Very good article

Great article about new changes to the Church Handbook of Instruction.

I wonder how long it will take for these things to "trickle down". And apparently I need to check and see if our Activities Committee is still in effect (since I'm on it).

Hmmm I just may have to make an appearance.

Telling Stories

Goober decided to read a story to his siblings this morning! :) So glad his reading skillz are getting better and that he is getting more confident.

In other news: They were supposed to have school Monday and Tues but it's been canceled due to potential weather narstys...

Also... I made out like a bandit... you know that couponing thing? Ya well take THIS:

$25.90... oh, and I forgot to include a fifth bottle of dish soap in there... yup, once in a while I DO figure the stuff out. :)

Oh No, what did I get myself into?

Somehow I've ended up being the PFO (think PTO) President at a brand new school without any experience in anything PTO ever....

AHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

PS, this happened today.

A Great Picture of an Awesome man :)

This is my dad. He's a pretty great guy in my book.

This picture is one of the best I have seen of him in a while... it catches his thoughtfulness and his caring nature and for some reason just generally makes me feel loved. Probably because I have many memories of him observing those he loves with this expression on his face.

He is truly an amazing man! He's always busy thinking up something new and then figuring out how to make it work... or thinking of how to fix something or what to do next. He has more ambition, courage, and drive in his pinky finger than I do in my whole body.

I love you dad.

Family

(a decent picture of all of the grand kids on Jer's side with Grandma S)

PS. Remember to do your homework and go vote today!!!

Yes, I'm a slacker!

Okay, so lets catch everyone up! We took the kids to the pumpkin patch and let them pick out pumpkins before Halloween. Actually it was the weekend before. We had never been to that one but the kids really enjoyed it!
  There was a couple of straw mazes, one big and one small.

Goober liked the small one best because "I didn't like getting lost." hmmm isn't that the point of a maze? :)

Anyhow, the kidlets had fun!

A while ago, if you remember, we tried out a dog. The kids were pretty bummed when it didn't work out... and I promised them we would get something else because apparently Jer and I aren't dog people.

So we headed to the pet store and picked up these:

That would be Fluffykins and Jimmy our new Dwarf hamsters! They are pretty fun, the kids adore them and they are containable so I don't have to worry about them digging up the backyard or me stepping in poop.

This is where they live:

On Thursday I went and helped out at the kids school!  It was enjoyable, I spent the morning helping out with Missy's class and then the afternoon in Goobers class. It was really nice to see how they interacted with the other kids and that they weren't the targets of any bullies.

In fact on of the girls in Goobers class asked me if I was Goobers mom, to which I replied "yes". She then proceeded to tell me that I was nice and that Goober was really nice too :)

Halloween went well, though I didn't really know what to expect with it falling on a Sunday. I have to admit though that I really had kinda hoped that there would be a few kids that came around on Sunday... oh, well. It IS Idaho. :) My kids had fun never the less!

and we kept their pumpkins lit both days :)

Math!

Okay, I admit as a kid I did say I didn't like math... probably because all the other girls said they hated math. But honestly, I liked it. No one could mark an answer wrong if it was right... very black and white.

Goober likes math too. For homework each night we are supposed to do reading for 15 minutes and "math facts" for 5 minutes. I bought him a workbook because I'm bad at remembering to HAVE him do math, let alone think up things for him to do. I should have probably just bought him flashcards, but he really seems to enjoy his workbook.

This is the page he did today:

yes, it is counting by twos, but it's really BIG numbers (for him) and Jer and I were able to help the logic click for him as far as when to change the bigger numbers.

 999
 +_1
1000

with all of the "carry the one over here... and add it to here...."s

Now, I have to admit, I don't know where the rest of the worlds 7 year olds are at... but I was pleased he was able to figure it on his own after a bit! You should have seen him beaming! :)

I'm glad he likes math! I would hate to have to fight him not only on reading but math too...