FIRSTS

I like starting fresh and beginning with a clean slate and I believe my children are the same way.

Allisa turned 11 on Tuesday and is excited about starting Junior High next Monday.  Grandma took her shopping for clothes and shoes.  Victor and I bought her a new backpack.  She is really excited about this next stage in her life.  So am I.  I know she will do well in Junior High.

Aislyn turned 13 in July.  She had a wonderful summer.  Went to Girl's Camp for the first time.  Learned how to apply makeup and do her hair.  She received her patriarchal blessing.

She enters her last year of Junior High (eighth grade); she is popular at school and is very excited about the special activities she gets to participate in this year.  We purchased a new backpack and binder for her.  She has quite a few clothes that still fit we just need to get her shoes :)

Evan started school yesterday at the new Charter High School and had a great time.  He is on a block schedule which means he doesn't go to all six classes every day.  Each subject is the length of approximately two periods.  This means everyother day he is in a particular class.  His friend Brandon is also going to the new Charter High School.  We hope that they both excel.  We are also happy that the new principal is a member of the church.  We know Evan is in good hands.  Grandma took him shopping for jeans and a couple shirts because he decided to grow this summer.  I think he is 5'9" or 5'10".  In any event he towers of me (5'3").

We have a new puppy.  We adopted her from a family whose single mom passed away (her husband passed away several years ago).  Her name is Precious and she is the sweetest Shih Tzu.  It's fun to have a small dog that loves to just sit next to you on the couch or take a nap with you.

Victor and I begin taking some classes next week.  We are taking classes and will be taking exams to become licensed in Life Insurance and Financial Planning.  We will be hanging our lincenses with World Financial Group.  We have a couple really good friends who work for them and asked me to consider becoming lincensed because of my banking and insurance back ground (along with my 401(k) and pension knowledge).

Victor went with me to the first two meetings and decided that he was interested and has committed to taking the classes and training with me.

We will let you know how it goes :)

A HEART THAT HINDERS

While the world is busy trying to conquer "outer space," we should strive to conquer "inner space."

THE STRUGGLE FOR POWER

"With Daddy it's different.  If he holds Margot up as an example, approves of what she does, praises and caresses her, then something gnaws at me inside, because I adore Daddy.  He is the one I look up to.  I don't love anyone in the world but him.  He doesn't notice that he treats Margot differently from me.  Now Margot is just the prettiest, sweetest most beautiful girl in the world.  But all the same I feel I have some right to be taken seriously too.  I have always been the dunce, the ne'er-do-well of the family.  I've always had to pay double for my deeds, first with the scolding and then again because of the way my feelings are hurt.  Now I'm not satisfied with this apparent favoritism any more.  I want something from Daddy that he is not able to give me.... It is only that I long for Daddy's real love:  not only as his child, but for me -- Anne, myself."  -- Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl

Anne wrote with such perception about her family life; expressing her feelings about the balance of power between herself, her sister, Margot, and their father.  As I read these words; I reflected on my own feelings; realizing that we all go through this at some point.  Each of us desiring the need for acceptance and recognition for our accomplishments.  Most of the time we don't feel like we have been awarded for our good deeds or our talents etc.

Some where we have to learn to recognize our own value and worth - not depending on what others think.

Our true worth and value is prescribed through the scriptures teaching us that we are of a divine nature and have tremendous worth.  These values are described in detail with great love from a Heavenly Father who knows each of us individually. 

Once we understand who we are there should never be a struggle for power; recognition or acceptance.  We should only feel the peace that is promised to us.

PERCEPTION

I have been doing a lot of reading.  As I mentioned in one of my comments to Christopher I read more than one book at a time.

In one of the books I came across a quote that intreged me:

"Perception... is a learned phenomenon.  The world you live in, including the experience of your body, is completely dictated by how you learned to perceive it.  If you change your perception, you change the experience of your body and your world."

Some of the ideas that followed this quote indicated that we should take the time to rethink some of our past assumptions so that we can begin to perceive a greater leasson or purpose behind all of our achievements, failures, or challenges. 

Taking the time to adopt a positive, curious, conscious, adventuring attitude will make our individual worlds begin to look as we would like them to look.

We can view the world in a positive way and not worry about all the "problems out there".

Just some thoughts...  what do you think?

COINCIDENCES AS ANSWERS TO PRAYERS

There are various philosophies and theories on coincidence.  Are they merely the result of our subconscious minds creating events to fufill wishes, dreams and hopes?

Are they the result of being in a highly expectant state?

Are they the result of "behind the scenes furniture rearranging" - divine intervention?

Some believe that coincidence is beyond reckoning or will, is elegant, enigmatic, and sometimes funny.  Coincidence is the mechanism of growth, the how of evolution.  It can mysterisouly open up new opportunities through which we transcend outdated self-limiting ideas, and experience the direct evidence that life is much more than materialistic survival or mere intellectual reliance on faith.  Life is spiritually dynamic.

I have always been of the mind that there is no such thing as a coincidence.  All things happen for a purpose and that it is our job to find the meaning behind each life event no matter how big or small. 

I also believe that we are set in motion to be the "coincidence" for others.  We need to notice when we feel a prompting to talk with someone; or a prompting to do something.

"...for me there is only te traveling on the paths that have a heart, on any path that may have a heart.  There I travel, and the only worthwhile challenge for me is to traverse its full length... looking, looking, breathlessly."  - CARLOS CASTANEDA  The Teachings of Don Juan

COUNT DOWN

Summer is nearly over...  The kids start going to school next week.

Evan starts at the Charter School on August 25th.  Aislyn and Allisa go back to school on August 30th.

We have school clothes and school supplies to buy.  Won't be doing a whole lot of spending - we have to be creative because we are really low on funds :)

Grandma Gonzales has helped a little.  She has taken Allisa shopping and bought her three new outfits.  She will be taking Evan to buy him jeans.  Aislyn is a little more difficult to buy for so she has opted not to go shopping with her.

Last pay date we purchased new back packs for the kids.  We will have to see how the budget is this Friday so that we can get a few supplies and a couple outfits for the kids :)

It's amazing that we have another school year beginning and the kids are one year older.  I still remember when they each started kindergarten.

ACE

Evan will be a Sophomore this fall.  School begins August 25th for him.

Evan has a mind for solving problems; can see how things work and can design original mechanisms.  He consistently scores very high on proficency exams; especially in math and science.

However, his study skills and habits are very poor resulting in low grades at school.  Very frustrating when you have an intelligent child.

A new school opens this fall and Evan is enrolled as a sophomore.  The school is located in Camarillo and the principal is a member of the church.  The school is called:

ACE (Architecture, Construction & Engineering) Charter High School. 

We met the teachers last week and toured the new facility.  It is very nice and the teachers seem really nice.  None of the teachers were recruited - they all applied for the positions that they are in and are considered the best in their area of study.  The class rooms have a limited number of students in them - keeping the classes smaller than other highschools.

Evan's focus will be in architecture and engineering.  He will learn all areas of construction in addition to his focus and required classes (English, Science, Math). 

We are really excited for this opportunity and know that Evan will do great.  Check out their website:

http://www.acecharterhigh.org/

AISLYN'S NEXT ADVENTURE

This is the first year that Aislyn gets to go to Girl's Camp.

She had everything packed on Monday.  She went to bed early last night and was up before Victor this morning.

Victor and Aislyn drove to the Stake Center to meet the rest of the girls at 5:45 a.m.  Girl's Camp is in Santa Barbara at Camp Whitney.

Aislyn is so excited.  I am excited for her.  I remember Girl's Camp and I always enjoyed it.  Because Aislyn knows so many girls in the stake she will be able to easily interact with the other wards.  She makes friends easily and values strong, loyal friendships.  She has been looking forward to Girl's Camp all summer.  The last exciting adventure before school starts August 30th.

This will be her last year in Middle School.  :)  All the fun and exciting things happen during 8th grade at Mesa Union.  I hope to be able to participate in some of her adventures like going to Washington DC in the Spring.

FAIR RESULTS

We still have a few competitions to go before the week is out...  I thought I would give you an idea of how the family did so far:

BLUE RIBBONS - 1ST PLACE
RED RIBBONS - 2ND PLACE
WHITE RIBBONS - 3RD PLACE

Allisa:  7 blue ribbons, 3 red ribbons, 7 white ribbons
Aislyn:  3 blue ribbons, 2 red ribbons, 1 white ribbon
Evan:  2 blue ribbons, 2 white ribbons
Alex:  3 blue ribbons

I had a variety of entries and received blue, red, white and honourable mentions.  Some entries I couldn't find so I will have to wait until the end of the fair :)

We couldn't find Evan's swedish weaving so we don't know how he did on that.

I still have tomatoes to enter; two more flower arrangments and cuttings from the yard.

Sunday is the last day of the fair.  We always go on the last day.  This year we have to watch our time because Aislyn also has her appointment with the Stake Patriarch :)

MORMON NITE AT DODGER STADIUM

I am so excited!  In about 5 hours we will be on the freeway to go to the Dodger game this evening.

Again, we will be sitting in the left field pavillion - the all you can eat side.  We are taking the family and a couple of friends.  Two other families we know will be there.

I love baseball!

AGRICULTURE ENTRIES

I really love the fair and I love entering items in the various categories.  Yeterday was the first entry date for produce.  After work I went home; grabbed my wicker basket; did a beeline for the garden; and began picking produce to enter.

I could enter items in either the Organic Grower category or the Home Gardener category.  I always choose the Home Gardener category.

I entered one of the zucchini's in the Longest Zucchini contest.  I think there was one that was a fraction longer than mine :(

I also entered the following:

In the Fruit & Pod Vegetable Division I entered:

Peppers, Chile, extra hot (5)
Peppers, Chile, hot (5) - there is someone who actually eats one of the peppers to check the hotness

In the Deciduous Fruits Division I entered:

Quince (5)

In Citrus Fruits Division I entered:

Tangerines (5)

Victor was very nice and drove me to the fair grounds; helped me carry the basket and waited patiently for me to complete the entry process.

Last year some of my entries were completely consumed by either judges or observers...

Any produce left over after the fair that is still in good condition is donated to Food Share.  I like that idea.

Next week I get to enter my tomatoes; eggs and present a harvest basket for judging :)  If my strawberries are ripe and can fill a whole pint basket I can enter those too.

Victor said that he would take them in for me since I have to be at work during the entry times.

I am so excited!

AUGUST

Just a some thoughts of encouragement:

"Your whole life comes alive when you have the courage to follow your dream, to create change and to do what is right over what is easy."

This is the second day of August.  It is a new day.  Let's start fresh and begin again.

I am excited because there is so much that I want to accomplish and it can be done if I just set my goals and work at them one step and one day at a time.

BAKING! BAKING! BAKING!!!

The kids spent Saturday baking for the fair. 

Allisa had a blast baking!  She was up early Saturday morning to get a jump start.  She even cleaned the kitchen before she started.  She was up at 6:30 this morning to finish up her projects.

She ended up taking the following items to the fair:

pumpkin pie
pecan pie
apple pie
french bread (used yeast for the first time)
lemon  squares
chocolate chip cookies

Aislyn tried some new things this year:

bran muffins (very tasty)
carmel sticky rolls (also used yeast for the first time)
carrot cake
zuchinni bread

Evan tried several new things:

lemon mirange pie
apple tart
biscotti

Alex made zuchinni bread again this year along with cherry pie; peach pie and lemon squares.

All items were cut and placed on paper plates and covered this morning before we transported them to the fair.

The volunteers at the fair know are children and are excited every time they see us.  As the kids advance in the age groups the volunteers are saddened that they have lost one child to the older age group; but are excited to get the next one.  Allisa brought in the rest of her pumpkin pie to share with the volunteers.  They really love her pies!  She won't be in that age group next year so they asked her to make an extra one for them when she bakes next year.

The fair opens this Wednesday; we will go to the fair grounds on Saturday to drop off my fresh flower arrangements and then we will return.  We are able to return to the fair on the days we bring entries without paying because we are stamped when we leave!!! :)  Such a deal!

I am excited for my kids.  Their baking skills are exceptionally high for their ages.  I will let you know how they do on Saturday!