First and Last Days

First day of 2nd, 4th and 6th grade

First Day of Pre-school

Last day of preschool

Last day of 2nd, 4th and 6th grade

Here is too a great school year and great summer ahead!

Big Day

On Saturday, Toothsome #3 was baptized.  In the Mormon church, children are baptized at age eight.  

I have never personally seen a person be more excited to be baptized than Toothsome #3.  He kept saying, "This is the greatest day of my whole life!" 

My parents flew in from out of town and three of my nephews and niece-in-law came up from Provo (even though it was the first day of finals at BYU) to come and be a part of it.  It was a very special, spiritual day for all of us.  

Unicycle

About a year and 1/2 ago, Toothsome #1 got a unicycle for Christmas.  At a "my side of the family", film festival, my brother's kids with several kids in their neighborhood who all ride unicycles, made a hilarious movie about unicycle racing.  It got Toothsome #1 interested in learning to ride a unicycle.  

After several half-hearted attempts to learn to ride one, 

this past weekend, he decided to get serious about it.  

First, it involved me moving our kitchen table to the side, removing all of the counter chairs and kitchen table chairs to our great room and letting him practice on our wood floor.  This set up stayed this way all weekend long.  (Many of my friends comment, in shock, how I let my kids ride their bikes, roller blades, etc., in the house.  I view my house as a place to live in, not baby.  Fortunately, Dentist Husband agrees and so we have a very liberal "outside toys can be inside toys" policy in our house.)

I occasionally would hold a broom stick for him to grab or walk next to him but mostly it was him holding onto the counter and riding.  About three days into it, it just clicked and he could ride off the wood floor, into my great room carpeted area.

So, we had to move outside.

Fortunately, we have had a very warm Spring.  See the tree on the far right?  He first used that tree to balance and started to be able to ride on the sidewalk in front of our house.  

 He can now go pretty much as far as he wants.  

It has been fun to watch this all happen.  

And, watch I did, because all weekend, he wanted me on a chair, in the room with him watching.  I had my kindle and Charles Dickens', "The Pickwick Papers" to keep me company between tries.    

On a side note, after hating running for about year (but still doing it anyway), I've started to like it again. The last few weeks, I have run an average of 15 miles a week.  Not bad for a 39 year old mother, if I do say so myself.  

It is great to be eight!

Toothsome #3 is now 8.  As we always do, the party starts when the kids wake up, still in pajamas.  

 Dentist husband said, "Toothsome #3 gets all of the hand me downs, so this year, I am buying him something cool."  Mission accomplished--the Riprider 360 trike with caster wheels.  There has been a child or parent on it non stop since he got it.

 For his birthday dinner, he chose Einstein's bagels.  He loves their Lox.  (The Swedish genes are coming through).

His birthday dessert was an ice cream pie.  I make a killer graham cracker crust and he chose Rocky Road and Mint chocolate chip ice cream.  

 He blew out his candles using his "Airzooka"--another birthday present.

 And, the greatest present of all, his own cub scout shirt and hat.  After watching scouts since he was born (I've been doing cub scouts/11 year old for 10 years now), he is finally old enough to do it himself.  He can't wait. 

All and all a great birthday.  He gets baptized next month.  

Sometimes on a Saturday . . .

you take your kids to Banbury Cross donuts

 and then go bowling.

and it makes for a really great Saturday.

Aerobie Fun at the Park

Yesterday, after my kids came home from school, I said, "Tomorrow, we are going to the park whether it is to sled (if there was snow) or just play.  But go to the park, we will."

I planned on reading my current book, "The Jungle Books" by Rudyard Kipling while my kid's played but then I remembered my word of the year and decided to join my kids.  

Toothsome #1 and I started playing "Playset Aerobie".  He climbed all around the playset and I tried to hit him while he tried to catch it.  In turn, when he threw it, I had stay in one place, (where the Aerobie landed previously) while he tried to land the Aerobie over my face and into my neck. Below, he is demonstrating the goal.

 Trying to take a picture of us together with my iphone.

 He was getting ready to throw the Aerobie at me when I took this picture. 

 Meanwhile, my other kids climbed up these trees.  If you look closely, you can see them.  

Great Aerobie fun.  Way better than a traditional frisbee.

It almost made me forget how upset I am by the lack of snow this year.

BTW:  Last night, I hosted my book club.  We read, "A Town Like Alice" by Nevil Shute.  Wonderful book and wonderful discussion.  And, the Kneaders, Raspberry Bread pudding with their vanilla sauce was awesome too. 

Toothsome #3 and the answered prayer

Toothsome #3 is always into everything.  He begs to take everything we own apart and I have taken going to local thrift shops and buying old VCRs, TVs, etc, so he can take them apart.

I honestly feel as his mother, I have been very patient, understanding and supportive of his desire to see and learn how things work but I have my limits and Sunday night, one day before Halloween, I discovered several batteries, that I had put away specially for Halloween costumes, missing.  In asking the kids, it was discovered Toothsome #3 had found them and had been planning on using them for an experiment.  He said, "I haven't taken them out of the package but I don't know where they are!"

I stood there dumbfounded.  I then lost my cool and informed him that he would be grounded unless he found the batteries.  (I wasn't completely mean, I told him he would be grounded after Halloween.)  With his very sincere face, he nodded and left the room.

I few minutes passed and I happened to walk into the room where he had walked into a few moments before. He was on his knees praying.  He was asking for help in finding the batteries.  My heart melted.  I then started praying that we would indeed find the batteries, so he would know that prayers are indeed answered.  We enlisted the whole family and they were found about 20 minutes later in the game closet.

Honestly, I was moved to tears.

Random Photos

My local friends always tease me about my sun hats.  This is the biggest one yet.  I got it at Coolibar--an almost 8 inch brim.  My kids call it my sombrero. The shirt is from Old Navy.  I love their collegiate line.  Notice the football game on in the background.  Dentist husband and I love a good football game.     

Strictly for documentation--Toothsome #4 first day of preschool.

Something about this outfit and pose made me laugh.  (She picked the socks and shirt to match since they were both white with red trim.)  She is my most clothes conscience child.  Which really isn't saying much,  since none of my kids really care at all about clothes.  

This made me laugh

At a recent wedding, I took a picture on my iphone of my nephew messing around with my husband.  They moved right as I snapped the photo but it was a perfect "messed up shot" because I caught my 12 year making this face.  I have LAUGHED OUT LOUD more than once about this photo.  

First Day of School

My sister in law was in town visiting and so she was able to snap this picture of all of us just as the oldest three left for school.  

We are on day two and so far, so good.  :)

Why this little boy is one of my favorites

Sometimes, children call out to you to do a specific blog post about them.  This summer, Toothsome #3 has been an absolute delight.

He is always thinking and experimenting.  Nothing is safe in my house because he is always coming up with a new idea for every item in my house.  (And, we have had to have very serious talks about not taking anything apart without asking permission.) 

Recently, at burger place, I got a text from a friend.  I responded.  I looked up and in that short amount of time, he had broken most of crayons in pieces, taken off the paper and was "experimenting." 

Here he is at my husband's office--drilling.  (An old dental cast, and my husband's dental drill equipment.)  He asks if he can do this every time we go into the office.   

 Somehow the word, "Hobo" was introduced to my son this year.  He is fascinated about what Hobo's do.  He then came to me and said, "Can I burn Toothsome #1's old tennis shoes, so I can make a Hobo fire?"  With supervision, I let  him.  When the shoe really started to burn, he pulled out my old camera and took a picture of it.  (I had no idea it was in his pocket but it fits his mentality.  All experiments need to be documented.)  

The "hobo" fire a little later.  We let him burn it until the rubber on the sole was all melted.  It was a windy day and we insisted everyone stay away from the very stinky fumes.    

I adore this little man.

Guess what? I have a son old enough to go to Scout Camp

I have spent the day reflecting about my now 12 year old son.  

12 years ago, we were living in Colorado.  My husband had just graduated from dental school and we had moved into my parent's house to wait for the baby to arrive and so we wouldn't have to pack up our dental school apartment with a newborn.  Toothsome #1 was born on the 4th of July weekend.  It was in a small hospital and he was the only baby born that weekend and we had the whole maternity wing to ourselves for the weekend.  The nurses would come into my room just to chat because there was really nothing going on except "us." 

My husband had a practice waiting for him to come and purchase but my doctor told us he didn't want me traveling with a newborn until he was 3 weeks old and my husband didn't want to leave me or the baby.  (This was the only time we had that luxury.  After my others were born, he went straight back to work within hours. My husband feels a huge commitment to his patients.)  

Since he was my first, I didn't really know but he was an easy baby.  He cried when he was hungry or when he peed outside of his diaper (which was frequently).   I had my mom with me 24/7 for those three weeks and it was marvelous.  

Three weeks later, we moved to a home in the Sugarhouse area of Salt Lake.  I went from constant help in a beautiful 5000 square foot home to no help in a home that was a 1400 square feet fixer upper that needed a ton of fixing up.  It was a horrible first few months!  But Toothsome #1 was a trooper and we made it through.

Early on, it became obvious that Toothsome #1 loved Daddy more than his mother.  I was honestly fine with that, and that is still the case and I am still fine with that.   When his chips are down, he wants Dentist husband.  They have a one of a kind relationship and I am so grateful they have each other.   

As his younger siblings have come into the scene, he has been an excellent older brother.  His siblings adore him.  He is smart and capable.  He is also shy.  Is he perfect?  Far from it but as a parent, I adore and love him to pieces.  

When he turned eight, and it was time to go to Cub Scout Day camp, he didn't want to go.  He cried--a lot.  I ended up having to carry him to the car over my shoulder, strap him in the seat and tell our leader to drive away and that he would fine once he was out of my sight.  That was true.  (I know him very well.)  

Well, at the age of 12, we had no drama.  He packed his own backpack, and got out of the car excited to go to Scout Camp.  I have complete trust in our scout leaders (honestly, they are the dream team of scout leaders) and I knew he would be fine.  And, he was.  He loved it.  Until scout camp, he has slept away from our house two nights.  This time it was five in a row!  But again, he was fine and had an excellent time.  (And they did amazing, fun stuff--SCUBA, aviation, horseback riding, canoeing, wake boarding, small boat sailing, ice caving, and even the horribly hard to get Environmental Science merit badge).

Today, he passed the Sacrament for the first time.  Yes, I got a little teary.  He is not my newborn anymore.  He is not even my little boy anymore.  But he is still my son.  12 years happened too fast.  

The Nordstrom Experience

This morning, I decided it was time to take my kids to have "The Nordstrom Experience."  I was not raised going to Nordstrom but my husband's family did and my mother-in-law loved the store.  I still do most of my shopping on-line but every once and awhile, I like to take my kids to actual stores and let them experience real shopping.  Nordstrom, because of their excellent in-store customer service, is the perfect place to go.

Toothsome #2 needed new shoes, Toothsome #3 wanted to own a tie and Toothsome #4 loves "new" anything, so I decided it was time to take them.  

Honestly, from the moment I walked in the store, the air feels nicer.  The employees are always incredibly nice and very tolerate of a mother with three kids in tow.  (Toothsome #1 is at golf camp and he had "The Nordstrom Experience" about a week ago, when I took him to buy a white shirt and tie in preparation for him passing the sacrament at our church.)  

After making our purchases, with each child having their own Nordstrom bag to carry their own purchased items in, we headed upstairs to the Nordstrom Cafe.  The Cafe is wonderful.  It has a bistro feel but is very child friendly.  As we sat down, I said to the kids, "You can't have the complete Nordstrom Experience without eating at their Cafe."  Our food was ordered, jazz music was playing in the background, drinks delivered and we were sitting happily when Toothsome #3 spilled his Sprite all over our table.  I then thought, "You can't have a Nordstrom Experience with children in tow without having a mothering experience as well."  

Again, the staff was wonderful and were very polite about the whole mess.  Toothsome #2 was a little upset that her younger brother messed up the whole "feel" of the experience but I reminded her that life would be very sad without family.  "The Nordstrom Experience" would be no fun alone.  

We enjoyed the lunch and then left to come home.  I have a feeling, I am going to need another "Nordstrom Experience" soon.  

 Toothsome #3 with his Nordstrom shirt and ties laid out on display.  (He also brought down his dress pants and shoes just for fun.) 

 Toothsome #4 having a tea party in her just purchased Nordstrom dress.

Toothsome #3 in his full outfit.  He LOVES dressing up.  

First and Lasts Days of School 2010-2011

5th, 1st and 3rd

Preschool

Onto "Practice Kindergarten" or last year of preschool.

Onto 6th, 2nd and 4th grade.  

It has been a wonderful year.  

Now, onto summer!

Why the movie "Tangled" has ruined my life

Toothsome #4 is my youngest child and she is my most strong-willed.  

From the moment she came out and Dentist husband said to me, "Janice, I can just tell she is going to be a wild one",  our lives were changed forever.  (I don't know if he cursed her or he could just tell.)  

So, recently, the movie Tangled has been played regularly at my house.  And, because of who Toothsome #4 is, it has ruined my life.

1.  She refuses to wear shoes because Rapunzel doesn't wear shoes.

2. At a weak moment in Walmart, I let her get the above Rapunzel dress and now that is all she wears.  She even explained to me that since it is a dress, she can wear it to church.  It honestly takes wrestling to get it off of her.  

3.  She now carries around a frying pan and has said, "Rapenzel hits people with a frying pan who make her mad."  Toothsome #3 got hit.  I have now hidden all of the frying pans in my house. 

4.  She won't let me do anything with her hair because "Rapenzel has it long and flangy."  (Flangy being a Toothsome #4 word.) 

5. Often at inopportune times, she breaks out singing "And at last I see the light . . ."  At home, no problem but pre-school and church, yes, it is a problem.    

So there you have it, the movie Tangled ruined my life.  Too bad it is such a dang good movie.  

Snow Caving

This past weekend, Dentist husband and Toothsome #1 went snow caving with the scouts.  Here they are just before they left to dig their snow cave--special "avalanche shovels" in hand.

The supplies.  For a 24 hour event, the supplies to survive snow caving was quite impressive.

Getting their Jetboils compact.

Inside their snow cave.

They both came home very happy but grateful for a warm house.  I don't think my son will ever complain about the temperature inside our house again.  And, sledding down a two mile hiking trail was the highlight of the event.