Christmas Time Was Here

Christmas was a great time. I love this time of year. We had the annual Christmas party at Brent's dad's house a couple days before Christmas. Brent's mom was able to stay with us over Christmas and we hosted Christmas night dinner- the first time we've done that since the year we moved into our house. I love this time of year with family, to remember how important they are to me. I also love the extra chance to reflect on the birth and life of our Savior, Jesus Christ. There are innumerable things that I question in this world. However, Jesus Christ is not one of them. That knowledge brings peace to my life. May everyone out there have a peaceful, happy new year!

Random pictures of Christmas Cheeriness~

Images of Excess

kids are just so funny to listen to

Noah: "Sam* said Andrew's going to get nothing for Christmas and Andrew* said Santa Claus is going to punch Sam in the face."


*Names have been changed to protect the innocent, the hilariously innocent children.

Future Lawyer

Zoe comes home from school and tells me she went to the principal's office today. Now I know something is suspicious because up to this point she's had model behavior at school (at school, not always at home but at school she's good as gold). She reminds me of this persuasive argument paper the 4th graders had to write to the principal a while back. She wrote hers on bullies. She was trying to convince the principal to help out the kids when they run into bullies. Good thinking. She mentioned these two boys who like to call kids names, they are rude and one day apparently one came up to Noah and screamed in his ear after school. Zoe had told me about this and the times they've called people names. I've basically told them to ignore them (unless they scream in Noah's ear again, they're not making my kid go deaf). They pretty much sound like small time thugs to me.

So the principal reads her paper and she was so convincing in her argument he wants to talk to her about it. She goes in the office and waits for him to call her and doesn't even know why she's there. She's all nervous, of course. Then he calls her in and asks her about the things she's written in her paper. He asks her their names and she tells him the name she can remember. He starts looking at his computer and figures out who the boys are, then takes off without telling her what he's doing. She waits there for a while then he comes back into the office with the two boys. He asks them if this really happened and they make some lame excuse about not remembering but the principal isn't buying it. He tells Zoe to let him know if they ever bother her or anyone else again and lets her leave, keeping the boys there.

Crazy story! But I gotta say I'm proud of her for being so brave. If I was her as a kid I would have been scared to death to meet any boys I accused of bullying, but then I was a big chicken girl. I'd say she's pretty darned good at the persuasive argument. Maybe I'll have her write him another paper on getting a security guard down by the path to keep the teenagers from taking kids' scooters out on joyrides.

Done!

School ended for me last week. I've completed my first semester back in school. Hooray! Two weeks into the semester I was sure I would have to be a quitter. I was stressed out and my mind and body always resist change like crazy. I kept plodding along and thanks to my not super difficult first semester back course selections I did well. This is significant because I have confirmations I am not an idiot. I for one am glad to have this confirmation because I really needed that confidence booster. It's funny, you're out of school for so many years and you're sure your brain is going to mush and then you see that you are actually capable of more logical thinking than you were back then because of life experience. I think. That and because raising kids is like daily solving the worlds most confusing puzzles and riddles. Don't get me wrong, I'm completely aware that come January something I could be curled up in a ball crying in a corner out of stress and stupidity. I'm just so happy my first venture back into the world of formal education went well. And right now, I have to say, I kind of Love school! Hear that kids? School is fun! Learning is awesome!!

And now to get that Christmas tree up and that house back in order after three months of semi neglect.