Patriot Day 2009

This year, our Patriot Day ceremony began with our first assembly of the school year, lead by the new student body officers. This was Katie's first assembly as the student body secretary. Here the officers are singing a rap that they made up to introduce themselves to the student body.

Lacey at the assembly

All the elementary students assembled to attend the assembly.

The annual Patriot Day Ceremony began after the assembly. Each September 11th the school holds a ceremony to honor those who lost their lives in the horrific terror attack on the Twin Towers. We also pay tribute to the heroes who saved so many lives on that day. Our celebration is always short and respectful. A student at the school sings the National Anthem (Madi did this last year) and then we recite the pledge, lead by one of the boys at the school who is a boy scout.


A few students read a poem and then we honor local firefighters. One of the mom's at our school (her name is Tobi) is a firefighter - she is the one 2nd from the left in this picture. Ben was enthralled with the firefighters this year. He noticed that one of them was wearing a walkie talkie and wow, was he impressed. After the ceremony I took him over to talk to a couple of the firefighters, including Tobi. He asked them all kinds of questions and wanted to know about their fire trucks and their walkie talkies. He was in awe.


At the celebration the children sing, the school song "Listen" - complete with hand motions (the song always tugs at my emotions a bit) . . .

Katie's class

Lacey's class

I am so thankful to live in America and I am thankful for this day to reflect on that day 8 years ago when it seemed as if the world was coming to an end. And how grateful I am to live in a resilient country that will not let and act of terror destroy the ideals and values that we hold dear. God Bless America!

Captain Underpants and his faithful sidekick

I just wonder what goes through his head . . . what is it about a pair of Thomas underwear on your head and a blanket around your neck that immediately transforms you into a powerful superhero?




Judging by the pony tail used to secure the blanket cape, I think this superhero was transformed through the help of a trusty sidekick . . .

The world is definitely a safer place with these two on patrol!

The First Week

Ahh - the first week of school. With all the first-day jitters and anticipation of a new year, there's always ONE thing we don't have to worry about - what to wear! With new shirts and shoes and jeans, it is the only time of the school year when the girls know every outfit they are going to wear for five consecutive days. The new hair cuts are an added plus! Katie & Lacey pose in their "first day of school" outfits . .


And two other outfits for Lacey and Katie from that first week of school . . .




For Lacey, the beginning of this school year means the 2nd of 3 years with her current teachers, making a very easy transition from 1st grade to 2nd grade. She just picked up where she left off in June. Katie started middle school this year, which is a bit more of a change, but still - she is at the same school and with teachers who know her.

On the other hand, Madi's first week of school has been an entirely different experience this year. As a new high school freshman, she had no idea what to expect at the new and much larger (like 15 time larger) school. For Madi, deciding the right outfit to wear for the first day of school was much more challenging and painful than it was for Katie and Lacey. Madi & I spend a good hour in her room the night before school started looking at and trying on every possible outfit combination in hopes of finding the absolute perfect outfit for the first day at a new school where she knew almost no one. And after all the pain and work to come up with something to wear, I didn't even get a picture of Madi on that first day! Since she started seminary too, she left the house at about 5:50 am and just wasn't up for having her picture taken at that time of day. And, honestly, I wasn't up to taking her picture at that time of day either. But, here's a picture of her later that week - after school!


Madi may be smiling in this picture, but after the first day of school, she wasn't smiling. When I asked her about her day, she told me, "It was the longest day of my life." The report was not good. The day was very long and very boring. She was worried that her math class was going to be too hard, and after the homework assignment (on the very first day) that took a combined effort on the part of Madi, me, & Brad, I was beginning to wonder that myself. Here we were at 11:00 at night - still doing review Algebra problems for her Geometry class - and Madi had to get up at 5:00 am the next morning to go to seminary. I'll be honest - I was worried. Was this going to be our life for the next 9 months? I went to bed after that first day of high school, wondering how Madi, and I, were going to make it through the entire school year!

The 2nd day of school I was a nervous wreck, spending those six hours with knots in my stomach. Thankfully, that all changed when I picked Madi up. She got in the car and when I asked her about her day she said, "Today was so much better than yesterday. Oh, and that math assignment that took us all night - well, I was only supposed to do 10 of those problems, not all of them!" I was so relieved! Maybe this year will turn out OK after all, and maybe both she and I will adjust to this life after our cozy little private school of 300 to a public high school of 3500. This will be a year of change and new experiences, that's for sure! I think we are up for the challenge.

Dear Aunt Katie

Dear Aunt Katie,

Hi. It's me Lacey. Do you like this picture of me? Madi took it. All summer she kept dressing me up and taking my picture. I like to be her modle. Anyway, I wanted to tell you sumthing. My mom said I shud do it on her blog so you wood quit bugging her about win she is going to do a blog post. becuz now she will have a blog post. sorry if i don't spell that good sometimes I forget how to spell some words becuz I am just strting 2nd grade. Oh - & my mom said to tell you that playing bejooled on facebook sumtimes is not keeping her from riting on her blog.

My mom says she is going to blog agin soon. She said she has sumthing called riters block. I dont know what that is, but I hope she gets better soon! I don't want to get it :( Did you know Madi started high school this week? I am glad becuz she is gone when I get up in the morning and she doesn't bug me any more. I started school this week to. It was ok, but I miss Sponge Bob. I drew a picture of Bikeenee Botum in class today. I wish I didn't have to git up so early - but still not as early as Madi! Hahahahahah Madi!

Did you know that Aunt Janae is having a baby boy? I can't believe it! That means he is going to have 5 big sisters! That's even worse than Benny boy who has 3 big sisters! What is he going to do with all those girls? Ben is glad to get a boy cuzin. I'm glad too. Now you need to have another boy too!

Anyway, Aunt Katie. I wanted to tell you sumthing. Do you remember that cool thing you helped us make at cuzin camp? It was a terr???? I don't remember what it's called . . . . but it's that plant in the soda bottles that uncle J had to cut up for all of us. Do you remember?

I really loved mine with the pritty pruple flower. But guess what Aunt Katie . . .

It doesn't work anymore and I didn't do one thing to it! yuck!

Another "Catch Up"

Continuing with my efforts to catch up my blog readers . . .

I got to celebrate May Day by dancing around a May Pole. This was a new experience!

Click HERE to see our May Pole - although I'm not the one dancing in these pictures.

The Catch Up Continues

Hopefully you got a chance to peek at yesterday's catch up post. Check back tomorrow for yet another catch up post & in the mean time . . . For today -

Madi & Katie were in our school's first ever "professional" theatrical production at the end of April.

Click HERE to hear about our production of "Into the Woods".

Playing Catch Up

It's been a crazy couple of months at the Wallace household & now I'm trying to update my blog & fill you in on all our comings & goings. We've had a school play, 3 school trips (including one to Disneyland), a middle school graduation, dance recital, a couple of holidays and more!

Check back daily for a new "Catch up" post!

We got a parental pat on the back in April - a rare occurrence! Click HERE to read about it!

A funny thing happened in the church nursery

On Monday night we paid a visit to one of Ben's church nursery teachers with a peace offering, so to speak. She would have never asked for such an offering. In fact, when we went to see her, she said "I know what you're doing, and you don't have to." But, really we did.

Ben has 4 lovely women who are all teachers in his nursery class. 3 of them are young grandmas who all still have at least one teenager living at home. They love little children and love being with them each week - especially since they all have grandchildren of nursery age. We feel blessed that he is so happy during nursery Sunday after Sunday. Each week he plays, he snacks (though he usually eats only the goldfish and water, while ignoring fruit and cheese or other such offerings), he prays, he sings, he listens to a lesson. And always, he comes home with a picture that he has colored and on it, a little bug that he has requested that his teacher draw on his paper. I am not sure why he requests a bug, because he doesn't really like bugs all that much, but he requests, and his request is always granted.

So, anyway, there we were, at her front door, ready to make amends. I held a plate of cookies and Ben held a bottle of lemonade with a card attached that read, "In memory of that fateful question, 'do you sit or stand?,'" which Ben then handed to her while delivering his prepared speech, "thank you for being a great nursery teacher." Sister Lee laughed. He husband laughed. We all laughed as we reminisced about the experience the day before. I commented that I was sure that a nursery teacher could write a book about all the experiences in nursery and the Lees agreed. Can you guess the experience? The lemonade with the card attached are both telling clues.

Here's the story with all the ugly details . . . Ben had been in class for a while and realized he needed to head to the potty and fast! They have a little bathroom right in the nursery classroom with a toilet seat that is literally 6 inches from the ground. It's the cutest little toilet - as far as toilets go. Sister Lee went to assist Ben and asked him, "do you sit or stand?," to which Ben replied, "I sit." So he sat, and in a split second, let's just say, Sister Lee didn't know what hit her, but it was as if there was a hose gone wild in that little bathroom and no one could bring it back in control. Then Ben declared in frustration, "oh man, I forgot to point it down." and then, "it's in my hair!" Sadly, Ben's pants and underwear got drenched and the bathroom floor was wet, wet, wet. Sister Lee's skirt was wet, but not wet enough to send her home :)! Luckily it all happened when one meeting was ending and another beginning so Brad was able to take Ben home to change.

Considering that Sister Lee had to wear Ben's pee for the afternoon, we thought the least we could do is take her some cookies and a little lemonade to remind her of the things nursery teachers are willing to do for their students. And next week . . . we will make sure Ben visits the potty before going to class so that he isn't full to the brim right in the middle of class.

A Quiet Father's Day

Brad spent this past week with Madi and the other young women and young women leaders in our ward at Girl's Camp and got home last night, just in time for Father's Day. He volunteered to be one of 4 male chaperones during camp, which was quite an adventure this year. They went to Arches National Park in Moab Utah and then spent 2 1/2 days on a white water raft trip own the Colorado River. Brad & Madi both loved the experience!

Since he had such an adventurous week, it was nice to have a quiet and simple dad's day, celebrated with just our immediate family. In the morning we made Brad his favorite whole wheat waffles for breakfast along with some sausage. The girls gave dad the best gift of all by playing quietly and peacefully so that their dad could have a peaceful morning himself.

We had prime rib and baked potatoes for dinner and Madi made Brad a yummy chocolate cake.



Brad's little family - his wife and 4 children - love him with all our hearts. He works hard to support our family. He is a husband, a father, a leader, a protector, a hero, a friend. He puts his family first. He takes his kids for slurpees and Krispie Kreme donuts. He goes to their soccer games, dance recitals, and school plays. He takes them swimming and on bike rides. He goes to girls camp for a week - taking time off work so he can be with his daughter. He is a devoted dad.
Happy Father's Day, Brad!

. . . and to my own dad & dad-in-law, Ken - happy father's day to you, too! I am so thankful the dads in my life. Life would not be the same without you!

One week down - eleven weeks to go!

The girls survived their first week of summer, but it was not without grief and way too many declarations of boredom. I never knew my kids were so well entertained at school. Obviously their teachers have spoiled them rotten by entertaining them all day long. Why else would they come home and proclaim "I'm bored" about every 30 minutes? They will adjust to the boredom, I'm sure. If not, I am certainly willing to help by offering an endless list of cleaning and organization projects.

Despite the moments of boredom, there were some high points:

Lacey was able to entertain herself for hours over the course of 2 days by creating and playing with this little penguin family. She made them almost entirely on her own. Madi helped design the mom's attire and I helped make the baby, but that was all the help she wanted.



Madi and Ben played some game against each other on the DS's. I am sure Madi won because Ben is not overly skilled on the DS yet.


Lacey and Katie were briefly entertained watching the DS duel.


There was also way too much TV watching this week, including some TV watching on mom & dad's bed late into one evening where all 3 girls fell asleep - dreaming, I'm sure, of more exciting days when they got to be at school and their teachers entertained them for hours upon end :)