Soccer Clinic

For scouts, Drew had to teach someone a skill.  So Drew put together a little soccer clinic for Devin.  They pulled out the cleats and shinguards.

Devin ate up all the attention and learned a bit about soccer, too. 

Big brothers are sure a wonderful blessing! 

Busy Week

(Here is Dave's family letter from last week. I like to see his perspective on things, too.)
We had a very full week. Here are the highlights:
- Camping trip on Friday night with Dayton to Bastrop state park with the other scouts. This is one of the areas that was badly burnt last year during the Austin fires.

- Soccer games for Drew and Dayton. The season is under way with Dayton’s team losing 3-1 and Drew winning 3-2.

- Drew participated in the regional science fair in downtown Austin with hundreds of other participants. We were proud of him for qualifying.

- David won an award ($150) at work that was announced during our quarterly all-hands meeting. That was fun!

- Debbie and Dave are busily planning for our trip to London/Paris in 2 weeks.

- Danica and Devin went to a b-day party. Texas is big on indoor parties with large inflatables. The kids love them.
- Dallin is training as a Family History Consultant in our ward

The 10 cent search

It was time to leave for church.  I gave all of the kids the look-over to make sure they all would leave the house dressed/combed etc.  I noticed that Dayton didn't have a belt on. (He usually doesn't have a belt on, but this week it was noticable because he couldn't find his suit coat...how do you lose that?)  He said that he'd already looked for his belt but couldn't find it.  When I asked him how much he'd pay me if I went right up and found it in his closet he said 10 cents.  I told him that I wanted a $3 search instead.  It took him a few minutes, but he came back down with his belt on and $3 wiser. 

Regional Science Fair- Drew

Saturday morning Drew had requested sausage gravy, and since it was kind of a big day for him with his regional science fair as well as his first soccer game, I thought I'd get up early and make it for him.  After all, that's what my mom would have done!  I set my alarm for 6:30 and got up and showered then went to the kitchen to start breakfast.  It was then that I noticed the clock said 5:47!  Not sure how I'd woken up an hour early (Dave was on a campout with Dayton and my watch needed a new battery...both strikes against me).  Anyways, we had plenty of time to eat and get out the door by 7:30.  

When Drew saw the huge crowds pouring into the parking garage, I think he started to realize that this was kind of a big deal.  The Palmer Event Center was lined with huge rows of tables.  Drew's project was number 1628.

It was a good experience for him to present to the judge and compete.

The event was right in the heart of downtown Austin.

Drew got a first place ribbon!  Way to go!

Game On!

Drew came straight home from the science fair and got ready for his soccer game, complete with cleats, shin guards, and his bag packed.  Then he had 4 hours to kill!  He actually put it to good use by starting the Personal Fitness merit badge.  He ran a "leisurely" mile in 6:37 (in cleats!).

Finally it was game time.  Devin, Danica and I went to the game.  Dallin stayed home to study and Dave brought Dayton back early from their campout to go to Dayton's game.  (No photos from either since I had the camera, but Dayton's team lost 3-1).

Drew's team scored early but then fell behind 2-1.  They scored 2 points in the last 4 minutes to win and were pretty excited!  Go Crew!

President's Day Weekend

Russell's family came for President's Day weekend.  The cousins had a fun sleepover while Russ and Jen had an anniversary get-away for a night.  Dayton, Drew, and McKay attended an all day merit badge fair on Saturday.  This is what I saw when I went in to wake them up...sardines!  I guess Dayton got kicked out of the room for gleeking on the bed.  Not sure where he'd have fit.

The boys left by 7am.  Trying to get a good picture of these three is tough.

At least McKay cooperated.  Dayton earned Music, Fingerprinting, Sculpture, and Sports.  Drew and McKay completed Citizenship in the World and got partials done for Personal Management and Communications.

The girl cousins also had a fun sleep over!

They are sweet to include Devin in their activities.  They got a kick out of Devin's antics and thought the way he said "gunk" for skunk was hilarious.

We had big plans of boating in the lake, picnicing, and riding the mini-train through Zilcher park, but the rain caused us to go to plan B.  We visited the capitol, enjoyed a small museum, and then went to an IMAX called Tornado Alley while the boys were at the merit badge fair. 

Sunday was beautiful.  The kids enjoyed the sandbox, heroscape, and just being together.  Drew's already counting down the days until he gets to see McKay again over spring break.

Gracie, Devin, and Emma

The kids sure love to get together!

February Temple Trip

Dave and I had a nice time at the temple yesterday.  We drove down with some friends, Brent and Leslie Scott and stopped for dinner at BJ's afterwards. We got home pretty late and found the boys and my brother Jon watching BYU basketball.  He came through town for a job interview.

Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was a busy one.  I made sausage egg biscuits for breakfast and had a treat bag on everyone's plate.  (The treats were quite the hodge-podge of leftover candy in the house.  Everything from candy corn and Christmas m&m's to the leftovers from Dayton's cell project.  But not one complaint was heard about the candy not being red or heart shaped!)  I got all the lunches made and got the kids out the door and then had just enough time to get me and Devin ready to check Danica out of school for an appointment. 

She went to see a dermatologist to have some moles checked.  The wait at the office was a full hour.  But we kept things lively by playing eye spy and telling stories.  The kid's favorite story was about princess Danica and brave dragonslayer Devin who helped a dragon by removing porcupine quills from its back and thereby won the dragon's loyalty towards the princess and her realm. 

Danica missed her lunch at school, so we stopped by the house and all ate a quick bite of lunch together before heading over to the school for the Valentine parties.   Danica's class had ice cream sundaes and exchanged valentines. 

Danica with her friend Ella who lives just down the street.

 Devin was happy to get in on the ice cream!

After Danica's party, Devin and I had about 40 minutes to kill at the school.  We went to the library and read books quietly and soon it was time for the next party. 

It's kind of bittersweet knowing that this is Drew's last Valentine's party since he'll be at the middle school next year.  Devin gets called "Mini-Drew" by the gym teacher, vice principal, office staff, and the kids at the school.  After one or two times he's quick to correct them, "I Devin!"

As part of the fifth grade party they had a baby picture guessing game.   Here's the one I sent:

I love that one! I'll never forget the story that goes with it. We were living in our Midway townhome and had the three boys. I sent 6 year old Dallin to go check on Drew since he was being really quiet. I thought that he might be splashing with the toilet brush like he sometimes did. Dallin called from the top of the stairs, "Mom, you've got to come see this!" Dayton and I came up to find Drew stuck in the toilet and whimpering to get out. I knew this was a photo opp not to be missed, so I left him in long enough to capture the moment. Then it was straight to the tub! Not sure how he even got himself in there!

Drew's teacher Mr. Ewing gave each decorated valentine's box an "award".  Here he's taking a look at Drew's.

After school I gave Drew a piano lesson.  He knows 5 hymns now.  Then I dropped Danica off at dance and stopped at at the bishop's storehouse to buy 50 lbs of wheat.  Devin fell asleep in the store.  Next I drove to Papa Murphy's to get heart shaped pizza's.  I dropped off the pizzas, wheat and sleeping Devin at home, vacuumed the downstairs and returned to get Danica.  From there we went to pick up Dayton from after school band practice and then came home and got the pizzas in the oven. 

Dave and I joined three other couples for dinner at Mongolian Grill, one of those places where you add what you'd like to a bowl and they cook it up for you.  We had a nice time eating and chatting and then went to the bishop's home for dessert.  It is so nice to have kids old enough to leave home alone!  It was a nice Valentine's day.

Snow 2012...kind of

There were few snow flurries today.  Dayton was adament that I post pictures of the snow, in case this is all we get this year!

We've gotten some good games of City of Knights in this weekend as well as working on finishing up partial merit badges.

Maid Service

I recently implemented a new policy which has worked wonderfully well. Some of the kids (okay, really just one) seemed to have a hard time getting his clothes hung up and his dirty socks put in the hamper. The continual asking and prodding didn't seem to be getting me anywhere. So I decided that he could just pay for the maid service that he seemed to want. Each item of clothing that I hung would cost $.10 and each dirty sock that I put away would be $.25 per sock (who wants to touch stinky boy socks!). It was so delightful to not have to bother Dayton about his dirty socks under the piano, in the backyard, behind the couch, in the garage, or about leaving his Sunday clothes in a pile at the bottom of the closet and having them get all wrinkled. I just quietly recorded each "transaction." This went on for three or four weeks until I got around to paying allowance (I'm always behind!). I gave Dayton his $11 for one month's worth and then gave him his maid service bill of $9.50. This seems to have solved the problem quite well.

Swarm of Locusts Descends on Talbot Kitchen Every Evening at 9pm

Around 9 pm a swarm of locusts descends on the kitchen, stripping it of oranges, bananans, apples, cereal, bread, crackers, sandwiches, mashed potatoes or whatever is to be found. Currently each week we go through 5 gallons of milk and 5 loaves of bread (just for sandwiches, this is just to supplement what I bake!) and countless pounds of fruit. The endless appetite of Dallin, Dayton, and Drew combined is really something to behold! One evening as I sat at the kitchen bar at the computer and watched the boys getting their "evening snack" they picked off about 6 pieces of fruit to go with the rest of their food. It really did feel like something coming through and just clearing out the kitchen!

Soccer Starts

Soccer practice is underway.  Thursday gave me a bit of a scheduling fit. Danica had dance from 3:30 to 4:30.  Drew and I shopped for shoes during her class.  He's in size 10 now, the same size as his dad.  After dance, we had 30 minutes to warm up leftovers for dinner.  Then Drew had soccer practice at 5:30 and Dayton had it at 6:00 (at different fields).  After dropping them both off, I came back home for a few minutes and picked up Dallin.  Then I picked up Drew from practice at 6:45 and dropped Dallin off at a scout meeting at 7.  Then I went to Relief Society at 7 (poor Drew had to hang out at the church).  At 8 I picked up Dayton.  Then Dayton, Drew and I went to the library to wait for Dallin's meeting to finish up at 8:30.  I was grateful that David could stay home and bathe the little ones and get them to bed.

Scout Advancements

This was Drew's first court of honor as a Boy Scout.  He got to participate in the flag ceremony.  It was a pretty special night to have all three of my boys get rank advancements or awards. It may not happen again.

Drew got his Scout rank.

He has a merit badge fair in a week that he's doing with Dayton and McKay.  He's gung-ho about scouting right now!

Dayton earned his Star rank

And Dallin earned a bronze Palm

I Love Texas Winters

I love the mild Texas winter weather.  We had a gorgeous day, so Devin and I played at the park.  He rode like a wild cowboy on the horsey.

Climbed like a monkey.

And was delighted with the rockscape.  We threw rocks, stacked rocks, and examined rocks.

I'm including these short videos to capture his cute little three year old voice.

Peanut Butter Playdough

Sweet Devin is an indepent little fellow.  Even though I put him down for a nap each afternoon, he usually just plays and won't fall asleep.  Then later in the afternoon, he'll get his blanket and fall asleep on his own.

We started off the morning with peanut butter playdough.  It's a fun tradition that we've been doing around here for years!  Even Dallin got in on the fun before he left for school!

Peanut Butter Playdough
1 cup creamy peanut butter
1 cup corn syrup
1 1/4 cup powdered milk
1 1/4 cup powdered sugar
Mix all together.  Knead and have fun!

Cell Project

Here's Dayton's 7th grade cell project.

And here's his self photo, post haircut

Mother Daughter Outing

Danica and I had a fun mother-daughter outing on Saturday night.  We went to see the high school production of Hairspray.  It's so fun to have a girl!