this special night set apart for family time and discussion and teaching.

That night for FHE we went to the beach with Buddy and Sara Haws and had hot dogs and talked about God's creations and how he created us too. It was an enjoyable chilly evening but its important to get out and experience it visually and see first hand what is surrounding us.

Classroom Volunteering

It was great to be able to get back into Reeghan's classroom today it had been about one month or so since I had been. I was really diligent all year long and went once a week for about 3 hours but this last month there seemed to be a lot going on.

I just love getting involved in what she is doing and watching her learn along with her classmates, whom I have come to adore and what's better, they love me! I love to see their faces when they see me walk into the room. I feel loved and appreciated by these 5 and 6 year old kids!

At the beginning of the school year I was helping Ms. Beardsley outside the classroom putting together homework packets and take home information. I would occasionally do reading with the children, because at the time the school was in a smaller space.

Since they have moved to their new location their room is huge and I have been able to walk around and watch the children do their work. I love watching them learn with the Montessori materials. I wish I had learned that way. Reeghan is already learning her multiplication table in first grade! I don't remember learning that until 3rd grade! I love to see each one of them learning at their pace and what they feel comfortable at doing.

Today just reconfirmed to me that I love where Reeghan is at and the way the school has blossomed during its first year! I am excited to see what next year will bring because Paetan will be attending Kindergarten there as well.

I am grateful that I can make the time to be in the classroom and to also be a stay at home mom! Its a hard job but I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

More Teeth are Gone!

Reeghan came in from the garage exclaiming, "Mom I'm so lucky, I'm so lucky!" I asked her why and she proceeded to tell me what happened. First of all I won't allow the girls to have otter pops in the house anymore so I keep them in the garage freezer and they can enjoy them down there. Ok back to the story so she was enjoying her otter pop from the freezer in the garage and she went to take a bite and noticed that she was chewing on something hard.

She had told me a few weeks ago that this tooth had been loose but it wasn't that bad. Anyway she felt inside her mouth and pulled out her tooth that was sitting on her tongue. She said that she was so lucky because the first few teeth that have fallen out were quite traumatic for her and we tried not to make it so but she just wouldn't cooperate and so she was just so happy that this one just fell out all by itself.

The picture above was just taken of her and she is just a miniature me, don't you think? I feel so blessed to have this child in my home. She has a beautiful smile and she is so adorable with some of her teeth missing.

Below you will find the letter that she left for the tooth fairy. She is learning money really well lately and I think she has begun to learn that she needs alot of it for some of the bigger 'toys' she wants.

The way the World works... from a child's perspective.

Sarah was working at the Temple last Tuesday morning, so I had to take all the kids with me when I dropped Reeghan off at school (it's usually just Reeghan and I in the mornings).

So, I put on Sarah's sun glasses (just because I know it bugs Paetan) and she said, "take those off right now Daddy, those are Mommy's glasses". I told her that I could wear them if I wanted to, because I bought them. Then Reeghan and Paetan both started to tell me that they saw Mommy buy them. I thought that I would try and help them understand what I meant so I said, "fine, I didn't go and buy them with Mommy, I gave her money to buy them, so I can wear them too".

Well, that didn't go through too well, because then Reeghan began to explain that Sarah didn't get the money from me. Reeghan said, "Mommy got the money from the bank, not from you", to which I replied, "well where do you think the bank gets the money", then Reeghan enlightened me, "from the computer". : )

I had to laugh, but then I proceeded to tell her that the bank won't let you take money out, unless you first put it in (especially now in this economy with tough lending guidelines... but we didn't go into that) and how that if I didn't work and make money, that Mommy wouldn't have been able to get money from the bank.

Fast forward to tonight, after we were leaving my parents house for our frequent Sunday afternoon visit, I asked my Mom if she got the money I owed her which I had given to my brother. This jogged my memory of our conversation from Tuesday, so I thought I'd test the girls to see if the had understood what I tried to explain. I had been out of town from Wednesday until Saturday night, so this was the first time I could revisit the topic.

So I asked Reeghan where money comes from to which she replied, "Short Sale Genius" ...that's close enough. I would have also accepted, 'from working' or 'Ocean Point Lending/Properties'.

Music Together

Since I'm on topic of Music. It all started with Music Together when Reeghan was 1.5 years old and I was introduced to Val Beh. She has a gift of music and loves to share her joy with children and loves to interact with them. I've been so blessed to have known her and have learned a great deal not only about music but parenting as well. All my children have participated and we continue too with Easton. We have all the collections and love everyone of them!

Music Together classes are based on the recognition that all children are musical. All children can learn to sing in tune, keep a beat, and participate with confidence in the music of our culture, provided that their early environment supports such learning. By emphasizing actual music experiences rather than concepts about music, Music Together introduces children to the pleasures of making music instead of passively receiving it from CDs or TV.

Let's Play Music Recital

Another wonderful year has gone by for us with Let's Play Music. I'm so grateful to have found out about this wonderful program that teaches my children the basics about reading and understanding music and notes. Its been a great learning experience for me as well as the mother because I am able to sit and participate on occasion with them. It is a combined effort and a wonderful opportunity to be apart of what they are doing.

I have to give a shout out to their wonderful teachers, Mrs. Lori and Mrs. Allison, what wonderful women to share their passion of music with my girls. I actually introduced Mrs. Allison to the company after I had a successful year with Mrs. Lori and Reeghan and I wanted a teacher for Paetan to go to because Mrs. Lori wasn't taking any 1st year students.

This program is a 3 year program and Reeghan just completed her 2nd year and Paetan her 1st and I'm really anxious to see what Reeghan gets to learn next. The 3rd years at the recital this year composed their own music it was so amazing to watch them play for about 1-2 minutes. After 3 years then they can proceed to take individual lessons from a private teacher.

I cannot say enough for what music has done for my children. I wish I could have had a sampling of what they are doing now. But it wasn't until later in my life in high school to where I truly appreciated music and the way it can uplift, motivate and strenghen us. So when I started having children I just wanted to envelope them in the love of music. I just pray that it continues and the girls keep it up and it sticks with them.

Reeghan's Recycling Project

Let's be honest here I helped Reeghan find this project for her to do and pretty much made it myself. Have many of you mom's out there have done that for one of your children before? I wanted her to take part so all she did was use the scissors to help cut it up. She didn't take the time on the internet thinking of a practical use of a recycled item for 1 hour! Sheeze! I did so much and now I feel awful but she did write up the information of how it was used and what it was made out of.
All I did was take target plastic bags and make a flower out of it. The next day Reeghan took it to school and she wore the flower pinned to her shirt. The other one I used to place on top of a gift. Its practical and I don't think that I would personally use it yet. I really haven't jumped on the recycle wagon yet but I'm trying and especially now that Reeghan is more aware because of what she has learned at school. Last summer she came up with a clever Recycle song. I recorded it and I love to replay it and to see how much she knew about it and her love for creating a song out of something she was learning. Next up is her Earth Day Play!