Jason and Wade go on their second annual boys' backpacking trip

The first weekend in August Jason and Wade went on an over-nighter backpacking trip.  They had a great time together, had beautiful weather with a little rain, and, of course, took some amazing pictures!  

Wade says his favorite parts were taking a walk around the lake and dipping their tired feet into the lake.  Eating at the diner in Lone Pine on the way home was fun, too.

Thanks, Daddy, for this fun tradition!

Girls Night

Rhiannon and I had a great time the first weekend in August having a girls night while the boys were on a backpacking trip.  We watched two movies (Divergent = good, Winter's Tale = weird, good thing it was only a $1), ate lots of chocolate, talked, stayed up late, slept in, and had fun decorating sandwich bags, just for kicks!  I love hanging out with this girl!

Growing muscles

This was a common sight this summer.  Every weekend Jason would start up the lawn mower and Wade would finish the job.  Each time he does it, it gets a little easier.  But that first time sure was rough!

"The boys" also have cleaned guns together and gone on several golf outings!

Wade's pool party

Wade and I managed to have some fun this week while Jason and Rhiannon were gone.  We ate way too much junk food, talked, got groceries, played several rounds of Tri-ominoes, and stayed up late watching movies.

On Wednesday he finally got to have his pool party that he's been wanting to do since school got out.  A few friends were out of town, but he had a B-L-A-S-T with those who could make it--Tucker, Ben, and Nick were a ton of fun.  They swam for an hour, talked and ate, and played Need for Speed.  We will definitely need to have them over again.  They were wonderful guests and fun boys!

That night Wade had a hard time falling sleep (maybe it was the 2-liter of Dr Pepper from the party??).  Around midnight I let him hang out with me and I told him stories about my childhood for a while until he finally, finally could sleep.  It was a sweet experience for me.

Wade also got really good at sewing on a button.  We failed in our attempt to have an electronics-free week, BUT we got a lot of good and fun accomplished, too.  Love you, buddy!

Happy Dog

This was back in March.  Had to share!

Ready to conquer the world

It's amazing what a simple orientation can do for you.  This past week Rhiannon went on a field trip with other fifth graders to the middle school she'll be attending.  She was very impressed and excited by the tour.  The guides were so nice, too!  She said, "If it wasn't for the 5th grade field trip next week, I'd want to go to middle school RIGHT NOW!"

I'll be honest, middle school was not a cake walk for me.  I'm sure some good came out of it, but mostly those three years are this blank, unhappy, awkward spot in my memory.  I have to force myself to retrace my steps through that time and pick out happy moments.  It's weird, especially since I consider myself a very optimistic person.  Yearbook staff was high on the happy list, while puberty was...not.  Enough said.

Rhiannon, thankfully, is not me.  She is ready, wants to try new things (band), and seems genuinely excited about it.  The one thing she is sad to lose is recess time, but I think she'll get over that, too, with all the walking from class to class and the separate PE class every day.

Wednesday night we went to the middle school's open house.  It was just what the doctor ordered.  As we walked onto the campus, the first things I saw were the cafeteria, library, and girls bathroom.  Just knowing where those were located, well, it changed my whole perspective.  I got excited for Rhiannon, too!  We spent some time in the book fair there (wise choice--so much better options than the elementary school book fair), talked with the principal and assistant principal, saw lots of people we knew (including old friends from kindergarten), checked out the girls PE locker room ("Rhiannon, nobody showers in here.  Just use lots of deodorant!"), and met a couple teachers.  It was a fabulous night--we both came away happy, with thoughts on the good, and not full of worries.

Bring it, 6th grade!

"Mom, you should blog about this"

We watched General Conference this morning (so GREAT!!!) at home and then we all went out in the backyard.  Jason was working on a project with the swamp cooler, and Rhiannon and I thinned out some radish seedlings that were popping up everywhere in the garden. 

Dad suggested we bring Toby the Tortoise outside, and then Wade joined us, too.  It was a beautiful day, sunny but not too hot, light breeze blowing.  I dragged some patio chairs out into the shade near the oleander bushes, kicked off my flip-flops, and plopped down in one of the chairs.  It was so nice!

Rhiannon was playing with Toby in the grass (turns out he really likes to eat dandelion flowers) and before long Wade came and sat next to me with his iPod.  He offered one of his earpieces so that I could listen along with him.  We listened to:

--Sticks and Stones by Jonsi, the song that plays during the end credits of How to Train Your Dragon

--Sphinx by Trevor Rabin, music from Gone in 60 Seconds

--Ministry of Magic and Farewell to Dobby from Harry Potter 7, Part 1

--528491 by Hans Zimmer, it's the music playing during this part in Inception when the man opens up the safe and finds the paper pinwheel that his dad had saved (Wade and I both really like this part in the movie).  Wade knew exactly where to skip in the music to get to that "part."

It was incredibly relaxing.  Wade looked up at me and said, "You should blog about this, Mom!"  So I did! :)

Just dance!

The Just Dance Wii game was highly recommended by our cute cousin Tyler, who is pretty good at it, according to Grandma Deb.  I got the game with some Best Buy gift card goodness, and we have had a lot of fun with it!!!  It's a pretty good workout, too, if you get into the movements of each dance and "give it all you've got!"

My only complaint is that I wish the makers of this game would come up with a version that had songs we know and love.  Most of the songs on the game were unknown to Rhiannon and Wade, and my kids are a little old for the "Just Dance for Kids" game that has Wheels on the Bus and the ABC song on it...though those songs would probably be more appropriate lyrics for my kids than Girls and Boys by Blur!

Enjoy these cute videos! :)

Pancake molds ROCK!

Our Thanksgiving week is off to a fun start.  Yesterday we went to see Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.  This was a big deal because it's the first PG-13 movie I'd taken the kids to--usually Jason and I preview them first.  I checked out the very helpful review at pluggedin.com and then called Uncle Logan for some informed opinions.   I'll be honest, I wanted to see the movie pretty badly myself, but probably not as badly as the kids wanted to see it!  Since we knew what to look for and when to cover our eyes (about 2-3 short scenes), we were prepared and had a really great time watching it. Will I make a habit of taking the kids to PG-13 movies at this age? Absolutely not. But sometimes exceptions can be made! :)

When we got home, there was a surprise package waiting for us from Grandma Deb, and the contents totally rocked!!! STAR WARS PANCAKE MOLDS! We tried them out this morning and had a blast. :)

Here are a few random pictures from the morning, taken by Wade and me. Enjoy!

Fun on Veteran's Day

Last night Keagan and Kyler stayed with us, from about 5:30pm to 11:30pm, while their parents were at a Marines birthday ball.  The kids had SO MUCH FUN!  We went to Wade's freezing cold football practice, picked up some pizzas, and then the kids entertained themselves the whole night.  I never had to step in and stop fights--there were none.  I never had to give them ideas for things to do--they were never bored.  I never had to yell--they were pretty quiet.  My favorite part of the evening was waking up from an accidental snooze in the recliner around 10pm and finding the kids scurrying around the house to find 3-D glasses so they could watch Spy Kids 3  (Jason was home, too--I never would have fallen asleep if he wasn't! :)).  We love these cute friends!

This morning Rhiannon and I had some fun shopping together.  I was getting depressed trying to look for modest, decent church dresses for her online, and I knew there weren't many choices in town.  So we stopped at Goodwill and found some cute stuff there!  I seriously dislike shopping for clothes, but Rhiannon made it fun for me.  We scored with some cute like-new dresses, silky pjs with the tags still on, and a cozy Gap sweater, for a grand total of $25.  The best deal was Rhiannon's, though--she spent $2.50 for this SUPER CUTE purse/wallet!  The good sport of the morning was Wade--I told him ahead of time that we were just looking for stuff for his sister, but he still wanted to come along.  He ended up finding a cozy chair outside the dressing room and read Harry Potter the whole time.  He never complained, but I'm pretty sure he'll opt to stay home with Dad next time!! :)

Dad treated us to China Lake Buffet for a family lunch, then we stopped by WalMart for a couple things, and finally picked up a nice office chair with Dad at Staples.  Guess what the name of the chair is.....the CUSHING chair!  I thought we should buy it for that reason alone--the bonus was the sale price. 

I'm thankful for veterans, past/present/future, who make days like this possible.  I forget how blessed and fortunate we are, but I am grateful for the freedoms we enjoy!!!

What DIDN'T we do today?

Yesterday was a back-to-back kind of day, but it was good.  Jason and I were up early before the kids, and I took a picture of this:

The first thought that came to mind was that little poem  "Red sky in the morning--sailors take warning,"

and the second thought was "WOW!!!  This sunrise is awesome!!!"

Once everyone was up, we helped Dad with a little Young Men service project cleaning up an older couple's yard.  We did what we could for an hour and a half, and then we raced home to get ready for the next activity--Wade's first flag football game!

                                    

Wade is the third one in from the right.  His team is the Patriots.  Wade did a great job listening to his coach--he's got a lot to learn, but he has a great attitude.  His team won the first touchdown, but lost the game 20-7. 

I am LOVING how low-key flag football is.  We've got 5 more practices and 5 more games on the same days each week, and there are no make-up games.  It's fun exercise and pretty inexpensive, too!!!  Oh, and there's been no mention of team moms! :)  His coach is very patient and upbeat, too.

After Wade's hour-long game, we ate a quick lunch at home and got ready for the NEXT activity--Rhiannon's first piano recital!  She missed the one in the spring, so this was her first experience with it.  The recital was fun and pretty quick.  We think RC did a terrific job playing "First Cha-Cha."  She was invited to dress up for it, so that's why she's wearing that Tex-Mex outfit. :)

Rhiannon loves her piano teacher, and so do we!  She is kind, patient, and always encouraging!

In the afternoon we had a little time to chill.  Rhiannon helped me run some errands at Staples and the grocery store--we had a good time talking, too.

To finish off the day, the kids and I went to a birthday party for our good friend Kyler.  His mom and dad put on a Harry Potter-themed party, and it was AWESOME!!!!

Columbus Day fun

Scrapbook created with Smilebox

Well, the Columbus Day "cube" has been a big success today.   After we had breakfast, took showers, and made sure the house was picked up, we drove up to the community college to take some pictures.  We've had good luck with great family pictures there in years past, but I was SHOCKED and sad to see how much it had changed.  I didn't recognize it until I saw the bridge that we like to pose on.  Crazy.  Thankfully the other areas of the campus were unchanged, but this beautiful park area was trashy, full of weeds, and dirty.  Wade even saw a rat digging around in the rocky area that used to be a cool fountain.  There were a couple of workers there--hopefully a sign for better times in the future.  We took some silly pictures and then went home to watch the final episode of Robin Hood Season 1--LOVED it!  Then we moved on to the next thing!

After stopping at the grocery store for a giant bag of carrots (what's the better deal--$3 for 2 pounds or $6 for 25 pounds?!?), we picked up lunch at McDonalds, ate at a park, and then made our way to the wild burro facility.  SCORE!  The last time we were there, the kids had fun but didn't have much success getting animals to come up to the fence.  This time we had the opposite problem. :)  It was hot and dirty and we didn't like the flies everywhere, but the trip was so worth it. :)  We fed the whole bag of carrots to a herd of horses and burros, and they were still hungry for more! 

We've read some books, just got out of the hot tub, and now we're chillin' til dinner time.  Then we'll make some fun Halloween decorations, have a little FHE lesson, and call it a night!  I'm tired but happy, and I think the kids are surprised at how much fun we've had "in town." :)

We've got plans...

The kids were bummed that I decided to save our Lancaster trip for a later weekend, but I've got some surprises up my sleeves for them today, i-n-p-o*:

--pancakes for breakfast
--reading!
--silly Halloween photo shoot up at the college (need to fix the absence of blog pictures lately!)
--finish watching BBC Robin Hood Season 1!  Yippee!  (yes, the kids and I are HOOKED on this show)
--make some Halloween decorations (thanks, Amelia!), ghosts and spooky trees to be exact
--get in the hot tub  (Wade's request)
--feed some wild burros and visit the animal shelter (Rhiannon's request)

I'm going to write the ideas on our go-to paper cube and roll the die!  (I've used this so many times, not just for chores.  My favorite was when we used two--one was a work cube, the other was a play cube.  After a chore was done on the work cube, the kids got to roll for a fun activity, too)

Dad had to hop a plane today for a week in PAX--we'll miss him on our adventures today! 

Happy Columbus Day!

*inpo:  in no particular order, hee-hee!

Reminds me of the Joker

Flex Fridays rock! Jason and I worked for 2 hours and filled both outdoor trashcans to the brim! That signalled the end of our yard cleanup, but it kind of stunk because we were on a roll. One lady walked by and thanked us for the tree-trimming job: "Now I don't need to stoop down when I go under them!" So yeah, it needed to be done.

The kids had a great day at school, too--they had fun painting at the bi-weekly FAME workshop (Fine Arts and Music education), and they were EXCITED that the Scholastic book order finally came!!!!!!!!! Rhiannon was happy about the bit of rain they got, too, which came right during her recess.

Jason gave Wade a golf lesson tonight. Rhiannon has outgrown the nice set of clubs Jason got her, and Wade was excited to have them. I had to tease Jason, though--he reminded me of the Joker's famous line: "Why so serious?" Yes, golf is a serious game, I get that, and Wade does need to learn the correct form, but you gotta keep it fun, too. :) Hopefully with consistent practice Wade will grow to love the game, too, and enjoy another fun way to hang out with his dad!

Tonight is Taco night for dinner--more Friday happiness! And then tomorrow is General Conference. Yes!!!!!

"What do YOU want to do?"

Last night was a Girls Night/Boys Night.

Jason took Wade to the high school football game. Wade loved riding in "the fast car," watching the band play Disney's Incredibles theme song during half-time, seeing a player jump over a tackle, and getting ice cream afterwards. He thought it was funny that Dad chose the flavor of the month, called Quarterback Crunch. (Wade chose bubble gum.) They were gone all night and didn't get home til 10! Wade is going to try out a flag football NERF league starting in November--I think he will love it!

Rhiannon was so excited to hang out! :) We watched a little TV and then played for most of the night--Twister, Pictureka, and Cadoo! All night long I just kept asking her, "What do YOU want to do?" It was great to talk, relax, and laugh, laugh, laugh. I've got to admit, though, I felt 90 years old playing Twister. I didn't last long each round!

We got some good after-the-election news for Rhiannon. There were other jobs that needed filled at assemblies for the year, and some of the kids who didn't win a council spot were chosen. Rhiannon gets to be one of the Attendance helpers. She was thrilled! This means she collects perfect attendance slips from kids as they come into the monthly assemblies, and then she gets to read out the winner of the $20 WalMart gift card that month. She did a cute job yesterday--in her best Bob Barker voice, she said, "And the winner is...!" I think she likes getting to sit up near the front with the official council members, too. :) Ryan, Rhiannon's friend who won Historian/Photographer, did a marvelous job. He was ALL OVER that cafeteria, crouching down, standing up, taking pictures of EVERYTHING. I've got to hand it to him--he was taking his job seriously! :)