J's 7th Field Day

Yesterday was J's 7th field day, but it was his first one that he got to participate in.  He was so excited!  He has been watching field days since he was V's age.  Every year at least two field days and FINALLY, one for him!   (The two came first from both K and C, but I also went each year to the field days for the girls that I mentored.)  He was always such a good sport, but it was so refreshing to have him get to participate.  Now it is V's turn to watch.  :)  She will have 6 of them before she starts Kindergarten also.


As you know, I loved, loved, loved the elementary school where K and C went.  Loved it.  But, last year we moved.  That means that J started at a different elementary school.  I love it!  Love it!  Love it!  The school is amazing.  They are so organized and so family-oriented.  I love being there and I love what this school does for the kids.  We are so blessed.

 Here he is ready to go- swim trunks and all.  :)

 The weather pulled a fast one on us.  It started out warm and the hourly prediction is that it would continue to warm up.  It was a little foggy, but nothing else.  Hmmm....that is not how it ended up being.  It got colder and colder.  The funny thing was I almost grabbed a jacket for V, but decided that I am always the over-prepared mom and I decided to go with the weather forecast and brought sunscreen, but no jacket.


Right away I had her snuggled up in her blanket in the stroller.  At least she was smiling!

 First, J walked on these stilt cups.  It was hard for him, but it was hard for most of the Kindergarteners.

 Next they did a wet-sponge-over-the-head relay.  They were soooooooooooo cold after this!  All of them were shivering and shivering.

 Luckily, the over-prepared in me had brought a towel for J that not only dried him off, but warmed him up.

 V did so well.  We were there for about three hours and she just was amazing, especially for having me awaken her early, change her, and put her directly in her car seat.  Here she is chilling and drinking her morning bottle.

 They had 16 stations.  This was one of their favorites - an obstacle course bounce house.  It was hard to get pictures of them, they were moving so fast while jumping and the obstacles were in the way.

 Another one was balloon volleyball, modified for Kindergarten.  Some of the 8th graders from the middle school had been asked to help with this field day.  These young men stood on one side of the net and tossed the balloons over for the Kindergarteners to catch.  It was so sweet to watch them on their patience, as well as how well planned this was for this age group.  By now, the rain had begun and everything and everyone was wet.

 I love J's face of concentration in the above picture.

 When it began to rain kind of hard, I pulled out the hat I had for V to protect her from the sun (HA!) and put J's towel over the stroller and really tried to keep her dry.  She seems to be having a good time in her little cave.

 What would a field day be with a sack race?

 They were throwing sponges for another water game.  I just loved catching the throwing action in this picture.

 The rain turned into sprinkles and V was tired.  She fussed a little, but I rocked her in my arms until she fell asleep.  I then was able to put her back in the stroller.  It did mean that I wasn't able to take pictures of a few of the events.  That is just fine.  We have plenty!

 This was a fun one where they had to run with these pizza boxes AND jump hurdles.  It was cute.  I especially loved the action that I caught with this picture as he leaped the hurdle.

 The sun is coming out finally (for only the last three events), but you can finally see the shadows!

 I included a series of pictures with this event, since the pure joy on their faces is priceless as they try to keep that ball from touching the ground.  :)

 And, a V update....she spit out her pacifier, and was raising her hand (while sleeping).

 Tire rolling.

Last event...This one was supposed to be with the buckets overhead, but since it was the last event, they let the kids choose.  I think this was because they would be headed inside and might not want to be sopping wet.

And this is how V ended the day.  This is the back of the stroller.  It is hard to visualize, but she is sticking her hand out the back of the stroller (still sleeping).  It is super cute.

What a great morning.  I am so lucky that I get to be a mom.  So lucky.  I love each of my kids so very much.  Love them.  I am so blessed.  I have a good life.

Last Tuesday: C's Band Concert (May 7, 2013)

 On Tuesday, I got to go to C's band concert.  I feel so blessed to have been able to attend, especially with our very crazy Tuesdays.  CK took J and V to J's football game, a ward member picked K up with Young Women, and I went with C to the concert.  I wish everyone could have come.  As it is, he had to miss both baseball practice and scouts.  -sigh-  You know how I love Tuesdays!  I don't mind them too much actually, they are just busy and we cannot all be together and supporting each other and I don't like that part at all.

Here is C coming in with the trumpet section

C is behind taller people, including a young lady with a pony tail.  Look closely, though, and you can find him!

When they played, particularly the first song, it brought tears to my eyes.  They have come so far.  This beginner band is making legitimate and beautiful music.  Last fall, their concert consisted mostly of showing off how they did warm ups.  Now they play together in a beautiful harmony!  It is awesome!

C and his two friends performed in a trumpet trio for competition.  They did well.  And, last minute, their teacher asked them to perform at the concert.  They did well again!

Here is C with the trophy that their band earned at competition.  It was the highest achievement that they could get.  Way to go, Band!

C is great at the trumpet and he LOVES it.  I am so grateful for both.  I love hearing music in my home.  I love it that he frequently pulls out his trumpet and the hymnbook and fills our home with hymns.  Beautiful!  I love it!  :)  I am so blessed to be a mom.  So blessed indeed!

We all make mistakes....and it warms this mother's heart

Tonight, I just have a quick story that I would like to preserve in our family history, a.k.a. my blog. 

Today, J came home from school and says, "I have two bad things that happened, one was my fault."  When I asked him to explain what had happened, he told me that he had a sub at school (that was the bad thing that wasn't his fault).  They had been allowed to play math centers and he and his friend had worked together to build some towers with their blocks.  J had then decided that they should show the sub and tell her that his friend made one tower and he made the other, all by themselves (instead of telling her that they did them together).

This is what they did.  J explained that after they did that, he felt really bad and yucky for lying to the teacher.  He said that he went into his cubby and prayed and asked for forgiveness then he tried to get his friend to go with him to explain to the sub that they had lied and that they had really worked together.  His friend said, "I lie all the time, it isn't a big deal" and they ended up not saying anything.

WOW!  I am so impressed.  We all make mistakes and we all need to repent.  J put into practice many lessons today:  recognizing the bad feeling that comes with making bad choices, the need to repent, and the joy of correcting the mistakes that have been made.  I hope he always remember this.  Oh, the faith of a young child.  I am blessed to be his Mom.

Family party

We started a new monthly tradition on Saturday. Earlier in the week, I sent out invitations to each child inviting them to our family party. They were excited!

We began with a pre-fast meal of steak, potatoes, and vegetables. Then, we watched The Incredibles. J is always scared of movies! But, even he did okay with this one. I think he felt safe with K putting her arms around him.

Finally, I made S'mores.  These were the funniest S'mores ever.  I decided it was too hot for a fire in the fireplace to roast the marshmallows so I used a recipe on the box of graham crackers that called for those huge campfire marshmallows.  I followed the recipe and this is what I got:

 

When I went into the kitchen, I said something like, "The S'mores are puffy!!!"  No one understood what I meant until they saw them for themselves.  We laughed and laughed and laughed.  Most of the S'mores went down the sink (they were too sticky to pull off and trash), but it was worth it for the fun we had.  

So...Family Party #1:  Success!!!  I am so blessed.  I have a great family.

Tuesdays

Our Tuesdays are crazy.  They have become more and more full and there doesn't seem to be a distribution of the wealth.

Last Tuesday was so crazy that I had to create a schedule.  For our Family History sake, I thought it would be fun to include it.  I should have just taken a picture of it....but I crossed them off as we went and I don't know how readable they would be in a picture.

Tues. Schedule

4:30 Dinner

4:45 M leaves to get C from trumpet private lesson

5:15 Family Prayer

5:30 D drives K to school for NJHS induction (she is helping induct the 7th graders)

        Then D and C run to the store to buy a baseball

        Then D and C go to C's baseball practice (starts at 6:00)

5:50 M and J and V leave to meet the cub scouts at the park where they are hiking

6:45 M and J and V leave the park to head to the church to be there for C's Court of Honor

7:00  All but K at Court of Honor

7:30  D goes to presidency meeting

        And M and J and V head to the middle school to pick up K

7:50  M drops off J and K at the house

8:00  M and V at the church for Cub Scout form turn-in

8:25  M and C and V go home

We had to skip a couple of things that we just could not fit in the evening:  J's football practice (6:30) and K's Young Women's activity.  J was so bummed that he could not go to football - he loves it, but we only have two drivers.

The next couple of Tuesdays are equally as bad!  I don't even know when D (CK)'s presidency meetings, visits, and missionary exchanges will be yet!

Next Tuesday we have C's band concert, C's trumpet lesson, J's football (game), C's baseball practice, K's young women, and C's scouts.  Something will have to give for sure!

And the next Tuesday:  I have to be at Pack Meeting, and C's trumpet lesson, J's football practice (last one!), C's baseball practice, K's young women activity, and C's scouts.

Still crazy the next Tuesday, but at least J's football will be over.  K's choir concert, C's trumpet lesson, C's baseball practice, K's young women, and C's scouts.

I am a huge believer in not over-scheduling and the rest of the week....no problem, but, for some reason to have both boys' sports, plus church activities, plus school events all on the same night.....it ends up being overscheduled, but just for Tuesdays!  :)  It looks like I will be doing Crock-pot meals on Tuesdays.  If anyone has any family favorite Crock-pot meals, I would love them!!!  All-in-all, we are so blessed to have so many kids and so many activities for each one!  :)

Monthly weekend in St. Louis

This last weekend was our monthly time with A.   We are so blessed that we get to see her every month, whether here or there, we always get to see her!  We are grateful!

So, last Friday began with me dropping CK off at the airport.  Originally he was the only one going.  The fourth weekend is usually split between XDH and I, as far as K, C, and J go.  But, I miss A so very much and XDH wasn't going to get a full weekend in May due to Mother's day.  When I asked if he would like to have an extra full weekend in April, he was happy to do that.  I am grateful.

So, CK took V's stuff and my stuff with him and V and I headed to the airport 11 hours later to catch a late flight after dropping the other three off with Dad.

Unfortunately, our plane was delayed (but not when I checked BEFORE I got to the airport, of course!).  Fortunately, though, V did very well.  She played:

 She looked around and charmed all around her:

 She took her late night bottle:

 The flight was quite empty and we had a whole row.  That was nice.  She was a little grumpy, especially at first (when she was screaming), but she then slept off and on and the flight wasn't too bad.

We were so glad to be together with A and CK.  The only thing that would have been better is to have K, C, and J too and our entire family together.  Next month!

 On Saturday, we went to see a Robotics competition.  We had to walk a long ways in the pouring rain.  We parked close to the building, but the doors were locked and the next doors were locked and the next doors were locked.  Finally, the fourth or fifth set was open....and we were soaked.  

But, the competition was so cool.  The teams were from all over the US and some from all over the world.  The robots were programmed to do some things on their own and then they were controlled by the teams.  It was very fascinating.

 After the competition, we went and grabbed some lunch at Steak and Shake.  It ended up being a challenge to find somewhere to eat.  We were glad when we saw a Steak and Shake and A found something yummy on the menu.

And, of course, we took a bunch of family pictures.  We love being together.  We love spending the time strengthening our family.  Goodbye is always difficult, but it just shows how much we love each other.  As I have said before, we don't have an ideal family, but we have a great one.  We are so lucky.  I feel so blessed!  :)

Cousins!

I am so lucky to have two of my nieces over today. These are the three youngest cousins. V is loving having kids to play with. I am loving playing Guess Who And reading books. I am so blessed that we live close to each other.

Look at T bounce in that second picture!!!

In some ways, she is sooooooooooooo like me!

For those of you that know us - and even if you have just seen our pictures - K really doesn't look anything like me.  She is pretty much all her dad.  She even has a lot of her dad's personality too.  Pretty cool. 

But, every once in a while, I see her exhibiting characteristics of me.  This one is fun:  She is so sentimental.  And, she remembers things. 

As an example, this is her one year to the day from when she changed schools and started her new school.  She remembered what she wore and how it felt.  She wore the same clothes and thought a lot about what happened last year when she switched.

It was a tough move for her.  She had great friends at her old school and it was hard to leave.

But, she is an amazing girl and she is tough.  She persevered through the hard and horrible times and now LOVES her school and LOVES her friends.  She is thriving.  I am so proud of her.  I am blessed to be her Mom.  I love talking with her and hanging out with her.  She has matured so much and she is so much fun.  I can't imagine my life without her, nor do I want to.  I love her very much.  I know she is nervous to begin high school next year, but she will thrive there as well, I am sure.  :)