Yahoo!

I was pleasantly surprised when I logged onto my Yahoo mail account and saw the banner ad was Yes on Prop 8! Nice job! Someone is working hard out there to get this message around!

Here's the website it linked to.

http://www.protectmarriage.com/get-involved

Birthdays, Jog-a-thon and Soccer, Oh My!

What a weekend we've had!

Thursday night we got to have our niece Maile come spend the weekend with us.

Friday morning Kaycee got the Trailblazer of the month award for Teamwork.
Friday was the girl's jog-a-thon for school. We came early to help set up and helped run it for Kaycee's class and Sydney's class. Matthew and Maile were troopers to be there for so long, and they both ran along with both classes! Sydney ran 23 laps, Kaycee ran 33 laps and I think Matthew and Maile ran over 40!

Friday was also Matthew's 4th birthday! We celebrated that night with Pat and Oscar's and presents! Matthew decided that he did NOT want a party this year, so we got him a few extra presents.

Saturday was soccer day! Kaycee had soccer pictures, a soccer party at Chick Fil A and her game. She does such a good job as goalie and this week NO one scored on her! Gary took Matthew out for some guy time to celebrate his birthday.

Sunday we enjoyed General Conference, then continued celebrating Matthew's birthday! Uncle Josh, Aunt Mimi and Alana came over (we still had Maile with us) and Grandpa Green came from Riverside. We had an Incredible Hulk cake, opened MORE presents, and enjoyed each other's company!

What a great weekend!

What's Happenin'

What's been happening in our lives lately? School and more school it seems! Here's a quick review of the last month.

Lauren has been hammered with homework from middle school.
Sydney joined "Helping Hands" at school, which is a group that does service projects for the community. They just did a Make a Wish Movie night and raised over $1,000 for the Make a Wish Foundation.
Kaycee is going strong in 1st grade and soccer and dance
Matthew loves joy school and started a Jr. Sports camp which he LOVES

Our Primary Program was last Sunday at church. It went very well. I was so proud of the kids and how well they all sang and did their speaking parts.

In between all of the above we have been kayaking once, to the beach once and took the kids to see Space Chimps.

Life is very busy, but very good! Can't ask for anything else!

Sydney got Trailblazer of the month for Citizenship.

Kaycee did a cookie night for 1st grade which ended the language unit of "If You Give a Mouse a Cookie"

Matthew gets to go swim and play with friends while the girls are at school.

A 10 foot jump is NOTHING for this kid!

I had joy school at our house last week. We did D is for Dad. I just had to take a picture of this! We had ONE girl in our group that day. She drew her Dad, then added highlights to his hair, and accessories. Then when we were talking about our Dads, she said "My Dad works in an office and has an Ipod!" What a different between boys and girls huh?

This week is the jog-a-thon! Here is our banner for Kaycee's class. The jog-a-thon is on Matthew's 4th birthday, so he'll get to celebrate by watching the girls run!

Point of View

This is my 100th post! Wow! I tried to think of something spectacular to write about--but instead I thought I'd share my point of view on a lot of issues that have been surfacing.

1--Prop 8. I have had several spirited discussions on this topic in the last few weeks. I need to start campaigning harder for this to pass. For me it is not the single issue of marriage--it is the trickle down effect of what will happen if this does not pass. If gay marriage is legal, it will force homosexuality to be taught in schools as a valid option for dating and marriage. It will force churches to either allow gay marriages, or be forced to loose their tax exemption status if they do not perform these marriages--as many churches are right now being sued back East for this exact reason. I do not feel that the First Presidency would ask the Saints to get so involved if it is not such an important issue. This surely is a test of obedience for Latter Day Saints, just as marching in the Mormon Battalion was, just as leaving homes, farms and businesses to settle new areas was. How can we ignore a direct request from the Prophet because we don't want to get involved?

2--The History Alive book being taught in middle school. I got an email from parents who were very against this book being used because it discusses religion along with the history of mankind. How can you take religion out of history? Most Empires were built on a religious belief. Our own country was founded due to religious suppresion. That is what separates periods of time, and different cultures. I have no problem with Lauren learning about a religion, because I know that she is being taught our Christian religion at home. Case in point--she had to learn about the evolution of man. She looked at me and said I thought Adam was the first man on Earth. That led to a long discussion on the Theory of Evolution Vs. the Creation Theory. We looked up Genesis and read straight from the Bible on when man was placed on the Earth, and was created in God's own image. As much as I wish I could raise our kids in a bubble, I know they need to learn about other religions, other ways of life, and yet know what our beliefs and morals are at home.

3--The School Board -- PLEASE go vote for some new members. I feel that the school board is so wrapped up in the Union's needs and their own needs that they don't listen at all to parents needs. (This is probably true of all politics in general). I am still frustrated with the school schedule--and hope that things will change with that. There are several candidates for the board positions that are open. Check the Californian for details on each candidate. Check my other blog for more information as well http://elementaryschedule.blogspot.com

4--McCain vs Obama. I can't even get into this. To me the Presidental election seems to always come down to the lesser of two evils. But at least we have the ability to vote.

I just have to end by saying how grateful I am to live in this country. With all it's faults, it is still the promised land. I am grateful for the political process that allows us as citizens to voice our opinions, and to be able to make a change if it's needed. I am grateful to live where we do, where we have such an amazing school district. Even with the budget cuts, and schedules, and other issues, I still feel that our kids are getting a great education. They are being taught by incredible men and women who have dedicated their lives to our children. I'm so blessed to be able to stay home and get involved as much as I do. I really love this area, and the great friends, neighbors and church members who live here. I could not be happier, and I could not be more grateful for all that we have been blessed with. I am grateful that I was born a member of our church, that I was taught about Jesus Christ and know that His hand is in all things. I am grateful for the courageous, intelligent and passionate men and women who are willing to stand and fight for our life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.

Soccer

I bet I've hit a record with doing NINE posts in one night! I just pulled all the pictures off Lauren's camera and found that we had 87 pictures on there! So, scroll down and check them all out. You'll have to hit OLDER POSTS to see them all! Phew!

We have finally joined the soccer parents! Kaycee signed up this year. It's her very first time playing and she seems to really enjoy it. During her first game, she did really well the first quarter, then got kind of tired and hot and mostly just watched the ball roll on by her :) Her team is the Blue Dolphins.

Sand Dunes

I can not tell you how many times I walk into the living room and find this: The boys bunch up the area rug with the basket of toys (which they dump out) and ride all their quads and motorcycles over the jumps of the "sand dunes". They even load up their trucks and trailers with them to drive them there.

1st day of school

I was really bad about pictures this year. I didn't even get one of Lauren. So far so good with school. Sydney and Kaycee love their teachers, Lauren is adapting well to middle school and Matthew loves joy school.