Derby Madness and Personal Mania

I was kindof whining the other day about how much time and work the scouting program can be as I'm looking ahead to Ethan starting next month. And some of the merit badge requirements are INsaNE.  But then I see what great things the kids do in scouts and Hub still is constantly sharing his scouting memories with us so I'm not really complaining. It's great. I just wish there was a scout nanny I could hire some days...
Anyway, we had our pinewood derby and Mitch chose this design after perusing a few ideas online.

We liked it because it looked fairly simple and we had run out of a lot of time to do anything complicated. Hub says it turned out to be more complicated than it looked. Something about getting the wrapper nice around the wheels or something? I don't know, cuz I just do all the OTHER scout stuff besides the car.

Mitch won 'best in show' which might have been rigged since I made each of his sibs vote for him. And then it turns out only the cub scouts were supposed to vote. oops. Just count it as another Bush/Gore election fiasco.

In other exciting news, Isaac's spring soccer season started. And Ethan starts in a couple of weeks. I know we're below our water needs but it would personally be great for me if we didn't have any snowy soccer games this spring.

And one a completely random note I will share something personal so you know I have struggles and trials too. One of my current frustrations is that I cannot master my boys Ripstick! I don't know how to wiggle the right way! Is it the hips or the feet or the legs? I even looked up youtube videos on how to do it right. And I still can't. It is hard for me to look out the window and see all these little uncoordinated children making it look so easy.  But I will conquer it. And then I will know that I can do anything. Maybe if they gave me a merit badge for it?

Lotsa Stuff

I  knew this was a busy week when Mitch was writing in his journal yesterday and after a whole page said he'd only made it to Tuesday. 

Here are some highlights:

*President's Day drove to Kamas to go swimming. Not sure why except the pull of good family to do it with and no other pressing plans won out.

*Blue and Gold Banquet on Tuesday with a hot dog bar! Ethan could hardly sleep, he was so excited about this.  Mitch and I received his Bear. Though his great den leader should have received a pin as well. Ethan's 8 next month and I'm not as excited about another kid in scouts as I could be....

* Isaac had the city wide shootout on Wednesday at the same time as New Beginnings for me and YM for hub. We made it work and Ike did well. I couldn't handle the pressure of making certain shots in a time limit, but that's why I wasn't invited to do it I guess. I was too stressed about it to take any pictures so just imagine him shooting a basketball, would you?

*Hub's 95-year-old grandma passed away and her funeral was on Friday. I enjoyed hearing more stories and tidbits about her. Plus it's great to see Hub's cousins and fam that we only seem to see at funerals. 

* Syd had her 3rd Birthday on Saturday. This was a day she'd been waiting for. She woke up and ran into Isaac first thing and asked him 'Do I look bigger?" She was very excited to get her new Barbies, clothes, Barbie DVD, sunglasses and purse. 

 After basketball games, opening presents, and other things (I went to the Cougarette showcase and loveloveloved it) the whole fam went to the BYU basketball game. What, doesn't every 3-year-old girl want to do that on her Birthday?

 Then we got to dine at Syd's favorite fine dining establishment: McDonald's.

 And the evening ended at Krispy Kreme where we had to wait FOREVER in line and then have a problem with the machines not being able to read gift cards that day. The end result was fine as everyone enjoyed a birthday donut.

                                           We love Syd and are so glad she's in our family!

Birthday and Loveday

 Hub had a Birthday. He is the new scoutmaster in our ward so he spent his birthday money on scout/camp stuff and then even got to be on the winter campout for some of his special day. The kids spoiled him rotten with multiple cards (I think Syd made about 12) and Ethan even gave him two Pokemon cards ( not completely altruistic--now that Hub owns a couple cards Ethan always is trying to talk him into playing Pokemon with him). Mitch made him a fortune teller where Hub always ended up being 'awesome' or 'amazing' and Ike gave him a coupon  promising that the next time they played Risk Ike wouldn't lose his temper (another sneaky gift--since Ike was hoping it meant they could play Risk that day). Noelle's card had a picture of her and Hub in the sunshine that made Syd cry because 'where me in the picture?'
Hub is a great hubby and father and deserves more than one day a year where he gets spoiled. I guess there's always Father's Day....

Then three days later it's Valentines Day. I can't complain since my birthday is a week after Christmas, but dang, I'd like to spread out some of these special days a bit more!

Mitch's 'box' is the milk jug, Ethan wanted a dragon, and that other thing is Ike's musical instrument he had to make for his monthly project. He didn't make a box because he's in 6th grade and is too cool for that? So he was the only kid in his class who had a grocery bag be his box. I honestly didn't complain!

Syd and Noelle looking 'loving' and holding the valentines balloon they talked Hub into buying. And then popped 5 minutes after this picture was taken.

Hub and I had a special dinner together while we let the kids watch a movie and then we all did the chocolate fountain. Hub pulls that out a couple times a year and the kids love it. I'm not super fond of the mess, cuz I'm not fun like that, but since Hub does all the cleanup I can't complain. Told you he was special.
All in all, it's kindof nice having occasions to look forward to in spite of the extra work it brings. Now what to do for President's Day?

I need me some padded cells

So we've had some doozy days of late. My little angelic girls, whom I usually relish during the school hours while the boys are away, have taken up some incredible fights with each other. They wrestle, they yell, they have big dramatic cries, they race to see who gets to hug me first in their distress....ugh. I've had many instances where I've locked myself in my room and bathroom to finish a phone call or have a shower and try to ignore the sobbing and pounding on the door.
Then the boys come home and pick on each other for picking on each other. The irony would be amusing if it wasn't so annoying. So I've had some not-so-nice feelings lately about my otherwise perfect brood. But then  I looked at some of the pix from my cell (which didn't transfer great to the blog so peer really closely) and I remembered that I actually really like my kids. And I like hanging out with them.

This is from Ethan and me grocery shopping at Maceys right before the Super Bowl (he was going for the 'patriotics'). He was in heaven since they had a ton of samples and free hot dogs! Ethan's fave food is hot dogs so he was one happy camper. They also had face painting and balloon animals and we had to make a long trip longer by waiting for the dragon to be painted on his face. Sure, the kid knocked down a bunch of stuff in the store and his balloon had popped before we left but he has such a fun outlook on life I can't help but enjoy spending time with him.

This is Mitch right after his performance of a Shel Silverstein poem in school. He happened to choose the longest one about Cynthia Sylvia Stout not taking the garbage out.  He amazingly memorized it on his own with no complaining and performed it well. He's one of those smart kids who doesn't need to brag about it and is a great and patient friend. His greatest desire in life is to be checked out of school for no good reason and I like him so much I may just give in one day.

This is Ike at the BYU b-ball game against Gonzaga. We had Grandpa C's excellent seats on row 4 and Ike was in heaven.  He's old enough now where we can have somewhat more mature conversations about kids in his class and why he shouldn't eat so much junk food. He actually will talk to adults now and is excited about earning merit badges.

I do get some good one-on-one with the girls but no great cell phone pictures to post as evidence. So the moral of the story? When all the kids are yelling and fighting I shouldn't lock myself in a room. I should lock each of them in their own padded cell (cause you should see Syd throw herself on the floor when she's mad!) and then visit them one by one so I could remember how awesome they are. The end.

The last week of January

 After months of healthiness I was actually relieved to have some sickness in the family.  We all have to have our turn, right? Variations of a cough, fever and colds visited everyone but Hub. He must be living right because he rarely gets sick.
Fortunately we still managed to squeeze in our basketball games. Ike and Mitch are playing and having a great time. Ike vacillates between feelings of thinking he's Jimmer and can't be stopped to beating himself up if he doesn't score double digits.  Mitch does a great job and has only scored one basket for the other team this year. He's on a team with lots of friends and they all put in a great, sweaty effort.

Some of us were able to also attend Noelle's first dance performance.  I was worried that she would be a no-show due to some of her 'issues' with not wanting attention (she refused to get her preschool pictures taken, her eyes or ears tested, etc).  She ended up being just fine and told me she didn't even need us to pray for since she wasn't nervous at all. And who wants wasted prayers, right?

                           She goes to a dance studio with several first cousins and second cousins. (she and Annie were mice, Kylie and Madeleine flowers)

I spent a lot of time and hairspray on Noelle's curls and by the time the show started it was pretty deflated as you can see. Next time I'm giving her a home perm before the show.

That was all.

Now we move onto February. This month is very exciting because it's short and brings us one month closer to   spring. Hurray!

Birth Order

Sometimes Hub and I like to play pretend and wonder how different our family life would be if our boys came after the girls. Or if Ethan was the oldest boy and Isaac the youngest? Or if we staggered boy/girl/boy/girl/boy.  Would their personalities be much different? Would our house be as battered? Would there be as much fighting or (heaven forbid) even more? We will never really know so it's best to just focus on making the present birth order work. Those times after dinner when all three boys somehow manage to happily throw balls at each other  in the basement while the girls go off in their room and play Barbies and there's harmony for about ten minutes......those are the priceless moments. 

And let's be honest---after being the mom that was wrestling with her boys at most public venues for several years it's finally MY turn to be the mom with the quiet, listening children at library story time. And how would I know to appreciate that if I hadn't had the beanbag-jumping boys first?

love these girlies 

Miss me yet? Anyone? Anyone?

I can't just keep on doing 3-month recaps so I'm skipping all of that and just pretending like life started today.  I will however leave you a tidbit of photo evidence that the holidays did occur at our house. And that we still have not become a photogenic group.

             on our way to deliver neighborly treats. Ethan obviously is exuding holiday cheer...

sadly this is the best shot of everyone at Temple Square. See why we don't send out cute Christmas cards?



Now back to TODAY. My Martin Luther King Day resolutions are to resume weekly blogging to preserve our family history. And to not say any bad words. And to make my kids eat more vegetables.  And some other good ones that I don't want to share because you might steal them for yourselves and that's cheating yourself of proper introspection.
I now have to batten down the hatches for the impending snow storm and then get ready for a fun YW activity at the mall. Which means we need to eat dinner earlier. Which means I've got to scrounge up some more veggies to fulfill resolution #3.
Peace out.

3 Month Catch Up

So I took a little bit of a blog sabbatical. And then I kept on accumulating blog-worthy events and pictures and they multiplied like rabbits and before I knew it there was too much too say and no desire to say it! But my dear SIL Laura reminded me that blogging is a form of family history and my guilt drove me back. Lucky for you.
Here is my desperate attempt to capture the last few months in pix:

Ethan and Ike were the only soccer players this fall. That was OK with me since I don't think we could have squeezed more games and practices in without me having to hire a nanny.

We had a great trip to Lagoon with the Kloepers. Too bad my camera battery died before everyone got their picture taken.  The sad news was the Ethan was a hair too short for all the big kid rides. We're using that as a bribe for him to consume more calories before next year.  Everyone had a great time and a new generation of roller coaster lovers was born.

Noelle had her 5th Birthday with ensuing party. The kids were amazed that Hubby could walk on his hands. I love easy entertainment.

Our fam on the new Payson temple site. We got to see a lot of the prep for the groundbreaking ceremony occur and it will be fun to monitor the progress.

We've been able to go on a few autumn hikes. I lovelovelove warm fall weather! In the bottom pic you may be able to tell Mitch's funny smile has some metal in it.  Yep, he got braces. We will be opening his mouth for Christmas, my Birthday, Hub's Birthday, Syd's Birthday....yeah, you get the point. Those things are pricey!

And it wouldn't be fall without a trip the Big Red Barn pumpkin patch/hayride! CC and I took the kiddies and some additional cousins while all the hubs were at the BYU game. It wasn't as chaotic as the shear numbers would say. But I did need to go to bed earlier that night....
*And now I'm as caught up as I'm going to be.

Two Weeks of being Party Animals

 We have been on a whirlwind of family fun lately. We got to babysit a couple of cousins for a weekend and at the same time my NJ sis and fam came a callin'. So we have crammed all sorts of crazy fun into our last bits of summer vacation.

Some of us visited the Sweet's candy factory. It was pretty fun despite the drive and trying to bribe the toddlers to wear hair nets......I won't look at taffy the same!

Have to hit Santaquin canyon for the August Birthdays. Syd loves family gatherings where she can just play in the water jug and eat chips.

My sistas from the same mista

Cousin carnival party.  I think it's sweet how Ike and 3-year-old Claire like to hang together

Same carnival party with Cold Cocoa. I look so awesome because  I think every party she plans I end up being the 'fortune teller'.  She probably needs to google some new party game ideas......

And now on to Di and Bry's fun idea of a marshmallow gun party. Even Noelle loved making a gun

Getting ready for war

Ethan going down from his attempts to storm the castle

Mitch and Hub. Mitch was more into posing while Hub was more into stealth

Second week of sitting through a hot parade. It's worth all the  salt water taffy though since now we know how cool it is to make it!

And that was a glimpse of some of our fun. My phone has pix of the ice skating Mitch and I did today and of the park play dates, the water fights and the splash pad and of all the fun we've had just playing around with the cousins (and I can't be expected to download both camera and phone pix in one day!!) But how great is it that from both sides of our families my kids have over 50 built-in friends? Cousins rock.
 And now we have one week left to acclimate back to a life where we don't go somewhere fun everyday and we have a set bedtime and we don't need to pack the bugspray and camping chairs when we leave the house. Wish us luck!