Claire's Run for Office

While the rest of the country is in heated debate over the Presidential election, we have been focusing on a more happy topic - Claire's student council election. She is running for secretary for the whole school. Only fourth and fifth graders can run.

This is the campaign slogan we came up with - we thought it should rhyme: If you breathe air, vote for Claire!

Well everyone breathes air right! So everyone should vote for her! :)

Claire Hiller

Student Council Speech

November 1, 2016

If you saw my Halloween costume, you know I love Star Wars!

What do you get when you cross Darth Vader with an elephant? An Ele-vader!

Why did the angry Jedi cross the road? To get to the Dark Side.

A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away [Hayden Elementary School], a brave young warrior was running for class secretary. I am that warrior: my name is Claire Hiller and I am in Ms. Katz’s fourth grade class.

I would be a good secretary because I have the special powers of organization, dedication and imagination. I am also a note-taking, list-making Jedi!

I will use the Force to help Hayden be a wonderful school for all of us.  One idea I have for a community service project is to start a Hayden Garden. This Garden will teach us about growing fruits and vegetables and eating healthy food. It will also provide food for families who need it. I believe we can all make our own corner of the Galaxy a little bit better by working together.

So, in conclusion, I would love to be your class secretary.  Remember, if you breathe air, vote for Claire!

She did great on her speech - I am biased but I can honestly say it was one of the best, out of like 25 students who were running for different offices. Maybe all those church primary talks and programs have helped with her public speaking :) She isn't afraid to get up in front of people - it's pretty amazing! 

All of the candidates for each office - I was so happy I could attend the assembly to hear the speeches! 

Charming people and kissing babies to win their votes! 

These three all ran for a different office - and are all in Claire's class. Her teacher, Ms. Katz, is the Student Council advisor. 

Thankful Thursdays

Happy November!  I am going back to my tradition of Thankful Thursdays this year where I record some of the things I am most grateful for this month.

I was listening to a podcast recently that suggested keeping a running list of all the things you are thankful for and returning to that list frequently, especially when having a bad day. Another suggestion was to keep a list of things you are grateful for specifically about your spouse. I liked that idea a lot! The speaker said to think about the things you think are "secretly cool" about your spouse. So, I wanted to start out my November gratitude list with a few things about Matt for which I am thankful:

1. He lets himself show his emotions when he is feeling the Spirit and doesn't shy away from sharing his testimony 

2. He is honest about his feelings

3. He can teach a lesson at church with a minute's notice and do an amazing job, complete with stories and visual aids! 

4. He helps me have the time and resources to do the things I need to stay sane and happy - like time to go to tennis, get my hair done, spend money on clothes in new smaller sizes (yes!) without feeling guilty about it

5. He irons all of his own clothes and does most of his own laundry 

6. Other people come up to me and tell me how funny he is and that he helps them feel happy during stressful times like at work or a busy church meeting

7. He gives great back rubs

8. He is affectionate

9.  He is a saver (when I'm a spender)

10.  He tells me I am beautiful and has done so at all stages of our marriage

So this is the start of my "Things That I Think are Secretly Cool About Matt" list - I guess they aren't so secret now. But I am thankful for him and am looking forward to focusing more on all of my many blessings this month. 

A Very Star Wars Halloween

I love our family themes for Halloween - I hope the kids keep going along with them because I have so much fun seeing it all come together. This year we were all characters from Star Wars - some from the new movie The Force Awakens. I loved the new female lead, Rey. Claire was the perfect Rey! Miles chose to be an X Wing fighter, Po, also from the new movie. Penelope was going to be one too, but when we were at Disneyland, she chose a Yoda hat as a souvenir so I said she could get it if she'd be Yoda for Halloween. Henry was the destined to be the little droid, BB8. We started calling him Bubba-8. He kept his helmet on (it's a real bike helmet) for most of the night at the church Trunk or Treat, even though he was super sweaty. I am ready for some Fall weather.

I had the family go out to the desert near our house for some pictures before it got dark - I thought it looked like a scene straight out of Star Wars and it's literally one minute down the road. Claire's character is from a desert planet called Jakku - I love how these turned out! Everyone humored me and went out into the dirt, even though we were almost late to the church. I keep telling the kids that these photos are my favorite things, so please just go along with it. :)

I have fake hair wrapped around floral wire and woven into my bun to duplicate Padme's twisty hairstyle. It turned out so cool! Claire's hair was three buns down the middle of her head, just like in the movie. Her hair was just right for this style.

Kid Quotes: Mostly Penelope-isms

Claire said, "Do you want to play tic-tac-toe? Just draw a hashtag." And the other day she said, "My teacher told me that the hashtag used to be called a number sign, is that true?" #ifeelsoold

Penelope and Claire were kicking a soccer ball back and forth in the back yard and Claire kicked one ball a bit too hard and it hit P. Penelope cried a bit and said, "It was an accident - Claire kicked the ball into my heart. [dramatic pause] But I'm OK though."

Miles eating amazing hand-made toffee at Disneyland, "I like it a lot, but I hate it too."

Penelope was acting crazy, running around and getting all worked up right at bedtime like she does quite often. I said, "Penelope, control your body!!" She said, "Well I can't, I can't find the remote control!"

Penelope was using lipstick and chapstick from my makeup bag and I asked for them back. She said, "Hold on mom, I need to do a top coat and then I'm done."

Penelope, upon observing license plates in the drive thru, said, "Mom, some cars are from Las Vegas and some are from Antarctica."

I took Penelope to a friend's house and on the way she said, "They have play dough at her house. I'm serious! I'm double dog serious!" For the record, I never expressed any doubts about the aforementioned play dough.

Penelope has a new talent - she can drink soda and burp almost immediately. She performed this feat the other day and the other kids said, "How did you do that?" She said, "It's easy. I'm little. You can only do it when you're four."

Betty told me about this one today - she took Penelope to McDonald's after school for a treat and she asked for a chocolate covered cone in a cup. Emma said, "That's pretty messy, do you want to get something else? Penelope thought about it for a second and said, "Sure, I will get a napkin too."

Disneyland - October 2016

Remind me to never go to Disneyland in October again... I mean, we had fun, of course we did. But it was SO. CROWDED. We are spoiled with our off-season trips in January/February - smaller lines, less crowds, cool weather. Matt's work schedule has put the kibosh on those dates (we now live and die by busy season!) so we tried October. The whole park is decorated for Halloween, characters have fun holiday outfits on, and some of the rides are even different for the season.

We still got in plenty of rides and some cool character visits. All of the new Star Wars elements are awesome and we can't wait to see what they will have next year too. Penelope was tall enough to ride a lot more rides this time and she went on several rollercoasters and big kid rides. She seemed traumatized at first - I asked her if she was ok after we went on Space Mountain, or whatever it is called now... she had a serious look on her face. She turned to face me and slowly said, "NO." But then she went on other rides and loved those too! It makes me sad that they don't want to see as many characters - but can't say I blame them. They all love the rides! I finally went on Tower of Terror for the first time -even Penelope went on it. They are changing it early next year so it was now or never!

Reunion Part 2: Family Picnic

The Sunday reunion event was a family picnic up at Apple Hill - we met at El Dorado Orchards and this time brought the kids. Penelope had gotten sick that morning, the first of all four kids to get sick, so Matt stayed home with her and Henry. I was helping set up and get there early, and I just couldn't chase Henry around the whole time. He is NEVER still. 

Some people who didn't make it to the Saturday night dinner came up for family day - Tanner Zufelt and his family and a friend from Junior High, even elementary school, Matt Satterfield was there. 

The location was perfect - they let us set up a few tables and tents and then everyone just bought lunch at the vendor booths already set up, or brought their own picnic. There was a face painter,  a train ride around the orchard and several craft booths. 

20th High School Reunion

I had been looking forward to our high school reunion all year - seeing old friends and catching up. I started losing weight earlier this year in part to feel good about attending the reunion - and to just feel more like myself, comfortable in my skin. I was just shy of my goal to lose 60 lbs, but I felt great!

I helped with the planning and set up too - my friends Ali and Janel also helped and we had fun bringing it all together. I took the whole family home and the kids stayed with mom and dad while Matt and I did reunion stuff.