School violin concert

On Thursday, May 31, Michelle had a violin concert at school. The third graders at her school had challenged the sixth graders. The contest was to see who held the violin most technically correct. The audience voted, and the third graders won. Michelle was thrilled. I think they all did a great job. I've heard quite a few school violin concerts in my years as a teacher, and this was probably the best.

One other special part of the concert was that Carol Shorten, the music teacher for K-2 at Jackson is retiring. She plays the violin and viola and she accompanied them for a couple of songs. She is quite talented and such a good teacher. I am sad that Gabby won't have her when she starts school.

only half crazy

On Saturday, June 9, Alfredo and I ran a half marathon. Neither of us have ever run one before. In fact, I think the farthest I have ever run prior to th past three months was about three miles. I've never really liked running... Or most exercise for that matter. And three months ago, I wasn't exercising much at all. But then, our friends Stacie and Jeremy talked us into running a half marathon with them. I am really not sure why I agreed to it. But I did. And once I agreed there wasn't much that would keep me from doing it. At first I ran on our treadmill 2-3 days a week and going three miles was hard. Slowly it got easier and most Saturdays I would get up around 6:30 and jog/walk for a couple of hours. A week before the half, I went nine miles.

My goal was to finish in 3 1/2 hours and to jog at least six miles and walk the rest. Alfredo had also been training and he could go farther and faster than me. So I told him to go ahead, but he decided to stay with me the whole time. He was such a great running partner. He cheered me on and told me how great I was doing. He pushed me just a little bit, but never too much. He reminded me to keep breathing and encouraged me wh. My right hip started to hurt. And the first eleven miles were great. The last who were pretty rough, but I finished! We finished in two hours, 52 minutes and 15 seconds.



I felt so great that I accomplished this. I still don't think of myself as a runner, and while finishing in under three hours was great for me, I know it isn't a fabulous time. My amazing sister Suzy ran the whole marathon in just under 3 1/2 hours.


While there I saw a bumper sticker that I really liked... 13.1, because I'm only half crazy!

As I trained and ran the half, I heard two mantras in my head. Both helped me and encouraged me as I ran. The first was Phillipians 4:13: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me." The other that helped at least as much was a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson: "That which we persist in doing becomes easier, not that the task itself has become easier, but that our ability to perform it has improved." As a child, I know I heard stories about Harold B. Lee and how he couldn't sing, but he continued to practice, practice, practice and became much better. As I would run, I would often hear this quote and think, "This is hard for me, but if I keep trying, it will get easier." And it did. I can run farther now than I have ever been able to in my life. In fact, I will most likely sign up for another half marathon to keep me motivated to continue running.

Fear

A couple of months ago, I read My Year with Eleanor by Noelle Hancock for my book club. It has really made me think about fear and reflect on my life and I have been meaning to blog about it since. After losing her job, Hancock read this quote by Eleanor Roosevelt: "Do one thing every day that scares you.". This sends her on a yearlong quest to learn about Eleanor's life and to daily do something that scares her in order to overcome her fears. Some of her scary things were small, some were silly, a few quite profound. Throughout this process she visits her therapist who gives her some great advice. I want to share some of the quotes I especially like as well as some of my reactions.

Her therapist Dr. Bob explained that most of our fears are survival based ... Or at least they were long ago...spiders, heights, claustrophobia, etc. are or were dangers. (page 29) They helped our ancestors to survive. Dr. Bob explained that when you follow your instinct to avoid danger you don't learn that you actually can handle difficult situations. He also warned about being an overly protective parent...you can unintentionally send the message that the world is full of bad people and that your child is incapable of handling even small problems. Your child won't learn to trust themselves or others around them. They will see all new experiences as dangerous. (page 59)(I also wonder if some kids won't also seek out dangers to spite their parents). Now I certainly don't think this means to not protect your kids at all...but allow them freedom to make choices where the consequences will be small and to let them fail. Hancock said this to her mom, who is a worrier, in regards to Hancock's sister, "Failure is a better teacher than success. ... You have to give her freedom to fail once in a while so she can learn to give herself freedom to fail." (page 126)

I definitely have a streak of perfectionism in me... At least in some areas (and not at all in other areas) so this quote was interesting: "perfectionism is the fear of making mistakes. There are two sides to perfectionism. At its best, it's motivating and assists you to set high goals for yourself. But it can also get out of control. Perfectionists can turn into workaholics because their efforts never feel good enough. . . . They give up easily. ... They organize their lives around avoiding mistakes and end up missing wonderful opportunities.". (page 71)... Dr. Bob said, "Here's the reality of life. You make decisions with imperfect information and get imperfect results. The alternative is to never make a decision and never achieve results."(page 71). ... Good thing to rememmber... And even better to remember that while our information is imperfect, God's is not and with His help and guidance we can make much better decisions. But we will make mistakes and it will still be okay. This part reminded me of The Gifts of Imperfection that I read back in January.

One of the most powerful parts for me is when Dr. Bob explained that biologically fear and excitement stem from the same place. "Your body can't tell the difference between fear and excitement. It reacts the same way to both-- racing heartbeat, butterflies, perspiration. It's your mind that decides whether the situation is something to be nervous or excited about. What you need to do is to turn fear into excitement.... Change your perspective of the situation. Change the narrative of your thoughts." (page 85). This is so powerful. I am convinced that most of us don't realize how powerful our own thoughts are and that changing our thinking can make drastic changes in our life. Dr. Bob also said, "We tend to treat our thoughts as though they are reality. If we think something, then it is so. ...Mindfulness teaches us to view our thoughts as just thoughts, not facts. We don't have to be afraid because we think fearful thoughts.". (page 151)

A quote from Eleanor: "The encouraging thing is that every time you meet a situation, though you may think at the time it is an impossibility and you go through the tortures of the damned, once you have met it and lived through it you find that forever after you are freer than you ever were before. ... You gain strength, courage, and confidence by every experience in which you really stop to look fear in the face. You are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'". I know that giving birth naturally was that kind of experience for me. So was having Ella go through open heart surgery. And just this past weekend, running a half marathon was another. But that post is coming.

Another quote from Eleanor: "Courage is more exhilarating than fear and in the long run it is easier. We do not have to become heroes overnight. Just a step at a time, meeting each thing that comes up, seeing it is not as dreadful as it appeared, discovering we have the strength to stare it down."

And one last quote from Eleanor: "A great deal of fear is a result of just 'not knowing.'. We do not know what is involved in a new situation. We do not know whether we can deal with it. The sooner we learn what it entails, the sooner we can dissolve our fear."

Ultimately, I have no desire or need to face one of my fears each day or to ever conquer some of my biggest fears...skydiving and bungee jumping hold no interest for me. But I am more conscious of situations in which my fear holds me back and I am trying to conquer some of those smaller, more everyday fears. I read this just before a friend talked us into signing up for the Utah Valley half marathon, and so perhaps this is part of what gave me the courage to do that. And I do know that many of the things we fear never happen or are not nearly as bad as we think they will be.

Bittersweet

Today was the last day of school. It is truly bittersweet. I had one of the best classes I have ever taught and found myself getting emotional and teary eyed throughout the day. I will miss them. But I absolutely love summer time and the chance I have to spend more time with my own children.

Aren't my students cute?


Before school this morning, I took my girls inside to get pictures of them with their teachers. Ella, especially, has had an incredible year with two amazing teachers! She has really learned to read, write, speak and do math in both English and Spanish as well as learning a lot of science and some social studies. She loves school and was very sad to be leaving her teachers, Miss Finerfrock and Miss Mary Lou.

Ella with Miss Finerfrock

Ella and Miss Mary Lou

Michelle's favorite part of school has been social studies with Mrs. Randall. Mrs. Rudolph, her main teacher, really helped her to become a better writer. Michelle is very excited to have the summer off and to go to Mrs. Darden's fourth grade class next year.


Mrs. Rudolph

Mrs. Randall

The principal, Mrs. Buendia, will be at East High next year and Jackson will have a new principal. My girls have loved her and wanted a photo with her.



We also took a photo with Miss Piper, one of the other first grade teachers. The third graders made beautiful murals this year that will remain for as long as the building stands. Michelle's class completed a mural of the Jackson Cougar neighborhood. One of the other classes made a mural of letters they wrote. Such a neat project!








I am truly thankful for the wonderful education my children are receiving. They go to a wonderful school with a great music program, an amazing partnership with the University of Utah, the dual immersion program, dedicated and talented teachers, the ballet folklorico, a great after school program and so many other wonderful programs. I know, firsthand, how hard those teachers work and what a blessing it is to have such great teachers and a great school.

Mommy Drives a Yoda

On Thursday evening, Alfredo took the girls to McDonalds after Michelle's violin concert, and I headed to book club. While there, Gabby told them, "Mommy drives a Yoda. Daddy drives a Christlike." (I'm not sure what prompted this discussion.)

The next morning, Alfredo asked Gabby at breakfast, "Gabby, what does Mommy drive?" She replied, "A Yoda." For a second I was stumped...a yoda? Like the Star Wars character?
Then she said, "Daddy drives a Christlike." Suddenly, it clicked! I drive a Toyota and Alfredo drives a Chrysler! :) (I'm obviously a little slow on the uptake.)

Gabby speaks quite clearly, so there aren't too many of these pronunciation errors left, so I find this one especially endearing. I've been asking her a couple of times a day since what we drive, just to hear her say it. But I can tell it won't last long...already she is pronouncing it correctly some of the time. So cute!

Matching

Gabby is very into matching right now. And she has her own unique ideas about what matches. Essentially, she thinks that things only match if they are the same color. For instance, she doesn't agree that jeans match with almost everything. She thinks they only match with things that have blue in them. Same with khaki pants...they can only be worn if the shirt has some brown/khaki in it. For the most part, I indulge her in finding "matching" clothes (and feel thankful that since she is only 3...almost 4, she has lots of outfits that came as sets.) But there are mornings when it feels frustrating to have her reject 3 or 4 outfits because they don't match or to have her insist on choosing her own outfit but then taking much longer to do it than I have time for in my busy morning rush. It's a good thing I adore that sweet but spunky kid!

Gabby is also very into rhyming right now. On an almost daily basis, she will announce to us that things rhyme. On Memorial Day, Brenda and Aelora came over and Alfredo barbecued. Brenda brought their dog, Daisy. Gabby announced, "Daisy and Maisy rhyme together." Those are the words she always uses. "Cat and hat rhyme together." I love to hear her voice listing words that she notices rhyme with each other. Most of the time her rhymes are actual words, but on occasion she will make up a word to have a rhyme. Three/four is such a great age! There is probably nothing I love in this world as much as hearing her laugh or seeing her smile.

I am so grateful for her and for her sweet bigger sisters.

Tonight she grabbed the umbrella and asked me for a blanket and a piece of toast. Pretty soon, I noticed she had set up the umbrella and was having a picnic on the living room floor with her baby doll. So stinking cute. She is so good at entertaining herself...she plays well with her sisters most of the time, but she is also content to go into her room and play with her own toys for long stretches of time. What a blessing it is to be her mom!

Michelle on the Run (Guest Post by Michelle)

Before the race photos:

Michelle with her running partner, Amber.

The Jackson running team! Go Cougars! (And I, Jenny, can especially cheer that, since I am a BYU grad and a loyal Cougar fan. :))

I just ran 3.1 miles last Saturday. It was hard but I kept going. We went around Sugarhouse Park two times and came to the finish line. My leaders were Cindy F., Cindy H. and Silvia. I did the race in 45 minutes with my partner Amber, and we almost ran the whole thing. I liked having two different spots where my family said go Michelle! I felt happy when I finished.

From Girls on the Run, I learned about peer pressure and keeping your body healthy. To do that, you need to stretch and play a lot of games to keep your health up. They talked about nutrition and eating healthy foods like bananas, any kind of fruit or vegetable and only sometimes eat bad foods. I learned to be kind to everybody else. I learned to always drink a lot of water so you don't get dehydrated. To keep your body healthy you need to stretch and do the things that I wrote.

I saw my friend Iree again. She used to go to Jackson, but now she goes to Bonneville.

During and after the race photos:

*Note from Jenny: Michelle did a great job! She is a good runner and has said she'd like to do another 5K. The Girls on the Run is a great program, and I hope she'll be able to do it again. There were a lot of girls there from a number of schools around Salt Lake. There was a band playing music, there was face painting and booths with food and snacks. The coaches gave the girls Cougar headbands, bells for their shoes and painted their faces. I also had a nice visit with Ella's teacher, Janna. Afterward, we took the girls to lunch at Arby's and then went to see the movie The Secret World of Arriety.

Ella and her friend Zoe with their faces painted:

Michelle with her sisters:

Our friend Annette was a running partner for Rose Park. My vice principal was also a running partner. Such fun!