Monster trucks

Joe got tickets to a monster truck rally for Christmas. 

Jono took him with a couple other dads and their boys.

Ear plugs in--ready to rally.

Joe was the camera man for the day.

It was pretty cool to see pictures of life size versions of the boys toys.  I mean, Grave Digger looks exactly the same!  How do they do that?!

 

From what I gathered from the guys was that they weren't super impressed with the trucks but the motorcycle show at half time was totally worth the ticket.  He had several videos of that.  I think it probably would have been more exciting if Joe had taken his redneck mother so she could have shown him how to scream and yell at a monster truck rally.

Cause I know.

Well, next time.

First day of (home)school

We are homeschooling Joe this year.

I'm not homeschooling everybody.  In fact Big D starts preschool this year!  We just take it year by year and try to do what's best for each child.  So I am excited to be spending a little extra time with my Joe Joe.

Thursday was the first day for him (the others haven't started yet).  I told him we were going to start the day off official-like by getting dressed.  No pj's the first day of this mama's school!

He goes back to change and comes out dressed like this...

 

Now that's official.

And this is what he thinks homeschool is going to look like...

And this is what he will look like when I get through with him...

p.s.  Joe thinks this face makes him look hard core.

Jono thinks it makes him look like he put something hard core in his ninja turtle thermos.

 

End of the season

Abby finished up softball on Saturday.

She had a blast playing with the girls and they all learned so much.

She said her favorite part was pitching.

One game the little brothers and their friends ditched the softball game so they could watch the big boys practice.  How cute is that?!  One day they'll be out there with some younger admirers watching them.

Joe's team was pretty strong this season.  Three or four of them will be moving up to minor league next year, Joe included.  So, to get them ready, the boys got to try out pitching and hitting off of the boys pitching (instead of the coaches).  Joe said that was his favorite part.

My favorite part is seeing them have fun.

And yelling from the stands.

I probably am way too vocal but I come by it honestly.  My mom was always the loudest one in the bleachers and my dad had a knack for getting ejected.  He was harder to hear from the parking lot.  (Sisters, testify.)  Abby said she would be extremely embarrassed if I ever got thrown out of one of her games.  Guess I better watch it.

Sugar Bowl Birthday

We were able to take the fam up to Soda Springs for Joe's birthday!  The conditions were finally right.  Enough of a base but not too frigid.  The big kids have only been one other time but they picked it back up pretty quick.  Jono took them out in the morning and they totally conquered the bunny slopes.

I got to come out with them in the afternoon.  And since they were doing so well I decided we should step it up to the next level.  The Jerome Hill Express.  It took us up a little higher but it still had a green trail we could take all the way down.  Problem was you could only see blue and black slopes from the lift.

Abby was freaking out.  Just a bit.

Here's her "mom, i'm cute but you can't be serious" look

They did well

for the moment.

Joe's reaction to skiing and crashing was "this is awesome!"  Abby's was "help!!! i'm going to die!" which she said while laughing hysterically.  I guess laughter is her coping mechanism.  Good to know.  After almost skiing onto a black trail and almost giving herself a heart attack, she resorted to sliding down the rest of the way on her boodie.  Laughing and making pathetic jokes the whole time.

She was beyond relieved to get back to the good ol' White Pine lift.

For the last run of the day I challenged Joe to a race.  Somehow he jumped on the lift ahead of me. 

Not only did he have that little bit of head start but the lift mysteriously slowed down right before I got off.  That's my story anyway.  And I'm sticking to it.  Because he was down the mountain before I had even turned around.

While the big kids were skiing, the littles got to sled their hearts out at the lodge.

Sled.  Roll around in the snow.

Same kind of thing.

Fun times were had by all!

Soccer Wrap Up 2011

Now this might get confusing. 

Both Joe and Trek's teams are orange.  The same orange. 

 You'll have to look for their faces to tell the teams apart.

This is Joe's team.  The bears!

That's his game face.  And he is such a good little player!

He was one of the top scorers on his team this season.

The bears did such a great job.  They learned positions and how to stay in their lanes.  The coach did a great job coming up with drills to teach them this stuff.  Do you know how are it is to get them out of the mob-ball mentality?!  But Coach Shelley did it!

Here are the Mob-ball Champs.

We call them the Sparrows.



I don't think they lost a game all season but nobody keeps score officially.

Except for some overzealous soccer moms.  Not me.  I'm totally cool with it being a non-competitive, neutral, confidence building event.  Truth?  Hmmm.

Trek is everybody's cheerleader.

Look at that excitement for his teammate's score!

And here are some of his other amazing moves.

The tongue hanging out.  I guess he gets it from his big brother.

He was not shy about pushing his way into the mob to get the ball.  And it didn't matter if he got to score or not he was always thoroughly pleased with himself any time he got to kick the ball!

One of my favorite moments was when we look over and he and his teammate are spying down into the cone.  They put a cone over a hole in the middle of the field and it was much more interesting than playing the game!

There you go.  Little soccer wrap-up!

Go orange!

How Tall This Fall?

I know I just posted about how much my kids have grown

but just look at this please.

The one on the left is 2007 (a couple months after we moved out here) 

and the one on the right is this year.

It just confirms what has been hitting me lately...

that I need to be grateful each day for the time I have with my kids because they will be grown and gone before I know it!

"I try not to let the good things go by unnoticed."

-from Jayber Crow by Wendell Berry

Lord, help me to notice and remember the good things

and not focus on the little, fleeting frustrations.

Joe Friday + The Bear

Today,

Joe saw a picture of The Bear...

and said,

"hey, he's wearing a Michael Jackson hat."

Now, granted, I can see the resemblance. 

However, Bear Bryant is an ICON in Alabama. 

Jonathan and I are both from Alabama, raised on Alabama football. 

Joe, himself, was born there and lived there all of his toddler days. 

Somehow,

somewhere along the way,

we have failed as parents. 

Best Dives of the Summer

We had such a blast this summer! 

I hope to be able to share some of the best parts here in the near future: 

our travels, camp adventures, art and craft projects, fun with visitors. 

I felt like the pool was a good place to start. 

We spent a lot of time swimming and jumping and splashing. 

So, without further ado, here are the nominees for

Best Dive Summer 2011

Abs:  "shot through the heart", "noodle jumping", and "the classic"

Joe:  "karate kid", "my dad can still throw me", "walking off a cliff"

Trek:  "I just started swimming by myself 3 days ago and now I want to give my mother a real heart attack", "cannonball", and "ninja kick"

Dylan:  (there were fewer pictures to choose from for this one.  probably because i was in serious lifeguard mode whenever Kamikazi here decided to get in the water.  however, i feel this one jump is worthy of a nomination)

"white dolphin"

Please leave your vote for Best Dive Summer 2011 in the comment section below. 

Dear Old Golden Rule Days

We started school this week. 

And even though only 2 of us are actually going to school, it is still a big transition for the rest of us.  I have half as many kids at home now for the majority of the day (with one starting preschool in a couple weeks)!

Here are a few of the shots my reluctant children let me take.  It's not that embarrassing to have your mother snapping pictures of you on the first day of school, is it?!?

JOE ::  Second Grade

ABBY ::  Fourth Grade

Abs told me she would be an "upper-grader" this year.  I was not aware that elementary school had "upper-graders".  But when we walked her into that room, everything looked so big and academic-like.  There aren't any toys tucked away to the side like there had been before.  And look at those books on her desk!  They are real life textbooks!  Fourth grade must mean business.

I just had to share this next picture. 

I can't even believe this stuff is coming back.  My sister still teases me about the tie I used to wear in middle school.  But these girls are rockin' it!  They look so cute!

Last, but not least, here are the little boys on the first day of school.  D wore his "batpat" the entire time we were there and every morning since to take the kids to the bus.  Trek is working on his tetherball skills.

How are you handling these back-to-school days?

Mixed Up Fairytales

With the last week of school (which is a whole bunch of assemblies and parties and way to much sugar) and the first couple weeks of summer camp and a visit with Shish (my mom), we have been busy little bees.  So much fun!  I can't wait to show off all the things we have been doing.  If only I can find the time.  It will come but with all the rugrats (I mean, angels) at home it is even harder to find the time.

So, today you get a little peek at the plays the big 'uns performed in at the end of the school year.  In California, all the extras have been cut from our public schools.  Thanks to our principal who scrounged up funds from somewhere to hire Ms. Rachel who orchestrated the production of about 10 different plays with that many classes.  She and the kids wrote all the plays and she (and other volunteer artists) made all of the scenery and props.  It came off beautifully!

Here are Joe and Abs to tell you all about it.