Cross Country Meet at Home

 First unofficial meet of the season, at home with just our team. This will be his second year  running with the team.  They have brand new uniforms too! 

Starting his watch

He got 7th place and his time was 18:30 (or something close to that)

The fastest 7 times will run Varsity, 

Next meet: August 21st at Sugar House Park

January days

Home with the little kids:

Jonah's Nike shoes are covered in mud because he went "deep into the field" to play in them.  His grey running shoes are soaking wet because he wore them to play in the snow yesterday.  It's time for school and he wants to wear the wet shoes to school.
"My socks will dry them Mom!"  So I took him up to his room to see what choices we had left.  Church shoes, brown boots, or snow boots.  He chose the snow boots. 

Today for lunch Violet brought the nutella from the pantry and said, "I want this!" 
Jonah quickly informed, "Violet, that is called Nutunia!"  (As in petunia)

While cleaning up the kitchen after lunch, Jonah came in and asked me if we should save Nicholas' carseat, in case we have another baby. 
"That might be a good idea, but I don't think we are having any more babies."
"Yeah, we can.  Remember that family that sits on the front row in church?  They have a lot more kids than we do, so we could still have some more."
"Good point Jonah."

When it was time for chess club I asked Jonah to put on his snow boots and coat because Eliza's mom would be here to pick him up any minute. 
He came in and asked, "Where did you put my snickers?"

 

Dinner time at home

Tonight at dinner after realizing that we were all in our own little worlds, I asked everyone to share their two favorite things from the day.

Luke said, "Playing football with Will and his friends on the backyard BYU field."

Bridget said, "having my hair curled with my new wand."  (She was convinced that her hair does not curl with a curling iron, but this wand proved her wrong.  It stayed curly all day long!)

Will said, "finishing a really big art project, and playing football in the backyard with Luke, Tyler B. and Thomas O."

Jonah said, "Going to chess club and beating a boy three times, and making a fort at Tyson's house."

Violet said, "Taking two nappez: one in my bed and one on the couch.  And watching Princess Sofia on the tv."  When Violet pluralizes words, she doesn't just add an s, she adds an ez.  And only when she said, "Bridgets-ez" did I realize who she sounds like; Gollum from the Hobbit.  He says "Hobbits-ez the exact same way!

I didn't share this but I say, "Holding baby Nicholas all day long (except for a couple of naps he took in his bed.) (And holding him snuggled on me fast asleep while I type this) I have always loved holding babies but holding my own babies has been my very most favorite thing. I purposely let things slide so that I can enjoy him, and give him the comfort and security he needs while he's so young.  Tonight while I helped Will gather things to sell in his classroom store, I noticed Nicholas had two tiny little crowns on his head, right beside each other.  His darling dark hair swirls around them ever so slightly and it's cute.  I love the back of his head, mmmm with all that dark hair and that sweet smell of baby shampoo mixed with his naturally sweet baby smell.  There is no better smell than that, and baby's breath.  Mmmmm.  And he gives his smiles so freely.  He waits to catch your eye and then gives a hesitant smile, before giving a big smile.  If you laugh or make to much of a sound in reaction, he gets scared and the smile goes fast. 

O.K. so that's one.

I loved washing dishes with Violet this morning.  She rinsed, and filled cups with water and lined them up on the edge of the counter.  And she hummed to the Christmas music we listened to. 

Jonah told me, "Mom, the thing I DON"T like about our guest room is that when people come to stay it doesn't smell like our house anymore.  I want it to always smell like our house!"  I'm happy he likes the smell of this place.  When I picked him up at school today he ran to the car and I said,
"Go get your friends."
"They are not my friends."
"Jonah, go get the girls and boy who ride home from school with you everyday."
"No."
"Jonah--"
"Are you still sick?"  (I've been sick all week and have refused to leave the car in my comfy apparel and unkempt hair and face, not to mention my aching body)
"Yes."
He looked at me, looked away, and then one of the girls saw him and started running over.  I had to get out and flag down the second one.  When did he decide that girls were unacceptable friends?  It was only last year in preschool that they were his friends. 

Will laughed his head off while we brainstormed and searched for items to take to his classroom store.  The items he thought were the funniest:  deodorant (my idea) and our old Christmas tree(Luke's idea). He is so fun to laugh with.  He told us that his teacher, Mr. Allred, gives him a bad time about BYU, (because he is a Utah State fan).  Oh and by the way, Utah State hasn't beat BYU in football for 11 years.  That's the kind of trivia Will throws at me everyday, and no wonder Mr. Allred razzes him.  I'm sure he hears it all day long.

Bridget shared one of her cherry Hershey's kisses with me.  And yesterday she wrote "Beyond 5" on her hand.  FYI:  they are the latest Mormon Boy band and they are cute!  Cousin Hannah made the trip down to Provo to their concert so Bridget and Luke decided to join her, not knowing anything about the group.  Apparently the words BOY BAND didn't ring enough of a bell with Luke because he ended up with his head in his hands, plugging his ears, while Bridget and Hannah joined the rest of the crowd and screamed!  When I came to pick them up, Hannah got to meet Nicholas and held him for a while.

Luke has a curly mop top and I love it.  He is reading the Rangers Apprentice series right now, and it's reminding me of when he was reading Harry Potter and couldn't put it down.  I love that he loves to read! 

He and Bridget both made the honor rolls at Vista Heights!  YAY, I'm so proud of them for working hard!

And I think my cold is almost gone and that is good news.  I've muddled my way through this week of being sick and having Adam gone.  But I am blessed with a sweet neighbor named Glenda who happens to be my new Visiting Teacher.  She brought the yummiest pot of homemade chicken noodle soup "because Dr. Oz says it actually does help you get better.  Something about the enzymes in it!"  and two loaves of homemade bread.  Is there anything better on the face of the earth than those two things/  No.  I'm convinced that's why I'm feeling better today.  Grateful for her. 

Track Meet #1

I enjoyed the warmth of the sun today.  The weather can't decide if it's winter or Spring, but today it was Spring.  Jonah went to Pre-school at the Wilcox's and took an Easter egg with lego inside.  The kids had to shake it to try and guess the contents. 

Meanwhile, Violet and I cleaned the kitchen with the Pandora "Mindy Gledhill" station booming to keep us moving.  She wiggled to the beat on her barstool as she helped me chop red peppers for the stir fry we would have for dinner.  Then we packed lunches for she and Jonah to eat on the way to Kangaroo Zoo to meet our friends for the afternoon.  Jonah was happy after preschool.  

Kangaroo Zoo was a hit.  We met the Peterson's, the Foess' and the Jensen's there for a lunch. 

Luke's first track meet of the season (last weeks was cancelled due to a snow storm) was at Westlake High School. Violet and Jonah and I were there to support him.  Will was busy with chess club and scouts.  He won Annie Peterson with 3 queens!  And he just joined the Bear's den who apparantly do not have treats after den meeting, like they did in wolves.  He said,"Sister Peterson and Sister Burdette were really good!" I think he misses them.  But he will love the Bear den, even without the treats! Bridget had piano lessons.  She plans to invite a friend to come home from school with her tomorrow.  She continues to love playing capture the flag at school during free time (on top of recess).  Mr Emett is giving them so many opportunities to get out and play that they are really enjoying his class, and probably learning well too.  Today she and five other girls versed 3 of the boys in their class and beat them 7 - 0. 

Back to the track meet. While Luke was in the bull pin waiting for his race Violet ran over to say hello.  He stretched and she stretched with him.  She is always ever so happy to see her Yuke.  So Luke ran the mile.  And he did it fabulously!  We can't wait to find out his time tomorrow because he is confident he knocked some time off his 6:20 record.  It was exciting to see him keep up with the first pack of runners.  (He was not far behind a boy from his school that was quite a bit faster than him last year.  It's so fun to see how the body grows and improves) He paced himself well and had a good finish.  Jonah cheered his name the entire race, screaming, "Go Luke!" through the entire mile.   I wish he had a megaphone so Luke could hear him all the way around the track.  On the rest of the races that Luke was not competing in I told Jonah that we were cheering for the kids with the black jersey's on because they are from Luke's school.  He said, "I can't cheer for them I don't even know their names." I told him he could call them Vista or Thunder.  Soon I realized he was referring to them as "The Black's."  At one point there were two Vista kids coming up the straitaway together in the 4X100 m relay and Jonah yelled, "Look, there's two blacks!"  A boy from the Vista team who was seated nearby turned and commented on the racist comment, which I quickly explained. 

Favorites

Jonah's favorite color is lazer lellow (what boy doesn't love a color with lazer tacked on the front of it?)
Bridget's favorite movie's are still High School Musical (or hi-sicle musical in Jonah's words)  She and Adam sing a mean Troy and Gabriella duet....
Violet sometimes changes her name for Luke from "Kuke" to "Kukub." 
Will loves to play chess...anyone want to "verse" him?  He just earned his Chess belt loop and pin for Scouts but is still accepting challenges!
Luke is into improving his vertical...trying to get closer to that basket!
Will's favorite snack is laughing cow cheese and crackers...he loves it!
Violet loves chocca mik.  She threw a mighty tantrum tonight at dinner when she was denied a cup of it.

Last day of school

This year we decided to give a pot of Lupines along with the book, "The Lupine Lady" to the kids teachers. We wanted them to know that they have made the world more beautiful by being wonderful teachers.

We also made a little "Ellie Badge" for Will to present to Mrs. Larsen with this note:

 Mrs. Larsen,
 For teaching our class of 2nd graders
and performing above and beyond the call of duty,
I would like to award you
the highest honor I can bestow:
The Ellie Badge

Their "UP with 2nd grade" year has been a wonderful one and she deserved a badge!

We are so excited to have the kids home for the summer!  Jonah is ecstatic!

Sights and sounds of Christmastime at our house

1. Bright red poinsettia's on the table...I am in love with their color when the light from the chandelier is shining down on them. The kids were so surprised to learn that they were real.
2. Crash, bang, crash: First item on Jonah's list is...(drum roll)..cymbals! He has been upset at the last two music classes because he did not get the cymbals! This is bad. So bad that no other instrument would do. And no he did not want the finger cymbals! He was going over this at home one day, getting upset all over again, when I thought I'd fix the problem. "Jonah, you can use pan lids for cymbals!" (Uninterested stare from Jonah) "AND they even make MORE noise than real ones, -clang, clang!" He snatched them out of my hands, just to see. And yes, in actual fact they are louder. So loud that during the proceeding dinner hour we all tried hopelessly to get him to stop...but he went right on marching and clanging. Happy boy = good. Family with ringing ears = bad. All of the kids are begging him NOT to ask Santa for cymbals!
3. Little Christmas trees in each of the kids rooms. They decorated their own according to a theme of their choice. A contest with prizes involved and I'll let you know what the results are.
4. Candy canes in Santa boots: I have my Grandma Harkers little red santa boots (given to her by her dad when she was a little girl) which she always had filled with candy canes for Christmas.
5. Mandarine oranges: favorite smell. Violet eats them three at a time. She picks off the tiny white parts and says, "Away," handing them to me. That means, "we need to throw this away!"
6. Our elf on the shelf was spotted by Jonah (who, by the way, was up at 6:00 dressed and ready in clothes from his out-grown clothes box) slurping milk from a straw straight out of the jug of milk. He was hysterical!
7. Jonah sleeps in a sleeping bag on the floor of his room under his Christmas tree lights every single night. Tonight Bridget sat with him and looked through "Can you see what I see Christmas," and read "Paddington Bear." She said that as she got to the part when Paddington falls asleep in the chair, Jonah rolled over and fell fast a-sleep. What a lovely thing!
8. Christmas stories read every night
9. Christmas movies: recently watched "Yes Virginia, there is a Santa Claus." (or in Jonah's words, "Yes birginia..)
10. Whispers and plans being made for homemade gifts
11. "Can I sleep under the Christmas tree on Christmas Eve?" Will asked.
"How about Christmas Day."
"No, I want to be there so that I can see SANTA!"
"But if you do, then ALL the kids will have to join you and then the living room with be so full there will not be room for Santa to step foot in there."
"Please."
"I'll talk to Dad about it and let you know."
12. Making braided swiss "sutfe" bread and Luke coming home from school to say, "Can I have one of those?" Meaning a whole loaf!
13. The glow of Christmas lights. I think I want to sleep under the tree!
14. Christmas music playlist: Favorites include The Chipmunks (Will & Jonah) Where are you Christmas, by Faith Hill (Bridget's), Breath of Heaven by Amy Grant (Me),Jingle Bells (Violet shakes her hands for the bells and turns circles now and then to spice things up a bit) and so many others.
15. The little kids walking up the street to meet Luke when he gets off the bus
16. Using up the last of the snow for a great little snowball fight...which Jonah had been waiting and waiting for!
17. Will singing, "Christmas in our town, what a wonderful place to BE" in preparation for the school Christmas Sing-in on Friday.
18. Bridget doing handstands against the walls. She does a handstand, then -thump- her legs hit the wall and she holds it as long as she can. A new skill she is trying to master.
19. Violet gives everyone a kiss before she goes to sleep. Usually Jonah will say, "What about my kiss," but now Violet is initiating it when she puckers up and makes lip smacking noises as I say, "Say goodnight to Violet!" Everyone gets in line and laughs so hard after they get their cute Violet smooch! And she is as happy as can be!
20. Considerate Will announced: "Mom, I'm just going to ask you for Beyblades and I'll ask Santa for the basketball hoop. That way you don't have to buy the expensive thing!"