Stepping Together!

Once again, the Blue Oaks Bears were in step to raise funds for the PTC and charity. This year we raised funds for the Children's Miracle Network and their local participating hospitals.The students came in with over $8600 -a pleasant surprise to us as we were anticipating a smaller number due to the economy. The weather was perfect, right about 75 and I had an amazing group of volutneers! Wahoo! Teachers, students and a ton of parents all working together, fueled by vita water, oranges and good will! Very cool! Kyle's classroom had the highest total funds raised, near $600, and will be rewarded with a class pizza party! The Kindergarten classrooms worked especially hard as well as one of their cuties just finished his last round of Chemo for Leukemia. Before the walk the school chanted encouraging him and celebrating, "No more Chemo!"


A special treat for Karly and Kyle was to have Daddy show up. He took a half-day off to join the fun (okay, I did put him to work a little too)....

Lastly, here's a pic of Casey, in picture with Kyle's teacher, Jeni Chadbourne-Casey was a big part of the school motivation in working with CMN. His mother is one of our Kindergarten teachers and Casey has received I believe now two heart surgeries at CMN hospitals. After the walk, little Casey took center stage and shared his story as best his little voice could. Totally impromptu he talked and showed the students the scar on his chest and told about how it hurt when they pulled the last tubes out. He was super cute and you could have heard a pin drop, the students were so attentive to his sweet toddler words.

No Luck!

Sunday evening, a hopeful Kyle dressed in jammies peers over the stairway and asks, "do we get Tuesday off?" "Tuesday off", we replied. "Yeah, it's a holiday, St. Patrick's Day". Kent and I giggled out a "no". Anything to get out of a day of routine and school this one will try to find!

Happy St. Patrick's Day! No luck for Kyle. He went to school and now to baseball practice. Same old same old here!

Kyle's Play

Reminded We Are....

Tragedy has struck our kids school with the sudden death of a our PTC Vice President's husband in a small aircraft plane crash. Their son is in Karly's class and the family being so involved is a standard weekly within the classroom. Our Blue Oaks community has been rocked by such a loss of a friends husband, dedicated father, community member and all around good guy. Please remember the Maack family and specifically Tammy and young Brandon who are shuffling through details and trying to climb out from under the shock. We are also mindful of the classroom of children who care for Brandon and are trying to make sense of death. The students will have some counseling this week to help them understand loss and to assist them in their friendship and response to Brandon as he grieves.

Such a reminder that life is ever changing and so unknown one day to the next. The Kerns are giving extra loves and enjoying life together to the fullest -things can change so quickly. We have another day together and for that we are grateful!

The Five Dollar Coupon

Over the weekend we went to find Kyle some new shoes-the kid seriously wears through his Nike shoes to the point his toes are coming out the side or bottom. After a few misses at other stores, we end up at Kohls and he finds a new pair of Nikes that meet his standards. So, we go to buy them.....and.....get this:

The lady in front of me has a pile of coupons. $5 coupons. She uses them all (like 8) and then has one left over. The cashier says, "you have an extra-I can just offer it to the lady behind you" and he places the coupon on his register. Her reply was in my view quite shameful and poor representation of any American in today's economy, she extended her hand to the cashier and says, "NO, I'll take it and throw it away." WHAT???? WHAT????? She looked right at me, I admittedly gave her a glare. I COULDN'T BELIEVE IT! The cashier was embarrassed for her I think. Why would anyone throw away a coupon and not want to just be kind and pass along a little savings?

I expected to pay full price for Kyle's shoes....I wasn't even expecting a coupon, but the fact that someone would have it and would prefer to throw it away rather than pass it along to another family FLOORS me. UNBELIEVABLE. My instinct tells me that this gal thought I was a little too put together (dressed a little too nice) that night to seem worthy of her $5 savings coupon. A little reverse discrimination--my guess at least by weight of the obvious differences between us.

Funny though, it's likely we're both just moms who love our families and take care of our kids, too bad she couldn't see how alike we probably are!

UNBELIEVABLE!!!

p.s. did you notice whose face is on the $5?

She's a W-O-N-D-E-R

She has always been bright! She buzzes through books-they have been her favorite thing since infancy. Now, she excels with her spelling no doubt thanks partly to all that reading I'm sure.

After three sets of district test and finals, it's official....Karly will be representing the School District at the Placer County Spelling Bee and she is beyond thrilled. First of all, she loves Valentines Day (her favorite holiday) and then to get such news....she's on cloud nine! We have 32 small print pages of words for her to study--many of them Mommy and Daddy can't spell ourselves. She has three weeks to prepare.

As parents we are scrambling with her. She's yet to take an oral exam and the country finals are oral. What to do! How to do it? We'll be thinking through but rest assured we are most proud. I especially think of all the reservations that we pondered long ago about adopting a child. Raising a child without our genes, without prenatal advantages and gestational control. I just giggle to think that we had to come to turns with the fact we couldn't offer her all of us in advance...and now.....BOY am I glad she doesn't have our genes. We can't spell worth a lick and this girl has some talents academically that amaze us. So glad I wasn't in control! She is a WONDER and I am thankful to be her Mama!

Lingering Irritation....

I know they were the underdogs, but I was behind the AZ Cardinals and hoping for an upset like no other and for a few brief moments-I thought we might just get it!

It's not even so much that I like the Cards all that much, but I KNOW who I don't like. I REALLY don't like the Steelers and last nights game reminded why! I have some serious lingering irritation here...a rare unsportsmanlike irritation, have I mentioned I REALLY don't like the Steelers? They are right up there by the Packers. 'Nough said!