First Day of School 2011

Luke's first day of Junior High at Vista Heights Middle School started on Monday, August 22, 2011. His excitement woke him first at 2:00AM, then again at 6:30AM.


There was someone sitting at the bus stop and Luke had to check to see if it was his friend Max, which it was, so that meant it was safe for Luke to head up and wait. The other two getting on at this stop were two girls from our ward - that would have been a disaster to have to wait with one of them! As they drove off we saw (yes we were all watching from our driveways) the girls sitting at the front of the bus, and the boys at the back- typical.



He's going to be towering over most of the 7th and some of the 8th graders!


Bridget and Will's first day of 5th and 2nd grade started today, August 23rd 2011. Bridget is in Mr. Rasbands class, a new teacher we are excited to get to know. And Will is in Mrs. Larsen's class, who taught Bridget in 3rd grade. She is one of the most fabulous teachers I've ever met! When you talk to her she makes you feel like you are the most important person in the world! We are so excited for Will to have her. She has three big bouquets of balloons outside her classroom with a sign that says, "Up with second grade." On one classroom wall she has huge cutout drawings of all the UP movie characters with some sayings.

Violet's First Birthday

Violet's first doll: Baby Stella, who came with a soother that magnetizes to her face. Violet caught on to that immediately! She pulled the soother off, put it back on, off, and on. And to see her little chubby hands pushing it onto the babies mouth was too cute for words. A little mother already. I love the way she knows and want to take care of a little person already...she's still a baby herself!!



Violet was so fun to watch with her cake. She enjoyed touching it and looking at it - oh and holding her fork; eating it wasn't so important. She ate a few small bites. Being the first really sweet sugary food she has eaten in her life, she reacted with some surpised faces.

(You should have seen the sugar burst she had about an hour later!! She was up and down and all around...the kids and I laughed our heads off. She totally put on a show for us, like nothing we've ever seen her do)

Happy Birthday Violet! We love and cherish you so much. You are a delight to have in our family. Thank-you for all the joy you bring to our home!

A Teaspoon of April and a Morsel of May

It's been a rainy Spring here! The 5:30 AM runs have been a bit sporatic the last couple of weeks because of it. But today at 5:15 I peeked out the blinds to see that everything was wet, but there was nothing falling. The initial feeling was of course a bit of disappointment because the chance of falling back into my bed was still a hope, but once I got ready, stretched, and started walking and breathing the extra fresh air I was so glad! The lovely thing about our usual route is it starts off with a hill. Straight up to the top of our neighborhood we go. We usually leave each other alone - not very much talking - just breathing, until we get to the top. It's a challenge, but always so rewarding.

I got home and made breakfast burritos and hot chocolate and O.J. while Luke was upstairs showering...finally something he is doing religiously without prodding. Adam wondered why until I reminded him that the 6th graders are in the middle of their dance unit, which they practice daily in preparation for the end of year dance. This will involve dance cards with randomly selected girls on them, leaving a spot for hanging out at the refreshment table. Luke pointed out that he would NOT do it if he had to ask a girl on his own. I guess they know exactly how to break them in slowly. As we drove to school he was picking something out of his teeth, and asking if we could buy breath mints before June 2nd. For sure. We'll get some for you.
Sound guys during class play MacBeth

Luke's default setting
The kids are getting so excited for school to finish. Will rolled out of bed at 7:40 and walked into the school at 7:59. He's so happy that he is completely done with homework for the year..."My teacher is SO Nice!"
crazy hair day
Will and luke are all about basketball
...and soccer these days.
He couldn't get enough of this salad at dinner the night before so he requested it for lunch the next day
On the other hand, Bridget is wondering if Mr. Young will have a website next year that she can check. And asking, "Do teachers get paid, because Mr. Young said they don't?" As well as preparing for her air band to "Eye of the Tiger," next week and Adam is teaching her the moves that go with the song, uh-huh, and she is thinking of taking a video camera to record a day in Mr. Young's classroom. Girls night which included Sharpay's Fabulous Adventure (and it was) - and some episodes of Cosby Show. We loved it.
Jonah is working on being a happy guy more than a mean guy. We're singing alot of, "I want to be kind to everyone... and "Jesus said love everyone..." and it's working! He's the happy guy/mean guy police around here and it's great. When I said no to him yesterday he said, "Don't say that to me Mom, that's a bad word." When he sees injustice between the kids he goes to the guilty person first and says, "Don't be a mean guy to ______." Then he goes over to console the other one, "Are you okay? _______needs to be a happy guy to you." It's amazing, really. Every family needs one.
Super Jonah!
This is just after Jonah said, "When I was Violets age I drank milk in a bottle, and then whisked her bottle away!" (which was fine by her)


Violet finished getting one of her bottom teeth, phew, which means that she is happy again and that has been wonderful! She is a sweet singin (only in church), sloppy kissin' booty shaker(when the right music comes on)who lights up our home.

A sunday morning snack served by Jonah

checking her email

her seat of choice where she's learning all the basics of cooking

with her toys

Her first visit to the sandbox was yummy!

I put her down for a short nap at 5:00 and she woke up at 11:30 to have a tea party with Adam and I.
She was so cute kicking back and reading her scriptures with us

This week I am finishing up my personal progress by finishing the Book of Mormon. It has been a great experience and can't wait to do it again with Bridget. Did you know that Sister Dalton's husband earned his Personal Progress and has a gold tie to signify completing the Virtue value experience and project! Who new that the guys could do this with us?

Here is a fabulous talk to read.

And this was one of the favorite videos we watched on Sunday.

The recipe for Will's favorite salad (from my cousin Emily Perry)

Salad:
1 head romaine lettuce
strawberries (quartered)
1 can mandarin oranges (drained)
salted cashews

Dressing:
3/4 - 1 cup mayo
2 tsp poppyseeds
2 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/4 - 1/3 cup sugar
thin with milk to desired consistancy
And other than that we are staying busy with Soccer, Fathers and Sons, playing and working in the yard etc.

Spring Break

Clif Bars

Have you tried clif bars?

I love them but do not love the price.
I've found this recipe and it is gooood. My kids all love them and that is really what I was after. And the price is right!

Clif Bars/Energy Bars

Preheat oven to 350F
Place the following in a food processor/blender:
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup raw unsalted sunflower seeds
1/2 cup toasted wheat germ
1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup raw almonds
1/2 cup powdered nonfat dry milk
1/2 cup apricots
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup pitted dried dates
1/2 tsp cinnamon
Pulse until mixture is finely chopped.

Add:
2 large eggs
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
Pulse until the mixture is well combined. It will resemble coarse paste.

Shape into bars* and place on a parchment lined baking sheet.
Bake for about 20 minutes, or until just starting to brown a bit on bottom.

Cool. Wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper.

*this is very sticky so try to do it quickly. I just grab about 1/4-1/3cup of the mixture and shape it into a bar, throw it on the pan and flatten it a bit with my hand...till they are about 1/2 in thick.

***The fun part is changing it up:
I've substituted cranberries for the apricots and dates, just because that is what I had. And we added a few white chocolate chips. They tasted good!

I've also substituted vanilla protein powder for the nonfat dry milk, so they will give me a little boost on my long runs.

We are excited to try peanut butter in the mix. Also chocolate would be good too. Even chocolate mint.

The clif kids bars come in these flavors:
Chocolate brownie
choc. chip
honey graham - use honey rather than maple syrup and graham cracker crumbs in place of the flour or one of the nuts.
blueberry - use dried blueberries
s'mores

Any kind of chocolate chip melted and drizzled on top adds just enough sweetness to make it a treat!

Now that Spring is on it's way these are a great snack to keep our energy up (without any sugar) while we are getting outside again!

(Adam and Luke hiking Mt. Timpanogos 2009) (8 hour hike)

Mr. Willis

On the last day of March Bridget reported that Mr. Young was not going to be at school the next day. Too bad.. she wouldn't be able to play any April Fools tricks on him.
Next day Bridget arrives at school and she has a substitute named Mr. Willis. He is bald and wears glasses and unusual clothes. His voice is interesting, and he is very specific about their tasks: Now we will do this for the next 4 minutes. (Bridget acted out for us how he seemed nervous as he wrung his hands while talking to them). He plays football with the boys at recess. He's serious.

Not until AFTER LUNCH did he disclose his true identity.

IT WAS MR. YOUNG!

But Mr. Young has lot's of hair on his head and face... He shaved it all!
But Mr. Young doesn't wear glasses... he found some!
But Mr. Young ALWAYS wears dress pants, shirt, tie and black converse sneakers...apparantly he has a few other choices in his closet!
But Mr. Young is not nervous or too serious...but forced himself to be!
But Mr. Young never plays football at recess...

These are the things that kept Bridget wondering all morning who this Mr. Willis in her classroom truly was. But admitted that she thought it could have been his brother because there was something about him that seemed familiar!! He is good if he kept it going through lunch.

I think he's read this
It may have been a while since you've seen this side of Bridget...enjoy!


On a Sunday Night when Bridget is accessorizin' with the little kids:






...while Luke and Adam put the finishing touches on his science project

Don't worry

Bridget's cute teacher Mr. Young has the whole class sing this every time they are going to take a test...one of his many fun teaching antics. Every day he wears a pair of black converse running shoes with dress pants, a shirt and tie: his signature look. Just after Christmas break he said to Bridget, "Who are you and what have you done with Bridget?" So he finally saw the real Bridget (the silly, noisy and outgoing side that she usually keeps hidden until she feels completely comfortable) after a four month warm-up! His famous line for students who come in late, which Bridget likes to quote: "Well look who decided to show up!" His wife is expecting their first baby and the class is enjoying being in on the excitement. Bridget thinks he's wonderful and so do we.

And while we're on the subject Luke absolutely adores his teacher, Mrs. Gurr. She really is amazing! A perfect fit for Luke. I'd like to interview her on film and post it just so you could get a taste of her personality. She's serious, positive, complimentary, engaging, humorous, intriguing, smart, encouraging, inspiring, (not to mention Canadian) among other things, all wrapped up in one great woman. In Luke's words, "I'm so glad I have an older teacher this year. She has already done so much in her life so she has a lot of things she can teach us from experience!" She taught the class to crochet and they went to town making scarves which they sold, then used the money to buy Christmas pj's for kids who live in a Children's Shelter here in Utah)

Will is enjoying his 1st grade teacher Miss Earle.

Just recently Will and his friend Cole had made little pizza's together for dinner. I was sliding them off the peel and onto the pizza stone when Cole said,
"Don't let mine get stuck to Will's!"
Will quickly said, "Don't worry, my Mom's a genius!"
Well that made my day, (my week, my month, and even my year!!) I might need to get that in needlepoint. And it was about pizza making...my son thinks I'm a genius at sliding pizza onto the stone and I couldn't be happier. So add that to my resume...A genius with a pizza paddle - reference: six year old son, Will. I love motherhood.