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 :)

The end of an era

Tonight Madi graduates from her school of 9 years. She has grown up at this school, and the school has grown up with her. Our school was brand new when we discovered it in the fall of 2000. Since that time it has grown from a school of about 35 or so students to over 300. We have gone from a school of 3 trailers on a desert plot to 4 separate buildings and a custom-built playground. And since that time, my little girl of not quite 5 years old has learned and grown and become a 13 year old young woman. I thought that on this evening of her graduation I would post a few pictures from her 9 incredible years at this very special school . . .

Kindergarten

Madi and Maria the hamster (named after Maria Montessori) - Madi loved that hamster!

Our first annual International Children's Day. Madi is 2nd from the left - dressed as a little Swiss girl (in honor of my Zobrist heritage)

Madi & Allison singing in the spring program - Madi was a flower

First Grade

class picture - Madi is on the far left - 2nd row (her teachers are Ms. Amy & Ms. Meredith)

2nd Grade

Spring class program - they performed a song that helped them memorize all that states and their capital cities

Singing for their moms at the Mother's Day Tea. The sang "A, you're a adorable - B, you're so beautiful - C, you're a cutie full of charms . . ."

3rd Grade

Lauren, Lexi, & Madi on the 3rd grade field trip - after their camp out at the San Diego Wild Animal Park

4th Grade

International Children's Day - with Blair & Lacey

5th Grade

Earth Day, April 2006

6th Grade

Madi is definitely not a wimp when it comes to dissecting creatures . . .

School play - Romeo & Juliet combined with West Side Story

7th Grade

International Children's Day - with Molly & Lexi

Parent - Child Night - Jeopardy Game - Greek Style

Spring musical performance with Zarek & Molly

8th Grade

Madi & Lauren sing the National Anthem on Patriot's Day (9/11/08)

With Cristien & Lauren after Parent-Child Night

The Graduating 8th Graders
Sebastian, Lindsey, Cristien, Lauren, Lexi, Madi, Elan, & Zarek
(Sebastian, Lauren, Madi, & Zarek have all been together since kindergarten - Lexi came in 1st grade, Elan in 2nd, & Cristien in 3rd)

How to Create the Perfect Science Project

If you're a first grader and you have to create a science project for the school science fair during the last week of school, the first thing you do is enlist the help of your dad. He will go online to find just the perfect project for a 1st grade girl to do. Then you nag your dad for 2 weeks and ask him every time you see him when he is going to help you with your science project. Finally, you nag enough, and the deadline gets close enough that he decides to help you.

Everyone wants to know how to make a penny shiny again, don't they? Seems like a winner of a project. So, if you mix vinegar and salt and put the pennies in it - will the pennies be shinier if you rinse them or don't rinse them? Lacey & Brad set out to discover the answer.



But there was one big problem - the pennies looked the same regardless of whether or not they were rinsed. Now you have to enlist the help of your mom to find out why this happened. After a little bit of online research, your mom tells you & your dad that you have to do the project again - this time with copper pennies - the kind of pennies that were made before 1982. If they were made after 1982, they are only 5% copper and the project doesn't work.

So then you start over . . .

You use the pennies that your dad got from his friend at the office who has a rather abundant penny collection (to make sure you use pennies that were made before 1982) and you mix the pennies in the solution . . .


You rinse half of the pennies . . .


You put all the pennies out to dry . . .


You compare the pennies - your hypothesis was right!
The rinsed pennies are shinier . . .


And finally - you get your dad and mom to help you put all your findings on a display board to show everyone at the school science fair your amazing results . . .


If you're a fifth grader and you have to have a science project for the school science fair during the last week of school, the first thing you do is decide on a project in class, do some research in class, then get your mom to help you conduct the experiment. If you're a fifth grade girl, the perfect science project has to do with cookies and baking. You want to know if the type of cookie sheet you use when baking causes uneven baking.

So you gather different types of baking sheets then you make some cookie dough with your mom and start making cookies . . .


You make sure that each batch is baked at the same temperature and for the same amount of time. You wonder how the cookies that you make on your grandma's oldest, thinnest cookie sheet will turn out . . .


Not so good . . . Looks pretty uneven to me!


The cookies on the insulated cookie sheet your mom uses all the time seem to turn out pretty good. It would appear that the type of cookie sheet used definitely plays a part in even baking.


You taste a cookie from each batch - in the name of science, of course!

Then you start working on your science board with minimal help from your mom. You do an amazing job and take your work to share with everyone at the science fair . . .