Animals in our beds

Very rare Charlie gets in my bed but he looked so cute here I had to get this picture. Looks like he is sleeping comfortably with my pillow doesn't he?
One of the funniest things about Charlie is how he sits in the car--
like a human on his bottom with his legs out straight.

Caramel spends the summers sleeping in the guest room all day to escape the heat I guess. She is always in some weird position when I walk in.
I love the Superman pose above. I don't know if you can tell but her arms are actually elevated off the bed.

Then when I took the picture she woke up and did this:


Animals have such sorry lives.
Eat, sleep, play, poop. Repeat.

Miscellaneous John

Alfalfa and ice cream!

John has been my pickiest eater.
Here is a typical example of what he will eat for dinner.
Cheese toast, tortilla with cheese, big pile of grated cheese.
Am I seeing a pattern here?
Things John will eat:
Gorden's brand fish sticks, macaroni and cheese, oatmeal, pistachios, Cheetos & Doritos (when he can get me to buy them for him) Cheese-Its, french fries, baked potatoes and chips & salsa --only the bottled kind-- and bagels with cream cheese.
And of course any type of sugar substance.

Came downstairs and found this sculpture John had made. I had just gone to Costco so here we have a basket, box of pull-ups, Electrosol tablets, gardening book, dvd, scrub pads, another dvd, and an empty carton of lemonade. Now if only he could find a space for his beloved Cheese-its!
Recently they had some off delivery at our grocery store and were selling them for $1 a box. I bought our year's supply.

John worships his daddy and he absolutely loves being with him.
Last night I was wondering why Peter was taking so long to read a book to John when I came upon this scene. They are lying in John's bed playing with the itouch.
And again with the Cheese-Its...

The night before Peter had been on a campout with Nathaniel and John was so disobedient all day by the time he finally went to bed I had long before entered mean mom phase and I refused to read him a book. John was not pleased. and yelled from his room, "If Dad was here he would read me a book!"
Then of course I felt guilt.

Jay & Mel visit

Jay and Mel have made their annual pilgrimage to visit us.

Emily was the only one who would stay still long enough for me to get a good picture!

While they were here I took the kiddies to this park in Provo.
I only brought 2 nets, which was a big mistake! The kids fought and fought over them.

Here is Caleb--who is very happy to be getting his turn with a net.

Jarom, Caleb, and John

I love this picture of Charlie with his tongue hanging out.
He had the time of his life at the park!
He is getting more mature now (he'll be 3 in October) and is calmer and better behaved.

We went to Grand Junction where Sariah was baptized. We were all proud of Sariah and how well she answered the questions her grandparents asked her during their talks.

Sarah turns 12

For Sarah's birthday I took her and a few of her friends to Jump On It. Within the first 10 minutes my exceedingly accident prone daughter did some kind of a flip and landed her tailbone on a bar. She was in some serious pain even though I started the Advil ASAP. I was completely helpless to help her with the exception of holding ice on her bum in the car out in the parking lot, watching her cry in pain while all her friends were inside jumping. She could not walk for the rest of her birthday. It was very disappointing. I had a subtle voice in my head questioning the whole Jump On It thing though we've done it many times before. Maybe should have listened?


This is the big box that has been baffling Sarah for the last month. She asked for an ipod docking unit and a longboard and this just wasn't looking like either one. Do I even need to go into why I decided not buy a longboard for this child? She did get the docking unit though.


I think she was surprised and bonus--she liked it! Rebecca and Sarah are taking a 2 week sewing class this month. The machine does all kinds of stitches and has some cool features. I looked everywhere for what I wanted for a price I wanted to pay. I even watched the classifieds but no used machines came up that I was interested in for Sarah. Costco ended up being the best deal with the most stuff.

I ended up making 3 cakes. One burned and one fantistic chocolate, and one lemon that came out kind of flat. I know that those of you who are familiar with my tendency to burn things would be shocked, but try to hold yourselves together.

Jay gets in on the celebration. I had spent the first half of the day with his son lying on my couch in misery. His throat was swollen almost shut and I was in a panic all day that he suddenly wouldn't be able to breathe and was cursing Jay for leaving him with me and so Nathaniel and I took turns watching him breathe.
Peter was conveniently gone at a seminar in Park City.
Jay and Mel and their other kids had gone to her sister's wedding in Salt Lake.
Turns out it was strep. Their whole family has it.
Guess what?
I have strep now. For the first time I have been aware of.
Oh, and a lovely rash all over my face that Sarah says looks really bad.
I didn't think it looked that bad until I felt Peter staring at me last night
and I turned to him and he said, "Man your face looks bad."
Alrighty then.
Do you know what a strep rash is ?
Scarlet fever!
Yea, I didn't know that either.

Patio

We have poured the patio. My brother Jay's family got to be there for the occasion and it was very entertaining for their kids. The night before I came home to see the holes dug for the pergola and kind of panicked it was so big! The patio is already quite a bit larger than I had expected, 20'x20' and the pergola was almost the same size. Our contractor came over-- from across the street where he lives:)-- and was very kind and dug new holes in the dark so the pergola wouldn't be as large. It will be 16'x20'. I was very relieved.

Other than picking carpet or paint we have never made a decision in a design of something having to do with a home improvement, so this is completely new territory for us. We had been putting off getting bids but finally did it. It was pretty painless.

Ground prepared, rock added.

Cement mixer arrives, creating a crowd of neighborhood children spectators.
Very grateful it didn't crack the driveway.


Brackets in place for pergola


We make our mark.

Top color

Stamping

Now just don't walk on it!!

Later the next day Sonny came to power wash the cement to create a distressed look and now we are just waiting for it to be sealed.

Hard school year

This school year has been a tough one for Rebecca and I. A tremendous amount of effort from many sources went into her education after she was finally evaluated and it was agreed she has some learning disabilities. She spent the entire year being pulled out of class for 1/2 hr of math and 1/2 hr of reading every day designed for kids with learning problems. Sometimes that meant she missed things she wanted to do. It was a lot of work. Then she entered a program on Tuesdays and Thursdays after school for an additional hour of math.
This from last year where she was excelling at math. Very frustrating. Turns out when math moves from counting to memorizing Rebecca is lost. The numbers seem to be coming from nowhere.
Here's the thing. I feel that 6 hrs. of school is enough. Then to have even more in the form of an additional class after school is pushing it. But then homework on top of it? Are you kidding?
Rebecca did catch up in her reading but the math is a project for the summer in the form of 3 different home programs, multiplication to music, and tutoring.
So this brings me to my point: I lost it with her teacher last Friday. Completely. Rebecca got into the car devastated again. Feeling like she can't meet the expectation. Again.
Gripping my steering wheel and clenching my jaw I dropped off the carpool of kids with a friendly, "Hurry up and get out!" and then tore off back to the school.
In my mind I made a choice. Either I waited until I calmed down and probably would never say anything, or I just went in now and lay it all out on the table. Obviously I chose the first.

Though I said a lot of things there were some key issues I had--

1) No one can expect every child to be able to accomplish the same thing as every other child. This no child left behind thing is crap. Incentives and prizes were great for my first two children who did their assignments with little brain effort. I never thought about the poor unfortunates who worked their butts off and still couldn't meet the expectation--until now, when it is my daughter. And it is not fair. I don't care that life is not fair. She is my daughter and until you are a mother who has watched your child's happy image of herself slowly be chipped away by every failed attempt to meet an expectation she cannot possibly understand. DO NOT TELL ME ABOUT LIFE BEING UNFAIR. I get it.

2)What is the point,exactly, of learning about how many liters is in four gallons? What about an isosceles triangle? Does this really apply to everyday life? Before she can properly read is it important that she know what a synonym, antonym, prefix and suffix is? Why does she need to know this in 3rd grade? Why am I having to rack my brain or search the internet to help my child do her 3rd grade homework? Did I mention I got all A's in my English classes I took last year at BYU? Who came up with these requirements? Does the public system know there is no such thing a well-rounded curriculum? That in California you build missions from sugar cubes, the same way that Texan children build the Alamo, or Alaskan children build igloos? Is is really important for cognitive development to build something from sugar cubes?

3) This is the most important thing. If nothing else. If no change whatsoever occurs and the halls of Art City Elementary are filled with the whispers about that ranting, crying, mess of a mother who came in and flipped out the other day knowing there were only 3 1/2 days of school left. Just remember that my daughter knows I thought she was shortchanged and I fought for her. And in the end that is really all that is going to make a difference for Rebecca. Not that I believe in fighting all of the battles my kids are going to face. I've never done anything like this before. Ever. But everyone has their limits and Rebecca needed to know it was not ok with me and I thought she worked really hard.

After I came home the kids just looked at me with wide eyes.
Then Peter, who was loading the car up for Fathers and Sons camp-out came up to pat my shoulder and walked away. Smart man.
Sarah had a friend over for a sleepover and Rebecca and I left to celebrate her school year. I gave her the brand new baby doll I bought at a yard sale where the lady finally threw in one of her homemade outfits to sweeten the deal and Rebecca was thrilled.
Then we went to Red Lobster, her favorite restaurant. The manager set her baby doll up in a high chair while we ate lobster/artichoke dip and ordered the biggest platter of seafood with the lobster tail, crab legs, and two types of shrimp. Then we ate it all. Rebecca said she wished she would never get full. We talked about how dad and I met and how he asked me to marry him. We talked about when she was a baby and about how hard she was as a toddler and how great she is now.
I did not send her to the two hour long awards ceremony on Monday where she would not receive an award. We stayed home instead. I cleaned while she watched movies and played outside. Safe from a damaging day of wondering where she messed up.
Am I sheltering my child?
You bet.

John's Preschool Graduation

Face of the boy who brings joy and variety into our lives.

Miss Peggy's Preschool graduates 2010

I want John to marry this girl in the pink. She is so adorable I can hardly stand it.
She even seems she has taken a liking to John.
Score!!