May 23-29

Monday; William's birthday.  He received his rainbow blanket for his birthday and upon going to bed he had his zebra blanket under him and rainbow on top. He exclaimed, "it's like a sandwich of soft!"  He has always loved soft things!
Tuesday; I had a HORRIBLE headache.  Like terrible.  Haley was an angel girl and took care of me.  She let me lay down, went and played on her own, brought me water to drink, even found her own craft, did it and then gave one to me and one to Caleb.
Wednesday; Caleb ran every day this week for soccer exercise.  Today he went down to the Jordan River Parkway and was excited to find a buck deer on the path!
Thursday; Last preschool day for Haley.
Friday; Headed to the cabin
Saturday; William's birthday kayak is awesome!

It's great to be 8!

This kid, he is a sweetheart.  Oh, when he is tired or hungry or when he feels hurt he can be cranky.  But for the most part, he is a happy little boy.  Monday was his birthday, but Friday was his party with friends.  We made the most of it.

 For his birthday from family he received a soft and lovable camouflage teddy bear (Haley was instantly jealous).  He also received some long awaited lego sets, books, a scout shirt and a youth lifetime kayak for the cabin.  So much fun! I also made him a smaller sized rainbow quilt, in celebration of all things rainbow and that he is getting baptized.

 We had a birthday miracle in the fact that I was actually able to pick out a tasty, very yummy perfectly ripe watermelon.

 Some photos from the very blustery friend birthday party.  I knew it was going to be windy, so we went with it.  We had bubble wands to the delight of all the kids.  They also played with darts you shot in the air, soccer and the flying paper plates were entertaining as well.  The weather held out long enough for them to enjoy their time and when parents were coming to get kids, it started to rain.  Planned pretty well.

 The playground was new and fun for all to explore and play on.

Happy Birthday, Willy B!  Such a sweet kid.

2 more weeks; trying our best - everyday

Wow, in 2 weeks William will be baptized.  We have had the bishop's interview.  So, that is done.  This week we spoke about always trying our best.  Whether it is in school, sports, or the gospel; trying our best will make us happy and successful.  In the case of the gospel, it will lead us back to heaven.

Blustery Days and Birthday Prep

Sunday; William had his baptism interview with Bishop. Cutest thing he said, that he wanted the Holy Ghost and the commandments are like "rules to help us get back to heaven."  Funniest thing he did was stare down the candy jar so hard that Bishop hid it until the interview was over.  Just so William could focus a little better.
Monday; It is so nice not to have choir practice hanging over our heads.
Tuesday; nothing to say
Wednesday; my kids are awesome! C had his last soccer game of the season. Coach played him on the field again and he did great.  P read a book the whole time. W and H played with the other little kids, little soccer buddy family.  We will see what next season brings.
Thursday; William and Peter had their Spanish Dual Language night at the school.  Both of their grads did really well in their songs.
Friday; A very Blustery Birthday Party was held for William.  We went to the park and the kids loved using the bubble wands in the wind, playing soccer, shooting the blow dart toys and the paper plates flying everywhere was eventful.

Baptism countdown x2

Seeing as how last week was such a cram-it-all-in week, we did not squeeze in the time for our baptism family home evening.  So, I was determined, yesterday would be the day.  We would do a two-for-one and call it good.  However, the fates were slightly against me.  I had a treat, which meant we would do it right after church and before William's baptism interview.  But..... Rob was exhausted and so decided to stand for the whole thing, which meant he saw smoke coming from our neighbor's garage.  We did not know if it was serious so in the middle of FHE he drove over there to make sure their garage was not on fire; no worries, they were smoking some meat.  Other complication, kids were interrupting and cranky for most of the, supposed to be, spiritual message I had thought out.  Oh well, here is what I tried to share:

The Holy Ghost:

We talked about all the different things the Holy Ghost can do for us; guidance, direction, protection, comfort and be a light to our life and path on Earth.  I used glow sticks as the example.  How, when you first break them, they shine so bright!  This is how the Holy Ghost works in our life when we are obedient and faithful.  But if we make a wrong choice or do not read our scriptures the light of the Holy Ghost kind of goes dim, like a glow stick the next day.  All we have to do is repent and draw closer to Father in Heaven and the "light" of the Holy Ghost will shine brightly again.


Then we talk about the Sacrament.  This is where the treat came in of yummy blueberry bread.  We talked about what the water and bread represent and how when we take the sacrament each week we renew those promises we made with Heavenly Father at our baptism.  Then the coolest part happens, what ever mistake we made in the week is forgiven and the Holy Ghost can shine brightly in our life once again, referring back to our glow sticks.

I think something got through.  If nothing else, their hunger monster was satisfied, they had fun glow sticks to play with at night and we tried.

May 8 - 14; the busy life

Sunday; Mother's Day - it was pretty happy and good.  Had a serious and spiritual conversation with Peter (about visions, Satan's temptations, the gospel and staying strong).  The kids were sweet and happy.
Monday; Took Caleb to get an X-ray on his hand.  No broken bones, just a sprain that makes him wear a brace for it and freaked his coach out.  Somewhere his coach still has confidence in Caleb and did not like the look of that brace.
Tuesday; soccer pictures and actually got some home work done for Caleb.  I also managed to get some baptism projects finished up for William.
Wednesday; busy, busy, busy......choir, soccer, scouts, soccer.......
Thursday; I only want the best for him.  On the Edge of Glory!
Friday; The second to last choir concert for Caleb was a success!  Watching Caleb up there sing was so fun and special.  He has worked hard to learn the songs and do his best.  Watching him up there with his choir buddy, Colin, is especially fun.  They both fidget their fingers to the music and you can tell it is hard for them to stand still that long.  Haley wanted to go to the top seats at one point and she enjoyed the opportunity to sway to the music and move to the beat.  It was beautiful.
Saturday; Soccer Saturday!  William played tough.  Peter's team killed it and won 17-0!  Peter even scored a goal; he has a terrific coach!  Caleb was pulled out to play field because of his hand and his coach really wants the win. The team ended up losing, 0-2. However, for every minute that Caleb was  playing, he played with all his might!  He was put in as forward and was so close to scoring!!!!!  Not only that, coach told me afterward that he was surprised at how well Caleb did with where he put him.  As coach put it, "He is a soccer player."  Which basically means, he is awesome!  Caleb also had his final performance with the Salt Lake Children's Choir and it is a bitter-sweet moment for Caleb and all of us.  No more beautiful music to fill our house as he practices.  No more concerts to attend with him as a singer.  But, no more finding time to practice and no more struggle to fit it all in.  It was a wonderful experience, with beautiful memories.

A perfect take from our week.  The beautiful church where Caleb performed.  Caleb sporting half choir uniform, half soccer, one hand in his brace, the other in the keeper glove.  Our week.

Week of May 2-7

Monday, started off good
Tuesday, soccer went great.  Mom-hood, not so much.  That "happy, smiling face" line in the primary song is no so happening around here.  Why?  Homework monster.
Wednesday; we survived all of our driving to and from Caleb's activities and most people seemed happy.
Thursday; first round of fundraiser baking and salsa making was successful.  Phew.  Second round is underway.  But boy, the mom-guilt is strong right now.  William's fish has been struggling all week.  Not eating, losing color.  Finally tonight, I think it might go.  But I am not doing anything about it.  I think nature needs to just take it's course and go.  But am I bad for not trying to save the fish again?  It is Mother's Day weekend, for crying out loud - it is his birthday month and I am breaking my little guy's heart!  But I cannot stand to see the fish struggle, so I hope it is quick.  And I hope William deals ok with it.  But in the mean time, I keep having to stare at that fish tank when I get up early and make more pies and cakes!
Friday; sadly we awoke to Twilight being dead.  I am glad he is not suffering anymore.  William was not told until after school and everyone was very loving toward him and supportive at the fish funeral.  We made the fish a tombstone and William made a large lego fish to remember his fish by.  It was a hard day for him.  Regarding the fundraiser baking: we made a total of - 4 cherry pies, 12 stuffed crust strawberry pies, 2 brownies, 4 chocolate cakes, 5 salsas, 64 caramel chocolate pretzel rods, 9 raspberry freezer jams and 5 strawberry freezer jams.  Phew!
Saturday; soccer was great.  Did a ton more baking and delivering.  I am so done with going to the store to get more more supply for baking!  Also, finally sat Caleb down and he worked on his lesson about patriarchal blessings.

Part of the fundraising goodness.  Trust me though, this is such a small portion that it does not do it justice.  But it was fun and hopefully good for all those lucky recipients. 

5 weeks to go, baptism

The subject of the night was baptism.  We talked about immersion, the proper authority, and most importantly: the covenants and promises we make and that Heavenly Father makes with us.  I really tried to point out that the promises we make with each other are important, that we need to keep our word and be trustworthy.  We also need to remember the covenants we make at baptism and try always to keep those as well.  We used the famous Kit Kat bar to help make it fun. Keep the commandments, Always remember him, Take his name upon us.  It seemed to be a good night and hopefully more than just William will remember to keep their word/promise and be always trustworthy and respectful of what we have been asked to do.