Metal Mouth #3

Our orthodontist can now take another vacation!  Mike had braces, Juliet had multiple appliances in her mouth, including braces, and it is now Mia's turn!  She will be having a bridge expander put in today.  She has a narrow mouth, therefore not enough room for all of her teeth!  This is just the beginning for her too.  I don't know if she'll need braces one day or not, but this is where we start.  It's called a Palatal Expander and looks like this:

We have to turn a tiny thing in the middle every day so that it gradually expands her palate, creating much more room in her mouth.  Juliet started out with one of these and it made a tremendous difference.  It changed the entire shape of her mouth.  Amazing!

We have started orthodontics early with our girls because I don't want them to ever be insecure about their smiles.  We could have easily waited for both of them to be in jr high or high school to start on restructuring their mouths, but why wait?  It was not going to get any better by waiting, so we have chosen to be on the proactive side with this. 

Teaching Courage

I have posted in the past about how much Cal fears the dark and being alone.  He has mastered this at times with many different techniques.  However, it seems that as soon as he's mastered it, he comes to a situation where he gets scared again, and we begin the battle again.  Currently, we're in the, "I just don't want to be in my room alone" phase all over.  So as to conquer it, each time he goes in there alone, he chants, "I will not fear." over and over again.  It breaks my heart that he battles fear.  But it also makes my heart smile when I hear him chanting this statement.

We are trying to instill in him the message of Psalm 27.  "The Lord is my light and my salvation - whom shall I fear?  The Lord is the stronghold of my life - of whom shall I be afraid?  When evil men advance against me to devour my flesh, when my enemies and my foes attack me, they will stumble and fall.  Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then will I be confident."

I was chatting with a friend the other day and we were sharing similar stories.  Her son is just a few months younger than Cal and they have become friends in their class at church.  She was sharing with me that maybe one day our boys are going to have to display a tremendous amount of courage.  One day they may come up against things (I believe things in the spiritual realm) and they will need God's strength and power to display Godly courage.  This is our job as parents.  To equip them.  To ready them for what God has for them.  Not only things of this world, but things not of this world too.

Therefore, something that can be so irritating at times, like "I just don't want to go in my room alone" is something way bigger than just that.  We must prepare our children so they can stand firm in their faith and walk without fear.  We are teaching Calvin to trust that Jesus is for him, and anything "scary" in his room must flee at the light that he carries with him into any room.  Jesus' light.

Card-Jitsu

This is our latest game.  My kids love to play Club Penguin online.  And since Calvin is so into it, he got some cards for his birthday last spring and we've been playing ever since.  We don't pay attention to the "powers" that each card can hold, we just play it like you do online.  It's like Rock, Paper, Scissors.  Fire beats snow, snow beats water, water beats fire.  The numbers come to play if you happen to play the same card as your opponent.  The lower number wins.  It is amazing to me how Cal has all this memorized.  As I played with him today, I realized he totally grasps more than and less than.  This is a concept I teach in Kindergarten and many kids take a long time to understand.  Maybe I could start using these in the classroom!  HA

My new Fav

Have you seen or tried these?

I bought them with a great coupon a few months ago.  Got 3 of them for FREE and now I use them with every load.  I use them instead of the liquid fabric softener I used to use.  LOVE them!

1....2.....3...

AMBUSH!!

Feel the Love

I opened the mail yesterday to find a graduation announcement from a former 3rd grader.  I had this girl, then her sister, then more recently, her step brother in Kindergarten.  It is truly a special thing when you are able to teach siblings.  It feels like your best teaching was recognized enough for the parents to approve of you teaching their other children.  It is an amazingly accomplished feeling.  THEN, when they take the time to include you on their graduation announcement list, feels like love.

But the part that has made me feel even more important, is the little note she wrote on the outside of the envelope, "You were always my favorite teacher." 

Now she could have written that on each of the announcements she sent to her teachers, but I don't care.  I spent 180 days teaching this girl and she took one day to tell me I was her favorite.  She made my day.

I do miss teaching.  I don't miss the politics and the drama of education, but I miss the kids.  I miss my opportunity to show them love.  I miss the time I get to learn about them and their learning styles so I can teach them in the best way they learn.  I miss the individual children.  They are why teachers teach.  That, and not much more.

Thank you for the announcement!  HUGE congratulations on your graduation!  I couldn't be more proud!

Super Family Fun Day!!

We decided to go away for a night for Mike's birthday this year. 

He had the weekend off and we've been itchin' for the ocean.  I found a really good deal at a hotel right on the beach.  It was literally STEPS from the beach.  We played in the sand for a while.

 Then fully enjoyed a walk around Canary Rd until we settled on dinner at Bubba Gump! (You know, Forest Gump and his buddy Bubba)

 Mike and I had made a stop here on our Honeymoon and haven't been back since.  It was fun to think how much life has changed in the 14 years since we had been there last!  We enjoyed our ice cream from a shop on the row and then had fun falling asleep while listening to the powerful waves.

We went to the Aquarium the next day and spent hours lazily wandering around looking at all the creatures.  My favorites were these sea dragons!

It was just what we needed.  It's been a while since we've had a Super Family Fun day to this extent!  And it was well worth it.  I'm ready to go back!  Who wants to join us?

What?!

He's supposed to be my baby? When did he get so big then?

And the Winner is...

JULIET!! With the great state of Idaho!

Each year the 5th grades have to do a state float for a parade at the end of the year. The teachers then vote on floats and award 1st, 2nd, & 3rd place for each class. I had no idea the teachers did this. When we showed up at Open House and saw the dozens of floats displayed, we were quite surprised to see a 1st place ribbon on Jewlz float! YAY!!

Desperate Times

We've been saving our silver for a loooooong time. We're not sure what we're saving for, but I decided it was time to count and roll all our coins. I don't have too many memories of my grandparents, but one thing I do remember, is counting, stacking, and rolling pennies. So that's how we spent our rainy Saturday afternoon. We ended with well over $200. Not too shabby!