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.

20 years? Can't be!

This past weekend I attended my 20 year reunion.  I can't believe it came up so fast.  The ten year seemed to take forever, and the 20 year came in a flash.  At first I was excited to go, when events started to be planned.  Then I wasn't sure if I wanted to go.   Ben decided to go with me, and to make a fun trip out of it.  The first night was a mingle at the Prime Bar.  At first it was a little weird, since Ben didn't know anyone, and also for the fact that I hadn't seen these people, outside of facebook for 10 to 20 years (depending if they came to the 10 or not).   Ben and I hadn't eaten dinner, we basically landed, went to the hotel, and got ready to go.  So we left around 10 for dinner.  The music was way too loud to talk to anyone, anyway.  So we took off.  After dinner, we stopped at Braums and continued my summer ice cream addiction.  Mmmmm I forgot how yummy Braums was.  Oh how I miss you Braums!  Unfortunately, my stomach caused me to miss out on some fun.  Fun I'm not sure Ben would have been up for anyway.  A group of people went to Beverly's pancake house later that night, and had a blast.  Oh well.   I needed sleep for the following day, as we were taking a trip up to Tulsa.
        Before I left Phoenix, I contacted Courtney's husband and we arranged a surprise lunch.   They were in Tulsa for her sons, Reid, birthday.   So they were seeing a movie and getting lunch afterward.  We waited at the Abuelo's for them. When she walked in, I walked up behind her and covered her eyes.  When she turned around, she seemed more stunned than excited.  It was a weird delayed reaction.  She kept saying later that it wasn't registering with her at first, because she saw all my posts in Oklahoma City.   Luckily, her Uncle Brian, who we use to run around with all the time, happen to come out for the day, not even knowing we would be there.  So it was a nice surprise to have the old gang back together.  It really felt like old times, and like we hadn't missed a day....except for our age, and kids, etc..   It was so nice seeing them, and made me a bit home sick.   After lunch, we went to Braums (shocker), and caught up some more, before we headed back to OKC.  Of course, on the way back we made a stop at Eskimo Joes.  We picked up a few shirts.  Can't believe the anniversary shirt is 38 years!  I remember when it was 16!
       That night the reunion was a dinner and drinks at Pearl's Crabtown down in Bricktown.   The food wasn't very good, but it was fun to mingle in an environment where we could sit, relax, and actually hear on another.  They also had a photo booth, which was a great idea!   I volunteered to work Registration that night, so that was a good excuse for me to park it for an hour, and let people come talk to me.  Am I getting old or what?   Ben was a good sport, sitting around listening to me talk to people he didn't know.  He was clever with his name tags, being "Rachel's Sex Slave" the second night.  My friends thought that was clever and funny.  He only wishes.   The dinner was over at 11:00. By the time we got back to the hotel, Braums was closed:(   Oh well.   Our flight left at 10:30 so we didn't have time for one last Braums stop in the moring. haha  The flight was uneventful, which is good.  I'm glad I went.  I knew I would regret not going, and glad that Ben got me to go.
    These past couple of days I have been very nostalgic, going through my Yearbooks, and such.  I realized how much I missed those years, and I have been melancholy.   So weird, right?  Aubrie found this and put it on.  Talk about weird...and the life circle!

Our Old House on 99th St. 

Last Day of  7th Grade at Hefner

Senior Prom

Aubrie in my old uniform!

Ohio Trip

My Mom has been in Ohio almost two years now, so I decided it was time to visit her.  I have never been to Ohio, so I was not only looking forward to seeing her and where and how she lives, but also to see Ohio itself.  The girls and I flew there, and the boys stayed behind with Ben to do fun things like golf, go to the beach, and Magic Mountain.  So I didn't feel bad at all for leaving the boys behind.  There was hardly enough room for the girls and I in my Moms apartment, so there was no way I could bring all of them.  It was fun to have just a girls trip, for sure!
Before we got there, the temps were in the 70's and it rained for several weeks.  My Mom prayed it would stop, and it did.  Of course, the hot weather always follows me.  The temps were in the 90's and with humidity that is no fun!
The first day we didn't get  in until 5.  They picked us up from the airport and took us to dinner.  After dinner we took a drive through one of the cute towns close by.  The towns are so pretty.   They have old houses and buildings, and they have beautiful flowers everywhere; in planters on the ground, in planters hanging off the street lights, etc.
We spent a week there, and my Mom found things to keep us busy.  We went to beautiful parks, the zoo (which was incredibly hot), the Easton mall (where we bought a ton of American Girl doll clothes), and an Art Festivial.  We also ate A LOT of ice cream.  Graeters was our favorite.  Their chocolate chips are basically chocolate chunks.  Their Black Raspberry and Banana nut were my favorite.  So Yummy!   My favorite day was when her brother Fred drove us to Amish country.  It was a long drive, but it was worth it.  It was so beautiful!  We stopped at this one market, where they had a petting zoo.   Aubrie was in Heaven.  (Sophia too).   They got to see all kinds of chickens, pigs, bunny's goats, and horses.  Sophia had a pony ride and Aubrie got to ride a Draft horse.   We also got to enjoy the some baked goods.  I bought some rhubarb fry pies, and yummy homemade bread.   I could gain a lot of weight living next to Amish country because their stores full of baked goods!  All such yummy stuff.

Amish Country (Who Mows this??)

Big Ben

Chicken Mariachi from Donatos...YUM!

Three Generations of Feet!

This is what 90 degree humidity all day at the zoo will do to you!

Baby Gorilla..2 months old

We were so intrigued by these....Hummingbird Moth

Catching Firelies...an evening highlight!

Graeters ice cream chocolate chips!

Because of the three hour difference, we were up late for most of the trip.  The girls had fun catching fireflies, and watching TV shows they never watch, including Lets Make a Deal, in the mornings.  Since we always got a late start.
We also had an opportunity to meet Fred's daughter and her daughter.  They are great people.  It's crazy how there are so many people on my Mom's side of the family I still haven't met.   That's what happens when your Mom comes from a family of 16 kids.   I only met Fred when I was a baby, so basically I have never met him.  He is so great!  Funny, nice, outgoing, and thoughtful.   I enjoyed getting to know him, and its great knowing my Mom is in such good hands.   She has nice friends there!
It was a great trip!