Roman Royalty & A Very Happy Little Cowboy

Craig has a lot of regulars at his restaurant, two are Melissa and Dave. They work together and come into Pei Wei once a week for lunch. Melissa is lively and likes to throw a BIG bash every Halloween. This year she insisted that Craig come. The party was to be held at her home on Saturday night. After several trips to four or five different Halloween stores we FINALLY had all that we needed for our costumes. Let the record reflect that I wanted us to dress as Rock 'Em, Sock 'Em Robots, but Craig wanted to be a Gladiator, so I gave in and chose to be a Roman queen instead of the red robot. Craig's make-up was so good that even his close friends didn't recognize him at first. He over-did it a bit on the make-up, intending to make himself look grungy and battle-ridden, he instead looked like a blue-eyed African, and because he HAD to add battle wounds to his arms and legs, my shower looked like a crime scene as we jetted out the door for the trek across town to Melissa's house.

The party was full of people I didn't know, but the nachos were good and so was the guy who sang "Sweet Caroline" during Scaryoke. The most unfortunate part about the evening (and the reason there are no photos accompanying my past few posts) was that I asked someone to take a picture of Craig and I, and she dropped my camera on it's lens and broke it. :( For those of you who know me, you know this is a serious tragedy! Luckily, I can still get to the photos on the memory card- I just need to take it to the store, but I can't take any new photos.

For Halloween night our family was, once again, invited to the Garner's house for their annual Halloween dinner and party. Every year Pattie spends the day making homemade soups. Others bring appetisers and breads, and we have an early dinner just in time for the kids to put on their costumes as the sun is setting. The men then take the kids trick-or-treating in a large group around the neighborhood. Because I don't feel like teaching him that he is entitled to a new costume every year, this year I told Carson that I was not going to buy him a costume for Halloween, but that he needed to create one out of the costumes he already has on hand. He chose to be a cowboy, and because his 6-shooter was broken months ago, Craig decided that he would buy Carson a new one to carry in his holster on his hip. Instead of buying him the plastic one from the regular store, we bought him a metal one they were selling at a costume shop instead. It's a real working cap gun and reminds me of the old metal 6-shooter I used to tote around when I was a little girl. Carson is gaga over this gun- he thinks the fact that it is metal instead of plastic is SO special, and has carried it with him everywhere we have gone since he got it. A brand new realistic 6-shooter and a bucket o' candy.... what more reason does a little cowboy need to be very happy?

Musical Theater, Shakespeare, and... Manure???

Only in Utah could a field trip include all of these!

Monday morning we left for St. George at 9am. We checked into our room and spent a couple of hours at the pool before getting cleaned up for the evening's big event- The Little Mermaid at Tuachan!

We arrived at the red-rock ampitheater at 5 o'clock where we were wisked throughout the backstage area on a private tour. Photo ops everywhere as we saw the cast member's lounge, the costume design department, the make-up and dressing rooms, the tunnels that lead from stage left to stage right, and even got to see how they do their famous stage flooding!

Following the backstage tour we ate a dinner of pizza and Dr.Peppers at a picnic table then were entertained by a family of children violin players before finally being allowed back into the theater to take our seats for the show. We were SO excited; popcorn purchased and bundled up for the evening's chill in our jackets and blankets, the play began. We were in amazement and awe from scene one, act one until the standing ovation which met the final curtain call! The special effects were like nothing I had ever seen before, and being that I'm from Vegas and have seen more than a few shows on-strip, that is HUGE! Mine and Carson's favorite part was when prince Eric fell overboard from his ship, then sank down, down, down to the depths of the sea only to be rescued by the beautiful mermaid Ariel! Following the show were more photo-ops with key characters of the play including Sebastian, Ursula, Flounder, King Triton, and, of course, Prince Eric and Princess Ariel.

I didn't sleep hardly at all (as is usually custom for my first night in a new place) that night, so the next morning when the majority of the group set out for hiking and touring, Carson and I opted to stay behind at the hotel and do some "pool-school" along with Matt and Christine. Who does schoolwork while relaxing at the pool at a hotel!? Homeschoolers do! :)

Later that afternoon we caravaned north to Cedar City where we had dinner at a Mexican restaurant on Main Street- the BEST enchiladas verdes EVER, and don't even remind me of the stuffed churros! The only thing better than the food was the company we were in- Taylors, Morrises, Coombses, and Prescias, we love you!

Following dinner we headed to the Shakespeare Festival for the 7pm showing of A Winter's Tale. The play wasn't quite what Shakespeare wrote, but rather this director's spin on it. Although the dialog was period-correct, the costumes were not, and there was bare minimum done for stage dressing and props. This combination proved to be both confusing to me, boring to Carson, and overall disappointing to us both. I think that the next time I take him to see a Shakespearean play, he will be in middle or high school. Not everything can be perfect all the time though, right?

It was a very late night by the time we got back to St. George and got the boys in bed, and 5:30 am came early! We needed to be cleaned up, have breakfast and ready to go by 8am to make it out to the farm by 8:30. Once we arrived at Staheli Family Farm day 3 of our adventures began! Christine locked the keys in the van, we couldn't get it open (sorry to all the men who tried), and had to call the Washington Police to come open it for us. Much laughter and joking ensued, with our rescuer joining in, and once again, the Taylors, Morrises, Coombses, and Prescias proved that when we are all together there is never a dull moment! After I unsuccessfully tried to purchase the kind officer's car opening tools (for future use because this was Christine's second time in a week locking her keys in the van) we headed into town to get some lunch for our tiny farmers, all of whom were by that time, mucking stalls, riding horses, feeding the llamas and pigs, and watering chickens. When we had returned with and eaten our lunches we took a wagon ride across the street to the corn field which had been cut into an intricate maze where we turned and returned our way from beginning to end.

Christine, Matt, Carson and I returned to the hotel where we enjoyed the use of the pool for the next few hours before setting out to see the town of St. George. We wandered in the car back out toward Tuachan and into the next town, found a housing development way out in the desert with it's own fire department (where we briefly met a fireman... this makes one policeman and one fireman if you are keeping count) before navigating our way back into St. George for some Starbucks and dinner. We decided on Kneaders for our dinner, and the sandwich and soup (along with the coffee) were perfect to keep us alert for the drive back home.

What we gained: a love for musical theater and the desire to open a Kneaders here in Vegas!

Renaissance FUNstival!

It was mine and Carson's first time ever attending a Renaissance Festival. I knew the moment Carson found out he got to dress up for the event, that he was going to have a great day...
While the other kids in the group chose to go as ladies and queens, knights and kings, my son chose to go as Robin Hood. We had a talk about how Robin Hood is most known for how he stole from the rich and gave to the poor; it's seemingly romantic, but when it comes down to it, it's socialism... and theft, which is a violation of one of God's commandments. My parent-eyes are seeing lots of negative lessons being taught in glorifying manners in all medias, and while it irks me something fierce, I like the teaching opportunities that times like these provide. Carson has an extremely advanced way of rationalizing and is quick to recognize propaganda when he sees it, so talking about things like this is quite normal for us. With that in mind, I dubbed him "Carson of Locksley" instead!
We arrived at Silver Bowl Park just after 9am and waited for the last of our homeschool group to arrive before heading into the faire. Once we entered, the kids were met by a playful man who invited them to be participants in a show later that morning, but because of other shows we wanted to see, our kiddos missed being performers.
Our first show was a real jousting tournament, and Carson was in awe of the size of the clydesdale and shire horses being used for the event! Kristi and I planned on letting the kids ride them later in the day. Our knight, Sir William something-or-other, lost to the other side's knight, Sir Jacob blah-blah-blah, in a sudden-death laissez-faire round where Jacob sucker-hit William in the back before the jousting round even began, then WWF-styled him from atop his horse while William was on the ground. Oh well! Our side lost, but we got to see our knight and his horse up close after the show!
It was a quick walk from the jousting arena to the next show at Ceasar's, and the show had already started as we took our seats to watch. This was the show that the kids had been invited to participate in, but we couldn't possibly have gone to the renaissance FUNstival without attending a jousting tournament show! There was another group of kids participating instead, so we just sat and watched the slap-stick style show.
After Ceasar's, we headed on over to the giant pirate ship to watch Bird Recovery International's Pirate Parrot Show! This one was my favorite show. The birds were SOOO beautiful and colorful, and seeing them do fly-overs was absolutely magestic! Carson held up a dollar bill and one smaller bird landed on his arm, shimmied down to his hand, took the bill from his fingers, folded it twice, then flew the bill back up to the ship and put it in a jar! After the show we even got to hold a big, beautiful turquoise, yellow, and red parrot. It was awesome!
Lunchtime followed the bird show, so we spread our blankets under a big shade tree and ate a period-style lunch of turkey legs, corn-on-the cob, and grapes. The kids had slushy treats and played giant jenga with the king, his high priest and a couple of their friends afterward until it was time to hit the games!
They got to throw tomahawks where Carson hit two bullseyes! (watch out!) They battled a band of outlaws with foam swords and knives, tried on different pieces of armor and did a round of archery before we headed over to the camels for camel rides! It was $6/ person to ride the camel, but when will we ever get the opportunity to ride a camel again?! So the camel trumped the horse ride in priority! After the camel ride we hung out with different guilds. We watched a woman spin wool into thread, met her Newfoundland dog, and did some painting. Another guild was playing a knife-tossing game (crazy!) and allowed us to hang out with them, showing us an extensive collection of weaponry and armor, and teaching about each piece's use, and letting us handle them!

On our way to our final guild we stopped to buy the kids something special. for Carson that meant a mini marshmellow blowgun made from pvc pipe. Boy is that kid a great shot! We laughed so hard as the kids sneakily shot passersby with mallows then pretended nothing happened. The last guild we spent time with before heading home was that of a Venturers group (888) which was sponsored by a guild of Vikings! Our boys played bow & arrows and swords with their boys while we chatted about the scouting program and got some information from the Vikings for future use in our period studies. When their dinner arrived it was our cue to end our day and head home.
Once we were seatbelted into the car and heading out of the parking area (7:20pm), I heard Carson in the back seat turn to Matt and say, "Dude! We just had one of the most awesomest days EVER!" (Note to self: buy that grammar program), and Matt agreed!
I was truly a Renaissance FUNstival!!

　

Den 3 Crazies Camping @ Valley of Fire in the Summer!

The hot temperatures didn't deter Pete and Tim (our den leaders) from administering the program though. Shortly after breakfast on Saturday morning the men began debriefing the boys for their hike out in the hot, dry wilderness. They talked of the need to walk in a single-file line so as to leave the least amount of impact on the environment as possible and did equipment checks in addition to going over the rules for safety. (Note to self: I need to buy Carson a camelback with extra pockets to hold his first aid kit, compass, and mirror... oh, and I need to get him a personal first aid kit, compass and mirror... and while I'm at it, a wide-brimmed hat.) Perhaps I wasn't as prepared as I thought I was!

Tim took photos of each of the boys in this same spot while out on the hike. I love a fellow photo-enthusiast; I got some great photos without actually having to go hiking in my flip flops! (I forgot, of all things, my tennis shoes on this trip)!

In the mid-afternoon a storm came over the ridge east of our campsite, but the wind was headed north by northeast moving it fast enought that the cooling rain eluded us, but the wind did not; can you say sandblasted? Bent tent poles and sand in every nook and cranny of our bodies is what we were left with.

The passing storm above the firey rocks made for a beautiful sunset though, and we enjoyed the colorful show while preparing our hobo pack dinners, a staple of den 3 campouts!

A clear, star-studded night met us as we gathered around the campfire for smores and dutch oven cobbler for dessert just before a couple hours of story-telling, charades, and astronomy- horray for the show brought on by Venus! On Friday night when we were laying down to sleep, Carson and I both saw a bright flash of light streak across the sky. We thought it was a shooting star, but later learned it was a piece of the NASA satellite burning up as it entered the atmosphere.

Man do we love cub scout camping!

Bridging

As of tonight Carson is a first-year Webelo Scout. The bridging celebration was great; the good food and good friends made the 108 degree heat more bearable for sure! Carson's entire den, with the exception of one boy who is still undecided, has made the decision to stay with the program and continue on to the next step in scouting together. I am especially happy about this because Carson and the other boys get along so well and his leaders and the other parents are just good people that Craig and I have fun hanging out with. Hopefully the one boy ultimately decides to continue on as well- we would miss he and his family otherwise!

As a Bear Cub Scout Carson earned his Bobcat patch (this was his first year of scouting), his Bear rank patch, the Leave No Trace Awareness Award, the Cub Scout Outdoor Activity Award, a total of 8 arrow points (the first one gold and then seven subsequent silvers), 34 belt loops and 12 pins in addition to several other participation patches for events like Scouting for Food, the Pinewood Derby, and Cub Scout Expo. For anyone who is familiar with scouting you know these are awesome numbers!

Congratulations to our son, you should be proud of your hard work and accomplishments! We are so excited to see what this next year will bring!

Social Slate

Social activities for Carson have been at the forefront of my mind and the focus of most of my laptop time this past week. I have learned about SOOO many options available for him! Aside from the field trips, co-op classes, and PE days with Joyful Journey Homeschool Group here's what's up for consideration:

Cubscouts is a MUST! He will be bridging to a Webelo tonight, and I am very excited for all of the new adventures this year will bring him and our family! Pack 500 is where we will be staying as he likes the friends he's made there, and this association will allow us to continue to develop those friendships. Also, I am the pack treasurer and you know I can't very well abandon that post- I'm a service addict, I think.

Another friend of mine, Heather McDonald, is a homeschooler but is not affiliated with JJourney, but rather Las Vegas Home School Group, a homeschooling support group, or playgroup as she calls it. They have fun activities like ice skating, parties, and a No-girls-allowed Boys Club!

My friend Joy Stalians, mother of a fellow den member of Carson's, has the inside scoop on chess club and tournaments and has agreed to let me know when they get going again for the fall. Carson began playing chess in Chess Club during first grade. He has only played with his dad and online so far, so I'm excited for his first tournament experience!

JJourney also gets phenominal rates for swim lessons @ Water Wings Swim School. Lessons will begin in January and go through April or May.

My freind and fellow JJourney member, Christine Taylor, has her son taking MMA classes (Mixed Martial Arts) from Rodrigo Artilheiro of Extreme Couture. He does the classes at Calvary Chapel Spring Valley.

A former co-worker of mine from INO 204, Amy Manness, has her children involved in theater through Rainbow Company Theater. I am considering getting Carson involved in this because he LOVES to perform.

This is all that I have found so far through connections that I already have, however, I'm still open to other suggestions. My greatest focus in the area of socialization is to make sure that Carson is 1. doing things he loves to do and can become passionate about the more he becomes involved in it, and 2. interacting with different groups of people from different backgrounds and with different interests. The purpose of this would be to recreate the exposure to diversity that you assuredly get within the public school system. It is important to me that Carson be rooted in his own culture and beliefs, but know how to interact with others from all backgrounds, cultures, and belief systems in the hopes that he will choose to be an apologetic to Christ.

Decision Made

After many hours of thought, prayer, consideration, weighing options, listing pros and cons, and talking with MANY different people about it, I have decided to opt Carson out of public education and homeschool him. In reality, I am SO excited for what is to come for him! I am currently propped on my king-size bed surrounded by curriculum books, bibles (different translations), curriculum catalog, accordian files, notebooks, sticky notes.... and I know my pencil is here somewhere! I have already decided what curriculum I will use for each subject, but am wading through it preparing myself for what is to come. I'm making a list of things I need to buy (some supplies and more curriculum programs), and searching the internet for the greatest deal- of course!

Here's what's in store for Carson for the 4th grade: For his core he will be following the My Father's World curriculum, a Christian-based program that encompasses Bible, Reading, Geography, and Science (although he loves science, so we will be supplementing with Apologia's Exploring Creation with Zoology 3: Land Animals of the Sixth Day). We will be using Math U See for Mathematics, and The Phonics Road to Reading & Writing for Spelling, Grammar, Writing, and more Reading as well as using Rosetta Stone's language development program for Spanish. We will be joining Joyful Journey Homeschool group, a group of like-minded Christian parents and children, and I cannot wait for the annual school year planning retreat in a couple of weeks! For socialization (as I'm sure some of you are really concerned about right now) we will meet with the homeschool group (about 40+ kids) twice weekly for group classes (to be planned at the retreat) and for Physical Education and feild trip Fridays! Additionally, Carson will continue his involvement in Cub Scouts as he advances in rank to a Webelo. I have opted to keep him in Pack 500, the pack from the area we used to live in, in the Northwest, which we'll travel to 4-7 times per month. Additionally, our homeschool group gets fantastic rates on swim lessons (once/week from about January through Aprilish?), and he is currently considering what classes he would like to take at the community center up the road from our house (although Thai Kwon Do is at the forefront of his mind at the moment)! So, lots of learning to be had (at his own pace and from the level that he is at I'll add :) ) and lots of opportunity for being the wonderfully social 9-year old we all know him to be!

I know that this decision is leaving some of you scratching your heads right about now, so let me just say this: I love you and I'm already aware of your opinions regarding homeschooling, and although I value you, you are not the sole weight in my consideration. As I stated in the beginning, much consideration for the needs of my profoundly gifted son, much weighing of the pros and cons related to lifestyle, time, money, social exposure, etc, and much quiet prayer were spent prior to coming to this decision.

The CCSD has failed to provide the level of education my son needs, and it is shameful like denying a special needs child their remedial education services would be. Our nation has it backward: catering to the less-than-status-quo while the remainder are left to their own accord. Carson was "so bored!" for the majority of his classroom time for the past 3 years. He stated as a first grader, "Going to school is a waste of my glorious days."

While in the car on our way home he would tell of his typical school day: "We waited for everyone to get ready for the day, then the teacher taught and I understood and just tuned her out while she explained it again so I could do my work. When I was done though, I got bored because most of the rest of the class was doing their work, and the rest of them were still trying to get it while the teacher explained it AGAIN! I didn't have anything else to do then, so I just took out my markers and stuff and started drawing until it was time to go to lunch. After lunch we had a little bit of recess then went to library, and then in the afternoon I went to GATE. Oh, here's the papers I have to do for [additional] homework because I missed them while I was in GATE [doing other awesome studies because I'm a smart kid who is rewarded for his good job and effort with.... more work]. Momma, can I have a snack when we get home?"

I grew tired of hearing this same story, knowing he wasn't reaching his potential, and I know that he will be all but bored with what I have planned for him now- although recess at the park across the street from our house is on the agenda, as are library days... and maybe even doing school in the park! The possibilities are seemingly endless, and I am EXCITED for each and every adventure, challenge, and opportunity this decision will bring to us! Perhaps we could start early and have our first day at the pool... I could take his materials in a backpack, pack a lunch in the cooler, and we could sit by the pool and do school, taking "recesses" in the pool- I could call it PoolSchool! :)

A New Consideration

I registered Carson for the fourth grade at Bonner Elementary School across the street from our new house on the Friday after school let out for the 2010-11 school year. I gave completed all of the forms required, provided proof of address, and even wrote a formal request that Carson be evaluated for the Pofoundly Gifted Program allowed for under federal law, but seemingly, Clark County School District's secret red-headed step-child. If Carson qualifies for this program, he will, for the rest of his life in the public education system, for special accomodations regarding his curriculum (much like those accomodations required for a special needs child). Cason will be observed in the classroom and on the playground, he'll undergo academic testing including I.Q. testing, and will be evaluated by a CCSD psychologist who will ultimately have the decision as to whether or not my son, the one you all know to be extremely intelligent and advanced, will "qualify" for this federal program. Sounds great, right?

Not so much to me. I know that CCSD is BROKE. They have no money for funding of standard curriculum, let alone that for things considered extra-curricular. Last spring when I visited different schools in the Summerlin area, trying to decide which one would be the best for Carson, so that we could move into their zone, I inquired about this program. Most of the people I spoke with in the front offices immediately began talking to me about the GATE program, a pull-out style, supplementary program offered to qualified CCSD students beginning in grade 3. Carson was in GATE at Kitty Ward last year and did very well, but it is NOT the same as the Profoundly Gifted Program that noone seems willing to even acknowledge. Pulling my child out of his regular class for a collaborative class of supplementary learning (he has to make up all work missed in his regular class on his own time) is NOT the same as differentiating his curriculum so that he can study the same topics but with greater depth, accounting for his ability to comprehend and apply much quicker than his average peer. When Carson was tested for GATE at the beginning of 3rd grade, he scored in the 99th percentile! That means he is 99th out of 100 of those tested- and they only test those kids that could qualify!

So.... with all this weighing on my mind, I enrolled him in Bonner, hoping for the best, and after a brief consideration of returning to homeschooling. I want him to have all the social experiences of attending a school. But how badly do I want them?

My decision has been weighing on me a lot lately, and so when his classroom assignment for his new school failed to come in the mail this past month, and I kept getting phone calls from the automated dialer at his old school, I began to suspect that his records were not transferred to his new school, and therefore, he is not yet registered there. I'm wondering, is the Lord trying to tell my thick-headed self something here? Then, my friend text messages me, inviting me to the homeschool group open house last Tuesday evening. I can't believe she is inviting me even though she already knows I registered Carson for public school. She later tells me that it was something she did because God had impressed it upon her heart to do. Hmmm...

I plan on not attending and just blowing her off- in fact, I don't even have our car to get there if I want to. At the last minute I call another friend (whose schedule is usually SOOO busy you can't imagine) and ask her if I can ride along with her, oh, and I need her husband to watch Carson while I go because Craig is at work. Like a perfectly orchestrated piece of music, she is already near my house and comes to pick us up within 5 minutes. We go back to her house where dinner and dessert are already plated for the two of us, as we have 30 min to eat dinner and get to the meeting. I am amazed.

At the meeting I hear a lot of good stuff. I get to know the My Father's World, Christian curriculum this group uses for their core, get all my questions answered, and even learn that someone has a curriculum set I can borrow to help keep costs down. All I need to purchase are the consumables, which are then circled for me in a curriculum catalog. I even talk with another on-the-fence working mom, this one single, about how we will be able to manage doing this while working. She discusses helping me find a higher paying job so that I don't have to work as many hours. I am wowed.

Over the past few days I have given Carson a couple of subject-specific placement tests (that I tell him aren't tests; "Just answer each question the best that you can," I tell him.) He has assesed to the mid-fourth grade in math and the sixth month of fifth grade in spelling. He and I have a frank discussion about what these scores mean. He is convinced, like me, that we should be homeschooling.... if we only consider the academic angles. However, there are social angles to attending school also. Which leads me, circumvent, to the question I asked in the beginning. To what degree of importance do I hold the social aspect of learning in school compared to that of the more obvious academic aspect?

The back-and-forth within me continues as I consider our options, and as the timeclock to final committment counts down. Please pray for me, that I will make the right decision for my son, that he be put on the path in life the Lord intends for him.

Your thoughts?

Fasting

My heart is sad, hopeful, faithful, and breaking all in one today. I have been fasting for my friend Anita's sister-in-law, something I've never done for anyone before, but in knowing her story, felt compelled to do in service for her to Him. She is battling for her life against Aplastic Anemia, which ironically, was an immune system reaction in response to her being pregnant with her first child. This is not the kind of anemia that can be made better by taking an iron supplement, and since it didn't go away after the birth of her son, Kellan, on March 22nd of this year, the treatment is dire, and the prognosis 50-50 for survival factoring in her age. For the past nine days Andrya has undergone chemotherapy in preparation for a bone marrow transplant which took place today.

Andrya does not know Jesus as her savior, and neither does her husband, Ryan, who is currently enlisted in the United States Navy and stationed in Hawaii. Andrya is in need of 24-hour care, and Kellan's need for care is obvious for anyone of us who has had a four-month old infant. Because of Ryan's commitment to serve our country he is unable to provide this care himself, and subsequently, Andrya and Kellan have recently had to move in with Ryan's and Anita's parents in Kansas City, Missouri. They, along with my beautiful friend, will be providing this care.

The next 100 days of Andrea's life are critical. They will determine whether or not the transplant is successful and Andrya will get to be the one to raise Kellan, or if Ryan will become a widower. Because of the suppression of her immune system, and that required to allow the transplant to take, Andrya must live in a sterile environment, and is unable to even hold Kellan. My motherly heart is breaking for her inability to hold and soothe her baby, as doing so would risk infection that could kill her.

Thousands of miles from the love of her life, her husband, Ryan, Andrya is living with her in-laws, fully-reliant on their care for both herself and for her infant son, whom she cannot have physical contact with, enduring horrifically-painful procedures which bring blinding headaches and mouth sores, but are her only chance at survival.

I am moved to tears as I tell her story, and pray with all that I have in me that the Lord will show His mercy on her, allowing her to see her son grow as I get to see mine, something I feel today like I am taking for granted. I pray that Andrya will open the door to her heart as the Lord continues to knock- patiently, lovingly. I pray for His grace upon Anita and her parents as they painfully watch Andrya fight for her life, only being able to help her by lovingly praying and caring for she and Kellan.

I am putting together a ladies night where I will host a card-making session in Andrya's honor. We will snack, enjoy our friendships, pray for Andrya, Ryan and the entire DeGhelder family, and make homemade cards which I will send to Andrya throughout what I hope is her successful recovery. My goal in doing this is to bombard Andrya with Christ's love in hopes that she will come to accept Jesus as her Lord and Savior. The most compelling reason for my involvement in this is to bring someone who is mortally ill to Christ, that if His plan is for her to leave her husband and baby son behind, she will not suffer eternally, but live instead in the God's kingdom.

Please check back with me here or on Facebook for the date and time for this event, and if you are out-of-town and want to help, please contact me for options other than taking a road-trip to Vegas (although you know I'd love that too)!

If you are a prayerful person, saved by the Lord Jesus Christ, please inculde these people in your prayers. If you are prayerful and not saved (as I have lived out the majority of my life) pray for yourself along with this family. If you are neither saved nor prayerful, consider your own mortality and pray for salvation. I love each of you more than I've probably ever told you, and the thought of death coming for you before you are in His grace brings panic to body's core like watching a car nearly run down my son in a crosswalk after school a couple of months ago did. Thank you all so much for taking the time to follow our blog and keep up with what's going on in our lives. Your friendship and love is everything to us.

Halfway to Manhood

Carson- 6 weeks

Bittersweet. That is how I am feeling about Carson turning 9 yesterday. I am blessed to be his mom, to watch him grow, to see the awesome man he will be developing. I am sad because it is half over. My job is 50% complete, and before I know it, he will be off on his own, making his own life's adventures. I LOVE my time with him, and cherish even the seemingly insignificant moments we have together. I thoroughly enjoy our long conversations in the car about everything from super heroes to global politics; my son is intelligent an well-rounded. I cannot for the life of me recall what I used to do with all of my time before he came into my life, and I surely have never felt such instant and unconditional love for someone as I did when I held him in my arms for the first time 9 years ago yesterday. For my sweet, half-grown son I pray: Lord, bless my son with wisdom to seek council in You, faith in the path that You put before him, strength to follow it, courage to stand against anyone who would try to dissuade him from it, and love for him to give others for Your glory. Amen. Happy 9th birthday, Carson! Mommy and Daddy love you!

A Gravy Boat Kind of Love

My favorite sister came over yesterday after she got off work before going home to her family late last night just to help me put some things together in our house. We got some things in Carson's room and in the common bathroom hung up, and managed to put more things away in my kitchen, making it almost fit for company. She has such a great eye for placement and accessorizing, decorating and organizing! In addition to all the great ideas she gave me, I got some advice and encouragement on how to stay focused on my tasks and to not allow myself to become distracted by other things that need doing- something I struggle with when there is an overwhelming number of things to get done!

When my grandmother passed away over 10 years ago now, I was given a few of her things for my home, one of which was a beautiful white gravy boat. I love it's classicly elegant design, and was able to enjoy it's use on special occaisions for a few years before my keen-eyed hubby noticed a loooong hairline crack in it on Thanksgiving almost four years ago. He informed me that we couldn't continue using it, or the temperature of it's contents would make the cracking worse. I was sad that I couldn't include her gravy boat in the entourage of platters and serveware I put out for the meal, and thinking it ruined, I cried.

Craig comforted and hugged me, promising that we would get it fixed. (God I love that man!) After wiping my tears we found another dish for the gravy, ate our Thanksgiving dinner, and carefully put the gravy boat somewhere it would be safe from disturbance, by itself on the top shelf of a cabinet, until we would take it somewhere for repair.

There the gravy boat stayed undisturbed for nearly four years until my mom came over to help me pack for our latest move. We were packing my plates, platters, and serveware when my mom suggested I put the gravy boat in a box with some other things. I explained to her that it was cracked and shouldn't be packed with anything else- I wanted it double bubble-wrapped and packed securely into it's own small box. My mom placated me, wrapping it twice lovingly and gently placing it into a samll box, even packing more bubble wrap around it in the crevices of the box. She labeled the box "G.G.B. FRAGILE" on all sides with our fat moving marker so that everyone in the family would know to be extra careful with that box because it contained "Grandma's Gravy Boat". The box rode in the car with me for the drive to the new house. Ridiculous? Yes, but sometimes that's me- over the top. I didn't want anything more to happen to it!

Last night my sister asked what was in that box and when I told her, she informed me that there is no way to fix it and that I need to just throw it out. I got teary-eyed again, and she told me,"I know how you feel. I broke one of her dishes too, and I even cried about it after I did it, but it's not your grandma, it's a gravy boat," and while I agreed with her and put it next to the trash can to be taken out, this morning I am feeling gravy boat remorse. I'm starting to consider how I will feel if I throw it away and then learn that it could have been repaired. Afterall, I remember the day she broke her dish, and I remember Michael and my mom comforting her, with the same words, like Craig had comforted me. BUT.... her dish was actually broken in two, and mine has just a hairline crack. (Listen to me justify my inability to let it go). Maybe mine CAN be repaired! Does anyone know? I need to ask around and do a little research before I decide to throw it away.

Scrapbook Room to my Rescue!

I unpacked those two straggler kitchen boxes only to discover two more! I swear that the Sadistic Fairy is repacking our crap while I'm asleep! I found a place for all my serveware, which turned out to be harder task than I last expressed. I opted out of using the tops of the cabinetry for now due to the layer of grease on top of them. The weirdos must have fried everything they ever ate in this house! It's nasty up there, and I will soon get up there with some industrial-strength degreaser and my purple super-mommywife gloves and clean it all up... just not this day. I found solace from the kitchen's greasy goop that threatened to ruin my day by unpacking some of my scrapbook stuff and designing a schematic for the room. I also made a list of things I need to purchase to bring this schematic to life- but of course I'll have to do that a little at a time. I am thinking that tonight I will finish the front room, furniture moving and all- a tall order considering I haven't started dinner yet, and I'm not even sure what's inside the boxes in there!

Bothersome Unpacking Plateau

This has, by far, been the most inefficient of our moves!

Week one was spent waiting around for repairmen to show up to fix things that should have been repaired when the house was turned. I.e. the garage door, dishwasher, garbage disposal, front porch light, a/c intake, leaky faucet, leakier bathtub, and the service door to the garage! *** note that as of this week we have added automatic sprinklers to this distinguished list.

Week two equalled more of that same waiting along with enjoying the company of Big Mike as he selflessly spent hours away from his family to design and install shelving in my walk-in pantry. By the way, who takes the shelves out of the pantry when they move out?? Weirdos. This task proved to be a struggle, and not just because the pantry is pentagonal-shaped with no two walls or angles being equal, but because none of the walls in this house are straight. We resorted to making templates for each piece of each shelf out of all the cardboard I have laying around (Lord knows there are a lot of boxes here!) as not to waste any of our materials ($112 @ Lowes, not including finishing product like calking, paint, and painting supplies).

I have thusfar managed to unpack the majority of the boxes. I am struggling with where to put things away, because as you know, I like everything to have a place! I'm thinking the last two remaining boxes of kitchen stuff need to be emptied tonight! Perhaps the tops of the cabinetry would make a lovely new home for all the large serveware pieces I have that I can't get rid of because we use them a few times a year? Yes, serveware up there... and maybe some greenery to soften the look. Organizing the pot lids and tupperware would be the next great necessity in that room along with that hodgepodge kitchen box that's still sitting in the front room- which is where I happened upon the salt shaker the other day- :) !

There should be a professional service or coach for this unpacking plateau I've reached!

I need to finish Carson's room too. Mostly just hanging decor on the walls, and dressing his top bunk.

Mine and Craig's room has a couple of straggling boxes that need unpacking too.

My scrapbook room? Don't ask; I've resorted to just closing the door on it this week!

A Happy 4th

The 4th of July is one of our family's favorite holidays. We are so proud to be Americans, and love the principles America was founded upon! This year the approaching holiday was semi-anti-climatic because of last years amazingly adventurous Boston trip! It turned out pretty good though.
We began our day rising very early to stake our claim along the Summerlin Parade route. Luckily for us our good friend Lisa scoped some real estate for us very late the night before, because apparently arriving on scene at 7:30 am for a 9am parade is not early enough! (Thanks, Lisa, for your foresight!)
I grew up watching 4th of July parades in the small towns throughout central Utah. There, salt-water taffy was thrown from the tractor-pulled, glittering floats carrying beauty queens, town dignitaries and High School football teams. The fire department, police, and local Dairy Freeze owner marched too, and everyone in the county came out to watch. Although it lacked that comforting, small-town feel, this parade had some pretty cool floats in it, along with a whole slew of Star Wars characters, giant character balloons, and the obligatory marching band and dance groups. My favorite was the families of fallen soldiers marching and carrying life-size bust portraits of their loved ones wearing t-shirts that said, "Freedom Isn't Free". That is one of my favorite sayings and seeing their faces, as the crowd giving them a standing ovation as they marched past, brought tears to my eyes. THAT is the kind of stuff I love about my country!
After making our way home from the parade, Craig and I began the time-consuming task of preparing the Greatest Potato Salad in the World, which we had committed to bringing along with us to Amy and Mike's house later that night. Next Craig went to work to push payroll, while Carson and I watched a nature special about sharks! When Craig got home we all took a long afternoon nap before waking up and heading out to Amy and Mike's for the bbq.
At Amy and Mike's house we bbq'd steaks, ate dessert, and watched the firework show put on by Alliante Casino. It was a phenomenal view of a really good firework show; Amy and Mike's backyard backs up to the field right across the street from Alliante, which is where the pyrotechnicians staged the explosive boxes! We had to lay back and look up to see the show, and it was as if the fireworks were raining down over us! We got to chat with some good friends for a while afterward before calling it a night around 11pm.
It was a perfect, low-key, family 4th- hope yours was equally enjoyable!

Househunters

We are looking to move from our current home. Our landlord has listed our house on Rustic Charm Court for sale (and he's willing to take ANYTHING to unload it for anyone interested in buying in this area), and we are moving out as soon as we can find our next home! We are looking in the same area we live in now (Grand Teton between Decatur and Bradley) and also in Summerlin so that we can be closer to Craig's work and save some $$ on gas! (I vote this one! I vote this one!)
Our number one priority, of course, is our kids. We want them both to go to great schools as they are both high achievers! (We're so proud!) Adrianna is currently a freshman in high school, in the honors program and would love to be able to continue to study Italian as her choice foreign language. Carson is... prodigious, and needs a school that can differentiate his curriculum. He is passionate and "naturally gifted" in art as his teacher tells me, and would love to be able to continue to study all mediums of art intensively. Both Adri and Carson are on-board to move, which makes our decision to consider getting closer to Craig's restaurant easier.
We are looking to spend in the neighborhood of $1500-1700/mo. in Summerlin (although less would be AWESOME!) and 1200-1400 in the northwest, have 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms with a loft/ den, or 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. Snuggles and Latte (Adri's cat and our dog) are part of the package also, so we need pet-friendly.
If you or someone you know is looking to lease their home to a great family, please let me know!

How do you get out of a crisis? One step at a time.

The following are posts that I published on my Facebook page yesterday afternoon after returning home from a meeting of concerned parents whose children attend Carson's school. Our kids took these CRT tests in February, so essentially Carson has already been tested for his 3rd grade level "proficiency" as they call it in Middle and High Schools. As his parent, I cannot request that he be given the opportunity to retake the test at a later date if he/I are not satisfied with his results. In Nevada you are only allowed to test once, and that score becomes part of your permanent record, following you the remainder of your schooling career. That said, I am disheartened that our Nevada state legislators would have "set Nevada up for failure" in regards to achieving AYP status in our schools, making us eligible for more federal monies for education. I have chosen to become an activist in this grass-roots campaign to change Nevada laws because Nevada has been my home for over half of my life, and I would love to continue to live here, but the enticement of better schools elsewhere has me anxious to move away. If people begin to move out of Nevada the tax base we currently have would be reduced, forcing us to make even deeper cuts to education, infrastructure, and other public services. A good school system attracts people who want to raise families (just look at Texas' growth), and as Nevada is already one of the friendliest states for corporate development, improving our national education ranking would make us the obvious choice when people are faced with the decision of where to move and base their companies/ families. I don't believe Nevada is 49th, but that we are victims (as are our children) of a state government that has made the wrong decision for us. I believe that if our children were given the opportunity to test later in the year (after more than 2/3 of the material has been taught), and if Nevada chose to score their subgroups the way other states do, we would rank WAY better in education- maybe even near the top! I have spent a lot of time in the classroom volunteering and interacting with the students over the past 2 1/2 years and am fully confident that our kids are bright, insightful, inventive, creative, problem solvers, and they only want the best opportunity for success. That said, please read my posts and leave a comment, or if you are a fellow Nevadan, contact one of our representatives immediately! Thanks, and love to you all!

My first post about when the CRT tests are administered:
Ever wonder why Nevada places 49th in education??? How is it possible that there's only one state that's dumber than us!? Well, I'd bet we're not... as you know there are 180 days in the school year. The CRT (Criterion-Referenced Test) assesses mastery of standards taught in that 180 days, yet current Nevada mandates require our district to complete the tests within 120 days of school. What exactly does this mean? Imagine being a college student who has to take your final exam prior to having been taught 1/3 of the material the test covers- stressful and unfair? Yes! Now imagine that injustice happening to your child or to your neice or nephew. It is, right now in CCSD. The only way to change this is to convince our legislators to remove the 120-day deadline, or extend it to 140 or 160 days. The legislature is currently in session and will not be again until 2013, so I urge you to contact either your school's legislative representative or one of my school's representatives.
Scott Hammond shammond@asm.state.nv.us
Elizabeth Halseth ehalseth@sen.state.nv.us
Be sure to remind them that reelections are just around the corner, and you feel that better quality schools would entice more people to want to move to and continue living in Nevada, therefore increasing our state's tax base, and helping with our current financial crisis.

My post about how Nevada scores it's results compared to other states:
Nevada schools are getting a bad rapp due to incomsistencies in the CRT/ Proficiency testing administration as well as scoring. Nevada law requires our schools to have subgroups (groupings of children based upon one of eight factors including race, special education needs, free/reduced lunch recipient, and socioeconomic status among other things) of 25 whereas other states operate with subgroups of 50-150 students. What this means is that when a particular school does not have enough students that fall within one particular subgroup, that subgroup's scores do not have to be counted toward the total scoring of that school. For example, if there are 68 free/reduced lunch students in a school here in Nevada, with our subgroup of 25, those scores would all be counted. However, if another state whose subgroup count is 100 also has 68 students receiving free/reduced lunches, they do not have to count their test scores, thereby making it easier for their school to meet AYP standards and receive federal grant money. Like most systems established by our government, this one, too, is broken. Operating under this understanding, you can begin to see why it is nearly impossible to accurately compare the educational systems of one state to another. It's apples to oranges. The state legislature is the one responsible for setting these guidelines (not the school district as most believe), so the only real way to ensure that Nevada gets it's greatest shot at qualifying for federal monies that are awarded based upon testing performance, is to ensure that our legislators understand that we want our states guidelines overhauled IMMEDIATELY!!! Stop complaining about the lack of quality education here in Clark County and do something about it! (Here's the part where you open another browser window, sign into your email and write a letter to your representative; if you don't know who yours is, write to mine!)

Who loves their accountant???

We do! Jason Payan, C.P.A. @ Payan and Frost is awesome! Got the taxes done and e-filed yesterday for FREE because we're such great clients! Seriously though, if you are looking for someone to look out for you, advise you, or just want piece of mind that things are done right (this is important) give his office a call.

It's getting there.... I think.

I became a bit frustrated by this process yesterday, and had to close it up. This morning I thought I 'd give it another 10 minutes of my time (it's been 20). I haven't yet figured out how to be able to tag my photos with journaling, and mostly I was just playing around with layout when I uploaded the two photos above, both of which were taken last month on our Disneyland trip. (see my incredibly-creative sister's blog, Canter Chronicles (private), for a more detailed recap of our trip.

Today's activities include school for Carson and Adri, and work for Craig and I along with an appointment with our accountant- don't we all just LOVE tax-time?! Not very interesting, but the day is still young.

Carson's Current Joke: "What has two banks and no money?"
I was about to answer "the Jones family", but thought better of stealing his spotlight, so instead, opted for an "I don't know."
"A RIVER!" he exclaimed, obviously proud that he'd stumped me!
(Man, I sure do love that boy!)

Will I EVER get this set up?

I woke up this morning and for some reason thought it would be a brilliant idea to create a blogspot for my family. My intention is for close friends and family members to have a place where they can "Keep Up With The Joneses" because although my Facebook profile is private, not all 250+ friends need or want to be able to view all these photos and stories. Mine and Craig's families and friends are scattered around the country, and I thought this would be a great tool for everyone to become involved in our life in the hopes that we can grow closer/ stay close (whichever catergory you fall into).
Our life is an interesting one- full of humor, love, challenge,.... all the same things that are in your life, but I hope you choose to save our site to your favorites and check in with us from time to time anyway. Feel free to comment on our posts and photos!
We love you all, and want to simply say:
Welcome to our life!