Bitter Sweet!

My van is up and running again!

We finally bit the bullet and towed it into the mechanic. I wish I would have taken a picture, we towed my 12 passenger, 3/4 ton van with my little Hyundai Elantra. Fortunately, it wasn't very far, but I was worried about the van literally pulling the whole rear end off the Elantra!! LOL

We were pleasantly surprised to have the estimate only come to $112! We fully expected it to be alot more. Why didn't we fix it 4 months ago??? We ended up putting a new battery in, so it was just over $200. Not bad!

We took it down for emissions and it failed. Oh well, guess we have to get a new van afterall? The guy said because it has been sitting, to run out the old gas and put new gas in it and bring it back before we give up on it. So that's what we did, and sure enough it passed!! Yeah?!?!

The bitter sweet part is that while I am happy to not have to spend the money and buy a new van, I am sad that I don't get a new van!!

Bobcat!

We had another pack meeting last night and Aaron earned his Bobcat Award!

He is so good at memorizing, I fully expected him to earn it much sooner, but he just wasn't interested. Last month was Blue and Gold Banquet and the first pack meeting he attended where he got to see the other boys receive awards. As he walked around and looked at all the possibilities, he became interested!

Always gotta get my hug!!

This Pack Meeting's theme was about Airplanes, so they had all the kids make paper airplanes and throw them all over the place, talk about CHAOS!! They had fun, but wow, it was crazy!!

Twister!

More Family Home Evening Fun!

It's always a challenge to come up with fun ideas that our whole family can play and enjoy together. The last two weeks, we were surprised at how much fun we ended up having, at least most of us, most of the time!!

Ben pulled out Twister. We actually had two kinds. The original, as well as some Halloween one. With this many people we set up both and had both going at the same time. The big kids were hilarious because they were deliberating picking colors that would entangle arms and legs and try to push and shove. They were laughing and having a great time. The younger kids would follow their lead in getting tangled up, but couldn't seem to handle being shoved and falling. There were some tears, but some learning experiences, too! lol Nana even stayed and participated by being the spinner for a little bit.

I got lots of fun pics and had a hard time picking which ones to put on here. Just too much fun!!

This week we played another simple game of memorization. It started out with "My Grandmother is going on a trip, She put in her trunk..." We ended up saying "I'm going on a trip and I'm taking..." Each person names something they are bringing. The trick is you have to name what everyone else said in the right order before you can add what you are taking. For example, Before we were done we were saying...

"I'm going on a trip and I'm taking a blanket, a pillow, a Friend Magazine, a laptop, my sister, my toothbrush, my scriptures, a suitcase, a rose, my pj's, my mom & dad, a cherry tree, my music player, a TV, my underwear, a fireplace, socks, shoes, clothes, a rocking chair, a clock, some money, a wii, my cellphone, ..."

It went on a little more than that, but I can't remember much more. I was surprised at how much the younger kids did, some of the bigger kids got out before Tiff and Aaron! It turned out to be a simple yet fun game! By the time we were getting to the end, Beth and Ben were singing and making noises trying to distract those that were still in so they would mess up! It was quite funny!!

Screaming Deals at Smiths!

I went to Smith's yesterday because they had some screaming hot deals on pasta! American Beauty 16 oz pkgs for only .49!!! Mott's apple juice .99 2 qrt. & 48oz oil for only $1.99 are great, too!

I bought as much as I dared, right off the shelves.

This is what I got...

30 lbs Spaghetti
15 Penne
19 Small Shell

13 Linguine

3 Fettuccine

2 Elbow (I'm hoping they'll have more this week)

5 Trio Italiano

16 Mott's apple juice

12 canola oil

2 bags chips

2 bags snyders pretzels

6 boxes cheezits

Blind Side (wasn't a great deal, I'm sure I could have got it cheaper somewhere else)

I spent $147 and saved $161!! Not bad!!

I checked and these sales are still going for another week, Stock up and save the rest of the year!!

Track Season

Benjamin is running track again this season. He usually only dabbles in it for fun. He is really hoping to do lots better this year. He took a swim conditioning class over the winter in hopes of building up some cardiovascular endurance. We'll see if it helped.

I'm so sad that I can't make it to all the kids' events. I try, but sometimes it's just not in the cards, especially when I don't have a car. (We're working on that.)

Anyway, here are some pics of Ben at the last track meet with our rival school....

He runs hurdles, long jump, and sometimes in the relays.

This is at the finish line, yup, he took first place 300 meter hurdles!

New General Conference Packets!

I went looking for the new April 2010 General Conference Packets and found them on Scribd.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/27909477/2010-April-General-Conference-Packet

To download it, you have to login. Or you can print it directly to your printer with out logging in. If you have troubles getting it, let me know and I can send you one via email.

We love these packets, they really help keep kids of all ages busy during the sessions. I've been using them for a few years now, and my kids are already asking when General Conference is coming with enthusiam!!

I wish I could say it was because my kids can't wait to "feast" on the word, I'm afraid it's because they want to "feast" on the treats that go with the packets as well!! Oh well, we try!!

GiGi Comes, Bearing Gifts!

We love it when GiGi and the kids come to play! It's getting more and more common and we are so excited to see the kids grow to become such good friends!

I'm sure when GiGi started getting bday gifts, she started wondering what did I start and get myself into!!!

The girls were so worried that GiGi wasn't coming for their bdays because she was on a Sister Road Trip to San Diego.

Boy, did she make up for it when she got back!

They all came over on Friday to play and give the girls their Bday gifts. I must say they were a big hit!!

They sure look like cousins, don't they?? Actually, I think they are 1st cousins, once removed. GiGi is actually my kids' cousin. It sure doesn't seem like it, though. We sure have a lot of fun together!!

Here is a pic of the bags she got the girls after they colored them! Didn't they turn out great!! What a perfect gift idea for these girls!!

Thanks, GiGi and Fam!! We Love you!!!!!

Random Pics

Since it's getting warmer the kids love to be outside more and more. Nattie and Tiff are going out during the day before the kids even get home. I couldn't find Nattie one morning, when I finally found her, she was in the sunroom putting on her snowpants and boots to go outside! When she realized I was going to let her go out, She couldn't contain her smile!! She sure loves to be outside, even when it's cold!!

All the kids celebrated Chinese New Year at school. I didn't even know about it until they brought stuff home. Aaron was especially tickled pink about his projects. I thought they were pretty cute myself, just had to take a picture. It's funny, for the next several days, he was asking everyone what year they were born and telling us what animal our year was. He got a real kick out of some of them.

March 6th was Scout O Rama Ticket Sales Kick Off!! Aaron and his Dad had to go around and try to sell tickets for the big Council Wide Scout O Rama Activity on May 1st. He had a blast and sold his 30 first day tickets. Here he is selling one to his Nana, boy she gave him a hard time. He had to give his "pitch" as well as sing her a song, and of course can't forget the kiss!! I don't know why these kids get such a kick out of some of these prizes, but they do. It's fun to see their little faces light up as they go their bags!

This one cracked me up. We found this in the fridge. It says, "STOP!!! Kim's Hershey's! If you want one ask Me! (Kim)"

Sure enough, when ever someone asked her for some, she was happy to share a square! LOL

Tiff likes to make big huge cakes and cup cakes for us to eat!

Super YUM!!

Emily's Birthday

Emily turned 12 last week!

I didn't get very many pics of her, not sure why, but here goes!

She asked for scrambled eggs & bacon for her bday breakfast. Then off to school. That really kinds of sucks up the whole day.

She came home, finished her homework and played. She asked for Chicken Cordon Bleu for dinner. Yum!

Dad took her to IceBurg to get a free Bday shake. Our Wonderful Hometeacher, Bishop Frederickson brought her a Bday Ice Cream gift. She has been looking forward to that ever since she found out the treat this year was Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream!

I just had to include this picture of Aaron because as you can tell he is so tickled pink about his gift to Emily. It was a shoe box FULL of paper airplanes. Emily was very gracious and comical about pulling out each one. And every time she pulled out yet another one, his smile would get bigger and bigger. It was fun to watch him!

She opened presents and we sang to her over Reeses Cheesecake Bars! Double Yum!

She decided to invite friends over for a Bday Playdate, as well. Friday's are best for those, so we waited for the Friday after her Bday. She had 3 friends come over. It worked out well.

Sunday, the Young Women came to get her from Primary and escort her to her Beehive class and the Bishop called her up to the stand in Sacrament Meeting to present her with her Primary Graduation Cert. and Faith in God Award!

Soooo, it's offical now, She's graduated from Primary and is in Mutual!!

My babies are growing up!!

Wrestling

Most of my boys have dabbled in the sport of wrestling in Jr. High. I have the hardest time with the sport because it is so stressful to watch.

Jon was the first, out of the blue just started to wrestle on the school team. He made varsity and there I was sitting at these matches. I remember crying not only through the match but throughout the whole meet and coming home with a tremendous headache because of all the stress it involked in my body just watching! By the end of his Jr. High career, I still didn't like it, but had learned enough that I was usually on the bottom row of the bleachers yelling at our team not to give up. Not just my son, but all of them. I couldn't stand for them to get pinned in the last seconds of a round. So I would try to get them to hear they didn't have much longer. I was so happy when he decided he didn't want to wrestle in high school.

Then Ben decided to wrestle as well. I didn't like the idea again, but went and supported him and the team. By this time, I wasn't suffering from headaches anymore, I just had such a hard time watching them do what they do! He too, decided not to continue in High School. I was relieved, again!

Now Steven wants to wrestle. He couldn't last year because he had a U in citizenship and I guess didn't care enough to take care of it. We really don't have a great team. Our coach should really retire but just hasn't yet. He rarely teaches the boys much of anything, just have at it. If it weren't for Steven's older brothers, he would really be struggling. The kids that do well, take wrestling outside of school during the off season. That makes it harder for the kids who don't have that option.

Anyway, Steven is still struggling to keep his head above the water enough so he can wrestle. He finally took care of the U this year that was holding him back and got on the JV team. I haven't been able to get to all of his meets because I don't have my own car right now. Even though I really don't like to watch it, I usually like to go and support my kids in what they are interested in.




So far he's undefeated, but he's only wrestled in about 5 meets, one of which didn't have a wrestler in his weight class.

Kimberly's Birthday!

These girls could hardly wait for their birthdays to finally come. It came and went so fast any of us can hardly believe it!!

Kimberly turned 10 on Saturday!

She started the celebration on Friday at school, where they sang to her, and she passed out brownies and answered questions about herself.

After school she had some friends over for a Birthday Playdate. This is my lazy, cop out mom solution to having an actual bday party! lol. We just invited some of her friends over to play for a couple of hours. They had an after school treat, but no birthday party organization. A couple brought her gifts but nothing fancy, two were homemade. Just my kind of party. The point was to have her friends over, not the gifts. It worked out great!! And no stress on my part, even better!! She actually had one more show up later, I forgot to retake the pic.

On Saturday we made her favorite breakfast of poached eggs on toast! Yum! Then she just played for a while.

Doug and Aaron were out selling Scout o Rama tickets for cub scouts. We had to give them enough time for Aaron to get his first day prizes. They came back early to celebrate Kimmy Girl's bday.

We went to the dollar theatre to see the Princess and the Frog. Cute movie!! We got there by the skin of our teeth and had to find seats in the dark! Couldn't all sit together, but that's what happens when you arrive late and have a group of 11!!

On our way home we stopped to get some pizza for her Bday dinner! Got home just in time for Ben and Beth to get to work.

After we ate, she opened her presents, we sang to her and ate brownies and ice cream. Then she played until it was way too late for her to be up!! We put her Easter Dress in the pic because Melanie picked it out and paid for half of it for her bday present from her. Her favorite present was the Polly Pockets!! All the younger girls immediately turned green from envy!

Kimberly just loves kids smaller than her. I am constantly telling her to put someone else's child down! She just loves them so much she can't help but pick them up and play with them. It's amazing to me at how young and innocent she still seems. I'm sorry to see her getting to the age where I know that will go away soon. She loves to write stories and draw pictures, she's quite the little artist!

Changing Classes?

I forgot to give you an update on Kimberly's teacher and situation. Sorry, it's a little long, I tried to keep it to a minimum.

My meeting with the principal and Mrs. C. went okay. But then I really wasn't expecting much. I can't expect to change this teacher, she has to want to do that. I just wanted to communicate the issues and find a solution. I asked the principal to be present to kind of be a mediator. I needed to know if I wasn't explaining myself well enough, or if indeed, Mrs. C. wasn't listening to what I was saying. It turned out that she wouldn't admit to anything and just made excuses for what she couldn't deny. But we left with the idea that we needed to work together for Kimberly's success. She also said she would apologize to Kim for making her feel like she was being picked on. (Later I found out, she apologized but she also grilled her on why she thought she was being picked on.)

I also addressed the issue of being accused of being a safety issue. I found out that it wasn't Mrs. C. that thought the situation was a safety issue, it was the principal, Mr. Quist. That it wasn't the idea that I was there, but the idea that I didn't communicate to the teacher why I was there. So I can come into the school and observe that day as long as I communicate to the teacher what I am doing. She said it was unsettling, even though it was pretty obvious by the time I left ,what I was there for. I think she wanted to prove a point.

It's hard because there are things she's willing to do to make this work and there are things she is not willing to do. Yesterday, we hit another bump in the road. Kim has a government test today, for several days we've been working on this packet she has. Kim doesn't take tests very well if I don't know what to prepare her for. In P/T conferences Mrs. C. explained that she goes over the packet and has them high light what they need to know for the test. Kim didn't get her all highlighted, I've been trying to get her to find out. Yesterday after school, Kim is asking the teacher what she needs to know and Mrs. C. tells her if she doesn't know it by now, it's too late!!

I had a chance to talk to her on the phone and she basically told me the same thing. I said, wait a minute, the test isn't until tomorrow, how is it too late? She didn't want to talk to me, and tell me any more information. She said we could come get her social studies books, but that was all she could do at this point. I said I would meet her in the parking lot for the books. We actually talked about a lot of things, during that conversation on the phone, but this is already too long.

Anyway, she didn't want to talk to me in the parking lot either. By then I was so frustrated, I just sat in my car and cried. Kimberly is not a behavior problem, she's not below grade level. She can be a bit of an air head, though! :) She is a very happy go lucky, off in her own little world. She's smart when she's interested or well motivated.

Mr. Quist pulled his car over to mine and we ended up talking for about 45 minutes. I let him know more of what was going on. I asked him if he thought I was over the top and needed to just chill out. "Please be honest with me!" He not only said no, he commended me for being so involved in her education. He said you are not some parent who wants the school staff to "take care of her child". You are investing lots of time to help her learn what she needs to learn. The end result, he suggested we put her in the other 4th grade class. He thinks the other teacher will work with me better. We discussed some of the issues and concerns about switching so late in the term, and year. He said he would discuss it with Mrs. T (the other teacher) and get back with me today.

I'm still a little concerned, it's what I've been wondering if we should do, but didn't know how it would work out. I never brought it up, it was a relief that he came to that conclusion on his own. It somehow gave me some validity. Now we wait and see!

I'm Happy Now!

I know I just did one on Nattie Bug, but this is too cute!!

Nattie is at the age where she doesn't always like to nap, but boy, is she grumpy if she doesn't get one! Sundays can be awful now that we are on the 1pm to 4pm schedule.

When she starts to get grumpy, whiney or crying a lot more than usual, I tell her it must be time for a nap. Sometimes, if it's not nap time, I will tell her to sit on her bed until she can stop whining so much and be happy.

Lately if she is whiney or grumpy, I'll ask her, are you tired already? Do you need a nap? She now replies with this really big grin, and says I'm happy now! She even tries it at bed time, big grin, I'm happy now!! Sometimes she doesn't say anything, she just whips out this grin. I guess as far as she's concerned, it speaks for itself!! It usually makes us laugh, it's pretty cute to see her go from whiney and crying, to big grin!

When she wakes up, she usually comes to find me and says, I waked up! I usually ask her if she has slept the grumpies away? She replies uh huh. She sometimes will just tell me she's happy now and slept all the grumpies away! What a cutie!!

As I was taking a picture of Nattie's grin, of course, Tiff wanted me to take a picture of her grin, too!! Please excuse the mac and cheese on their faces and teeth! :)