Goodbye to Kindergarten

The last week of school, the Kindergarten had an end of the year program. While it was probably supposed to send you off in tears, Aubrie and I were leaving with different kind of tears; tears of laughter. Ethan was hamming it up the entire time. The people around me were laughing, too! I could hear people saying, "who it that one kid......" I have been tempted to send the video to AFV! I guess I should thank Ethan for saving me from the embarrassment of the real tears for once. One thing you can always count on from Ethan is a good laugh! After his program, I checked him out of school and took him out for ice cream. I could tell it meant a lot to him to have one on one time with me. He was such a gentleman; opening doors, taking my trash, and even picking up some trash he saw outside of the yogurt store. That's another thing I LOVE about him. Under that goofiness is a responsible, respectful, loving kid!

Ethan and his friend Logan after the program

A few shots from the school talent show.

(Front center with the yellow belt)

A Full "Rewarding" Weekend!

A busy week of swim, dive, gymnastics, piano, music, karate and dance flowed over into a busy weekend. This weekend was Aubrie's dance recital weekend. Her studio puts on 3 separate recital times, and if you are in the performing group, (which Aubrie is) you have dances in all three of them. The first one was Friday night. I helped backstage that evening, so Ben stayed home while Aubrie and I went to the recital. Aubrie did well in her dances, and I was able to watch most of it on a TV monitor, in between babysitting nine 7 year olds. My niece was in the group I was responsible for, so I was also able to visit with Nicole for a bit in between Shea's dances. After the recital, I took Aubrie to Sonic for a treat, and then we got home and got her stuff ready for the recitals for the next day. We then got the kids to be bed early (9:30) so they could get up for their early 7:30 dive meet the next day.

6:30 came way to fast. It was so hard for me to get up and going. The kids were excited, especially Ethan. When we got there for the warm ups, we were really blown away by some of the kids dives. I thought, "Well, I hope they just have fun and are happy with what ever ribbon they get". One of Aubrie's dives was a front flip. She had practiced her tuck dive all Thursday, and hadn't even practiced the flip. During warm up, she started getting freaked out because she couldn't run to do it, but had to do the 3 step approach. She starting crying and telling her coach she was scared. I wasn't sure she was going to make it through the competition.

Her other two dives were awesome. Especially her tuck dive. She got really high scores, so the flip was the only thing that would foul her up. I was praying when her turn was up, that she could have the courage to do it. She ended up doing it, but not with the most graceful landing. I was happy that she pushed through.

Uncertaintiy written all over this face!

The boys did well. They had no fear. Boston's pencil dive was perfect, and I was proud that he conquered the back dive, after having a melt down at one of his practices, refusing to do one and insisting he was going to quit.

Ethan has absolutely no fear, and I swear his cute charisma got a him a few extra points;)

When it was time for the ribbon ceremony we were surprised and excited when Ethan placed first in his division. Boston did so well (having the highest points in the whole competition) I wasn't surprised when he placed first, but I was starting to feel bad (I hate seeing the disappointment on the other kids faces), and uncomfortable from the attention. When they started calling for Aubrie's division I was just praying that she wasn't last, but with each call of placement they weren't calling her name. She ended up placing second. She was so happy with that, and I think it gave her the confidence she needed to do better next time. There were lots of smiles on the car ride home.

There wasn't much time to celebrate, since we quickly had to get Aubrie ready, and the kids fed before her recital. The whole family went to the first Saturday performance. Aubrie, again, did well, and I was even more impressed at how responsible she was; getting herself ready for each dance, when she only had a few dances to make a costume change. The boys did pretty well sitting through two hours of dances. Sophia was fidgety, and kept asking us for all the pretty dresses. She also had a fun time cheering and clapping before and after performances. The people in front and behind us were getting a kick out of her. After the recital the boys quickly rushed to where the dancers come out of their dressing rooms to greet Aubrie. Friday night, Aubrie seemed a little bummed when girls were getting flowers and I didn't have anything for her. When she came out of the dressing rooms, the family was there waiting for her with flowers. She had a huge smile on her face, and she was showing her friends her pretty flowers.

We drove home for a quick snack and Aubrie and I returned for her final recital. It was so fun to see her interact with her friends, and see her set up for her costume changes. She and her friends had picked out a spot behind the choir bleachers to change and hang out between dances. Aubrie had all her costumes lined up in order so she could make her quick changes. I stayed backstage most of the time chatting with her and her friends, and some of the dance Moms. I popped in the theatre a few times to catch a few of my favorite dances. When the recital was over it was a sigh of relief for us all. We were both running on fumes, as we drove home. Ben was at home waiting for our date night. I wasn't sure if I had the energy to make it out the door.

We ate a new Spanish restaurant close by. Ben got his favorite Spanish dish, which included seafood that I was daring enough to try. Nothing like popping a squid into your mouth...YUCK. It tastes much better when it doesn't really look like an actual squid and is all fried up. At the end of dinner the Flamenco dancer started, so we stuck around for a few minutes to watch her. I was too tired for a movie, so we made our usual Walmart stop and then Ben took me home, and I went to bed to a nice relaxing message. Thanks Ben....your the best!

Orange Anybody?

Ethan just advanced to Orange belt last night. I was surprised when they asked me for a testing date. He just received his yellow in March. Our whole family was their to support him, with half of us wearing something orange! He did an amazing job!!! He only had one minor mistake. They are allowed 3 major and 4 minor when they get their orange. He did even better than his testing for yellow. I was once again amazed at all he had to know. He still couldn't lose his goofiness through it all. Afterward, I told the Sensei's that I wasn't sure they would ever be able to get that out of him. They said they LOVED that about him, and that it kept things light and entertaining . They couldn't say enough good things about him. They said he is a GREAT listener and tries really hard, and learns really fast. I'm so happy that this is a good thing for him. It's so hard trying to figure out the best things to put your kids in. This seems to be the right fit!

Family Fun!

Well, Ben kind of updated our weekend. Just on the tails of saying I wasn't stressing about her rehearsal this year, we realized her tap shoes were missing. So what turned into, "having plenty of time", turned into a frenzy of phone calls to track some down. If I would have known we would be at the rehearsal for over 5 hours, I probably wouldn't have stressed about it as much. I only managed to get a few snapshots, because Aubrie was tired and not having it by the end.

By the end of the rehearsal, I was ready for a nice relaxing evening. Cafe Rumba hit the spot, and the kids actually enjoyed it. Sophia ate most of Aubrie's salad (my only 3 year old who would rather have a salad before anything else). Luckily we can take her about anywhere because of that! Honestly, I can't remember what I did with the rest of my evening, I was so tired!

Sunday was great! Ben wrote a bit about it, but the best part was after church. After dinner, I decided to do "everyone gets to play a game of their choice". Sophia picked Hungry Hungry Hippo (her favorite), then we played a version of charades with church words. The first round you could describe it, the second round you acted it out, and the 3rd round you could only say one word to get someone to guess it. The kids complained at first (probably because they were church words) but the ended up liking it. I probably don't have to tell you whose pick that was. Then Ethan pulled out all his craft papers and markers and we all had to draw something related to church. He drew and cut out an amazing picture of Jesus. Boston's pick was kickball. We were getting pretty hot outside, so my Mom brought us out some water. The boys asked me to pour theirs, so when they held out their cup, I poured it on their arms instead. It turned into a full fledged water fight, which ended up with us all being thrown in the pool. Sophia thought it was cool to jump in with her clothes on (the only one not thrown in). When my Mom came out and realized what happened she bolted in the house. She came back out a few minutes later and pretended to let the kids "get" her. When she was inside she had changed in her bathing suit and put her clothes back over it. That was so cool of her to let the kids think they "got' her. She is the best Grandma around!

Later, Aubrie got her game; Disney Scene it? The boys won as usual! Ben is unstoppable when it comes to Trivia! The next day the kids couldn't stop talking about what a fun time they had. Honestly, I felt like a kid again. It was great!

The Petsmart Trap

On Thursday we were driving around after another night of kids activities were over by the Petsmart by our house. The kids all started to ask me if we could stop by Petsmart to "LOOK" at the kittens. I finally relented and figured that we could drop in and see the kittens and then head home. I figured doing this would satisfy their kitten desires, but I was way off. We got in and the kids bolted for the kitttens. They were all so cute according to the kids. There have never been kittens so cute before in all the world. Sophia was dancing around she was so excited. I asked the guy to come over and let the kids hold the kittens. Big mistake. The minute he opened up the door to the area to where you get to hold the kittens the excitement ramped up to a frenzy! The kids had a blast holding the kittens and seeing how each one of them was different. After about ten minutes of holding the kittens it was time to go. We decided that we were going to get one, but Petsmart was out of the cardboard cat carriers that you needed to take a kitten home. Rachel and I told the kids that we would go home and think about getting a new kitten. The kids were bummed and figured that we would not get one. When we got home I was looking for the cat carrier and the kids were all over us about getting back over to Petsmart before it closed to get the kitten. Rachel looked over to me and said that I had a church meeting that I had forgotten about. I told her that she was right and took off. On my way out I grabbed the cat carrier and headed for Petsmart. The kids had no idea that I was on my way to get the greatest kitten of all time. I got the kitten and filled out all the paperwork and was on my way home. The kitten meowed the whole way home and I am sure had no idea what was about to happen. I got home and walked into the house with the kitten in the piano book bag. I handed the bag to Aubrie and told her she needed to put the bag away. She was way to smart for that and looked into the bag immediately. She started jumping up and down and going crazy. The kids all ran over to her as she held the kitten aloft. The kids all started jumping up and down and Sophia grabbed me and said that she loved me. She has not stopped smiling in three days and Sophia is positive that the kitten is her personal kitten. We have to listen for stiffled grunts and meows as Sophia lovingly cares for her kitten. She takes the kitten everywhere. I just caught her in the garage putting the kitten in the car seat to go to church. I told her that we cannot let the kitten outside since it is going to be 109 degrees today! YUCK! I don't remember the heat hitting this hard this fast! Ethan is currently holding the kitten on the couch as she sleeps peacefully away from the loving grasp of Sophia.
Sundays are nice. We got up this morning and swam together. As we were about to get out Boston yells out that he sees a lizard. Then he says that it is a squirel! The cat takes off into the bushes and then a prarie dog jumps into the pool barely escaping the cat. We all jumped up and started running around. I went and grabbed the pool net and fished the prarie dog out of the pool. I had no idea that we had these around. The prarie dog just chilled in the netting. I took it upstairs to see Rachel. She thought it was cool also. I took him out back and let him go in the backyard. Hopefully we get to see him again and not in the pool.
Yesterday Rachel spent almost 6 hours at dance recital with Aubrie. I had the kids and we went to Tilly's and then to Target and Home Depot and then finally ended up at McDonalds. The kids had a great day and we had fun swimming and hanging out. Last night we ended the day playing Rock Band as a family. Ethan had a blast. He had a hard time at first getting used to playing and learning how to do it correctly. Once he figured it out he had it down. He is really growing up fast and I love to watch him learn and try new things. Today should be nice and relaxing. We will leave for church here in another hour. Right now we are listening to music and the spoken word and eating lunch. After church we will come home and swim some more and then watch funny home videos. Probabaly watch a movie tonight and then begin anther fun week. Life is good.

Summer...a different busy!

As we were driving back from Cali, I kept remembering that school was out, and I wasn't going to have to rush back into my normal routine. The truth is, I have just traded one routine for another. I signed the kids up for diving and Boston and Aubrie for gymnastics. I realized that Ethan can take up to 4 Karate classes a week for the same price, so I have been trying to take advantage of that. So with all of that and me trying to fit in the gym (which was only 50 percent successful this week), and getting in some swimming in our pool every day, our days are full. I wasn't sure if I was going to like it, but I have actually enjoyed it. It keeps the kids busy, and away from the TV and video games, and I have been able to stay and watch the kids during their activities for once. Typically I'm dropping them off, trying to get dinner ready at home so they can get in bed at a descent hour. Now I can just watch them and not worry about early bedtimes and us having a late dinner.

The kids are enjoying their new activities. Their first diving class was a hit for them, but the second was not so great for Boston and Aubrie. They started them with back dives, and the height of the board freaked them out. Ethan had no problem with it (obviously he has no inhibitions). Boston and Aubrie started crying at practice, they were so afraid. Boston said he wanted to quit. When we got home I got them into the pool and on the diving board. Boston got over his fears and is actually doing pretty well at his back dive. Aubrie is still wimping out. I told her if she can do a back walkover she can do a back dive, but the height thing and hitting her head is still freaking her out. I'm hoping more gymnastics will get her over that!

Speaking of gymnastics, they are both LOVING it. The coach came to us this week and told us that Boston needs to move up. So that works out GREAT for us, because now they both have class at the same time! Ethan watched them a bit and asked if he could do gymnastics, too. I told him that Karate was good enough for him right now. Ethan is doing very well in Karate. He is testing for his Orange belt next week. I love watching him do all of his Kata's. Karate is perfect for him.

Ben and I ended a full fun week with a date that included dinner, shopping, and playing Settlers with some friends past Midnight. Today Aubrie has her dance recital rehearsal. I wrapped her her hair with the fabric strips. It wasn't as easy as last year for some reason. Still trying to figure out what I did wrong. It still looks descent. Guess I better get showered and get her ready! In the years past I would have laid out all her costumes last night, and been working on her make up already. But here I am in my PJ's doing this. I guess I have let go a bit!

California Dreamin

We just rolled into town from our School's out, summer kick-off spectacular! I am beat. We decided to go to California right after the kids got out of school to celebrate another school year in the books. The kids got home around 12:30 p.m. and we got ready to head out. I got home early from work and got the car all packed while Rachel was at school helping with the kids and all the last day of school stuff. The kids got home and were going nuts. I remember the last day of school and how excited I was. I still get very excited for the last day of school because I love hanging with the kids and watching movies and swimming late. Summers rule! The kids brought home their yearbooks and I was able to look through them. It is cool that they have year books at this age. I don't think that I got my first year book until high school. We got everyone loaded into the car and then began our journey. We have everything we needed and did not have to turn around and go get something we forgot. Rachel is so good at getting a list of everything that we need. If it were up to me we would have to turn back to the house 20 times until we had everything that we needed and then we would still forget something. Rachel has made an art out of travelling.

The trip went smoothly. The engine light came on because one of the spark plugs is fouled, but as long as I babied the car it ran well. We got to the outlets in Cabazon and parked for our usual stop. I got Rachel a new Coach bag that was so cute and so in season! (I am pretty sure that I am utterly METRO!) We also went to the Quicksilver store and loaded up on cool clothes as my kids call them. I would rather take them to the NIKE store or to the Polo store, but that is simply not cool. I am pretty sure that I did not start to care about clothes or brands until I was in high school. Of course, there were no Tilly's stores when I was a kid so maybe that is why. The outlet trip took over an hour and that actually worked out for the best since we missed most of the traffic. I am convinced that there is never a really good time to travel into Los Angeles, but we made pretty good time. It was great to see Danny again and to be in Camarillo. It was 65 degrees when we got there and we were all freezing. It felt wonderful, but we were all still freezing. We hung out and watched Iron Man and then headed to bed.

When I woke up in the morning I thought that maybe we could go and hit Six Flags again. The kids had no idea and they were totally excited to go again. This time we would be taking Sophia so I was not sure how she would do. We travelled the 40 minutes to Six Flags and got right into the park. We brought our cans of Coke so that we could get half off. Half off ended up being $27.50 per person! Better than $54 per person. The kids ran for the big roller coasters. I don't know how they are so fearless, but they are. We went to Goliath first. This thing is a monster. Aubrie and Boston were big enough to ride it, but Ethan and Sophia had to watch. Rachel and I would take turns with the kids and then do a parent pass and jump to the front of the line when the other got off. We had a blast. We ended up staying at the park for 7 hours and were beat by the time we hit the parking lot. Sophia was able to do a lot of the little rides and Ethan also had a great time. Aubrie and Boston made it up the rock wall won a prize. Ethan also won a stuffed bear playing a boardwalk game against Sophia. I was the biggest loser. I tried to win at the claw game. They had a nintendo ds and psp in these boxes and the crane simply could not pull it up and lift it over the edge. I am sure there was some camera somehwere in the park pointed at me and people were laughing at the loser who was trying to win at the claw game. I am addicted to those things. I am the master of the claw machines at WalMart, but no match for the claw machine at Six Flags. We ate a bunch of junk food because that is all that was available! One of the funniest things that happened at the park was that I caught a lizard and then Danny fashioned a leash out of a plant and we walked the lizard around the park. People stopped and stared and asked if that was real. Do they think we brought a mechanical lizard into the park? It was pretty funny and we got a great laugh out of that. We finally headed for our car. On the shuttle bus trip ethan let go of his bear and it fell off the side of the shuttle. He started to scream and cry. When the shuttle came to the next stop I got off and ran to get his bear. The bear survived without harm and Ethan was very grateful. We spent the next 5 minutes looking for our car. Nobody paid attention to where we had parked and so we had to walk around like morons looking for their car. I felt like sun city grandpa at WalMart. We finally found the car and headed home. We watched Kung Fu Panda and then headed off to bed.

The next morning we woke up and had a lazy morning. I think I actually woke up around 9:00 a.m. It was awesome! We got up and had breakfast and then headed to the beach. We usually go to Ventuar Harbor and go to the beach and shops there. It was very windy which made it cold. It also made for a nice sandblasting. The sand was whiping around pretty good and we only managed to stay for an hour. The kids still had a great time playing in the sand and looking for crabs. Tyler helped Aubrie and Boston find some crabs that they brought back and tried to put on Danny. After the beach we headed over to our favorite fish taco place there at the pier. We all ate a great meal and then headed to the toy store there, where the kids had fun looking at the prank toys. They decided on a socker pen, so beware if they offer their pen to you! We then headed back to the house. That night we had some Baja Fresh and Subway. Luckily for us they were right next to each other and we only had to make one stop to make everyone happy. We got back to the house and swam and hung out.

The next morning we decided to go down to Santa Monica and to the famous pier. The drive down was not bad until we got close to Santa Monica. The traffic was terrible since it was Memorial Day Weekend. We ended up paying $20 to park at some hotel and then headed down to the pier. We first got something to eat and then headed down to the beach. I think the kids had a great time. The beach was very crowded and we stayed out there for 40 minutes while the kids ran around and had a good time. Ethan loves to dig in the sand and build castles, but everyone kept running through his work and he was not having it. Boston was tired of the beach and wanted to go up to the boardwalk to play games. Sophia kept talking about the carousel non-stop. We headed up to the boardwalk and walked around. There are always lots of interesting characters around there and the street performers were out doing there thing. We walked over by the games and Sophia and Aubrie had a contest. Aubrie won a pillow and gave it to Sophia. Boston spotted the bottles that you knock down with a bean bag and said that he really wanted to do it. I paid for him to do it and he knocked on bottle over. I told him good job, but I think that he was embarrased that he only knocked down one. We walked to the end of the pier and found one of the picture machines. We crammed all of the kids into it and had their picture taken. It kind of turned out, but it was pretty washed out. We almost got everyone in the picture. It was the memories that matter most.

crowded beach

sophia loving the water

boston trying to make the most out of things

aubrie not so sure about the mango

We got back to the car and then headed back to Danny's. When we got there we had a BBQ. I ran to the store with Danny and we got the provisions and then picked up Tyler and headed back to the house. We ended up having chicken and corn on the cob and lots of other little fixings. It was fun to sit around the big table and have a good meal together. After dinner we played catch phrase for a while and then watched Deadliest Catch on tv. The kids had a great time and it was fun to play games together.

The next morning we got up and started packing up the car. I think that Danny wanted us to stay longer, but we still had things to get done and needed to get home at a decent hour for work tomorrow. We headed out about 9:40 a.m. and headed south to Laguna Beach to see our friends the Hellewells. Traffic was great the whole way! I could not believe it. We got to the Hellewell's house and got to visit for about and hour. The kids had fun playing with their kids and it was great to catch up with them. We have known them since college and I am glad that we have stayed such good friends. We went and ate awesome fish tacos and then got Thrifty Ice Cream and then loaded up and headed for home. The drive went well. We had to pull over twice for pee pee. Sophia loves to go because I hold her feet as she leans against me and she goes. She thinks it is hilarious. I am starting to not mind stopping as much. I used to not stop for anything or throw a fit if I had too. The kids are just being kids and when you need to you YOU NEED TO GO! We skipped the outlets on the way back and only stopped for gas. We got home around 8:00 p.m. and unloaded the car. I am good at getting everything into the house and Rachel is good at making sure that it all gets cleaned. We make a pretty good team. Better than we know I think. I am lucky to have her. She is wonderful!

Fathers and Sons

I am finally getting off my keister to write about fathers and sons. Hopefully I can remember all of the fun things that we did. This year I decided to go up Thursday evening and get an extra night of camping in. The boys have been looking forward to this for so long as have I and I wanted to make sure that we had a great time. We left around 5:00 p.m. Thursday evening and headed to WalMart to get all the necessary goods for the trip. We got all we needed and then hit McDonalds on the way out. The boys loaded up on nuggets and soda and we headed out. On the way up I looked in the back seat to see both of them playing on their Nintendo DS game systems. I am still amazed at how much easier it is to travel for kids toady then when I traveled. I got to play the license plate game or stare at cows in empty fields! We got to the campsite around 8:00 p.m. and it was already dark. Craig and Bryce had gone up earlier in the day and set up a campsite and had a fire going already. That was nice that we did not have to do that in the dark. We got all of our stuff out and got everything set up. It is nice to have a tent with poles that goes up quickly. We sat around the fire and told stories and hung out for most of the night. I watched closely how much candy the boys were eating. I did not want to get barfed on again this year. The boys went to be around 10:30 p.m. We stayed up and got ready to help put the turkeys in the ground. Every year Lloyd Price puts on a turkey dinner for the ward. Craig and Bryce dug up the pit and then put rocks around the pit. Then they started a fire and Ethan and Boston kept it going by throwing in lots of wood. After there were lots of coals we shoveled out the coals and then wrapped the turkeys in foil and burlap and then placed them in the pit surrounded by rocks and then burried them with the dirt. They stay underground cooking for 12 hours. The night went well and we got pretty good sleep. It was pretty cold. I believe the overnight low was 28 degress. The boys complained about how cold it was, but eventually fell asleep. We woke up and had bacon and eggs and donuts. After hanging around the campsite for a little we headed out to catch some fish. I was determined to catch some fish this time, but we caught nothing once again. I am sure that the spot we chose was bad and we won't go back there again. The boys still had fun casting the line and reeling it in. It was perfect weather and there were a lot of high clouds which made it nice. We stayed there for a couple of hours and then headed back to camp for the turkey dinner. When we got back to camp a few other fathers and sons had shown up, but it was still pretty light all things considered. By the time the turkey dinner was served more people had shown up. At about 12:30 p.m. a big group showed up including a lot of the boys friends. They were happy for their friends to be there. I think they were getting a little tired of me and wanted to do fun things with their friends. They took off the play airsoft games and play in the woods. Some of the other dads brought up dirt bikes and quads. I was able to use Richard Stocking's bike and it was a blast. I had not ridden for so long and soon was flying down the back stretches going way too fast without a helmet. I was able to take each of the boys with me on a little ride and they had a great time doing that. I think they were both surprised to learn that I knew how to ride a motorcycle. Later that night I cooked up steak for dinner and had some french bread. We say around the fire and had a great meal and then headed over to the main site for the meeting. The bishop gave a great fireside on missionaries and preparing to go on a mission. The boys were freezing, but I think that they were able to get something out of it. We headed back to camp and sat around the fire trying to stay warm. After about an hour we headed into the tent to go to bed. The boys again complained about how cold it was, but eventually fell asleep. I was able to get some sleep, but was cold also. Around 5:00 a.m. I hear a group of people outside our tent talking. I was not happy and opened the tent to see what was going on. They just sat there around the fire talking. I knew a couple of them and they invited me to come and visit with them. I went and whized on a helpless tree and then went back to the tent and tried to sleep. I don't know that I got back to sleep. We had to wake up early to get back for Boston's soccer game. He had a 9:00 a.m. game and we were an hour and a half away. We got up and ate breakfast and then headed for home around 7:00 a.m. We made very good time and got home around 8:30 a.m. We stripped in the garage and then headed upstairs to clean as best we could. Everything is covered in the dirt when you go to fathers and sons. It is amazing to see where dirt can get.

We hurried and headed off to Boston's game. Boston did not disappoint. He scored another goal and has scored a goal in every game this season. I am happy for him because he tries really hard and is rewarded for all his hard work. We had a great day at home as a family, but the boys were kind of dragging from a lack of sleep the previous two evenings. I am grateful for my family and for the chance I had to have some time with my sons. I remember the fathers and sons I had with my father and they really mean a lot to me. I hope that they have the same fond memories as they get older.

A FREE NIGHT!!

Today when Ben asked me what we had tonight, I was surprised when I realized that we had absolutely NOTHING!!! I can't remember the last time that has happened! (Well he does have a church meeting in 10 minutes, but that doesn't count.) I decided that it was time to have some fun family time. As soon as the kids got home from school, I had them crank out their piano/homework and then we headed out to the pool. Ben brought dinner to us poolside; rotisserie chicken, french bread, and strawberries. We had a great time playing Hot Tub Marco Polo (a Pribyl game), the Dunk Game (another Pribyl creation), and just sitting around eating and enjoying each others company. The kids had fun practicing their strokes in the pool, and Sophia started swimming again. The water felt so nice, and the weather was perfect. It was so hard to go inside! Things went so much more smooth when bedtime rolled around. It gave me a glimpse of summer, and I got excited.

Lately I haven't been excited for summer to come. Not because I don't want to be with my kids. I LOVE being with my kids. Just the end of school means my babies are getting another year older, especially my Ethan. He still has that sweet little boy personality, that I started to see slip from Boston this year. That means I only have another year of that innocent little boy left with Ethan. Ok, but that's life. They grow up and you have to deal with it and enjoy every stage! Right?! Well, doesn't mean I have to like it! Sometimes I think I'm meant to have a whole slew of kids, and then I realize that's crazy talk!

Imagination Emporium

The other day Ethan came home from school and instantly started getting out tape, scissors, paper and markers. He went right to work, coloring, cutting etc. He was super focused and knew exactly what he wanted to make. It's almost like he had the idea in his head all day at school and couldn't wait to get home to put it together. This is what he created.

I didn't pay much attention to what he was doing since I was busy with dinner, but I do remember him coloring and cutting really small robots, which he lost at one point. This creation sat on the island for several days. Finally, I asked Aubrie if she knew what it was. She told me it was an Avatar ship! Can I just say how much I LOVE this kids imagination! It never sleeps!

On a side note, here is a picture of the first time Sophia flew a kite.

I hate how I always forget about simple fun things to do. We get so much wind around here this definitely should not be the first time for her to do this! I need to write a list of simple, fun things for kids to do so I can remember. Like Hopscotch! There is my #2! It's a start!

A weight has been lifted!

Last week I lived in a bubble. This is why!

Somehow I found myself in charge of making DVD montage's for the boys classroom. It started with me signing up to help with scrap booking for Boston's, which somehow meant (unaware to me) that I was in charge of the whole thing. It just made more sense to do a movie, that way each kids got all the pictures. Since I was at all of Ethan's activities this year and found Mom's asking me for pictures, I decided I might as well do one for him, too. Of course, that has been something that has been hanging over my head ALL year! Especially since I had never done one EVER!! I must say that it was a lot of fun! The most time consuming thing was organizing all the photos and deciding which ones to cut out, since Boston had over an hours worth of photos. Finding the music was time consuming, too. I had to do some research, but it I was happy with what I found. I wanted to end each video with individual shots of each kid. I didn't have that, so I ran to the school on two separate days and took the kids photo's along with some group pictures. Each picture had their name on it and I used the song Good Riddance, by Green Day, to end it. It was a great way to end the DVD's. We found a few mistakes when I watched them back with the kids, but they were still amazing. I wish I had started them earlier so I could had done some more things I discovered at the last minute. While Ben was at Father's and Son's, Aubrie helped me copy them all, put CD stickers on them, and pack each in it's own sleeve, with each kids name on them. They are now ready to go! Whew what a relief to have that done. I'm sure Ben is glad, too! One reason I don't start projects very often is because I can't leave them for later....I live and breath them till they are done! Still haven't figured out if that's a good or bad thing!

A Change of Plans

Mother's Day started out normal, with Ben waking me up for my Mother's Day surprise. This time I came down stairs with printed out pictures of scorpions, spiders and such all over the floor. It was supposed to be my Mother's Day Scavenger Adventure! The first thing I was lead to was the picture of the kids on our computer screen, to remind me of what it's all about. I was then lead outdoors to the tire swing, where I dug up a sweet letter from Ben. Finally, I was directed to my gift in the BBQ; a much needed new pair of running shoes! Then the kids got busy making me breakfast.

We had a kink in our day, as Sophia was coughing like crazy and there was no way I could take her to church. I couldn't' imagine staying home and being without the older ones, but I also couldn't imagine being away from her. I told Ben I didn't want my family to be divided for Mother's Day and that I would rather we all stayed home and the kids could all sing to me here. Well, that wasn't exciting enough to celebrate my special day, so we decided on a picnic. Of course, a picnic in 90 degree weather is no picnic, so I suggested we take a drive up North and enjoy a picnic there. Montezuma's Well came to my mind. We had gone there for a family picnic when Ethan was only a month old, and I remember it being very secluded and quiet. I knew that was the place for us. On the way up I was trying not to feel guilty for skipping church as the kids were asking why we were buying gas on Sunday! I tried to talk to them about the ox in the mire! I am always quite hard on myself when I miss. I hardly missed even when I had babies! I do admit that this ended up being the BEST Mother's Day for me EVER! I had such a great time with the kids.

When we first got there we started on lunch, and Sophia was not in the mood to eat. Ben told me she felt hot, and when I felt her she was burning up. Ben went to get some Tylenol while the kids and I played some crochet.

We never seem to have time for things like that these days. We had such a great time! When Ben got back he laid down on a blanket with Sophia, while the kids and I went exploring.

They have all these mini-canals that are meant to irrigate the park. They have valves that you can open and close. The kids and I had fun opening them and following where the water went. One of the canals went quite a long way, so we ended up turning around. When we got back I laid down with Sophia while Ben played another game of crochet with the kids. After that game the kids had fun climbing this tree!

We ended up spending about 3 hours in the park. It was so fun and relaxing, and Sophia even enjoyed herself napping, and watching the squirrel's and cardinal's in the trees.

After our time at the park, we headed over to the Well. It's small lake where Indian's used to live. A lot of their houses are still there. They are built in the side of the hill.

The kids had fun checking that out, along with other beautiful things on the trail. After walking those trails, we headed home.

Such strong boys holding up this rock! LOL

How do u think this cactus started growing here?

We got back around 6, and watched Funniest Home Video's before we put the kids to bed.

Usually on Mother's Day I feel frazzled trying to get kids ready for church, etc. Then when I get home Ben always watches the kids while I nap, or do something for myself. This year I spent Mother's Day like it's meant to be spent....enjoying my kids and being Mom!