Second Grade

Yesterday was the first day of second grade for Charlie.  We had a fun summer but he was ready to go back to school.  I'm so glad he likes school because I liked school too.  Life is just better when you like school as opposed to when you hate it.  There were some aspects of school, mainly social, that I disliked but on the whole I liked it because of the learning.  The love of learning has been a great blessing in my life and the older I get, the more I realize how rich my life is because of it.

Let me stop before I get too far astray from the point of this post...  I was really proud of both kids for getting ready without me having to do any yelling.  We were actually early!  What great start to the year.  :-) Ellie was excited for school to start too.  She is so ready for Kindergarten - even though it won't be for another year.  She will start pre-school next week and she is so excited!

In this picture, Charlie is making a silly face.  He does these fake smiles whenever I take pictures of him now and I don't know how to get him to just smile his naturally cute smile.  Oh well...

Notes

I love how my kids each have his/her own personality and make life fun.  One of the best things about being a mom is sharing those cute and/or funny moments with my husband at the end of the day.  Something I love about Charlie is how he communicates with us with notes.

Dear Tooth Fairy, I have to remind you that my loose tooth has a cavity. Love Charlie

Ellie likes to call Charlie different nicknames sometimes.  There was a period of a couple weeks when she called him Wyatt.  Wyatt is a character on the PBS program SuperWhy.

About a week ago, Charlie wrote a note on a sticky-note that said, "Very tired last night" and put it on his bedroom door.  This is an imitation on a practice of my husband's - if he was up in the night and had problems sleeping, he'd stick a note on the bathroom mirror to let me know why he wasn't up yet.

Sunday Morning

I'm enjoying a quiet Sunday morning before the kids wake up and the rush begins.  Ah!  There's nothing like sitting here and being able to think without interruption.  I didn't mean to wake up quite so early but maybe being able to soak in some peace is just what I need to start off my Sunday.  Who knows how many of these moments I'll get in the next couple of months?  At least ones like today when I don't feel exhausted... because I know they will be few and far between after the baby gets here.

Last night, we had a rainstorm which lasted hours.  The thundering and heavy rain started in the early evening and had tapered off to a drizzle by the time we went to bed.  Usually, the rain here lasts about 30 minutes to an hour and occur in the afternoon.  Dan had to go turn off our sprinklers.  I was glad for the shower which brought cooler temperatures and hopefully an end to the wildfires in this region.  Already, there have been reports in the paper that the lowering of the thermometer has had an dampening effect on the burning.

Well, I have lingered long enough.  Time to get ready for the day!

20 Weeks

I'm at 20 weeks now.  Last night, I went to bed very late because we were planning our vacation for next month.  I decided to skip my morning swim in favor of getting a little extra sleep, which was a hard decision for me since I haven't missed any days in the past few months.  I love my routine and hate to mess it up!  However, I've learned to accept that I need to slow down and not be too hard on myself for it.

A few weeks ago, I'd slept horribly but decided to do my regular 32 laps anyway.  Throughout the rest of that day, I kept feeling contractions - not a good feeling since I was only 14 or 15 weeks along.  I realized then that pushing myself so hard was not the best thing to do.

Learning accept that I can't be all and do all has been a lesson that I'm sure I'll still struggle with for the rest of my life.  I think it's just the nature of women to want to do more and more.  It doesn't help when you have things like Pinterest, other websites, and media out there seemingly telling us what we should do or be.  A few weeks ago, I read a couple of things that have brought home to me the falsity of these ideas.  Comparing myself to what I perceive to be the image of perfection is destructive and unfair to myself.  It's much more constructive to focus on what's important to me and my family than to chase after moving targets of what might be considered the ultimate thing of the moment.

In the spirit of doing it my way and ignoring Pinterest, I'm throwing an old-fashioned birthday party for Charlie.  It's going to be at the park, so I don't feel like I have to make my home look perfect for anybody.  We're just going to have pizza, pop, and cake.  Last Saturday, we went to a birthday where one of the moms made rainbow cupcakes.  It looked really neat!  IF I have time, I might do that.  I'm not going to come up with any fancy games or elaborate activities.  We're going to let the kids eat, play, and have fun.  We might fly kites, play tag, swing, etc.  We're going back to simple and old-fashioned.  Oh, and, I'm not doing any special treat bags.  I think it'll be fun!

(By the way, I did have an ultrasound today.  I was leaning toward not finding out the baby's gender but my husband thought it'd been good to find out so I did.  But, since I won't be talking to him until tonight, I will announce the result after I've told him.  Sorry for the suspense!  ;-) )

Not Sure

Sorry for those of you who got a half-finished post about our spring break.  I will be finishing that up soon.  I just need to take some time figuring out how to upload the pictures from our new camera. 

Meanwhile, I've been just trying to keep up with everything while getting more pregnant.  I've had to pack away most of the clothes I'd been wearing and am wearing clothes that are one to two sizes bigger.  I don't really fit into the maternity clothes yet.  I'm hoping I don't have to buy too many new maternity outfits but I might have to since this pregnancy is during a completely different time of year than my other two.  Being pregnant during the summer is going to be interesting as I tend to get really swollen at the end.  Also, I remember always feeling so hot!

I'm still exercising and swimming (but I will need a new swimsuit soon as the one I'm wearing is getting pretty tight). I feel really good and whenever I'm tempted to skip a day I remind myself that that would just be the first step down the slippery slope of inactivity.  I can tell that I've been sleeping better and feeling more energetic than during previous pregnancies.

This is week 18 which means I can find out if it's a boy or a girl in a couple of weeks.  However, I haven't decided if I want to know.  It might be nice if it's a surprise.

Spring Break

It's been over a month since we went on our trip to DC.  I was waiting for some pictures from my mom's camera but since I still don't have them, I'm just going to post this for now and put in some of those pictures later.

We had what felt like a whirlwind trip with something going on just about every day.  We left our house around 7 AM so we could get to the airport in time to catch our flight.  Even though our kids are a little older and travel better now, it still seems like such a big hassle every time we fly.  I'm sure it's a combination of the long drive (about 1.5 hours) to the airport, the hauling of the luggage from the parking lot to the airport, the getting through security, and finally getting to the gate.  Add in the bathroom stops and trying to get food, not to mention any flight delays, and it's really a pain.  I know I shouldn't be complaining because we always enjoy ourselves when we get there but the whole process of travelling is not enjoyable.  We've actually been pretty lucky with our trips in the past couple years since there haven't been any major delays.  So I wasn't surprised when our flight ended up being delayed - for the most unexpected reason: snow.  We've been having such warm weather that it took us by surprise to see snow while driving to the airport.

When we finally landed and got our luggage and rental car it was almost 9 PM.  We still had about an hour of driving to where we were staying so we stopped by Famous Dave's for dinner near the airport.  It was our first time eating at a Famous Dave's and it was pretty tasty!

We stayed at the home of some good friends since my parents have cats (Dan and the kids are allergic).  Also, Dan needed exercise equipment for his back, which my friends happened to have.  It was really wonderful of them to let us stay there.  Actually, it worked out that they were gone on vacation until about the day before we left.  The only downside to this arrangement was that we were 40 minutes away from my parents'.

On Wednesday, we went over to my parents' house, which they moved to last year.  We hung out there and then stopped by my grandparents' graves.

On Thursday, my parents and sister came over to my friends' house.  After my dad left for work, the rest of us went to Brookside Gardens.  There were two connected greenhouses with gorgeous plants and flowers inside.  Outside, the flowering trees, tulips, and daffodils were at the height of bloom.  The kids especially liked the turtles in the ponds.  We didn't mean to stay long but after walking around the gardens we decided to walk through the woods by a lake.  Then we saw a miniature train on which we've ridden during our last trip and... since Charlie still loves trains, of course we just had to ride it.  Also right next to the train ride was the carousel ride, which we also had to go on because Ellie loves that.  We took a different route back to our car which led us through some playgrounds.  The kids played there a while.  On the way, we went down a graveled hill and poor Ellie tripped.  So, that was the end of our perfect day.

Friday morning we rode the Metro to meet my sister and aunt at the National Air and Space Museum.  My kids loved riding the train and the escalators.  We really didn't see that much of the museum except the exhibits on flight.  Then we had lunch at the McDonald's inside the museum, which was the biggest McDonald's I'd ever been to - it had about 10 lines and was two levels.

We then headed to the National Zoo, one of my favorite places to visit in DC.  It's near and dear to my heart because I'd spent one summer volunteering there during high school.  I have fond memories of riding back and forth on the metro several times a week and getting to see the non-tourist parts of the zoo.

The walk from the Metro station to the zoo entrance is quite long so I was surprised that Ellie walked the whole way without complaining.  We had a lot of fun seeing all the animals.  Most memorable were the pandas and the lions.  There was a long line for the pandas which for some reason were inside instead of outside.  The second panda we saw had just turned away from us when we walked up to look at it.  Ellie thought it was hilarious that it showed its bottom to us.  She kept laughing and laughing...  I have to say, going to the zoo with my kids is so much more fun than going with people my age.

One of the reasons we made this special trip was to attend the wedding of my dear friend Jaya.  She and I go way back to the fourth grade when we decided to be "best friends".  Even though we've taken different paths in life, she and I have always remained good friends.  I'm so glad we were able to be there for her and her husband's special day.  The wedding was beautiful as was the couple!

Another special treat was being able to attend church in my "home" ward in Laurel, Maryland.  Although I have been away for more than a decade, I love how it always feels welcoming.  Last but not least, we got to enjoy an Easter feast with some of my favorite people!

Four

It's really embarrassing that I'm writing about this right now...almost two months later.

Ellie turned four in February and we had a birthday party planned for her.  Unfortunately, February was a bad month for sickness in our family and poor Ellie got sick several times!  We had to reschedule her birthday party twice.  But, I was determined she was going to have her birthday party because she was looking SO forward to it.  Every day leading up to it she would ask if it was her birthday yet. 

So we finally did have a birthday party for her at McDonald's and she was so happy!  It was worth the price to not have to clean up and decorate.

Ellie definitely brings a lot of joy to our lives!  Here are just a few things I love about Ellie:

* She has a great sense of humor.

* She makes everything fun!  For example, since the weather's been nice lately, we've been going on walks as a family.  Ellie started noticing all the fire hydrants we pass.  Now, she'll point out every single fire hydrant she sees.  She calls them "hire fydrants".  She's super adorable in the way she reacts when she sees one.

* She's very sweet and loving.  Her hugs and kisses will melt your heart!

I Recommend This Blog

I like to read some blogs and there are a few that I read regularly.  Today I read a really great post at 71 Toes that I wanted to share because it inspired me and helped me feel good.  I hope you like it too!  This blog is so great and so is the lady who writes it!  In case the link doesn't take you directly to the post I'm talking about, it's titled "being enough".  I just love what she wrote because I'm always trying to do better and sometimes it's hard when it doesn't seem like I'm doing enough.

Growing

Yesterday, I went to see someone I hadn't seen in over four years: my obstetrician.  She did an ultrasound to determine my due date and printed out some images.  I was surprised at how far along she said I was - 12 weeks 4 days.  Because I'll be 35 soon, I have to decide if I want to have all those tests done to determine if baby has any problems.  Bah!  I really don't want to have go through with all that stuff but I guess it's good to be prepared mentally & emotionally.  Not that I think there should be any problems.

Baby is about 6 cm from head to bottom.  In the second image, you can see a hand.

I've had a lot more nausea than with the first two but otherwise I feel pretty good.  This will be my healthiest pregnancy yet since I've been eating healthier and exercising more regularly than during my previous pregnancies.  Yesterday morning, I did 32 laps at the pool.  I hope I can keep being physically active all the way until September 22nd!

Musings

Man, I'm terrible at this blogging thing!  I've been getting major insomnia now that Ellie likes to wake up at odd hours wanting to use the potty.  I don't know why I have such a bad time trying to fall back to sleep.  Part of the problem is I always end up thinking - one thought leads to another and before I realize it I've let my mind wander for two hours.

One of the things I usually end up thinking about is how I could write about this or that on my blog but do I ever actually do it?  No, because I always forget.  But, I do always think I would like to write more than just once or twice a month.  I'm not sure why I want to write more seeing as how my audience is tiny but I guess maybe if I did write more I might get more people interested in reading it.

Tonight my husband and I are going on a date!  We really try to go on them more often but it usually ends up being once a month (maybe twice if we're lucky).  It's really nice that we have a few baby-sitters to call on and the kids get excited about having a baby-sitter.  :-)

Our standard is going out to dinner and then seeing a movie.  It's pretty much the only thing to do around here, especially when it's cold and windy.  There are a couple of restaurants we really like - one is more upscale and pricey and the other one is cheaper and faster but still good.  The nice place was one we just went to on Monday night as a family (paid for by a work-related vendor!) so tonight we're going to the second one.  Yummy!  I can't wait to spend some one-on-one time with my honey!

If anyone has some fun date ideas, I'd love to hear about them!

Change of Plans

Well, sometimes things just don't work out the way you imagined.  In my last post, I talked about going to grad school.  Having done it for about five weeks, I came to the realization that it isn't the right time for me to pursue that goal.  So many factors went into my final conclusion.

First, the time and energy necessary for my program was more than I could handle.  It was exhausting and stressful just to drive the 50 minutes to class.  You may think 50 minutes isn't too bad but you don't live in Wyoming.  The highway between Cheyenne and Laramie can be treacherous between October and May.  Even just a little snow can make the drive dangerous depending on the temperature and wind conditions.  Blowing snow is a common occurrence leading to low visibility.  Couple that with a steady stream of semis that regularly traverse this artery and you find yourself holding on to the steering wheel with white knuckles.  In addition, I was spending a huge amount of time studying and doing the assignments (okay, I only had one assignment at the time).  It was also affecting my sleep.  The nights before the days I had class, I was sleeping very poorly which was bad because then I didn't have the energy I needed to make the drive and pay attention in class.

This leads me to the second, and the most important factor: my family.  I was stressed-out and not having a lot of time to spend with my family or for taking care of them.  Sure I made sure they were taken care of but in the back of my mind I was thinking about when I could study and not really enjoying my time with them as much as I could.

In addition, I still had my calling and my PTA position.  So, after much thought and prayer, I decided it just wasn't the right time for me to go to grad school.  Maybe I'll reconsider when both kids are in school and when we live somewhere closer to a school or with more reasonable road conditions.

New Year, New Opportunities

Happy New Year!!  Last year was great and this year's going to be even better!  I know it will be.

I'm so excited for my goals this year because they're mostly extensions of my resolutions from last year.  I'd always been frustrated by new year resolutions because like most people, I would make them and by the end of January they would be forgotten.  Last year I changed how I made my resolutions - I made sure they were specific and achievable.  For example, instead of saying I would lose weight, my goal was: lose 1 to 2 pounds a week for a total of 15 pounds.  What really helped me with this goal was WeightWatchers.  (Note: I'm not in any way being compensated for this!).  I started this goal near the end of January and by May I had met my goal.  And, I have maintained that weight since!  So with that and some other goals achieved last year, I'm ready to commit to improving on those goals this year.  Bring it on!!!!

One very thrilling area I'm working on is getting my masters degree in mechanical engineering.  I'm starting a class tomorrow at the University of Wyoming.  Things are not quite official yet but I've been told I'll probably get in and one of the professors said he could probably find funding for me to take the class.  That means that I would probably not have to pay tuition at the very least and I might even be able to get funding for expenses like textbooks, travel, and babysitting.  We'll see.  I'm nervous about how much time taking this class will take because it's a 45-minute commute each way three days a week and I would have to carve out time to study.  Plus, my math is rusty so I will have to study more than the other students.  I'm trusting that if it's the right thing for me, it will all work out.

I will end here since I have to go work on another goal, get to bed by 10 PM!

Swimming

Over the summer, I signed the kids up for swimming lessons at the YMCA pool.  Because it costs about the same amount to pay for a membership and the lessons as paying for the lessons alone without a membership, I decided to just sign up for the membership so that our family can take advantage of the other activities offered.

At the back of my mind, I was also thinking that I could get back into swimming.  I have had an interesting relationship with the pool since elementary school.  When I was in the 4th grade, we took a two-week swimming course at one of the few schools in the county that had a pool.  I remember having fun jumping into the pool from the side.  Fifth grade was our last year in elementary school and to celebrate graduating from elementary school, the teachers arranged a pool party.


We were enjoying ourselves in the pool splashing and playing Marco Polo.  Then, a few of my friends decided to go down the water slide.  I thought that would be fun to do and my friends encouraged me.  So, I climbed up the ladder and slid down into the water.  That's when I realized two weeks of swimming lessons was not enough to give me the skills I needed to go down the water slide!  I didn't know what to do and so I did nothing.  I kept going down, down, down...  Luckily, a lifeguard came to my rescue and pulled me out of the water.  I was scared and mortified.  Since then, I'd had a fear of the deep end of the pool.

Fast forward to sophomore year in college.  I had to take some PE classes to satisfy the university's graduation requirements.  I decided I needed to learn to swim so I signed up for a beginner swimming class.  It was nice to know I wasn't the only one who couldn't swim!  I barely passed the class only because I managed to just tread water a little bit.  That was really hard for me since we had to do it in the diving pool, which had one depth: 12 feet.


Fast forward again.  Now I'm married and have a one-year-old.  I wanted to do something to improve my health and I decided to get back into swimming.  I took swimming lessons at the community center.  At the first class, the teacher asked what level we are and I told her I was intermediate.  She asked my group to use the kick-boards to warm up.  So, I got on the kick-board and start off down the pool.  At about the middle, I got tired so I decided to stop to take a break, not realizing that it was deeper than I'd thought.  So, I floundered and had to be rescued by a lifeguard.  What little confidence I had gained from my college swimming class was wiped out by this unexpected incident.  I nervously continued the class at the beginner level.  Luckily, the teacher was patient and understanding.  I was eventually able to swim laps again and started going on my own to swim laps at the pool.  The deep end was still scary but I managed to push my fears aside.

That was almost six years ago.  Last month, I again decided to get back into swimming.  I'd been working out and running regularly and felt pretty good about my physical fitness.  With winter approaching, I felt like I needed to find another activity to be involved in so I wasn't running on the treadmill inside all the time.  So I signed up for private swimming lessons at the YMCA.  Every pool is different; some pools start at three feet and have one corner that's deeper, other pools start shallow at one end and drop down to 12 feet about halfway.  I found myself having to re-acclimate myself to the water and to the configuration of the pool each time.  This time, it took me a couple of lessons to be able to swim in the deep end.  I was determined to get over this fear and went to practice on my own in between lessons so that I could make better progress and get my money's worth from the private sessions with my teacher.

For the past few weeks, I've been going to swim laps early in the mornings instead of running because it's not fun to run in the cold, dark, and windy Wyoming dawn.  I am not where I want to be yet but I know that with time and practice, I will improve.

Teeth

This is the first tooth Charlie lost. Before this, he actually had to have one tooth pulled on Halloween - worst day to have that done to a kid! That one was a molar so you can't see the gap. Isn't he so cute with his missing tooth?

First Day of First Grade

Today is Charlie's first day going to first grade. I can't believe how fast summer went and that my little boy is not so little anymore!

How to Ace the GRE

When you are focused on a goal, you have to prioritize everything accordingly so you can accomplish it.  Since I signed up to take the GRE back a few months ago, I have put most things on the back burner.  Blogging was one of those things.  There were still things that had to be done like taking care of my family, my church calling, housework, etc.  But high on my list was preparing for the test which was a challenge given that it had to be worked around the other things in my life.  When Charlie was in school it was pretty simple since I could just study while Ellie was taking her afternoon nap.  However, once school let out I found it much more difficult to find time to study.  We were busy with swim lessons, story time at the library, and play dates at the parks in the mornings.  During Ellie's naps, Charlie would usually want to play a game or need my attention for some reason.  I admit I have put on a movie for him more than once in order to get the quiet I needed to focus and practice.  It is for that reason that I scheduled my test for the week after school let out.  Unfortunately, my math score was not high enough to be competitive with the average score of those entering grad school in the program I am considering so I signed up to retake the exam this month.  That was not the best time since it's summer and I had even less time than before to study.

Luckily, I had learned from taking the test the first time that I didn't have to study for the verbal section and could just focus on the math section.  I reread the sections about math in the GRE study guides I had and practiced solving math problems, lots of math problems.  One very important thing I learned about the scoring method was that omitting questions was highly penalized.  On the GRE, you cannot skip questions.  The computer does not allow you to skip questions - it forces you to pick an answer to a question before you can move on to the next question.  However, if you run out of time, you will not be able to complete all the problems.  The problems at the end that you don't answer will count against your score.  One of my study guides said that the percentage of the problems you miss for that section is subtracted from your score.  For example, if you would've gotten a score of 660 but you missed 3 out of the 28 problems for the math section, your final score for the math section would be 590.  (3/28=11%, 11% of 660 is about 70, subtract 70 from 660 and you get 590.)

Another key to doing well on the math section is to work carefully so that you get as many questions right as possible, especially in the beginning.  The GRE is a computer adaptive test, which means that the questions you get are based on how you answered the previous questions.  The first question is usually of a medium difficulty level.  If you answer the question correctly, the next question you get is more difficult; however, if you answer the question incorrectly, the next question is less difficult.  You want to get the more difficult questions get them right because they lead to the higher score.  The computer is constantly guaging your score based on how well you solve each problem and the difficulty of the problems.  However, since each subsequent question is based on your performance on the previous problem, the earlier problems have more bearing on your overall score.  Therefore, it's important to do the best you can on the first ten problems.

Finally, I believe that another key to doing well on the GRE is to relax.  There's no doubt it's a challenging exam and most people get stressed out about it.  However, if you are too stressed out during the exam, your stress will distract you and keep you from doing your best.  I knew that I needed to relax the night before the test so I didn't do much studying.  I looked over a couple things but other than that, I didn't think too much about the test.  I spent most of the day cleaning my house and that evening my husband and I went on a date and then rented a video.  I went to bed at my normal bedtime.  In the morning, I went for my usual run, which is a big stress-reliever for me, and got ready for the day.  My test wasn't until 12 noon but I had a two-hour drive on a busy highway, that in itself is stressful as well.  (There's a long story related to my having to drive two hours away for this test which I won't get into right now.  Suffice it to say this added to my stress level and I feel pretty good that I was still able to to do well on the test despite the long drive and added stress.)  I just kept thinking that there wasn't anything I could do about having to drive that far so I did my best to stay calm and think positive.  I told myself that I was ready for the test and that I would do just fine.  Another positive thought running through my mind was that I would be done by the end of the day and that I could enjoy the rest of the summer with my kids without having to worry about this test anymore.  Also, if I didn't do well, which wasn't likely since I had done my best to prepare, it wouldn't be the end of the world.  Life would go on, I could pursue other avenues and interests besides grad school.

The test consists of a 45 minute analysis of an issue essay and a 30 minute analysis of an argument essay.  There's a 10-minute break and then a 30 minute verbal section and lastly, a 45 minute quantitative (math) section.  For me, the issue essay is a challenge because the issue is worded very broadly and you have to think about it and write it in 45 minutes.  The argument essay is a little easier since you're just critiquing an argument and poking holes in the assumptions made in the argument.  This exam seems to also be a test of one's patience and endurance since it lasts over two-and-a-half hours. 

During the test, I made sure to take deep breaths and focus on the questions rather than how I thought I was doing.  Also, I did my best to be comfortable: I wore comfortable clothing, adjusted the chair, took off my sandals, and took advantage of the breaks I was given.  Finally, the test was over!  The computer asks me whether I wish to report my scores before it would let me see my scores.  Of course!  There wasn't any other way to see how well I did.  If I didn't report my scores, I would never know how I did and I would have to pay to retake it.  Why would I want to do that?  Then, I was asked to select the schools to which I wish to send my scores.  After all that, the computer shows me the verbal and quantitative (math) scores.

Finally!  I was pleased to see that my verbal improved by 20 points and that my quantitative score had increased by 130 points, which was significantly better than my score from last time.  Now that the test is over, I can look back and see that all my efforts had paid off and that my strategy of completing the test and relaxing had helped me do well on the test.  I may not have aced the test but I came pretty close!
 

Talents

You know what?  I don't think I'm blogging is one of my talents...  Good thing I don't have a large audience!  :-)

Speaking of talents, I've really been thinking about what my talents are.  Some people are blessed with many talents which are readily apparent but I'm really having a hard time coming up with my own list.  It's really troubling me.  Some people have talents that are visible like playing a musical instrument, singing, acting, leadership, being confident, etc.  It seems like they were born with these gifts. 

For me, the only thing I feel like is a natural gift is a sense of direction.  If you were to plop me down in the middle of a strange place, I'd do a pretty good job of finding my way around.  You could maybe count languages but the only language I feel completely fluent in is English.  I speak some Chinese but my vocabulary is limited and while I've tried to improve that skill, I haven't made much progress because of time and energy limitations.

Even things that I feel I might be good at seem to take a lot of effort.  I studied engineering in college.  I had to study really hard and didn't really feel like I was as good as the other students but I thought did okay.  I would like to go back to grad school eventually and get a master's or maybe even a PhD.  I do love learning and would also like to make some contribution to the field and to society.  So, I've taken the GRE which is required for admission to any graduate program.  With a degree in engineering, you'd think I would get a high score in math but I got an average score.  I'm retaking the test in a couple weeks and hope my math score is much higher so I'll be a competitive candidate. 

I know I have talents.  God has given each person talents.  I just need to discover them and develop them.  What are your talents and how did you discover them?

Accomplishments

My kids are just growing up too fast!

Charlie is getting to be a great reader.  He loves to read and asks to read the scriptures and other things.  He figures out most of the words, except the big ones.  His Kindergarten teacher has told me that out of a list of one hundred words, he knew ninety-nine of them.  He's also doing addition.  I thought Kindergarten was where you learned to color and count?

Ellie has decided in the past couple weeks that she's ready to use the "big toilet" and has been regularly going in it.  She was excited to wear her big girl underwear but now has decided she still wants to wear diapers.  It's probably because she's had a couple of accidents.  So, we just take it off when she wants to go potty.  She especially loves the family bathroom at the library because it's got a regular toilet and one that is the perfect height for kids.  It's really nice that she's willing to use public bathrooms.  I'm thrilled that this interest in potty-training is not the result of me pushing her but her own desire.

This Week

The last full week of February is National Engineer Week.

It's a week when engineering is celebrated as a profession.  Most leaders in the fields of engineering try to educate the public on the impact of engineering on our daily lives.  Even as an engineer, I sometimes marvel at the the things I use on a regular basis.  The other day, I heard a guy on the radio talking about how even something as simple as a pencil is not something one person can produce very easily.  It takes a variety of resources, most of which require engineering, to produce a pencil.

One very important goal of many engineers is to encourage school children to go into engineering.  There is a term called STEM, which stands for science, technology, engineering, and math.  It is a term used to describe the technical fields that many consider "nerdy" and many people tend to think that they're not smart enough to do those types of jobs.  That is a myth.  The fact is that jobs in STEM are for anyone who enjoys being creative, playing, problem solving, and social.  Yes, nerds are social!!  I know because I'm one of them and I'm married to one too.

It's crucial that we as parents and adults break down the stereotypes of STEM and help children, especially girls, see that science and math are not boring subjects and that they are smart enough to learn those things.

In honor of Engineer's Week, I went to Charlie's Kindergarten class to talk with them about engineering and what engineers do.   I read a book called Engineering the ABCs, which lists an item that is made by engineers for each letter.  Then, I talked to them about rockets, which requires lots of engineers to design and build.  After giving them a simple explanation about how a rocket works, I brought out pop rockets that I had made (one with Charlie's help, see picture above) and told them I was going to launch it.  Because it was freezing and snowing outside, we had the students stand by the windows inside while I launched the rocket outside.  The children erupted into cries of "Whoa, that was awesome!" when I returned to the room.  I had given the teacher a couple of coloring pages that had the ABCs and things that were created by engineers that started with each letter.  While they colored, the teacher showed a video of the Space Shuttle Discovery launch from yesterday.

Three

Ellie is three-years-old!  Her birthday was a couple weeks ago.  We celebrated as a family with dinner, cake, and presents.  She has definitely grown up in the past year!  She likes to put her own clothes on and even sometimes insists on wearing big girl underwear.  We haven't been pushing her too hard to be potty-trained, thinking that it would be easier when she decides she wants to do it.  Lately, she has been showing more interest: asking to watch the Elmo's Potty Time DVD, telling us she wants to use the potty, and actually peeing in the potty a few times.

We love this girl!  Ellie is delightful to be around.  She loves to take care of her stuffed animals and makes sure to wrap each of them up in its own blanket before placing them in her bed so they can take a nap.  Ellie has a passion for blowing bubbles.  She has a great sense of humor and loves to say to Charlie: "Tickle me and run!"  She's developed a love for reading books and playing the Thomas matching game.  And, she's picked up a knack for using the computer (thanks to Dan and Charlie).  Last but not least, she has a big sweet tooth!


Happy birthday to my sweet little dumpling!