New Calling

Today David and I went to church early because a member of the bishopric wanted to meet with us. It turns out that I was given a new calling. I have been released as a primary teacher and I am now going to be the....Cub Scout Bear Leader. I am a little bit shocked and slightly overwhelmed. I think it will be a fun new calling but as my sister pointed out I don't have any boys. I am starting to get excited about it and when I came home from church I got on the internet and have already started researching a little bit about Cub Scouts. After all my experience has all been second hand from when my brothers were in cub scouts. I can remember going to their Blue and Gold banquets and the Pinewood Derbies. But as for exactly what cub scouts is all about I have no clue. Needless to say this will be an exciting new adventure for me. I hope I am up to the challenge. PS. Through work I got certified to teach fishing so I am already thinking of doing a fishing clinic with the boys.

Naomi's First Day of School

Naomi started Kindergarten this past Monday. I was lucky enough to get someone to cover my 1st period class that day so David and I could bring Naomi to her first day of school. Our plan of attack was to go to my school first to make sure my sub showed up and then bring Naomi to school. When we woke her up, she was super excited to start school. However, the closer we got to my school the quieter she got. In fact, on the way to my classroom she walked with her eyes closed the whole way. By the time we got to her school she was in tears. She had settled down a little bit when we got to her classroom but was still very quiet and shy. But she started to cry again when we went to put her name tag on. She absolutely refused to wear the name tag. After we took off the name tag, she calmed down and we were able to take a picture. (She still looked sad but hey it was a picture.) Fast forward 7 hours later and we had a totally different kid. Naomi was all smiles and loved her first day of Kindergarten. (PS: Just in case you couldn't figure it out she is in all day Kindergarten.)

Before school: Naomi in the courtyard before we brought her to class
Naomi sitting at her desk

After School:

All smiles now. She absolutely loves school

My Bulletin Board

School started this past Monday for me. In getting my room ready for this coming school year, I decided that I needed to update my Me Bulletin Board. I have not updated it since I first put it up 6 years ago. In fact, Naomi was still a baby on it. Since I am teaching almost all Aquatics this year, I decided to change my theme from sunflowers to beach. What do you think?

When you're mad at someone...

...Hide their toothbrush. While we were staying at my sister's apartment (because of the ac problem), Aurora did something to make Naomi mad. So Naomi hid her toothbrush. Last night, Jenny texted me to ask where Aurora's toothbrush was. And I had no clue. Today when I was talking to David and mentioned the missing toothbrush, Naomi piped up and said I hid it. David talked to Naomi that hiding people's toothbrushes is not nice and brought her over to find it. When they got back home, I asked her why she hid it and she told me because Aurora had made her very angry. Isn't kid logic interesting?

Houston it's hot

When living in Houston, you pray that your AC runs properly all summer. Ours was working just fine until Wednesday night when it decided to not work. We have a home warranty company and talked to them yesterday but the earliest the AC people could come was this morning. So the last two nights we have slept in a HOT HOT house. It was 87 last night. The AC guy came today and our compressor is bad. It is covered by our warranty but we have to pay disposal fees and freon to the tune of $325. Ouch! Instead of replacing the compressor they are going to replace the whole unit for the same price. However the only problem is that it is going to take between 3 days to a week to get a new unit for us. We definitely can not live in the house that hot. I talked to my sister and even though her and her husband live in a 1 bedroom apartment they are willing to let us hang there until the AC is replaced. Only problem is what to do about the dog and 2 cats. Personally I think the house is too HOT!! I checked on them after work today and it was 94 in our house. YIKES!! Don't you just love trials?

I have a Confession...

I have been in denial but I can no longer deny that I am claustrophobic.

My first experience was when I was in High School and I was snorkeling out in the Florida Keys as part of a Marine Biology Field Trip. The first time I put on my snorkel mask I freaked out and did not snorkel. (My teacher thought I couldn't swim so he made me wear a kids swim inner tube around my waist any time I got into the water. How embarrassing for a senior in HS!! I finally talked to him and told him I could swim it was the mask that freaked me out.) After the first time I got better and ended up snorkeling just fine.

My second experience was during college. My roommates and I went caving south of Provo. We had to descend about 10ft on a rope into the ground and then immediately get down on our bellies and scoot across the floor of the cave with the ceiling about two inches from our back for about 5 ft before the cave opened up. Needless to say, I freaked out again. I was pretty much a basket case the whole time we were in the cave and my roommates vowed they would never take me caving again.

Like I said I was in denial that I was claustrophobic. I chalked both of these experiences up to fear of the unknown. (PS I hate crowds. Too many people in one place makes me a little crazy.) Anyways the last part of the research study that I participated in was to have a MRI done. I talked to my parents and my Dad thought I would have no problem. So when I was answering the questionnaire and it asked if I was claustrophobic I said NO! Uh wrong answer. Because this was a MRI of my brain my head had to be strapped down and then I had a wonderful little mask put over my face. The mask looks similar to the one in the picture below but mine was more open with bars going vertically and horizontally. There was a little mirror attached to it so I could see a computer screen and complete some small tasks that they had for me. After having my head strapped down and put in the mask they rolled me into the MRI and I panicked. I couldn't breath and my heart started racing out of control. I asked them if I could come out and go to the bathroom. So they took me out and allowed me to go to the restroom. While in the RR, I took a lot of calming breaths and said a prayer asking Heavenly Father to help me do this. After all I was going to be in the machine for a little less than 2 hours. I got myself composed and went back into the room to try again. I was able to complete the MRI scan. I was still nervous but I noticed I could control some of it by closing my eyes and ignoring the fact that I was in a tube with a mask on my face. The task part where I had to open my eyes and respond by clicking some buttons was a little harder but I did okay. I did have to take a break between the two portions of my test but I survived. Now confessing that I am claustrophic is not a big deal. And for the most part I know what situations give me problems and I can avoid them. However one of my big dreams is to be certified to scuba dive. I love the water and all aquatic life. (Hence why I teach Aquatic Science.) And being able to scuba dive has been a dream of mine forever. But now that I know I have problems with claustrophobia especially with things over my face, I wonder if I will ever be able to scuba dive.

Missing Number

For awhile now Kaylee has been counting to 10. She is pretty good at it. What is funny about it is that she misses 5 every time she counts. We stop her and remind her about the 5 but the next time she counts she forgets 5 again. 5 just does not exist in her world.

Sundresses

One of my friends had a little girl a couple of months ago and her other daughter just had a birthday. So I decided to make "matching" dresses for them. I thought they turned out really cute! What do you think?