Drama

Jorja got in trouble in theater today. It is frustrating because I tried to pull Jorja out of that class at the beginning of the semester. Jorja and I talked to Strucks for a long time about it. Jorja was so sick and theater was at the end of the day. Jorja was completely exhausted by the time she got to her class. I was hoping I could get her into some kind of study hall class. The district started counting digital photography as an art credit, so Jorja didn't need the last semester anyway. Strucks told her to stay in her class and drop out of Region and State. She told Jorja she could just sleep in the back and she would understand when most teachers wouldn't. Well, it didn't turn out that way. Jorja said Stucks was only nice to her when I was around. She was not sympathetic to Jorja at all. Jorja texted me on Tuesday and said, "I'm so sick of movies!" She sent that in theater and that was the only text she sent. Strucks got super mad at her for that. Today Jorja needed to go to the bathroom. Strucks let her leave. She went to get a drink of water. We couldn't find her water bottle this morning. Ever since she got sick, when she doesn't get enough water she goes downhill fast. So, she got some water because she felt herself sliding. On her way back to class one of her friends walked with her. Strucks came out and saw Jorja walking back to class with someone. She lit into her. Yelled at her to just leave. Jorja went back to class. Strucks dropped her grade to an A- for this. Jorja said she just never wanted to deal with her again. That is sad. Strucks was originally her advisory teacher before Jorja got into student government. I was so excited for this. I thought she would be perfect for her. I guess I was wrong.

Conner brought Jorja home from school for the last time today. He likes to honk his horn while she walks to the door. He honked for a long time today. She came in laughing. She said the entire ride home she just kept saying, "This is sad. This is so sad. I'm going to cry." over and over. She gave Conner a hug and tried to thank him, but her voice caught. End of an era right there. I can not believe he brought her home every other day for an entire school year. There is something special about that kid. Jorja said she is going to repay him by taking his little sister home every day next year. Good thing she likes his little sister!

On an unrelated note: Mike's contact is not doing great

This Is Me

Jorja had her AP World History test this morning. Glad that is over with. I proctored AP stats this afternoon. I drove Jorja's car and left her keys in her locker. She was able to go home after the test, then she swung on by the school and picked me up! Roles are reversed. Jorja found Nala in our backyard. She broke through the fence. We found the spot by the batting cage. I tried to get her to go back to her yard, but she wasn't having it. Finally I just let her out the gate to roam the neighborhood. At least she isn't eating our ducks at the moment!

Preston had his musical theater performance. This Is Me. He did great! He was so cute to watch. It was fun seeing him doing something that wasn't at the computer. I got to the school early with Preston and waited outside the doors for twenty minutes to snatch a seat. While I was waiting, my friend from elementary school walked in. Melissa Cutler! Her daughter is in musical theater too! Just the other class. They did a song from Matlida for their performance. When the doors finally opened, we rushed to find seats, at the opposite end of the theater. I put my stuff on four seats and went and talked to her. It was so amazing! Funny thing was, Jorja went on a date with her! Well, way back in February when Ben asked her out. They doubled with Melissa's daughter and Spencer Affleck ~ who Jorja is now taking to Sadie's. That is where Jorja met Spencer. Her daughter also works at Chick-Fil-A, just the Southtown one. We found pictures of her daughter and Jorja together. It was so funny!

This Is Me!

Clip Jorja took

Jorja is playing Alta Assassin right now. I remember playing this when I was in high school. I got killed outside my dance class. Anyway, the people who wanted to play put $3 into the pot. They got a small pool noodle. Whoever wins gets most of the pot. There are over $200 people playing right now. They were given their targets last night. Hailey's target is Bryson Fabrizio. Jorja texted Teegan to see if he wanted to help them kill Bryson. He did. Too bad Hailey couldn't come when Teegan was available. Teegan picked up Jorja to show her where Bryson lives. Jorja, Hailey and Emily drove there tonight, but they never saw him. People have side bets about who is going to win this entire thing. Bryson is in the lead, so Hailey really wants to kill him. In order to kill your person you have to say, "Hello. My name is Jorja. You killed my father. Prepare to die." Or something like that. Then they have to stab the person in the stomach or back. If the person stabs you first you are stunned for 8 hours before you can try again. The next time you try you don't have to say the phrase though. The girls were hoping they could at least get their phrases said tonight. There are different rules. Like no killing in classrooms. No killing when a car is running. No killing in your house unless you are invited in. We have strict instructions from Jorja not to let anyone in our house. The girls were able to chase down Emily's person. She said her phrase to her before the girl got inside. No one was home at Sydni's house, but Jorja left this on her door.

The kids are having great fun with this. I can't believe the administration approved it. It seems like they don't let them do anything, so this was a surprise. It's really cool because the kids are texting each other to find out who people are. Jorja agreed to help one of her junior friends kill Lucas. He took her to the Christmas dance. Too bad her friend got killed before they were able to do that. If you kill someone, your new target is whoever they had. Anyway, Jorja has been carrying around her noodle everywhere. Hope she has fun!

Seize the Day

Today was crazy busy. I laughed when I looked at the calendar. There were so many things crammed into the space. Tomorrow is completely blank. Haha. Oh well. I started the day early at the gym. On Wednesdays Mike gets the kids up for me. I came home and Mike was super happy. It was weird to see him with that much energy in the morning. He isn't usually a morning person. Things were going great. Until I walked into the computer room and saw Preston on his computer still in his jammies. I asked if he had eaten yet. Nope. We went into speed mode at that time. Preston and I had to chase the bus down, but he made it at the second stop. It was funny.

I checked Jorja out of school today. She was frustrated when I picked her up. She had talked to her Chemistry teacher on Monday after school about her grades. She was told she could do some test corrections to get her grade up to a B. Today her teacher told her she never said that. She also asked why Jorja didn't turn in a project that was 10% on her grade. Jorja had no idea the project even existed. It was assigned when she was gone and she was never told about it. It wasn't even listed on Skyward. It was listed on Canvas, but Jorja usually doesn't check that unless she has something assigned. She just didn't realize she had anything. She is so sad. It looks like she will get a C+ in her class that has been so easy for her. Have I mentioned how much I hate mono? Jorja thinks she is getting better. She is still tired, but not as much and she doesn't get as sick as often. Let's hope this never comes back! Jorja's plan is to retake this chemistry quarter. That should be easy for her. Jorja has been picking up science super quick. I'm crossing my fingers that Packer is just freaking Jorja out with her D- in his class. I can't believe my straight A student has grades like this. Hopefully once her health is under control everything else will fall into place.

I checked Jorja out of school so we could go watch Preston perform a Newsies number. Preston has loved his musical theater class, which has shocked everybody. He was so dang adorable. I recorded the show, but it was too long to put on here, and not done very well. (My recording, not Preston!) Anyway, it was so stinking cute! I'm so glad we were able to see him and I'm glad Jorja was able to come with me.

Preston

 Preston

Preston and I went and got smoothies after the show. He looks grumpy in the picture above, but he wasn't at all. I love him! Jorja didn't come with us because she met one of her friends that still goes to Indian Hills. Her name is Sophie. They were in the same orchestra class when Jorja was an 8th grader and she was a 6th grader. She was the first person Jorja told that she wanted to run for student government. Anyway, they met in the commons and then went to get food. Jorja asked her where she would like to go and she picked Chick-Fil-A. Hahahaha! Jorja just can't get away from that place! The went to the dollar store afterwords and Jorja sent me a picture of a cactus cup. Awe!!! Stockton! I love him!

Sophie

I met Mike at Mimi's Cafe down in Midvale. Chris and Jane were in town. Gayle and her kids were also there. Gayle had called me last week to ask if I could come. I was in the car, but remembered the details when I got home. Jane asked if I had contacted my brothers and asked them to come because Gayle didn't have their numbers. Whoops. I had no idea I was supposed to do that. Sorry Bubs and Matt! My dad is in Israel right now, so he couldn't come. It was so fun to see Chris and Jane! I adore them. Mike and I had to hurry so we asked if our food could come out early. We were eating while everyone else was ordering. We left early so we could see Weston play lacrosse. He was playing against Alta at Alta. This had been on my calendar for a long time and I made sure Jorja got it off of work so she could go. Alta won by a long way, but it was fun to see Weston play. He starts as a sophomore, which is pretty impressive. One of Jorja's friends nailed him at the end of the game though. Knocked him down flat. Pretty sure a penalty should have been called on that one because Weston didn't have the ball. Mike and I sat next to Steve. He brought blankets and a heater so we were quite cozy. Jorja sat next to us instead of the student section. Wow! She was with Emily and then Traven found her at half time and watched the rest of the game with us.

Weston & Jorja

Jorja went with Emily, Hailey and Madison to answer Gavin to prom. Then they went and picked up stuff for Madison to answer her date. She came back later than she planned. She was hoping to get to bed early enough to be able to go to the temple tomorrow. That didn't happen. It was quite the busy day.

Jorja & Gavin

End of Quarter

Today is the last day of the quarter. I checked Jorja's grades before I got her up. She wasn't doing too well. She had a C+ in math and a lot of her grades had dropped. I told her about it when she woke up. She was devastated. When she went to bed she had all As and a B+ in math. She checked right before midnight. Jorja finally got up and was able to get to school after first period. She was sad to miss student government. I am so tired of her being sick. I know she doesn't like it either. Mike was worried she is going to make this a habit. I told him that today was obvious that she was sick. She has just been sooooo sick for sooooo long. It is sad. I texted Jorja around lunch time to find out how she was feeling. She said, "Sad mostly." Dang it. This quarter has been rough!

I went to lunch with Jacqui Scott and Megan Okerlund. It was great. I picked up Megan and then we headed to Treehouse to pick up Jacqui. Ashley is working there, so she dropped off a car for her. We talked and talked and talked. It was nice to be with them. It seems like it has been so long! Jorja texted me to let me know that her math teacher is going to let her retake a math test that she took at the beginning of the quarter. That is so nice! He gave her a review sheet that will help her. She was also planning on going on a date with Traven, but he had to change it until later in the day because he had a soccer game. I got worried that she wouldn't be able to study for her math test. No worries. There was actually a Corner Canyon/Alta girls basketball game that he needed to go to. That was nice because he cancelled, not Jorja and she was able to study for her test. Stockton helped her for a long time. I'm going to miss that. He is so good to her. I tried to get a picture, but it didn't work out. I did get a picture of baby Amy though. Mike and I ran down to Matt and Sam's to pick up some of the cabin sheets they had. Amy just got out of the bath as we were leaving. She's adorable.

Amy

Jorja stayed after school today to audition for Region and State in Theater. She was supposed to perform at 3:45. I was almost to the school to pick her up when she texted that she hadn't even gone yet. I waited in her car until my toes were frozen. She was finished almost an hour later than she thought she would be. She thinks they did okay. They couldn't perform their entire scene because of how late the auditions were going. Right when Jorja and her two friends got up, they told them that the rest of the auditions would be shortened. Jorja had a few lines, but her two big ones were cut. She wasn't too disappointed with that, especially since she just memorized them last night. Anyway....after studying math until close to 10:00, Jorja left to go to a student government sleepover. I hope she doesn't stay up too late. She promises she will be home by 8:00 to take her math test. Let's hope. Today was super hard for her to get up. The exhaustion that comes with mono is no joke.

I found the picture! Mike had it on his phone.

I love how close Jorja and Stockton are. Best friends. We're going to miss him.

Grrrrr

I was not happy with Jorja this morning. Last night I had a hard time sleeping. Stockton was up until 4:00 in the morning, and I kept getting up and talking to him. I had a really bad feeling about Jorja and Mitchell. I felt like she kissed him when she was at work on Monday and didn't tell me. I could not get this thought out of my mind. So, when I woke up Jorja I said, "I have a question and I want you to be 100% honest with me. How many times have you kissed Mitchell?" There was silence. Then she said two. I asked when. After work on Monday. I sat down and cried. I can not believe that she kissed him after realizing how bad she hurt me on Sunday. There was no way she didn't know that she would make her mom mad if she kissed him after work. I don't know how I can ever trust her again. I was very clear before she left to work that I didn't want her to kiss him. I don't want to have to worry about her kissing boys when she is at work. What is she going to do? Make sure she takes her brakes with him? Go on 'walks' with him? Kissing someone you work with is a bad idea. Kissing someone at work is a bad, bad, bad, bad, bad idea. Why doesn't she trust me? When Jorja left for work on Monday I told her that I won't always ask her not to kiss people, but I needed her not to kiss Mitchell today. I am beyond furious. I have no idea what to do with her. The sad thing is is I can't stand Mitchell. It has nothing to do with him, but the situation. Every time I look at him I will remember Jorja's dishonesty. I'm pretty sure she could have gotten me to like him, she just didn't even try. I don't have a good feeling about Mitchell anyway. I don't know if it is because Jorja works with him or if it is just him. Still. I wasn't excited when she started liking Isaac. I tried to go work with her on it and be supportive so she wouldn't hide things from me. That blew up in my face. I'm not going to do that this time. I don't like this. I don't know why. I hope she doesn't hide things from me, but I'm going to tell her my true thoughts this time. Hopefully it doesn't make her like him more. How am I going to make it through her high school years?

Stockton and Preston went to diving today. When they came back we decided to go to Salt City Burger Company. Preston didn't really want to go until we discovered there was a Subway in the same parking lot. We stopped there first and got him his ham and provolone cheese subway that he loves. It was fun to be with just the boys. Jorja was at work and luckily Mitchell wasn't working today.

Mike & Stockton

Jorja stayed up pretty late memorizing a script. Before she got sick she told someone she would try out for Region and State in theater with her. She loved doing that last year, but has regretted saying she would do it. She said yes months ago, so there was no turning back now. Jorja is just so overwhelmed with everything she needs to do. But, she did it. She got her piece memorized. Hopefully she does well at auditions tomorrow. She was feeling sick though. She has had a hard time eating anything. She eats something and will immediately feel really sick. It's frustrating. Anyway, she felt worse today than other times. I got her a throw up bucket. She decided to wear it on her head. I told her she looked like Hailey. Hailey always wears a red hat that is just like Jorja's yellow one.

Jorja

Kiki and Quacky Chan

I forgot to look at Mike's phone before posting yesterday. That post took me forever, so I decided to put his pictures on this post. Here is his view of the kids coming home from school. I hope the video works because I thought it would be too big. You can see how concerned Jorja was, although when they realized they were getting a gift they immediately knew it was ducks. Haha. They have both picked names for their ducks. Jorja's duck is Kiki and Preston's duck is Quacky Chan.

Jorja teaching her duck to work the phone.

Yesterday Jorja took a nap with her duck.

Jorja gets a ride home from school everyday from a boy named Conner. Lately they have been staying in the driveway and talking for a long time. Sometimes it is thirty minutes, sometimes it is an hour. Preston usually rolls his eyes when he sees them as he comes home from school. Today we had a play to go to. It started at 4:00 and I wanted to leave by 3:30. I did not trust Jorja to remember how early we needed to leave. So, Preston and I went out to the car with the ducks. We handed Jorja her duck and left them to play with Kiki. As I walked away I told Jorja she had ten minutes before we needed to be leaving. Jorja said Conner was afraid of the duck. It climbed up him to his neck and he said it felt like spiders. Now whenever the ducks climb on me I keep thinking about how much they do feel like spiders. It is kind of creepy.

Jorja, Preston and I made it to the play just in time. Mike was a few minutes late. He came straight from work. We had front row seats, which was fun, but it was hard to see behind the couch. Especially the refrigerator and the table. I'll have to remember that for next time. I loved the play. I think the kids enjoyed it too. Mike said it was exactly like the movie, so it was kind of boring for him because he knew what would happen. I like it when things are the same, so that didn't bother me at all. I was able to see this play with both casts. That was pretty cool.

Wait Until Dark set

 Jorja & Preston

We went to Leatherbys after the play to celebrate Jorja's birthday. Then we dropped her off at Riley's house to make their tie-dyed shirts for the dance. Yep, last day of grounding ending strong! It actually worked out well because we dropped Jorja off and then went to Hailey's house. Hailey's parents taught us how to use their cotton candy machine for Jorja's surprise party tomorrow. Although when we came home there was a truck in our driveway. It was Riley dropping Jorja off. Whoops. We were a few minutes too slow. Jorja didn't ask us too many questions, so I think we got away with it.

Riley & Jorja

Jorja spent the rest of the night finishing up these online driving tests you need to have completed before you can get your license. The ducks helped her with that.

Jorja's vlog

Jorja, Kiki and Quacky Chan

Are the ducks doing the work while Jorja does Snapchat?

This video is my favorite

Jorja was such a spaz tonight. I was tucking in Preston when she would keep bursting into his room telling him this was the last time he would see her when she was 15. She kept dabbing. Preston kept trying to shut his eyes so that would not be the last image of her. I think that girl is pretty excited to be 16. She makes me laugh. She cares so much about what she looks like, but then posts weird pictures of her, on purpose.

She purposely tries to get the most unflattering pictures she can, and then posts them. She is hard to predict. She continued to be a spaz for Mike and I after Preston was asleep. She brings so much joy into our family. I love this girl with all of my heart. I am nervous for the next few years. I hope I can handle her. I hope I protect her the right amount, but don't smother her. I hope I give her good advice. I hope she chooses to trust me. I hope she has so much joy. I hope she loves high school. I hope she realizes just how amazing she is. I hope she can worry less. I hope she makes good decisions. I hope she can apologize when she makes mistakes and I hope she can forgive when she is hurt. I hope she has more happiness than heartache. I hope she chooses to stay close to Heavenly Father. I hope she works hard and I hope she has success beyond her dreams. This girl is amazing. This girl is precious. This girl is full of light and love. She gives all of herself to others, but there is a cost, sometimes she can easily crack. I hope she can find the right balance so she will be able to continue to love with all of her heart, but figure out how to protect herself. It will be an adventure to watch her grow! I'm excited.

Camping and Newsies

Mike and Preston seemed to have a great time at their 'camp'. Mike said he wanted to be like Clint's Dad when he grew up.

Preston & Mike

 Clint's dad shooting bowling balls out of a cannon.

 Mike, Preston, Clint

 Preston and Brother Smith

 Preston

 Preston with his can.

These kids went straight from one activity to another. Shooting, hiking, fishing. They wore themselves out, but had a great time.

Preston

 Griffin, Drew, Matthew, Preston

 Preston

 Matthew, Drew, Griffin, Aiden

Preston, Ethan, Henderson boy, Jackson

 Preston

 Preston and Mike

 Preston

I sent this picture to Mike and Preston. This is the Subway by our house. Preston is obsessed with Subway for some weird reason. He is so much like Mike it's crazy. Preston texted back, "NOOOOO!"

Mike and I had tickets to see Newsies today. When we realized Mike wouldn't get back in time, I asked my dad. Maysen came with us too. I have never seen it before. I really liked it. My dad liked it. Maysen wasn't a fan. On our way out we saw Jack and Renee Murphy. They were in our ward as I was growing up. Renee was Tzeitel when my dad directed Fiddler on the Roof. Dad talked to Jack and I talked to Renee for a long time. Until the place closed down. Maysen was very patient.

Stephanie, Maysen, Dad

A lady that my dad taught in seminary offered to take our picture.

State Theater

I got Jorja up early to go to the state theater competition.  She was tired. She did great though, she even got a medal. You get a medal if all of the judges gave a superior rating on your piece. Jorja was there most of the day. I picked her up around 5:00. Madison came over after Jorja got home. I took them to the mall. Jorja returned the shoes she didn't decide on, then the girls did whatever girls do when they go to the mall.

I sent a screenshot of this to my brother Mike. John's caption makes me laugh. "Pretty sure I will only post videos of my kids playing ball. Just so we're all on the same page."

Mike went to the mall to get the girls. It was four minutes until halftime of Game 3 for the Jazz/Thunder series. I didn't want to leave. I was so glad Mike let me stay! The last four minutes of the half were awesome! Rubio was on fire! Jazz ended up winning the game and that made me very happy.

One of the things I had on Preston's chore list was to move the beanbag from his room into Jorja's room. Preston put it on Jorja's bed and then made the bed. I found Jorja on her bed on the beanbag. I laughed and asked her why she didn't take the beanbag off? She said she was too tired, but she wasn't very comfortable. I made her get up and fixed everything for her. She has had a long week.

Jorja

Music Man

AHHHH!!! Campaigning starts today! I snapped a picture of cute Jorja with her posters before school. This is going to be a stressful couple of weeks. (Notice Jorja's earrings in the picture below. Aren't they the cutest? She had a mini deck of playing cards and glued the Jack of hearts onto clip on earrings.)

Jorja

 She's off!

I took Maysen up to Provo for her EFY interview. She looked adorable, and was very pleased with how her interview went. She knew she was going to have to give a two minute lesson on something from the Strength of Youth pamphlet. She was hoping she would get the Sabbath Day. Low and behold, that is what she was asked to do. The interview went practically perfect. She has to wait about two to four weeks before she hears back. I hope she gets this! She would be awesome and it would be awesome for her too.

We took Maysen to see Music Man tonight. It was weird that Mike scheduled two of the plays on the same week, but look at that timing. How were we to know that Maysen would be here? We have now been able to take each of our kids to one of plays in the new Hale Center Theater. It has been fun.

Maysen and Stephanie

 Mike and Maysen

There is a certain boy that has been making Jorja very sad. She was crying when she came home from school. I'm so frustrated. Why can't he be nice to her this week? During campaigning? I won't go into details, but I was mad. I have tried really hard to like this kid, but I just don't. Especially after watching the way he messes with Jorja. I was ticked off and leaving to fill Stockton's jeep with gas. Gavin got caught in the crossfires and I gave him a talking to for how he has treated Madison. Anyway, this boy called Jorja tonight. She was on the phone when we got home from the play. I kept checking in on her. She begged me to let her finish talking with him. She said she needed closure. I hope so. I hope she can close the book on this character. They talked for a long time. One time I heard Jorja ask, "Do you think we'll be friends through high school?" There was a L-O-N-G awkward pause and then he said something like, "I don't know, but I know I'll always be friends with Evan." What a weirdo. How hard is it to be friends with someone, even if you don't always see them it is easy to be nice. I hope that long pause gave her the answer, even if it is not the answer she wanted to get. I talked with Jorja after she got off of the phone. She said she learned that he wasn't someone who would support her. He didn't have any compassion. Just judged her. I think she is ready to let him go. I hope so. He is not good for her at all.

Tuck Everlasting

The wind was crazy today. This was our neighbor's house.

Mike, Preston and I went and saw the musical Tuck Everlasting at Hale Center Theater. It was really good. Preston even liked it. I'm so glad! I remember this was Mrs. McLendon's favorite book. This is the only picture I got of the night, so that's disappointing.

Mike and Preston

Mike and I decided that we would let Jorja go to Girls Pref. We had several reasons, but it all boils down to it felt like the right thing to do. We feel really good about letting her go. It will help lessen her anxiety about elections and the heartache a certain unnamed boy is causing her right now. I went downstairs and talked to her before school. She was pretty excited. Mackenzie, the Student Body President, had asked Jorja if she would like to be in their group. I told Jorja that we felt good about her asking someone from student government. She wanted to ask Carter. She texted her friend Madison about it. Madison told her that a girl named Elle was planning on asking him. Jorja knows Carter has a crush on this girl, so she didn't want to ask him. She ended up deciding to ask a senior named Mackie. I told Jorja she needed to ask someone that met the following qualifications: she would be safe, she would have fun, she isn't going to develop a crush on this person. She insisted Mackie met all of these qualifications. Plus, he is really good friends with Mackenzie, so that will be nice. While Mike and I were at the theater, Mackenzie picked her and Stockton up and they went with a group asking people to the dance. She asked using Macaroni and Cheese. Jorja didn't take any pictures though.