{1st Week of February}

This week has been another busy one. But that is our normal around here so we just keep on going.

A highlight for the week was that K. earned his "gold star pin" at school this week. You receive one at the end of a quarter if you have gotten straight A's. He worked hard this quarter to get to have the pin and go to lunch with the headmaster of our school and the other straight A scholars. We are always proud of him and his ability to understand concepts presented at school with out much difficulty. School seems to come very easily to him...sometimes too easily.

On Friday, C. K. and E. all went to a hockey game. They have discovered that they all enjoy going to the games after their first game over Christmas break. I think they will be trying to go to one game a month through the hockey season. They all have a great time! I on the other hand, stayed home and enjoyed the quiet.

{Jobs}

So in our house everyone has "jobs" to do. This summer a few new ones have been added to the list the boys can do on their own...which I am happy to report that laundry is one of them.

K can now load the washer, add soap and start it without assistance. So E sorts laundry and K loads and makes the switch to the dryer. E unloads the dryer and puts it on the blue couch where the boys sort, fold and hang their clothing.

This has changed my week!! They are really good at it and we have had no big laundry accidents yet...

I did tell them that when school starts again it will go back to being a Mom Job b/c they won't have all the extra time they have over the summer.

E has also gained more bathroom jobs. This is him cleaning the mirror this week. I thought it was funny that he was standing in the sink....he said he forgot about the mirror and did the counter first, then remembered and stood in the sink since he hadn't cleaned that yet. Very resourceful I think!

Afterthought...okay so I am not making them do the whole house's laundry just thier own. And they like it.....really they do. They have said to me how easy the job is but it is a lot of trying to remember to get it in the dryer later. They have had nights where they have no clean jammies b/c they forgot to switch it over to the dryer. Learning from little mistakes now is good I hope.

{time measured by kitchen appliances}

So about a month ago our blender died....a quiet death...we went to use it and discovered it was leaking from somewhere that was not able to be fixed so we threw it away.

Two weeks ago I went to use the salad shooter and it shocked me, made a spark, and then made a wonderful metal grating noise. Away in the trash that went

Then tonight....the rice cooker. You physically have to hold the cook button down for it to cook the rice. First I stood there mad for a minute holding down the button. Then Kaden came in the house so I made him hold the button while I looked for tape. The tape worked okay but you have to check on it every 5 minutes or so b/c it needs to be re taped down again.

Can you see the tape in the picture?

Dinner was fine and I can't replace the rice cooker now so we will live with taping it down. I figured we would get a new blender closer to hot weather when we make a lot of smoothies. I don't even think they make salad shooter anymore....it makes me sad.

But we realized all those appliances were given to us when we got married....13 years ago. So it mighty be time for things to stop working....I just wish it didn't have to happen all at once!

A Favorite Time of the Year

Almost Time to find some girl scouts.

Here in Vegas they stand in front of grocery stores, and don't go door to door like the good old days. But that doesn't stop us.

Last year we drove to the grocery store and saw the girls out there. The boys were yelling "there are the cookie girls!" We couldn't find a parking spot and E was keeping a close eye on them. To his horror they were packing up and he started yelling..."They are leaving!!" I still couldn't find a spot but I did spy out more girl scouts going over to set up thier cookie stand....What a relief to the boys...they weren't leaving. And after finding a spot we got our 8 packs of cookies and headed home.

This year we will get more and I'll hide a box or two of thin mints in the back of the freezer to pull out in July for some yummy frozen goodness!

Something New

So the past two nights....I think it was only two...the boys have had what we call "family sleepovers" We don't do sleepovers at friends houses so they have never had that real sleepover experience but this week we have pulled Ethan's mattress out to the front room and let the boys stay up too late and watch movies. the first night we all slept out there the second night I gave up and went to my bed and Chad slept out there. Tonight everyone will be tucked into their beds in their bedrooms and we will wait for another fun occasion to roll around to do it again....

Only here...

So this is what Ethan brought into the house today after jumping on the trampoline...

Sorry it's so blurry

You see we plant our garden in February every year and usually by July everything is dead. this year the tomatoes have made a come back and seem to have survived our two days of snow last week. Only Ethan eats tomatoes in this household so he was very happy to get a few more.

What we did today....

Since the boys are out of school....this is one thing we did today....

I remember going bowling every time we went to my Grandma's house in North Carolina and we went there for Thanksgiving some years...so it felt right to be bowling over the boys thanksgiving break....

And Chad lost to Kaden(in the first game and when you combine both games scores K=232 C=214)...I think the boys are going to start giving Chad a run for his money now when Chad doesn't take this very seriously. All of my boys are very competative so this is pretty great in Kaden's world!

So Happy

You know how little things can make you so much happier?

Well after Plymouth day at school I stopped to get gas by the boys school and this is what i saw.....

I was amazed and so excited!! Chad laughed at me for taking a picture but to fill the jeep was really killing me lately so this was a great treat....Gas is still over 2.20 up at our house so I'll be checking in there whenever I drive to school.

Ethan's Badge

Ethan was so proud of himself when I picked him up from school on Tuesday. He got into the car and immediately asked if I noticed his "badge" that he got for voting. I asked what they were voting for he said "president" like I was really dumb. So I asked who he voted for to which he said "McCain".

Then we get home and he shows Chad the "badge" and Chad asks "who did you vote for?" To which Ethan answered "Obama"

I think our child doesn't know who he voted for but he was sure that the "score" was 7 to 3. But he doesn't know who won either.

Get out and VOTE

Okay this will be my last post reminding you to VOTE.
I don't care who you vote for or any of that.

I just want you all to vote.

Take the time and learn and than vote.

You can do it.

It's part of this great country we live in and we are so lucky

to be able to have the freedom's we have so ......

GET OUT AND VOTE!!!

(turn on your volume for this little song)

A Big Mess

I decided this last week or two that I was no longer going to beg the boys to clean their room or clean it myself so I would just close the door and keep on walking. I figured it was theirs to clean up and I will just work on them getting the other chores done around the house instead. Well Thursday rolls around and the boys don't have school and I hear E say to K "Mom's going to make us clean our room." to which K tells him "just close the door and maybe she won't see it." And I am just fine with that. So than I tell C this and he doesn't find it funny and says he will make them clean their room Saturday. So after and hour in their room Saturday morning it is now clean and mostly by them with direction from Dad.

But here is the before picture....it looks better than it did b/c you can't see all the layers of mess there was.

VOTE VOTE VOTE

What we have been doing....

Well after 5 days of sick kids both boys were finally back in school on Friday. They both missed school on Tuesday, than Ethan was home Wednesday and Thursday. He returned right in time for his first field trip on Friday. Then at 130 the teacher called to tell me Ethan's face was covered in bumps and tiger stripes....a reaction to rolling down a hill of freshly cut grass we figure. So it was an eventful day back for him.

Today we had Ethan soccer game, where I am so lucky to be able to run up and down the field with the kids explaining the rules every time the whistle blows. (sense the sarcasm there?! well it is) So now after last weeks game I am the person who gets to help the team out by spreading the kids out on the field and explaining who gets to kickoff, do a corner kick, goal kick, or tell them which direction we are going on the field. I am certainly getting my work out on Saturdays.

But here is what I really have been doing for two days...and today Chad and Kaden helped me get it all moved in. Mine is the overfull one...Chad's is the empty one waiting for something to happen....

They started off white, now black and I love them so much more. We had moved mine in when it was white and it was too plain for this room since the walls are white.

Also I wanted to find something to fill this candle holder with and I found a bag of fake autumn veggies at Micheals so here it is....a bit more fall in our summer like Vegas weather.

BIg Day for Ethan

Ethan Scored His FIRST GOAL EVER TODAY

&

He LOST HIS FIRST TOOTH!!

Our Weekend...

This weekend was more relaxing and we won't have one of those again for 8 weeks since soccer officially began last Friday night.

Ethan decided to play again this year but Kaden doesn't want too so we won't be sitting on the field for 2-4 hours every Saturday this season...good thing or bad thing I haven't decided yet but I'm sure we will fill up the "extra" time.

Friday night was Ethans first practice of the season. We lucked out in that Ethan has Kaden's wonderful coach from last year and Chad gets to be the asst coach this season.

Saturday I went to Time Out For Women. It is a day long "fireside type" lecture series done my deseret book. It was wonderful. The speakers were great and I got to be with some of my favorite friends of all times....thanks for going with me, Holly Britain and Heather!

Chad got to be with the boys all day, taking Ethan to a bowling birthday party and bowling a little with kaden. They seemed to have a lot of fun.

Sunday was church. Lots for me to do there as always.

Monday we were back into the swing of speech piano and errands. Plus a bonus..meeting my brother his wife and 2 girls at the library. A great way to make the trip seem a bit more worthwhile. We love to visit with the girls and find out what they are up too.

Have a great week and I'll try to carry my camera around more often.

Homework

4:30 in our house is designated homework time. This gives the boys about 1.5 hours to do whatever after they get home and then get started on homework. Ethan usually chooses to get his done right when he gets home from school, because that is Ethan. If he knows there is something to be done he wants to get it out of the way right away...this is his way with homework, chores, errands, anything. He is my child that will get up and do chores right away if I leave a list out the night before (all summer this was his pattern). It is nice but sometimes I'm not organized enough for that.

And it doesn't hurt that when you finish your piano and your homework you can play Wii until dinner. Wii is a great part of Ethan's life right now.

So here are our boys hard at work.

Yes Ethan is in his jammies, he wears them all the time. As soon as he is in the door from school he is out of his uniform and into jammies.

And Yes Kaden has dirt down his face, he had been out jumping on the trampoline and it is still hot here so a little sweat and dirt make a great dirty face.

Hello!

Well I figured I love reading all about what my family and friends are doing out in the world so it was time to jump on the blog-wagon and create a blog about us.....



So we'll just start today and see how it goes.



This was our first Monday since school starts that we had all of our extra-curricular stuff to do. The boys only go to school Tuesday-Friday so we always have Mondays at home, I LOVE this. So I deem Monday as everyone sleeps in day, with the exception of Chad since someone has to earn the money around here.



We slept in as much as we could and than the boys got to stay in the Jammie's until 11 am. They love to stay in Jammie's, especially Ethan, so that is always a treat.



Mondays means:

Ethan has speech therapy

Ethan has piano

Kaden has piano

Both have to finish Friday and Monday homework since we say no homework on Fridays

a trip to the grocery store

and a few chores.



Today was the first day we had everything to do....we just started piano today with a wonderful friend from our ward.







So now dinner is simmering, the boys are playing wii while dressed in capes and all black (i don't know who or what they are), and reading their info on Egypt they just received from grandma apo and sitting on the new towels grandma apo also sent. They are very busy while playing wii.