Walking Warriors

A couple of weeks ago when it was Dr. Seuss' birthday, which is like the biggest "school" holiday of the year, my children's school held a book parade. I was trying to ignore it, but of course my kids think they need to participate in every single school activity/event that comes around. I hmmed and hawed when they would bring it up and you know Gracie, the blatant hint dropper, would say things like, "Gee, I sure wish we had a wagon..." Because that was one of the suggestions for what to make your float on. The only help I gave them was recommending they use the stroller as the base for their float (it was all we had to work with) and they just ran with it. I think they chose the Warriors (a book about cats living in the wild) because they knew they could pretty easily throw something together.  They gathered up all their stuffed cats, tied them to the stroller, cut out and taped some grass, made some posters and some cat ears and viola! they had themselves a float. They were all so excited to get to participate and I was so proud of them for working together and having such a great time with each other. And all I had to do was buy the posterboard and the headbands! 

A little side note- There was this great float for the book "Matched". See the girl in the green dress under the umbrella in the background of this photo? I didn't even notice it until they were almost done with the parade and when I saw it I thought it was awesome, she had her arms up and in the pose the whole time (search the book online if you have no idea what I'm talking about). Then we got to the end and they started taking apart their float before I could get a picture and I was a little bummed, but when I went through the pictures later there it was in the background.

Start Your Engines

I enjoyed my little break from Cub Scouts since Matthew turned 11 but now we are right back in the thick of things with Owen.  Pack meeting, Blue and Gold Banquets, den meetings, uniforms and the piece de risistance- The Pinewood Derby.  It's official now- we're in full cub scout mode. Colby is in full longing and admiration of turning eight and becoming a cub scout. The other day we were out and an old lady asked Colby how old he was and he told her he was eight. I told her that he was three and he piped up and said when I'm eight I'm gonna get baptized. She smiled and told him that was good. I just had to laugh at his excitement over the whole thing, anything that gets Colby excited to stay on the straight and narrow is a good thing :). Then, a couple of days ago I caught him intently looking through Owen's scout book at all the fun activites and achievements and I'm pretty sure he won't be able to wait 4 1/2 years for this.

I must say this derby was actually the best one we've been to. It was so well organized and smooth running.  Everything was computerized and projected onto a big screen so you could see what was going on at all times. The current heat, the upcoming heat, the times for the most recently completed heat. It was pretty amazing. Owen's car didn't do spectacularly, I'm pretty sure his car never came in first, but he did have several second place finishes. I'm just glad he didn't come in last every time.  Everyone had a good time and it was over fairly quickly, and thankfully there were no tears. I might just start to like this cub scout thing after all, but let's not get carried away with ourselves... I've got a good 7 or 8 years straight of this stuff, woohoo!

 Owen selected the design of his car and he and Kris had a good time cutting, sanding, painting and all that stuff.  I'm so stinking glad I have a husband to take care of all this stuff!

Afterwards we tried out the new Dunkin Donuts by my mom's.  It wasn't as good as I wanted it to be, but like I need to be eating more donuts anyway.

Then we went to the park and let the kids play to their hearts content because it was basically the most beautifully perfect day. Ever.

 And because I just can't get enough of this little girl I think you probably can't either. I'm just so lucky because I get to nibble and kiss on those cheeks all day long.

"O"vember

Soooo, November was a big month for the O-man. He turned the big EIGHT! But I don't have any pictures worth posting because I could not get the edited ones to upload, it's making me crazy but some pictures of me first thing in the morning are not suitable for the public to view. :) These kids just won't stop growing up. It's all passing me by too quickly. Please! Time. Slow. Down. I'm begging you!

On the 11th of November we went to the Veterans' Day parade. We were glad we did. It brought back memories of the 4th of July parades in Rexburg and they even threw out some candy for good measure. I honestly didn't think we'd ever see a parade like that in Mesa. We were very happy. A picnic in the park with cousins rounded out our awesome day. Thank you Veterans' for making it all possible!

The next day Owen lost his first top tooth. He's eight and he had only lost two bottom teeth. I guess he's a late loser. He'd been working on this tooth for quite awhile and finally Dad was able to get it out. Soon all he'll want for Christmas is his two front teeth.



The Sunday after his birthday we finally had his birthday cake at family dinner. He requested a wizard's hat on his cake. Please ignore the horrific editing job on this photo. I was trying something and it went awry and of course I can't get the unedited one to upload, but that picture isn't all that great either. Oh well. Can you tell I'm a little frustrated with blogger at the moment?

On the 26th Owen was baptized. It was a beautiful time with a wonderful spirit and good family and friends there. I'll admit it was a little hectic having it Thanksgiving weekend but we survived. Barely.

Imagine being late for your own son's baptism. Yes, I was. Only about three minutes but luckily the font was late getting filled, and well, since I'm the mom they wouldn't have started without me anyway. :)

My handsome boys!

Grannie and Pops

Aunt Hayley and Uncle EJ
(My, my Owen sure does look handsome in his suit!)

Future missionaries

Owen with his cousin Nick

I couldn't resist posting a few photos of this little cutie!

I could just eat her up!

It Was Jared Leto

Maybe Kris and I were showing our age with this one since he was really big about 15-20 years ago when he was on "My So Called Life" (Was that show really on for just two seasons? It was so good! And am I really THAT old! Yikes!)

Good job Tara! And I actually thought Adam Lambert was a pretty good guess.

Read the post below if you have no idea what I'm talking about.

New Beginnings (again)

This year the first day of school was perhaps even harder than last year. New schools (again) for everyone.  More nervousness, trepidation, and excitement. All from me.

Ha! Not all from me, but most of it.

Matthew started Jr. high at a school where he hardly knows a soul. I can't believe I have a 7th grader! He seems even more grown up now than during the summer.

Gracie's a 5th grader. It was a rough first few weeks, being the only new girl in her grade. Tears were shed, discussions were held about going back to the old school but she stuck it out. She's settling in nicely now. Just got elected class representative for student council. Settling in quite nicely it would seem.

Owen's a big ol' second grader now. Owen's a cool cat, makes lots of friends wherever he goes and charms the pants off his teachers. No worries here.

My little Rexy started kindergarten this year, my first full day-er to date. It was hard on me but he was so excited and he loves school. It helps that he has two siblings at the school with him.  It's so fun to see the excitement of learning through his eyes.

Poor little Colby, once he saw all the big kids go off to school he suddenly decided he wanted to go too. He didn't want to leave after we took them all to their classes. Poor kid, nobody tell him he's got three years to go...

As I said, he was pretty sad he doesn't get to go...

This was the only picture I took of Leelee on the first day of school. At this point in her life she was still sleeping most of the time. :)

Last Day of School

The kids had their last day of school on May 26th. Which I was so grateful for because by this point I was just flat out exhausted from all the end of the school year festivities (it didn't help being 7 1/2 months pregnant). 

Here's a pic of them on the first day of school.

And here they are on the last day (just to see how much they've changed). Funny, Matthew's wearing the same shirt. I think Colby's changed the most!

Matthew graduated from elementary school.  Which to him was kind of weird since he took a step backward when we moved here, he'd already been to middle school last year and had to go back to elementary school.  Poor Matthew.  But, onward and upward to junior high.  Eeek! Do I really have a 7th grader?!?

Way to go Matthew! It was a difficult year as far as moving and adjustment and change but he survived and his grades were awesome! 

He had an excellent teacher, Mr. Monette.  He did a lot to help him survive the year.  He is a teacher who goes the extra mile and really cares about his students.  I'm so glad Matthew had him for a teacher this year.

Rex and Colby had a blast at the end of the year splash party for preschool.  They played, played and played some more in the water with all their school buddies and cousins.

What a crazy year!  It was just a relief knowing that we had all survived.  I'm so proud of the kids for being so strong and doing so well in school in spite of all the changes and upheaval in their lives.

More End of the Year Stuff

For moms the end of the school year is crazy and the more kids you have the worse it gets.  Projects, concerts, reports, field trips, school activites, awards ceremonies, graduations and a larger influx of crap coming home from school. Seriously, I just wish the teachers would throw half of that stuff away rather than leaving it for me to deal with.  Do I really want the last 10 pages of whatever workbook? No, I do not, but they send it home and I suffer guilt about throwing it away rather than having my child finish it up or play school with it or whatever.  I just wish I didn't even have to see it.  Anyway, on we go...

Matthew's castle project

 Gracie's peregrine falcon report.  They had to do written and oral parts.  I think she knows everything a person could ever want to know about that bird.

 Owen received the Falcon Citizenship Award.  They selected two people from each class who exhibited excellent qualities.  We were so proud of him for earning this.  He was surprised to see me and the boys in the gym at the assembly because he had no idea so it was pretty fun to see his face.

 I think these two felt a little neglected the last few weeks of school and they wanted me to take their pic in the Walmart arcade.

Birthday Boy!

Owen turned seven! He's the middle child and a classic one at that. He gets all the hand-me-downs and I always feel guilty about that but he doesn't seem to mind. He's good natured but can have a fiery temper (wonder where he gets that from?). He is an excellent student, he soaks up learning and loves reading and math. All his teachers (school and church) love him. He makes friends easily and is very helpful. He enjoys riding his bike and playing video games. We love you, Owen! Happy Birthday!

The special birthday boy donut

(Colby was in the background saying "cheese")

The hoped for skateboard, he's pretty good already.
He got this crown at school and wore it proudly. In fact, he told me that he was going to save it and wear it every year on his birthday. Sometimes his innocence just melts my heart. I hate it when they grow too old for this stuff.

T-Ball Time

Owen had a fun little season of summer t-ball. I'm not sure if it had enough action for him though. He's disappointed that he's not playing soccer this summer. Maybe in the fall...

Here's the team