Who the heck is Mae Jemison

About a month ago my 5th grader, Sophia, came home with the information on the school's wax museum. She was to pick an American hero to impersonate. They gave her a list of great choices such as Eleanor Roosevelt, Helen Keller, and Rosa Parks. We talked the choices over and forgot about it.

A few weeks later, after a long night at work (I now work 4 nights a week to subsidize what we call the Obama tax/health care) I came home and helped LG with the delayed bedtime rituals. As we went through Sophia's backpack, she remembered to tell me that she had chosen her wax museum hero that day because it was the deadline. (Way to be an absent mom! - And how I would pay) My excitement was immediately erased as she informed us that she had chosen....wait for it......

Mae Jemison.

"Who the heck is Mae Jemison?" my hubby and I questioned simultaneously.

"The first female African-American astronaut," Sophia answered innocently enough. (But I know that deep down inside she was really like, "I'll show you, mom, for being at work."

My mom radar immediately alarmed, "Did you say African-American?" as I carefully reanalyzed my 11 year old very blued eyed, very blonde haired, very Caucasian daughter.

It's times like these that I am 100% convinced someone has hidden a secret "gotcha" camera somewhere in the couch cushions. And times like these happen every day at our house.

LeGrand couldn't contain his overly exuberant smile headed in my direction with the subliminal message of, "Thank heavens I have the Y chromosome. It's all you babe."

Today I am proud to announce that I not only immediately committed, but embraced my daughter's dream of being the first Caucasian girl dressed as the first African American female astronaut.

After 2 hours at the thrift store, 1 hour at the sewing machine, 5 hours at the computer, 1 hour printing, taping, and pinning (and re-washing and pinning after the other daughter's judgement error of spilling a bottle of coke on the orange outfit waiting to be worn on top of the nightstand ), 1 hour of wig trimming, 2 hours overseeing the poster making, 1 hour of help with the speech, and 3 hours of searching for the right make-up, a stroke of genius with the snow boots that look like they belong on the moon, and 30 minutes of haggling (and losing) to the girl to let me do it before she went to school, I gladly share the end result.

And yes, she tore off the wig in less than 

two seconds after I turned off the camera.

(I forgot to mention the special trip to Sally Beauty Supply

 for what I learned is called a wig cap.)

And even then the wig was still too itchy.

White girls are so whimpy

about their beauty aides.

It's at times like these that

homeschooling doesn't sound so crazy.

And just in case you moms are ever

called upon for the same task,

here is everything you ever need to know

about

Dr. Mae Jemison

in the first person

 I was born on October 17, 1956 (which would make me 57 now) in Decatur, Alabama. My parents were Charles and Dorothy Jemison and I was the youngest of three. I am still alive today and achieving many things.

            I was raised in Chicago and graduated high school at age 16 and went to Stanford University on a scholarship. I graduated from Stanford with two degrees! One was a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering, the other an Associate Bachelor degree in African and Afro-American studies. I later attended Cornell medical school and achieved the requirements to become a medical doctor.  I then went to West Africa with Peace Corps to be a medical doctor from 1983-1985.

            I then came back to America and became a doctor in Los Angeles, California. I was also a dancer so at the time I was deciding which I should be. Should I be a dancer or a doctor? And I still wanted to achieve a childhood dream, a dream I had since kindergarten, I wanted to go to space. Many people told me that I couldn’t go to space because I was a woman. But I applied to NASA to become an astronaut and they accepted me.

            On September 12, 1992, I blasted off into space becoming the very first African-American women ever to go to space. I went into orbit on the Space shuttle Endeavor and I was in space 7 days 2 hours and 30 minutes. My space mission was called STS-47. On that mission I was the science mission specialist. My mission was a joint operation between the U.S.A and Japan. My experiments dealt with bone cell research. With me I brought a picture of my old dance crew. I proved many people wrong that day. I also fulfilled my dream to be an astronaut.

            Since getting back from space I quit working at NASA. For a while I was a professor of developing countries and advanced technology at Dartmouth College. I got to be the only person who has been to space to act on the TV show “StarTrek: The Next Generation”. I have created the Jemison Group which works to bring advanced technology to people worldwide and fosters a love for science in students. Now I speak at a lot of engagements, am the President of two technology companies, and love to spend time my cats in Houston, TX where I live.

Next year, I am hoping Bella will be wise enough to pick Bill Gates, like this smart neighbor.
Of course, we would have to chop off all her hair and dye it blonde.

Just say no to mom jousting.

I recently read this blog post
after it was shared several times
by my friends on facebook.
Rage Against the minivan wrote it.
Can I rage against the minivan too
even if I drive one?

This is my two cents today.
Parents don't have to tell other parents
what to do or not to do.
Parents have to grow a backbone
and tell their kids to NOT expect something
just because other kids have it.
This is the problem with our society in general.
Parents are all competing
instead of supporting each other.

Sometimes (actually all the time)
we just need to check out of the
Mormon mommy blogger culture.

"Oh, you throw huge themed parties for your kids,
well my kids must have that too."

You read 10 books every night.
You always have ironed clothes.
You have sterile bathrooms.
All your clothes are from Matilda Jane.
You have an elf on the shelf.
You have a 5 course meal every night?
Your kids are each in a music lesson, a sport, and a cultural extra-curricular...
and you have 10 boys and 5 girls?
You have a leprechaun that shows up for Christmas?

Do you see how it can become a really huge problem
when you try to do everything like everyone else?

No. No. No.
That's all it takes.

And guess what?
Your kids don't care.

Or they may care
and then when you say no
they'll figure it out for themselves.

Case in point.

This is Bella
pretending to be
a leprechaun
for Saint Patrick's Day.
She thought that
Caroline deserved some fun
that we didn't want to provide.

Newga

This little lion has been with Caroline from birth.

It was a baby shower gift.

Thanks Aimee!!

Caroline named her

sometime in her first year.

Her name is 

New-Gu

or Newga.

Every night before this sleeping angel goes to sleep

we have a routine.

We go potty, change into clean panties and p.j.'s, and read three books.

We then give each other big kisses

and I say,

"I love you the mostest."

She then repeats it back to me

anywhere between 5 and 10 times.

Then I pull out Newga

(the last step til sleep)

and proceed to shower Caroline

with kisses from her favorite lion pal.

Caroline always tells Newga to "Stop it Newga"

while trying to hide under her covers.

Newga promises to behave,

Caroline comes out

and gives her a kiss

and then shares with lioness

her favorite pink blankie.

As I walk out of the room

I say

"Goodnight Caroline.
Goodnight Newga."

Thank you to

Ms. Sunshine

(the pre-school teacher)

for a very permanent reminder

of how powerfully

this nightly ritual

speaks love

into Caroline's heart.

Caroline brought this home on Valentine's Day.

I am so glad Ms. Sunshine

wrote down exactly what

Caroline told her

even if she had no idea

what she was talking about.

We all knew

exactly who Caroline

loves.

I am so grateful to God

for giving me Caroline.

She is spoiled rotten.

We all love her so much.

Thank you God for Caroline

and for Newga

as a nightly reminder of

how blessed I am

to love and be loved.

2CUL Craft

Somehow I always get stuck

with doing the crafts for

the kids' school parties.

All the other moms are

too afraid.

So here is what we are

doing for Valentines

this year.

And this crafty-challenged

lady

has made a tutorial

for you and yours

with all my V-day love.

1 - Use graph paper

to make block letter

conversation heart sayings.

2- Cut out

3 - Apply glue on graph side.

3- Stick onto sandpaper

from right to left.

Remember it will iron on

like a mirror image.

(That's why you glue on the right side)

4 - Outline well with crayon.

5 - Color in rest of sandpaper.

(I plan to actually have hearts

but this was the scrap I used

today for the prototype)

6 - Heat up iron to cotton/dry setting.

7 - Cut out a square of an old white sheet.

(600 threadcount egyptian cotton

 is optional but soooo soft)

I happened to have a perfectly great

topsheet leftover

from our tragic "ruined by talon toes"

sheet set

shown here on instagram.

7 - Sew up the 2 cut sides.

I will use the already folded over side

for the yarn-tie.

(Use a sewing machine if you want)

8 - This is what I did to make it go faster

(I hear you screaming you seamstress people)

I actually may just use fabric glue at school.

9 - Safety pin your yarn.

10 - Lead it through the fold.

11 - Tie big knots on each end.

(So they won't ravel or go back into fold)

12 - Place sandpaper on finished bag

that I turned inside out from stitching.

(Hopefully you guys are smart enough 

to understand that part)

13 - Turn sandpaper crayon side

 onto the fabric.

Cover with parchment paper or a tea towel.

14 - Iron (moving iron in circles)

for about 30 seconds.

Wa-la

Inspiration for this craft

came from alphamom.

Like I said above,

I plan to make them actual hearts

and either pre-make the bags

or have the kids glue them

(because of school time limits)

or do t-shirts

or just make the

sandpaper cut-outs

and send

iron on instructions home with kids.

Happy V-day

crafting all you cupid moms

who like me

 are suckers for love.

Feel free to leave

all your suggestions for betterment

below in the comments.

I have til Thursday to fine-tune.

Or just tell me how cool I am

because moms need

to love other moms.

And you're so welcome.

I couldn't find a single

thing good enough

on my beloved forthekids 

pinterest board

so I had to tweak.

I'm thrilled

with  my mom 

abilities

today.

As you should be too.

Sophia the Wise

The name Sophia means wise.

When my Sophia was born 

I took one look into her eyes

and I knew she was an old soul.

Sophia was on our short list,

I knew it meant wise,

and I knew the name belonged to this

little one.

Whenever I take the time to think about it,

I realize that I made the perfect name choice.

I was supported

when yesterday Sophia came home from school.

Her teacher is really into the Chinese zodiac

and Sophia's class has been getting their fill.

Sophia said that she was born in the year of the snake

and that snakes are wise.

What a coinkydink.

I am so proud of my Sophia.

She is many of the traits listed above:

quiet, unassuming, prefers to work alone,

sympathetic, intuitive, and amorous.

She is an angel.

Truly.

She is also very talented.

I would love to take all the credit

for her compassion, kindness, and nurturing ways,

but she came to us with them.
I know that she is

not just special to me and LG

but she is also special to God.

She embodies God.

She embodies love.

She has blessed my life so much

and she makes me want to be

a better person.

The school rewarded her

yesterday

for being the way she is.

I told her she should call her Grammy

and tell her thanks

because she is so much like

my mother-in-law.

The funniest part of Sophia's

character connection award

is that Sophia came home

and said,

"Mom, I was so weird-ed out.

I am 11,

I don't want to be known

for love."

I am so glad I don't have to retire yet,

we obviously still  have a lot to learn

about love.

Well Sophia doesn't,

she has it down.

Maybe I just need to explain.

Happy December

Sophia's drawing was chosen

as the December feature

in her elementary school

calendar.

It makes me smile

every time I catch a glimpse

of it

hanging on my fridge.

It also makes me smile

that we live in a state

famous for its

awesome snow.

Freedom Week

To start this post I want to share a photo

that I took with my own two hands.

I am so proud of it.

I caught it when coming out of the grocery store. 

I didn't have a tri-pod, 

but apparently I got the camera still enough

to do justice to that gorgeous moon.

I have this amazing ability at getting myself roped into things.

That's a nice way of saying I often forget to say no.

This year, my big project has been

Freedom Week.

It's be a beast.

Just enough to remind me to say no

for another year or so.

What a gorgeous view, eh?

Freedom Week

is a yearly week-long celebration

at the girls' school

that focuses on the freedoms we enjoy

as Americans.

I was originally told that all I had to do

was plan a few dress up days

and line up a speaker for an assembly.

If that is all I had to do

I wonder why it occupied about

80 hours of my time over the past

two months.

Anything for freedom.

Or my kids.

Or because I can't say no.

I did rope in a few people to help.

My ward's (Mormon way of saying congregation)

young women

did a great job with the big banner

and small posters for each classroom door.

Aren't they cute.

I was sad I didn't get a photo of them all.

They cranked out 16 of these

in about 30 minutes

and no one uses glue and glitter

like young women.

The greatest sacrifice for me

was waking up at 6 a.m.

to hang up the flags outside.

It was dark

and I hate mornings.

I let Abigail drive around the

empty parking lot

as a reward for waking up early.

She was pretty stoked.

Each student got their own personal

American flag

as they arrived to the assembly this morning.

Aren't they just the cutest?

We lined the halls with red white and blue.

And messages of freedom.

I'd like to think that this is what 

I looked like

all morning.

This is me teaching the kids about IwaJima
while introducing Mr. Mason a WWII vet.

But I am sure it was much more like this.

 Props to the school orchestra and choir.

They did amazing.

Two of my perfect children

are singing

about voting

and loving America.

Can you spot them?

The Mayor of Orem

brought along some of his heroes:

A local police officer,

and some firefighters.

You should have seen the faces of the kids

when this guy walked in the room

in full firefighting garb.

It was awesome.

My personal favorite part of the day

was introducing a true

American hero.

He is in the middle of this photo

in the Marine Corps shirt.

His name is

Fred William Mason

and he faught at IwaJima.

What an honor it was to

give the kids a piece of history

and to see them give

Mr. Mason

the standing ovation

he deserves.

(See the bottom of the post

for his story)

Perhaps my greatest gratitude should go to this man.
He is always my technical support and go-to guy.
As you can see by the photograph,
he was perfect
at entertaining Caroline.

We've already over-established what a handful she can be, right?

Here's the slideshow I made.
I had no idea what I was doing,
so give me grace people.
It was a great way to spend my 39th birthday.
And the day before it. And the two days after it.

   

We also did a few other things:

• school-wide speech writing contest (the winners gave their speeches today at the assembly and got $20 giftcards to Wal-Mart)
• The Cub Scouts officiated at the flag ceremony
• A student soloist did the Star Spangled Banner
• A mock presidential election (Governor Romney won with 74% of the votes)
• Letters from the kids for Vets at the VA Hospital
• We were supposed to do a donation drive but student council never got it together
• Each student received a white star to write about what they appreciate most in their freedom. They will each tape them on their classroom door banners. (picture above)
• Oh and we have dress up days all week.

Monday - stars and stripes
Tuesday - red white and blue
Wednesday - Dress like your favorite American hero or wear a uniform
Thursday - Denim day (jeans were invented in the US)
Friday - School spirit colors - which happen to be blue and white.

* Oh and an added not for future reference. I asked Bella what she liked best about the assembly and with all attitude she immediately responded with, "I hated it when you cried mom, you embarrassed me in front of all my friends." Maybe someday she will see that differently and be proud of a mom who is so grateful.

Fred Mason's introduction

It’s my great pleasure to introduce you to one of our great American heroes. He’s a friend and neighbor to us all.  He lives right off 1600 North in Orem. His name is Fred William Mason and I am proud to know him.
Mr. Mason was a corporel in the Marine Corps during WWII. He faught at Iwa Jima.  There is a famous photograph that won the Pulitzer Prize of soldiers raising the American Flag at Mount Serabachi on Feb 23, 1945. Mr. Mason know the soldiers in the photo personally.
IwoJima was a volcanic island and no civilians lived there. Its name means Sulphur Island. It was a very important military spot in the Japanese Territory and it was a critical victory for American strategy. If we hadn’t won at IwoJima we probably wouldn’t have been able to drop the Atomic Bombs and the war may not have ended so fast.
The Battle of IwaJima happened from Feb 19 – March 26 1945. Only 216 of the 21,844 Japanese survived and of the 70,000 Americans who faught 6,821 were killed and 19,217 wounded. Many of those soldiers were friends of Mr. Mason. He served in the 5th Marine Division of the 28th Regiment.
Mr. Mason is 86 years old.
He was born in 1926 in Lexington, KY.
He was the fifth child of 9 kids in his family.
His four brothers also served in the military.
Two also served in WWII
Richard fought in the army at Okinowa.
Earl was also in the army and was taken as a Prisoner of War at the March of Batan in the Phillipines.
Glen and Ernie enlisted after the war into the Navy and never had to fight like their older brothers.
He worked on farms from age 8. Sold veggies at the market.
He wasn’t able to attend school but a few years as he was expected to help provide for his family.
Around age 12, his family got indoor plumbing.
At age 14, he started taking the bus and going to church to every Sunday with his sister.
He grew up during The Great Depression. When I asked him what his favorite food was, he said he was always hungry and would eat anything he could get his hands on. He particularly like his momma’s biscuits and gravy, and was always really happy when he would get a little bit of ham in his beans.
He was drafted in 1944 at age 18.
Went from Lexington to Louisville to join the Navy, but there was a Marine recruiter who snagged him and 4 others in line up to fill his quota for the day.
Went to Camp Pendelton in California for Basic Training.
When he was done he boarded a ship and was told 4 days into it that they were on their way to the South Pacific to fight the Japanese.
After the Battle of IwaJima, Mr. Mason reboarded the ship and remembers many soldiers celebrating. He however just wanted to brush his teeth (they had been in the trenches for over a month) and went to the Red Cross to ask for a toothbrush but was told they didn’t have enough to give him one.
Mr Mason was shipped back to Hawaii, where he served 8 months of occupational duty and was discharged in 1946.
After the war he went back to Lexington where he worked at a Wholesale Food Distrubutor. He delivered food to Colonel Sanders of KFC and says he looked exactly like his pictures. In fact, he can’t remember him every changing from before the war.
Mr. Mason is a hero to me for another reason then his honorable military service, after the war, he taught himself to read. Remember he didn’t have much school growing up.
In 1950 he met Mrs. Mason and they had their first child, a girl named Debi, who is also our neighbor.
Mr. and Mrs. Mason then moved to Indiana so that Mr. Mason could work at a Defense Plant building helicopters. The had two more children. Both boys who still lived in Indiana.
Mr and Mrs Mason moved to Utah 14 years ago.
They have been married for 62 years.
Mr. Mason continues to make a difference for his country by working a Heritage School in Provo. He has worked there mentoring troubled youth for the past 6 years.
Mr. Mason is truly a remarkable person. Tom Brokaw once called his generation the Greatest Generation. I believe they were a great generation and I believe Mr. Mason was one of the greatest.
Please join me and give Mr. Mason and all his friends who fought for our freedom the round of applause they deserve.