I've decided that it would be a good thing to start writing every Sunday so you all know that we are still alive, and so that I can have a family journal of sorts. So, if I forget a week, you all have permission to remind me to write.
This past week has been quite eventful. Last weekend we had Stake Conference. Every meeting was powerful. I had a private conversation with our Area Authority, Elder Golden. It was really an amazing experience. They also reorganized our Stake Presidency. I am interested on how that will change things in the Stake, especially concerning our youth activities this coming year. We are waiting on decisions concerning a young women's temple tour, girls' camp options, and a trek for the youth.
The kids are all doing well. Violatte and Luke did miss a few days of school this week because of sickness, but they are back to themselves. I always hate seeing them so miserable. I miss their energy and happiness when they are sick.
This week I had a bit of an issue at the school. I am on the school board for my kids' charter school. It has been quite a learning experience. I am stubborn though, and prone to just doing what needs to be done, even if others don't like it. This week was no different. The school has not had a crossing guard for the children coming to school and leaving school. It has always bothered me, and we have had other parents complain. I've talked to the administration about it many times, and nothing has been done about it. I tried one more time on Tuesday to discuss the topic, but they had excuses. So, I decided I was done waiting. I went and found a vest and a stop sign and did the job myself. I don't think they took me seriously even then, but when I showed up early to school the next morning as well as the following afternoon to do the job, they began to see I meant it. I also included them on an email to the Police Chief asking questions since they were so sure I was going to get ticketed. Well, it seemed to work. On Thursday I was told that they had assigned employees to take over the job after Thanksgiving break. Success!
I also had a school board meeting on Wednesday. That was eventful. Sigh. I hate how negative so many people are. I try to think the best of everyone, and try to trust that everyone is doing their best. However, not all board members see it that way. They have such negative views of the city. They think that the city employees are just out to get the charter school. That attitude just makes for a bad situation when we are trying to make agreements with the city. It's just bad people skills. Another thing that was rough was that I made comments that I later learned were not quite accurate. I was frustrated that nobody at the meeting had the courage to talk things through at the meeting. They only talked to me after the meeting. So, I went home and wrote to the newspaper reporter that was at the meeting to correct my statements. I was frustrated that I had to go to that extra effort when we could have just talked about it at the meeting.
Jim had a city council meeting on Wednesday as well. At the next meeting, the newly elected city council will be sworn in. The crazy thing that Jim and I realized this week is that when the new council is sworn in, Jim will be the senior city council member. How crazy is that! His focus right now is the water problem. He's been researching some ways to reuse gray water. It is definitely the biggest problem right now. I'm proud of him for doing the work on this.
The event that Jim and the kids were looking forward to all week was Repticon. It was a reptile convention in Santa Ana. We all went down to it. There were so many people there! It was amazing to see all the different types of reptiles. We saw so many cool things. We even saw tarantulas of all kinds of colors. It was crazy. We did end up getting one crested gecko as well as a Brazilian Rainbow Boa. They are both very cool creatures! The snake is Jim's combination birthday and Christmas gifts. The gecko is mostly Annalee's. She is saving up money to pay for half of it so it can be hers. She sure loves animals. She also has a fish. She is so cute.
Sundays are my favorite day. When we can all just relax and enjoy time together as a family. We sang and Jim played the ukelele while the kids danced. We looked through pictures from when the kids were little. Violatte made cookies. It was nice.
Well, hopefully I can post some pictures soon. I was inspired by all of the cute pictures we found today from when the kids were younger. I want to start sharing some of those. I'll work on that soon.
This past week has been quite eventful. Last weekend we had Stake Conference. Every meeting was powerful. I had a private conversation with our Area Authority, Elder Golden. It was really an amazing experience. They also reorganized our Stake Presidency. I am interested on how that will change things in the Stake, especially concerning our youth activities this coming year. We are waiting on decisions concerning a young women's temple tour, girls' camp options, and a trek for the youth.
The kids are all doing well. Violatte and Luke did miss a few days of school this week because of sickness, but they are back to themselves. I always hate seeing them so miserable. I miss their energy and happiness when they are sick.
This week I had a bit of an issue at the school. I am on the school board for my kids' charter school. It has been quite a learning experience. I am stubborn though, and prone to just doing what needs to be done, even if others don't like it. This week was no different. The school has not had a crossing guard for the children coming to school and leaving school. It has always bothered me, and we have had other parents complain. I've talked to the administration about it many times, and nothing has been done about it. I tried one more time on Tuesday to discuss the topic, but they had excuses. So, I decided I was done waiting. I went and found a vest and a stop sign and did the job myself. I don't think they took me seriously even then, but when I showed up early to school the next morning as well as the following afternoon to do the job, they began to see I meant it. I also included them on an email to the Police Chief asking questions since they were so sure I was going to get ticketed. Well, it seemed to work. On Thursday I was told that they had assigned employees to take over the job after Thanksgiving break. Success!
I also had a school board meeting on Wednesday. That was eventful. Sigh. I hate how negative so many people are. I try to think the best of everyone, and try to trust that everyone is doing their best. However, not all board members see it that way. They have such negative views of the city. They think that the city employees are just out to get the charter school. That attitude just makes for a bad situation when we are trying to make agreements with the city. It's just bad people skills. Another thing that was rough was that I made comments that I later learned were not quite accurate. I was frustrated that nobody at the meeting had the courage to talk things through at the meeting. They only talked to me after the meeting. So, I went home and wrote to the newspaper reporter that was at the meeting to correct my statements. I was frustrated that I had to go to that extra effort when we could have just talked about it at the meeting.
Jim had a city council meeting on Wednesday as well. At the next meeting, the newly elected city council will be sworn in. The crazy thing that Jim and I realized this week is that when the new council is sworn in, Jim will be the senior city council member. How crazy is that! His focus right now is the water problem. He's been researching some ways to reuse gray water. It is definitely the biggest problem right now. I'm proud of him for doing the work on this.
The event that Jim and the kids were looking forward to all week was Repticon. It was a reptile convention in Santa Ana. We all went down to it. There were so many people there! It was amazing to see all the different types of reptiles. We saw so many cool things. We even saw tarantulas of all kinds of colors. It was crazy. We did end up getting one crested gecko as well as a Brazilian Rainbow Boa. They are both very cool creatures! The snake is Jim's combination birthday and Christmas gifts. The gecko is mostly Annalee's. She is saving up money to pay for half of it so it can be hers. She sure loves animals. She also has a fish. She is so cute.
Sundays are my favorite day. When we can all just relax and enjoy time together as a family. We sang and Jim played the ukelele while the kids danced. We looked through pictures from when the kids were little. Violatte made cookies. It was nice.
Well, hopefully I can post some pictures soon. I was inspired by all of the cute pictures we found today from when the kids were younger. I want to start sharing some of those. I'll work on that soon.
