Lemons, Hide and Seek and Life Vests

Yesterday Hayden, Ethan and Libby played hide and seek. It was so sweet the way they were including Libby. Libby was in heaven, she loved it. She even came up with a few hiding places too, but mostly she liked looking for them. After playing for awhile she put the boys hamper on her head, and said "where is Libby?" It was so funny. She couldn't see anyone, so of course no one could see her, right?!

Libby finally held still long enough for me to do a quick little braid. It was sloppy, but I was elated. She has so much hair I've been wanting to play with it and do some cute hair dos, but she apparently doesn't share my enthusiasm for hair styling. I have also recently started using regular shampoo on her hair, I know your thinking who cares, but it feels like a huge milestone to me, because that means she does not have baby hair anymore, she has little girl hair!! And its so EXCITING!! (oh I love having a girl!)

 We haven't been able to talk hayden into trying the wakeboard yet, he will do the knee board sometimes, but mostly he likes to play in the water and throw the football around with Dad. In this picture hayden is holding onto the handle and shawn is pulling him to the swim step.

Another milestone: Since Ethan is 12 he leagally doesn't have to wear a life vest on the boat, and he can "legally" hold the flag! He is so happy, and a little smug when all the other littles are putting on their life vests....Sometimes its the little things folks!

Saturday Ethan's flag football team played in the play offs. It was so hot. They had to play five short games. They didnt win, but they made a touchdown on the best team in our Anthem league, which kicked the other team out of the play offs. Oppse! Ethan has had a BLAST playing this season. And we already have him signed up for the fall season. This is huge for Ethan becasue we usally have to talk him into playing sports. Yay Ethan!

We are anxiusly waiting for lemons to ripen and check on the tree regularly. Its so exciting. We love all things lemon. Fruit trees are illegal in Anthem, so I can niether confirm nor deny that this tree is actually in our yard. We wouldnt do something like that!

The kids have only been out of school for a week and a half but I am already certain this is going to be the best summer ever. It might have something to do with the fact that I am not working this summer, yup that definelty has something to do with it. My goal for the summer is to relax (aka be lazy), but use our time effectively. I have come up with a schedule that gives the kids downtime to do what they want, but they also have responsibilites each day, some of which they can on their own time, some they have to do a certain time. Every summer I set goals for each child that we need to work on. One goal that I have this summer for the boys is to work on their typing skills. Ethan is really good but sometimes he uses the peck method because he thinks its faster. So during their computer time they will work on improving their typing skills for 20 minutes. Another goal that I have is I want to teach my boys some life skills, such as how to cook easy meals (and maybe desserts, becasue thats way more fun) and clean. They are great at helping around the house, but I have yet to relenquish some of my deep cleaning jobs because I want it done right! But I know they are capable, I just need to give them the opportuinity to learn. So we'll see how it goes, I'll keep you posted on our summer endevors!

Happy SUmmer!

Spring Flag Football

This season has been a blast so far. The best season ever up to this point, I think. Both of the boys are playing hard, and they have great teams. It is fun to watch them get into the game and do their best. Hayden gets to be one of the quarterbacks for his team and he loves it. He is taking his position very seriously and is outside throwing the ball around every chance he gets! Although I am not sure how good of practice it is throwing the ball around with silly old Mom, but hey it is fun! Ethan is fast and has pulled lots of flags. And every time he does he does a little dance and he swings the flag over his head. Yes, we are working on being modest, but admittedly it is pretty funny to watch and inwardly I am doing a little dance with him! Shhhhh don't tell!

On a different note Shawn is getting ready to do a job for clowns. No seriously two real clowns! He came home with a bag full of balloon swords, poodles, ladybugs and hats. It has entertained all three of them all day long!! Who knew a balloon sword could be so entertaining?

General Conference Weekend

I love General Conference weekend. Being able to stay home all weekend with the family watching church on TV is always the best. Of course it helps that we always have yummy treats, and not having to prepare a lesson is always a bonus too! Shawn made chocolate chip cookies with the kids. Ethan had a flag football game that Grandma and Papa came to cheer him on. Hayden and Libby tried out one of the fun experiments that has been floating around on pintrest. It was pretty cool, you just fill a tray with baking soda and then with a little dropper you squirt dyed vinegar onto the baking soda and it bubbles. Pretty cool. I made a pink bunny banner for a certain little girls birthday for etsy. And during the men's priesthood session I took Hayden and Libby to the park to meet up with some other Moms, other then a close call with a scorpion, it was soooo fun.

Happy Weekend!

Painting

Libby found the boys paint! This entertained her for maybe 30 minutes. Almost worth the mess! Do you do that? Do a cost analysis for the length of entertainment verses the mess they are creating. For example allowing her to unroll a roll of toilet paper could potentially entertain her for 15 minutes, which will give me enough time to do the dishes that are piled up in the sink, or perhaps (and more likely!) read the last few pages in my book! Anyway back to painting....She was so happy. How can I deny her this simple joy! I loved her paintings. Quite the budding artist.

J Avis Town

This last week was so busy. And I just wanted to share one of my favorite parts which was Ethan's field trip. Ethan's class has been working really hard in preparing for this field trip. All of the students learned some really important life skills; such as writing checks, balancing a check book, job interviews, etc. J Avis is set up to look like an indoor mall with stores like Papa John's, Wells Fargo, City Hall, Best Buy, Cox, just to name a few. Each student was given a job. Ethan was the CFO at Wells Fargo. Each student was responsible for watching the clock and going on breaks on time. They received a pay check and had to deposit it in the bank on their break, then they were able to go shopping and spend their money. I was really impressed with how well organized J Avis was, and thought it was such a great learning experience for the kids. Anyway it was a really fun day and I am so glad I was able to hang out with my Ethan.

Park Day

 Ethan wouldn't let go of Libby, he was so worried that she was going to fall in the lake! So sweet.

 I love the way Libby runs. She twists her upper body and her arms pump from side to side. Its hilarious. I need to get a video of it.

After cleaning out my freezer I discovered my stash of old bread that I had saved for a park day. (I can't be the only one that does this...good intentions... forgotten? Probably, I am a slacker.) After picking up the boys from school we headed over to the park. I was happily surprised that there were so many ducks, over a hundred easily, aren't they supposed migrate? Well lucky for us they hadn't and we had tons of hungry ducks that were very happy to see us. My Mother Hen, aka Ethan was so worried about libby falling in that he was a nervous wreck at first, I am surprised he doesnt have ulcers! At first I was holding on to Libby to appease him, but then he joined in on the fun, but held on to her himself (apparently I wasn't doing it well enough). Libby loved feeding the ducks and the geese, she also loved feeding herself...One for you, one for me! It was so fun, simple pleasures. I was asking myself the whole time why we hadn't done this sooner. Silly me.