Reading and Writing

Sophia got a chapter book about a cat last year, and she wouldn't put that down.  Since then, she hasn't been that into chapter books. She likes the fast reads.  When her tooth became loose, she decided to read the Junie B. Jones, Toothless Wonder.  She read that book on her own, and when she finished it late one night, she came in our room all excited over it.  The following day I printed this up while she was at school and put it on her bed.  She thought a Reading Fairy left it.  She was so excited.  I couldn't squash that dream so I went with it.  Ever since she got this she has been reading more than ever.  I should have thought of this for Aubrie and Boston!

The same night Ethan asked to get on the  computer.  I checked on him and found him looking at Chinese writing.  Later he came to me with some symbols  he had written,  and asked me to guess what they said.  They said "I Love You"!   Then I found him working on this.  I asked him why he was doing this, and he said, "I'm trying to get ready for my mission!"  Does he know something I don't?

Aubrie's Beehive Party

Girls  playing 1-100 Dice

Aubrie was called as Beehive President a few weeks ago.  One of her responsibilities is to unify the girls.   Since Ben and the boys were going out of town this weekend, we thought it would be a great opportunity to throw a Back to School swim party for all the Beehives.  The girls are spread out over several school, so this would be a great opportunity to have fun and get closer.  Aubrie made and handed out the invites before our Labor Day trip, and getting ready only involved buying treats and picking up pizza.  Of course, it started storming just as the party began.  So they started off playing some Kinect, eating Pizza, and then playing a few other games, until the storm settled and they could go outside.  They spent a few hours out in the pool, and ended the night watching some Studio C.   Sophia was in the thick of things, wanting to be involved with every activity.  The older girls were great with her, but eventually I pulled her inside and played some games with her, to give Aubrie her own time with her friends.  Not that she complained about it at all.  She is always good about including Sophia.  It was great for the girls to get to spend time together, and it was great for me to see how these girls interacted with each other.  They were all super friendly and inclusive.  I’m glad Aubrie has this opportunity and responsibility!  Her having a feeling of responsibility over these girls will be good for her.   

Sophia's First Lost Tooth!

Well Sophia lost both of her  bottom front teeth.  Monday night Ben wrapped floss around it and pulled one out.  She cried, and then instantly was excited and starting hugging me, until she saw all the blood. She WOULD NOT let us touch the second tooth.  She was all concerned that she might swallow it during the night, but was conflicted because it was too painful to pull it out.   Finally she went to sleep, and she woke up happy with 5 dollars in her tooth bag.   When she got home she was sad that no one was as excited as she was about her loss tooth, except her teacher and Grandma Pribyl (who works the lunch room).  Later that night Ben asked Sophia if he could touch it, and that it would be the last time he touched it.  He was right, because he pulled it!  When I came home from dropping the boys at soccer, she came running downstairs to tell me all about it.  At first she was sad saying her smile looked bad.  But then the more she looked at it the more she liked it.  She was busy up in her room all night.  She was up to something.  She made a fake tooth for her American Doll to put under her pillow too. She also made a note for the Tooth Fairy.  Here it is.  When I asked her why she wanted her to sign it, she told me she wanted to see what her signature looked like.  This morning she was more excited that she signed the note than she was about the money.   I love how Sophia recieved so much joy out of the little things of life.  She is full of excitement.  I got a kick out of this whole experience, but also shed a few tears thinking about how this was my last "first tooth"  expeirnece.  Sophia's firsts are bitter sweet!

Labor Day Tournament

Boston is blessed with a great soccer team and coaches.  All the boys get along, and have fun.  The coaches are committed and care about the boys.    All the families are very friendly, and his soccer team is like a soccer family.  This made the trip to San Diego for a tournament that much more enjoyable.  The boys have known about this tournament for awhile, and have been looking forward to it.  The team is new, and so we didn't know what to expect.   What they didn't expect was humid temps in the high 80's and fields that resembled mind fields.  The boys still made the best of it.  Danny drove down for the games.   The boys won their first game.  We went out out for a quick lunch at Rubios and headed back for game two.   The second game they lost.     They thought their chances at the Championship were lost.  We found out that if the team that played the one who beat us lost, we would have a chance.  So spirits were up, and we all enjoyed an evening at the hotel with pizza, swimming, and socializing.  

Game one

Game Two

Pool Time (Ethan photo bombing)

Day two the boys anxiously watched as the team they needed to lose were shut out!  They had a chance for the Championship.  The game was so intense.  Their team had the ball on their end most of the time, and so many shots on goal.  Nothing would get in.  Boston had some great shots on goal and assists, but  nothing!  Then in the last half one of the kids accidentally made an own goal mistake.  There was no time to recover with two goals for the win.  The boys were sorely disappointed, but they all played so well.  It was a good experience for them.  After the game, we rushed back to the hotel and packed up and headed to Danny's. 

Surviving the Heat!

Taking a Nap!

With Danny at Last!

Tyler

Boston

Activities are starting

This weekend we stayed busy with a variety of activities.  Friday night was Bingo night at Candeo.  There was a big turn out!  They sold packs of 10 cards and 3 meal tickets  for 10 dollars.  Ben bought two.  It was basically  Ben, Sophia and I playing Bingo while the boys played outside.  We used all our cards on the first game, and ended up winning.  Sophia picked out the snow cone machine (we already have a shaved ice machine), and I couldn't talk her out of it.  She was the envy of many kids who were eyeing that machine.
Saturday we had to get up early to clean the church at 7:00.  Five families showed up this time, so we were done in 45 minutes.  Much faster than when it was just our family last time.   After, we took the kids to Dunkin Donuts.  Aubrie had to get back to go to a YW  Book of Mormon Read-a-thon.  She was there from 8 to 2:00.
Aubrie had a double header starting at 3:00.  They won both games.   It's so fun watching indoor soccer.  I prefer it over outdoor, but that could have something to do with not sitting under the scorching sun!  I also like the fast pace.   Aubrie is an excellent defender. She doesn't let balls get past her. She is one out of the 2 girls on her team.  People are always commenting on how tough she is, because most of the teams are all boys, and they think they can push her around, or knock her out of the way, but it usually ends up being the other way around.  Sometimes you can tell the boys getting upset that a girl is beating up on them.   It's fun to watch! These two games marked the end of her season.  Another starts for her in a few weeks.   I'm glad she has something to keep her busy since she no longer does gymnastics.

It's never too late...just harder!

So I have always said that once all my kids were in school I would take piano lessons.  Well it was time to make good on that deal with myself, once Sophia hit first grade and was in school all day.  I have been feeling like I needed to take on some new things in my life, and I realized that this was one I had committed to a long time ago.   So yesterday I had my first lesson.  I decided not to take from Heather (the kids teacher for years).  I realized to follow through with this I had to do something that would be the most convenient.    Lucky for me, my visiting teacher, who lives three doors down and is a great pianist, agreed to teach me.  I have to say that it was quite a humbling experience.  Starting in a book equivalent to Ethan's,  at my age, is not what I expected.  While I thought I knew how to play songs at that level, I realized I was missing a lot of the important things such as timing and dynamics.  And playing in front of someone is not quite as comfortable as I remember.  I really have learned to appreciate what the kids have to go through when they go to lessons and when they have to learn a song.  I don't know if I'll ever be able to play the hymn book, or the primary book for that matter, but It does feel good to officially be working on something, and having someone to be accountable to.  Hoping I can keep it up, and not get too discouraged in the process!

Loose Tooth!

Last night, after Sophia was finishing her dinner, long after we all had finished and left the table (as usual...slowest eater EVER), and I hear her scream, "I HAVE A LOOSE TOOTH!" I ran to her as she contiued to yell this and tears started to form!  I quickly said, "Oh Yah! Your a big girl now!"  Quickly her tears stopped and she started to smile.  Glad I saved that one!  She told me her fork got caught inbetween her bottom two teeth, and now it was loose.  She immediately ran to show her brothers and sister.  And started telling us all the people we should call and tell about her tooth. Then she insisted it hurt too much to do the dishes.  (haha).  When it was bedtime she said she had to read the Tooth Fairy Junie B.   This morning she woke up with a second loose tooth.  She was so excited to tell her friends at school.  I told her while we found it exciting, not to be too sad if they weren't as excited as she was. She was convinced that would not be the case!   I love her enthusiasm for the littlest things in life.  She is a joy, and really brings me down to earth and helps me take notice of the simple things of life!  LOVE Her!

Its PLAY time!

The Arizona Broadway Theatre is a dinner theatre about 10 minutes from us.  It has been there for about 7 years, and we still haven't made it over there...till this weekend.  Aubrie and Boston both have to see a musical perfomance to fill a drama requirment, and Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat was playing there, which I have been wanting to see for years.  So when I called and found out tickets were only 20 dollars with the student ID's we decided to go as a family.   The food was very yummy, and the performance was amazing.  The talent was very good!  Joseph looked like Orlando Bloom, and he had a great voice!  We didn't know that the play took the liberty of having serveral different singing and dancing styles.  That was a fun surprise.  After the play the cast came out for a meet and greet.  That was fun for the kids to get pictures with the "Talent"!   I'm glad we made it a family event!

It's catching!

So our family has caught a little bug!  It's the family history/indexing bug.  Our stake has asked us to engage in this work as part of our sacrifice for the upcoming temple.  We had a family home evening on family history and gave the kids a quick tutorial and the family has been indexing like crazy.  It's easy to do and someone is always at the computer anyways.  As a family we have indexed over 300 names this week and I have found ancestors who need their ordinance work done.  It really has been a great experience and I love that the kids have caught the spirit of it!

Basis Round 3!

Never thought I would be writing that title, but here we are at year 3 at Basis and loving it.  Aubrie has worked hard to stay there, and that was all her choice.  She realized that is where she wants to be.  When I asked her if she was dreading the homework when school was about to start she replied, "I actually am looking forward to it."  Ugh, what?  Double take.  Who is this child?   She is defintely not the sixth grader I put in there two years ago.  Times have been hard there, but it defintely has changed her into a girl that loves to learn, and is willing to work for it.  Boston has loves it and hasn't even looked back to West Wing.  He has a lot of friends there, and a lot of admirors to boot.  Aubrie now has  zero hour and Boston starts 1st.  So that means they are both getting up early again this year.  Probably a good spring board for Aubrie, since seminary starts next year for her.  Both of them are in elements without their freinds, but they have already made new ones, and still have their old!  Aubrie lost a few freinds who went back to West Wing, but it has allowed her to be more social and hang out with whoever she pleases without feeling like she is ditching them at lunch, or whatever.  It was sad to see them go, but I feel it will really help her open up socially.  Also, now that she is no longer taking gymnastics she plans on joining school sports teams and other clubs.  I'm  feeling this will be the best year for her at Basis yet!   Boston....he is always social where he is planted..precomps and comps will be the surprise for him.  Luckily he usually is on top of things!

Time with the Bigs!

Since Sophia and Ethan started a whole week earlier than Aubrie and Boston, that left some time for me to do some things with just the two of them.   After camping, I took Aubrie and Boston out for a day of bowling and lunch.  Boston had his best game ever, and all of us broke 100.  The lanes were much different than I was used to, but once I got down how the ball responded to the slickness, I was able to correct and do ok.  These are the lanes Aubrie and Boston had their class on, so they rocked it!  After bowling we spent some time in the arcade, and then we headed out for lunch..In and Out!  I showed them all the scriptures on the cups and wrappers and we looked them up on our phone.  It's amazing how many people don't even know those are there.  We had a good time just the three of us.  It was the last day of fun before school begun!  Boo hoo!

"Our Hawkins" camping trip!

Sophia is so funny.  Some of the things she says are just cute and unique.  One of those is that instead of saying "The Hawkins"  she says "Our Hawkins".   I guess she has claimed them!  Like the Oklahoma Land Rush.  She has staked her claim and they are ours.  Well this year we finally thought things through early enough to be able to book a night of camping at our favorite spot in Sedona...Cave Springs.   The camp sites are shady, there a a lot of bathrooms, and a shower (though we have never used it), there is a small market, in case we need anything, and the river runs right by the campsites.   Because it's so wonderful, you have to book months in advance.  The only night we could find two campsites on together on  a weekend (when we booked the end of April) was the first Friday after Candeo started. So we pulled the kids out of school around noon and headed up there.
Once we got our camp set up, we headed over to the river.  After they spend time there, we started dinner.  We had foil dinners, and the Hawkins had hot dogs.   We then enjoyed some smores, and the kids had fun playing games in the tent, while the adults hung out by the fire to talk.  The following morning we had breakfast and broke down camp and headed to Slide Rock.  I forgot they opened at 8 and filled up quick.  So we had to park about a half mile down the road. (It reminded me of Hanauma Bay).  The walk wasn't too bad.  Once we got off the side of the road (which was very nerve racking) and into the trees, it felt more like a hike.
The kids had fun in the water, and going down natures slides.  I guess I should say most of the kids. The water was cold, and Sophia complained a lot about being cold.  Since she has absolutely no body fat, she had a hard time keeping warm.  After spending a lot of time on the slides, we had lunch, and then the kids convinced us to take them by the bridge where people were jumping off huge rocks.
At first it looked very intimidating, and I was thinking there was no way any of us were going to do it.  Then Dave suggested we all do it.  He took Macy, and Ben followed with our three older, while Tirza and I stayed with the others to watch.   Ben was the first one to jump off the second to highest rock, which was not quite has high as Navajo falls at Havasupai.  Ethan was next.  Ethan isn't too afraid of trying things.  Especially like that.  Boston was a little more hesitant, but he finally did it. Aubrie wasn't even going to try.  She climbed down and did the smaller rock.  After watching Sophia wanted to go. That was surprising.  Once we got there, she complained she was too cold to jump in, but Ben grabbed her and jumped in with her.  I jumped off the smaller rock as well, and Ethan jumped off both several times, with not prodding or encouragement.  If any kids in our family was going to be an X games kid, it would be him for sure!
After the Cliff jumping, we headed back to a lower slide we hadn't done yet.  After some time there, we headed out, and got ice cream at Wendy's.   We were in a huge time crunch, because Aubrie had a 5:30 soccer game that night.  I really loved camping, and I could easily have stayed there a few days.  Some people set up volleyball nets, and bring their kids bikes so they can bike around the campsites.  That's how I grew up camping with my cousins.  It was a 5 day trip, and the campground became our home!  They were great memories!
I didn't take pictures, but luckily Tirza did.  We don't have any from Slide Rock, but non one was going to carry a camera on that hike!

Favorite Pass Time of the Littles

Favorite spot for all the kids!

Real Madrid, BABY!

Well, one of Boston's dreams came true....going to a  Real Madrid game.  Being we are all soccer fans, we all were looking foward to it, but Ethan and Sophia ended up getting lost on our phones, eventually.  The rest of us had a great time watching!  It's such good soccer!!!    The cool thing about it, was the announcer is our friend in the Ward, and he just started announcing at this stadium.   (He is the new Cardinal's announcer)   So we got to hear his voice the whole time.  We had fun texting him and giving him a hard time about all the beer announcements he had to keep making.   I'm glad that the whole family got to go!  It was a fun experience. 

First Day in July??

Ethan and Sophia's first day came way too early!  July 31st just seems so much early than August 1st!  I hated that it started so early.  I cherish my summers with the kids, and I felt like I got robbed of precious summer days with them.  The school they go to, Candeo, is excellent.  So the sacrifice was worth the early start.  Luckily Boston and Aubrie don't start for another week, so that made the transition much easier.  First it was nice having the older two home, because I was dreading Sophia going full day.  I knew I was going to be lonely without her.  So having them here eased that pain.  Sophia and Ethan had a great day.  They love their teachers.  Sophia has Ms. Symchak.  She said she is nice, and has a daughter, Sophia, who is also a first grader.  Ethan has his first male teacher, Mr. Moeller.  He was excited when he found out he had him.   This year the Hawkins are going to Candeo as well.   I will be taking to school and Tirza will be picking them up.  It's fun to see all those kids get out of the car and walk to the playground together.  Hoping this is a great year for them.