last call

for the month of February...

we actually have been busier than what the blog shows

I've just been slow moving this month

but that is all going to change really soon

because I always seem to  forget how much goes on in March

So here is what the last few weeks have looked like

An afternoon drive over to Emmett to have a Lenten lunch with my mom.

This is something we do every year during the Easter season, 

usually I have the boys with me but this year I was riding solo.

It was a quick but fun afternoon hanging out with my mom

and we always love our deserts.

 Speaking of desserts...

doesn't this look like a breakfast for champions

Over the long weekend Amanda and I took the kids out 

for the above mentioned breakfast

and then a trip to Jump Time to work it all off

Sadly though this (riding together all in one vehicle)

was probably the highlight of their day. 

Afterwards we took them to McDonald's

for yet another healthy meal

then out for a little shopping

and lastly a trip to our local library

This little girl was baptized on February 17th

a date to remember for sure

What a doll, right?

She was so adorable and she loved all of the attention

that she was getting from the whole congregation.

 Matt and Summer asked Heath and I 

to be her Godparents so that made the day even 

a little bit more special for us to share in.

It was a great family day for us all to be together.

We finally got a new to us vehicle that will fit more than just our family of five.

This will be so nice when Teresia comes to visit so we won't have to take

two vehicles everywhere that we go.

Our new Yukon has affectionately been called the station wagon 

because after the girls got their new expedition the boys

kept calling it a van which we thought was just hilarious,

so I guess that we are even now.

Sunday we went out with my sister and Jim after church.

It's crazy that they are almost empty nesters with Hailey doing her own thing most of the time, 

so she always gets to experience eating out and shopping with my crew.  Thankfully she's great with the boys

and has learned and perfected patience over the years so she handles our craziness just fine.

We usually split up from the guys at some point, my boys usually always pick to go with the big boys

because they are going to places like Best Buy and Sportsmans so Nicole and I get some fun shopping time together with no kids, lucky us.  

One of our finds was this super cute bird butter dish

and this new mirror fit perfectly just where I was hoping it would.

It was a successful shopping day.

This kid, I tell you...What am I going to do with him?

I helped out in Ryan's classroom the other day and when he came in from recess he told me that some kid was punching him in the face over and over, (don't feel bad for him just yet, keep reading) I wasn't too concerned because Ryan wasn't even crying and didn't look like he had been beat up so I figured that there was more to the story.  When I got ready to leave I reminded him to tell the duty if something like this happens again at lunch recess and that's when he told me the rest of the story. He say's, 

"So mom, the only thing that I did was say to the kid, Hey Loser!

Then he came up and started punching me, Who does that?"

We had a long talk after that and I hope that he learned a lesson or two.

Luke will be starting spring flag football soon.

He is very excited to be playing, he is all about the football (and his hair) and

seems to have a pretty good understanding of the game. This will be so good for him

because we are hoping that he will gain some confidence in trying new things.

He has now added playing professional football to his list of things to do when he grows up.

 Same ole same ole going on with Cody.

The kid loves school and is still enjoying basketball.

He was the only kid in his class to get a 100% on a paper so his teacher let him

teach his class in the computer lab.  He was wanting to wear a bow tie to school and have 

the kids call him Mr. Amazing but he opted for his normal attire and to just be called Cody, 

good choice. 

I'm in love with these sunshine and blue skied filled days,

I hope that there are plenty more of these for us in March.

Good bye February, Hello March.

cool as a cucumber

 Really I don't know where the time goes

I had no intentions of slacking off on my blog

Once again.

The kids each had a spelling bee within their classrooms to see who would qualify for their school's spelling bee.  Cody showed no interest in wanting to be in it but when you have a memory like his, you win in your class without even really trying.  He wasn't too excited about moving onto the school's spelling bee but we did put in some time and study for a few days.  There were only six fifth graders total in the spelling bee so the odds were in his favor and he ended up coming in second place with spelling deception and juvenile correctly but getting out on the word disastrous.  So this meant that Cody was moving onto the multi-school spelling bee and that we would really need to start studying.

My family has a little history with spelling bee's and spelling in general. Growing up my dad always told us the  story of when he went to a small country school that had many grades all in one classroom.  He told us how he would take the higher grades spelling tests and that there was only one word that he ever missed, which was the word bouquet.  We have heard this story so many times that we would never forget how to spell bouquet.

Fast forward to my sister in fifth grade and she was also in a spelling bee.  She earned third place, getting out on the word garment, this is yet another story that we have heard many times and another word that we all will never forget how to spell.

Next up was me and I was in the spelling bee in sixth grade.  Apparently I felt very sure of myself and my abilities and I did very little studying which is why I got out on the first word which nobody seems to remember what it even was.  Sad story but a lesson learned and I didn't want Cody to follow in my footsteps so we studied as much as we could.  Studying words is really so boring but Cody and I managed to have a little fun with trying to come up with ways to remember some of the words spellings.

The day finally arrived and Cody had no worries, he was as cool as a cucumber.

I had to laugh at how serious some of these kids were, they were pacing around out in the hallway and having parents recite words over and over and then there is Cody just hanging out playing on his Ipod and goofing off with his brothers.

He wasn't really nervous at all until he had to walk up on stage and even then he seemed so relaxed.

This Spelling Bee had a total of ten kids and Cody hung in there for three rounds spelling luncheon, obvious and kerosene correctly but getting out on the word amateur for a seventh place finish.

It was a good experience for him and we were so proud of him.  He has been so busy with homework, basketball and trying to study the words that I am just happy that life feels a little bit back to normal now.

one step forward...

Cody asked me last night where all of his jeans were

this came as a complete shock

because until recently none of my boys liked wearing or 

chose to wear the so called "fancy pants."

I told him he has two pairs of jeans

the rest of them are cargo and athletic pants.

 He wanted to make sure that he had a clean pair for the next day

because he likes to wear jeans now,

something we never thought we would ever hear him say

So he got dressed this morning

in his jeans

and his home made tie dyed shirt from last summer

that happened to have a pocket

a pocket that he thought was really cool

and that would be perfect 

to fill with pens

so there you have it

two steps back...

I told Cody it did look a little nerdy

and he just laughed

I sure do love this funny kid.