Our Southern Belle of the ball...

Lil Lisa attended her first Homecoming dance on Saturday night with 14 of her amazing friends! We spent the day getting her ready and doing everything from facials, to french manicures, make up and hair! Lots and lots of hair! And in this humidity we made sure the curls would stay! (The secret: lots and LOTS of product!!!!)

In the end the four hours to get ready made it all worth it! Lisa had an amazing evening! From dinner at Chili's to dancing until her feet hurt so bad she wasn't sure they would fit in her shoes any more! For us it was pretty monumental. For her it was memorable. For the boys that have never seen her so dressed up before...it was eye opening. For the girls...it might have brought on a little hint of envy. Ahhhhhh...just the way High School is suppose to be!

Just another day in paradise...

Okay so its not quite paradise to some, but for the moment it is for us! We love it here in the south and although we have to put up with those pesky hurricanes from time to time we also get to have the unique opportunity to take our youth groups out into the hardest hit areas and spend a day serving others. Its hard to think that any teenager would be willing get up at 3 am to drive three hours in the early morning hours just to haul broken limbs, torn roof shingles, and other debris out to the front of yards badly hit by a storm...but for some reason they come. And they endure. And they even sometimes have smiles on their faces. Even when they're hot and sweaty and tired and dirty.

Here are some things I jotted down from our service trip to Louisiana. Most of the things will probably not make any sense to some but if you were there....you will chuckle and everytime you think about our day doing Hurricane clean up with the youth of our Ward these things will put a little smile on your face!

During our day out in the sun...

We learned that Ian is immune to Poison Ivy but Lisa is not!

We learned that Bro. Odom was more like Tim "the Tool Man" Taylor than anyone could've ever imagined!

We learned that the Bishop has a Mexican restaurant named after him in Baton Rouge!

We learned that in a storm you never know which way a tree is going to fall!

We learned that even if you step in dog poop you can scrape it off and keep working! (And eventually everyone else will step in it too!)

We learned that not all Thank yous are given in the form of words...sometimes they are given in tears, hugs, and genuine smiles.

We learned that not everyone wears a size 2XL t shirt, but if it is bright yellow and says "MORMON HELPING HANDS" on it...then one size fits all.

We learned the proper way to say ALABAMIANS from Justin.

We also learned that not everyone in the Ward realized Sis. Schloemer was "ASIAN".

We learned the proper way to say Zi-on and Li-on.

We learned Bro. Constantine can literally carry his weight in "TREE".

We learned Sis. Faught makes the best oatmeal chocolate chip sugar free cookies and that the youth are not above begging for them!

We learned that there is a brake pedal on the passenger side of the Schloemer van OR at least Bro. Faught thinks there's one.

We learned that even after the youth had been up since 3 am, tarped roofs all day, cut down 100 year old trees, and braved the heat for hours at a time without any breaks they still managed to have energy enough to play basketball and frisbee in the cultural hall of the Baton Rouge Stake Center when we got back!

And lastly, we learned that giving service is soooo much better when all the youth can spend the day together, laughing together, working together, sweating together and playing together...all the while ultimately changing the lives of those they help and increasing their knowledge and faith in the gospel through service.

When's the next trip????

Postcards from across the nation...

Recently I sent out an email to everyone in my address book asking them to help Jessica with a third grade school project! Well...the response has been overwhelming!!! For the past week or so Jessica has received a dozen or so postcards from all across the nation! She has received them here at the house and also at her school! She has had so much fun checking our mailbox everyday for postcards from friends and family!

When the postcards arrive at school the principal delivers the postcards personally to Jessica's class! It has been such a fun activity for the entire class! Thank you for making it so special for them! Once the postcards arrive and are delivered to the classroom the teacher tapes it to a wall-sized United States Map on the state where the postcard came from.

One postcard came from my dear friend and former college roommate, Kelley. She lives in Philadelphia, PA and sent a fun postcard that listed several questions concerning the history of her state! The teacher was so excited she had everyone in the class take out their pencils and take the quiz right then! She said it was such a fun activity the entire class enjoyed!

The postcards that came the farthest away were from Auntie Mibi and Uncle Scott in Hawaii! For some of the students in the class it was the first time they had ever looked for the islands on a US map! How fun!

Jessica also received several postcards from dear friends in California! Jessica's teacher grew up in California and loved seeing the beautiful postcards that were sent from her home state!

Another state that she received postcards from was Utah. Jessica loves being able to tell her friends and teacher about Utah and the fun things she use to do there. She also enjoys telling them about the Temple and our church. Its been a fun way for her to share with them the gospel!

So far, Jessica was the first student to have a postcard sent in and is currently the top of the class for number of postcards received! Thank you so much for helping her with this project! Please keep the postcards coming! Jessica loves hearing from you and loves being able to talk about you to her teacher and classmates!

Once a kid...always a kid...

Sweet 16 and only getting sweeter...

Happy Sweet 16 Lisa! Lisa enjoyed her sixteenth birthday today! When her school bus pulled up to the high school the first thing everyone on the bus saw was a giant giant saying "Happy Birthday 16th Lisa". Her friend had put it up the night before and with the help of her handy dad, Bubba, rigged it so it would stay up all day!

No thanks to her teachers, Lisa came home and still had to do homework, but after that was out of the way we had a small family celebration and opened some presents. Her big gift from the family this year was her own HP computer, desk, and chair for her room. She also received money, chocolate, jewelry, a BYU mousepad, and other fun things from family and friends.

She even got asked out on a date! Well sort of. Does it count when the boy has another girl ask Lisa out for him? We're still trying to decide. Anyway, it was certainly a very fun day for Lisa! Happy Birthday Lisa Nicole! We love you!

Kenny's 11th birthday...

Kenny celebrated his 11th birthday this year by throwing a party for 8 of his favorite friends!

We had pizza at CiCi's and played at the arcade at Chuck-E-Cheese! Lisa and her friend tagged along to help "chaperone". Boy! Was I glad they were there! Who knew 9 ten/eleven year old boys could be such a handful!

Four hours, seven pizzas, several gallons of soda, and 312 tokens later all of the boys were safely shuttled back home for the night. Whew! Thank goodness birthday parties only happen once a year! Happy Birthday Kenny! We love you lots!

Like father; like daughter...

We're three days away from celebrating Lil' Lisa's 16th birthday and I can't help but remember back some 10 years ago when turning 16 seemed like forever away! Where did all the time go? I absolutely loved this picture from our trip to Utah this past summer. It really shows Lisa's likeness to her father. Her features. Her smile. The light that sparkles in her eyes. But on top of all the physical features that I see similarities in I'm most grateful for the inside similarities. Her trust in God. Her faith in the gospel. Her love for her family. Her will to do what is right. And her determination to be different.

When winning is everything...

Well tomorrow is the big day in Spanish class and I am very excited to report that instead of showing an R rated film on spanish culture, Lisa's teacher will be hosting a food tasting celebration and showing clips from a documentary filmed by PBS about the lives of 5 well known Hispanic artists.

Right now I am waiting for my chocolate Tres Leches cake to come out of the oven so Lisa can have something to share with her class. After sending in my letter to Lisa's teacher I received a note back from both her and the Principal at Lisa's High School.

I was relieved to hear of their support of our letter. To know that there is a policy in our county against showing such films in school. Honestly, I thought we were raging a war that was going to be an uphill battle. But the response we received from Lisa's teacher and her principal was overwhelmingly in favor of our letter and although we didn't expect to be thanked for our efforts, we were...by both of them.

And one day I think Lisa will too. Maybe not today or even tomorrow as she shares her cake with the rest of the class. But sometime later on in life when she has children of her own and they come to her with a tiny white piece of paper asking for her permission to watch a video in class.

No parent ever wants to be put in a situation that ultimately makes life harder for their child. Odd that in this case we were even put in the situation. But a win is a win. No matter how ugly it was or how hard it was to fight the battle.

Fighting the fight...

So this past week we had to deal with an issue involving Lisa at her High School. No! She wasn't doing drugs or hanging out at the 'make out' wall. She didn't cut class and she certainly didn't bully anyone in the locker room. It had to do simply with a tiny sheet of paper that came home from her Spanish I teacher asking permission for her to view an R rated movie in class that would help the students learn to appreciate the Hispanic culture.

First of all, can I please say in my defense that I am not an idiot. I have watched my share of R rated movies back in the day as a teenager when my parents told me not to watch them. They involved chain saw masacres and celebrations surrounding Friday the 13th and I still to this day am paying for my lack of judgement in viewing them. Chainsaws will never be my friend and hockey masks are just plain creepy. Anyway...

As parents Arnold and I stand firm on the concept that Rated R movies aren't what they use to be back when we were growing up and trying to sneak into them without our parents knowing it. By today's standard PG-13 movies contain material that would've easily been labeled Rated R only a few short years ago. The industry has certainly lowered the standards and allowed much more MATURE content to sneak into our theaters and even onto our television sets.

Back to Lisa's High School....Arnold and I knew immediately what Lisa was thinking as she handed up the permissoin slip. (Its exactly what I would've been thinking had I been in the exact same position with my parents some 10, 20 or even 25 years ago. Yikes! I'm getting old.) She wanted us just to sign it and let her sink into annonimity in the classroom and not make a big deal of it. Well...if any of you know me you would know that I couldn't just let this one lie.

In order to show Lisa that we were at least willing to research the movie being shown in her class we looked at all the options before we ultimately said no. After googling the said movie it took me only three sentences to realize that my first instincts were correct and this was definitely not an appropriate movie for Lisa to be watching at home let alone shown in her High School classroom.

Arnold and I spent the next hour or so typing up a nicely worded letter to Lisa's Spanish teacher asking her to consider other biopics that would not include the R rating and still serve its purpose in the classroom. And that we would not be signing the waiver and that we strongly encouraged her as an employee of a public high school NOT to show the movie to ANY of her classes regardless of whether or not the parents sent in the waivers to do so.

Am I the only parent that feels this was inappropriate material to show in the classroom? Since when did teachers have to start showing R rated movies to keep the attention of their students? Is there no other feasible alternative? Why do I as a parent have to worry that 1) I'm either going to have to buckle to what the majority of the parents are doing or 2) allow my daughter to have to go to school and be singled out by her peers as she picks up her bags and walks out of the classroom on the day the film is showed because she was the ONLY one who didn't turn in a waiver from her parents allowing her to view an R rated film at school!

I'm not blind nor did I think that High School would be a bed of roses for Lisa. I did not expect her to walk away in 2011 unscathed from drugs, sex, rock n roll, cheating, bullying, etc. But never in my wildest dreams did I expect her to have to face such obstacles from right inside the classroom from one of her very own teachers.

Since when did keeping the attention of students by showing them a film that was 'updated' and 'trendy' and rated R become the only avenue teachers have to help teach their students about a culture?

Well needless to say, it was a very quiet weekend in our house. Deep down inside I ache for Lisa. Knowing very well that although we stood for the right thing, it will not be easy for her. And she alone will have to face the music and walk out of that classroom this week by herself. If only I could be there to give her that support any parent would want for their child in a time such as these.

Ultimately the right decision was made, but right decisions are sometimes really hard to make.

The letter...

September 4, 2008

Dear Mrs. M******,

Thank you for all your efforts to help our daughter learn Spanish in your class this semester. She is excited about learning the Spanish language and hopes to continue to learn much more during the next several months of school.

Last night Lisa asked us to sign a waiver for her to watch the movie Frida Kahlo in your class. We read in the waiver that the movie is rated R and although we are opposed to Lisa watching any rated R movies, we took the opportunity to find out more about this movie before making our final decision.

In reading several reviews of the movie Frida Kahlo we found that the reasons for its R rating was because of "sexuality/nudity and language". We read further that the movie touches on the fact that both Frida andher husband had extra marital affairs and that Frida experimented with "sexual relationships with women". (http://homevideo.about.com/library/weekly/aafpr060303.htm)

I am quite aware that things of this nature are rampant all around us and that for many students at B**** this would not be the first instance in which they were to view such items, but for you as a B**** High School teacher to not only offer this material to your students but to promoteit in your class is highly inappropriate.

Frida Kahlo was an amazing artist that made a lasting impact on the people who viewed her work. We understand why you would want to share with your students her life's struggles and successes but we feel that the specific movie you are proposing to show your students on September 16, 2008 is not in harmony with the values of B**** High School or the M***** County School district.

We as parents ask that you do not show this movie to any of your classes. The youth at B**** High School do not need to be exposed to this type of content while at school. We hope instead that you will choose another film that would similarly highlight the beautiful, strong, and vibrant culture of the Hispanic people without the objectional material included.

Thank you for your time and for all that you do in your classroom each day.

Sincerely,
Lisa S. Schloemer - mother
Arnold C. Schloemer - father

CC: Principal R********* - B**** High School

Long lines and driving permits....

So at the last minute before school started we decided that Lisa should apply for her driver's permit before she enrolled in Driver's Ed at Baker HS. Little did we know that every other parent this side of the bay would also be thinking the same thing the week before school commenced!

After three hours of waiting and several hundred numbers later (We held ticket number 356) Lisa was motioned into the testing taking room where we anxiously waited for her results.

It wouldn't be fair if I didn't take a moment to explain how the test taking almost came to a halt when Lisa barely passed the eye exam. I could tell there was a slight problem by the way Lisa started to fidget and glance at me with that desperate look of "HELP" in her eyes. Come to find out Lisa was reading all the right letters. She was just two lines over too much and the test giver couldn't figure out where she was or what she was reading. Once they both figured out how to get on the same page, she passed with flying colors and was allowed to continue on! Whew! That was a close one.

Did I mention how after waiting three hours just to get our foot in the door I leaned over to tell Lisa that if she somehow managed to flunk her permit test that I was NEVER coming back again and that she'd have to get her license on her own after she moved to Provo to attend BYU as a freshman in 2011?! She managed to laugh at my comment but knew deep down inside I was really serious and started studying again!

Twenty nine questions later Lisa emerged from the testing area. A big outward sigh of relief and a quick thumbs up told us she had made it through the test okay! (100% in fact) It was all Kenny, Jessica and I could do to keep ourselves from giving her a standing ovation! I think we were just glad we could leave and wouldn't ever have to come back! At least until it was time to submit for a renewal.

In Alabama, students who successfully complete the driver's ed course at school can receive their driver's license through the mail. Never having to take an official road test at the DMV! If I could get my hands on the man (probably a woman) that came up with that one I would give him (probably a her) a big fat kiss!

So now comes the true test. Whether or not Lisa is road worthy. We've decided mutually that Arnold is the better teacher when it comes to road practice. I'm way to skiddish and think Lisa drives too close to the mailboxes that seem to whiz by as she 'speeds' too fast up and down our subdivsion road.

Thankfully, Arnold doesn't mind the assignment as he's had plenty of practice with Kenny. Who, by the way, can reverse out our driveway better than anyone I know. Except for me that is. And Lisa...who passed her driver's permit test and can now officially get behind the wheel! Congratulations! (I think...)

Twenty Fourth of July...

As tradition would have it a BBQ with fireworks on the 24th of July at the Schloemer home has turned into quite an event. I think this year was the biggest group of people we've ever had and it seemed like the teenagers were out doing fireworks for longer than I remember it being last year! I don't know if it was the ever popular Roman Candle war or the fact that the Schipman's brought their own stash of artillery to share, but either way everyone seemed to have a great time and what a wonderful way for us to enjoy the day!

To Elder Mason Hardman currently serving in the Utah Ogden Mission....we dedicated our Utah celebration to you! Hope you are enjoying yourself in Utah and experiencing the 24th of July first hand! We love and miss you!

Back to normal....

After our month long vacation it took me quite some time to get things back to normal. With the laundry done and the kids back in school now I hope we can get back on track and start bloggin more frequently.

July was filled with dentist appointments, eye doctor visits, new glasses and contacts, school supplies, uniforms, fireworks and bbq's. We managed to squeeze in some swimming time and of course a couple of trips to the beach.

Its nice to have so much to do, but once in a while its also very nice to just sit and enjoy the silence!