Olympic Day

Opening ceremonies consisted of a parade (below) and lighting of the torch (above). Very cool!

Rob's class was Team Egypt.

Robert had Olympic Day at school. And for weeks the kids were practicing for their events. Robert was in 3 events: Broad Jump, Relay Race and Ball Throw. I was a little worried about the relay race because, let's face it, he's not a very face runner. So I asked him how he felt about all his events. He said that he was okay with all the events except for the relay race because he always came in last. No matter how hard he tried he always came in last. Needless to say, it broke my heart. So being the athlete that I am (hahahahahahahahaha!), I gave him a few pointers.

1. Don't forget to breathe.

I asked him to run for me so I could see how he was running. The little stinker was holding his breath at the start. No wonder he was coming in last!


2. No matter what you do, don't worry where everyone else is in the race. You just worry about you and handing off the baton. Just focus on handing off the baton.


3. Run as fast as you can the whole way. Don't stop until you hand off the baton!


I was so nervous the day of the games. After all, I really didn't want my little boy to come in last. But just in case, I was preparing myself and what I would say if he did. But Robert was as cool as a cucumber.


His first event was the ball throw. He got up and threw the ball and did fantastic. The next event was the broad jump. He didn't do bad on that either. Finally, it was time for the relay race. He was the middle leg which I knew was good strategizing on the coaches part. The gun goes off and they're off. Robert's team mate was in the lead when he handed off to Robert. Robert took off as fast as he could go. I was screaming at the top of my lungs, "Go Baby Go! Go Baby Go! Woo!" He kept running as hard as he could. The other racers were gaining on him. I'm still screaming, "Go Rob!!!! Go Baby!!!!". He's nearing the hand off. I'm screaming like crazy 'cuz the other racers are on him and Bam! he hands off the baton just ahead of the other racers and his teammate takes off. I'm jumping up and down screaming. I didn't really care how the race ended I was just so proud of my little boy. It was obvious that he ran his little heart out.


Honestly, I don't think any of my pointers really helped him (except for maybe the breathing part). But, I should have known that he would have done just fine. After all, that little boy works best under pressure. This isn't the first time I witnessed this. He's prooved me wrong before. And although his team didn't win he put his whole heart and soul into his part of the race. And I couldn't have been prouder.

Spring Break

We started off with going to the beach with friends. We invited the Lorenzen's and went to the beach. We all had a blast. Even the dogs.

And we ended with going to the beach with friends.

It was no doubt a great week. We even spent a couple of days at the pool. Man, I love California!

Easter

Easter is one of our favorite holidays. After all, it's the beginning of spring and this year it kicked off our Spring Break. Unfortunately, Mike was out of town, but all was saved when Robyn and Tyler came up.

We started off with the annual Easter Egg Hunt up at the church:

This was Andrew's first Easter Egg Hunt. He didn't have any problem with finding them eggs!

Counting their loot...
After the thrill of finding Easter Eggs, we came home and decorated cookies:


Carly's Cookies...
Robert's Cookies...


Without Mike around Easter weekend would have been a dud, but thanks to Robyn and Tyler we had a great weekend. Thanks for the memories!

Certificate of Achievement

About a week ago we got a letter from Robert's teacher saying that he was getting an award of achievement in scholar. That's all it said. We were also asked to keep it a surprise which was not easy to do since I wanted to pump my son full of questions on what exactly this meant. After all, how many kids were receiving this award? And what does "scholar" mean? Does that mean an award in academics? So patiently we waited.

Tuesday, May 12th was the big day for the Awards Ceremony. I got there just in the nick of time. Mike showed up by the skin of his teeth also. Anyway, after a lovely number presented by the music department, Robert's Kindergarten class was the first to be presented. I was somewhat expecting everyone in his class to be getting something, you know, being politically correct so as not to hurt any one's feelings and all. But when Rob's teacher, Mrs. McCaslin got up and said that these were her students whom she believed to have excelled above and beyond, my heart began to swell with pride and my eyes began to fill with tears. Robert was the only one to have received an award in the category of scholar in his class. He excelled in both Science and Social Studies. What a guy!

Mother's Day

Carly paints beautiful watercolored pictures. She uses beautiful colors and blends them perfectly together. I love her pictures so much I save them to make greeting cards out of them. This is what she gave me for Mother's Day:

Nice!

Robert loves me. Mike told me that he was thinking for days on what he was going to say in his Mother's Day card. This is what he came up with:

He quoted a scripture... "because Mom loves the Lord." he told Mike.

This is what Rob made at school for me. It's an actual wood frame painted white. He drew the flowers on with a paint pen. It's my favorite gift ever!

Mike made me breakfast in bed which consisted of cinamon french toast, scrambled eggs, bacon, sausage and fresh squeezed orange juice (he actually picked it up from somewhere). Delicious!

After church and my excrutiating lesson, I was sent back into my room to relax and take a nap. I was brought lunch and my sweet husband recorded the "House" marathon for me. To top off the day, the kids and Mike made me chocolate chip cookies and sent me off to bed.

At the end of the day I told my husband what a great husband and daddy he was and do you know what he said? "Yeah, well, don't let the word out 'cuz I have a reputation to uphold."

Don't worry, Babe. Your secret's safe with me!

Best Friends

Laura Lorenzen is Carly's best little girlfriend. They have so much fun together. They play dress-up, shopping and just plain 'ol love to be together. Needless to say, Carly just loves it when Laura comes over to play.



Well, Laura came over the other day and things got pretty quiet while they were playing in Carly's room and so I went to check on them and here's what I found:

Painting eachother's nails! Is that the most adorable thing EVER!!!

What Is A Peacemaker?

Okay. So I gave the lesson on being a peacemaker in Relief Society yesterday and I'm still confused....

I know what a peacemaker is: someone who helps others be happy instead of angry (blah blah blah). That goes without saying, but what if something needs to be said or something needs to be made right and others don't like it? I mean take the Prop 8 situation, for instance. That certainly didn't create peace in our community or our country for that matter. In fact, it created quite the opposite. Allbeit, we weren't the one's screaming obsenities at passersby, but we were the one's who stood up and said, "Absolutely not." and that did not create peace.

So it goes in our daily lives... or at least mine. I'm not a mean or rude person. At least, I don't think so. I know there are those who would beg to differ, but honestly, my heart is in the right place. I have come to terms with my "honesty" and rather like it. And this is where the confusion lies: Is a person considered not a peacemaker because one is honest and forthright? Being forthright and honest can sometimes cause contention. Also, sometimes we must stand up for what's right and not back down. And that almost always causes contention. How can we go through this life -- this life where we have to fight (literally fight) for truth and righteousness -- without causing a degree of contention?

And how about in our marriages? I mean seriously. Sometimes, it's a fight that creates peace. I mean, honestly a fight can bring out truth and the truth creates understanding which in turn creates peace. But that fight had to happen before there was understanding and peace.

So, this is why my lesson was so hard for me yesterday. I am not a peacemaker. I have peace. But I'm not a peacemaker. Sometimes I am. But not always. And sometimes I feel (and am even prompted) to speak up -- to say the thing that is sometimes the hardest to say -- the truth. And here's a truth I must say now .... I hated that lesson!