I am so grateful for Mrs. Campbell. She has been Lindy's Kindergarten teacher this past year and she is a treasure! She has been teaching at Forest Park for quite some time now and is a legend in Nanaimo. I had no idea of this when I signed Lindy up at Forest Park and quietly requested her as her teacher because Lindy seemed to bond with her during the K interview.
The had their Kindergarten Graduation night last night and all I can say is, I am so grateful I went with my heart and chose Forest Park and asked for Mrs. Campbell. Lindy's class has been fantastic! She has made some lovely friends and I have made some amazing Mom friends too. How often does that happen???
Mrs. Campbell throughout the year goes above and beyond the call of teacher. She spends countless hours and days with her children on projects and gifts for them. For Christmas the kids brought home a plaque with their foot print on it (painted pink) and a homemade gift bag. For every holiday there was something sent home or done in class. For Mother's day I got a lovely necklace that Lindy made. For Father's Day Steve got a fish wind sock, beautiful artwork and "fish and chips". Last night they were given a diploma, grad hat, an amazing mobile filled with things that represent things they did this year and a huge scrapbook filled with all of their artwork and projects from the year.
Mrs. Campbell is a phenomenal teacher and I feel so blessed that she loves her kids so much and that Lindy got to be in her class this year. My heart swells and is filled with gratitude to know there are teachers out there that put that much work into their "job".
So at the last day of Kindergarten for Lindy, I am grateful for Mrs. Campbell and Forest Park Elementary!
Lindy's First Day of School, September 2010 outside of Forest Park Elementary
showing me her new Barbie Lunch kit, so exciting!
end of School, Mrs. Campbell and Lindy
my big Kindergarten Grad
the class getting ready to perform some music for us
Lindy getting her diploma
She was so cute, a little embarrassed by the attention but so excited!
getting her scrapbook
showing me all her work, she is so excited to go through it all with us!
the scrapbook Mobiles they made for the kids
The parents went together to get some groups gifts for Mrs. Campbell and her EA's
I love Music! I have always loved music. My Mom has told me that when I was little and eating I would be humming or singing little songs throughout the day. I connect with music and enjoy having it on in the car and at home. The girls love music too which I love because they are so, so cute when they sing songs or do a little dance. I appreciate so many choices for music too, whatever mood, there is something to go along with that. Sometimes if I'm feeling unmotivated to do something, I put on some tunes and I get myself going. Cleaning is so much more fun when you are doing it to "Single Ladies", "Hey Soul Sister", "Billie Jean" or "Bootylicious" (don't be too shocked!). The girls and I love to put on some music and dance, it is fun and we all laugh and love it!
Renae turned 1 last weekend (I'm a terrible Mom for not doing this sooner but seriously it's been busy around here!) so I am taking a minute now to express my love and share some pics from her birthday parties (she had 2 because she is so wonderful!) We celebrated with my side of the family on June 4 for Renae and Seth and then last weekend with Steve's family. I have decided now though I am only doing 1 party from now on because it is alot of work to do it twice (or 3 times which we did for Lindy one year).
I am so grateful for Renae. She is a light in my life and I feel very blessed that she is my daughter. Not only is she incredibly cute but she has a great sense of humor and is snuggly and sweet! She loves to play with her sisters, particularly if Nicole crawls around and they play chase games. Lindy and Nicole both love to crawl into her crib with her when they hear her wake up from a sleep, I love to hear them play nicely together!
Renae was actually quite sick this day so there weren't alot of smiles, but she did enjoy crawling around after the puppy!
Renae's went first for the pinata
then Nicole took a turn
and Lindy too!
Seth (May 28) and Renae (June 18) the Birthday Kids!
singing Happy Birthday
and done with singing Happy Birthday, poor thing but it was still a nice day :)
And then we did a celebration with the Hobbs family on June 19, she was in much better spirits for this day!
Yesterday marked the 1st day of summer (officially), so we did something summerish.
After school a bunch of us headed over to the Departure Bay Waterpark, so much fun! Even though it was NOT the hottest day of the year, the kids still had so much fun and the Moms got to visit and laugh. So yesterday I was totally grateful for alittle bit of sunshine and lots of fun for the kids at the waterpark!
Nicole and her bathing beauty friend Emily
Renae being creative to drink from her cup
Rachel took the next 4 pics, Renae crawled off and started splashing in the water, she was so happy I didn't want to stop it so we took pictures instead!
I am so grateful for the opportunities I have been giving to grow and improve myself. Everyday we have choices to make and a path to take. I am not perfect by any means and make mistakes and take the wrong path from time to time. There have been several things happening for me (in all different aspects of my life) and without going into detail I will just say that I am grateful for the refining process I experience. I have so much learning and growing to do, it's a good thing even though it sucks sometimes! I am grateful for a loving Heavenly Father who doesn't give me more then I can handle, just enough for me to grow and improve myself.
I AM NOT PREGNANT! Just wanted to put that out there. But Renae is turning 1 tomorrow and I've been reflecting on things as we tend to do at times. I am really grateful that I had the opportunity to be pregnant 3 times, carry all of them without problems, deliver all of them without problems (alot of pain) and not have any miscarriages. I know there are alot of women out there who aren't even able to get pregnant, have horrific morning sickness, have really long/hard labours, etc... I really can't complain. Of course I was super hormonal and sensitive for a year (yes more so then usual) but really that was the worst thing.
I feel so blessed to have 3 beautiful girls to call me Momma, I love them more then I can ever express!
I am so grateful for a new mattress. We have been sleeping on it for almost 3 weeks and I am quite enjoying it. Our whole marriage we have had hand me down mattresses (while very grateful to have a bed to sleep on, not the same as new) and I needed something different for my back. It took me almost 2 weeks to get used to it because it is firmer but I am enjoying it now. I am grateful that Steve worked up north for 3 weeks so we could finally afford a new mattress! It is higher then our old beds (it has the box spring) and Nicole can't climb in as easily too which is good because I would wake up in the night and wonder who the heck was in bed with us. So today I am grateful for our bed!
Despite last nights riot in Vancouver (come on seriously!) I am grateful I live in a beautiful country. I am grateful to be Canadian!!!
During the beginning of the game the national anthem was sung and standing there watching and singing along made me think out where I live. No where is perfect but living here is definitely a chosen place!
I am grateful to live where I can a raise a family, worship how I choose, have a voice and vote, where my husband can work to support our family, where I can see the ocean and the mountains when I turn around, I am so grateful to live in British Columbia, Canada!
At my PAC meeting last night we were discussing being a Canadian when traveling. When I was 19 I went over to England, Greece and Italy. I wore a flag on my bags and I let people know I was Canadian because we have a good reputation and people like us. It's okay that we are nice, apologetic and say "EH" because it's who we are :)
Nicole told me this is a sign for a room. The orange writing says "No one allowed in" and the purple writing says "You can come in" I love it!
I love, love, love my kids artwork! I enjoy watching them create and use their imaginations. I loved coloring and drawing when I was younger and I'm so happy that my girls do too! I know that Lindy will be coming home at the end of her Kindergarten year with a scrapbook of all of her work and I can't wait to see it. She does art in her show and tell book every week, it is awesome to see the progress that she has made in her writing and drawing. I need to scan some of the pictures but for now I'll share with you the picture she drew for her teacher Mrs. Campbell today.
Lindy's Artwork, June 14/11 - A rainbow with birds, bugs, and balloons
Lindy has been home from school since last Wednesday. Initially she had a fever and didn't feel like doing much except for lying in her bed or on the couch (not much energy). But yesterday she started to feel alittle better and wanted to play a game. I had picked up a Connect 4 game at the dollar store and we started to play. It is interesting and fun to teach my children the games I played when I was little. Sometimes I just think that they will know how to play but Steve and I are teaching them about strategy, looking ahead and healthy competition. She's only beat me a couple of times but we have had lots of fun playing together.
I just read my cousin-in-law-in-law's (I don't really know what to call him) blog and felt very humbled. Because I have been given much I too must give, we are so blessed!!!!
I have felt very frustrated the last couple of weeks for various reasons and I really needed something to get myself out of it. I think I found it in the form of this quote:
Generally speaking, the most miserable people I know are those who are obsessed with themselves; the happiest people I know are those who lose themselves in the service of others...By and large, I have come to see that if we complain about life, it is because we are thinking only of ourselves."
— Gordon B. Hinckley
I need to serve more. I need to occupy myself with more worthwhile goals and activities. I need to not worry about what other people think of me and worry about what Heavenly Father is expecting of me. I need to change for the better, increase my love for those around me and quit being a baby!
I so appreciate the way that some people can share their thoughts and feelings because you never know who might need to hear what you are sharing.
I am catching up on my gratefulness days because I was lame and then away for the day.
On Friday I was really grateful for HUGS. When I am feeling down or frustrated or really any kind of emotion I always appreciate a good hug. My Mom's hugs are the best. I have told her that her hugs are magical for me and melt all my cares away. She is a really good hugger! Now I have been training Steve in the ways of the hug but as hard as he tries, he just doesn't have the Mom touch (she has really good pillows). But still he knows when I need a hug, and I love it when he does! My girls also give really good hugs :)
On Saturday, I had the opportunity to go over to Vancouver with Dana and Melissa to see Wicked. (More on that after) But I was really grateful for was that I AM A GIRL!!!
What prompted this thought was traveling from Horseshoe Bay to Downtown Vancouver on a city transit bus and being surrounded by like 10 teenage/early 20ish boys. Now I like boys (I'm married to one) but these boys were stinky, greasy, they used some crude language, it didn't look like they had brushed their teeth and they were wearing ball hats and skater clothes. Now I don't mean to be unkind but I have little girls who one day will be teenagers and my thought as I was sitting there among them was that "I need to raise my girls so that they will NEVER bring home a boy like these! I just wanted to tell them that they need to clean up if they ever want to get a nice girl. I didn't actually say anything because I was kinda afraid of them, isn't that silly, I am older and smarter then them but because there were a lot I was kinda nervous. Anyways, I am grateful to be a girl who will raise my girls to teach boys that they need to raise their bar.
Bless his heart but this is NOT the kinda boy my girls are bringing home!
Ok, So today I am so grateful that I got to go and see WICKED! It was a fabulous day (with no kids) and I got to go and see a Broadway Musical. I love musicals and this was a new addition to my favorites. I was so impressed with the whole show and our seats were fantastic too (8th row). The music, they special affects, the actors all did a fabulous job and I really enjoyed the storyline. I've grown up watching and loving the Wizard of Oz, so this was a special treat to add to that story. I loved how all the storylines and questions were answered and how they played out how Glinda and Alphaba (the Wicked Witch) were not only college roommates but good friends I also enjoyed that Alphaba had a love interest, because we all need love! It was also really nice to spend the day with my sister Dana. We are often very busy with all our kids and being Mom's, so it was nice to have a day for us!
