Looking for trouble

Quiet is good, except when it gets too quiet...you know the kind of quiet I mean. Too quiet can mean trouble. So I sometimes I have to go looking for trouble. And this time, I love what I found ...

Melt my heart - books and kids giggling, some of my favorite things.  Love it!

Just Me & my Brothers

Luke has got to be one of the luckiest, most loved kid brothers of all time. All the kids are great with him. Hayley has a special bond with Luke, but sometimes there is just something about big brothers that is a little bit different.

Maybe it's the way they take you crazy down the slide (or try to do underdogs on the baby swings!)

Or cuddle together,laughing at crazy homemade Star Wars videos...

Or spin you upside down, then put you on their shoulders and run around crazy...

No matter what, these brothers stick together.

Luke just started the flop when he doesn't get his way. One morning I took something away from Luke and upset, he immediately flopped to the floor to start his fit.  Right then, all 3 boys simultaneously flopped right next to him & started wailing so loud, Luke lifted his head off the floor and started laughing hysterically. It was classic...and he hasn't flopped since!

Love Notes

At dinner on Sunday, we were all talking about various things that had happened that day.  I mentioned that October 17th was an important date in our family.  The kids quickly figured out it that it was the day Don had asked me to marry him many years ago.  We talked a little about it & then moved on to other things.

That evening Don & I went to a church meeting and when we got home, we had this little surprise waiting on our bed from Jake and Hayley.  What sweet love notes, complete with pictures of how they envisioned popping the big question went.  Loved it!

Cheer Camp

A few weeks ago, Hayley came home with a paper from school, beside herself with excitment. The paper was about a one day Cheer/Dance Clinic at Lamar High School (Michael's high school).  She was so excited, she offered to pay for it herself. I don't think Hayley has stopped smiling yet...


The big Saturday finally arrived. Hayley was up by 6, excited to go (it started at 8:30!). The clinic was 4 hours long, complete with snacks in the cafeteria & busy with dance routines and cheer stunts. At 12 they put on a show for the parents.

All afternoon Hayley practiced her cheers and her sweet moves. Then it was finally time to head off to perform at the football game.

Before the game, the girls got to line up with the cheerleaders to form a tunnel for the football players to run through.

Then it was down to some serious cheering business. They cheered for most of the first two quarters.  Hayley loved doing the cheers, but the stunts were definitely her favorite part.  One of the senior cheerleaders is Mallory H., whose mom is Hayley's math/science teacher.  She took Hayley under her wing & they had a blast together.

Here is a clip of her doing the cheer after the Redskins scored one of their many touchtowns.  She learned this cheer really well...the final score was 56 to 0!

Right before halftime, the cheerleaders took the girls over to the Rangerette Drill Team to get ready to peform in the halftime show.  Hayley did a great job!

After the halftime show, Hayley got to sit in the crowd.  She wanted to stay and watch the rest of the game.  She love cheering in the stands, and everytime they scored a touchdown, she stood up and did the LHS cheer along with the cheerleaders. 

After the game she said good-bye to Mallory, one of her favorite cheerleaders.

Ever since that day, we have had a lot of cheering at our house.  Even Jake knows the words of Hayley's favorite cheer and can be heard singing along... 

"All across the nation, there's an LHS sensation. 

That will make you want to S-L-I-D-E and move from side to side!"

Go ahead, get up and cheer.  I know you want to!  :)

Snapshot in Time

7:17 am

A typical after breakfast/before school morning moment at home.

I SPY...

7 kids, A captivating storyteller, a lunch box thief, & a missing shoe!

Outside Fun

Over the last couple of weeks, we have had some perfect fall weather.  It is always great to run and play for a few minutes when school gets out.

The school borders a great park and we love playing for a little while before heading home to face the homework crunch.  We love meeting friends there!

Somedays we just go straight home and enjoy the perfect weather in our on private park, filled with acorns, squirrels, and jumping, sliding, giggling kids.

Wanna play?

A Time of Feasting

I love the first week-end of October.  Things slow down and we spend the week-end together as a family. We have big breakfasts, yummy snacks, and get to be together, talking, playing, and listening to the inspired words of our church leaders. It's a time of reflection, revelation and renewal. A time to feast and a time to savor our blessings.

 

Check out some great General Conference Highlights!

Friends and Fun

A couple of weeks ago there was an early dismissal day at school.  Trevor and Hayley made the most of the free time and had friends come over and play.

While Trevor went to a birthday party right after school, Hayley and her best friend Miriam came home and had a blast playing "College".

After the birthday party at the hot park, Trevor and his friend Grant came over and had a blast playing Wii. 

To finish out the night, Hayley's friend Anna came over & stayed with us all week-end.  We had fun celebrating Anna's birthday with her.  It was a busy week-end filled with girly fun, painting nails.  movies & playing, but of course, the only picture we got was of when they played video games. 

Jake had fun playing with everyone, but did inform me that next time, it's his turn to have friends come home with him! I wonder who it will be...

Picture taken that morning of Jake's kindergarten class with their favorite books

Special Powers

"Ready are you?" "Help you I can, yes."
-- Yoda

Yoda Soda Recipe

Lime Sherbert
Lemon Lime Soda (Sprite, 7-Up etc.)

Put a few scoops of Lime Sherbert in a tall cup. Pour soda onto sherbert in cup. "Power Bubbles" will appear. Talk like Yoda while drinking.

“Feel the force!” -- Yoda

6 - The Year of the Sith!

Making sure to squeeze every possible moment out of his birthday, Jake hopped out of bed at 6 am on Thursday. Jake has been counting down the days all month for his birthday, and the big day had finally arrived.  For breakfast Jake had a special #6 pancake with whipped cream. It was so good, he had a second one.

Then it was off to school for a day full of birthday fun. Apparently he had been talking up his birthday to his friends because Thursday and Friday at least 3 different parents stopped me at the school to talk about Jake's birthday. We've always had spring or summer birthdays for the school age kids, so I guess a September birthday is big news to a kindergarten class!

At drop off, I went into the classroom for DEAR time (drop everything and read time) and read a couple of books for Jake and his friends. Then I saw his teacher crown him with a special hat he wore all day ("except at PE & recess because it was too sweaty").  Later I came back with a special lunch, a tradition he has seen happen with his older siblings & couldn't wait for his turn.

When everyone got home, they were excited to see Jake's cake. Jake loves Star Wars & has had a green and a blue lightsaber cake in the past. This year he decided to turn to the Dark Side and go with the red lightsaber. I made the Darth Maul's double bladed sword for fun. It was ginormous & I had to pull out the long folding table because it was too long to fit on our kitchen table. Jake loved it!

You might be able to tell from the corner of the cake, Luke also loved it.  Every chance he got, he would sneak up to the edge of the table, stand on his toes and reach up to grab the end of the cake.  We gave up trying to fix the corner after the 3rd time.

One of Jake's birthday wishes was to get McDonald's for dinner, something he has been vying for months to get.  Lucky us, McDonald's just happened to have Star Wars toys in their Happy Meals.  Jake was in heaven!

After the "Happy Meal", we headed home for more fun and treats.  Jake opened some great presents.

Then it was on to the business of the cake. 

We also had to have Yoda Sodas.

After the cake, it was only right to end the day

with a major lightsaber duel. 

Happy Birthday Jake!

School Days

A typical morning will find Michael & his friend waiting for the bus...and waiting... and waiting... After 3 weeks, a time change and multiple bus drivers, who may or may not have ever heard of the high school that they are trying to find, and a lot of fun adventures, including getting to ride the short bus (just what every freshman wants to do!), it looks like things are finally getting into somewhat of a routine. At any rate, it is always an adventure!



Being in 3rd grade, Hayley now gets the option of having a rolling backpack at school, which she loves!



Trevor is hard to catch for a picture. He has started back on Safety Patrol this year and does a great job keeping us safe...and early to school everyday.



After a rocky, tearful start, Jake has decided he likes school after all & hasn't asked to be home schooled for at least a week now. He goes to school with a "lucky penny" in his pocket & every time he feels sad or misses me, he sticks his hand in his pocket & holds his penny. Most mornings last week, he walked up to the school with his hand in his pocket, but no tears. And every afternoon he came out smiling, with both hands free to go run and play.



One fun thing about picking up at the kindergarten gate is the chance to run and play for a couple of minutes before heading home to start homework. It is always fun to hear how many times Jake sees Hayley or Trevor at school in the hall or outside. It is great they have each other there.



While the older kids are away at school, Luke keeps busy with his 2 year old friend Ian, who I babysit during the week. He has learned all sorts of "fun" tricks, but best of all, they have actually started playing and laughing together during big stretches of the day. They love to look out the window and see people, big trucks and dogs go by.




At the end of the day, Luke is ecstatic to have his big brothers & sister come home. He always gets a huge smile on his face when he sees them. One of his newest tricks is dancing crazy. It makes us all smile and want to dance too!



At the end of a long week, we like to relax with a fun movie night or watch a favorite show on tv together. Don't forget the popcorn!