Luke's Birthday Party

This year was the first year Luke has had a "friend" birthday party. And since Luke wanted to invite 10 boys I knew I needed to find somewhere for them to go besides our house. We decided on Farr West Tumblers which is a little gym in our area that hosts birthday parties on Saturdays. The kids had two hours to play games and run around the gym. Of course their favorite parts were the huge trampoline and the giant rope swing. We kept it simple with cupcakes and capri suns. The boys were all great and Luke got some really neat gifts.

UEA mini vacation

For UEA break this year we decided to go on a quick, easy family vacation. And it was fabulous. We ALL needed the break. We stayed at the Zermat Resort in Midway, Utah. We really didn't make any plans to do anything special so we brought the Wii, some movies, a football and definitely bathing suits. We were not disappointed. And we had beautiful weather. We arrived Thursday afternoon and made a quick stop at the Park City outlets. Thursday night the kids wanted to head straight to the pool. They had an awesome indoor pool that connected to the heated outdoor pool as well. There were also a couple big hot tubs. I still haven't figured out why my kids can stay entertained in a hot tub almost as long as a full size pool! On Friday we took advantage of the beautiful weather and played at the outdoor sand volleyball court and threw the football around. Then we walked across the street to the Homestead Resort. We walked to the top of the crater to enjoy the view and take a couple pictures. In front of the Homestead Resort they had a big scarecrow display that we had fun picking out our favorites. Later we went swimming in the crater. The water is about as warm as a hot tub and life jackets are required. It was a really cool experience. The kids had fun dragging me around as I laid on my back. They also loved using the snorkel masks and tubes. Saturday we spent some more time at the pool and then decided to rent a RAZOR for a drive in the mountains. It was so much fun. A little nauseating at times, but for the most part fun...until we realized we got off the beaten path and were pretty far from the resort. And it was getting dark...and cold! Luckily our experienced driver got us back shortly after sunset. Grayden got sleepy about half way through our trip. He pulled his hat over his face and fell asleep!! It was so funny. Sunday we spent time packing up, making our room look recognizable again and headed home. We were all a little sad to leave but had a great time together.

DIY After School Snack

I am not a sugar cookie decorating fan. For ANY holiday. But for some reason kids love doing this. So for the kids after school snack one afternoon I bought bake and serve sugar cookies and cookie icing IN A BAG. Best invention ever. So with little effort on my part, the kids and I were both satisfied with checking this activity off our October to do list. Another day we did spooky houses. I saw this idea on Pinterest and unlike most things I pin on there I actually did it! We hot glued graham crackers together to make a house. Then armed with a bag of orange frosting and a lot of Halloween candy they got busy each making their own house. They turned out so cute and somehow as I was throwing them away yesterday I realized I never got a picture. Ahh! But this was something we will definitely make a Halloween tradition.

Allergy Shots

This past spring Luke was tested for allergies. We found out that he is allergic to every common tree, weed and grass in Utah. He is also allergic to indoor and outdoor mold as well as cats and dogs. So this summer we started allergy shots. At first we went twice a week for a total of 4 shots a week. Luke has been incredible! It has been a tedious venture to go twice a week until this fall when we started going once a week. And this week will mark the last of his once a week shots! We are so excited. He now will only go once a month!! We don't make an appointment for his shots but just kind of "show up" at Jason's office when its works into our schedule. Most of time we hardly wait at all, but there are those days when we have to wait a little longer. Luke and Gray usually entertain themselves with the rolling chairs but this past week they decided to decorate my hair with random office tools. Luke took this picture of a tongue depressor and a cotton ball in my hair. I think there is an ear curet in there too! Don't worry, we threw them away when we were done!

Octoberfest

I usually get a lot of good ideas of stuff I want to do with my kids around holidays, especially Halloween but for some reason life doesn't stop long enough for all my creative ventures. My laundry room counter is stocked full of things to create all sorts of fun stuff with my kids this month. So on Monday we went to the cemetery and did a scavenger hunt. Luckily for me I get to be Nate's bear cub scout leader so it made for a great outing with our scout group as well. I gave all the kids a scavenger hunt of items to look for in the cemetery along with paper and crayons to do a rubbing. A few of the scouts had relatives buried in that cemetery so that was neat for all of us to find. I find cemeteries (in the daytime) fascinating! I love the historical mysteries that lie there. The oldest tombstone we found was from 1871! The boys did some neat rubbings of soccer balls, the Angel Moroni and some even found their first names. I think it was a fun "Halloween" inspired activity but I also think it was good for my children to have an appreciation for those that have passed on. I can't wait to do this again next year.

4th and 18

This year Nathan decided to play tackle football. The commitment has been crazy, especially for a bunch of nine year olds. They started practices in mid July four times a week, an hour an a half each day, two days with full pads and helmets. After the second or third day Nathan didn't want to go anymore. But because he made the commitment to his team, we told him he had to finish out the season. Jason has never tried to pressure our kids into playing any specific sport and Nathan has pretty much tried them all. But I know that Jason was pretty excited about Nathan playing tackle football. The first game was the end of August and the last game was this past Saturday. They have only lost one game this season and most of their games have been blow out wins. Nathan has played center almost the entire season. This is a pretty tough position to play when you weigh a whopping 68 pounds. But he has persevered and done better each week. On Saturday they were playing to be division champs and a chance to play in the playoffs. Early in the game Nathan got knocked pretty hard and scared us half to death when he was still laying on the field when all the other players cleared off to switch positions. A coach finally ran out to get him and hardly beat Jason who was already down to the sideline. He ended up getting a good knock to the earhole that gave him a pretty good headache. Jason gave him some motrin and told him to sit down for a little bit. After a while he told him to "get back on the horse" so to say and don't be afraid to play again. Well, apparently that knock in the head did something to him because after that it was like he was a whole new player. Toward the end of the game the coach put him in as defensive end, a new position he had been practicing for a couple weeks. The opposing team was on their fourth down (they don't punt in pee wee football) and was going for the endzone. Nathan lined up as defensive end and when they snapped the ball he ran off the line like I'd never seen before. Next thing we know he is taking down the QB! BY HIMSELF! NO BACK UP! NATE SACKING THE QUARTERBACK! I'm sure I was in that moment one of those moms that people are embarrassed for but I didn't care. I was screaming, jumping up and down, going crazy like a mad woman. I was half tempted to yell "That's my son!" but I resisted. Luckily, I had finally given in to Lauren begging to use my camera. I had brought my huge lens to the game that day and was tentative about her handling it. I told her she could use it if she went and sat on the grass by the field. Best decision EVER. Lauren caught the blessed moment on camera. Sometimes giving in is a good thing! Nathan was on a total high after that. In the car he told me he was so happy he was going to cry. Let it out little man, let it out! I went to bed smiling that night thinking about that play over and over in my head. It still makes me smile to write about it.

Death Masks

A few weeks ago Lauren told me that her class was going to be making death masks in association with their study of Egypt. They needed parents to come in and death mask your child. I was super excited about the idea...Lauren not so much. I don't know if I have ever seen her so anxious about something. The teacher told them ahead of time that they would have their entire face covered with plaster of paris. It would require about 15 minutes to harden before being removed. Lauren is a mouth breather and a talker. So to not be able to breathe out of her mouth or talk for 15 minutes was absolutely terrifying for her. When we started she made sure I did everything except her mouth first. I got everything done and then started to cover her mouth. That's when she started breathing really heavy out of her nose. I could tell she was on the verge of a panic attack. So I had to talk to her and tell her funny stories to calm her down. When it was all said and done she did GREAT! And it was experience she will probably never forget.