Memorial Day

On Memorial Day, our neighborhood had a parade down to the swimming pool. The kids decorated their bikes and and rode along. We have a really mixed neighborhood so there are lots of older couples that come out and set up lawn chairs and clap for the kids when they ride by. It is really fun for them! I think Caleb felt old, so he decided to just help Savannah with her bike. She was a little stressed out about not letting her bike go too fast.

Joshua got out his toolbox before the parade and helped dad get all the bikes ready.

Samuel got all decked out in his red, white, and blue attire. He even wore his two citizenship pens that he earned at school this year and last because they were patriotic looking.

Two firetrucks came and joined in our parade! The kids were so excited about that! I really do love my neighborhood. It is so fun to live somewhere with great community involvement. I am glad that we get to raise our kids here!

After the parade, we spent the day at the pool. Five hours later, I finally was able to talk the kids into coming home! After a quick dinner, Caleb convinced us to take him to the amusement park so he could ride the newest rollercoaster. Since we have season passes, we ran up there for a few hours and he was happy to say that he got to ride it a few times. At least he'll have something he can brag about at school! Shelby got her first real job working in the snack bar at our pool, so she wasn't able to come with us, but she didn't really care because she is making money!

Men and Boys Camp and Girls Night Out

This was the annual weekend when the boys all go camping with their dad and the girls stay home and play. Our neighborhood swimming pool opened on Friday, so everyone rushed home from school, got their chores done, got packed to go camping, and then went and played in the ice cold pool for a few hours! After that, it was off to the lake for our Stake Men and Boys Camp. Samuel, of course, was always found with a stick in hand. The kids played football, soccer, and capture the flag.

Caleb spent more time hanging out with his scout buddies than he did with the family, but that's okay.

On Saturday, Chris took the Webelos on a three mile hike to pass off a requirement and Joshua and Samuel came along. They saw a tiny baby deer and a wild turkey with baby turkey chicks. Joshua managed to collect 6 ticks and bring them home with him!

As for the girls, well, we ate at Red Robin while the boys were cooking hotdogs. We think we got the better end of the deal! We went shopping and picked out new bedding for Shelby's room and then came home and watched movies. Shelby and I highly recommend "August Rush" to anyone looking for a good show to watch. On Saturday, we went out to a few garage sales and then got ice cream at Costco. Everyone met back at home Saturday afternoon and they couldn't change into their swimming suits fast enough! The kids have really looked forward to our pool being open again and are right back to being little pool rats!

Honor Band Concert

Caleb has been participating in Honor Band during the second semester. It is an audition-only group that draws from 6 surrounding school districts and they practice 2 hrs. a week at the University with a music professor. It has been a great experience for him to play at a higher level than his middle school band is playing. He has been frustrated with band since we moved here because he has been playing in band since 4th grade and schools here don't start it till 6th grade. Basically, he has been an advanced student in a beginner's band! The Honor Band had their performance Monday night and in spite of spending the day home sick in bed with a terrible head and chest cold, Caleb was able to participate. I know he felt miserable, so I give him kudos for dragging himself out for the performance! Here's a little sampling of his music. (Don't forget to scroll to the bottom and click the pause button on my music player so you can hear the band!) Caleb is playing bass clarinet and he is situated right behind the flute players next to the saxophones.

Idle Idol Prattle

Yes, I am an idol junkie. I admit it.....I cannot go a Tuesday night without my American Idol fix! I thoroughly enjoy watching the show once they get past the auditions where they make fun of everyone (that is not cool in my book). I started off the year a big fan of Brooke White and David Archuleta, but somewhere in the middle, I fell in love with David Cook. I thought he brought something new to the stage every week and I loved his arrangements of the songs. Up until tonight, I was sure he deserved to win. Unfortunately, not a stellar performance tonight by anyone's standards. I did like his middle song, but beyond that, he left me wanting more of the rock star I have grown to love. And this is coming from a country music fan who never thought she would like rock! I still think David Cook will by far outshine David Archuleta when it comes to record sales (since we all know they both will get a contract) but I have to admit that David Archuleta absolutely deserves to win it! Here's to tommorow night's finale!

A Great Day for Soccer, Football, and a Baseball Game!

Wow! It was a beautiful day at the soccer fields today! Samuel worked his magic and scored the only goal that his team made the entire game. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough to win it for them, but he was still happy!

He received two soccer award patches for his hard work. Way to go Samuel! There was also some action on the flag football field today, but since the two games overlapped and the camera could only be in one place, we will have to post football pics next week. Joshua did earn the Sportsmanship Award for his participation on his flag football team. His coaches said he had the best hustle! His team is still undefeated and they continue to crush everyone they play! The score today was 56-13.

After the games, it was off to the ballpark for soccer day. Here is a picture of Samuel and Savannah parading across the field with the rest of his soccer team before the game started. It appears Savannah has been working on her "beauty queen" wave! Seriously though, the kids all had a great time today and we enjoyed spending the day with them. Sometimes I get frustrated that my Saturdays are taken over by kid's sports, but I sure do enjoy watching them excel and have fun at what they are doing.

Parade at the Ballpark

I wasn't sure if I would get this to load or not, but here is a video of Savannah and Samuel participating in the Soccer players parade at the baseball game. No, Savannah doesn't really play soccer; they let siblings join in the parade!

Cub Scout Birdhouse

Joshua, my handy little cub scout, has been working on getting his bear. He is really quite driven to get this accomplished. I don't believe I have seen this kind of drive in any of my children! I jokingly tell him that he will be the first cub scout to get all the arrow points possible because he is finishing his bear so early in his year! Grandpa made him this birdhouse kit and he put it together several months ago, but it took a few months of nagging to get daddy to help him mount in on the tree. And boy is it ever mounted! We had to use a ladder to get Josh high enough up to take a picture of him with the bird house! He is anxiously awaiting new occupants in the hopes of being able to watch birds nest and have babies inside. To me, it looks to be about the safest place for any bird to nest, so if you know of any homeless birds, send them our way!

Wrist Surgery

Last Friday I went in for surgery on my wrist. I had to have a ganglion cyst removed and I really thought it would be a minor surgery and I would be back to my normal self in no time. Boy was I wrong! First, there is no such thing as minor surgery, and second, I will never be my normal self until I have full use of my left hand again! Today, I removed the bandage covering the actual incision and saw the damage for myself for the first time. Definitely not pretty! The yellow is leftover bruising and the purple arrow is my doctor's marking to show where he would operate. Heaven forbid he should cut open the wrong wrist!

A lot of things have sufferred around here with mom's left hand out of commission. My poor husband has had to discover the joys of driving our teenage daughter to early morning seminary, the house is definitely not as clean as it used to be, dishes are waiting next to the sink to be washed by someone with TWO functional hands, cooking has fallen by the wayside as I have discovered the impossibility of lifting a pot of boiling water with one hand, and my hair has settled in for the "brush and wear" style that I hate! My prissy little 4 yr. old has even had to wash and fix her own hair and this is the result! Hey, any girl will agree that if one hair accessory is good, certainly two (or 3 or 4) would be better!

A New Style

I came home from my trip to Utah and found a stranger playing the piano in my living room! Apparently, my teenage daughter had one of those frustrating days where her hair was driving her crazy and she happenned to have a pair of scissors nearby.......and well, you can figure out the rest! After several attempts to get it straight and a trip with mom to the beauty shop to even things up, here is the final result. I must say, I was surprised at how good of a job she did on her own and I wish I had taken a picture of her hair before we went to the beautician. For some people, life's lessons are best learned through experience. This one has vowed never to cut her own hair again! I do, however, think she looks rather cute in short hair!

And now.......I am a blogger!

I have been so many different things since I crossed the threshhold into adulthood.......a student, a wife, a dietitian, a mother, an entertainer (of my children), a housecleaner, a wanna-be cook, and well, the list goes on. Blogging was not something that even entered my radar until about a year ago when friends started sending me links to their blogs. I looked at it like I looked at scrapbooking.......yet another thing I wasn't going to get involved in because it would take too much time and I would stress out about it. However, after a recent trip to Utah and at the urging of my friends and cousin (thanks Jodi, Amy, and Sonda) along with their promise that it would be relatively painless, I have decided to become a blogger! It is my hope that this will in some way make up for my lack of journalling as a way to chronicle my family's life. WELCOME TO MY BLOG!!!!