I found this article on Mormon Times today: http://www.mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/tiffany_gee_lewis/?id=12415
For some reason this is so true. Our Christmas cards went out late this year (or will go out late, probably tomorrow..fingers crossed). But for those of you who sent us your christmas cards and letters, we really enjoy reading about your families.
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
Monday, January 4, 2010
Happy 2010!
Happy 2010!
A new year is upon us. Really it only seems like a few months ago it was January 2009. Oh how the time flies. I have done random posts throughout the year about some of the kids if not all of the kids, but I will post an update for those who do not keep up with us on Facebook and Twitter.
Jake just turned 15 in December and is already shopping for the car he wants and has memorized the driver handbook. He has already asked me to make his appointment at DMV for his permit (I should remember to add this to my things to do list). He was a starter on the freshman football team this year (Go Falcons!). Although I tried to convince him to play freshman soccer he decided that it was better to take a break this quarter to concentrate on the Sheriff’s Explorer program. He will be playing lacrosse in the spring though, and it looks like on the varsity team, woo hoo! The cadets are headed to Chandler, Arizona next week to compete at the 2010 Tactical Explorer Competition they will compete in such things as Tubular Assault, SWAT Fitness Challenge, Marijuana Field Raid, Tubular Assault, Active Shooter and more. Jake is really looking forward to being able to compete. Since we are not going with him, I will try and keep everyone posted with the results on Facebook and here on the blog. That is as long as he calls his mom and tells me.
Jared turned 14 in November and is looking forward to summer getting here so he can play more video games. I believe I blogged about why it was that I buy this child $60 games for him to finish them in a day or two. Out of all the gaming consoles he loves the XBOX 360 the most. It gives him the opportunity to play with people all over the world as well as his friends next door or down the street without being in the same room with each other. There have been many vacation days where I have gotten up at 1 or 2 in the morning and he is playing video games with people in Japan or Australia. They do not speak English, so this is a good opportunity for him to learn a number of new languages. He is talking about playing football in September when he is a freshman. But spring weights start early in the morning and he is not a morning person, so we will see how he likes the early morning hours.
Jordan turned 9 in September and is growing like a weed. Some days I wonder how long it is gonna take before all the kids are taller than me (2 of them are already). Jordan loves being a Webelos scout, but still enjoyed hanging out with the older Boy Scouts this summer on vacation. He can’t wait to move up to Boy Scouts. He also loves to play video games with Jared, but he will skip doing his homework to play so we had to put a stop to that. He loves to make things up and creates imaginative stories to tell.
Jessica will be 4 in February. She is a lot different than the boys were at her age. She is brilliant and makes us laugh all the time. She spends a lot of time with her brothers so she has a huge vocabulary and has learned not only to use the internet on the computer to get to her games on Playhouse Disney, but how to watch movies on both the computer and her brothers laptop with no help. She surprised me the other day when she gave me directions to the Baskin Robbins in town. I had asked her if she wanted some pink ice cream and of course her answer was yes (pink is her favorite color). I was talking to Dane about what I needed to get from the store and she interrupted to tell me that she wanted her ice cream from the store next to the McDonalds. When I asked her which store that was she told me to go to the McDonalds and make a left, it’s the store right there, it has the candy in it. Of course, she was right. Dane and I both started laughing. She is the princess of the house of course and the boys love her and spoil her, sometimes rotten.
2009 was a good year, but I expect 2010 to be an even better one!
A new year is upon us. Really it only seems like a few months ago it was January 2009. Oh how the time flies. I have done random posts throughout the year about some of the kids if not all of the kids, but I will post an update for those who do not keep up with us on Facebook and Twitter.
Jake just turned 15 in December and is already shopping for the car he wants and has memorized the driver handbook. He has already asked me to make his appointment at DMV for his permit (I should remember to add this to my things to do list). He was a starter on the freshman football team this year (Go Falcons!). Although I tried to convince him to play freshman soccer he decided that it was better to take a break this quarter to concentrate on the Sheriff’s Explorer program. He will be playing lacrosse in the spring though, and it looks like on the varsity team, woo hoo! The cadets are headed to Chandler, Arizona next week to compete at the 2010 Tactical Explorer Competition they will compete in such things as Tubular Assault, SWAT Fitness Challenge, Marijuana Field Raid, Tubular Assault, Active Shooter and more. Jake is really looking forward to being able to compete. Since we are not going with him, I will try and keep everyone posted with the results on Facebook and here on the blog. That is as long as he calls his mom and tells me.
Jared turned 14 in November and is looking forward to summer getting here so he can play more video games. I believe I blogged about why it was that I buy this child $60 games for him to finish them in a day or two. Out of all the gaming consoles he loves the XBOX 360 the most. It gives him the opportunity to play with people all over the world as well as his friends next door or down the street without being in the same room with each other. There have been many vacation days where I have gotten up at 1 or 2 in the morning and he is playing video games with people in Japan or Australia. They do not speak English, so this is a good opportunity for him to learn a number of new languages. He is talking about playing football in September when he is a freshman. But spring weights start early in the morning and he is not a morning person, so we will see how he likes the early morning hours.
Jordan turned 9 in September and is growing like a weed. Some days I wonder how long it is gonna take before all the kids are taller than me (2 of them are already). Jordan loves being a Webelos scout, but still enjoyed hanging out with the older Boy Scouts this summer on vacation. He can’t wait to move up to Boy Scouts. He also loves to play video games with Jared, but he will skip doing his homework to play so we had to put a stop to that. He loves to make things up and creates imaginative stories to tell.
Jessica will be 4 in February. She is a lot different than the boys were at her age. She is brilliant and makes us laugh all the time. She spends a lot of time with her brothers so she has a huge vocabulary and has learned not only to use the internet on the computer to get to her games on Playhouse Disney, but how to watch movies on both the computer and her brothers laptop with no help. She surprised me the other day when she gave me directions to the Baskin Robbins in town. I had asked her if she wanted some pink ice cream and of course her answer was yes (pink is her favorite color). I was talking to Dane about what I needed to get from the store and she interrupted to tell me that she wanted her ice cream from the store next to the McDonalds. When I asked her which store that was she told me to go to the McDonalds and make a left, it’s the store right there, it has the candy in it. Of course, she was right. Dane and I both started laughing. She is the princess of the house of course and the boys love her and spoil her, sometimes rotten.
2009 was a good year, but I expect 2010 to be an even better one!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
What would I do?
A friend and I were having a political discussion which quickly turned into a discussion about our kids (don't ask how that happened). He had made an observation about how people that are have no children are more selfish and unwilling to compromise and can be difficult to deal with.
I got to thinking about the conversation later and I am not sure I could function without my kids. Sure there are times when I think geez if I didn't have children I could have a nice big house, that BMW I want, a vacation house on the beach, I could travel all over and not have to worry about anything. I could even hire a maid to clean up the house, although I would probably need to make a mess first so I felt like I was getting my monies worth.
But then I go back to finding my daughter in her underwear outside in front of the house, with no supervision as I am arriving home, and she helped guide me car in the driveway like she was the parking attendant. Or the day she was on the front lawn in her purple princess nightgown, with a bamboo stick, playing kung foo by herself, with noises and all. Or watching my son make a complete mess of his new t-shirt while he made a square bowl from modeling clay and then filled it with water proclaming that it works. Or watching the look on my older boys face when he just played his first full game as the starting left guard for the freshman football team and lost but that didn't matter to him. He was more concerned with me knowing that he started and that he played the whole game (like I wasn't there filming the whole thing). Or my other son when he comes home with a good grade and still (in the 8th grade) puts it on the fridge for everyone to see.
Why would anyone want to give up on experiences like that for cars, houses, toys, etc. It's not worth it to me. I can live in my messy house with no maid, with sidewalk paint and chalk all over the front walkway, tip-toeing around the numerous bikes by the front porch.I wouldn't have it any other way.
I got to thinking about the conversation later and I am not sure I could function without my kids. Sure there are times when I think geez if I didn't have children I could have a nice big house, that BMW I want, a vacation house on the beach, I could travel all over and not have to worry about anything. I could even hire a maid to clean up the house, although I would probably need to make a mess first so I felt like I was getting my monies worth.
But then I go back to finding my daughter in her underwear outside in front of the house, with no supervision as I am arriving home, and she helped guide me car in the driveway like she was the parking attendant. Or the day she was on the front lawn in her purple princess nightgown, with a bamboo stick, playing kung foo by herself, with noises and all. Or watching my son make a complete mess of his new t-shirt while he made a square bowl from modeling clay and then filled it with water proclaming that it works. Or watching the look on my older boys face when he just played his first full game as the starting left guard for the freshman football team and lost but that didn't matter to him. He was more concerned with me knowing that he started and that he played the whole game (like I wasn't there filming the whole thing). Or my other son when he comes home with a good grade and still (in the 8th grade) puts it on the fridge for everyone to see.
Why would anyone want to give up on experiences like that for cars, houses, toys, etc. It's not worth it to me. I can live in my messy house with no maid, with sidewalk paint and chalk all over the front walkway, tip-toeing around the numerous bikes by the front porch.I wouldn't have it any other way.
Monday, September 7, 2009
New Haircuts
So the hubby and I went out last week and left the 15 year old in charge. He is and always has been a good babysitter, but lately he is more inclined to lay on his bed in his room watching TV rather then watching the kids. (The life of a teenager.) But this time, he didn't notice that it got rather quiet and he no longer heard Jessica roaming the house playing. She instead had found a pair of scissors and decided to give herself a haircut. This is not the first time she has done this. The last time it wasn't too bad and it was easily repaired with a shorter version of her current haircut. Not this time. This time she butchered it. Of course none of the kids called to say anything was wrong, but little did I know they sent text messages to the hubby warning him. He also didn't say anything. So the minute I got home the boys warned Jessica that I was there and she hid. She knew mommy was gonna be mad, and I was. When she finally showed herself, she could only say "Sorry mommy." So off to Supercuts to get it fixed, not that there was much left to work with. For a moment I contemplated shaving it all off, and doing the same to mine. Just for an excuse not to have to deal with it for awhile, but that moment passed quickly. Well here is the end result from our trip to Supercuts.
Needless to say the boys all call her a boy, and yes she looks like it. It is a good thing all her clothes are pink. I had to teach her to tell them I am not a boy, I'm a girl.
No one ever said what happened to the hair she cut off. I assumed the boys cleaned it all up and threw it away before I got home. Come to find out I found it in my bathroom behind Jessica's basket of shoes a couple of days later. Needless to say no more ponytails or hairbows for awhile. I guess it makes it easier for Daddy on Sunday, when he has to do her hair. Last week she came out of the bathroom with it call combed to the side, mommy had to quickly fix it.
Needless to say the boys all call her a boy, and yes she looks like it. It is a good thing all her clothes are pink. I had to teach her to tell them I am not a boy, I'm a girl.
No one ever said what happened to the hair she cut off. I assumed the boys cleaned it all up and threw it away before I got home. Come to find out I found it in my bathroom behind Jessica's basket of shoes a couple of days later. Needless to say no more ponytails or hairbows for awhile. I guess it makes it easier for Daddy on Sunday, when he has to do her hair. Last week she came out of the bathroom with it call combed to the side, mommy had to quickly fix it.
Friday, July 31, 2009
Big families or just a family full of boys?
So I was reading this article on MormonTimes (http://mormontimes.com/mormon_voices/tiffany_gee_lewis/?id=9209)about big Mormon families. After reading through the entire article I could have sworn she was talking about my family of 3 boys. In the article she lists 10 things about growing up in a big family:
1. Never a dull moment
2. Hand-me-downs
3. Humility
4. Laughter
5. Noise
6. Character Building
7. Abandonment
8. An audience
9. Low-calorie life
10. Healthy neglect
No big family needed around here, all these things come with multiple boys in a family.
Here is items 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 all rolled in to one incident just last night. Jared (the 13 year old), searched for his Boy Scout uniform so that he could attend the Court of Honor last night. Really he didn't have a choice because his brother was at football and he was suppose to be in charge so that meant the responsibility fell to Jared. Anyway, we have not worn our scout uniforms all summer as we wear our scout t-shirts instead. When Jared put on his scout shirt it was so small he could not keep the buttons together. Never the less he wore it. When he put on his merit badge sash I about about fell out laughing. It seems to have shrunk from when he last wore it and barely comes to his waist. Literally this child looked like he was wearing clothes that his 8 year old brother could be wearing. He wore it anyway. He is the biggest comedian and played it off really well, and had all the parents laughing, of course. He could not bend over as the shirt would have come untucked, he had to keep his belly sucked in or the buttons on his shirt would open up, and he had to keep pulling down the merit badge sash or it would have been up under his armpit. I really wish I would have had a camera last night. I could only shake my head and laugh with everyone else.
You don't need a large family, you only need a couple of boys to make it feel like there are 10 kids in the household.
1. Never a dull moment
2. Hand-me-downs
3. Humility
4. Laughter
5. Noise
6. Character Building
7. Abandonment
8. An audience
9. Low-calorie life
10. Healthy neglect
No big family needed around here, all these things come with multiple boys in a family.
Here is items 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 8 all rolled in to one incident just last night. Jared (the 13 year old), searched for his Boy Scout uniform so that he could attend the Court of Honor last night. Really he didn't have a choice because his brother was at football and he was suppose to be in charge so that meant the responsibility fell to Jared. Anyway, we have not worn our scout uniforms all summer as we wear our scout t-shirts instead. When Jared put on his scout shirt it was so small he could not keep the buttons together. Never the less he wore it. When he put on his merit badge sash I about about fell out laughing. It seems to have shrunk from when he last wore it and barely comes to his waist. Literally this child looked like he was wearing clothes that his 8 year old brother could be wearing. He wore it anyway. He is the biggest comedian and played it off really well, and had all the parents laughing, of course. He could not bend over as the shirt would have come untucked, he had to keep his belly sucked in or the buttons on his shirt would open up, and he had to keep pulling down the merit badge sash or it would have been up under his armpit. I really wish I would have had a camera last night. I could only shake my head and laugh with everyone else.
You don't need a large family, you only need a couple of boys to make it feel like there are 10 kids in the household.
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Nine days, 4 states, 2000+ miles, with 20 people but it ended in the Happiest Place on Earth!
Anything that ends in the Happiest Place on Earth can't be all that bad right? Well we just found out the answer to that question when we returned from our trip last week.
Lets start from the beginning. Last year I took over as Scoutmaster of the my older boys Scout troop. That year when we went to summer camp we had 5 boys and 2 adult leaders (me included). So this year I was determined to change that and give the boys an activity that they all wanted to attend. I posed the option to the boys of attending a traditional summer camp and working on merit badges, sleeping in the dirt, eating cafeteria food, etc or should we do something else. They all decided on something else. In doing some research for a afternoon whitewater rafting trip I came across a company in Moab, Utah (World Wide River Expeditions) who have a 4-day Scout trip to include merit badge work. This was perfect and the boys approved. After many changes to scheduling, re-routing directions, and planning extra activities, our final plan ended up being:
Day 1: Drive to Salt Lake City
Day 2: Spend day swimming and in Park City
Day 3: Drive to Moab
Day 4: Start whitewater rafting trip
Day 5: Whitewater rafting
Day 6: Whitewater rafting
Day 7:Finish whitewater rafting, Drive to Anaheim
Day 8: Disneyland/California Adventure
Day 9: Drive home
The day we left we had 6 leaders/parents, 5 Venturing Scouts, and 9 Boy Scouts. The logistics to plan for that many people was a nightmare in itself. Most of the logistics went off without a problem. One thing that did arise was a particular leader who wanted to make changes to the plans enroute. We had been planning this for over a year in meetings, the boys making decisions with input from the parents/leaders, and he decided to wait until we were on the trip to have an opinion. This was more frustrating than anything, but for the most part we were able to accomodate most of his changes. One such changes was on Day 3, we ended up seeing Arches National Park (since we were there anyway). It was a great side trip, but hot. After about the third arch stop, the boys no longer wanted to ooh and aah at the rock formations, they were done.
The whitewater rafting trip was a huge success with only 1 minor injury. We spent 3 days on the Fisher Towers section of the Colorado River rafting, and slept next to the water each night. I can't say enough great things about World Wide River Expeditions. The company plans everything and cooks meals for you every day. The only thing we had to do was put up our tents each night, raft, and then nap, and make new friends. I highly recommend them if anyone is heading to Moab and wants to do some whitewater rafting. They have 1 day trips (not sure on half days) that are fairly cheap. If you plan on going ask for any of the following guides: Suzy, Jessie, Steve or Mike, the kids loved them, especially when they started an ice cream and topping fight. We had kids with chocolate syrup all over them, it was great. Great trip we would do this again in a heartbeat (I think my husband is already planning a family trip for next summer).
Oh yea, for the one minor injury. Our group of 20 was put with an LDS Boy Scout troop of 23 for this trip. On the second day of the trip, I rode in the "Dry" boat to help the boys who were working on the Rowing merit badge. Dane decided to join me on this particular boat, but he decided to nap most of the day on the boats edge. Well the next day he was in a paddle boat, and at the end of the run for the day while the boys were out of the boat swimming he was naping on the edge. The boys decided he had been sleeping a little too much on this trip and decided to get him in the water. In the tussel, it seems one of the boys applied a little too much pressure to the ribs (with his knee) and the hubby got a little bruised up but he came out of it dry. This of course meant he couldn't roll up his sleeping bag or put the tent away, good thing we were with boy scouts.
Day 7 we arrived in Anaheim for a quick visit to the Happiest Place on Earth. We had 3 hotel rooms for this event which was a nice change from the dirt of the tent and sleeping bags. It also meant that all the boys could take showers before getting in the car for the trip home on the last day.
We haven't been to Disneyland as a family in over a year and a half, which is a long time for us. So it was nice to be back, even if it was only for 1 day. I expected it to be super busy since it was a Saturday in July, but the crowds were very manageable I think the longest line I saw was an hour.
All in all the trip was a success and we had 9 boys earn Whitewater Rafting and Rowing, and 5 boys earn Wilderness Survivial.
Several of the boys are already asking what are we doing next year. I'm not ready for next year yet.
Lets start from the beginning. Last year I took over as Scoutmaster of the my older boys Scout troop. That year when we went to summer camp we had 5 boys and 2 adult leaders (me included). So this year I was determined to change that and give the boys an activity that they all wanted to attend. I posed the option to the boys of attending a traditional summer camp and working on merit badges, sleeping in the dirt, eating cafeteria food, etc or should we do something else. They all decided on something else. In doing some research for a afternoon whitewater rafting trip I came across a company in Moab, Utah (World Wide River Expeditions) who have a 4-day Scout trip to include merit badge work. This was perfect and the boys approved. After many changes to scheduling, re-routing directions, and planning extra activities, our final plan ended up being:
Day 1: Drive to Salt Lake City
Day 2: Spend day swimming and in Park City
Day 3: Drive to Moab
Day 4: Start whitewater rafting trip
Day 5: Whitewater rafting
Day 6: Whitewater rafting
Day 7:Finish whitewater rafting, Drive to Anaheim
Day 8: Disneyland/California Adventure
Day 9: Drive home
The day we left we had 6 leaders/parents, 5 Venturing Scouts, and 9 Boy Scouts. The logistics to plan for that many people was a nightmare in itself. Most of the logistics went off without a problem. One thing that did arise was a particular leader who wanted to make changes to the plans enroute. We had been planning this for over a year in meetings, the boys making decisions with input from the parents/leaders, and he decided to wait until we were on the trip to have an opinion. This was more frustrating than anything, but for the most part we were able to accomodate most of his changes. One such changes was on Day 3, we ended up seeing Arches National Park (since we were there anyway). It was a great side trip, but hot. After about the third arch stop, the boys no longer wanted to ooh and aah at the rock formations, they were done.
The whitewater rafting trip was a huge success with only 1 minor injury. We spent 3 days on the Fisher Towers section of the Colorado River rafting, and slept next to the water each night. I can't say enough great things about World Wide River Expeditions. The company plans everything and cooks meals for you every day. The only thing we had to do was put up our tents each night, raft, and then nap, and make new friends. I highly recommend them if anyone is heading to Moab and wants to do some whitewater rafting. They have 1 day trips (not sure on half days) that are fairly cheap. If you plan on going ask for any of the following guides: Suzy, Jessie, Steve or Mike, the kids loved them, especially when they started an ice cream and topping fight. We had kids with chocolate syrup all over them, it was great. Great trip we would do this again in a heartbeat (I think my husband is already planning a family trip for next summer).
Oh yea, for the one minor injury. Our group of 20 was put with an LDS Boy Scout troop of 23 for this trip. On the second day of the trip, I rode in the "Dry" boat to help the boys who were working on the Rowing merit badge. Dane decided to join me on this particular boat, but he decided to nap most of the day on the boats edge. Well the next day he was in a paddle boat, and at the end of the run for the day while the boys were out of the boat swimming he was naping on the edge. The boys decided he had been sleeping a little too much on this trip and decided to get him in the water. In the tussel, it seems one of the boys applied a little too much pressure to the ribs (with his knee) and the hubby got a little bruised up but he came out of it dry. This of course meant he couldn't roll up his sleeping bag or put the tent away, good thing we were with boy scouts.
Day 7 we arrived in Anaheim for a quick visit to the Happiest Place on Earth. We had 3 hotel rooms for this event which was a nice change from the dirt of the tent and sleeping bags. It also meant that all the boys could take showers before getting in the car for the trip home on the last day.
We haven't been to Disneyland as a family in over a year and a half, which is a long time for us. So it was nice to be back, even if it was only for 1 day. I expected it to be super busy since it was a Saturday in July, but the crowds were very manageable I think the longest line I saw was an hour.
All in all the trip was a success and we had 9 boys earn Whitewater Rafting and Rowing, and 5 boys earn Wilderness Survivial.
Several of the boys are already asking what are we doing next year. I'm not ready for next year yet.
Wednesday, July 1, 2009
Electricity and Water
Jordan learned a valuable (and scary lesson) lesson about touching electrical appliances when your hands are wet. The kids were outside throwing water balloons at each other when Jordan came in for some reason. He went in this bedroom and turned on the light and the next thing we know he is screaming and things are falling (him and the light). At some point the kids had broken their lamp in the bedroom, when he touched it with wet hands it caught on fire in his hand. Luckily he was able to drop it, but not before getting burned. When we got to him, his hand was black and the only thing I could think of is that he had 3rd degree burns all over his hand. We went into the kitchen and started water running over it quickly. By now we could tell that the blackness was just soot from the fire. He does have a large half dollar size burn on the palm of his hand and a large blister on the side of one finger. Luckily nothing else, but he learned a valuable lesson about water and electricity.
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