Of Bears and Food

 

Josh made pancakes for breakfast the other morning.

 

I was sitting by Ellie as I ate mine (she had already finished hers).  She chirped up at me, "Mom, when you eat food it goes up to your brain."

 

I said, "No, honey, when you eat food it goes into your stomach and then your body uses the food for energy for all of your body."

 

Ellie raised her eyebrows at me skeptically.  "Uh, no mom, that's not right.  It goes to all the parts, even your brain.  I'll show you."

 

Then she skidded off into the living room.  Once she found the book she was looking for she flipped through until she found this page. 

 

This is a Berenstain Bears story about eating good food instead of Junk food and how good food fuels our bodies.  Sure enough, this picture shows all the internal systems and has Ellie convinced that food goes not just to our stomachs but bits of what we've eaten flow everywhere to keep us alive.  It's hard to argue with talking bears.  I think we'll let this one go and tackle digestion for real in a year or two.

It's official...it's summer

 

So live has been pretty wild since graduation!  Josh got to get all dolled up in his master's hood for Murray High graduation this year and I just had to snap a shot or two of that handsome guys while he was all done up.

 

But ever since school go tout things have been fairly busy around here.

 

We had an end of school party and let each of our kids invite a few friends to participate in that.  We played games, swam in our pool and borrowed my mom's awesome water slide.  Our house was pretty full (with nearly 20 people here for the day) but it was a lot of fun and a great way to kick off the summer season!

 

 

 

Poor Aubrey broke her finger the last week of school and will have a cast on her hand all through June.  Because of the placement of the break we weren't able to use a waterproof cast (I guess they don't get as tight and since the break is sort of precarious we needed that tightness, who knew?).  That means that any time Aubrey wants to be involved in water events we have to wrap up her arm.  We use grocery bags layered over her cast and then sealed at the top to her arm with duct tape.  It hurts like the dickens coming off but it seems to keep her cast dry.

 

 

However, even garbage bags/grocery bags over a cast can't prevent every wandering drop from finding its way into the cast so when we decided to take the kids to Seven Peaks Water Park the next week (as part of our Pass of All Passes) she was pretty sad she couldn't go.

 

The boys and Dad had a great time on the slides (only the ones that didn't need a tube because those things are just too expensive for us) and Aubrey, Ellie and I went to the dollar theater to see "Oz, the Great and Powerful" instead.  Aubrey loved it, Ellie thought it was kind of scary, I thought it was ok I guess.  I'm glad we only paid a dollar to see it, but it was a fun afternoon.

 

Once again on the backs of our Pass of All Passes we headed to Trafalga Family Fun Center in Lehi.  I was a bit disappointed because there were several rides that weren't open that day which made the lines HUGE on the ones that were, but the kids still had a great time.  Poor Aubrey wasn't allowed to drive the go carts or ride in the bumper boats because of her broken arm (their rule, not ours), but the older kids loved the laser tag and the  younger kids loved everything else. 

 

Logan was terrified to ride this frog drop ride and Josh bribed him with a dollar if he would do it.  Logan survived, but it was a traumatic experience.  Good thing his big sister was right with him to reassure him and make sure he was ok.

 Last weekend we all donned our working duds and took on a project for our next door neighbors.  They have long wanted to put rock in their parking strip so they don't have to maintain it, but the grass and weeds needed to be removed first. 

 

Sooooo, after hours and hours of digging and hauling and three exhausting trips to the dump with dirt and grass they now have a parking strip devoid of growing things and hopefully they'll be able to turn it into a lovely rock garden when they get a chance.

 

 

Last but not least, last night we were able to head to Spring Mobile Ballpark to watch the Bees baseball game.

 

For some of our younger kids this was their first baseball experience (I grew up on baseball thanks to my younger brother who played, but my kids haven't been very exposed to the sport...I didn't realize how much they don't know until last night, it was sort of sad).

 

Everyone LOVED the game (except Ellie who started asking to go home halfway through the first inning and didn't stop until we got to the car and she told us what a great time she'd had...yeah).  We sat on the third row in the outfield section of the first base side of the field.  I honestly couldn't have asked for better seats, we could see well and were in the shade the whole game.

 



Josh managed to bring us a game ball because he sometimes works at the park so he knows the security guys.  The kids were pretty stoked to have a real ball from the game.

 

The Bees won 10 to 0 and it really was a fun game to watch -- lots of home runs, some incredible diving catches, a few awe inspiring snags (Wow, that third baseman last night!).  It was mostly just a lot of fun to spend the evening...and really lots of fun moments the last week and a half with these people that I love to bits.

 

Josh made sure I ended up in a picture too.

 



 

It's been a pretty fun filled two weeks since school let out.  I'm not sure we will keep up the pace with all that has gone on but I'm sure it will continue to be one eventful summer.

Family funnies from Facebook

I tend to post lots of little quips from my children on Facebook, and I realized the other day that I want to remember those, but I am too lazy to go write them all down.

Soooooo.....

I opted to cut and paste them here since I print my blog every December  and keep it like a wild and unique week-by-week glimpse of our lives.

To my friends on Facebook, I apologize for the repeat, you may want to skip this one...but I never get tired of remembering the silly things that go on around this house, so thanks for indulging me.  Maybe you can get a chuckle or two out of our quirkiness.

While I was working in the yard my 4 and 6 year old boys secretly made lunch for everyone...peanut butter and honey sandwiches, string cheese, grapes and a drink of milk. I was super impressed, and the messy kitchen was so worth their excited smiles...way to go boys!!

Gavin:"Mom, Logan is copying me!" Me:"Logan, please don't copy your brother." Logan (in a pinched, nasaly voice):"Logan, please don't copy your brother." Sigh, two year olds.

Bryce, the only child up, decided I was sleeping in too late (all the way until 7:30 am) so he snuck into my room and set my alarm (which I had turned off) to go off 2 minutes later. When the alarm started screeching at me he nonchalantly walked into the room acting all "Oh, good morning, Mom!" Grrrrrrrrr. Not the best waking moment I've ever had.

Yesterday during bathtime a blood curdling scream came from the bathroom so I rushed in. As I came through the door Gavin, all angry, yelled "LOGAN POKED HIS FINGER IN MY BUTT!" Logan countered with, "We don't say 'butt.'" Oh my heck....BOYS. Is this normal? (p.s. I nearly scrubbed that finger raw.)

Proof that God has a sense of humor: On the porch of a house ready to do my visiting teaching a huge gust of wind gave me and my skirt (and my partner's skirt too) a Marilyn Monroe style moment just as the husband opened the door. It was a suprise for all of us.

Gavin(age 5): "Where is that pink watch?" Me: "I'm not sure sweetheart." Gavin:"No, Mom, I wasn't talking to you. That's what some people say when they can't find something."

Last night I rushed downstairs to frantic screams of "MOOOOOOOM!" only to find that Logan was trying to fill a fist sized plastic pumpkin with pee (now that's festive) and Bryce was trying to stop him all while an audience of other children looked on. Gotta love life with boys!

Last night as I walked past the closed bathroom door I distinctly heard my eight year old belt out "I'M SEXY AND I KNOW IT!" followed by what had to be some awesome shower dancing (wow, what a sound). Sometimes it is really entertaining to be a mom.

Logan (age 4): "If you don't listen to Jesus he takes away your muscles and your powers." That sounds about right to me.

While I was scolding our four year old son for mooning his brothers while in our backyard pool our two year old daughter called from the next room, "Yeah, Jesus never pulls his pants down!" I just jumped right on that band wagon, "That's right, Jesus keeps his pants up and so should you." Now there's something I never thought I would be saying to my children.

I love watching my two year old run around the family room with a bucket on her head chasing her 12 year old brother while they are both laughing hysterically. I wouldn't trade this life for anything! Gotta love being a mom.
 

Angry at me for making her brush her teeth, my three year old daughter just screamed the most venemous insult she could think of at me..."I DON'T LIKE YOUR HAIR." Then she "humph"ed and stormed off (which she could only do without being scolded because I was trying so hard to keep my laugh from exploding out of my mouth).

Gotta love it when your eight year old heads off to his friend's house via scooter and you realize that you forgot to remind him to call and let you know when he gets there ('cause you're paranoid like that) and a little bit later the phone rings and it's him calling to let you know he's there and fine because he is amazing and he knows you will be worried. Smile.

While reading scriptures last night we read about the Pharisee who invited Jesus to dinner and then was disgusted when a sinful woman came in and washed the Savior with her hair. The rest of the night Logan (age 5) kept telling us how rude "that fairy guy" was to people. "I don't want to be like that fairy guy, I will be nice to people." I guess he got the point even if his version has a little more enchanted undertone than the scripture version.

Sitting in a restaurant with my two youngest children
Me: "Ellie, please don't point at people, it's rude."
So Logan immediately points at someone (of course).
Ellie: "Logan, put your finger down, pointing is a bad word."
I guess that way works too.

Me: Parker, did you know that I love you?
PJ: Yeah, a skunk told me.
Me: When were you talking to a skunk?
Ellie: Ewwww, skunks are farty!
Just a typical morning at our house. I love hanging out with these clowns.

I love it when Logan belts along with songs while we ride in the car, like this Taylor Swift hit, "It feels like a perfect night, to dress up like hamsters...". I actually like his version lots better.

So, my son was in charge of the family home evening lesson tonight and he decided to talk about respecting your mother. The scripture he chose to share was fun. Proverbs 5:3 "Fore lips of a strange woman drop as an honeycomb, and her mouth is smoother than oil." Josh had to jump in and help a bit, but it all turned out ok in the end. Slap some ice cream on the end of that and it all worked out.

I sent Parker to the storage room to bring up something we needed to cook dinner. As he came back in the kitchen he called, "Mom, go long!" which I did. He tossed the container across the room but Bryce darted into the room and grabbed it out of the sky. Parker yelled, "Oh man, dinner-cepted!". I love a good laugh before dinner.

End of Year Events

 

For the sake of our Grandmas and Grandpas who weren't able to attend every event in our end-of-the-year showcase, here are some videos to give you a taste of what you may have missed. 

 

 

 

(This one doesn't get to have music because apparently Youtube decided there was a copyright issue..it's really too bad, the performance is MUCH better with the cute song.)

 

 

Aubrey's band performance.

 

 

Gavin's end of first grade program.

 

 

Parker rocks the talent show.

 

 

Bryce's orchestra concert.

 

 

Aubrey tears it up at the talent show.

 

 

My very own freakin' Friday

Friday was wild...and I don't mean in the same-as-usual-you-have-six-kids-so-your-life-can-be-a-madhouse sort of way.  Let me tell you about it.

Friday morning I got everyone up just before seven (which is normal).  After dragging our jr higher through his chores and such I herded him out the door about 7:30 am.  The other kids did their jobs, chuckled at me while I exercised and scampered off to school about 8:20 am.  I showered, did a bit of cleaning, made sure the youngest two were semi-presentable and then we scuttled over to the school for Gavin's end of year first grade program which was great.

After the program we walked across the street to the church so I could input some visiting teaching changes and then we headed for home.  There was a message waiting for me when we walked in.  It was my oldest daughter asking me to come to the school because she was hurt.  I called back to the school and the sweet receptionist said it would probably best if I came back over, so I piled the littles into the car and we went back to school.

Upon arrival we paged Aubrey to the office (after I remembered who her teacher is which was only slightly embarrassing -- my memory is not great anyway, but when people are staring at me expecting me to answer I will get flustered and forget even worse than normal).  She had been playing baseball and an errant throw had slammed into her hand when she tried to catch it at the last second.  Her pinkie finger was swollen and bruised.  It seemed best to have her looked at by someone who knows more about physical maladies than I do (which is almost anyone).

I checked her out and we headed to the car.  I called the doctor's office from the car (while parked -- safety first!) and made an appointment for 2:40 that afternoon.  Then we headed home.

I maneuvered everyone inside and after giving her some Tylenol I settled Aubs with an ice pack in front of the TV.  As I entered the kitchen to make some lunch, the phone rang.  The caller ID showed the call was from the school which I thought was weird because we had just left.

Turns out it wasn't the elementary calling, it was the jr high.  Bryce had been playing football at lunch and while trying to juke his way out of a hold on his wrist he had been spun to the ground and now his wrist was swollen and sore. 

Seriously? 

Ok, so thanks to Aubrey's presence at home I didn't have to take the little ones with me on my quick jaunt to the jr high.  I checked Bryce out (he had tried to sit through the rest of his classes but after about an hour of trying he just couldn't take it anymore).  The kind police officer at the school took a peek at Bryce's wrist before we left and said it looked pretty nasty to him. 

No worries, we were already headed to the doctor, may as well have Bryce tag along for fun!

I called the doctor's office and made sure that was ok, and it was (they really are great).  It's always fun to hear the ladies in the office laughing out loud when you call back with another child broken at school less than a half hour after your last call.  It's nice that we could entertain someone. 

I called Josh and left a message so he would know what was going on.

Then (finally) I made everyone lunch.  Poor, starving kidlets.

About 1:00 I made a couple calls to try to find somewhere for my four younger kids to hang out while I took the older ones in to be checked.  However, Josh called after I had tried a good friend who often watches my little ones when I need it and said, "Just bring them to me here at school and I'll keep an eye on them."

Fabulous!  That way I didn't have to worry about how long things would take because I knew likely we would have to go somewhere for x-rays and such and you never know how long that will take.

Gavin and Parker came home from school, we did quick piano lessons (a regular, Friday occurrence) and then all piled into the Suburban.  Josh met me in the parking lot at the high school and corralled the four youngest up to his classroom with him.  (He had a bunch of students who had put off caring about their grades until the very last day that work could be turned in in his class so his room was pretty full and his kids were pretty grateful he would stay until we were done at the doctor so they could finish as much as possible -- naughty children, don't ignore  your grade all semester and then expect teachers to bail you out at the last possible moment...but I hope you got enough done to pull your grades up.) 

All done up and ready to head to her dance recital Saturday
night.  Notice how her cast matches her dance pants (yeah, we
didn't plan that...happy accident).

Anyway, long story short after a visit with our doctor, a trip to the instacare for x-rays, a run back to the doctors for additional treatment we came home with one child in a cast and one in a brace.

Aubrey had broken her pinkie finger and the crack went almost all the way through the bone so....she got a lovely, neon orange cast around three fingers and her wrist so as to let this mess heal.

Bryce was not broken but was sprained and bruised so he is sporting a fabulous khaki wrist brace.  He was incredibly relieved not to have a broken bone because "I promised myself I would not break any of my bones and I didn't want to go back on that promise."  Uh, ok.  Sounds good...but weird.  After all, he is MY child.

We made it back to the school about 5:00 pm and finally went home.  Aubrey has been proudly having everyone she knows sign her cast, but then she spent some time crying because she will likely miss out on a lot of water fun during the next month (if you have never smelled the stench of a cast that has gotten wet then count yourself lucky!).

And that was my Friday.  I was glad when it was over, but also glad that things worked out as well as they did.  I only had to make one trip to the doctor because both children were hurt about the same time, Josh swooped in to be the babysitting hero and his students inadvertently benefited as well.  

What a day.