2018 Week 37

I Kaiton finally started preschool again this week. He has been looking forward to this day pretty much since the end of the last year of preschool. He was a little nervous when I took him into the building on Monday, but his teachers said that he did amazing. He remembered several of the little boys from last year and she said that he had a blast playing with them. I spent the first two days of his school getting some work done at a coffee shop. I was able to start working on my photography blog again (finally!) and I spent a little bit of time trying to learn bookkeeping. Man! I really, really want to learn how to bookkeep so that I can have a way to challenge my brain, but it is tough. I think I've not used that part of my brain for so long that it is a struggle to try to get it up and running again! I wanted to post a few photos of the kids on their first days of school. Brooklen's school day starts so early, that unfortunately, it was dark and I didn't get the best photo:

2018 Week 35

Wow! I have been incredibly bad about updating this journal this year. I guess my excuse is that is takes too much time, but really, I know that's a terrible excuse. Also, I feel like when I sit down to write, I am at a loss for words and I just end up recording what we have done recently. Unfortunately, that's not really the direction that I want to go. What I'd rather be recording is significant events, memories, and experiences that I really want to remember. So . . . here I go again trying to recommit to writing in here and to write what I want to remember. The kids start school again in 2 days. Brooklen starts middle school (6th grade), Hurley will be in 4th grade, Zaya in 2nd, and Kaiton will begin his last year of preschool (YIKES)! We've had a little hiccup at the end of this summer as Zaya, Brooklen, and I were somehow exposed to poison ivy and are desperately trying to get rid of it. Zaya's body is completely covered, while Brooklen and I have a milder case. Interestingly, this is the 2nd time this summer that Zaya and I have had a rash from poison ivy. Below are a couple of things that I want to keep in here. The first is a talk that Hurley wrote today. We've been trying to have the kids write most of their talks themselves. Brooklen gave one a few weeks ago in primary. He found a story from an old conference talk and retold it and bore is testimony about the lesson it taught. Today, Hurley gave a talk about service. Hurley's talk: I can serve God with all my heart, mind, might, and strength. I can serve with my heart by caring enough about others so that I want to help them. when you want to help others you’ll do it more often.Then soon it’ll start being constant. I can serve with my mind by learning to recognize when others need help. if someone is lonely take that chance to serve others and the Lord. I can serve with my might and strength by working hard to help others. A couple of years ago me and my family shoveled my neighbors driveway because they were at the hospital with a sick kid. All acts that show kindness no matter how big or small wil,l ALWAYS make you feel good.and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ Amen. As Brooklen has been preparing to enter middle school, I have felt the desire to share so many bits of wisdom that I have learned with him. Tonight, I compiled a lot of it into a list that I'm going to give him tomorrow: 1.You will experience joy from new friendships and sadness from ending friendships. If a group of kids don’t make you feel loved or don’t respect who your are, they aren’t worth it. Throughout your lifetime, friends will come and go. People are brought into your life to teach valuable lessons and no matter how hard the lesson was, be thankful. You will be wiser for it. 2. Be brave, be a leader. Pave your own path and be proud of who you are. It’s okay to be different. Everyone is trying hard to be cool. It’s more important to be you and not sacrifice who you are and what you believe in to fit in. 3. Be confident! It’s not cocky to embrace your strengths (and you have a lot of them)! 4. Brush your teeth, wear deodorant, and wash your face in the morning and at night. Also, it’s not a bad idea to get into the habit of wearing sunscreen every day. 5. Looking people in the eyes will get easier with practice. So . . . practice, practice, practice. 6. Always pat a teammate on the back when they put their chin down. 7. Chew with your mouth closed. 8. Hold doors. Say please and thank you.  Try using “you’re welcome” instead of “no problem” because serving others isn’t a chore. Develop a firm handshake but not too firm and certainly not limp. 9. Pray. Read your scriptures. Trust me; so many blessings will come to you if you continually strengthen your testimony. 10. It’s normal to feel like you’re the only one feeling awkward (you’re not). 11. Always choose kindness. ALWAYS! When you see someone who is alone, don’t assume someone else is going to come and be a friend to them. Go be a friend to them first. 12. Talk to your parents. We are always your safe place to land. We love you more than everything and we want you to be happy. We’ve also been through this all before so sometimes our wisdom is probably worth listening to.