doing the shuffle

We have finally given in to Ryan's request to have his own room. He'll be moving into the junk/sewing/scrapbook/junk room. He is sooo excited! I was a bit sad because I'm losing "my" space. I told him there was no way I was going to move my scrapbook cabinet and he'd just have to live with it being in his room and be prepared to give me access to it at any time -- he was totally fine with that because he's just so excited to have his own room! Ryan and Jacob will now have to take responsibility for their own messes and clean up of their rooms -- no more blaming each other for messiness! They are both going to enjoy having some play space. Late Saturday afternoon we started going through the room to rearrange and clear stuff out. We loaded the van with treasures to go to DI and sadly, my skis were part of that load -- I've used them once in 15 years and they are way out of date and possibly not very safe anymore. We also threw some stuff away that we decided we just didn't need to store anymore. I'm not finished yet figuring out places to put everything that we do need to hang onto, but I'm very close and I'm pleased with what we've been able to get rid of and rearrange. We promised Ryan he could move in this weekend and I'm quite sure we'll be ready.

first day of school

The boys headed back to school yesterday! Yee-haw! It's hard to believe I have 3 kids in school this year. Even though they would never admit it, I think they were "ready" to go back and even excited about a new year. Jared is in sixth grade, Ryan is in fourth grade, and Jacob is in kindergarten. The kindergarteners went to school for all of one hour yesterday...with a parent. My neighbor took Matthew for me so I could focus on Jacob -- it was good for both of us. The kindergarten hour consisted of getting acquainted with the classroom, bathroom, coat/backpack hooks, library, and office. Each child drew a self portrait, got to read with their parent and then finally gathered on the floor so the teacher could talk to them for a minute and read a story. We also signed up for a time during the week for an assessment. We were home by 10:00 a.m. Jacob only goes to school this week for his 1/2 hour assessment, which is tomorrow. He will start going to school everyday after Labor Day.

Now for my mini-soapbox: I hate that the kindergarteners get all excited to go to school and they show up for the first day only to be there for an hour, with a parent, and then to top it off, don't get to go back for another week! Doing an academic assessment is fine with me, but could we just postpone their real "first day" of school until after Labor Day so that they get to go everyday after that? They are excited to go to school, so let them! And their first day should last long enough to be a "real" day -- none of this silly one hour with a parent stuff! OK, I enjoyed spending that hour with Jacob, but in all reality, it just wasn't necessary!! I think the teacher could show the kids all together around the classroom and school and the kids were fine to be there without a parent -- good grief, most every kid goes to preschool for a year or two before kindergarten anyway and is accustomed to not having a parent with them during school time!

My other soapbox: The first day of school our principal has everyone meet at the front of the school outside for a Pledge of Allegiance and singing the national anthem. Then the kids are told to go around to the back of the school to walk a lap around the track while their teachers go to their classrooms and get ready to greet the kids. This is all silliness in my opinion. When we're outside we can't hear the principal speaking or leading the pledge because there is too much traffic noise on Main street and too many people gathered around. It's complete chaos to get everyone going around to the back of the school and walking the track. The kids just want to get to their new classrooms and the teachers have been preparing to greet students for a week or more. I say, just go to class!

that's my boy!

We are lucky enough to have two packages of chocolate from Europe sitting on our counter at the moment. One is milk chocolate and the other is dark chocolate. I love dark chocolate. Jacob asked if he could have a piece of chocolate. I said "yes" and started reaching for the milk chocolate bar (this was definitely a selfish effort to save the good dark chocolate for myself!). Jacob immediately said, "No, Mom -- I want the other one, the GOOD one!" I gave in and complied with his wishes, all the while patting myself on the back for raising a child with EXCELLENT taste in chocolate!

jacob's sunflower

Jacob planted a tiny sunflower seed in a cup at the end of preschool in May. Look what happened to that seed! WOW! He is so proud of it -- and so are we -- it's the best plant in the yard!

mmmm, delicious!

Last weekend I made this yummy shrimp & pasta dish for dinner. I didn't use jalapenos, but just some medium-hot peppers from the garden and I also threw in some fresh mushrooms that I needed to use up. I also only used about 1/2 to 3/4 of the amount of cayenne that the recipe called for. Can you tell we don't like to burn our tastebuds too much?? It was deliciously spicy with just the right amount of heat. I will be adding it to my list of favorite recipes! Thanks, Nicola!

birthday boy

Here's my Ryan blowing out his 9 candles on a "death by chocolate" cake! He blew them all out with one breath, so we hope all his wishes will come true!
Since Ryan is the youngest in his school/age group, he is always anxious for his birthday to finally arrive so that he can be the same age as his friends...for a little while anyway! He got a boatload of presents for his birthday. He loves Legos and has been into Indiana Jones lately, so... here's the Lego Indiana Jones for DS game
and here's the Lego Indiana Jones Jungle Cutter all put together and ready for action!
Other gifts that he opened were a watch, BYU football, basketball, a tasty vanilla cream, clothes and money -- what more could a kid ever wish for?! Ryan is always ready to have fun and play games whether its with family, friends, or cousins. He's VERY competitive, loves sports, is a math whiz, has an infectious smile and laugh, and makes friends with everyone. We are sooo glad he's part of our family!!

outdoor adventures

Mark has had a craving for hiking and being outdoors in the mountains lately. About a week and a half ago he took Jared and Ryan with him for a hike up Adams Canyon to explore the waterfall. They had a great time and got huge gigantic drinks at the Top Stop afterward. Ryan says the hike was 10 miles, but I think reality is 6 miles round trip. Here's a couple of picts:



The next adventure was to Hoover Lake with Eric in grandpa's truck. (Jacob got to go too this time!) Eric brought all the fishing gear and Mark & the boys brought the cooler full of food for the day. The boys totally loved the fishing, although Jacob says his favorite part was the waterfall (apparently there was some sort of waterfall somewhere). They brought six fish home, even though they caught more. Jared had the fish story for the day -- he caught the biggest fish of the day, but it got away with a hook and a piece of line still attached! Besides fishing, they did a little hiking too. The mountains were cool, beautiful, and quiet -- they only saw two other people the whole day! Eric took the fish home with him and then cooked them up for us on Monday night. Yum -- I haven't had trout for a very long time and so it tasted extra good. It was the boys first taste of trout and they all agreed it was good stuff! Here's the boys showing off their catch:

I'm pretty certain everyone wants to do this adventure again!:)

gas under $4!

Wow -- I gassed up the van today at Costco and only paid $3.95/gallon!

olympic fever

We have all been loving watching the olympics in Beijing and rooting for the USA. Our favorites have been beach volleyball (totally cool!!) and swimming (some VERY close races). I have been amazed at the strength and focus of the Chinese gymnasts and inspired by the "no regrets" team effort of the US men's gymnastic team -- I don't think I've ever seen anyone so incredibly happy about getting 3rd place! The boys of course are anxious to watch some USA men's basketball (we didn't watch on Sunday) and we are all excited for track & field to start.

jared

Jared has been saving his hard-earned money all summer. About a week or so ago, he spent it on this -- the Lego Mars Mission Crystal Reaper set. He had the thing put together in just a couple of hours and has had lots of fun playing with it!

In other Jared news, he finally lost another tooth last night. His permanent tooth has been trying to come in for a couple of weeks now, so getting the baby tooth out of the way should be a huge help! He let Jacob put the tooth under his pillow for the tooth fairy to find. This morning Jacob was sure the tooth fairy hadn't come, but much to his surprise when he checked under his pillow, she did in fact pay him 50 cents for Jared's tooth. Jacob was very thrilled with this magical money-making!

stitches

Yesterday morning got off to a rough start. I had just finished showering and was getting dressed when Matthew ran through my room and headed for the bathroom. I slowly followed him in there and watched as he headed for the shower, which is one of his favorite bathroom playing places. As he stepped over the lip of our large fully tiled shower, he slipped on the wet tile and his head landed just right on the corner of the tile shower lip and split open the back of his little head. (I am replaying this in my mind and it just makes me sick.) The bleeding and crying stopped relatively quickly, but I thought the cut looked rather deep, so I called the Kidscare -- closed (apparently kids are only allowed to get sick between 5 and 10 p.m.) It was 8:30 a.m. and I was pretty sure our pediatrician wasn't in yet, but I called the office anyway and talked to the receptionist, who told me the doctor would be in at 9:00 a.m. and she would try to catch him and ask if I could bring Matthew in immediately and call me back. I told her I was just going to show up at 9:00 a.m. and meet the doctor as he walked into the office! She told me that just wouldn't work and that I could try Instacare at 9:00 a.m. or come in to the office at 9:50. I hemmed & hawed and complained enough to get Matthew in to see the doctor at 9:10. Thank goodness! Jared took care of breakfast and was in charge of the other boys while I headed to the clinic -- what a great kid. Mark met us at the doctor's office and they took Matthew immediately into the procedure room and got busy with the stitches. The poor little guy had to be strapped to the papoose board so he wouldn't move, but luckily the doc was able to numb the immediate area and stitch the wound closed, while the MA held his head still and Mark and I tried to comfort him. Matthew cried a lot, but mostly because he couldn't move, not because of being in pain. The MA gave him 2 suckers for his brave behavior -- he deserved them both, but only got to eat one due to the nice sticky mess he makes with them. We got him home from the clinic about 10:00 a.m. and put him in the tub to wash all the blood and betadine(?) from his hair and take off his bloody clothes. The boys were anxious to see his stitches and try to count them -- really it's just one big stitch, but for counting purposes, it equals about 5. He immediately began playing and cruising around the house as if nothing had happened. As I followed him into Jacob's room, Jacob came over to me and said, "Mom, I don't care about Matthew anymore." (Translation "I'm not worried about Matthew anymore) Me: "Why?" Jacob: "Because I said a prayer". Me -- holding back tears. The faith of children is so simple and great. I need to take a lesson from Jacob and not worry anymore either, although we're all going to keep praying for him to heal quickly.

boys everywhere

As I sit here at my computer, I have a bazillion boys in my yard and in my house. OK, maybe not a bazillion, but just about every boy in the neighborhood under 12 is here this afternoon. I love that they are playing outside (except for Jacob & his buddy who are here in the family room) -- its more fun and creative, its much quieter inside, they aren't attached to video games, and its less stinky too (a bunch of sweaty boys in a room = stinky)! I like to know what my kids are up to, so I don't mind having everyone here. Gotta go -- it's popsicle time!

need new tunes

I need to add some more good workout/running music to my ipod. Suggestions? What do you like to listen to?

holy bowls of cereal!

oh.my.gosh. Last week & this week Smith's had certain Kellogg's cereal on sale for $1 a box -- you had to buy in quantities of 10 to get that price. Crispix, Raisin Bran, & Rice Krispies (normal size boxes) for a $1? Those are some of our favorites! Stock up time!! I went crazy-- um, I think I bought 40 boxes of cereal! Hate to admit it, but we eat cold cereal for breakfast about 4 or 5 times a week. I bought this many boxes thinking that it would be a year's supply. I'm very curious to find out how long it lasts.