A Night with Mom

Jason invited friends over to watch a UFC fight after dinner. None of the kids wanted to stay downstairs and watch it. The three oldest asked if they could come to my room and we could watch a show together. So everyone got in their pajamas and gathered on my bed with a laptop. Eventually the dog came up too and Paige joined us. You can barely see her under the Minecraft blanket. My bed could barely contain us but we snuggled all together and watched Almost Paradise. They all really enjoyed it. It was like a family sleepover int eh parents room. Brendan even said, "We should do this again sometime!" I rejoiced in having all my babies together and cuddled up around each other. I know these days of having everyone in one house are coming to a close and I will mis it. 

Seminary

Okay so the first week of seminary is over. We had our seminary kickoff after the first week of school to give seminary teachers a chance to be with their kids during that transition time. I found out that I was going to be with Sister Packer teaching the freshman this year. We have about 20 kids and that means we need a bigger room than previously thought. So we have been given the stage. I am not super excited about that but after talking with a few people (some loved it and some hated it), I am willing to see what happens. It is a large space and that can cause issues but also the fact that it is a large space means that we have some more flexibility in activities. I guess I will just have to reserve judgement to see how bad it is, if at all. 

Sister Packer and I met together to plan the lesson schedule and for her to explain some of the ins and outs of seminary. We decided to take alternate days teaching. I have Tuesdays and Thursdays. We divvied up who would do what for the Kickoff. We also met together on the stage to see how we wanted the "room" set up and to move stuff from the previous room and organize the closet.

The Kickoff went rather well I think. It was well attended. We got parents and some students to sign up for the WhatsApp (communication program) we will use. Also, because they are freshmen, we had to explain things more than we would with kids who had already been to seminary. We had to talk about things like required reading and attendance rates, etc. I have 17 girls and 3 boys so it is a different sort of class dynamic. 

The first day I taught was last Tuesday. I had an introduction at the beginning of the lesson and we played some get-to-know-you games. I wasn't expecting the level of apathy from some of the kids. Meeting at such an early time gives blank stares. They don't answer many questions either. But maybe that will change as we get to know one another. I did have one big discipline issue I had to address as someone used the post-it notes to put a "Kick me" sign on another student. I hated to ruin any sort of Spirit we had in the class but that had to be addressed. After that things seemed okay. 

I am still learning. I am learning how to get along with my co-teacher, the students likes and abilities, how to plan lessons so I can invite the Spirit, how to make things fun an interactive and more. But I am enjoying being part of a classroom again. We will have to wait and see what the year brings. 

Youth Conference

Hi, this is Eva, and I'm blogging to tell you about youth conference!

To start off with, we had the fireside starting at 5:30. I liked the speaker and it was very spiritual, talking about how to deal with life's difficulties through the Lord, which is something that I think is important in this day and age especially.

After the fireside was over, we split into our pre-assigned groups and went into different groups to plan our lip-syncs for the lip-sync battle. We'd be scored on our performances, and the winning team would get an advantage in the race the next day. Darby's group teamed up with mine, and Dad was our leader. For the lip-sync, each of us was given a different Strive To Be (a church youth music organization) song. Ours was a pretty slow and spiritual song though, so we had a bit of trouble thinking of something that would be interesting to watch and would get the crowd involved (two of the requirements). 

We went up about halfway and our performance actually went pretty well, getting the top score so far. Unfortunately, we didn't end up winning, since some teams after us got higher scores. Some of the leaders who were judges decided to give a few groups more than a 10 out of 10 towards the end which seemed a bit unfair. Since one of the scores was supposed to be for "audience participation" but what that seemed to mean to most groups assaulting the audience with silly string or water guns. I don't get how that really worked with Strive to Be songs. Because of the slowness of our song, though we got the audience swaying and using their phones as "lighters" up in the air, our score wasn't as high as the ones who made a mess. I wasn't that disappointed though, mostly because I was getting a bit overwhelmed by the noise and people and just wanted to go home. 

There was this one group that started a beach ball going in the crowd hitting people in the back of the head (including me). It was becoming annoying so after a while my dad got it and quietly stabbed it with his pocketknife, ending its reign of terror. 

The next day, we went to the church at 7:30am and met up with our groups from the previous night. Darby's group was really small though, and not a lot of people came, so she ended up being put into the team that took first in the lip-sync battle. The teams were dismissed in the order they placed in the lip-sync battle, and we were off!

First, we drove to the park and hiked up a hill. We were one of the last teams to end up going so by then it was full-on daytime heat. We took the quickest route directly up, which may or may not have been a bad idea (we were exhausted and dehydrated afterwards). After waiting in line (Pres Stuart gave a short devotional to each group so all the remaining groups had to wait a LONG while for their turn) and then getting the clue from him up on the mountaintop, we drove to the next location. We went to a lot of different places, from the rec center to the pool to a member's house where we shot clay pigeons with a BB gun (a member of my team-a girl named Amber who's in my seminary class-was surprisingly good at that challenge). After the last challenge, we managed to get back to the church to wrap up. We were not the first team (I'm pretty sure we were one of the last teams), but after over 3 hours doing mainly physical challenges, I was just tired and wanted to wrap up.

Darby's team had gotten there before us, so after my team took the picture to prove we crossed the finish line (I had to go and round up most of my team members for that, which took a good extra 10 minutes) I went to go find her and Dad so he could take us home. As it turned out, Darby had gotten heat exhaustion and thrown up at one of the challenges (which ended up being changed to make it easier for the teams after them, which we were one of), so Dad was happy to take us home. Neither of our teams were first anyway, so we weren't missing much.

All in all, it was a... pretty okay time. I had fun people in my team, and some of the activities were fun (I liked the swimming one and the food challenge), but they were all physical challenges, which I thought was a bit of a missed opportunity. I think some of the challenges should've been intellectual as well to reach even more types of youth. I was also just tired and drained by the end of the afternoon. But I'd still do it again, especially since I got to know some new people in my age group and do things outside my comfort zone.

First Day of School

Today as the first day of school of the girls. Paige is now in 8th grade and has decided to continue getting a ride to school from the Ruths. Middle school starts first so she was the first girl to go to school. When seminary starts next week it will be Darby and Eva that leave first, along with me. She will need to get herself ready and out the door. But today the Ruths had to be there super early (Cassidy is a cheerleader and had to be there early as part of the new school year welcoming crew) so I walked with Paige and Stella up the hill.  You can see in the first picture that she is conflicted about school starting.

Stella loved meeting all the kids on the way up. Paige was reminded how much your legs hurt when you walk up the hill if you haven't in a while. We saw a couple both in military uniforms walking their daughter up the hill as well. They said hi and stopped to pet Stella.

When I got back home I made sure the high schoolers were up and soon after I took them to school. Darby is a sophomore and Eva is a senior.  I won't always go to Main campus because the traffic is bad but I did for the first day of school. This year the girls never end the day in the same place so I will always pick up one at the church and one at a specific spot up the hill from Magnet campus. It switches each day which girl is where.

When Paige got home from school she told me it was a pretty good day. She found several kids who were in most of her classes and it turns out that the daughter of the military family we saw on the way up is in 6 out of her 8 classes. Sadly she doesn't have any with Julia but she sees her at lunch. She says that her Algebra teacher is funny and since she has it with a few friends she gets to sit with them. All in all, she seemed positive about the new school year.

I picked up Darby and Eva after 4pm. Eva seemed positive about her classes. Darby said her legs hurt and it was hard to get from one of her Main campus classes to her Magnet class so she thinks she will really have to hurry. But neither of them got lost and that's a bonus. Darby thinks she will like the new choir director, Mr. Moreno. Eva has the classes she is most excited about tomorrow (CDL and aide in the library). Darby has her harder classes tomorrow (a college level math class and her AP class). But she gets to see her friend Dhiya at lunch daily so that is a plus.

It's shaping up to be a pretty good school year. We will see in a few weeks how things really are as they settle in. 

Darby's Patriarchal Blessing

Darby had her interview with the bishop for her patriarchal blessing early in the summer but with hectic schedules the earliest she and the patriarch could connect was right before school started. So today, the day before school, she, her dad and I went to Patriarch Jensen's house for her blessing. After chatting with her a bit, and Jason and I talking with his wife in the other room, he came back in with her to talk with us for a little bit. One thing I remember is that he said he loved her name and he was very impressed that she likes to write and draw. he encouraged her to keep up with those creative pursuits. 

Then we had the blessing. hers was a long one and filled with amazing things. I felt the Spirit and I hope she did too. It was very calm and peaceful and insightful. I know she can't wait to re-read it when it comes in the mail in a few days. It's always fun for me to reflect on the experiences we have had with the children's patriarchal blessings. Patriarch Jensen has given the older three theirs and yet each one is so unique. Its wonderful. 

He took a picture with us and one with just her. He seemed to really enjoy talking with Darby. He is such a kind man who loves the youth. I wonder if Paige will feel ready for her blessing while we are still her in El Paso. 

Twenty

Today is the day that our oldest turned two decades old. Wow! Elder McDaniel is twenty! It is a Friday so he still went to his service assignment at the War Eagles Air Museum. Around 5pm we met Jason at Brendan's restaurant of choice, PF Changs. It still surprises me that he likes Asian food so much.

After ordering he opened his presents. He got funny handmade cards from his sisters. Eva gave him a Wall-E Funko Pop which he loved. They know how to make him laugh. Jason and I gave him a Lego bookend set that is the Balrog from Lord of the Rings. He seemed super excited by it. Grandmas sent cards as well. 

PF Changs brought over a birthday cake with firecracker.

At home he put together his Lego set and chose to watch Monty Python (edited) with the family. It's so silly but we like it. 

Before bed, Elder M wanted to show us his completed Lego set. Jason wanted to make the Balrog look even more menacing so he added a red light. Mission accomplished. 

I think he had a great birthday. He got texts from friends and family and that made him feel special. He was able to do some of the things he loves doing the most. Tomorrow he will have a D&D session with his sisters and Will too. His birthday was just very "him". :)

Happy, Happy Birthday to the one who made us parents. We love you Brendan!