Snips and snails and puppy dog tails

Zach and his buddy Trace spent a couple hours this afternoon catching lizards at the neighborhood park.  In the middle of their adventure they came home to show us their Mason jar prey: two tiny reptiles.  

Just before it was time to come home, I walked over to the park to capture pictures of the hunt.  When the clock demanded the boys' return, they had trapped six lizards in all.

After a morning full of kids fighting over video games and TV, I was so happy to see the boys doing things boys should do: roaming the great outdoors and getting dirty until dinner time.

School work

I just finished scanning the first batch of school work for the 2012-13 school year.  Here are the treasures:

Lexi's self-portrait.

Included with this was a questionnaire that Lexi's teacher helped her complete.  Our funny girl's answers are in bold.

My name is: Lexi

Who named me: I don't know.

In was born: Nowhere.

I am 3 years old.

My mom's name is: I don't know.

My dad's name is: He's a boy.

I have 3 brothers and 1 sister.

Their names are: Gavin, Zach and Tyler, and Kate, and mom, and me.

I have 0 pets.

My favorite foods are: ice cream and pizza.

My favorite color is: pink, purple, blue, and white.

My favorite toy is: Betsy.

Gavin hasn't produced much in the way of art yet, but he did bring home a hand print.  

I haven't seen any of Tyler's school work yet, either.  However, he's bringing great stuff home from art class.  He drew the outline of the horse upside down and then colored it in (and added sound effects).  I took a photograph of the collection of items Tyler drew in his second piece.  I realize now that he was actually sitting to the right of the collection, so I should have taken a picture from his perspective!  I'm especially fond of his shading technique with pastels.

Zach was the first student of the week in his class.  He had to talk about himself for two minutes and didn't prepare at all, but I liked what some of the students had to say about his presentation:

"I think it's cool that you admire your dad."  --Peyton

"I think you are very cool and very kind."  --Lauren

"I hope you become a pro basketball player like you want to."  --Max

"Zach is a very funny student who is actively involved in class.  He is really smart!"  --Mr. B.

For his sharing day, Zach took his pogo stick to class and wowed them with his ability to jump on it with no hands.  He brought home this note at the end of his special week.

Now I need to find the time to add all of these scanned items (and the stories behind them) to the kids' memory books.

Mom's Taxi

Today is our first full-throttle, all-the-kids-in-school day.  Here's the timeline of our basic Thursday from here 'til May.  Since the boys just quit swim team (Mama's not happy), the afternoon isn't quite as hectic.

5:00: Heidi's alarm rings.

5:15: Heidi stumbles into the gym for an hour of cardio.

6:30: Heidi returns home.

6:35: Garry's alarm rings.  He starts waking up Zach (it's a process; we have arrived).

6:45: The family congregates for breakfast and scripture study mischief, mayhem, and milk spilling.

7:00: Heidi makes lunches.  Garry takes a shower.  Boys dress for school.

7:30: Heidi takes Zach to the middle school for his math class.  Sometimes the girls ride along so Garry can hustle Tyler and Gavin more easily.

7:45: Heidi returns home.

7:55: Garry leaves with Tyler and Gavin.

8:00: Garry drops Tyler at the school curb.  Kate jumps in the bathroom doorway while Heidi showers.

8:10: Garry walks Gavin into school, signs him in, and then goes to work.

8:20: Heidi is ready for the day.  She fixes Lexi's hair and makes sure her backpack is ready.  Breakfast dishes might also be done if there is enough time.

8:48: Heidi picks up Zach at the middle school.

8:55: Heidi drops Lexi at preschool.

9:05: Heidi drops Zach at the elementary school.

9:15: Heidi puts a sleepy Kate in bed for her morning nap.

9:30: Heidi hosts an Isaiah study group at the house.

11:00: Heidi and Kate pick up Lexi.

11:25: An angel friend knocks on the door.  She brings Gavin home from preschool every day.

11:30: Lunch mischief and mayhem at the kitchen table.

11:45: Play time.

1:00: Kate takes another nap.

1:00-3:00: Heidi referees more mischief and mayhem.  She maybe takes a cat nap on the couch, or does some laundry, or works on the computer, or eats bon-bons...or whatever moms do all day.

3:00: Heidi turns the kids loose in the front yard to wait for brothers.  She maybe thinks about dinner for the first time.

3:35: Zach and Tyler return home on their scooters (which they carried to school in the morning).

3:40: Heidi takes Tyler to art class.

4:00: Heidi monitors homework completion.

4:45: Heidi picks Tyler up from art class.

5:30-ish: Dad comes home.  Hooray.

6:00: Dinner.

7:30: Bedtime for the children.

8:30: Lights out for the big children.

9:00: Heidi goes to bed (haha...wishful thinking, most nights)

5:00: Heidi's alarm rings...

Helping hands

As part of a stake service project, Garry joined an army of Colorado Springs volunteers on Saturday and helped protected some of the city's fire-damaged areas from flooding. Volunteers moved 150 tons of sand that day.  Officials later said that because of the large LDS presence at the community event, all of the sand bags were filled by 9:30 a.m. instead of noon.  Garry spent two afternoon hours moving the sand bags from the filling ground to the areas most in need.  The Waldo Canyon fire burned 350 homes to the ground, and the surrounding property is at great risk for flooding during heavy rain. Hopefully the sand bags will protect the areas from further damage.

It is sobering to see the scorched mountains and skeleton trees in the burn zone.  We feel so blessed to have escaped this tragedy, but are glad for every opportunity to serve those affected by the fire.

Root, root, root for the home team

While I was playing with my friends at a wedding reception, Garry was playing at Coors Stadium in Denver.  He took Zach and Tyler to see their very first Major League Baseball game.  The BYU Alumni Association sponsored "Mormon Night at the Rockies" and offered cheap tickets.  It was a fun opportunity.

The Rockies won 9-1 and got a grand slam in the bottom of the eighth inning.  The boys thought the entire experience was awesome.

Garry and I both returned home after 11:00.  I feel compelled to brag about our super-awesome babysitter, who left the house spotless and ironed Garry's shirts.  I'm not going to let her go to college next year.  Sorry, Holly.  You're my babysitter for life.

Uh-oh

Kate's favorite word is "uh-oh."

She's figuring out great ways to use it, too.

happy day

I was lucky enough to be involved with a fun and festive wedding reception on Saturday.  I love all the behind-the-scenes work that goes into planning a party, and doing that work with friends makes it even better.  On Saturday I helped with flowers and took pictures at the reception.  The whole evening--food, friends, decorations, weather, laughter--was absolutely perfect, at least from my perspective.  These are a [very] few of my favorite shots from the night.

Happy wedding, Jeff and Kerri!

First Day: Lexi

The long-awaited day has come.  Lexi is attending preschool!  She was beyond excited for her first day, due in large part to the fact that she could finally use her purple backpack. As one might guess, purple is Lexi's favorite color.  She was so happy to pack her sharing bag, which included several things about her: purple nail polish, a puzzle piece, a roll of crayons, a baby picture, a family photo, and a book.  That's a lot of personality to shove in a little paper sack.

She posed for obligatory first-day photos.  Not surprisingly, she knew just where to stand.

What did surprise me was her tears at drop-off.  She cried!  I still can't believe she cried. She clung to me and wouldn't let go.  She sobbed.  She wailed.  She begged for me to stay. It was heart-breaking.  But, being the hardcore mom that I am, I left her in a heap on the floor and walked out the door.

Lexi was all smiles when I picked her up two hours later.  Her first declaration upon returning to the van was, "I had a great time, Mom!"

Let's hope that attitude, instead of the one that preceded it, sets the tone for her school year.

A child and an eye doctor

So Zach failed the eye exam at school the other day.  That's the first F on a Bartle report card, and luckily it won't go on his high school transcripts.  (Just his driver license, right?) Since the elementary school was out today (what the?), I finally hauled my reluctant, almost-11-year-old son to the eye doctor.

He was nervous, and rightly so.  There were a lot of weird machines in there.  But he was a good sport, and luckily the optometrist was kid-friendly, too.  And, as a bonus, the visit was pain-free (he was worried about that).

When all was said and done, Dr. Bettner declared Zach  farsighted.  Yep.  He needs reading glasses!  Apparently Zach has been exerting a great deal of effort to focus his vision for reading, writing, and using the computer.  The strain has fatigued his eyes so that his distance vision is suffering, too, which is how I knew there was a problem in the first place.  Zach was thrilled to learn that he can wear glasses part-time, and just for "boring school stuff."  I was thrilled to learn we have great vision insurance, so Zach could get the Oakley frames he wanted for $68 out-of-pocket.

In two weeks, Zach will have a new look...and hopefully a great new outlook on life.

reverence begins with me

This picture doesn't need a great deal of explanation.

It was a usual Sunday.

Gavin was insane during sacrament meeting.

He earned 30 minutes of "reverence practice"

at home after church.

And then he fell asleep in his chair.

If only I could have been so lucky.