Happy Veteran's Day

I wrote a letter in honor of Veteran's Day and it was published in the Rocket Miner, our local newspaper. It also had a picture on it of a girl holding a flag saying "I'm proud to be an American." Here is what my letter said:

Dear Veterans,
My name is Sophia and I am in 4th grade at Sage Elementary. I would like to thank you for fighting for the freedom we have now. I know you've been through wounds and lots of loss of many people. The whole country thinks it was brave. But now we have the right to say "we are Americans and we are proud of it." We'd like to thank you for that.

Thank You,
Sophia Spicer

I wrote this story because one day in October, at school during free write, we had to write something based on a picture we were shown. It was of a man rock climbing. Yesterday I saw that story and I wanted to write another story. When I started writing this is what I ended up with.

The Unsuccessful Sticker Chart

So, Mia has some sleep issues. At the ripe old age of four and a half years old, she rarely stays in bed all night and I don't mean to imply she gets up once in a while. Oh no, we are talking she is up numerous times, so many that you lose count. Her reasons for getting up are as numerous as the times she gets up. She needs a drink, she needs to go potty, she has a blister, she had a bad dream, there is too much light, her nose hurts, there is too much dark, she wants her stuffed animals moved because they are scaring her and my personal favorite, she needs her back scratched! After trying many things {ok, after making some idle threats}, we decided to devise a chart the emphasized positive reinforcement. A sticker chart. Each row has four boxes and for every night that she stays in her bed all night, she earns a sticker. After four stickers, she earns a prize. Her prize of choice, a shake. Great, I thought! So easy! She's excited about it and agreeable to it. The first four nights go off {basically} without a hitch. She earns her first "prize" and everybody is feeling happier, because everybody is getting more sleep. Fast forward to today, week three of the flopping chart idea. I am looking back at those four, glorious, short-lived nights of sleep longingly. Mia has informed us she "has a great idea!" Hmmmm, I am thinking. "How about I stay in my bed all night when I am 5. That would be great!" She says it so excitedly. That is, until I realize she seriously thinks that it really is a great idea and one that she apparently plans on seeing through. Almost every night, she climbs into our bed, throws off the pillows on Justin's side of the bed and proclaims that "she is getting her side of the bed ready." She has also informed me that it would "great" if we {as in me and her} could just sleep together every day from now on and daddy can sleep in her bed. Well, at least I can "rest" assured that I am so loved!

A Needlessly Bad Road Trip to Laramie

Bella, Mia, Hannah and I took a trip to Laramie today to see our friends the Yeends, as well as to see the UW-BYU game. We left around 7:30am, swung by Starbucks for bagels and hot chocolate, and hit the road.

When we arrived in Laramie, Mia decided that she wanted to stay with the Yeend kids rather than go to the game with me - I was a little disappointed, as I thought it would be fun for her to get a little bonding time with her Daddy without her Mommy being around, but a little relief knowing how high-maintenance she can be. Kevin and Keaton and I headed off to the stadium lot and a little tailgating with the Pivics.

Flash-forward two hours, and the beatdown has begun. And went on for the next three hours (we left with a quarter left to go, something I rarely do). I picked up the kids and we headed back to the Rock.

Flash-forward 190 miles (of a 200-mile trip), and I managed to drive up on a Wyoming Highway Patrolman; not a good idea to cruise up to one of these guys when you're going Mach 5 and not paying attention to the guy in front of you. He slowed down, I slowed down, he headed for the side of the road, I headed for the side of the road, and the ticket was on. The girls have been present for enough of these that they know the drill - hide the weapons, hands up, etc. We did have a minor fracas in the backseat as Bella and Mia fought over a "stolen" cowgirl hat while the Trooper watched. I received my ticket, we drove the final 10 miles, and I was promptly narc'd out when we walked in the door.

So the final score was: BYU 52, Wyoming 0, Justin 1 ticket and a pounding headache.

We survived...even Harry!

Well, Halloween blew in and out of here like a hurricane! Four school parties, 5 additional parties and one Trunk-or-Treat event later, I am thankful we survived! After a crazy winter storm that arrived the week of Halloween, it ended up being a beautiful night to trick-or-treat and that is a rare event in Rock Springs. This year we had "Fancy Nancy" (a character from a popular series of books) complete with her sidekick "Frenchy" (aka Harry in a tutu, pink toenails and headpiece); Dorothy (who refused to keep her hair in braided pigtails); Disco Dolly and a very sassy Juliet. Can you believe the girls are already thinking about next year's costumes!?! I keep kindly reminding them that we have just barely recovered from this Halloween and asking if they could just let me survive the ensuing holidays before we fret about something a year from now!

very rood sub by Bella Spicer

today we had a sub she was very rood and she yells a lot but i didn't get in trouble but it was not fun in fact i wonder if she is hear tomorrow i don't want her hear nither mrs. borrders i just hope they are not hear tomorrow the end

by isabella spicer