Girls Night Out!

A bunch of ladies in my ward were all going to see Austenland. I haven't read the book, it's really not my type of book. But it's been a while since I've seen a chick flick, and I like these ladies a lot. So, I decided to join them on their outing. I was not disappointed. The movie was really funny. It's been a long time since I laughed that hard during a movie. And of course, it's always fun to go to the theater.

Project Complete...Finally

A good wile ago, like when I was still pregnant with Oliver, I went to IKEA and bought six spice racks with the intent to paint them and turn them into book shelves for my millions of board books. I came home, painted about half of them, ran out of paint, and the project died.

Fast forward to now. The board books have been removed from Adelia's room because she keeps ripping them to pieces. They've been sitting in a pile in the hallway, and I can't stand it anymore. That was finally what motivated me to go buy more paint and finish.

The great thing about these shelves is that the are thin enough to fit behind a door when it is open. So all six of these shelves are on the wall in the boys room where the closet door opens up. We won't ever be able to put any furniture there anyway, so this is a nice use of space, and keeps the wall from looking to bare right there when the closet doors are shut. I'm pretty happy with it. So happy, that next time I'm at IKEA I plan on buying six more so there can be a shelf in Adelia's room as well. (Maybe by then she'll be over her book ruining obsession.)

First Day of School

Even though I am not starting school with the kids until after Labor Day, Lincoln's Option's Day classes started this week. I, of course, had to jump on the photography band wagon and take a first day of school picture while I had the chance. I kept seeing everyone else's kids' first day of school pics on Facebook, and I wanted one to post too. :)

We took Linc to school. I walked him down to his classroom. We were the first ones there, and his teacher wasn't there yet, so I waited with him awhile, and got to watch him explore his class room. It was decorated super cute, with bright colors and fun pictures, and all kinds of different things they will be learning about this year. It was everything a first grade classroom should be. And Lincoln was just so excited, he just kept walking around and around looking at everything and talking a mile a minute. I told him he had to remember everything he did so he could tell me all about it when he came home.

It was strange having Lincoln gone all day. I almost didn't know what to do. I wasn't sad though. I was really excited for him. And since he only goes one day a week, it feels like he's off having a good adventure and will be back soon, instead of like he's leaving me forever. I don't know how people send their kids to school all day. I think it would be nice for about a week, and then I'd be bored and I would miss them like crazy. So this once a week thing is going to work out really nicely for everyone.

We went to pick up Lincoln at the end of the day. When I saw him I said, "Linc how was your day?" And he said, "Good! First grade is easy!" I had to laugh. I guess that means I've been doing my job for the last couple of years. As soon as he got in the car I asked him a million questions about how it went. Until he said, "Mom, I kind of need a break from questions. I've been doing stuff all day." I laughed and backed off. But it was hard, because I really wanted to know all about it. I did say, "Well, I missed you today Linc." And he said, "I missed you too Mom, and Ivan and Del too."

Linc made me wait all afternoon and evening. Then, after I got the other kids in bed, and Aaron was off to Elder's Quorum meeting, and Lincoln and I were sitting on the school room couch doing his 20 minutes of reading out loud, he started to open up and tell me about his day.

He said very first thing they went to tumbling class, and the class had a big foam pit that you could jump into. He said he learned how to do cartwheels on the really bouncy mat, and that he got to jump on a trampoline and learned to do tuck jumps and straight jumps. Next he said he went back to the classroom with his teacher, then he laughed and said, "Well actually she doesn't want me to call her Teacher, she wants me to call her Miss Madsen, but I can call her Teacher when I'm talking to you Mom, you won't tell her right?" They played a game with a beach ball that had get-to-know-you questions written on it. The kids tossed the ball to each other, and when they caught it they had to answer the question closest to their thumb. Lincoln said one round he got the question, "What is your favorite animal?" And so he answered a dog. (I didn't know a dog was his favorite animal.) He said the math they did was way easier than the math I do with him, and that he only had to do six problems. He said that he learned a new way to write the date like this: 8/29/2013 instead of writing August 29, 2013 which is the way I've always had him do it. His teach told them a story about history and how we know what happened long ago because we find things that got left behind. She had them dig through a box of sand with paint brushes to find pieces of broken pots and jewelry. (From Lincoln's description is sounded a lot like the introductory chapter to Story of the World.) He said they had some free reading time, and he had picked a story about a ghost off the shelf. The ghost was a silly ghost that liked to eat toast. He said Miss Madsen also read them a few stories. He told me that he sits on table #2 and that there are seven people in his class. More boys than girls. He couldn't remember anyone's names. But he made friends with a girl and sat by her at lunch time. She shared her granola bar and brownie with him, and he gave her a slice of his apple. He also gave his teacher a slice of his apple. They did an art project with five sticks, they colored them, and then there is a way to lay the sticks together so that they'll stay in a triangle without using glue. Then you throw the sticks at the floor and they break apart and go everywhere, and then you can build the triangle again. He showed me his sticks and we built the triangle. It was fun. He said that throughout the day the kids earned gold doubloons for being good. If they earned five then at the end of they got to pick a little prize out of a treasure chest. Lincoln picked a foam airplane.

What I loved most was watching the excitement in his eyes as he was telling me everything. It was one of those moments that I hope shows up on the highlights reel in Heaven when I get to watch the movie of my life. I'm really glad he had a great first day, and that he's excited about his class. I think this is going to be a good opportunity for all of us.

Oliver: Half a Year Old

I was going for artistic with this shot, but.....I don't know. Maybe it would have worked better if the little stinker would have cooperated and smiled. But he was too busy trying to figure out what in the world I was doing. Oh well, at least it displays his two chins nicely.

So Ollie is six months old today. Half a year. He's still an angel, and I count my blessings every day. Still sleeping well, still eating well, still pretty chill and go-with-the-flow. I'd have a hundred more if I could guarantee they'd all be just like him. Well, all right, probably not a hundred. But maybe two more, one at least.

We started solids and everything went well. I hate solids though. It's so much harder to feed kids solids when you're out and about. And I always seem to be out and about. Bottles are easy, you just dump in some powder shake it up and stick it in their mouths, done and done. No muss, no fuss. But solids are another story entirely. And I don't like them. At least he didn't puke on me the first time I fed them to him though. That's a plus.

Ollie is also the rolling champion. He's got it down. Both ways, front-to-back and back-to-front. Atta kid!

He's not an overly snuggly baby. He seems to prefer playing on the ground or in his bouncy chair to being held. And I am ok with it. I get my snuggles in at nap and bed time, and then we're good to go. I'm not an overly snuggly person either.

So happy six months Ollie-Vera, I think we'll keep you around.

Ready or Not...Here it Comes!

And by "it" of course I mean the school year. Sheesh, how did that sneak up on me so fast? Now that we're done with vacation season, I'm in full-throttle school preparation mode. I never start school until after Labor Day, but we're getting close, and there's a lot to do.

I'm excited and terrified for this year. Lincoln will be doing mostly first grade work (higher grades in some subjects, like reading), and for some reason the weight of first grade feels so much heavier on my shoulders than that of Kindergarten. Maybe it's because if he were in public school he'd be attending full days? Maybe it's because I'm simultaneously trying to teach first grade, kindergarten, and preschool, while I take care of a six month old baby? Or maybe because I invented this insanely busy schedule for us to follow and now I'm wondering how in the world it's going to work out? But whatever the reason, I'm a little nervous . And I'm praying I can accomplish at least some of what needs to be accomplished. BUT, I am also a lot excited. We are going to do some really cool things this year.

Every year people ask me what curricula I use when I home school. I'm a bit eclectic (meaning I take a little from here, and a little from there, and pull it together to make something I like), and I also tend to lean a little towards a classical education model, though I don't follow it 100%. I'm drawn to the classical model because it is language based. Which basically means we do a lot of reading. Anyways, this is what I've chosen to do for this year.

Lincoln
Read aloud for 20 minutes
Read silently for 20 minutes
Explode the Code book 4
Writing With Ease level 2
First Language Lessons for the Well-Trained Mind level 1
All About Spelling level 1 (and probably 2)
Singapore Math level 1b (and maybe 2a)
Story of the World Ancient Times
Magic School Bus Science Kit
Home Art Studio Kindergarten level

Ivan
All About Reading level 1 (and probably level 2)
Handwriting Without Tears Letters and Numbers for Me
Explode the Code book 1 (and probably book 2)
Math U See Primer (and maybe Singapore level 1a)
BOB Books level 1,2,3

We also have some cool extra curricular stuff going on as well. The biggest one is probably Options Day. There is a charter school is Provo called Harmony that works with home schooled kids. One of the programs they offer is called Options Day, which basically means that Lincoln gets to go to a full day of school one day a week. This year because Linc is a first grader, he is in what they call Track. He stays in the same classroom with the same kids and teacher all day, and they do a different subject every hour. All the subjects are hands-on and project based. This program is meant to be a supplement to what kids are learning at home, not a replacement for it. Next year when Linc is seven, it'll be a little different, they'll still have classes all day, but he'll get to choose from a few different ones, and he'll switch teachers and classrooms every hour...think college. They'll be classes like tumbling, sewing, computer tech, cooking, writing, piano, Spanish, etc. So that will be awesome. Lincoln does get to do a tumbling class this year, first hour, and then he spends the rest of the day in the classroom with his teacher Miss Madsen. She is super nice and really great with the kids. Anyways, we're excited for options day.

Also this year, I am doing a preschool co-op with some ladies in the neighborhood, just like we did last year, only this year it's going to be two days a week instead of one. Ivan is really excited to participate in that again. And I am too. At first I was a little unsure about the two days a week, I didn't know if I could fit it in; but, they decided to have one mom teach every week, so when I teach, I'll teach a Tuesday and Thursday, and then I won't teach again for six more weeks. It's going to be awesome! And we have some fun ladies in the co-op so I'm really excited to get to know them better.

I wanted to teach an art class this year, but can't afford to do it for a giant class. So I invited my friend Wynter and her kids (and maybe a couple other kids) to do an art class with us one day a week in the afternoons. My art curriculum is awesome, it's called Home Art Studio, and basically it's a DVD where a lady teaches art classes while the kids follow along. And while she's working she talks about different artistic techniques, art vocab, and even throws in a little art history. I'm really excited for it.

There's a local theater in the area that teaches visual and performing arts classes to home school students during the school day. One of the things I can't provide for Lincoln and that I absolutely loved when I was in elementary school was the Christmas concerts that we put on every year. So I signed Lincoln up for a choir class. They'll do a few performances through the semester, and end with a big Christmas concert. I think it will be really fun for him. He likes to be up in front of people.

And we are still involved with our home school group, but not as much as last year. I resigned, I guess you could say, from being the Vice President. I couldn't handle it any more. It was taking up too much of my time. It feels like a really big weight has been lifted off of my shoulders to let that go. We also won't be participating in the Friday Fun Classes. I feel like it isn't meeting the needs of my family this year. In others years it has provided a classroom atmosphere where my kids could do some social learning from different adult teachers. But I feel like this year, I already have the social learning/classroom atmosphere part covered in the other things that we are doing, and Friday Fun would be just one more thing I had to prepare a lesson for, and I don't have time or resources to do it right now. We will continue to do Wednesday clubs however. My great friend Wynter is hosting Littles club at her house every Wednesday and using it to teach a Science class that will focus 20 on animals, 10 weeks on the human body, and 5 weeks on plants. It's geared to be a little more academic than clubs have been in the past, and I am excited about that, and feel that it's going to be a good use of time.

So that's some of what we're doing. I think our week is going to look something like this:

Monday: Linc has choir class first thing in the morning for an hour. Then we'll come home and do reading, writing, grammar, spelling, and math with both Lincoln and Ivan.

Tuesday: Ivan will go to preschool co-op first thing in the morning, and if I'm not teaching that day, I'll work with Lincoln on his reading, writing, grammar, spelling, and math. When Ivan gets home we will at least do reading, and maybe some more, depending on how we both feel. Tuesday afternoons I am hosting the Home Art Studio class at my house. The DVD will do most of the teaching, but I will be helping the kids do their projects.

Wednesday: Reading, writing, grammar, spelling, and math in the morning. Science class at Wynter's house in the afternoons.

Thursday: Lincoln will go to his Options Day classes at Harmony from 8:30-3:00pm. Ivan will go to preschool from 9:30-11:00. On the days I am not teaching preschool at my house, I can go grocery shopping, or clean the house, and do some preschool things with Adelia. When Ivan gets home I will at least do a reading lesson with him, maybe more depending on how we're feeling.

Friday: Since we are not participating in our home school group's Friday Fun classes this year, I decided that I need to make Friday a fun day at home. So we are going to switch things up a bit and use Fridays for our History and Magic School Bus Science days. These two subjects are more hands on and project oriented, so I think they will be more "fun" for the kids. I think we will also use Friday as our library day.

What a schedule! I still don't know if I can manage it, but I guess we'll have to try it before I can find out. I've also been getting my school room ready to go. My All About Reading and All About Spelling programs use a magnetic board fairly heavily. A long time ago, I bought an oil drip pan from Walmart thinking I'd hang it on the wall as a magnet board (pinterest). But it had a logo dented into the bottom of it, and Aaron thought it would look tacky to hang on the wall. He cut the edged of the pan off, and cut off the logo. Then the plan was to put a wooden frame around in and on the back, but we never got that far. So I mentioned to Aaron that I really needed a magnet board for school this year, and so I was just going to go buy another oil pan. Those were the magic words I guess! :) Because that very day my awesome husband finished the frame for me. We painted it and hung it up in the school room. It's perfect.

Now I just need to reorganize the closet and the book shelves, and make a daily schedule template to put Lincoln and Ivan's school work on each day, and I think we'll be ready to go. Maybe.

Bear Lake 2013

We made it to Bear Lake...I'm still not sure how I pulled it off, but we got up there late Wednesday night. They cabin we were staying in was beautiful, and huge. It fit all 25 of us with room to spare. It was three levels, so Brian and Emily and their kids, Tanya and Nelson, and their kids, and Kirk and Steph stayed on the top level. The middle level was the kitchen/family room/laundry room and the master bedroom where my mom and Kerry stayed. Then Jackson and his fiance Bri, Tanner, Kyle Kels and their baby, and Aaron and I and our kids, stayed in the basement. The room Aaron and I stayed in had a queen bed, and two sets of bunk beds. Perfect for our family. Both the top level and the basement had big entertainment centers, with seating, and the basement had a ping-pong table, Foosball table, exercise bike, and a double shot. Needless to say, there was lots to do after the kids went to bed at night. :) And my ping-pong skills are not what they used to be.

Thursday morning we headed to the lake. We got a great spot on the beach. The water was shallow, so the kids could wade out a long ways without any trouble.

Sand and water are really all my kids need to entertain themselves for hours on end. So we were set for the day.

Top: Aaron, Adelia, Bri, Jackson, Mom, Nolan, Burke, Abi, and Kels

Bottom Left: Tanner and Krystal Bottom Right: Aaron and Del

 Ivan came up with a pretty sophisticated method for cleaning the sand out of his water shoes. 

On the way back to the cabin we saw two bull moose! That's three moose in a month for me.

 View from one of the balconies on the cabin.

Thursday night we were supposed to go up in the canyon and get family pictures taken. About 5 minutes before we were supposed to leave Adelia started puking. She got it all over her pants and shirt. We cleaned her up as best we could and put her in the car. She threw up two more times on the drive up the canyon. Swell. We had to do family pictures because our WHOLE family is not together very often. It was now or never, so we just had to manage with a puking Delia as best we could. She actually perked up a bit for pictures and was smiling and talking. She did fine on the way home too. We stopped and got some famous Bear Lake Raspberry Shakes, which were heavenly. Then we headed back to the cabin. 

After we put the kids to bed, the adults played The Name Game. Basically, you divide up into teams of two (we did spouses), every person write a different name onto four slips of paper. They can be any kind of name, famous people, people you know, people you don't know, made up names, anything, as long as it's a name. Then everyone folds up their papers and puts them in a bowl. For round one, one partner draws a name out of the bowl and has to describe it to the other partner, without saying the name or saying rhymes with or starts with or sounds like. The second partner has to guess. The team tries to guess as many names as they can in one minute. Once the timer beeps you pass the bowl to the next team, and they get to try for one minute. You keep going as passing the bowl, until all the names have been guessed. Then you count up each team's score, fold the papers up and put them back in the bowl. For round two, one partner draws a name, and gets to say one word to describe the name, and then partner two has to guess what the name is. You do as many as you can in a minute and pass the bowl to the next team. Keep going until all the names in the bowl have been guessed. Then add up your score, and fold the papers and put them back in the bowl.  For round three, one partner draws names out of the bowl and has to act out the names without using any sounds, the other partner tries to guess as many names as they can in one minute, then they pass the bowl to the next team. Keep going until all the names have been guessed. Add up scores. The person with the highest score after adding all three rounds together is the winner. We had such a fun time with this game, and stayed up very late playing it. 

Friday morning we went back to the beach. We took out a couple of kayaks, and the kids had a ball with them. I think Linc stayed in the water for about two hours rowing and rowing. He loved it. 

Isla, Adelia, Ivan, and Burke in the background. Of course Adelia is screaming because Ivan is touching the paddle.

Aaron and Adelia

Papa Kerry and Graham

 Adelia and Gramma Tam

It was cold and a little bit rainy at the beach today, so we didn't play in the water as much as we might have if the sun had been out. But everyone had a good time anyway. And Ollie even napped for part of the day.

 Lincoln and Adelia

 Ollie

 Gramma Tam and Krystal

 Kyle and Krystal

 Gramma Tam, Kyle, and Krystal

 It started raining pretty hard, so we decided to call it a day. We went back to the cabin. The kids made fruit loop necklaces, and then ate them while they watched Mary Poppins. The adults snacked, chatted, read books, and took naps. It was a nice relaxing afternoon.

Top: Penny, Ivan, Graham, Adelia, and Burke making fruit loop necklaces.

Bottom: Penny, Graham, Lincoln, Ivan, Adelia, and Burke chowing down on their necklaces watching Mary Poppins.

Friday night the adults played two more rounds of The Name Game. It was awesome, but a power outage cut the second game a little short. Which was probably ok though, since it was after midnight!

Saturday morning we went for a hike up to Bloomington Lake. It was a long drive up the canyon to get up there, but so pretty it was worth it. Aaron wasn't feeling super great, so he stayed home with Oliver. I took the other three kids and went on the hike with the others who wanted to go. It was a beautiful hike. The lake was crystal clear, and had a rope swing that you could swing out into the middle and drop off in the water...but we didn't have our swim suits. Next time.

When we got home from the hike, it was time to pack up all our things, eat dinner and drive home. While we were packing up, Ivan somehow managed to smash his finger int he exercise bike. It was bleeding pretty bad, and looked munched, but he could bend it just fine, so I don't think it's broken. We iced it, and let him play games on my phone to distract him while the swelling went down and the Tylenol kicked in to make it not hurt so bad.

I always hate leaving Bear Lake. Especially this year, because Oliver screamed for about 3 hours of the drive home. But we came prepared...we had The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe on audio book, which the older kids have never heard before, and consequently were really interesting in, so we cranked it up and kept on truckin'. We made it home about 9:30pm.

View of Bear Lake with a storm rolling in.

*This morning Ivan told me that his favorite part of Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe was the lion because he can come back to life after he dies. :) 

Ivan's First Soccer Game

Yesterday was Ivan's first soccer game. He's really excited to be playing this year, and even more excited that Aaron is his coach. He's on a team with a bunch of little boys from our ward, which makes watching the games fun for me too, because I know and can chat with the other parents. I'm hoping it helps us get to know some of the other families in our ward a little bit better, in a non-church setting.

Ivan did great. He's naturally pretty athletic, so his movements look smooth and comfortable. He's a little bit timid about taking the ball away from the other team, but I think he'll catch on quickly enough.

Go Red Bears!

Poetry for the Night's Mood

Open Road Song by Eve 6

Tonight I feel ambitious and so does my foot, as it sinks on the pedal
I press it to the floor
I don't need a girl
Don't need a friend
Cuz my friend lonesome's unconditional
We're flying forever bored

For a moment I love everything that I see, and think, and feel
I love my broken sideview mirror
Cuz it's so perfect
I'm so perfect
You're so perfect
You're not here!
I hear the change in gears

My pile shakes as I hit 80' on the open road
This is an open road song

The night is beckoning
Although I have nowhere to go but home, feels good to be alone
With every turn comes a new frame of mind
If I could frame my mind
Where would it hang?

My pile shakes as I hit 80' on the open road
My pile shakes as I hit 80' on the open road
My pile shakes as I hit 80' on the open road
This is an open road...song!

I crack a window
And feel the cool air cleanse my every pore
As i pour my poor heart out
To a radio song that's patient and willing to listen
My volume drowns it out
Ya, but that's okay cuz I sound better then him anyway
Anyday!
Ya, my voice is sweet as salt
I search for comfort and I find it where I found it many times before
Times before it could be forgotten, yeah !

My pile shakes as I hit 80' on the open road
My pile shakes as I hit 80' on the open road
My pile shakes as I hit 80' on the open road
This is an open road...song!


AND....

Anything But Ordinary by Avril Lavigne

Sometimes I get so weird
I even freak myself out
I laugh myself to sleep
It's my lullaby
Sometimes I drive so fast
Just to feel the danger
I want to scream
It makes me feel alive

Is it enough to love?
Is it enough to breathe?
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please

To walk within the lines
Would make my life so boring
I want to know that I
Have been to the extreme
So knock me off my feet
Come on now give it to me
Anything to make me feel alive

Is it enough to love?
Is it enough to breath?
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please.

Let down your defenses
Use no common sense
If you look you will see
That this world is a beautiful
Accident turbulent succulent
Opulent permanent, no way
I want to taste it
Don't want to waste it away

Sometimes I get so weird
I even freak myself out
I laugh my self to sleep
It's my lullaby

Is it enough?
Is it enough?
Is it enough to breath?
Somebody rip my heart out
And leave me here to bleed
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please

Is it enough?
Is it enough to die?
Somebody save my life
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please
I'd rather be anything but ordinary please.

The Sickness

We got home from Hooper and got hit with a round of sickness. Lincoln woke up with a fever Sunday morning. And Adelia's eyes looked a little sick to me, even though she didn't have a fever. So Aaron stayed home with Lincoln, Adelia, and Ollie, while Ivan and I went to church. Ollie wasn't sick, but if anyone else was staying home, he might as well get his nap in.

I went to church, because I had a meeting with the bishop to get a new calling. Nursery Music Leader. I'm still not sure how I feel about that. I can't carry a tune in a bucket, and nursery kids don't sing, so I will basically have to sing solos for the nursery teachers every week. But on the other hand, it is a calling that takes very little time and very little preparation. So as far as time is concerned, it's a very good calling for me to have right now. And the kids are super cute, and it will be fun to work with Del, in her class. I'm just a little apprehensive about the singing part.

Anyways, on Monday Ivan had a fever. And our child-proof Tylenol bottle was proving to be especially difficult to work with. For the life of me, I could not get it open. I did not want to haul four kids to the store for another one. Luckily, I'm suborn, and I have a bit of my father in me. I took the Tylenol bottle out into the garage, where I found a hack saw, and solved my problem.

And today, it's Ollie that has the fever. It's hardest of all when he is sick. With my other kids I can turn on a movie for them and be on my merry way doing chores and checking in with them. But with Ollie I have to hold him the whole day, so nothing gets done.

Getting nothing done causes my anxiety levels to sky-rocket, because I'm supposed to be getting all six of us ready to go on a four day trip to Bear Lake that starts tomorrow evening. But there's nothing for it. Poor kid. I guess it's going to be me, up late baking lasagna after all the kids are in bed.

The Rest of Our Hooper Trip

Still in H-town on Wednesday. During the day we went and saw a good friend of mine. It was fun to catch up with her, and to see her new house. The kids had a good time together as well.

Wednesday evening, Kyle and Kels, and Jackson and Bri, came up to my mom's for pizza and apple crisp to celebrate Kyle's birthday. We stayed up late playing NERTS after my kids had gone to bed. I am not good at NERTS, but I sure do love playing games with my family. I don't so much love the Go Fish, and Battle Ship stage my kids are in right now, but I know if I keep playing games with them when they're little, then soon they'll be big enough to play fun games, and we'll have so many good memories, just like I do of playing games with my parents and siblings.

Thursday was our last day in Hooper. I wanted to go to Chick-Fil-A and see Tanner at work, but he had the day off. So we opted to go to the Layton Chick-Fil-A instead, because they have a play place. Kyle and Kels and Juice Box met us there. I love hanging out with my mom and siblings. Despite the look on Jackson's face, we had a great time.

Kels, Abi, Kyle, Juice, Tanner, Me, Ollie

Then it was back to Springville for us, because Lincoln had soccer practice. We had cereal for dinner again. That's just how it goes when you're single parenting. Aaron should be home later tonight.

Fish Farm

We made it to Hooper! Yay!

Tonight Mom and Kerry took us to the fish farm. Lincoln asked to go fishing for his birthday, and we were going to go while we were camping, but we weren't sure if Linc's attention span was long enough to handle real fishing. My mom came up with the genius idea to go to the fish farm while we were up visiting.

Turns out my mom hit the nail right on the head. My kids had a hard enough time being patient at the fish farm where they could see tons of fish swimming around. It took a little while, but eventually each of my kids (or the adults helping them) caught a fish. :)

Single Parent Week Begins.

Aaron left this morning for Washington DC. He's going to a convention for work. As soon as possible, I'm planning on loading myself and my children up in the car and driving to Hooper to spend the week there. But Lincoln had his first soccer practice of the season this afternoon, and Linc and Del have a doctor's appointment in the morning, so we won't be leaving for H-town until tomorrow afternoon.

We did make a trip to Target this morning to cheer me up though. :) I bought a 3-panel canvas picture of poppies to go in my living room. It matches the other poppy pictures I have in the entry way there, and adds a nice touch to the room because it fills the wall space nicely. When Lisa was here, she suggested moving my dad's leather armchair in from the family room, and I've really been liking it. I just need to find some curtains I like, and a rug to go on the floor, a small table, maybe a lamp, and a few things to go on top of the piano, and that room will be completely done. It'll be the first one in the house too. But hey, it's all about baby steps. The room is starting to come together, and that's what's important.

This afternoon we took Lincoln to soccer practice. He missed the cub soccer deadline by about two weeks, so he has to play up in U8 this season. I was a little apprehensive about it at first, but now that we've been to practice, I really like his coach, so I am super excited for the season. The coach is just one of those people who relates to kids very naturally. He doesn't talk to them like they're babies, but he makes things simple enough that they can understand. He's enthusiastic and into playing the game, he really knows his stuff, but doesn't make it all about winning. It's about acquiring skills and getting better. The win/lose doesn't matter as long as everyone is improving. And the kids do improve, because the coach makes the drills fun, and stops frequently to explain what's going on, what kids are doing right, and gives suggestions of things to do better. Linc is the youngest one on the team, and I think playing alongside the older kids is really going to help him improve as well. It's going to be a great year for soccer.

I hate to cook when Aaron's gone. My kids would rather eat pizza or cereal anyways, and I would rather not fight with them about it. So tonight after soccer we stopped by Papa Murphey's. Then I decided we'd shake things up a bit, so we had a pizza picnic and movie night. The kids picked Tinkerbell for their movie, so I opted to work on getting us packed to leave tomorrow instead of watching with.

A-Camping We Will Go!

My oldest baby turned 6. We decided to go on a weekend camping trip to celebrate. Gramma Tam and Papa Kerry came too. I'm starting to realize that our van is not as big as it once was. We bought it right after Ivan was born, and at the time I thought we'd never be able to use up all of that extra space. Ha! Well, the space is gone, and once again Aaron has to get creative when packing us and all of our crap into the van. :) It might be time to invest in a roof rack...or stop having kids...or both.

Our destination was Payson Lakes, only about 30 minutes from our house. We camped on Loop A, a collection of first-come first-served sights. And we chose site 26 A. We could not have picked a cooler camping spot. It was the best. The picnic area and the fire pit were next to the parking space, then you had to go up some wooden stairs and follow a trail back a ways into the forest to get to the tent sites. It made it feel like we were very secluded and the only ones camping all alone up in the mountains. It was awesome! And beautiful.

Speaking of awesome...our canvas hotel (aka the 8 man tent my mom and Kerry gave us for Christmas) is the coolest! I can't believe how big it is. It has enough room for more stuff and more kids, unlike our van. :) (Don't mistake me here, I love our van, it just gets really packed when we travel because we have so much stuff to take.)

We saw a moose! My first up-close moose ever. Moose just happen to be my favorite animal, not sure why. My mom and Kerry spotted it on their way into the camp ground, so we all had to go for a little stroll to check it out. It was right there by the side of the road. In the picture I am standing on the road.

We got the tents up just in time, because it started hailing. It didn't hail very long, but then it rained. Gramma Tam to the rescue. She had a deck of cards in her bag. Go Fish anyone? How about two hours worth?

After the rain storm, we went for a walk to check out Payson Lake. It's pretty low this year because of the drought, but still beautiful. We walked all the way around it, stopping here and there to skip rocks and such.

Then we went back to our campsite to start a fire and get our Hobo Dinners going. Everything was still pretty wet. I was glad that the fire was nice and warm. Papa Kerry showed us a fun new camping snack...he roasted a cheese stick over the fire until it was melty. It was really good. The kids weren't sure about it at first, but after they tried it, it was a hit. And Gramma Tam brought chocolate milk, which is a treat my kids don't get very often, so they were pretty much in camping heaven.

I love this sequence of Del. She's just in her own little happy world, skipping up the stairs on her way to the tent. Carefree. She was singing too.

Everyone except Adelia slept really well. Ollie even slept all the way through the night. He's such a great baby. When we got up in the morning, it was Lincoln's birthday! We had bagels and juice for breakfast, and then he wanted to open his presents from Gramma Tam and Papa Kerry. A Batman watch, some swimming goggles, and the game Battle ship. He was delighted.

Me and Aaron, with our favorite six year old birthday boy

Oliver was very obliging and took a morning nap out in the open while we took down the tents and packed up the cars.

Then we drove to the lake and spent the morning canoeing. There is something really soothing about canoeing (except for when all three children decide to lean over the same edge of the boat at the same time), it's calm, while still being active. Kind of like hiking. I love it.

Papa Kerry, Lincoln, Adelia, Ivan, and Aaron taking the canoe out the first time.

The lake started to get pretty crowded around lunch time. So we packed up and headed down the canyon. We stopped and hiked the Grotto Falls Trail. It was a quick hike, but it was beautiful, and really fun. The kids liked crossing the many bridges. Aaron was happy to be out among the pine trees.

Grotto Falls is really cool too, it's kind of inside a cave, except the roof is open sky. The water at the bottom of the falls is shallow enough to wade ankle deep in. It would be a really fun place to hike to and spend a couple hours just hanging out and letting the kids play in the water, like a natural splash pad. But it was a little crowded since it was Saturday, so we didn't stay super long.

As we hiked out, the boys enjoyed running up ahead and making gates in front of the adults, and not letting them pass until they said the secret password. I remember doing this as a kid too. :)

Then we came home and made Lincoln's cake. He requested a castle. We were a little low on accessories and time, so this is what we came up with, but I think it turned out nice. Props to Aaron, he did just about all of it while I made dinner. After dinner he opened his presents from Ivan and Adelia, two Nate the Great books, and another book about Greek Mythology from Aaron and I. He'll be in reader heaven for at least a couple of quiet times. :)

Gramma Tam and Papa Kerry had given us some sparklers for the 4th of July. Lincoln wanted to use them on his birthday. So we did.

To finish out the birthday celebrations, Linc got to stay up after the other kids were in bed and play me in a game of battleship. He won. So all was well.

Happy Birthday Linc! You are growing up so fast. I can't believe you are already a first grader. You are such a good kid, and a big helper. You always amaze me with the things you know and remember. I'm so glad you are in our family.