Primary Sacrament Program

Our Primary Sacrament Program was Sunday and both boys did really well. They both knew their parts but when standing in front of the congregation decided they needed a little help from the prompter. They said their parts nice and clear and loud. It was fun to watch them with their big grins. They also sang the songs with their hearts. Tyson knew most of the words to all the songs and did a really good job singing. Trevor was a little distracting watching the audience. When he wasn't distracted, he sang really well, also. I'm so glad to be their mommy!

The PTA Fall Family Fun Night was a success. Jason was a great help keeping track of the kids while I was busy with the event. Hopefully I will have some pics soon to post for everyone to see how cute the boys were playing soccer and making their Klutz Build-a-Book kits.

The camera has been found!

Where? In the van. Tucked deep into a little black hole in the back of the van. I keep the van pretty cleared of unnecessary items but do keep water bottles, first aid kit, chains, emergency kits, etc in the back. The camera slipped in amongst these items causing it to be easily overlooked when unloading the car from the last trip across the mountain. So, here are the pics I promised.

Cute Derek sporting one of Kristi Ann's Carseat Kozies :)

BriAnn, Kenzie, Tanner, Trevor, Tyson, Bryce at the candy display

Marilyn Monroe picture made out of jelly beans.

The Tractor Pull. Trevor advanced to Round 2.

The traveling circus with the bengal tiger. The horse was amazing, too. BriAnn wasn't content to just pet the horse, she wanted to ride it. Didn't happen so no pics.

Jason had the kids all line up to listen to instructions on how to play a game...hide and seek in the straw maze.

Who needs sand when you can use corn? It is easier to clean the kids up after playing in, too. Just don't know what would happen if left in the rain. Would we finally have a crop of corn?

Kenzie with her little dance class. They were so cute!

October-so far

We spent time with my side of the family over Conference weekend. Once I find the camera, I will post some pictures. Trevor was in a tractor pull at the Central Washington State Fair and made it to the second round. We watched Kenzie dance on the stage there, had fun eating cotton candy and greasy Fair food, didn't have so much fun feeling broke after leaving the Fair grounds but felt it was all worth it for a fun day with family.

This week the washing machine died (literally fell apart), the computer crashed so badly I had to call Microsoft, and I came down with a yucky cold (again!). The good news: I'm feeling better. We get a brand new washing machine. (No more front loader for me! I missed the ability to let things soak as soaking in a front loader is different than soaking in a top loader.) My husband is employed to be able to pay for the new washing machine. Our computer is running faster and better than before the crash and we didn't have to pay a penny. The kids are not sick (hopefully they will stay that way). We have one less fish to clean up after (Cheddar died).

Cute sayings:

BriAnn - "Diaper tape" aka duct tape

Tyson - "I'll do it!" If it has to do with BriAnn, he is one happy helper!

Trevor - "The love in our family never runs out!"

Three Amigos

The kids have had so much fun on the trampoline this summer on a daily basis that I just had to add another picture of them playing happily together on it. They don't even sweep the pine needles off before using it, anymore. They also play a game with the balls. Not sure which one of my little leaders developed it but do know that they all had fun giving their input on the rules.

"Bolles Bucks" reborn

When Jason was a child, his mom made up what were called "Bolles Bucks" to encourage the kids to work around the house and for them to learn to save for things they wanted. Why not use real money? We found that the kids just left their money lying around. If we hid it up high, they would ask for it so they could "count" it and then somehow it never got put back in it's proper place. Computer time/game time has become a big issue in our home so Jason suggested we use the Bolles Bucks idea. Here is our current list of prices:

To earn money-

Clean up toys-$5

Clear dishes from the table-$2

Put clothes in the dirty clothes hamper-$2

Get dressed by your self-$2

Homework-$5

Wash window for 20 minutes-$5

Clean up yard toys-$5

Take out trash-$5

Eat dinner-$2

Be good at Church-$10

Say prayers-$2

Brush teeth-$2

Read Scriptures-$5

To spend money-

Computer/Game time (20 minutes)-$10

$50 Bolles Bucks = $1 cash (they are always asking for toys, candy, gum...)

It is so nice. "Mom, can I play on the computer?" "How many Bolles Bucks do you have?" If they don't have it, they don't get to play. They usually get busy trying to earn Bucks so they can play.

This is our starting point and I'm sure it will evolve. I don't want to be paying a 10-yr-old to say their prayers. The goal is to establish a good habit, then add another one later. So far, the boys have been really good about brushing their teeth twice daily, putting their dishes in the sink and getting dressed on their own. When reminded that they earn Bolles Bucks for putting their dirty clothes in the hamper, they quickly respond. I am happy with the progress because before, it was like pulling teeth to get them to take care of their clothes. Do I like that we resorted to paying them for simple things? Not really. However, I do like the results it has generated thus far and I do like that the value of a Bolles Buck does not equate one dollar in the real world.

To blog, or not to blog?

I've been mulling this one over for a week now, wondering if I'm brave enough to document the occurrence and finally decided I needed to because some day I will stop being grossed out and think it is rather funny to remember. So, here goes:

Last Sunday BriAnn was suppose to be taking a nap when I heard an unusual sound in her room. Upon further investigation, I found a happy little girl with no diaper and painted walls. I had heard of this happening and thought smugly to myself that it would never happen to me or my children. Much to my chagrin, my little GIRL was the one who did it! I decided it was a one time offense and not to worry about it after talking to her about how gross it is. Not so. The same thing happened on Monday. Needless to say, she is now amongst the group of children who run around with duct tape on their diaper to keep them from creating master pieces with their own bodily wastes. (Aren't you glad I didn't post pictures!?)

Follow-up on Trevor: He went to school on Friday and called home about 9:30 am with a tummy ache. Jason told him he was fine and to go back to class, which he did. After he got home from school I asked him how his spelling test went. He replied, "It didn't. That's when I went to the office." Any suggestions on how to calm a nervous test-taking tummy?

Eye Doctor Visits

BriAnn had her first eye doc visit last Friday. Her pediatrician felt it was time to get the "freckle/wedge" checked out to make sure it wasn't anything serious. It wasn't. Just a birth mark. She did really well at her exam.

I went to the eye doc yesterday as it has been several years since my last one and my glasses have a chip in them and just needed some TLC. While there, I asked the doc to do a Lasik surgery assessment, as well. No surprise to me I am NOT a good candidate for the surgery. My prescription is too far gone (I'm farsighted with astigmatisms in both eyes) to have a successful surgery. In fact, he has seen patients with similar prescriptions come out of surgery worse than when they went in. So, we talked about contacts. Acuvue has a new one out for astigmatisms that are way better than anything I've tried in the past. I wore them for three hours yesterday and get to wear them for four hours today, gradually working up to a full day. I'm kind of excited. Not that I want to have to wear corrective lenses the rest of my life, but since I'm going to have to, I'm glad contact lenses have improved enough that I can wear them again. The other bad news (besides not being able to have Lasik surgery): my right eye is getting worse. I am well over 30 and have officially recognized my body starting to fall apart! Why can't my body stay the same age I feel my mind is at? Say, 20 would be nice!