QUESTIONS
Our Bishopric came and did a special Q&A lesson for all the Young Women. It's so interesting to me what kinds of questions the girls ask. I am so impressed really. They really have a desire to be good and to learn and grow their testimonies and Spirits. It's so amazing! I'm so proud of them. I was grateful for all the things that were taught and learned and for the Spirit that was there. We have a good Bishop. 4-17-16
HONEY WALNUT SHRIMP
Charity made the most amazing dinner on Sunday!! If only I'd bought more shrimp!! She's really getting good. This had to be recorded. 4-17-16
BOOK OF MORMON
I finished the Book of Mormon again. Feels so good to be reading so well, for like the fourth year in a row! I probably shouldn't brag about this and I don't really feel like I'm bragging, but it really is cool to me. It has made a huge difference in my life. I feel so much more familiar with everything and so much more equipped to teach my kids. Such a great book. 4-18-16
MEETINGS
This was the week of meetings. It felt like too much, but I made it! And I'm still here to tell about it :). Monday I had my visiting teachers come. Tuesday was meet with Michelle in the morning, then meet with Kara in the afternoon and then meet for Visiting teaching conference in the evening. That was a pretty good meeting. I enjoyed the reminder to show more love and care to the sisters we visit. I needed that. I liked the social part of it too, although I made the mistake of thinking of myself when Molly was at home making everything crazy with her screaming, so bummer. Timing is everything. Wednesday was Pack meeting, YW and our board meeting that night. Thursday I went and did my visiting teaching. So nothing too spectacular really, just proud of myself for surviving it all. 4-22-16
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO WILL!
We got invited to go to Carls Jr. and celebrate Will's birthday with Emily, Kate and Will. We had such a good time! It was such a nice break from life. I love one on one time with friends. Funny things to remember: ants swarming all of Molly's fry stumps (after picking up her piece of Emily's Graham cracker and letting her eat it off the ground), and Molly drinking from a straw!! It was Powerade, just for all you judgers out there! I didn't let her drink soda. Yet. Good times though. I love friends. 4-19-16
TUESDAYS/THURSDAYS
Lacrosse has really clogged up my Tuesday and Thursday evenings. I feel like I can't catch a break those days. I'm seriously running around like a chicken with it's head cut off. I will be glad when lacrosse season is over. Although, I will say that I wouldn't trade Lacrosse for anything! I feel like it's completely changed Kelly's life! She is so much more confident, less pain, less complaining, less tiredness even, which seems backwards! Even her feet hurt less!! It makes me so happy :). 4-21-16
MINE
I learned something about myself this week. Something that kept coming up ALL WEEK! I really dislike hearing other people talk about my kids. To me, or to anyone else, it just IRKS me. I still haven't quite figured out why, but it just grates on my nerves. I think this goes for Nate as well, and maybe that explains a lot. I wish it didn't. I will have to work on it, because I really think people mean well. And it is bound to happen!! I just need to watch myself. But good to know either way. 4-21-16
FRIDAY
Today was an unusual Friday. Nate ended up switching his overtime shift that was going to ruin our Friday for a mid shift that ruined it much less :). I'm sure he was exhausted, but it was nice to have him home. We got all the flowers planted out front- wahoo!
The kids and I spoiled ourselves with some Cherry Berry that night as "something fun" to do. 4-22-16
FIRST SCOUT CAMPOUT!
Bradley and Nate are out on their first scout campout together! Very momentous occasion! Bradley had to plan his own meal and ended up making salmon tin foil dinners.... mmmmmm. I hope they're having a good time and not getting too cold or wet! Erika, tonight, said, "Oh, Bubba will be home tomorrow, I'm so glad!" Cute girl misses her big brother. 4-22-16
They had a great time! Bradley loved hanging out with the boys and not sleeping in the tent with them. He told us some fun stories about how the boys took down the tent in the morning with a few boys still in there. They played flies up and cooked their own dinners. Bradley wowed everyone with his salmon tin foil dinner :). I love that he chose that... so funny. They said the wind was so bad the tent was folded in half! Pretty awesome tent if I do say so myself :). Go Nana. THey got to go to Crystal Springs for some fun swimming in the hot springs. Bradley loved the warm water with freezing cold waterfall. That does sound cool. And all the talk about how many minerals that water is filled with. Sounds like a bad thing to me, but I guess it's good. They didn't want to use the Olympic size pool because it was salty. Other than being up all night listening to preteen boys talking, sounded like a lot of fun :). 4-23-16
DARN IT
Kelly's Lacrosse game this Saturday was... not our favorite. It was clear out in Herriman, FREEZING cold wind AND we lost :(. BUT Kelly played great! She played defense for the first half of the game and then got to try attack again during the last half. Which is really impressive considering she's not usually on attack and we were losing- means they thought she did a good job last game and wanted to try her out again while they were a little desperate. So cool for Kelly, but 3-8 is kind of a bummer. 4-24-16
Sunday, April 24, 2016
Saturday, April 23, 2016
UPDATE
I think I forgot to do one of these for my book for 2016 at the beginning of the year, so this will have to do- this is what everyone's up to right now!
MOLLY:
Sitting up, wishing she could get around, but loving every bit of attention she can get from whoever is within smile range :).
She loves to eat, even new things, except for anything pureed! She will however, eat ice cream we've learned. hmmmmm. Not sure how that works :). I think her favorite thing to eat is whatever I am eating :). She feels like a big girl. And Graham crackers. We all love the cute little crunch she makes with her new little tooth!
We can see another little tooth finally starting to come through. Hopefully that is what is to blame for all the crying the last couple nights. Poor baby girl.
She is so patient, so easygoing, such a good baby! She really wins the prize! Best baby award. She is such a pleasure to have around. I know that it's partly because we have so many awesome helpers around here keeping her happy and helping her to feel at home. I love that.
Bradley and Luke almost got her crawling with some fishy crackers on the floor the other day. She did figure out how to maneuver herself toward the crackers, but not without a lot of frustration, although crawling doesn't seem far.
JACK:
Jack is such a fun little boy these days.
He's so talkative, so inquisitive, and SO smart! He surprises me all the time with questions and abilities. He really does listen so well and is so obedient for the most part.
He's very stubborn on some things which makes him hard to persuade at times, but I kind of like that about him.
He is very particular, needs things to be just so.
He just learned how to ride his training wheel bike, and rides that around a ton.
Loves to play basketball with the little one and enjoys having an audience.
He's loving his new friends Will and Liam and being able to spend time with them like a big boy.
Jack loves to snack. He's been doing better at not snacking too much and we've removed chips from his diet completely. He doesn't love mealtime and the food served then. We've got some work to do there.
Jack has really been loving Primary so far! I'm so relieved because there are a lot of kids in his class that took a long time to adjust and still have struggles. I'm glad he was able to adjust and enjoy it regardless. Could have gone completely the opposite direction.
I love how he loves me and Nate. He is very affectionate when one of us is leaving and so sweet at night to say, "Sweep Whew" (sleep well). I love it!
ERIKA
Reading new big words everyday! I can't believe how quickly she is progressing with her reading. Well, maybe I can, because it seems to be a common trend around here, but she is doing so well!! It's so impressive! She loves it too, which is great! I need to be better at nurturing that side of her.
Erika stays pretty busy most of the time. In fact, she doesn't slow down anymore until her eyes are hurting (which I'm starting to think is tiredness). She loves to roller blade, ride her bike, jump on the tramp, play in the creek, pretty much anything that Kate wants to do too :). She LOVES Kate and spending time with her. I loved what she said the other day about riding their bikes home from school, "I have to make sure I ride behind Kate so that if something happens to her or her bike, I can see it and I can stop and help her, instead of just riding off, not knowing if she stopped." Pretty cool little friend, I think.
She loves helping out in the kitchen and loves her dinner cooking day. It's cute that she's gotten into it.
She decided the other day that she would like to sign up for basketball this fall. She played with the boys and made a few shots and realized that she's, "really good at shooting!" Awesome!
She still lets me cuddle with her every once in a while.
Still likes to go running with her big brothers in the mornings.
And she still likes to sleep in :).
Erika is probably out best fruits and veggies eater. she loves them all! It's awesome.
NOAH
Noah just earned his Bobcat in Cub Scouts.
He is thriving in 2nd grade. I love hearing the stories about his class and his friends. This is the first year school has been more about friends than just academics. I love it :).
His really good friend that he talks about most is McKay. They do so many fun things together at school, They sound so imaginative, making up new languages, secret handshakes, secret clubs, magic tricks, you name it. Sounds so fun. I'm glad he has a friend like that in his class.
He still hangs out with Josh and Corbin almost everyday once his jobs and homework are done :).
He is pretty busy drawing and creating new things when he's not outside shootin' hoops or getting into trouble.
He's one of the sweetest boys on the planet and still loves his mom very much! I love that.
He just told me he might be the President of The United States someday. I like that idea. He'd be great. He said the first thing he's going to change is the laws that allow boys to marry boys and girls to marry girls. Good idea!
He is getting really good at baseball and will play his first game of the season next week. I can't wait!
Noah has really been loving having the Holy Ghost ever since he got baptized. He's so sweet and in tune to the Spirit. I love his spirituality.
I am so intrigued by his stories and imagination.
LUKE
Luke just won top in the Nation on TTM this past month. We were so proud of him and his success in all of that. He seriously carried the school. In fact, we figured out that Luke got more points than all of the 42 students at Naches Elementary combined! Way more actually :). So that's pretty awesome. Mr. Flynn has been pretty proud/thankful for Luke. That's been a lot of fun.
He is such a fun kid to have around. If you ask him a question, you can expect an answer like, "CHIPS!" or "CHEDDAR" or "I LIKE CHIPS!" in his squeaky little boy voice :). Not to mention the cute smile that accompanies those answers. I love it. It's annoying, but I totally love it.
He's got a lot of drive. When he wants something he makes sure he gets it. Even if it's just a bowl of Ramen instead of broccoli or Miracle Whip toast instead of mashed potatoes. It's cool what this kid can accomplish and achieve.
He is a sweetheart. Very sensitive. He is basically friends with everyone but I love that he has become closer friends with some of the boys in his class. Ruben and Clint. Even Drake and Preston. It's fun to see him branching out finally.
He loves basketball and is usually out in the street shooting hoops with his brothers. Although, he has found playing tag with the neighbor girl who is 2 years older than him quite enjoyable as well :). Makes me laugh.
He just barely missed the decathalon qualifications, by 2 jumps with the jump rope he said. Kind of a bummer, but he's looking on the bright side and is excited to just be able to go even if he can't compete. I think that's cool.
Luke is such a good sport and is genuinely happy for others' successes. It's so awesome! I'll never forget how happy he was for Ruben winning the Kindle in the TTM drawing. "It's so awesome that he won, he did so good! He did 400 just like me! He deserves it!" Such a cool kid.
BRADLEY
Might be going to the Decathalon as well! So that's been pretty huge!
I've been really proud of the things Bradley's teacher has said about him and his behavior in the class and with his classmates. He is a leader and is choosing to be a good leader. Helping to stand for what is right and fight off the bullying and negative behavior that he could otherwise be sucked into by the "popular kids". I'm so glad he is setting a good example and being someone the kids can look up to.
He loves to play basketball 24/7. And tag with the girls on our street. He's got two now. It's funny to watch.
He is itching to go fishing as well. I love that he's bought everyone a fishing pole for their birthdays :). Minus a couple of us of course :).
He's such a sweet boy with his younger siblings. Erika, Jack and Molly in particular. He's very sweet and understanding with them and always helps out with them when I need it. Especially with Molly. It's so fun to see how much she loves him and is comfortable with him. He really knows how to take care of her. I think he's changed more of her diapers than anyone else in the house besides me of course. Such a good boy.
Bradley also wowed us all with his TTMing abilities. He of course was at the top of his class too. He was so thrilled to get over 600 green tickets. The auction was a much anticipated event with so much to spend :).
He is looking forward to getting the Priesthood this year! I can't believe he is going to be 12!! Blows my mind. I'm excited for him.
He still takes the garbage out for me every time I ask. Such a good boy.
\
KELLY
Playing Lacrosse of course. I've been loving that. She's been benefiting from it for sure!
She is really getting the hang of Jr. High bringing her grades up probably over a whole point!! Pretty awesome. I feel like she's adjusting to it quickly and has had little to no girly friend drama which I had previously anticipated. I'm really proud of how hard she is working.
Kelly is still such a big help around the house. She is one of my go-to kids.
I love texting her and the texts I get in return during the day. She is a sweet girl always expressing gratitude for even the smallest of things. Means a lot to me.
She is enjoying Young Women's of course. And flying right through all of her Personal Progress stuff! I can't believe how much she's done! She's really going to reach her goal to finish while she is still a Beehive.
She's still serving as the First Counselor. Different President, but same calling. She does a great job at serving her class and is always willing to volunteer for assignments. I love that about her.
She has learned she doesn't love choir, but still loves to sing. She just tried out for Kaysville/Fruit Heights Idol! Which amazes me! So much courage! And she did great, I won't be surprised if she makes it!
She loves to be off in her room by herself and her phone... typical I guess. But knows how to limit her phone time, which I have found to be quite a blessing! I don't have to nag her. She even leaves her phone at home on no-screen days! Good girl.
Kelly just got nominated to be on the Hope Squad for next year. The group of kids that help other kids with problems. I'm anxious to see how that goes. She'll be perfect at that.
She is loving the church sports, dodgeball right now, and is really good at it!
CHARITY
Just moved into the Mia Maid class and is learning that she can demonstrate obedience by going even when it's not her favorite thing to do right now. I've been really proud of her endurance. She's a tough girl.
She really gets into the church sports as well. It's fun to listen to her calling all the young women to round up enough to go.
She's been the key to getting a couple of our non-member/inactive young women out to activities! I'm so proud of her for having the courage to do that. That can be difficult. She makes it look easy though.
She pulled out her first 4.0 this last quarter! Pretty impressive. She's really worked hard and also learned that when you communicate with your teachers you can get far.
She is a big help at home of course. Always babysitting for me and carrying a heavier load than she probably should. She never complains about that either, that's been priceless. She's always been one I could tell was meant for her position in the family. No doubt about that.
Charity just tried out for Kasyville/Fruit Heights Idol as well, did fantastic. I can't wait to hear back on that!
She has recently found a great deal of pleasure in the Stake Dances. She has demonstrated such high standards. I am so proud of how she is able to keep herself morally clean and maintain such high standards for herself. She is such a good girl and makes such good choices.
She's loving her dance class and looking forward to not being in choir in 9th grade.
Charity is another one of our basketball players. She loves the game, loves the Jazz in particular and was one of their biggest fans all through this season. She was so sad when they didn't make it to the playoffs.
There. That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure I missed stuff.
MOLLY:
Sitting up, wishing she could get around, but loving every bit of attention she can get from whoever is within smile range :).
She loves to eat, even new things, except for anything pureed! She will however, eat ice cream we've learned. hmmmmm. Not sure how that works :). I think her favorite thing to eat is whatever I am eating :). She feels like a big girl. And Graham crackers. We all love the cute little crunch she makes with her new little tooth!
We can see another little tooth finally starting to come through. Hopefully that is what is to blame for all the crying the last couple nights. Poor baby girl.
She is so patient, so easygoing, such a good baby! She really wins the prize! Best baby award. She is such a pleasure to have around. I know that it's partly because we have so many awesome helpers around here keeping her happy and helping her to feel at home. I love that.
Bradley and Luke almost got her crawling with some fishy crackers on the floor the other day. She did figure out how to maneuver herself toward the crackers, but not without a lot of frustration, although crawling doesn't seem far.
JACK:
Jack is such a fun little boy these days.
He's so talkative, so inquisitive, and SO smart! He surprises me all the time with questions and abilities. He really does listen so well and is so obedient for the most part.
He's very stubborn on some things which makes him hard to persuade at times, but I kind of like that about him.
He is very particular, needs things to be just so.
He just learned how to ride his training wheel bike, and rides that around a ton.
Loves to play basketball with the little one and enjoys having an audience.
He's loving his new friends Will and Liam and being able to spend time with them like a big boy.
Jack loves to snack. He's been doing better at not snacking too much and we've removed chips from his diet completely. He doesn't love mealtime and the food served then. We've got some work to do there.
Jack has really been loving Primary so far! I'm so relieved because there are a lot of kids in his class that took a long time to adjust and still have struggles. I'm glad he was able to adjust and enjoy it regardless. Could have gone completely the opposite direction.
I love how he loves me and Nate. He is very affectionate when one of us is leaving and so sweet at night to say, "Sweep Whew" (sleep well). I love it!
ERIKA
Reading new big words everyday! I can't believe how quickly she is progressing with her reading. Well, maybe I can, because it seems to be a common trend around here, but she is doing so well!! It's so impressive! She loves it too, which is great! I need to be better at nurturing that side of her.
Erika stays pretty busy most of the time. In fact, she doesn't slow down anymore until her eyes are hurting (which I'm starting to think is tiredness). She loves to roller blade, ride her bike, jump on the tramp, play in the creek, pretty much anything that Kate wants to do too :). She LOVES Kate and spending time with her. I loved what she said the other day about riding their bikes home from school, "I have to make sure I ride behind Kate so that if something happens to her or her bike, I can see it and I can stop and help her, instead of just riding off, not knowing if she stopped." Pretty cool little friend, I think.
She loves helping out in the kitchen and loves her dinner cooking day. It's cute that she's gotten into it.
She decided the other day that she would like to sign up for basketball this fall. She played with the boys and made a few shots and realized that she's, "really good at shooting!" Awesome!
She still lets me cuddle with her every once in a while.
Still likes to go running with her big brothers in the mornings.
And she still likes to sleep in :).
Erika is probably out best fruits and veggies eater. she loves them all! It's awesome.
NOAH
Noah just earned his Bobcat in Cub Scouts.
He is thriving in 2nd grade. I love hearing the stories about his class and his friends. This is the first year school has been more about friends than just academics. I love it :).
His really good friend that he talks about most is McKay. They do so many fun things together at school, They sound so imaginative, making up new languages, secret handshakes, secret clubs, magic tricks, you name it. Sounds so fun. I'm glad he has a friend like that in his class.
He still hangs out with Josh and Corbin almost everyday once his jobs and homework are done :).
He is pretty busy drawing and creating new things when he's not outside shootin' hoops or getting into trouble.
He's one of the sweetest boys on the planet and still loves his mom very much! I love that.
He just told me he might be the President of The United States someday. I like that idea. He'd be great. He said the first thing he's going to change is the laws that allow boys to marry boys and girls to marry girls. Good idea!
He is getting really good at baseball and will play his first game of the season next week. I can't wait!
Noah has really been loving having the Holy Ghost ever since he got baptized. He's so sweet and in tune to the Spirit. I love his spirituality.
I am so intrigued by his stories and imagination.
LUKE
Luke just won top in the Nation on TTM this past month. We were so proud of him and his success in all of that. He seriously carried the school. In fact, we figured out that Luke got more points than all of the 42 students at Naches Elementary combined! Way more actually :). So that's pretty awesome. Mr. Flynn has been pretty proud/thankful for Luke. That's been a lot of fun.
He is such a fun kid to have around. If you ask him a question, you can expect an answer like, "CHIPS!" or "CHEDDAR" or "I LIKE CHIPS!" in his squeaky little boy voice :). Not to mention the cute smile that accompanies those answers. I love it. It's annoying, but I totally love it.
He's got a lot of drive. When he wants something he makes sure he gets it. Even if it's just a bowl of Ramen instead of broccoli or Miracle Whip toast instead of mashed potatoes. It's cool what this kid can accomplish and achieve.
He is a sweetheart. Very sensitive. He is basically friends with everyone but I love that he has become closer friends with some of the boys in his class. Ruben and Clint. Even Drake and Preston. It's fun to see him branching out finally.
He loves basketball and is usually out in the street shooting hoops with his brothers. Although, he has found playing tag with the neighbor girl who is 2 years older than him quite enjoyable as well :). Makes me laugh.
He just barely missed the decathalon qualifications, by 2 jumps with the jump rope he said. Kind of a bummer, but he's looking on the bright side and is excited to just be able to go even if he can't compete. I think that's cool.
Luke is such a good sport and is genuinely happy for others' successes. It's so awesome! I'll never forget how happy he was for Ruben winning the Kindle in the TTM drawing. "It's so awesome that he won, he did so good! He did 400 just like me! He deserves it!" Such a cool kid.
BRADLEY
Might be going to the Decathalon as well! So that's been pretty huge!
I've been really proud of the things Bradley's teacher has said about him and his behavior in the class and with his classmates. He is a leader and is choosing to be a good leader. Helping to stand for what is right and fight off the bullying and negative behavior that he could otherwise be sucked into by the "popular kids". I'm so glad he is setting a good example and being someone the kids can look up to.
He loves to play basketball 24/7. And tag with the girls on our street. He's got two now. It's funny to watch.
He is itching to go fishing as well. I love that he's bought everyone a fishing pole for their birthdays :). Minus a couple of us of course :).
He's such a sweet boy with his younger siblings. Erika, Jack and Molly in particular. He's very sweet and understanding with them and always helps out with them when I need it. Especially with Molly. It's so fun to see how much she loves him and is comfortable with him. He really knows how to take care of her. I think he's changed more of her diapers than anyone else in the house besides me of course. Such a good boy.
Bradley also wowed us all with his TTMing abilities. He of course was at the top of his class too. He was so thrilled to get over 600 green tickets. The auction was a much anticipated event with so much to spend :).
He is looking forward to getting the Priesthood this year! I can't believe he is going to be 12!! Blows my mind. I'm excited for him.
He still takes the garbage out for me every time I ask. Such a good boy.
\
KELLY
Playing Lacrosse of course. I've been loving that. She's been benefiting from it for sure!
She is really getting the hang of Jr. High bringing her grades up probably over a whole point!! Pretty awesome. I feel like she's adjusting to it quickly and has had little to no girly friend drama which I had previously anticipated. I'm really proud of how hard she is working.
Kelly is still such a big help around the house. She is one of my go-to kids.
I love texting her and the texts I get in return during the day. She is a sweet girl always expressing gratitude for even the smallest of things. Means a lot to me.
She is enjoying Young Women's of course. And flying right through all of her Personal Progress stuff! I can't believe how much she's done! She's really going to reach her goal to finish while she is still a Beehive.
She's still serving as the First Counselor. Different President, but same calling. She does a great job at serving her class and is always willing to volunteer for assignments. I love that about her.
She has learned she doesn't love choir, but still loves to sing. She just tried out for Kaysville/Fruit Heights Idol! Which amazes me! So much courage! And she did great, I won't be surprised if she makes it!
She loves to be off in her room by herself and her phone... typical I guess. But knows how to limit her phone time, which I have found to be quite a blessing! I don't have to nag her. She even leaves her phone at home on no-screen days! Good girl.
Kelly just got nominated to be on the Hope Squad for next year. The group of kids that help other kids with problems. I'm anxious to see how that goes. She'll be perfect at that.
She is loving the church sports, dodgeball right now, and is really good at it!
CHARITY
Just moved into the Mia Maid class and is learning that she can demonstrate obedience by going even when it's not her favorite thing to do right now. I've been really proud of her endurance. She's a tough girl.
She really gets into the church sports as well. It's fun to listen to her calling all the young women to round up enough to go.
She's been the key to getting a couple of our non-member/inactive young women out to activities! I'm so proud of her for having the courage to do that. That can be difficult. She makes it look easy though.
She pulled out her first 4.0 this last quarter! Pretty impressive. She's really worked hard and also learned that when you communicate with your teachers you can get far.
She is a big help at home of course. Always babysitting for me and carrying a heavier load than she probably should. She never complains about that either, that's been priceless. She's always been one I could tell was meant for her position in the family. No doubt about that.
Charity just tried out for Kasyville/Fruit Heights Idol as well, did fantastic. I can't wait to hear back on that!
She has recently found a great deal of pleasure in the Stake Dances. She has demonstrated such high standards. I am so proud of how she is able to keep herself morally clean and maintain such high standards for herself. She is such a good girl and makes such good choices.
She's loving her dance class and looking forward to not being in choir in 9th grade.
Charity is another one of our basketball players. She loves the game, loves the Jazz in particular and was one of their biggest fans all through this season. She was so sad when they didn't make it to the playoffs.
There. That's all I can think of for now. I'm sure I missed stuff.
Sunday, April 17, 2016
Phone Pics
These pictures are all in weird order, but I'm too lazy to fix it and too lazy to put them in separate posts. I will fix it when they go in the book. Aunt Becky got Erika and I all into the new braids that she finds for us on Pinterest and Facebook. It's been fun to do some of them and then send the pics to Becky every morning :).
Nate fixing our brakes all by himself! He really is saving us so much money learning how to do these kinds of things online. Well, I guess technically it was my Dad that taught him how to do this, but he got a quick refresher on YouTube I think.
One of the MANY domino towers of Luke's.
Charity and Nate at her birthday present :). Jazz vs. Cavs
Luke's Utah County report project :). What better to represent Utah county than the Y on the mountain!!
In line for the Women's conference
I think this was supposed to be me and Kelly but Charity photobombed us and then the ones I took of Charity and me didn't work out! So good thing she stuck her cute little face in there.
My traditional I heart Nate egg :)
This is just adorable.
Which carrot should I eat first?
Both of them!
THis was during General conference... I loved how sweet Erika was being with her little sister.
Brad and Molly quality time during conference.
I thought this was cool- Luke made it during conference.
New toothy!!
She totally looks like she's posing for these... not so. But great shots!!
This is how Noah watched conference :)
Everyone took a turn bonding with Molly during conference.
Sleeping beauty
Bradley's Constitution bowl team :).
Jazz vs. Clippers- Merry Christmas to Nate, from Grandpa Hatch- too bad we LOST!! UGH!
Molly konked out about 3rd quarter.
It was so funny when she woke up though... looked around like, "What happened? Did we win?? What did I miss? I kind of dozed off."
THis was one of the only pics that turned out after spilling Erika's water all over the table and herself for this one, I decided it would do. Sorry Nate. And Noah. Celebrating our good grades!
Saturday, April 16, 2016
Things to Remember Week of 4-10-16
GENERAL CONFERENCE FAVORITES
I love this combined lesson after conference when everyone shares their favorite talks and such. It was neat to hear Charity and Kelly's especially. I was proud of how many notes they took during the meetings and that they had such great things to share. It was a really great time this time, felt like everyone had really paid attention. The Spirit was so strong. I love that everyone can get something different out of the same talk. I didn't even get a chance to stand up there were so many :). That is a good thing. 4-10-16
PERSONAL PROGRESS
I am doing so well with Personal Progress right now! I'm so proud of myself! I received my first two ribbons on Sunday. Faith and Divine Nature. I'm almost done with a few others as well. I've decided to do the parent route, so it's a little more work than just the YW leader route. It's been really awesome though! Makes me happy :). 4-10-16
FAMILY MEETING
Nate took a half a day off and had us pick him up on our way to the Family Meeting. I was glad he could come :). It's much more enjoyable that way. I had a lot of fun talking with Nancy after about Jaxson and his girlfriend. I really can't wait til the kids are old enough to date. I think that will be fun in a way :). This is the great thing about Nancy- she gets me all excited about the next phase with her positive, fun attitude. 4-10-16
FHE
I taught about service and looking outside yourself with the mirror/window example from the Women's session of Conference. Such a great analogy. We decided we are going to put together some more homeless people bags. These will be a little different from the old ones we did since it's not winter, but I love that the kids are thinking about ways to serve. We watched the Jazz game as Charity's activity, and ate yummy cinnamon rolls for Kelly's treat. 4-11-16
PLAYGROUP
I absolutely loved playgroup this week! We were at the church again thanks to the weather, but it felt so relaxed! I have no idea what it was, because beforehand I was feeling extremely overwhelmed, but it ended up being very nice. A nice break. Minus Jack's little tantrums at the end, which I really could have done without... but other than that! 4-13-16
PLANTERS
Nate's plans for the garden planters are in full swing. We were able to pick up some of the supplies this week. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and we had a ton of rain instead, but Nate's been obsessing over it all and getting really excited :). It really is going to look nice when it's done, I can't wait :). Hopefully we can get enough of it done to plant our garden soon too :). 4-14-16
YW TRAINING MEETING
We had a Stake training meeting this week. It was really nice. I feel like those help me to re-focus my efforts in the YW and kind of re-evaluate where I'm at mentally. I feel like I need to be better at praying for the YW individually again. I want to be better at including the parents and keeping in touch with them. I would like to be closer with the girls... not sure how I'm going to do that, but I have a new resolution to pray about that as well. 4-14-16
MEETINGS
I am on the committee to help plan Mountain Man Rendezbous. Who knew that could happen. I've been wanting to help them make that more exciting ever since Kelly did it. So I went to the meeting and now I am in charge of getting a pond full of fish for the kids to catch with their bare hands and gut :). I'm so excited! ALthough, I wish I would have consulted Luke first, I don' tthink this is for him. It's clearly for me only. Not sure how I feel about that. But whatever. Maybe we can make it a usual thing for future years. Noah would love it :). Jack too :). Yep, I'm trying to justify my actions. After that meeting, I hurried over to KJH for Kelly's Hope Squad meeting. I'm so excited for her and proud of her willingness to be in this group! She was nominated which is always awesome, but she is willing to sacrifice one of her classes to take this class and be a part of this group. Sounds pretty involved, but I"m really excited for what she will learn. 4-15-16
LACROSSE GAME 2
We played Brighton today. WE were nervous because I guess they usually beat us, but not this year!!! We beat them 8-0! Kelly played awesome of course! She is on defense officially, and got to play during the first half and did great! Then toward the end of the game, they put her in as attack, just to see how she would do and she was amazing!! I was so proud of her! She had talked about being intimidated by that position and not wanting to play it because she didn't want to lose the game because of her, but she ended up really liking it and got in a pretty cool pass. It was a lot of fun to watch! Go Kelly! 4-16-16
GARAGE
When we pulled up after Kelly's game, we opened up the garage and forced everyone to help us clean out the garage together. It was so productive. I was so impressed with how much help we got from everyone and how quickly it went. It looks amazing! So good taht coming in the house make sme want to go back out because the house is not as clean right now. We went and got pizza after. 4-16-16
STAKE DANCES
Charity went to her second Stake dance tonight. Pretty exciting! Take me back sitting here listening to all that happened afterwards. I love that she has so much fun. She's such a good girl and wants to make sure everyone feels comfortable there and will ask the boys who don't look like they've danced as much. Just such a good girl. 4-16-16
I love this combined lesson after conference when everyone shares their favorite talks and such. It was neat to hear Charity and Kelly's especially. I was proud of how many notes they took during the meetings and that they had such great things to share. It was a really great time this time, felt like everyone had really paid attention. The Spirit was so strong. I love that everyone can get something different out of the same talk. I didn't even get a chance to stand up there were so many :). That is a good thing. 4-10-16
PERSONAL PROGRESS
I am doing so well with Personal Progress right now! I'm so proud of myself! I received my first two ribbons on Sunday. Faith and Divine Nature. I'm almost done with a few others as well. I've decided to do the parent route, so it's a little more work than just the YW leader route. It's been really awesome though! Makes me happy :). 4-10-16
FAMILY MEETING
Nate took a half a day off and had us pick him up on our way to the Family Meeting. I was glad he could come :). It's much more enjoyable that way. I had a lot of fun talking with Nancy after about Jaxson and his girlfriend. I really can't wait til the kids are old enough to date. I think that will be fun in a way :). This is the great thing about Nancy- she gets me all excited about the next phase with her positive, fun attitude. 4-10-16
FHE
I taught about service and looking outside yourself with the mirror/window example from the Women's session of Conference. Such a great analogy. We decided we are going to put together some more homeless people bags. These will be a little different from the old ones we did since it's not winter, but I love that the kids are thinking about ways to serve. We watched the Jazz game as Charity's activity, and ate yummy cinnamon rolls for Kelly's treat. 4-11-16
PLAYGROUP
I absolutely loved playgroup this week! We were at the church again thanks to the weather, but it felt so relaxed! I have no idea what it was, because beforehand I was feeling extremely overwhelmed, but it ended up being very nice. A nice break. Minus Jack's little tantrums at the end, which I really could have done without... but other than that! 4-13-16
PLANTERS
Nate's plans for the garden planters are in full swing. We were able to pick up some of the supplies this week. Unfortunately the weather did not cooperate and we had a ton of rain instead, but Nate's been obsessing over it all and getting really excited :). It really is going to look nice when it's done, I can't wait :). Hopefully we can get enough of it done to plant our garden soon too :). 4-14-16
YW TRAINING MEETING
We had a Stake training meeting this week. It was really nice. I feel like those help me to re-focus my efforts in the YW and kind of re-evaluate where I'm at mentally. I feel like I need to be better at praying for the YW individually again. I want to be better at including the parents and keeping in touch with them. I would like to be closer with the girls... not sure how I'm going to do that, but I have a new resolution to pray about that as well. 4-14-16
MEETINGS
I am on the committee to help plan Mountain Man Rendezbous. Who knew that could happen. I've been wanting to help them make that more exciting ever since Kelly did it. So I went to the meeting and now I am in charge of getting a pond full of fish for the kids to catch with their bare hands and gut :). I'm so excited! ALthough, I wish I would have consulted Luke first, I don' tthink this is for him. It's clearly for me only. Not sure how I feel about that. But whatever. Maybe we can make it a usual thing for future years. Noah would love it :). Jack too :). Yep, I'm trying to justify my actions. After that meeting, I hurried over to KJH for Kelly's Hope Squad meeting. I'm so excited for her and proud of her willingness to be in this group! She was nominated which is always awesome, but she is willing to sacrifice one of her classes to take this class and be a part of this group. Sounds pretty involved, but I"m really excited for what she will learn. 4-15-16
LACROSSE GAME 2
We played Brighton today. WE were nervous because I guess they usually beat us, but not this year!!! We beat them 8-0! Kelly played awesome of course! She is on defense officially, and got to play during the first half and did great! Then toward the end of the game, they put her in as attack, just to see how she would do and she was amazing!! I was so proud of her! She had talked about being intimidated by that position and not wanting to play it because she didn't want to lose the game because of her, but she ended up really liking it and got in a pretty cool pass. It was a lot of fun to watch! Go Kelly! 4-16-16
GARAGE
When we pulled up after Kelly's game, we opened up the garage and forced everyone to help us clean out the garage together. It was so productive. I was so impressed with how much help we got from everyone and how quickly it went. It looks amazing! So good taht coming in the house make sme want to go back out because the house is not as clean right now. We went and got pizza after. 4-16-16
STAKE DANCES
Charity went to her second Stake dance tonight. Pretty exciting! Take me back sitting here listening to all that happened afterwards. I love that she has so much fun. She's such a good girl and wants to make sure everyone feels comfortable there and will ask the boys who don't look like they've danced as much. Just such a good girl. 4-16-16
Sunday, April 10, 2016
Things to Remember Week of 4-3-16
GENERAL CONFERENCE
I really loved conference this time. As usual :). It's always so nice to be able to sit around in your jammies and be edified. We had our creamed eggs on toast for breakfast. For the first session on Saturday we just decided to have everyone just watch and listen. They were able to have snacks here and there. Most of them chose to take notes, Luke and Erika chose to play Conference Bingo. It was nice and pleasant and very uneventful as far as the kids go. I was pretty proud of them. During the second session we did the whole treat thing with the words on the treats, when they say a word you get that treat. We've done this lots and I feel have settled on the perfect way to do it- they keep track of how many times a word is said and then gather them at the end of each talk. Cuts down on traffic and noise. The kids love it. It's definitely a tradition. They all did really well even during the half hour that Nate was gone which is always iffy. I loved the talk that was given right as Nate was leaving about family councils. Our Stake has made a big push for this and we've actually been doing REALLY well at it! I'm not sure it's all that it could be yet, but we're getting there. I loved the ideas given in the talk. I wish I could remember who it was, but I"m thinking it was Elder Cook?? Anyway. On Sunday we woke up a little late, so conference started shortly after. During the first session I let the kids "earn" tickets by listening to the talks and telling me what they learned, also for taking notes, and then for the second session I let them "buy" treats and snacks with their tickets :). It was great! I was happy to empty out the basket of goodies that has been filling up in the pantry. They loved it. It's always hard to listen to the last session (in my opinion), so I was proud of them for sticking with it. Nate was gone for the second session which was a bummer but the kids totally kept the reverence level up. It's so nice to be able to listen to conference these days! I definitely need to go back and read them because I wasn't really able to take notes with Molly in my arms most of the time, but it sure was a nice peaceful weekend. I just love conference!
IDAHO MAYNESES
We had the pleasure of tipping off and then TOPPING off our Spring break with the Idaho Mayneses. They came down again for a session of conference at the Conference Center and needed to pick up the CD with Hannah's pictures, so we decided to make a meal of it and have them for dinner. It was nice that it was Charity's night for dinner and that she was more than capable of making Spaghetti and Meatballs for 15 instead of just 8. She did an excellent job, everyone loved it. It was fun to see them even if it was just for a little pit stop. They did introduce us to Chocolate Chex treats... so yummy! 4-3-16
ALWAYS HAPPY
When I was at the school doing fitness testing for Luke's class I got to meet the mom of the girl he has a crush on, which was fun :), and she said the sweetest thing about Luke, that her daughter had said. She said, "Luke is so funny and always just so happy!" Made my day :). And I had to agree of course. Luke keeps us rolling and with a smile 24/7. Ya never know what you're going to get with that kid. But he's more than a math whiz :). 4-4-16
FHE
Charity gave a really nice, well-planned and thought out lesson on health. She covered all the areas, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. She did a great job. Incorporated all the different ways of learning. I liked it. We went and got donuts for the treat. Thank you Bowman's :). 4-4-16
BASEBALL
Noah started baseball this week! Wahoo! I'm excited :). Probably more excited than anyone else... including Noah. But that's okay :). He does love it so far. 4-5-16
JEWISH SEDER
We had a really cool Relief Society night Tuesday where Martha's mom came and taught us all about Passover. I really wasn't sure I wanted to go, I hate to be gone so many nights in one week, but I really did want to learn about the symbolism. I'll admit it was difficult for me to get into most of the eating part. I tried. I felt awkward. I kept praying to feel something, this is something that's been a struggle for me in a lot of places lately, feeling, but I never really felt much about the food. I did have a lot of thoughts about Christ and what might have been going through his head during the last supper. How he must have been feeling. Kind of interesting. I wish we had more information on his feelings through it all. But toward the end when she started talking about all the symbolism in more detail (or maybe just simpler terms) I REALLY got into that. I love learning all the symbolism. Especially the part about how a mother lamb will only feed a lamb from a deceased ewe if the new lamb is covered in the skin of her own. Pretty cool. COVERED. I loved that part. It was nice to visit with Abbi Gadd a lot too. She's such a cute girl. Can't believe she's going to graduate and be gone to BYU soon! People need to stop growing. 4-5-16
PLAYGROUP
I brought my camp chair and all was well with my hips. Sad that this is what this post has come down to, but it really makes a difference. I'm not sure my emotional state can handle playgroup socializing and YW socializing all in one day. I was pretty exhausted by the end of the night. Not sure what to do about that. 4-6-16
NICE BOY
So again, I was at the school doing fitness testing, on this time in Bradley's class and I met the mom of the girl he has a crush on- this is starting to sound made up, I know, but it really happened!- when she heard who my son was, she got all excited and said that her daughter says he's "one of the nice boys"!! AWWWWWW!! I loved that. I am loving the compliments people, keep 'em coming :). HA! I'm kidding. Sure made my day though. 4-6-16
CAKE DECORATING
We had Alana come do cake decorating with the YW tonight and I have to admit I was slightly disappointed. There were too many girls to do anything real spectacular so it ended up being more of a "here's a cake bag, see what you can do". Which is fine and I think I'm the only one complaining about it :). I just wish we could have done more. Gone into more depth or something. I don't know. I think she should have utilized Bliss and I who know how to do it. Oh well. Can't win 'em all. And Alana is totally adorable with the girls, she's going to be great at Girls Camp. 4-6-16
BOWMAN'S DONUTS
We woke up to 4 large boxes of donuts on our front porch Thursday morning! It was extra special because in my head, as I was coming down the stairs after waking up a little late, I was thinking, "I wish we had some easy breakfast today". Easy breakfast- there it was! With it was this cute note from Bro. Tenney saying how at Bowman's, whatever doesn't get sold, the workers get. So he left those on the porch for "The Maynes Family and Bradley". I'll have to post it. I learned the details when the boys woke up. I guess when Bro. Tenney (Bradley's old Primary teacher) drove by, he stopped to talk to the kids for a minute and then as he left, Bradley called out, "I want donuts!" Just jokingly of course :). It made me laugh that he had left SO MANY, but the kids made good use of them. They were thrilled with the idea of taking a Texas one to Trenton because Trenton had been singing, "I'm not going to stop singing until I get a Texas donut" the day before. That was cute. They quickily left it on his porch. I was proud of them. What a fun surprise though. 4-7-16
NEW LOW
I think I hit a new low on Thursday. I am blaming it on too much socializing all week. I really don't know what got into me. I hate feeling like that. I'm really grateful that I was able to talk myself off the cliff (so to speak, not literal), and I was able to climb out of it for the most part (I still don't think I"m all the way out). I am grateful for the occasional voice of reason that seems to come to my rescue when I need it most. I wish I knew how to avoid these days. It's just not okay to feel like that. I hope it's just hormones. Which I have been breaking out a ton lately, zits EVERYWHERE, which could either be from hormones or that the soft water isn't working, but anyway. I was glad I pulled out of it. I think Dodgeball was one of my saving graces that day as well. Not to mention, Kelly was in a surprisingly good mood as well. So,... anyway. Not sure why I want to document this. 4-7-16
DODGEBALL
The coolest thing happened at Dodgeball Thursday night. Annika Jacox, who is probably the TOUGHEST competitor there ever was for any sport, especially one where you can throw balls at people :), was in attendance. I was glad to see her since she can't always come to other things. She makes me laugh with her serious personality. She seriously throws bullets when she plays. The girls were even warning Kara (our newest Beehive) that she wants to be on Annie's team because of how hard she throws it. So, pretty intense! Well, during one of the team switch-ups they decided to have team captains and pick new teams. Kelly was one of them, and this other girl from another ward was the other one. She was the one who went first and she of course picked Annika. Kelly picked Mahala who is comparable to Annika in intensity and skill. Then I saw the coolest thing ever! Annie was coaching the team captain on who to choose for their team and proceeded to choose all of the girls were not as good as the rest. It was so cool. She never ceases to amaze me. Made my day. 4-7-16
CONSTITUTION BOWL
The day finally arrived for Bradley to show off his stuff at the Constitution Bowl. He has worked SO HARD!!! We both have!! It's been very educational as always :). I really did push Bradley into this and kind of made him do it. But it was for a good cause. I really love having my kids learn that stuff. I think it's invaluable! But it's of course also fun to put it into a competition form. I just wish they could change how it is done. The way they do it really leaves kids feeling no closure. We got to Adelaide pretty early, sat in the car and ran through all the cards one more time. We went through the usual scare of kids not showing up and having to forfeit. Happens every time. Bradley did great every time he was up, but that first team they were up against was INCREDIBLE! They were buzzing in two words in to the question! I couldn't believe how fast they were! Bradley was fast too, but they were insane! So we lost that round. Then we watched two other teams compete before it was our turn again and they were BOTH HORRIBLE! The very first question was the very first question on the packet and neither team was able to answer it!! The preamble even!! Sheesh!! Brooke and I were both wishing we could have gone up against them. Unfortunately, we went up against another really good team for our second round and they barely beat us. Such a bummer. This is the third year in a row that my kid has done this! It's too bad too because Bradley was the most ready out of all of them, and had a pretty good team which is more than I can say for Charity and Kelly. It was over and time to go and all Bradley could say was, "at least we don't have to miss more school!" He really was disturbed by the fact that he was going to be missing class for that! Funny kid. Not sure if we really are related or not :). jk. I wish they could get a little more recognition for all their hard work. Memorizing 100 questions and answers of information that really doesn't come naturally is pretty awesome! But Mrs. Badger did throw them a pizza party. I love that it's given us something to do together though. We don't have much else these days :). I'm proud of him. I hope he does it again next year and that we can talk Luke into doing it as well :). 4-8-16
4.0
Charity got her first (I keep calling it "her first" because I can see this becoming a habit :) ) 4.0! I am so proud of her!! Nate and I wanted to do something special with her to celebrate so at her request we took her to Red Lobster for dinner. It was so much fun to visit with her. She was feeling so talkative. It was fun to get the latest gossip and listen to the wisdom of our cute little 14 year old. She really has a good head on her shoulders. I just couldn't be more proud. I hope she can keep up the good work. 4-8-16
JAZZ VS. CLIPPERS
Nate and I got to go to the Jazz game Friday night! This was Nate's Christmas gift from my Dad, so very much anticipated! They played so well! It was such a close game the whole night! Then we even went into overtime, which they stayed pretty much tied the whole five minutes. It wasn't until the last 0.2 seconds that the Clippers scored a three pointer. So it was pretty sad when our attempt to tie failed. It was sad. Nate was sad. Kind of a bummer to put that much heart into something only to lose, but whatever. It was a fun night for us. Molly even seemed to like the game a little. She did sleep through a quarter and a half, but was so cute when she woke up. She looked like she was all disoriented and looking around, wondering if we'd won while she was out :). Funny girl. I love how easygoing she is. All I have to do is smile and she knows everything is okay and then she just puts up with whatever- kinda cute. Especially with all the noise and yelling. Good times. 4-8-16
SCONES
Everyone brought home their "straight 3" report cards Friday and we wanted to reward them so we took them to Grannie Annie's for breakfast scones on Saturday morning :). What a fun time that was. Minus Erika spilling her ice water all over the front of her when they pulled her in for a picture... Everyone was happy and feeling cool for getting such good grades. I have to mention Kelly! She did such a great job this quarter!! She brought so many of her grades up! She had all A's except an A- and a B+!!! Pretty impressive!! I am just so proud of all of them. They work so hard. It's nice to see them putting effort into life. 4-9-16
VIEWMONT/DAVIS VS. OLYMPUS
Kelly had her first Lacrosse game today!! WAHOO!! We had to drive all the way out to South Jordan and wanted to get there well before it started since her coach had said that the first 11 there get to start :). She was the first one there! She got to start and did SO AWESOME!! She plays defense. She played during the first part of the game and the last part. Pretty fun to watch! It was so thrilling every time they got a goal! We won 7-4!!! Grandma and Grandpa were so close we had to invite them as well and it was fun to have them there to cheer Kelly on and keep us company :). Pretty cool stuff!! Kelly was exhausted when we got home :). I think she'd worked herself up pretty good beforehand. Lots of fun though! 4-9-16
PLAYING BASKETBALL WITH JACK
Jack's latest thing is wanting me (or whoever is available) to play basketball with him. He takes you out by his little basketball hoop and just wants you to stand there, watch and cheer him on as he makes basket after basket. It's hilarious. He is very particular about how you watch though. He make sure that at least once while you're out there, you run your finger around the aiming square and say, "hit it here". Once in a while he wants me to "try to get it" while he's shooting, but for the most part, I'm just supposed to stand there. He no longer allows me to get the ball and make a shot myself. Such a funny little boy. Tonight, though, I was able to teach him how to dribble :). He accepted that and MIGHT do it once or twice, just out of necessity. Makes me laugh. 4-9-16
I really loved conference this time. As usual :). It's always so nice to be able to sit around in your jammies and be edified. We had our creamed eggs on toast for breakfast. For the first session on Saturday we just decided to have everyone just watch and listen. They were able to have snacks here and there. Most of them chose to take notes, Luke and Erika chose to play Conference Bingo. It was nice and pleasant and very uneventful as far as the kids go. I was pretty proud of them. During the second session we did the whole treat thing with the words on the treats, when they say a word you get that treat. We've done this lots and I feel have settled on the perfect way to do it- they keep track of how many times a word is said and then gather them at the end of each talk. Cuts down on traffic and noise. The kids love it. It's definitely a tradition. They all did really well even during the half hour that Nate was gone which is always iffy. I loved the talk that was given right as Nate was leaving about family councils. Our Stake has made a big push for this and we've actually been doing REALLY well at it! I'm not sure it's all that it could be yet, but we're getting there. I loved the ideas given in the talk. I wish I could remember who it was, but I"m thinking it was Elder Cook?? Anyway. On Sunday we woke up a little late, so conference started shortly after. During the first session I let the kids "earn" tickets by listening to the talks and telling me what they learned, also for taking notes, and then for the second session I let them "buy" treats and snacks with their tickets :). It was great! I was happy to empty out the basket of goodies that has been filling up in the pantry. They loved it. It's always hard to listen to the last session (in my opinion), so I was proud of them for sticking with it. Nate was gone for the second session which was a bummer but the kids totally kept the reverence level up. It's so nice to be able to listen to conference these days! I definitely need to go back and read them because I wasn't really able to take notes with Molly in my arms most of the time, but it sure was a nice peaceful weekend. I just love conference!
IDAHO MAYNESES
We had the pleasure of tipping off and then TOPPING off our Spring break with the Idaho Mayneses. They came down again for a session of conference at the Conference Center and needed to pick up the CD with Hannah's pictures, so we decided to make a meal of it and have them for dinner. It was nice that it was Charity's night for dinner and that she was more than capable of making Spaghetti and Meatballs for 15 instead of just 8. She did an excellent job, everyone loved it. It was fun to see them even if it was just for a little pit stop. They did introduce us to Chocolate Chex treats... so yummy! 4-3-16
ALWAYS HAPPY
When I was at the school doing fitness testing for Luke's class I got to meet the mom of the girl he has a crush on, which was fun :), and she said the sweetest thing about Luke, that her daughter had said. She said, "Luke is so funny and always just so happy!" Made my day :). And I had to agree of course. Luke keeps us rolling and with a smile 24/7. Ya never know what you're going to get with that kid. But he's more than a math whiz :). 4-4-16
FHE
Charity gave a really nice, well-planned and thought out lesson on health. She covered all the areas, physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. She did a great job. Incorporated all the different ways of learning. I liked it. We went and got donuts for the treat. Thank you Bowman's :). 4-4-16
BASEBALL
Noah started baseball this week! Wahoo! I'm excited :). Probably more excited than anyone else... including Noah. But that's okay :). He does love it so far. 4-5-16
JEWISH SEDER
We had a really cool Relief Society night Tuesday where Martha's mom came and taught us all about Passover. I really wasn't sure I wanted to go, I hate to be gone so many nights in one week, but I really did want to learn about the symbolism. I'll admit it was difficult for me to get into most of the eating part. I tried. I felt awkward. I kept praying to feel something, this is something that's been a struggle for me in a lot of places lately, feeling, but I never really felt much about the food. I did have a lot of thoughts about Christ and what might have been going through his head during the last supper. How he must have been feeling. Kind of interesting. I wish we had more information on his feelings through it all. But toward the end when she started talking about all the symbolism in more detail (or maybe just simpler terms) I REALLY got into that. I love learning all the symbolism. Especially the part about how a mother lamb will only feed a lamb from a deceased ewe if the new lamb is covered in the skin of her own. Pretty cool. COVERED. I loved that part. It was nice to visit with Abbi Gadd a lot too. She's such a cute girl. Can't believe she's going to graduate and be gone to BYU soon! People need to stop growing. 4-5-16
PLAYGROUP
I brought my camp chair and all was well with my hips. Sad that this is what this post has come down to, but it really makes a difference. I'm not sure my emotional state can handle playgroup socializing and YW socializing all in one day. I was pretty exhausted by the end of the night. Not sure what to do about that. 4-6-16
NICE BOY
So again, I was at the school doing fitness testing, on this time in Bradley's class and I met the mom of the girl he has a crush on- this is starting to sound made up, I know, but it really happened!- when she heard who my son was, she got all excited and said that her daughter says he's "one of the nice boys"!! AWWWWWW!! I loved that. I am loving the compliments people, keep 'em coming :). HA! I'm kidding. Sure made my day though. 4-6-16
CAKE DECORATING
We had Alana come do cake decorating with the YW tonight and I have to admit I was slightly disappointed. There were too many girls to do anything real spectacular so it ended up being more of a "here's a cake bag, see what you can do". Which is fine and I think I'm the only one complaining about it :). I just wish we could have done more. Gone into more depth or something. I don't know. I think she should have utilized Bliss and I who know how to do it. Oh well. Can't win 'em all. And Alana is totally adorable with the girls, she's going to be great at Girls Camp. 4-6-16
BOWMAN'S DONUTS
We woke up to 4 large boxes of donuts on our front porch Thursday morning! It was extra special because in my head, as I was coming down the stairs after waking up a little late, I was thinking, "I wish we had some easy breakfast today". Easy breakfast- there it was! With it was this cute note from Bro. Tenney saying how at Bowman's, whatever doesn't get sold, the workers get. So he left those on the porch for "The Maynes Family and Bradley". I'll have to post it. I learned the details when the boys woke up. I guess when Bro. Tenney (Bradley's old Primary teacher) drove by, he stopped to talk to the kids for a minute and then as he left, Bradley called out, "I want donuts!" Just jokingly of course :). It made me laugh that he had left SO MANY, but the kids made good use of them. They were thrilled with the idea of taking a Texas one to Trenton because Trenton had been singing, "I'm not going to stop singing until I get a Texas donut" the day before. That was cute. They quickily left it on his porch. I was proud of them. What a fun surprise though. 4-7-16
NEW LOW
I think I hit a new low on Thursday. I am blaming it on too much socializing all week. I really don't know what got into me. I hate feeling like that. I'm really grateful that I was able to talk myself off the cliff (so to speak, not literal), and I was able to climb out of it for the most part (I still don't think I"m all the way out). I am grateful for the occasional voice of reason that seems to come to my rescue when I need it most. I wish I knew how to avoid these days. It's just not okay to feel like that. I hope it's just hormones. Which I have been breaking out a ton lately, zits EVERYWHERE, which could either be from hormones or that the soft water isn't working, but anyway. I was glad I pulled out of it. I think Dodgeball was one of my saving graces that day as well. Not to mention, Kelly was in a surprisingly good mood as well. So,... anyway. Not sure why I want to document this. 4-7-16
DODGEBALL
The coolest thing happened at Dodgeball Thursday night. Annika Jacox, who is probably the TOUGHEST competitor there ever was for any sport, especially one where you can throw balls at people :), was in attendance. I was glad to see her since she can't always come to other things. She makes me laugh with her serious personality. She seriously throws bullets when she plays. The girls were even warning Kara (our newest Beehive) that she wants to be on Annie's team because of how hard she throws it. So, pretty intense! Well, during one of the team switch-ups they decided to have team captains and pick new teams. Kelly was one of them, and this other girl from another ward was the other one. She was the one who went first and she of course picked Annika. Kelly picked Mahala who is comparable to Annika in intensity and skill. Then I saw the coolest thing ever! Annie was coaching the team captain on who to choose for their team and proceeded to choose all of the girls were not as good as the rest. It was so cool. She never ceases to amaze me. Made my day. 4-7-16
CONSTITUTION BOWL
The day finally arrived for Bradley to show off his stuff at the Constitution Bowl. He has worked SO HARD!!! We both have!! It's been very educational as always :). I really did push Bradley into this and kind of made him do it. But it was for a good cause. I really love having my kids learn that stuff. I think it's invaluable! But it's of course also fun to put it into a competition form. I just wish they could change how it is done. The way they do it really leaves kids feeling no closure. We got to Adelaide pretty early, sat in the car and ran through all the cards one more time. We went through the usual scare of kids not showing up and having to forfeit. Happens every time. Bradley did great every time he was up, but that first team they were up against was INCREDIBLE! They were buzzing in two words in to the question! I couldn't believe how fast they were! Bradley was fast too, but they were insane! So we lost that round. Then we watched two other teams compete before it was our turn again and they were BOTH HORRIBLE! The very first question was the very first question on the packet and neither team was able to answer it!! The preamble even!! Sheesh!! Brooke and I were both wishing we could have gone up against them. Unfortunately, we went up against another really good team for our second round and they barely beat us. Such a bummer. This is the third year in a row that my kid has done this! It's too bad too because Bradley was the most ready out of all of them, and had a pretty good team which is more than I can say for Charity and Kelly. It was over and time to go and all Bradley could say was, "at least we don't have to miss more school!" He really was disturbed by the fact that he was going to be missing class for that! Funny kid. Not sure if we really are related or not :). jk. I wish they could get a little more recognition for all their hard work. Memorizing 100 questions and answers of information that really doesn't come naturally is pretty awesome! But Mrs. Badger did throw them a pizza party. I love that it's given us something to do together though. We don't have much else these days :). I'm proud of him. I hope he does it again next year and that we can talk Luke into doing it as well :). 4-8-16
4.0
Charity got her first (I keep calling it "her first" because I can see this becoming a habit :) ) 4.0! I am so proud of her!! Nate and I wanted to do something special with her to celebrate so at her request we took her to Red Lobster for dinner. It was so much fun to visit with her. She was feeling so talkative. It was fun to get the latest gossip and listen to the wisdom of our cute little 14 year old. She really has a good head on her shoulders. I just couldn't be more proud. I hope she can keep up the good work. 4-8-16
JAZZ VS. CLIPPERS
Nate and I got to go to the Jazz game Friday night! This was Nate's Christmas gift from my Dad, so very much anticipated! They played so well! It was such a close game the whole night! Then we even went into overtime, which they stayed pretty much tied the whole five minutes. It wasn't until the last 0.2 seconds that the Clippers scored a three pointer. So it was pretty sad when our attempt to tie failed. It was sad. Nate was sad. Kind of a bummer to put that much heart into something only to lose, but whatever. It was a fun night for us. Molly even seemed to like the game a little. She did sleep through a quarter and a half, but was so cute when she woke up. She looked like she was all disoriented and looking around, wondering if we'd won while she was out :). Funny girl. I love how easygoing she is. All I have to do is smile and she knows everything is okay and then she just puts up with whatever- kinda cute. Especially with all the noise and yelling. Good times. 4-8-16
SCONES
Everyone brought home their "straight 3" report cards Friday and we wanted to reward them so we took them to Grannie Annie's for breakfast scones on Saturday morning :). What a fun time that was. Minus Erika spilling her ice water all over the front of her when they pulled her in for a picture... Everyone was happy and feeling cool for getting such good grades. I have to mention Kelly! She did such a great job this quarter!! She brought so many of her grades up! She had all A's except an A- and a B+!!! Pretty impressive!! I am just so proud of all of them. They work so hard. It's nice to see them putting effort into life. 4-9-16
VIEWMONT/DAVIS VS. OLYMPUS
Kelly had her first Lacrosse game today!! WAHOO!! We had to drive all the way out to South Jordan and wanted to get there well before it started since her coach had said that the first 11 there get to start :). She was the first one there! She got to start and did SO AWESOME!! She plays defense. She played during the first part of the game and the last part. Pretty fun to watch! It was so thrilling every time they got a goal! We won 7-4!!! Grandma and Grandpa were so close we had to invite them as well and it was fun to have them there to cheer Kelly on and keep us company :). Pretty cool stuff!! Kelly was exhausted when we got home :). I think she'd worked herself up pretty good beforehand. Lots of fun though! 4-9-16
PLAYING BASKETBALL WITH JACK
Jack's latest thing is wanting me (or whoever is available) to play basketball with him. He takes you out by his little basketball hoop and just wants you to stand there, watch and cheer him on as he makes basket after basket. It's hilarious. He is very particular about how you watch though. He make sure that at least once while you're out there, you run your finger around the aiming square and say, "hit it here". Once in a while he wants me to "try to get it" while he's shooting, but for the most part, I'm just supposed to stand there. He no longer allows me to get the ball and make a shot myself. Such a funny little boy. Tonight, though, I was able to teach him how to dribble :). He accepted that and MIGHT do it once or twice, just out of necessity. Makes me laugh. 4-9-16
Sunday, April 3, 2016
Winning Gracefully
WINNING GRACEFULLY
So after the results came in- I have to laugh about how anxious and eager Mr. Flynn was to get the news out- calling me at the sight of my email and filling me in on all the info- he had been so thrilled about Luke's efforts the night before and so happy that Luke finished at the top that he wanted to make sure Rhyder (the third grader who came in second- which was a pretty close second and quite the little battle with Luke during those last days of the competition) knew that his efforts didn't go unrecognized or unappreciated. He called me as he was buying donuts for Rhyder asking if Luke and I would go with him to congratulate him on his second place position. He wanted a picture of Luke and Rhyder together as well. So we did :). I really loved that Luke was on board and only asked why as we were driving over to his house. I was grateful for the opportunity to teach him about being a graceful winner and that it's cool to win, and beat him the way he did, but that Rhyder really did work so hard and deserved a little recognition as well. Luke was awesome, handed him the donuts, shook his hand :) then stood there smiling for the picture with him. They had been neck and neck most of that last half of the final round, it was probably the difference of bed time that gave Luke the lead :). But how cool. I think Mr. Flynn is so good at teaching these kids more than just academics. It was really neat. 4-1-16
So after the results came in- I have to laugh about how anxious and eager Mr. Flynn was to get the news out- calling me at the sight of my email and filling me in on all the info- he had been so thrilled about Luke's efforts the night before and so happy that Luke finished at the top that he wanted to make sure Rhyder (the third grader who came in second- which was a pretty close second and quite the little battle with Luke during those last days of the competition) knew that his efforts didn't go unrecognized or unappreciated. He called me as he was buying donuts for Rhyder asking if Luke and I would go with him to congratulate him on his second place position. He wanted a picture of Luke and Rhyder together as well. So we did :). I really loved that Luke was on board and only asked why as we were driving over to his house. I was grateful for the opportunity to teach him about being a graceful winner and that it's cool to win, and beat him the way he did, but that Rhyder really did work so hard and deserved a little recognition as well. Luke was awesome, handed him the donuts, shook his hand :) then stood there smiling for the picture with him. They had been neck and neck most of that last half of the final round, it was probably the difference of bed time that gave Luke the lead :). But how cool. I think Mr. Flynn is so good at teaching these kids more than just academics. It was really neat. 4-1-16
(I still kind of think Mr. Flynn is just grooming this kid to be in his class next year :). hahahaha)
TTM Cafe
Thursday was the last day of the Final Tournament in TTM. Bradley and Luke were both totally geared up to TTM it all day! We had agreed to host a TTM Cafe at our house for Luke's class (basically for Mr. Flynn, but yeah :)). It was funny how into it Mr. Flynn was. He came all prepared with extension cords and pencil sharpener, scratch pads for the kids and pencils. We had 13 kids from Luke's class show up. They all worked really hard, talked a little and then Mr. Flynn put the kabosh on the talking and laughing and made sure they were all focusing :). HAHA!! He was hilarious. Really cracking the whip :). "Focus on the questions.... If you're not going to focus then there's no point in doing it!... Read the question through twice and then raise your hand if you don't get it.... NO GUESSING!...." The list goes on... cracks me up still just thinking about it. He really is a very devoted teacher. And competitive :). It's funny to see what this tournament did to him. The kids all worked really hard for a couple hours. I was surprised they didn't stay longer, but whatever, it was a good effort. We fed them lots of food and goodies... turned out to be a really productive time as well- we got over 300 passoffs during our TTM cafe with just Luke's class. Pretty awesome. We got to sit and visit with Mr. Flynn for another hour or so. That was cool. He's very wise. Old people are :). Don't ask him how old he is... that was awkward. I did get some pictures. And all of Luke's siblings were so good during the whole home invasion! I was so proud of them all! They all helped clean up the house and then set it up for everyone. Bradley worked hard on TTM the whole time. Charity ran around helping kids and even hovered over a couple at Mr. Flynn's request, just to make sure they got the help when they needed it. Kelly made our little chime at each passoff, ran around doing random odds and ends, helped with the food, AND made all our awesome signs. Noah was the main scorekeeper, put tally marks on the board the WHOLE time (except when he went to the bathroom :) ). Erika was so awesome to just keep herself busy :). It was funny to see her in my peripheral rollerblading outside (alone even since "her only friend was gone"), playing with dolls, helping pass out candy, you name it. She was busy. Jack just kind of wandered around the whole time, but I thought it was super awesome that he was so easygoing and didn't need a whole lot. It was pretty fun when he started screaming down the stairs, "MOOOOOM!! COME WIPE MY BUMB!!!" And sweet Molly slept through most of it! Believe it or not!! It was pretty quiet for how many kids were here. Then just needed to be carried around the rest of the time. She's such a good baby. It was nice that everyone helped things to go so smoothly- it really couldn't have gone better.
You can see Luke poking up from downstairs. I had purposely put him at the head of the kitchen table with my laptop so that he could be with his friends and be in all these pictures and just be part of the big group and being the social butterfly that he is, he went right back down to the old computer because he likes that he can push enter to submit his answer instead of having to click on it with the mouse- "it's way faster!" Funny guy. He definitely wasn't in this for the social aspect :).
I think this is the kid whose mom promised him $100 if he got 100 passoffs!! HOLY MOLY!! We thought we were generous offering Luke a Dylan's shake for getting to 1,000 :). Which was mostly just because Mr. Flynn wanted him to finish on top :). Imagine if we gave him $1.00 per passoff- he'd have $1,300.00+!!! Crazy.
I think we were missing someone in this picture?
One with their biggest supporter and fan and motivator, and whip cracker...
Once he got past 1,000 he started getting questions he had seen before, which kind of blows my mind... so things got REALLY easy then.
What a fun experience for these kids though. I really am glad they had the opportunity. I'm glad we got to participate a little.
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