When the Lights Go Out......

You are guaranteed to get some pretty silly pictures!

German Exchange

We have been busy the last few weeks getting ready for Joshua's German exchange student to come visit. The biggest matter of business was figuring out the rooms and getting them ready. Joshua's room has needed a paint job since we moved here 5 years ago, so we finally took care of that when we absolutely had to.....the weekend before our exchange student came! (we're kind of bad like that!)


We met Simon after 18 hours of travel and he was quite exhausted and ready for bed! It was past midnight his time when we met him at the bus. We were excited that we could recognize him from the pictures we had seen!

We made a "Welcome to the USA" sign for him, but it was raining, so it had to be put up in the house. The kids were all excited to meet Simon and get to know him better. The fact that he brought them each a package of gummy bears and a candy bar really helped!

So now we are off to immerse Simon in American culture and have fun making a new friend! I am sure it will be a busy 3 1/2 weeks for our family!

Mormon Prom

Caleb's first big date dance was a few weeks ago. He asked a very cute girl named Sarah to go to Mormon Prom with him. I tried my best to get him to ask in a creative way, but in the end he resorted to a phone call when he saw her post of facebook debating whether she should go to the dance alone or not! Guess he thought it was now or never!


Savannah and I went out when he picked her up.....I went to take pictures and Savannah went to see her fancy dress! Sarah did not disappoint because she had chosen a dress in Savannah's favorite color--PINK!

I love that they try to keep the cost down for the kids for Mormon Prom. They provide a dinner before the dance and then the dance itself. They had a really good time together and I think they made a pretty cute couple!

I found myself worried about all kinds of things as I sent my son out on his date that I never worried about with my daughter.....

Would he be a gentleman and remember to open the doors for her?

Would she stand back and wait and encourage him to be a gentleman if he did forget?

Would she be gracious and gentle with his heart and help him to feel like she wanted to be out with him? (Boy did I experience some guilt here over some not so stellar dates that I went on when I wanted to be sure that the guy knew that I didn't LIKE him....like you know, girlfriend like! Now I realize that I should have treated them like they were worth being with and they were important.)

Oh, I would have loved to sit in while she told her mom about the date when it was over! As the mom of a boy, all I get to hear is "It was fun."

AND????

"nothing....it was fun, mom."

Saying YES to Disney!

For YEARS my kids have been begging for a Disneyworld vacation and for years I have been saying NO!

There were lots of reasons for my repeated "NO's".....
1. It was WAY too expensive
2. It was too far away
3. It was too crowded
4. It didn't sound in the least bit relaxing.....and vacations ARE supposed to be relaxing, aren't they?!!

Finally, early this year, I decided it was time to say YES to Disney! My kids were old enough to feasibly do the drive without too much complaining and it was time for my husband and I to give up the relaxing vacation and make some fun memories with the kids! Going into this, I knew it would be expensive, but I made it my goal to try and cut costs where ever possible. I decided that if the choice was between going or not going, I would find a way to cut costs so that we could afford to go!

The first thing I did was look at where we could come up with the money for our vacation. We typically do a weeklong beach vacation each year that costs us about $1500, so we gave that up and put the money into our Disney fund. We also gave up the $500 we spend on our season passes to our local amusement park, so with $2000 in our fund, I was feeling pretty rich and called Disney to price out a trip. The cost for a 5 day trip staying on Disney property came to $5000!!!

It was clear that staying on property was not an option for us, so I started frequenting http://www.disboards.com/ to learn about ways to cut costs and other places to stay. In the end, we were able to put together a 7 day Disney vacation (2 travel days, 9 nights in hotels/condos, and 7 days at Disneyworld) for $3000. We cut costs wherever we could, but we also had lots of fun and splurged on some extras. It was well worth it!

I would have to say that the trip was an exhausting one! If I were to do it again, I think I would go to the park every other day, taking a day off in between visits to relax at the condo, but even though we were tired it was SO MUCH FUN! Savannah was the perfect age to be so excited about all the princesses, and the boys were old enough to split off and go ride some rides while mom and Savannah waited in hourlong lines for princess autographs!

Suprisingly, the favorite park for most of my kids was Animal Kingdom. There was a really fun rollercoaster there, Expedition Everest, that everyone loved! And the safari was a highlight of the trip. I guess I have raised a bunch of nature lovers!

I was surprised at how much Magic Kingdom was identical to Disneyland, where I went when I was little. I guess I had always just thought that Disneyworld would be so much better, but really it is almost exactly the same. It was fun for me to share all my favorite rides with my children and tell them stories about going as a little girl.

All in all, it was the trip of a lifetime! I was so glad that I finally convinced myself to say YES to Disney! And, believe it or not, I am actually thinking I might like to go again!

Great Wolf Fun

I have been taking a bit of a blogging hiatus, if you couldn't tell.....we changed computers in December and all my old pics are on my old computer and I just let that stop me from putting up anything new, but NO MORE! We have been trying to do some fun mini-vacations this year courtesy of groupon and living social, and when I saw the deal for Great Wolf Lodge pop up, I couldn't let it go! I have been wanting to take the kids there forever but it was just SO expensive. With the groupon we were able to get it at half the price we normally would have paid, so we made plans for a teacher workday in January knowing that it would be a nice break from winter weather!

Unfortunately, I don't have many pics from the waterpark since I didn't want to carry my camera around with me down there, but there was lots of other fun to be had. At night the boys all enjoyed the GR8 Space with big screens and video gaming systems while Savannah and I did the MagicQuest game (so much fun! oh and a great workout too, running up and down those flights of stairs!)

The best part was just the chance to hang out together. Chris has been travelling so much lately that the "downtime" that we used to have with him is almost non-existent, so it was fun for the kids to have dad around to play with. We spent 5 hours in the waterpark the first night and then all day the next day just playing and having fun. I even went down a few slides with my broken wrist (don't tell my orthopedist that!) but they were on the tame side. Our suite was incredible! There were 2 bedrooms (one for the kids and one for us) and two bathrooms, a living room and a little mini-kitchen area. Our bathroom had a jetted tub (LOVE!) so I could soak to my hearts content!

It was two full days of pure fun and I would go again in a heartbeat, but I am definitely looking out for a deal! If anyone hears of one, let me know!

A Trip to the Mountains

It started with the hiking merit badge and a requirement to do a 10 mile hike..... combined with a desire to see the leaves in all their fall glory.....

and ended with some very tired, somewhat dehydrated and completely exhausted family members encouraging each other to "endure to the end"!

I can't think of a better way to spend the day!

I cannot even begin to tell you how incredible this stream felt midway through our hike to my aching feet. I DID NOT want to leave!

I had to laugh because the boys always ran on ahead of us. We came around bend in the trail and saw them sitting under this sign which read "WARNING: Problem bears in this area".....like the bears wouldn't come get them as long as they didn't pass the sign!!!

LOVE this pic of my sweet teenage son piggybacking his little sister. You know, with all the unlovableness that comes with teenagers, this picture reminds me of everything good that is still deep inside of him.

Resting with my sweetie.....

Yes, we are still here....

Pardon the lack of posts please! We are into the chaos and craziness of school and after-school activities and well, LIFE! Oh, and I have started working at the school as a substitute teacher, so my days are very full! I thought I was being extremely picky and exclusive when I said that I would ONLY work at Savannah's school and ONLY teach up through 2nd or 3rd grade, so I was sure I wouldn't get called much.

I quickly found out how wrong I was! My first week working, I worked four days. The second week, I filled up 3 days and then quickly blocked out the other two so that I wouldn't be called in! I have found that I need at least two days a week at home in order to stay on top of my home responsibilities. So far I have mostly taught in pre-K which is a class of 16 students with a teachers aide. I spent one day in Kindergarten with 22 kids and only ONE teacher (ME!!!) which was a little crazy! I had an opportunity to teach 1st grade last week, but then Samuel got sick, so I had to turn it down. I was looking forward to trying out 1st grade to see if they were a little more manageable than Kindergarten!

I am loving the little kids and find that it is really fun for me to substitute. I love the flexibility and it is obvious that I still need that! I was offerred a full time position as the aide in the pre-K class which I turned down because it is more than I want to work. So instead I am now the designated substitute teacher for that class, which is fine by me! I know the kids and love them and it is fun to get to go back in and see how they are doing on a regular basis.

Cross Country....maybe!

Joshua tried out for and made his middle school cross country team this year. He was so excited about it! He is a good little runner and when he sets his mind to it, he will do his best. Unfortunately, after 2 weeks of practice, he started to have pain in his ankles. He took a few days off and rested and then tried running in the first meet. The poor kid was in so much pain, but he would not give up. He came in near the end, but even through the pain, he was still running at a very slow limping pace. After a visit to the doctor, he has now been given a 1 week rest period to recover. Considering that the season is only six weeks long, he will only have 4 meets left when he returns. We are hopeful that he can get better and try again, because he was so excited about being on the team!

Retro Car

After years of threatening our children with having to learn to drive in mom's minivan, we finally have another option! We were given an old car from a family member's estate that Caleb seems a little more excited about learning to drive. It will not be HIS car, it will be a family car, but it is definitely a way cooler option than the van!

So as soon as the eagle project (which was mostly finished a year ago) is completed......ah yes, paperwork remains.....Caleb can get his permit and start driving.

I actually love this car. Something about it takes me back to my childhood! The seats are bouncy and it has loads of character. We are having a lot of fun with it!

The best part is now I have an extra car when mine goes in the shop.....as it inevitably does on a regular basis!

A Soggy Back to School

The first day of school was nothing short of miserable this year. It was pouring down rain for most of the day and I woke up early stressing about everything that needed to be done. This year was different than the previous ones for me....I found myself dreading sending my kids back to school.

This is the year that I wanted to stop time.

After taking two teenagers through summer vacations, I have realized that summer is a form of detox from the world. They face so many trials and bad influences at school that it is difficult for them to withstand them all and in the end, they end up compromising. By the time school gets out I am rallying my troops, making plans for church camps, EFY and family activities in the hope that I can replenish them. That is what summer is about for me....reminding my children that they can live in the world and still hold tight to their family's values. I only wish that summer could be 9 months and school would be 3 months!

So as I hugged Joshua goodbye on his first day of 7th grade, my heart ached. He will enter teenage-hood during the middle of this school year on his birthday. This was my last carefree summer with him. He is so good, and I want to stop time and keep him that way. My heart breaks when I think of the struggles and trials that his older brother and sister have faced. I desperately want to protect him from evil and I feel more and more incompetent in my abilities to do that. My fortifications with the others have not been enough and I am unsure how to best prepare my children to withstand the world. My feelings of inadequacy brought me to tears so many times yesterday.

Savannah and Samuel were excited to meet their teachers but a little nervous since we didn't get a chance to go in beforehand and find their classrooms. Chris and I had to divide and conquer on this one since they are in different schools starting at the same time. I was grateful for the gift of cell phones to keep us connected so Chris would know how Savannah did and I would know how Samuel did.

Caleb did not start school on the first day. A few weeks ago, Chris and I made one of those heart-wrenching parental decisions and chose to remove him from the governor's school where he has been studying the arts and bring him back to his home high school for his junior and senior year. There were a lot of things involved in that decision, more than I want to get into on here, but we both agreed this was the best course of action. Knowing that did not make the decision any easier though, because we knew it would be difficult for Caleb, and our hearts ached for him.

Due to the storms, the transfer between schools did not happen till after school started, so now Caleb will be starting school today, on the third day. I have cried more times than I want to admit over the last two days, empathizing with my children's pain and mourning the intrusions on their innocence. Maybe it is just the fact that I am older and more knowledgable now of the dangers they face; it has torn me up inside.

Today will be another stressful day, one I wish I could stay in bed for and not have to face. It will be Caleb's first day of school at a new school and we will be going with Shelby to deal with some of the aftermath of the choices she made during the summer.

I think I have had enough of the pain and stress of motherhood for now.....it is about time for some of the joy!