Getting There

I had what I hope will be the final procedure for this little drama done on Thursday. I am home recovering and hoping to be able to eat, sleep, and have a normal life soon.
My kids miss having me come to help at school and I really miss going to the gym and listening to Harry Potter on my Ipod while I run/jog on the treadmill.
Despite no exercise, I have found myself several pounds lighter. I guess not eating much for three weeks will do that to you, and I am not complaining about that.
I have found myself begging my husband to take me out on the town: last night we went to Wal-Mart for a birthday party gift and got a frozen yogurt that I ended up wasting.
But it was nice to get out.

Burke took both the boys skiing on Wednesday. They had so much fun. Kade did ski school in the morning and kept up with Burke and Nathan in the afternoon. He whispered in my ear that he secretly thought he did better than Nathan did. Nathan whispered that he thought Kade did okay, but needs more practice to keep up with the big guys.
They were all exhausted when they got home and they all looked like racoons because Burke forgot to put sunscreen on them until after lunch.
Now the girls are waiting for their turn.

I am hoping to have some more energy to do something productive with my blog and life soon...

Stay tuned.

Halloween, At Last

Yes, I know I am finally getting around to posting the Halloween fun, but it is worth the wait.

Right?

Nathan, after much consternation about Kohl's not sending his much needed accessory, was a Doctor for the school Halloween party (we improvised using the scrubs I work for work when I was pregnant with him, with some tailoring, of course).
Annika borrowed a costume from her friend again because of Kohl's late shipment (not my fault, I proclaimed as I clicked purchase on October 21). Annika was very cute as an Asian princess, or as Mulan, whichever she decided was more glamorous.

Kade was a mummy. Which I sewed. With lots of cheesecloth bits flying up my nose as I did it.

Adrienne was a cute little red witch.

Once the Kohl's shipment came (the day after the school parties) Nathan was Albert Einstein and Annika was still the neighbor's Asian girl costume because I got the wrong size. In my own defense, I ordered the size it said was for kids 8-10 years old. When it came, I said 8-10 years old= size 12-14. GRRR. Oh well, maybe she can wear it in 3-4 years.

I had the opportunity to plan the parties for the 2nd grade and for Kade's class in third grade. It was very stressful for me, but we got it done, and the craft and the games turned out to be lots of fun. Adrienne got to come and hang out in the second grade and the third grade parties, so she thought she was pretty awesome.


The weekend of Halloween, we headed up to the library for their annual party which is usually pretty fun, especially for the younger kids.
Nathan won the costume contest for the "Smartest" costume and was able to pick out a book.

Kade won too for the all around best costume! It validated all of the tacking of cheesecloth that took many more hours than I thought it would.

After the library party, the boys went trick or treating with their friends, and the girls got to go with their dad until a friend's mom picked them up and took them out for a little while.
They were soooo excited and felt like they were big like their brothers to be out without mom or dad.
Adrienne got separated from the group though, because the house they went to didn't give her candy fast enough and the other kids left her. She was a little upset at that, but seemed fine once she sat down to munch on her candy.

Burke and I were home alone on Halloween night.
He got to fulfill his fondest wish (next to getting his truck).
He wore a horrendous mask and scared the bigger kids who came to the door.
His chuckles and comments of "They screamed like little girls!" Were pretty funny.
Love that guy!

We've Got Talent

***Warning****

Mother's bragging is to follow, proceed at your own risk.

Kade had his talent show this past week.
He was so excited, but very nervous because he hadn't practiced his Kata (fancy name for a form) very much.
He performed well, but did panic a little about halfway through when he temporarily forgot what came next.
He figured it out and finished up with a broken board.
He was so afraid he would hit it and it wouldn't break.
In the end, he was tougher than the board.
He did a great job, and I am very proud of him.
We have more practicing to do, he has been asked to perform in the whole school talent show as well as Annika.
It is a surprising feat to have two of my kids in the talent show. They only choose five children out of each grade to perform.
Nathan also participated in his talent show. I missed it because of a miscommunication with his teacher, so I don't have any video to post. He did a couple of magic tricks that my own kids were very impressed with. I am hoping to try to get him to do it again at home so I can post it.
I am so proud of all my children for conquering their fears to perform in front of such a large group, especially of their peers. That alone should deserve a medal, it can be frightening.

Here is Kade's video with the beginning cut off because my camera is not working very well these days. (I seriously have to open the battery compartment and lick the battery, then push the on button about six times to get it to turn on. I wonder what Burke will get for Father's Day :)

Spring (?) Break

We spent spring break up in the mountains. It wasn't so spring-y, but it was a much-needed break.

The first challenge was getting into the cabin. This picture was taken with Nathan standing at the entrance to the driveway.
We decided to take our chances and try parking on the road. "The Man" left us a nasty note, but by then the neighbors took pity on us in our poor minivan and let us park in their plowed driveway.
Then we had to get all the stuff in our work-horse van into the cabin. It wasn't pretty, and involved some yelling and wet boys, but we finally got settled in and warmed up with some hot chocolate.
After that, the fun began. We played games, watched movies, and went tubing. We tubed and tubed and tubed.
The best part was there was a really long hill where we could drop off the kids and one adult and then meet them at the bottom. We loaded everyone and all the tubes up and drove around to the top to let them go down again. It was so much fun.
One morning we availed ourselves of the local Easter-egg hunt. It was a massive undertaking. There must have been a thousand kids in the events center. For us, it ended up being a moderate success.
Adrienne had a bit of a struggle to pick things up with her cast on, but I let her tough it out. There were many parents who got in there with the 4-5 year olds and grabbed candy, though.
It was a little ironic because the grumpy man who kept telling me to leave my 4 year old daughter there alone felt pretty dumb when I was the only parent who was actually waiting on the sidelines and letting my daughter get her own candy.
Annika seemed destined to "find" all the stupid scraps of paper the organizers spread out as advertisements for the sponsors. She mostly ended up with a bag full of papers. Nathan's bag mysteriously developed a hole in it, so as he was furiouly filling it, other (rotten) kids were coming behind him picking up the stuff he was dropping. The kids had fun though (except for a disappointed Nathan) so that is all that matters, right?

After the big hunt, we went to the city park to play fox and geese, a family tradition on my side. I was appalled that we had never taken the time to play it before. I got to teach the kids and Burke to play. It was hilarious. When Adrienne got tired of running around, she said that she wanted to play fox and squirrels and she was going to be the squirrel hiding in its burrow. She walked away and sat in the snow to rest. After the fun in the park we let the kids play on the playground for a while. We had it all to ourselves, since it was freezing. The kids didn't seem to mind, though.


We finished the afternoon with a stop at the famous local burger joint. I got a turkey sandwich (sigh) but treated myself to a nonfat yogurt shake with Oreos that I'm sure kept it nonfat(YUM).

That night it snowed. A lot.The kids decided to take advantage of the new snow and tubed down the driveway while Burke and I loaded up the van.
We were a little worried we would have to move in until Memorial Day, but our faithful minivan got us out and we headed home to check out the Easter baskets the Easter bunny had left us.
It was an amazing weekend and we had so much fun. Thanks for letting us use the cabin Grandma and Grandpa!

Hot Tubbin'

Aunt Kellie's family came up to visit us. Well, they came to ski, so we went to visit them at their hotel. It was nice to see everyone and let the cousins visit with each other.
We decided to take advantage of the opportunity to go sit out in the hot tub.
I got in with the kids because Burke couldn't find his swimsuit. (How convenient).

We started with a bag tied around Adrienne's cast, but lost the bag later when we noticed it was actually holding the water in.
Adrienne decided that Aunt Kellie and cousins Hannah and Becca were the greatest. We almost had to leave her there to live with them forever.
In the end, we convinced her that coming with us would be okay.
It was a great evening, thanks guys!

Hey! Let's Go Bowling

We went bowling a couple of weeks ago. I figured out that bowling is not my strength. I think I should have had them put up the guards for my turn too.
Maybe I should have used Adrienne's technique:
It seemed to work for her. The boys also had a pretty good showing, except for one incident where Kade threw (and I mean threw) a gutter ball. The guards were up. And it went in the gutter. I didn't know you could do that. And darn it, I didn't get a picture.
Nathan was pretty good once he tried a smaller ball.
Annika was mostly there for the food. She would throw the ball and then run back to the table to eat her pizza without even checking to see how many pins she knocked down. There's a girl with the right priorities.
Of course, Burke ended up being the bowler of the day.

I think Adrienne had the most fun when she discovered the hand dryer.
We had a good time, and more importantly, everyone could gloat that they all beat mom!

Finally...Moved In

We spent Saturday cleaning out the garage.
Not exactly our idea of a great time.
But...
It needed to be done.
We had lots of stuff in there that we didn't need anymore.
Like moving boxes I wouldn't let Burke throw out when we moved in (5 years ago).
Because I hated it here. I had left my friends, my awesome ward, and my self-confidence in Michigan.
I just knew we were going to move again soon, so I didn't let him get rid of the boxes I would need.
I guess I have settled in a little better.
And I know I can always get more boxes if I need them... ;)

Annika was sick, so we let her stay in and watch the Disney Channel all day while we worked.
The boys also caught a few minutes of Snow White when they sneaked in from time time.

We got everything cleaned out, found the sandals Burke got me in Brazil, made two trips to the dump, one to the thrift store, swept, sprayed, and hung things up. Now we can walk around in there. It looks great. And now we have officially unpacked... for now.

As a side note, I ended up going to the maturation program with Nathan at the school two weeks ago. It was hilarious. I have never heard so many giggles from 10 and 11 year old boys in my life. The dads there were pretty giggly themselves.
After the program, they passed out little booklets for the boys to refer to for questions they may have had and not asked.
On the way home, I encouraged Nathan to read through the booklet and see if there were anything he had questions about. He rolled his eyes and said he would never open the book, it was too embarrassing. I checked my rearview mirror 30 seconds later and found him flipping through.
He felt comfortable enough with me to ask a few questions (thankfully) and then reminded me how embarrassing it all is.

Since then, we have tried to keep an open dialogue and keep it light. There has been a little teasing from time to time, mostly from me and his dad.

But Saturday, Nathan got a laugh.
We asked him to stack some 2x4's along one wall of the garage with some help from Kade and myself. It was hard work to get them just right so they didn't fall down. When Burke came and checked them, of course they toppled. We looked at Nathan and Kade (of course, I didn't own up to the stacking job). Nathan sheepishly told us that it was too hard for him right now because he hasn't got all of his grown-up muscles yet. We laughed and I told him I did have my grown up muscles and I still couldn't do it.

It wasn't a lot of fun, but when we walked out Sunday to go to church, the boys were so proud of themselves. I think the pride of workmanship is worth as much if not more than a day of goofing off.

Love those boys, even without all their muscles yet.

#45

Kade has to write in a journal at school on an assigned topic. Then he brings it home at the end of the month and I get to read it. I came across this entry and was impressed with it. Here it is with misspellings and all:

February 22, 2010

I would choose my Dad as the next president because he is the best man I have ever seen. I think he is always having fun and he never is that mean. I think he has a great heart because of my Grandpa. So he should be the 45th president. I wish he would be the president my Gradpa would be very proud of my dad.

I think I would choose him too.

WE'll BE LOyal Scouts

We had our blue and gold banquet for the scouts last Friday. It turned out really well. The leaders did a really great job. I just showed up and helped with the decorating and the food.
We tried something a little different this time. We painted their faces for each rank they had achieved.
Kade got his Bobcat, and Nathan got his Webelo and some activity badges.
He has already earned his Arrow of Light, but we decided to wait for a month for him to get it. He is really excited.

A Super Duper Derby

It is that time of year again.
Pinewood Derby!

Nathan's last, Kade's first, Burke's 6th(?).

The boys had a great time designing their cars, especially picking out the colors. We went with gold and blue this year.

Nathan's was The Comet. Kade's came to be known as The Truck. (Very creative, I know. That's just how we roll.)
Burke spent waaaaaayyyyy too much time on his car. But he finally got it to work. It lasted for one race. But then Nathan picked it up and it didn't work right after that.
Kade took second place, Nathan was fourth.

It was a lot of fun.

Last week we rented Down and Derby. It was hilarious and somehow appropriate...

Red Dragon

Kade had another belt test on Saturday. He did fairly well, despite being nervous. The test ended up taking over 3 hours. Quite a long time for an 8 year old. He hung in there and made it to the end but was very tired when it was all over.

Here he is doing a form with his staff (bo): He also had to do several forms with his nunchuks:

They have to do some self-defense as well. Here he is doing overse wrist (I think): Don't mess with the little guy!



At the end of the test, the kids do some sparring with each other. Kade has a competitive streak in him. But no, we do not encourage Kade to beat up girls... Unless he is at Karate.
In fact, the parents of the girl he is sparring with here with jokingly told me they want to stay in touch because they would love it if Kade married their daughter.



In the end, it was all worth it...
We are pleased to announce the advancement of Sempai Kade to the rank of Red Belt in Little Dragons.
Congratulations! Good Work Sempai!

He Belongs

To the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Kade was baptized January 2, 2009.
He was so excited.
During family prayers the whole week before his baptism he prayed that people would feel the Spirit at his baptism.
I think his prayer was answered.

I did a spotlight to share how special Kade is,

Grandma W talked about baptism, Grandma T talked about the Holy Ghost.

We all knew that Grandpa W was there.
Thanks to all the family and friends who supported him in this big step.

We love you Kade!

A Train Ride

While Burke was home, we worked on Nathan's Traveler requirement for his Webelo. He had to read a public transportation schedule and plan a trip.
So we took the train south.

We saw a 3D Christmas movie. (We finally found a 3D movie Adrienne liked).
We happened to be in the big city when they were planning a big concert. We went in and warmed up after looking at the lights. Adrienne fell asleep and I just HAD to stay in the concert to make sure she didn't wake up. Burke took the other kids out to look at the rest of the lights.
There were some really great dances at the concert. I especially liked the Celtic dancers; they are amazing.
Some of the dances weren't so amazing (Burke called one of the groups The Geriatric Folk Dancers).

Eating Icing, or Building a Gingerbread House With 4 Children

School was out.
What to do?
Make "gingerbread" houses out of graham crackers and royal icing.
They learned what Neccos are (and they are hard to find).
They learned how to make "snow" out of white icing.
They learned that you really do get a stomach ache if you eat too much candy.
I learned that Nathan does not ascribe to the "less is more" school of thought, Adrienne REALLY likes chocolate, Kade is very creative, and Annika's fine motor delay appears to have cleared up.
I also learned that it is even more fun if I let them do it their way.

I am proud to say I was "hands-off" for most of the fun.

I think we all enjoyed it that way.

Most importantly we had fun--together.

A Christmas Party

We had a ward Christmas party. It was a breakfast and turned out to be a lot of fun, and not just for the kids.

Burke had his fun as well...