Life Happens...

They say that life happens when you've made other plans--actually they say that sh-t happens when you've made other plans, but I'm going with the cleaner version.  

Here is/was the plan:

Get up for school and go to school every day.

Here is what happened:

Jenna had horrible earache and stayed home/visited doctor on Monday.  Good news is false alarm; bad news is missed day of school.

Heather, after random stomach ache, weird random temperature spike and sinus congestion that lasted for over two weeks, visited the doctor's office to learn she has a hideous sinus infection.  Yes, that is two girls, two co-payments and two doctors in two days.

Life happened.  For someone who likes to know what to expect and tries to plan things to run in an expected and organized manner, this is not the way I like it.  I am grateful that the girls are relatively healthy though.  I am so much better at "rolling with it" in my older and wiser years.  My stress level is higher because I'm worried about how to keep the girls and myself on schedule, but what can you do?  Perhaps the lesson I should be learning is that I would be less stressed if I was on my A game.  Having all my ducks in a row would help me not get so far behind when the wrench is tossed in.  The A game.  If I had an A game, I could be on one.  I'll work on that.

The Worth of A Soul

Our girls, especially Heather, repeatedly deal with feeling "less-than" for whatever reason.  We've tried over the years to come up with visual aids and tricks for emotionally fortifying the girls when they are away and in need of a boost.  So far, nothing has worked as well as the visual I adapted using what speaks to my girls...money.

We sat down for family night last Monday, and I read the scripture in the Doctrine and Covenants about the worth of the soul.  Then I pulled out a $50 from some birthday money I had and showed it to the girls.  They were in awe having never seen a bill this size before.  They knew what it was worth.  You should have heard the gasp when I crumpled it up into a tiny wad!  I asked them if it was still worth $50 to which they replied that it was.  I smoothed it out and asked again if it was still worth the same, and if they would still use it.  They replied that they would.  Then we had a discussion about the kind of damage that people inflict on each other emotionally, especially those mean kids at school.  I wanted our girls to understand what they were worth and to think about this $50 next time someone says something mean to them.  Will they let the meanness break them down and make them feel worthless, or will they remember that they are still worth the entire amount no matter what happens?  I think the best key to confidence and feeling empowered is knowing what you are worth no matter what.  I want to help my girls have this confidence!

We moved on to our main lesson after that, but that $50 image did it's job.  For a few days afterward as Heather got out of the car for school, I would simply say, "Fifty dollars!"  She would grin, and I could tell it meant a lot to her.  

Someday in the near future, we'll re-visit our $50 bill and talk about sin and repentance and our Father's love for us.  That was the original lessons I borrowed from Here and Here.  It is so hard for us to feel like we are worth the same to our Father in Heaven when we've made mistakes, but what a great visual this money is.  No matter how much damage we've done, we are still worth the full amount in His eyes.

Soccer & Volleyball Tryouts

Jenna's team played a great game today.  We normally don't focus on wins or losses, just how well the girls played as a team.  So far, the team play hasn't been anything to shout about.  Today's play was the best we've seen, and that made everyone happy.  Jenna had to defend like crazy and literally held the other team for three quarters.  Most of the girls on the team were spent by the fourth quarter which shows how important being in shape is.  We lost 2-1, but Jenna was a star and that's what stood out for us.

Heather attended SCVC Club tryouts at Los Cab.  She was trying out for the non-travel team which is a little more affordable.  We didn't think she was going to make a team because of her limited experience, but she scored a spot on the 14RX (non-travel) team.  We're proud parents and hoping that this next year will help her build some serious skills.

Not much going on...

There isn't too much going on this week...well, I supposed there is a lot going on, but no huge blog stories.  Life is made of the little moments, so I'll post those for now.

The weather has been hot, too hot.  Temperatures are twenty degrees above normal for this time of year.  The up side are the sunsets like this one I caught coming out of Costco Monday night.

Jenna's soccer team is practicing on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and they have had two scrimmage games against a boys team their age.  From what I hear, Jenna is an animal.  I think those boys probably run when they see her coming--the girl has stellar defensive skills.  Jenna and her best friend, Sarah, spent a whole twenty-four hours together over the weekend.  I think they needed some friend time.  Jenna wishes Sarah could be at her school.  Next year!

Heather was sick last week, had a horrid experience at school this week (may post later), and is playing volleyball on Wednesdays (indoor) and Saturdays (outdoor) until the end of the month.  Not sure if she'll try out for a club team just yet.  She's also having a super-helpful streak and is making her momma proud clearing dishes, cleaning up her room and emptying the dishwasher without us asking.  Nice!

Did I mention Kelly is the new Young Men's President in our ward?  Yep, as of two weeks ago.  He'll be great at it.  His presidency and advisors are awesome, and I can't wait to see how the program grows  especially in scouting.

I started tutoring last week.  I'll do two days a week; kind of an exciting new adventure.  OCMCO is on full rehearsal schedule for the Christmas concert.  Our stake is planning the Christmas fireside.  Then there is the laundry, cleaning, rides for the kids, grocery shopping, etc.  There are so many things I need to do, so much I want to do, and so little time in which to do everything.  Some days I focus on loving my family, and it is enough.

Fall is here, and with it maybe we'll see some cooler temperatures.  If the attic doesn't cool down, I won't be able to retrieve the Halloween decor.  Let's pray for cooler temperatures!

Science Fair

Jenna came home with a flyer last week for a science fair at Golden West College.  She was actually really excited about going, so we put it on the calendar (and gave her teacher another mark for a job well done).  Jenna's teacher is the district science coordinator, and she loves teaching science, and I'm sure her enthusiasm sparked the interest in Jenna.

We met our friends, the Hansons and Petersons, over at the college and had a great time.   We visited a natural gas demonstration, a room with microscopes to view bugs and tadpoles, a human bones room where the girls checked out the placement of their bones and tried to guess which bum bone their friend broke, a slime-making room, and the Home Depot table where they kids built a bulletin board.  On our way out, we ran into the girls' teacher.  That was great fun since these girls love their teacher so much.  We took all these photos for "evidence" that we visited the fair, but running in to teacher was evidence enough.  We liked the fair so much, we may even visit the one at Orange Coast College next month.

Birthday Sunday

As of Sunday, I am officially half of a right angle.  That's what I told Jenna when she asked me.  It took her a few minutes to work it out.

Kelly made us a wonderful breakfast before church with waffles, hash browns and bacon.  After church, he and the girls worked in the heat to turn 2 ribeye steaks into...Shepherd's Pie!  I was so impressed.  We found out our oven was broken, but Kelly pulled it off using other cooking methods.  The girls were a big help, and I was not allowed in the kitchen.

After dinner, I opened presents and cards that had been waiting for a few days.  The girls made their own cards on the computer and assembled gifts from things we had around the house.  I loved all of my presents.  The biggest gift came a few days before my birthday...

It is the new Canon Rebel T4i.  I wasn't sure about this expense right now, but I figured by the time we could comfortably afford it, the subjects I wish to photograph would be off to college.  That sealed the deal.  I love this camera!

I sat on the floor and snapped this shot of Winston looking at me.  I'm going to have a lot of fun with this.  My birthday was so wonderful, mostly because of all the good wishes and thoughtful gestures.  I felt so loved.

Busy Saturday

It was a hot, busy, but very fun Saturday for the Peterson gals.  Dad was away on a Scout trip having his own fun in the heat.  Jenna had a 9AM soccer game, and she played really well.  It was humid and miserable, however, and we were all a little shocked that there wasn't so much as a breeze to cool us off.

After soccer, I met my friend, Angie, at the Boudin Bakery for a birthday lunch.  It is always a treat when she and I get to hang out.  She brought me a beautiful pumpkin basket with at fragrant spice candle inside.  Awesome and totally me!

After lunch, I picked my girls up and we headed down to Huntington Beach to see our friends, Daisy and Grace, play softball.  Daisy is Angie's daughter, and we met in our teaching credential program, graduated and had our first babies with in a month of each other.  Grace is Sheryl's daughter, and we met as mommies on the Kindergarten playground.  Small world when the daughters of my two dear, long-time friends end up on the same winter ball team together!  Daisy pitches like a madwoman, and Grace is a powerful hitter.  It was great to see them play!

Pilar, Heather, Daisy and Grace

Kelly and I were able to get out for a quick dinner at Super Mex.  I didn't care about a big birthday celebration because my birthday present was so awesome.  More birthday in the next post.