Living without both of my parents is a struggle.  My brother and I have to travel from place to place and it’s kind of challenging. My parents are divorced.  Sometimes, I wish that it never happened.  Sometimes, I think it was all my fault, but I know it isn’t.  But I really don’t understand why they divorced.

This is a serious matter that everyone should recognize because it seems to be happening to every happy couple I know.  Some days, I cry because it’s like half of my heart got sucked in by a deep, dark, black hole.  It’s crying out for help but no one can.  It’s REALLY hard!  Here I am now, crying, writing this story.  Some people don’t know how much it hurts when I see a family of four when my family only has three.

It hurts the most when you meet a new member of the family.  It feels like your parent forgot about you and isn’t trying to help you to get out of that deep, dark, black hole.  You may think it’d be fun to have different families, but to me it’s not.  I love them all but sometimes I wish things could go back to normal.

I want strong families to stick and stay together…forever!!!!  Love them like I love mine.  Trust them like I trust mine.  Be nice to them like I am to mine.  And always, always hold on to them and don’t let them get sucked into that deep, dark, ugly, dull, black hole.

SMILE On!

Miss Lori

“At holiday time many people speak of ‘Charity’. What is your definition of ‘charity’ and how do you think it is best taught to young people like yourselves?”

Abi age 10~
Charity to me means giving to those who are in need.  My family gives toys and clothes to different charities several times a year.  I give to charity through my school during the year.

Tess age 9~
Charity is when you do nice things for people. This year we are GIVING Santa gifts, like some hand-warmers to keep him warm.  They teach us to be good to others in school, and at my temple. My mom especially is always telling us we have to do things for others.

McKenna age 11~
I would define charity as helping people who don’t have much at all. Like volunteering your time to help the needy. I try to get as much volunteer work in as possible. I’m in a club at school that is specifically for volunteer work. If you don’t have any clubs at school, you can do anything to help your community. Make dog treats for a local dog shelter, make blankets for a local nursing home. Practically anything! The best part of volunteering is that you get this great feeling afterwards, a feeling like I just made these people happier.

Elita age 9~
To me charity means to give as a good deed. It’s important because then we will learn to do it and tell our kids. And it will keep going on and on!

Kyra age 11~
Every Thanksgiving, my family and anyone visiting us all receive three pieces of corn dry, colored corn. Then a bowl is passed around the table, and we say something that we are thankful for for each kernel as we place them in the basket. It’s a great way to remember our blessings. This year, my family and I are going to the McDonald’s Thanksgiving day parade for the first time, and since it is the first time I’ve ever lived in a big city, it’s the first time I’ve ever been to a big Thanksgiving parade. I would like to start doing that every year.

Ava age 11~
Charity means that you give from the heart to the less fortunate. The way I learn about charity is by helping a group called Hephzibah Children’s Home.  I think that it is best to bring it up by talking to kids saying that you can make a difference by helping people.

Jaedyn age 6~
Charity is helping people that can’t help themselves. I know Mckenna cut her hair and donated it to make wigs for people with cancer last year. I donate my clothes to the Salvation Army. That’s a charity.

In my DVD Activate & Be Great The CAMPUS Kids and get ready for one of our fit-family-fun performances by practicing our songs and dances. In the Summertime we perform those shows live 4-5 times a week. In the Winter it’s only a couple of times a month. It can be hard to stay active when the weather makes you want to burrow underneath the covers to stay warm. At my house we have turned our family game night into a family video game night that involves physical competitions using the Wii. In the event of a power outage we break out our mini trampolines and have jumping contests in the living room. Anything to get our blood pumping. That’s the trick, whatever you do make sure you raise your heart rate and break a little sweat. That along with healthy meals throughout the day, will ensure a peaceful nights sleep. Like I always say, “Active Play, Healthy Food, and Peaceful Sleep” added together equal AWESOME Fun!

SMILE On!

Miss Lori

“The weather outside is frightful which makes it hard to get regular exercise. What do you do in the winter months to keep yourself active, healthy and fit?”

Abi age 10~
During the winter I take dance classes and play Wii fit a lot. I drink a lot of water and try to eat healthy snacks like apples, strawberries, grapes and carrots. I also like doing sit-ups and push-ups with my mom and brother. We have competitions and it is fun.

Sinead age 17~

In Winter, show choir season really starts up at my high school. With rigorous dances, I get so much exercise rehearsing every week! I never dance harder throughout the year than I do in Winter, because competition season begins in January, and the months leading up to competitions are spent solely on dancing our butts off to prepare for competing! I also teach gymnastics throughout the winter. I think it’s really important to stay active, even throughout the winter, and teaching gymnastics helps me to get the exercise I need on an almost daily basis while I’m at work. Plus, it’s fun! I really love being active and running around, so I make sure to stay fit throughout Winter!

Tess age 9~
To keep my self healthy and fit I do indoor speed skating, (and of course gym at school).

McKenna age 11~
Well I dance all Winter long… It’s my winter sport. My dance team rehearses more in the winter than in the summer…. but during Winter Break… I love playing in the snow!!!!! We have a BIG hill right behind our house. No more than 5 minutes… (well not when we’re in snow gear). I love going to the hill with my friends. Last year they were doing construction and my older brother Jason and I went to the hill to find a GINORMOUS hill of dirt. It was SO steep and SO much fun to go on. I also like going to my friends houses and making snowmen and drinking hot chocolate. That takes a lot of energy!!!! (no joke!!!!). If we’re not found at my friends houses, we like going to the YMCA. Most the time we go swimming. They have a diving board and if we get lucky the diving board will be open and all we have to do is take a couple minute swimming test and we’re in!!!! This year we’re old enough to go in the exercise room, so we might go there this year, I’m not sure though. Thats how we get exercise in the cold winter months though!!!!!!!

Elita age 9~
My family and I are concerned on how to stay fit, but we found an answer! We will do exercise tapes and jog on our mini tramp! I think those are two great solutions!

Kyra age 11~
Sometimes we choose to take public transportation instead of driving places. Since the train station is 6 blocks away from our house, I get exercise that way. At Christmas and other seasonal holidays with lots of sweets, I try not to eat to much!

Jaedyn age 6~
I do the Wii Fit Plus! My favorite games are Hula Hoop, Ski Jump and Obstacle Course. I like them because they are really fun and really active. The Hula Hoop is really active because you are moving around like you have a hula hoop on your waist.

Ava age 11~
During the winter season I like to swim and when the weather is nice I ride my bike or walk. If there is snow on the ground I might have a HUGE snowball fight with my neighbors. I also live near a forest and my family and I take long walks with my dog.

Ariana age 9~
I love being active. My favorite activity to do when it is cold outside is swimming! Yes, I said swimming but of course, it would indoors! Swimming is my favorite activity because it works out all of the muscles in your body. My mom, sister and I play games in the pool. Sometimes we pretend to be mermaids and other times we will play water volleyball. For some reason, even other sports seem more fun when you play them in the water!

Anaiya age 7~
I love doing gymnastics! I just started taking gymnastics classes and I love doing it and the best part is, you can do gymnastics even when it’s cold outside! I am learning to do flips and handstands the right way so that I don’t hurt myself and I get to learn with my friends which makes it even more fun!

My family and I celebrated Thanksgiving in a way I hadn’t experienced before.  The cooking started at noon and the whole family pitched in to prepare foods that we had never served together before for the holiday.  Green bean casserole, turkey, stuffing, sushi and two pies were all squeezed onto the table that night.  There was excitement in the air as we feasted.  For most people, though, this is pretty normal.

The Thanksgiving menu is pretty typical for most American families.  But for me, it’s always a unique experience. You see, my family is one of mixed heritage; my mom is Chinese and my dad is Caucasian.  Usually, when Thanksgiving comes around, my Chinese grandparents eat with us and they cook.  For almost my whole life, I’d see them come over at 3:00 with practically a miniature farm/aquarium in their grocery bags.  When they cooked, the air would be filled with the aromas of lobster, crab, sea cucumber, jellyfish, pork and other delicacies.

But this year, my usual Thanksgiving cooks were in China, leaving me and my family to fend for ourselves.  My father immediately jumped at the idea of having a “normal” Thanksgiving meal.  He made a list of the dishes he used to eat during Thanksgiving when he was a kid.  Of course, my mom added a couple of her own (sushi and Chinese sticky rice stuffing) and we got ready to brave the unknown.  We were on a new frontier in the land of holiday dinners.  The biggest question that we all shared was, “Okay, we’re having turkey.  What do we do with it?!”  Were we supposed to fry the thing?  Maybe rotisserie?  Maybe barbeque?  We pondered this looming question for a while, thinking and brainstorming.  In the end, we decided to bake it.

The dinner was a complete success.  Everything was delicious and I’m glad we ventured out into uncharted waters. This experience has given me a mini-epiphany.  I’ve realized that even though most of Thanksgiving is focused on the big dinner, there’s a hidden purpose behind it.  The food doesn’t matter that much.  The only consistency during Thanksgiving is that Americans everywhere get together.  The purpose is to unite.  I know it fits very well into the “cliché” category, but hey, it’s a revelation to me.

Photo Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/esthereggy/ / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Miss Lori

“With the economy as it is, unemployment at an all time high, violence in schools and H1N1 on the minds of everyone who sits next to someone who is coughing or sneezing, stress levels are high for parents. But it’s also high for kids too. What is stressing you out these days, and what do you do to deal with it?”

Abi age 10~
I stress about schoolwork a lot. I deal with it by asking my parents for help and practicing things that I have trouble with.

Sinead age 17~
As a high school senior applying for colleges, I am most stressed out about preparing for the future! It becomes very surreal when you start seeing deadlines for college applications. I never thought the day would come, but here I am applying for college, deciding what I’ll be majoring in, and getting ready to leave my family and venture out into the “real world,” all on my own!! I began questioning whether I am ready or not to make my own dinners, or make sure I’m up on time for classes every morning, or do my own laundry! I know most 17 year olds won’t agree with me, but if it were my choice, I’d take my mommy and daddy along with me to college in a heartbeat! It doesn’t help that all my friends talk non-stop about college; where they’ve applied so far, and where they’ve gotten in or been rejected! Every high school senior across the nation that is preparing for college feels the same way right about now! As an aspiring performer, I will also have to complete auditions for programs at different schools, which will ultimately decide whether or not I am accepted, and whether I am granted scholarships. Which is also very important. (Hey! College is expensive!) The future holds a lot for me right now, and I’m just trying to prepare myself… if it’s possible!

Tess age 9~
Sometime I get stressed—like when our school was giving out vaccines. I was trying to decide if it was good because I am scared about needles. The economy stresses me out because my family doesn’t have money for things, and I worry about that because sometimes I want things, but those aren’t needs.

McKenna age 11~
Well, I feel scared sometimes when I know my parents are spending a lot of money on me with dance. I get scared that they’re spending a little too much sometimes. I also am scared that with the flu going around that I’m going to get sick. I’m starting the new school year out great; good grades, making a great impression on all my new teachers. I don’t want to get sick and get loaded with makeup homework. I’m not as scared about getting H1N1 though. It seems kind-of weird, I know, but I’m just not as worried about it as anything else. I’ve heard H1N1 isn’t the nastiest flu around, so I’m not as scared about it. Also one of my dance instructors and her son just had H1N1 and they’re fine. So, I’m not that scared at all. One thing that’s been on my mind is cancer. You see one of my favorite, youngest teachers I ever had just died of breast cancer. She was diagnosed with it just as soon as school got out, so I had no idea that she had cancer until a couple days before she died. I saw her a couple weeks before she died, after her Chemotherapy I later found out, and she looked and acted fine. Apparently she was feeling fine until a couple days before she died. She went to the hospital Halloween weekend and then, November 1st, she died. She was so healthy when school got out and then that happened. So I ‘m afraid of getting cancer, (even though it’s very rare), or getting really sick.

Elita age 9~
I, as a girl, am going through troubles with friends, siblings and growing up in every way; maturity, achievements, and other places

Kyra age 11~
Plenty of things are stressing me out, and some of them are the same things that concern my parents, such as H1N1 and business. But a lot of them are more related to girls my age, especially things like being embarrassed. I deal with troubling issues in plenty of different ways, by praying about it, asking my parents and youth group leaders about it, and reading books about it.

Jaedyn age 6~
Not feeling well, and my brother and sister fighting stresses me out. So I cuddle with my Mommy.

Ava age 11~
Everything that I’m doing, including homework stresses me out. To help me calm down I just take it one day at a time.