{listening}

So one of my new favorite things to do is to work in a different room than the boys are in and listen to their conversations. They are so funny and don't even know it half the time. Maybe it is not nice of me to listen to it all but they aren't quiet about it and it's just their everyday banter with each other so I figure it's fine and a privilege of being their mom.

So today....E is doing something and K wants him to get something for him.

E..."I'm not your servant. Do it yourself." That comment wasn't made rudely or anything just very matter the fact.

K..."Are you sure?"

E..."Sure."

K..."because you used to like being my servant."

They are growing up and E isn't as willing to do everything his brother asks now....life is changing.

{Ruined your Fiesta}

So seeing as it is summer and our boys would sit in front of the tv and play wii all day long we have had to set a few rules around here....which basically limits the hours of using items that require electricity.

So because of my rules the boys are back to being brothers....meaning they play board games, create stuff with paper and all my packing tape, read books, have Lego's scattered all over the house and are having fun with stuff they forgot they owed.

So yesterday they were playing Othello....a game they had forgotten about and i hear the following conversation.

K:  "I ruined your FIESTA!"

E doesn't say anything.....so I ask "What is going on?"

K: "You know he was having a party because he was winning and I totally just ruined his FIESTA!!"

So little did C and I know that we are raising children who are picking up the Spanish here in Vegas....I guess you could call that one small advantage to living here....now we have to find like 99 more to convince ourselves we like it here.

{Father's Day 2010}

So the boys didn't know what to get C for father's day until we went to Sam's one day and they found this....

a miniature golf course in a book complete with balls and putter

It was such an exciting find that they declared it the best present and we bought it and took it home.

They fought over who would look at it in the store and I refused to let them look at it anymore outside of the store.

They got ready for church quickly and early so they could give C his present before church...but because of Church callings and phone calls presents didn't get opened first and they had to wait.

They played along with him for a little while after church and I find them playing with it alone so they don't have to share.....

so apparently a happy father's day gift is one that they want to play with...not really what the dad needs or wants.

{a camera and a tent}

The boys wanted to take a few pictures of camping in the backyard. Obviously E was the photographer since all the pictures ended up of K.

Here's a few of the 30 he took....but keep in mind he took the same shot over and over again so these are just variations of the same 4 shots he took again...and again.

the view of the sky from inside the tent....

brother in the tent

brother in the tent again getting angry

Happy backyard camping!

{going camping....in the backyard}

So the boys talked C into putting the tent up in the backyard.

We decided this was a good thing since this is a new tent and we didn't quite know how to get it all

together and seeing as when they camp it is usually C putting it together while the boys wander off...

putting it up in the backyard was a good thing for the first try.

The tent ended up bigger than I thought...which is great.

It stayed up for a good 5 days.

They slept in it half of a night.

 

Watched 2 movies in there on 2 different nights and played DS in there when I would send them out to "play" (obviously their play was different than what I was thinking they would do.)

Happy Summer Memories being made!

{the Tradition continues with a twist}

So we had our annual Apo Bowling day when everyone was here in town...with a twist.

And one of our uncles added a great twist....get a strike get a dollar. I think our Uncle K didn't realize that money is a great incentive for kids and adults....who knows how much money he paid out but in our family E got 6 dollars and K got 3. I think he will have to move to quarters next time!

{Quiet}

I knew some of the cousins and our boys were in the front room but wondered why it was so quiet...well this is what they were doing...

good thing the two little ones like to watch the others play.

{E's Birthday}

Since his birthday also fell on his baptism day we had a little party afterwards with all our family.

And since we have the most wonderful babysitter/friend/"big brother" for our children who has many talents he created his......

I asked him to make E's cake after seeing his other work (wedding cakes, and other cakes) and he agreed. All I told him was that it had to feed 30 people. He and E came up with the rest. And A. worked his magic. All the parts are edible!

Isn't it amazing?!?! He is now our cake person/babysitter.

{Baptism}

Yesterday was E's baptism day. He was lucky enough to  be baptized on his actual birthday.

We were so lucky to have almost all our Apo Family attend and many of our Walker family come for the event.

We are so proud of the choices E has made so far and we are excited that he wants to continue making those good choices.

We missed all our friends and family who couldn't be here for the event and know that we were thinking of you.

Grandma and Grandpa

Apo Family

Walker Family

{First Swim of the Summer}

As our Apo family arrived in town for E's big day we took a day to celebrate our Grandpa's birthday. We went to a local pool, rented a cabana and spent the day poolside. This was the first pool time for the summer and resulted in K being sunburned for the first time this year and the last.

We love having our family here and spending so much time with everyone!!

{the Race}

Pack Meeting is where we race our Pinewood Derby cars. This was E's first Pack meeting and K was given his Webleos stuff as he turned 10 the month before. K also got his religious knot which was a lot of hard work to receive.

{the Car}

Here is K's car....he also designed his own and did a lot of the work.

{E's 1st Pinewood Derby Car}

Here's E's first car that he worked on with Dad for a few days.....He picked out his own design and did most of it on his own!

{Awards on the Last Day}

So the last day of school is awards and party day.

I don't know what happened to the pics of E and me on that day. (I was his teacher for the last part of the year...so I gave him his awards)

But here is one of K with his class doing a reciation and one with his teacher. 

He had a great year with a great teacher. He was on the Straight A honor roll all year and had great papers and projects!

We are proud of both our boys and the great year they had!

{Summer Plans}

This year all of us were excited for the last day of school. In past years I was ready for having my boys back with me each day and anxious to spend time with them and have our own daily schedule.

This year the feeling was different. This year I realized that I felt like I had missed out on a lot in their lives and their school year. It is all because of the new paths in our lives and that new path is school for me. I am teaching each day and while the boys are in the school with me and even in my classroom I still feel that I am missing out on important things.

So this summer we will spend more time together and be on our own schedule picking and choosing what events are important for out family to attend. We will do what we want and make some great memories.

To start off the summer we look forward to E's baptism and all our extended family that is coming to visit.

We can't wait! Let Summer begin!!

{Father and Sons}

It was camp out night the last day of school. It was a busy crazy day but they got to head up to the mountain to camp.

As you can see from the pictures it was cold up there (good thing I made them take jackets and pants).

And it was so windy that they couldn't even get the tent up so unfortunately they ended up coming home in the middle of the night again this year. But they are anxious to go camping again this year.

{growing up}

ok...so they are getting bigger...

we now have no booster seats in our cars and everyone just buckles in like grown ups.
I can deal with that right?
well.... I discovered that I use the booster for other things too like....watermelons.

I bought a watermelon a few nights ago and when I went to put it in the backseat I realized that it was just going to roll all over the place since the booster used to "hold" it in place with it's armrests.

one strike against the boys growing up.

Then the conversation in the car on the way home from school today.

K: I think we should wash this uniform when we get home. (they wear uniforms at their school)

Me: ok...why?

K: well we did this messy shaving cream thing and it got on me everywhere but you can't really see it.

M: ok. then just throw them right in the wash when we get home.

K: well you can just smell it and decide when we get home.

Okay....really....I'm not smelling anyones dirty clothes, no matter how dirty or clean after wearing them.
I thought that smelling clothes for cleanliness was a learned behavior that boys picked up somewhere, but apparently it is not learned and they are just born with the need to smell clothing to see if they should wear it again.

Gross....another strike against boys growing up.

{Bravery, Love and Strength}

I don't kow this person in my real life, just in the blog world I am always following. But she is clearly a person of bravery, love and strength. And when I see her story, read her blog or hear a news piece on her I think that my trials are made just for me and that all of us can weather whatever storm is brewing around us in life at the time. We just need that same faith, trust and strength that Stephanie has. She shows us a strength and faith I don't think I have seen before. And I was so excited to see this video put out by the church about her.

Enjoy and think.

{A Gift}

I served as the Primary President for about 3 years in my ward here. Just this past January I was released and have been slowly getting used to getting the chance to relax and listen to lessons at church.

This past Sunday a few people were insistant that I get into Primary to listen to K's talk.

So I went in to listen and then was given a beautiful blanket from the new Presidency.

They put each child's picture on the blanket, and one of my favorite scriptures and the one and only picture of my presidency (without me). It is a wonderful gift and made me miss the chance I had to be with the children each week and to be with the friends I found in my presidency every week. It gave us a chance to talk and made us stick together. We all have different callings now and work in different auxillaries in the ward, making it hard to be together a lot......I just didn't realize how much I missed that.

{Jam}

Since Strawberries are so cheap right now I have been buying ALOT of them.....actually faster than E can eat them. Usually he eats them faster than I can buy them so this is a rare event and gives me the chance to make something with them.

We spent part of Saturday making freezer jam and strawberry sauce.

I told the boys they were all going to help me. And they did mostly happily....and now we have lots of jam in the feezer and sauce for strawberry lemonade and deserts!