Random Thoughts

I keep coming to my blog thinking I should post something, and am never really motivated to upload pictures and gather my thoughts. So, here are some of my thoughts!

1. I can't believe the school year is almost over! Alex had his last day of preschool yesterday and Katie only has a couple days of first grade left.

2. I've been loving this weather and am not looking forward to the HOT days of summer.

3. We really need to get the garage organized so I can park the car in there again.

4. I am excited to get really working on my Lemongrass business. I need to book some parties for July. The new hostess program is pretty amazing!

5. Katie and Alex were awesome at the KidShine performances. It's always so cute. I love that every kid has a solo and a speaking part.

6. Katie's matinee was great.

7. Katie's got a piano recital next Saturday. Man, we've been busy!

8. Alex really, really, really wants to play tackle football in the fall and I think we might let him.

9. We are all excited to go see the Lion King in a couple of weeks. I love it when shows have Local deals. Buy one get one free is pretty good.

10. We are going to have a great week in San Diego in June.

Star of the Week

Katie was "Star of the Week" in her class this week.  We (Don & I) filled out some letter for her, The Story of Your Birth, The Story of Your Name, and What I Like About You. Those letters and some baby pictures were turned into a poster displayed all week in her class.  On Friday Don, Alex and I joined her for lunch at school, then headed to her classroom for sharing time.  This included each of her classmates giving her a compliment that was recorded on the back of the poster. Then she shared her special item she brought.  It was really neat to be a part of her day and hear all the wonderful things her classmates said about her.

Great shot, huh?

Recording the compliments.  See below for the complete list!

Here she is listening.  I don't know why I didn't get any better shots.  Well, Maybe it was because I had to pay attention to Alex.  By the way, she's wearing pajamas because it was twin day and she was dressed like her friend, Kaia.

• 
  
  I love how thoughful Katie is. ~Ms. Terc
• 
  
  I like how she's thankful. ~Makaila
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  She's very good at math. ~Alberto
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  She's good at dancing. ~Ana
• 
  
  She is helpful. ~Jayden
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  She has a good heart and she's good at telling time. ~Charisma
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  She's friendly and she stops to help when someone gets hurt. ~Angel
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  She is good at writing and drawing. ~Bailey
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  She is good at playing games cooperatively. ~Robert
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  She is good at maing things and she's respectful. ~Leslie
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  She's forgiving. ~Pedro
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  We love her as a friend. ~Genisis
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  She is a good artist. ~Kaia
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  She's a very nice friend forever. ~Ken
• 
  
  She is talented. ~Thomas
• 
  
  She is kind. ~Sayra
• 
  
  She is a good leader. ~Hailey
• 
  
  Katie is gentle and patient with her friends. ~Mrs. Payer

While we were there, we got to see a dance that Katie made up and taught her class.  There was a lot of talk about what a great dancer Katie is. :) OK, I was going to post the video, but now I don't see the button for that.  I'll try again later.

1st place trophy!!!

On Friday we attended the "Reflections" award ceremony at Gilbert Magnet School.  We were notified ahead of time that Katie was a "winner."  We didn't know exactly what that meant, but it turned out that she won 1st place in her division, primary photography.  She submitted a collage of 4 photos that she took at Red Rock Canyon to represent this year's theme of "Beauty Is....."  They gave awards to the top 5 in each catagory. Way to go Katie! :) 

Red Rock’s Beauty relates to the theme, “Beauty is…” because my pictures show all different colors of the earth. The pictures show that there are many places to explore. It’s beautiful because I can be with nature and see lots of things.

Here are the 4 pictures that were in her entry:

Each year, the PTA Reflections Program challenges students to create art inspired by a specific theme. Themes are selected from hundreds of ideas submitted by students to the PTA Reflections Program Theme Search. Past themes have included "Exploring New Beginnings," "If I Could Give the World a Gift...," "A Different Kind of Hero," and most recently, “I Can Make a Difference by…” and “Wow!” The 2009–2010 theme is “Beauty is…”

Students participate in the Reflections Program by submitting entries to a local PTA or PTSA. Nationally, the program has six arts areas—dance choreography, film production, literature, musical composition, photography, and visual arts—and four grade divisions—primary, intermediate, middle/junior, and senior.

Katie's school

I got a newsletter from Katie's school today and it had some pretty fantastic information.  I'm going to just copy the info for your reading pleasure.

Gilbert Magnet School has been identified as a Magnet School Of Excellence! We applied for a received this top award that is given by the Magnet Schools of America Association.  Therefore, out of all the magnet schools in America, Gilbert is considered to be one of the top school in the country!  ......

Going along with this fine honor, Gilbert recevied the top number of applications for an elementary magnet school in Clark County.  Over 1,213 students applied to become a Gilbert Giraffe next year!  How wonderful to know that "The Arts-a Way to Learn, a WAy to Live" is a believe held by many.

I feel very blessed that Katie gets to attend such a great school. 

Golden Rules for Living

I have read this before, but came across it again today, and I wanted to share.  I am going to print this up and hang in the house where we can all see it.

Golden Rules for Living
If you open it, close it.
If you turn it on, turn it off.
If you unlock it, lock it up.
If you break it, admit it.
If you can't fix it, call in someone who can.
If you borrow it, return it.
If you value it, take care of it.
If you make a mess, clean it up.
If you move it, put it back.
If it belongs to someone else and you want to use it, get permission.
If you don't know how to operate it, leave it alone.
If it's none of your business, don't ask questions.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
If it will brighten someone's day, say it.
If it will tarnish someone's reputation, keep it to yourself.

Author Unknown                                       

What a morning!!!

So this morning started out as the usual Monday morning at the Oppenheim house.  Katie is hard to get out of bed and pokey about getting dressed and ready to leave.  I was in the Kitchen packing the kids' lunches when Katie come out and tells me that Alex flooded my bathroom.  OF COURSE!!  Yep, he tells me with tears in his eyes, "Mom, I used too much toilet paper and I couldn't get it to go down and then water started coming out and there is water everywhere." His pants and underwear that he left on the floor are soaked and there is a HUGE puddle of water on the floor.  *sigh*  Of course he chose to use my bathroom and not his.

So, I went out to the garage and grabbed a few towels to start cleaning up the mess.  Then I called Don to figure out how to get the wet/dry vacuum to be a wet vacuum.  I was on the phone, in the garage getting the vacuum together, and of course the kids were out there with me.  Just as I had the vacuum ready Katie tried to open the door.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME???  The door back into the house was LOCKED!  Luckily we had a spare set of keys to the front door in the garage and I was able to get in (after opening all 3 locks on the front door).  Niether kid will admit to locking the garage door. 

Once I finally got in with the vacuum I was able to get most of the water up, throw a few more towels on the floor and take the kids to school.  I only wish I was calm with the kids and not a yelling maniac. Katie was only a little bit late.  By the time I got home after taking Alex to school, I could almost laugh about the morning.  When I got home, there was only a little mess left to clean, the towels I had left on the floor had absorbed the rest of the water.  So, now I'm sitting here retelling my story and all the towels and bathmats are in the washing maching. 

Let's hope the rest of the day goes better than our morning.

Katie and Haiti

Katie never ceases to amaze me.  She is such an empathic person.  She is very concerned about what is happening in Haiti.  She called into last night's telethon and donated all of her money ($23).  She also is selling an old scooter and is going to donate the money to Haiti.  Her school is collecting shoes for the Soles 4 Souls project and she is trying to figure out which shoes from our family can be donated.  It makes me so proud to have a daughter that thinks of other people.  When Don told her she didn't have to donate all of her money she told him that it was her money and she wanted to donate it.  She also told him how lucky we are to live where we live and have all of the things we have.  If you know Katie, you can probably hear her voice as she explained how horrible conditions in Haiti are.  Of course, she had one hand on her hip and the other gesturing in the air as she spoke.  I love that girl!