Summer

Last kinder, first freshman

We spent much of last week up in Greer. The weather was great, at least in the day. For some reason we only packed two camping mats, so the nights were a little a uncomfortable..hard, cold ground. One night, the girls and I slept in the van because Rachel was terrified that a bear was going to get us. We left the boys out there in the tent and since they were ok in the morning, Rachel thought it was safe to return to the tent the next night.

Short Haircut for Lizzie girl

 Hard to believe the end of school is right around the corner. I've decided that having kids in school puts me in a time warp...time seeming to move fast and slow at different times. We just finished track this week for Matt and Meg in middle school and Michael just tonight found out he didn't qualify for the state meet..bummer but he's just a frosh and there's plenty of time. Surprise of season...Meg's favorite event was the 400m! She started with the mile and didn't think it was that fun..imagine that. All three did great, but we are kind of excited to come home right after school to eat popsicles and watch Arthur.
Rachel played soccer and did running club this year. She enjoyed both as long as it wasn't too hot. She is extremely competitive, reminiscent of Meghan, who we are reluctant to play even a board game with, for fear of the fireworks that come with a loss. Rachel's little soccer team lost all but one and that one was a tie.

Rachel in running club fun run

 Despite my insisting that they weren't keeping score, she was and doesn't want to play anymore games because she doesn't want to lose...will just let it rest for awhile :0
Lizzie came home one day toying with the idea of cutting her hair shorter. Three days later she was begging to get it done. We love it!

 Jonnie boy had his Pinewood Derby as a new Webelos. He had a great car that he and Dave worked at. Dave couldn't be at the race. My fear always is that the car will be to heavy. Guess what, too heavy by a full ounce! So there we were trying to drill out an ounce out of the body, right up until start time. Then he got entered as a Bear. Oh well, not our night, but a great car for sure.

Jon with Night Train

Heart Day

Jon doing homework on Friday night :)

I love Valentines...with all the red and pink everywhere. Rachel and Lizzie have made lots of hearts this week. We wanted to make sugar cookies and give them out as treats, but we have had a sick week. On Thursday, for the first time ever, all six kids were home sick from school...all throwing up, but Jon, who just felt like he was going to. Yuck and tiring. Dave is in Arkansas, missing the fun. I remember a few years ago...I think before Rachel and Liz were even born, also on a trip of Dave's to Arkansas all the kids got sick...like every 45 minutes another one started throwing up. It was crazy..back then they just stood wherever and out it came. It's so much easier now that they can all make it to the toilet. A learned skill, I guess, for which I have been very thankful for this week. Meg got it first, and still has it the worst. She has had a hard week. One good thing is that I haven't had to cook a thing, really. We made a pot of pasta tonight, put a little butter on it and that was it. For the rest of today and yesterday it has been mostly canned soup, saltines and gingerale, if anything. Tonight as I was putting everyone to bed I heard all the little "happy Valentine's day, Mom," as I walked up and down the hall.

Lizzie loves this bandana she got at school today.

It is like that on every holiday. They just can't wish us enough happiness on special days...Halloween, Ground Hog Day, St Patricks, etc. Not just the big ones. So cute.

Outings

A couple of more September events (how did we fit them in?) We went to camp Lo Mia for our ward camp out. It was so fun, as always. The kids were outside the whole time, just loving it. It is just a great place for families to play together. I'm so thankful our ward still does it.
Dave wanted to be in Flagstaff the morning the campout ended to see a meet, so we hurried and helped clean up, and then were off. About 10 minutes into the trip I realized I hadn't given anyone Dramamine yet. I quickly passed it out, but this experiment tell us that it does not work immediatly. The road was windy...which is was what reminded me of it in the first place. Matthew was sick and miserable the whole way. Luckily, we carry ZipLock in the car....


Another fun thing...Michael's team did a long run with several other teams participating called the Dam Run. It was 14 miles, lots of stops along the way for water, and vans close by in case someone has had enough. He made it the whole way...tough guy that he is. They end up by the Dam by the Salt River. Amazingly we have never taken the kids to the river! A great Saturday activity! We met the team, and then played in the river.

September Happenings

 At the end of September, Michael's team went to CA for a xc meet. As soon as we saw it on the schedule we planned to go. We wanted to go to San Diego this past summer, but it never happened. A couple of weeks before we figured out that Dave's team had a meet at UOFA the day before..actually the evening before. We didn't end up leaving for San Diego until about 1am on the morning we needed to be there. It was our first drive all night with kids..much quieter than a day trip, but not sure we'd do it again. We got to the hotel, checked in quickly and off to his meet. He ran the freshman race and got17th. It was at Balboa Park and incredibly hilly. I ran there a few times in college...didn't remember the hills being that big! He is a great racer. He moves the entire time through the field..so fun to watch.

 Then, off to the beach. This kids loved it. Meg was a boogie boarding expert. Rachel let her feet get wet, which is an improvement over the last time we were there 2 years ago.
So nice to be in the cool weather. Thanks to Grandma and Granner for always taking care of the pets.

Lots of drip sand castles

And then on Sept. 24, our little dear turned 6! Can't believe what a big, independent girl she is.  We still call her baby and she is always complaining that she is the youngest. She loves, loves kindergarten and has lots of friends.
Some things about Rachel at 6.
*tank tops and biking shorts are her favorite outfit, no matter the occasion or the weather.
*loves to draw and write and now reads everything
*great imagination for playing "school" or "store"
*loves all animals
*likes to make sure everyone is happy
*loves lotion, food coloring, nail polish, paints, all manner of colorful messes.
*gets right in all the wrestling matches with all the kids

Cross Country

For years and years our Saturdays have been consumed with soccer games...now we find ourselves at cross country meets. It's so fun and I love to watch them. Both Michael and Meghan are so new to running. We have been so careful to not get them into it too early or to ever put any pressure on them to run, but maybe because of Dave's team or probably running camp, they seem drawn to it. Meghan's team only runs about 3 days a week and 1-2 miles at a time. It's so low key...perfect for middle school. Michael's high school team runs quite a bit more, has a great coach that makes it fun for them. They are off to California this weekend for a meet and Disneyland...so fun!

Arrow of Light




Matthew

I thought I better post this picture while I'm here...this guy is onto Boy Scouts! Seems like we just bought this Cub Scout shirt ...we remember it clearly because he had a sick stomach and was laying on the floor at the Scout Shop while we contemplated the right size..doesn't seem like three years ago.Our new Cubmasters have such a great Arrow of Light ceremony, complete with facepaint stripes.

 We are proud of you Matthew!

Here is everyone else on their first day of school..even Rachel. This is the first time in 14 years that I haven't had a little friend home with me. I have to say a few hours of quiet everyday has been quite lovely! Everyone is happy with their classes and friends. So we have one high schooler, two middle schoolers, and three elementary kiddos.  All the activities come with the start of school make my head spin...another post for those.

Lizzie

Matthew and Meg



High School!

 We have a high school freshman in our home! When we dropped him off today, one of the first people we saw on the curb was a kid with a bright red mohawk. It was like a scene out of one of those crazy high school movies. He has been running with the cross country team most of the summer and went to band camp the last two weeks=busy guy who wasn't quite ready for summer to end. Keep going Michael! We are proud of you

Summer is flying right by...Rachel has lost another tooth since this picture was taken. Running camp is going on right now. We all spent about 4 days up there last week. It was fun to be in Pinetop in the cooler weather where the kids can play outside all day, but it is always exhausting to be at camp--to bed late and up early. Dave took the four oldest up a couple days early while he set up so I only had Lizzie and Rachel home for about three days. It was so weird! I didn't know what to cook for the three of us! The house stayed clean and there was barely any laundry to do.

We've driven up and down to Pinetop three times now--one more trip than planned because I didn't take enough medicine for Meg. Lizzie loves listening to the radio while we drive. So when a song comes on that she loves ( like every other one), she wants to tell me, in every detail why she loves it so much. Her carseat is two rows back from me in the van, so I have to turn the radio way down to hear and talk with her. By the time she's done with her explanation and we turn up the volume, the song is just about over.  Funny girl. This drives Rachel crazy--she just wants to listen.

One other thing to put down in things to remember this summer. Michael ran 12 miles on Friday--he did the big Sunrise Run the campers do at the ski resort on the last morning of camp.  I knew he was going to run a little bit of it, but I never thought he'd do the whole thing...starts at 8000ft and ends at almost 11000. This was the furthest he has ever run by 5 miles. He's tough, no doubt about it.

Catching Up

Surely I can blog once a week, right? I love to read friend's blogs and always get motivated to start ours up again, and then I fizzle. This was a big accomplishment for Michael. This pic was after his 50mile ride to get his Cycling Merit Badge. I am discovering that the road to Eagle Scout is long-whew, no wonder the make a big deal of it. All of is great stuff, though, and I am so glad he is learning it all, but it is a lot to stay on top off. He's right in the thick of it now.

Daisy Cat

This photo has nothing to do with this post. It is from last summer's vacation in CA. Meghan loved playing in the ocean. Last night, our kitty Daisy passed away,  and she was so special to Meghan. I feel so so sorry for her. Two days ago Daisy started throwing up, and acting a little tired--definetly not her   fiesty self. Yesterday at the vet we found out that she had probably swallowed some string and since her intestines were bunching up, she needed surgery or we needed to put her to sleep. We decided to try the surgery (expensive!). She seemed fine for about an hour after we got home, but then started having trouble breathing. Back to the vet at 8:30pm- he opened her outside stitches to make sure no intestine had come out, gave her something to remove fluid and sent up home--very optimistic. But she looked terrible and I just didn't have a good feeling about it. I checked on her at about 2am and she was gone. We woke the kids up so they could say goodbye to her. We prayed, talked about Heaven and talked about all the funny things Daisy always did-so sad, and lots of tears. Back to the photo--remembering a happy time.

Camping

We spent 4 days camping in Greer early this summer. I usually don't think of camping as much of a vacation because it is so much work getting ready for it. Dave makes sure we taking everything we "might" need so we take an incredible amout of stuff. Our 15  passenger van was packed with kids and stuff, plus our dog Ranger.  Once we got there though, it was so fun. It is easier now by the single factor of not having a baby in the mix anymore, crawling through the dirt, to keep out of the fire, etc. The kids explored all over and played great together. We went fishing a couple of times and caught a couple of little trout. This traumatizes Meg, to see the fish die, so Dave tries to throw them back in if they aren't too injured. This works most of the time, but every once in awhile they swallow the hook...poor fish, poor Meghan. I love it that the kids are outside so much, exploring nature since we don't get so much of that where we live. They love sleeping in tents and sleeping bags, roasting marshmallows, being DIRTY.  Finally, after all of these years, the camping is growing on me...

Mighty Mud



Michael--13 now!

 It has been so long since I have done this blogging thing that I can't remember how to do it. I'm going to try to keep up with this through the summer...Here are kiddos at Mighty Mud.  We go every year, but I can't remember a muddier year that this. Usually it is just Michael that gets this muddy. This year all of them slithered around in it a bit. Then, because they didn't want to wait in the very long lines to be hosed off, we walked home like this. It must have felt terrible. Rachel cried the whole way.  First Dave hosed them off in the yard, then they showered, and still had dirt in their hair the next day. Fun!  So far we have gone to Greer for 4 days, swim team has started for the oldest four, and lessons for Liz and Rachel. Right now, Michael, Meg, and Matthew are in Greer again for another short camping trip with Dave. I only had three kids to put to bed last night...it only took about 15 minutes...but then  I still stayed up too late!

Jonathan is eight!

Our Jonnie Boy celebrated his 8th birthday at the end of December and a couple of weeks later came his special baptism day. I can't believe he eight. He was so excited to have his own scriptures. He picked the blue, large print edition. He also started Cub Scouts with mixed emotions...excited to go with Matthew, but a bit bummed out to miss the crazy sibling soccer games that go on in the gym while the scouts are meeting.

New Adventures

For months and months I have wanted to get this blog going again...mostly because it is such a great family journal! I had decided January was a great time to start...a new year, new beginnings. On January 1st we got an unexpected suprise..a new calling for Dave as the new Bishop of our ward. He as been the Bishop (officially) for 12 days...definetly a new adventure for us. He is always busy, but this week, we have reached a new level of busy. He'll do a great job, this is the ward we have lived in since we got married, and we love it.

Matthew

Matthew celebrated his 8th birthday at the end of June. Eight is great, because he chose to be baptized--right on his very birthday. We are so proud of this little guy. He has such a great heart, the best smile, and is such a smarty pants! Here are some quick Matthew facts: Has read four, and now on 5th Harry Potter-loves to read (especially HP), still a dinosaur fan, loved baseball this year, still has not lost top two front teeth---probably the only kid in 3rd grade that still has them, talks a mile a minute!
Finally, a picture from our camping trip we took right after school ended. We went to Greer. It was beautiful, but whew, so much work!!

Last Day of School Picture

Happy to be out of school, but unhappy we had to stop for a picture. Oh, and then we stopped at the grocery store on the way home...double torture.

Wake Up!

Yawn...Stretch...time to wake up my hibernating blog.
I want to keep track of what we do this summer here.
Summer is starting.
School is ending ...tomorrow.
Baseball ended last week.
As busy as they have both kept of for the last few months
it is sad to say goodbye to teachers and coaches
that have worked hard for our kiddos.
The kids found out about next year, today.
Everyone is happy.

Since last time

Mom said it had been a month since the last blog-just about! We've had two birthdays-Meg and me. She loves being 9, and although I've bee dreading this one-it's not so bad!!!
Michael had his big band concert. We have been practicing one song for so long, so long that I can't remember why/how we thought it was the right one....it was a terrible one. We have been suffering through it for months...and they didn't play that one! Oh well--he thought it was great.
Everyday for school we are out the door by 7:55, but for some reason getting out the door early one a Saturday is a momumental task.
There is always a lot of whining, compaining, and general "I'm not going" attitude.
Doesn't matter what it is, a game, walk, family outing. They don't want to.
It it's a chore...like this morning we're going to clean the yard---WATCH OUT
Today Matthew had to be at a test in N Scottsdale at 9am.
Lizzie had her preschool Rodeo (no sibs allowed), also 9am.
Dave went with Lizzie.
I flew up to the test with everyone else in tow, somehow made it on time.
We finished at 10:30--off to PVCC track meet--drop off our 4 oldest.
Go get Lizzie who Grandma rescued from the rodeo so Dad could run the meet.
Home to clean the house ALL day because it has really never recovered from Christmas.
My expectations are always high with only 2 of our 6 home, but these 2 little ones are tornados.
So while I decluttered(only when big kids are gone -declutter=throw away) and organized in the bedrooms, they dumped and scattered everything in front. So with my 5 hours with only 2 kids at home, the house looks a little bit worse than when I started---ugh!