So, on Wednesday my class took a unit test, and I was sooo excited to grade them. This was the first test I felt confident they knew the content and would do fairly well. I'm sorry to say, my bubble was popped quite quickly. :( The kicker was that I happened to be grading them as I waited for a staff meeting to start. We were going to check out the SBAC testing my kiddos will be taking come spring. By the time I had driven home, I was crying. My below grade level students will not do well on the SBAC, and, even though, everyone is saying no one is going to do well, the scores don't count this year, and it's going to take a while for the kiddos to catch up to the testing, I am sad! I feel that I will not be able to help them even be close to where they need to be.

I know challenging them is the best thing that can happen, but will I be able to do it? How can I get my kiddos who are 2 grade levels below where they should be to move up? I will keep digging, studying, and pushing to challenge myself as well as them. We have no where to go but up!!!!

Today was our Gridley 1st ward Primary program, and they did fabulous! We are few on numbers, but the kiddos sang their hearts out. You could really feel the spirit as they sang too. The closing number was "I am a Child of God". They all came forward along the front of the stand and sang the first verse, and the congregation joined in to sing on the 2nd and 3rd verses.

I miss seeing my girls up and singing when they were young! They were always so adorable!!! When singing for Father's Day, Megan was still in Primary, but only by about 2 weeks. She turned 12 on July 3. She didn't really want to sing, but I made her go up there. She stood head and shoulders above Melisse, it was cute. All too soon they grow up though. Andrew will be starting Primary come January; he'll be a Sunbeam!

When buying groceries this month, I planned some freezer meals. I put some meat, veggies, and spices into Ziploc baggies for putting in the crockpot in the mornings. I pulled my first dinner out of the freezer this morning. I was soooo excited! I tried to put the frozen square into the oval crockpot, but it didn't quite fit. I decided to just leave it with the lid sitting on top of the pot and edge of the frozen dinner that was sticking out of the pot. Luckily, I came home to a finished dinner that only had a couple pieces of ham that had fallen out of the crockpot. It was very good and well worth it! I look forward to the future dinners.

So, this summer I worked really hard at exercising and was in pretty good shape. Then, school started! I neglected my running and P90x for the last 2 months, and I am in more of a round shape than anything else. I picked up walking/short jogs last week and am feeling much better. Getting outside helps release tension and worry, so it is more of a mental health issue. Losing weight/tightening up muscles are just side benefits.

I used to love taking the girls for walks along my jogging route. We had a double stroller that could fold down and make one long place for a few of them to sit. I would take off walking, and eventually they would, if they were old enough, get out and walk alongside the stroller with me. We would throw rocks into the ditches, pick wildflowers (weeds), and have such fun! I was lucky enough this last summer to take my oldest grandson Andrew on one of these walks. He too threw rocks into the ditch and picked flowers for his mommy.

During rice planting or harvest, we would stop and watch the big equipment do their jobs. On occasion we would watch a beautiful sunset before the mosquitoes would come out for dinner. A couple of times we even sat on the shed's roof to watch the sun set with all its glorious colors.