Kobe Steakhouse

To celebrate the end of school, we took the kids to Kobe Steakhouse, a Japanese, Benihana-style restaurant. It was a lot of fun to watch the chef in action. There was fire, spinning eggs on a spatula, tossing food into our mouths, and other impressive stunts as we watched him prepare our yummy food. I wish I had taken a camera!!! We convinced all the kids except Daniel (they did have chicken nuggets and french fries)to order the Japanese food. Eliza didn't eat very much of hers, but the rest of the kids liked it, and I really enjoyed it. Yummy!!

School's out, school's out; teachers let the monkeys out (and sent them all to my house)!! We're looking forward to a fun-filled, kick back and relax summer.

Tag- You're It!!!

Rules? Answer these 8 questions and tag 5 people.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago? Interestingly enough, 10 years ago, I had a 2 1/2 year-old boy, just like today. Only at that time I didn't have any children older than my little boy, and I did have one younger; Dailie was 1. I often reflect on how much life is different now, what a different life Daniel is experiencing than Dallin did. Here's something Kelly will enjoy- 10 years ago was our trip to Virginia. Kelly came along with our little family on a vacation to Virginia where we visited Monticello, Williamsburg, Mt. Vernon, and really had a great time!!

2. 5 things on my to do list? Finish unpacking from TN, pack for UT, sign up for swimming at the YMCA, buy new Church pants for Daniel, grocery shopping

3. Snacks I enjoy? dried apricots, rice cakes, sunflower seeds, sugar snap peas (ok, this is wishful thinking. I want to lose some weight.....)

4. If I were a Billionaire what would I do? This is tough. I'm glad it's a billionaire, because one thing I've learned is money doesn't go near as far as I used to think it would. Remember being a kid and thinking $100 was SO much money. Now it's so easy for me to drop $100 at Wal-Mart, Kroger, Kohl's, or the GAS STATION, that it's sad. Then, when we were first married, $10,000 seemed like SO much money. Heck, that would be gone in a heartbeat- would make a nice dent in paying off the van, but it wouldn't even pay it off!!! A million dollars? Getting better, but it wouldn't buy the luxuries I once thought it would. So, with a billion I think I'd do all the usual- pay off the house, car (buy Rick the car of his dreams), set up a nice retirement nest egg as well as college savings plans for the kids. THEN, we'd start a restaurant, I think. It's mine and Rick's dream together. Also, I'd donate a large chunk to the Perpetual Education Fund. I get teary-eyed every time I even think about that program. I just think it's a wonderful, inspired thing. I think I'd also give $1 million to each of mine and Rick's siblings (maybe a little more to those who make their living in education, because they deserve so much more than what they are paid).

5. 3 Bad Habits? Spending too much time online, staying up late when Rick's travelling for work, gerneral unorganization and untidiness

6. Places I've lived? Crawfordsville, Indiana; Provo, Utah; West Lafayette, Indiana; Lafayette, Indiana; Peoria, Illinois

7. 5 jobs I've had? Taxi driver, nurse, professional wrestling referee, head chef, ok....I always hate this question, because in the world's standards, I have received a paycheck for very menial jobs. In reality- ice cream artist at Ice Cream Etc. (family owned ice cream shop), general fast food labor at Rax Restaurant (fast food with style, it was a lot like Arby's), nanny/babysitter, assembly line laborer at R.R. Donnelleys, sandwich artist at Blimpie's. Oh, I just remembered one more- cashier at Crawford's Foods. Nice jobs for someone who graduated Cum Laude from BYU....Eternal perspective, eternal perspective.....

8. 5 things people don't know about me? Most people who read my blog are family, so this will be hard. Plus, I'm not a very private person, as most of you also know. I talk a lot, and I talk a lot about myseld, but I'll try and come up with something...
-I climbed out of the window during Calculus class in high school. I then walked around the school and back in the front door where my teacher was having a discussion with a couple of other teachers. I said hello, walked past him and went back into class. He didn't even say anything to me. That was my point- the class was pointless!! The teacher was rarely in the room "teaching".
-I don't really follow the 10 second rule, or the 30 second rule. If it's something yummy, and it looks clean, I'll eat it : ).
-In 4th grade, I had a good friend named Jennifer Carlson. We used to get into arguments at recess, and it always made me sad. I would then go to the nurse and tell her I didn't feel well. I discovered that if I breathed really hot on the thermometer, I could make it register a low-grade temp (99 or so). They would always give me the choice of going home. Sometimes I did go home, sometimes, I just laid down in the office for awhile. I thought I was fooling my mom, and everyone else.
-Amy and I sang the Star Spangled Banner in harmony, a capella, at every home swim meet (we were both on the team)in high school. It's one of my happiest memories.
-I just saved over $300 a year on my car insurance by switching to GEICO. Really, I did.


I don't really know who to tag, bacause not that many people read my blog, but I'll tag Kelly, Kevin (Tera's already done a similar one), Ed, Rick (can I do that?), and Mary Ann (I still need your blogspot address....). I'm obviously stretching, so anyone else who happens to read my blog that I don't know about, feel free to be tagged, but let me know, so I can come read your answers!!!

Eliza, the Soccer Player

I finally remembered to take the camera to a soccer game. Here's a picture of Eliza right in the action. She really does a pretty good job of sticking with the game. She gets tired about mid third quarter, but stays in the game.

Our little Mia Hamm...

So, Dailie and I are off to Knoxville, TN on Tuesday of this week, for DI Global Finals. I'll be sure to take lots of pictures to post when we get back. Keep Rick in your prayers as he tries to hold down the fort on the homefront, as well as keep a job and be Bishop!!!

Mother's Day

Ok, so these pictures don't all have to do with Mother's Day, but they were all taken on that day. I hope all you moms out there had a FABULOUS day!! You deserve it. These are some tissue paper flowers Audri made for me at school. Aren't they pretty?!?

Daniel was really funny with this plastic watch he found. He filled it with Mancala pieces and was determined to keep it filled (the lid didn't stay on that well, so often went he bent over, the lid came off, and out dumped the pieces).

This is just a cute picture of Eliza, don't you think. Eliza made me some cute stuff in Kindergarten. Plus she did some dances for me!!

Who is this? Make a guess!!! One of the Sunday afternoon activities...

Dallin bought me these beautiful flowers. Also, Dailie played me a song on her cello. Dailie (with some help from Dallin) made a scrumptous and beautiful triple chocolate cake. I can't believe I didn't take a picture of it so you all could see!!!! I also had a lovely breakfast and dinner made for me. Thanks to Rick and all the kids for making Mother's Day a very special day indeed!!

Springtime @ Our Home

Daniel on his new bike!! He's been so excited to get onto Eliza's bike lately (even though it's much too big for him), that we just had to get him his own bike. He was excited about it!!

This is a shot of our crabapple tree. We all love when it's in full bloom. I wanted to get a picture of it during the day in full sunshine, but I couldn't find batteries for the camera!!! It's supposed to thunderstorm tomorrow, so I was worried that many of the blossoms would be gone.

The flowering dogwood. Oh, and Rick shooting some hoops!! Another favorite springtime activity at our house. By the way, the picture at the top of our blog is a closeup of this tree.

Audri IN the crabapple tree. She's a monkey!!

Enjoy your Spring!!

FYI, for those who were interested, the School Board approved the shortened day with a vote of 5-1. They estimate it will save somewhere from $650,000-$800,000.

Shortened School Day for PSD 150?

This post could turn into a lot of rambling, so I'll just apologize now. I'm interested in the opinions of the teachers out there on this matter. First of all, our school district is in financial trouble, and has been for some time. I believe currently the number is a $2.4 million deficit. That has created two problems that just result in a stalemate, in my opinion. First of all, people in Peoria are generally not happy with the District. We pay VERY high property taxes, most of which goes to the school, and we really don't have anything great to show for it. We don't have stellar schools, and we have many "inner city" schools that are well below the national average. We have old buildings, without air conditioning, the PTO has to raise money for playground equipment, etc. So there is a lack of trust in anything the District does, perhaps rightfully so. I myself get very frustrated each time we have to pay our property taxes. However, the District and the Board of Education are making efforts to make improvements. I see them trying to come up with ideas. Of course, anyone familiar at all with public education knows what an uphill battle that is. I feel like we end up with a District that proposes ideas, and the public which criticizes anything the District proposes. How is anything supposed to get done?!?

The most recent idea is to shorten the student school day by 45minutes, giving the teachers a collaborative prep period at the beginning of the day. This will result in reducing the specialty classes offered throughout the day. Last night there was a meeting at the Elementary School to to learn more about the idea. At least, that's the way I looked at the meeting, an opportunity to learn more about the proposal. I sat and listened to a very reasonable explanation by the principal. One that talked about more flexibility in teaching, longer periods of uninterrupted class time (90 minute uninterrupted time for reading instruction, 60 minutes for math instruction), and teachers working together during the morning prep time to fill the needs of each child (for example is there a 1st grader that needs to go 2nd grade for Math, or a 4th grader that needs to go to 3rd grade once a week for reading?). It was an idealistic proposal, but one that I saw merit in. Each Elementary school would still have 2 full time specialty teachers, which could also be filled with one full time and two part time teachers. The new flexibility would present the opportunity for the full time teacher to work closer with the specials teachers to join subjects- having a PE class that joins or supplements a reading unit, for example. Ok, I'm starting to ramble. Two school board administrators (asst. superintendents, I think) then stood up with more explanation and then took questions from the group. Let me tell you, it resembled a witch hunt. The parents might as well have had torches and pitchforks. I was disappointed. I couldn't help myself, I stood and made a comment. One woman was making a sweeping generalization, saying that everyone there had come because they were opposed to the idea, and they should take that back to the board and let them know how many parents were against it. I stood and said something like "That is a misrepresentation. I came tonight with an open mind to learn more about this proposal. I don't know if I agree with the idea yet or not, but I would invite all of you here to broaden your thinking, because if what has been presented can really be accomplished, I would argue that 45 minutes less each day would not result in worse education for your child, but a better one." Let's just say I don't think I made any friends of my fellow parents at Kellar School.

The thing is, I don't want less specialty classes for my kids. Does that mean no more orchestra? What about the amazing music program currently at Kellar? But, I'm willing to listen to an idea, and I get so fed up with close minded individuals who REFUSE to look at anything that would mean a change. Obviously, with a $2.4 million deficit, there needs to be change somewhere. Oh, one other little gem. You might ask why not lengthen the day, have the teachers come in early for their collaborative prep time? Can't be done thanks to the lovely thing known as the Teacher's Union. The teacher's hours are dictated by the contract with the union. I think there is hope that the contract could be renegotiated, but that would take awhile, so this would have to be piloted with the shortened day. It's irritating to me because many parents just see it as 45 minutes more in the day that they have to deal with their children. I say, if they can get the same or better education in a shorter amount of time, I'm all for it. If they can't, then that's a different story.