Recently I decided to go with Camille's 5th grade class on a field trip to Camp Floyd.  It's amazing how much you can learn on these field trips!  I loved it, especially because somehow the bus ride wasn't as loud as it has been in the past and I enjoyed talking to the other adults there. Camp Floyd is about a 40-minute bus ride from where we live.  It was a temporary outpost for the US Army in 1858 when they came to Utah to make sure the Mormons weren't trying to start a rebellion against the US government.  Here's what I got off Wikipedia: Established in July 1858 by a U.S. Army detachment under the command of Brevet Brig. Gen.  Albert Sidney Johnston , Camp Floyd was named for then Secretary of War  John B. Floyd . The detachment consisted of more than 3,500 military and civilian employees, including cavalry, artillery, infantry and support units. This unit, the largest single troop concentration then in the United States, was sent by President...

Last week was spring break for our school children.  Since my husband had to teach classes at the university over spring break, we couldn't really go anywhere but we were still able to do some fun activities. The weekend before, my husband drove our high schoolers up to Rexburg to spend a few days with their cousins.  They did some activities with their cousins and I think it was a nice break for them. While they were gone, the rest of us went up to Salt Lake City and visited Temple Square. Meanwhile, I tried to keep the youngest two busy with different activities.  We went to the library, played tennis, and went to doctor appointments.  Camille's kidney doctor dressed up like Hello Kidney because this month is Donate Life.  I have a new Halloween costume idea! We went to a movie on Tuesday evening, "How to Train Your Dragon 3", was a fun movie.  On Wednesday I took the younger children with their cousins to an indoor swimming pool.  I...

Recently I read a book called The Collapse of Parenting:  How We Hurt Our Kids When We Treat Them Like Grownups by Leonard Sax . He's a family physician along with a Ph.D in psychology.  He practiced for 19 years and then took an extensive leave to travel around the world visiting many schools and seeing the challenges. His basic premise is that too many parents are afraid to be the adults who know better. The parents' job is to teach their children the culture of the world they live in but, too often, they let their children's peers do it. The chapter I liked the best talked about the personality qualities that help children to be the most successful in life.  It goes like this: "Which of the following, measured when a child is 11 years of age, is the best predictor of happiness and overall life satisfaction roughly 20 years later, when that child has become a 31- or 32-year-old adult? A.  IQ B.  Grade point average C.  Self-control D.  ...