Vacation

Not that I have been super faithful about posting, but we'll be going on vacation for the next couple of weeks.  I doubt I'll have time to post anything.  But when I get home, I'll have all kinds of updates and pictures.  So stay tuned!

Summer Adventure

I'm not trying to brag, but I have a very intelligent 4-year old.  He was talking in full sentences by the time he was 2 and can remember things that I have completely forgotten about that happened months ago.  He's been in Primary for 5 months now and already has the first 5 Articles of Faith memorized.  We are using an Ice Cream Party as incentive for him to memorize all 13.  He's so excited he may have them all down by the end of the year.

I was looking for something to do that would increase his desire to read scriptures and also help him continue to learn to read.  I found the perfect thing!  The Summer Scripture Reading Challenge from Scriptures 4 Kids.  A bonus is that it's being sponsored by DeseretBook.com and if the kids complete 30 days they get a $5 online gift card and if they read for 60 days, it's $10.  We introduced it last night during FHE.  As an added incentive, we are going to have a party at the end of the summer if Andrew completes the 60-day challenge.  I'm not sure the details, but that got him super excited!  So today will be our first day.  I'm hoping that it goes well.  He doesn't have the longest attention span.  But I'm hoping the struggles that will come will be worth it and lead to a love of the scriptures and also a stronger foundation for reading!

Why not join the adventure with your kids?  For my friends that live in my area, let me know if you decide to take on the challenge and we'll make sure you're on the invitation list to our party!

End of Preschool

Andrew finished his first year of preschool today.  I can't believe how fast it has gone by.  He's kind of sad because most of his classmates will be going on to kindergarten next year and he doesn't really understand why he can't go.  But I know he'll have fun again next year.  They had their party at a park and had a little program at the beginning where the kids sang a few songs for the mommies and daddies and then they handed out certificates for the kids.  While the kids were singing, they were being really quiet.  Miss Amber asked them to do it again louder.  Another parent said, "Are you even singing?  We can't hear you."  Andrew responded, "Our mouths are moving, aren't they?!"  What a little smarty mouth. 

He'll also be finishing up soccer and is looking forward to swimming lessons this summer.  He doesn't know it yet, but we'll also be doing the Summer Movie program.  What a deal.  10 movies for $7.  And he has only seen half of the movies.  I'm not sure how Luke's going to do, but I'm sure he'll think it's fun.  So much summer fun to look forward to!

Catch up...

I feel like that's all I've been doing lately...catching up.  It's been a pretty crazy month around here.  It started with Clayton transitioning to his new job at Intel.  He's working Monday-Friday now instead of Thursday-Saturday and every other Wednesday.  It's nice to have him home on Saturdays and to get to do things with other people, but I sure do miss having him home that extra day or two a week.  In fact I haven't been grocery shopping in nearly three weeks because I hate taking the kids alone and our Saturdays have been super busy.

This is the first time since Clayton and I got married that he was able to watch all of General Conference.  It was nice to have him around to help with the kids.  I really enjoyed Conference and downloaded all the talks almost immediately.  So many things that I needed to hear...over and over again.  Easter was a lot of fun.  We had the Easter Bunny come Friday night so that we could spend Sunday focusing on the true meaning of Easter.  He sure left a mess this year.  There were Easter Bunny droppings all over the floor.

Did YOU know that the Easter Bunny poops jelly beans?  That's what all of those little dots are all over the carpet.  They are kind of hard to see.  The kids had a lot of fun with their stuff and it kept them occupied for about the first 15 minutes of the Saturday morning session of Conference.  We also had our own little egg hunt in our backyard.  Andrew was going so fast that Luke didn't stand a chance.  We tried leaving one egg empty and were hoping to explain it to Andrew, but he started opening eggs with my grandma and got the empty one and just tossed it to the side and moved on since I hadn't filled in the grandparents on the plan.  Whoops!

Andrew started soccer and has had a great time.  It's been good for him to learn how to play with others and that winning isn't everything.  He already knew all of the kids on his team except two so he's really had fun with that.

I finally caved in and got Luke's hair cut.  I didn't want to cut off all the curls, but his aunt put his hair in pig tails and I decided it was time.  He's still cute, but I feel like I left my baby in the salon and brought home someone else's little boy.  He did really well.  The only things he didn't like were the squirt bottle and the trimmers.

He's still pretty darn cute, don't you think?

I've been preparing for the American Cancer Society Relay for Life in Florence.  I'm looking forward to the even tomorrow night, but it's been a little stressful.  I thought it was going to be raising a little money and doing my share of the walking.  I had no idea what I was getting myself into.  I'm happy I've done it and next year I'll be better prepared!

And to top it all off, both of the boys have been sick this past week.  Luke still isn't feeling great.  And all three of my boys have been fighting allergies all month.  So we've been pretty busy around here.  Hopefully it won't be another month before I post.

Stalled...

So I thought this early morning thing would be great.  What I didn't count on was the fact that the kids would decide they need to get up early, too.  So instead of getting in exercise, I'm having to get them ready to go for the day.  And for Luke especially, it hasn't been good.  He normally sleeps until 8:30am so waking up at 7am, when he's not going to bed any earlier, has made for a very temperamental little boy.  And Andrew seems to be crankier than usual, too.  Hopefully, in a week or two, we'll all adjust and it will work out the way I want.  I think dad used to leave early enough that they were still in a deep sleep.  Now he's late enough that they are hearing him and deciding it's time to rise and shine.  Oh, well.  At least Clayton's alarm isn't waking me up at 4:30am, and 4:37am, and 4:43am....