State Capitol Field Trip

 I got to go on Zander's field trip to the state capitol building and the Pioneer Heritage Museum. I haven't been to the museum in a lot of years. There is so much stuff to see! That one hour was not enough time; the kids were sad they had to leave so soon. Zander even asked me if we could come back sometime with our family and go as slow as we wanted. The capitol building was so beautiful inside! so ornate and rich with lots of Utah history on it's walls. What a cool experience that was to share with Zander. We even saw a couple of leaf bugs walking around the grounds while we were eating our lunch.

Hannah's Broken Arm

 I got a call one afternoon last week from the school while I was at the library with Grayson. We were almost done picking out our books when my phone rang. It was the school so I answered it. I was met on the other line with the school nurse, and as she was tripping over her words as I listened to see who needed help, I just knew it was something a little more serious than someone being sick. She finally spit it out, after jumbling her words together that Hannah had, had an accident at recess and hurt her arm. She didn't tell me it looked broken; she just said that she fell off a toy and Hannah said she heard a snap and it looks pretty serious. So I told her I'd be right there to pick her up.

I got Hannah and took her straight to the urgent care to get some x-rays done because as soon as I saw her arm in the school office I could tell it was definitely broken, but didn't say that to Hannah because I didn't want to scare her. We got her x-rays and, sure enough, she broke it in the middle of her arm. So they put a splint on it for a week and this week she got a pink cast put on all the way past her elbow. I have been super impressed with how well Hannah took it. She hasn't skipped a beat with a broken arm. She only needs help getting dressed in the mornings and everything else she has been determined to do on her own. She hasn't complained or made excuses that she can't do something because of her arm. She has been so awesome through this whole ordeal. 

So what happened was she was standing a spinning toy at recess while another boy was spinning her around. Hannah could feel she was going to slip because he was going too fast for her, so she told the boy to stop, but he didn't hear her. She flung off and landed really hard on her arm, and she really did hear her own arm break. 

The Last Weeks of Summer

On Monday  I had to pick up the kids from school to take the boys to karate. I was a bit late because Grayson was throwing a tantrum about putting his shoes on when it was time to leave. Anyway, all three kids were sitting outside waiting for me with the school counselor. I unlocked the door to let them get in and the teacher walked up to me motioning for me to roll the window down. She was all smiles and told me  how much she loved all my kids, and again, how respectful and kind all three of them are. They are always the first ones to volunteer to help her get things set up or hold the door open for people, or to say a kind word. She told me I was doing a great job of raising them. Hearing that I have good kids (which I already know I do) from other people makes me so proud of them. It makes me feel better about myself as their mom. I love it when other adults let me know how awesome my kids are!

 I have been cleaning out the boys' rooms over the last several weeks. As I was going through some of their stuff I looked at a few papers to know if they needed to be thrown away or not. In a pile of Zander's things I went through a yearbook page from last year that had everyone's signatures on it from 3rd grade. I was really impressed because he had teachers write notes on his paper and everyone one of them said how much they will miss Zander because he is so nice and helpful and respectful. 

 I found these two pages in a book Lucas wrote from 2nd grade last year. He really is cool and handsome, haha! We love Lucas. 

One night while Stephen was out of town things got a little crazy in the house. There was some yelling and kids not wanting to do what they needed to do, but then it really turned into a circus after dinner. It was one thing after the other. All three boys were doing things that just made everyone laugh and have a good time. It started with Lucas losing his second top tooth so that he couldn't make the "S" sound when he spoke, then we noticed that Zander's scrape on his belly looked like the sign from Star Trek. He took a shower and came out the bathroom looking like Donald Trump, and the icing on the cake was when I went downstairs to get Grayson ready for bed and he was already naked playing in Hannah's jewelry and asking me how pretty he looked.

One the very last night of summer Zander begged to sleep in a tent in the back yard because he didn't get to do much camping this year. I warned him it was going to be cold at night dipping into the low 40s but he didn't mind. So he and Lucas literally soaked up the last few hours of summer for this year, and they had a great time. Neither of them got up to come inside because it was too cold. They enjoyed each other's company. Meanwhile Hannah and Grayson got to have a sleepout in the living room and stay up watching a movie.

Belt Test

 Both Zander and Lucas tested two weeks ago to advance to the next belt color. They both did an amazing job with their katas. They practiced really hard and stuck to it even when it got tough and they wanted to give up. Zander did his nun chuck kata and Lucas did his bow staff kata. Lucas even skipped a belt! 

So now we have a Zander as a solid orange belt, and Lucas as a black stripe green belt. He skipped the high black stripe purple belt and advanced to green. We are so proud of both of you!

Fall Sports

 Zander played flag football again this year; I am so glad he did! I just love watching him play. He has a natural talent for it and is really quick with his long legs. He got put on the Bills and they had a good team. They won 6 games, lost 2 and tied 1.

Hannah wanted to try out soccer this year so she could get a treat at the end of her games. But she ended up liking to run around after the soccer ball, so she wants to play again next year. She was really good at being goalie which is her favorite position to play.

Back to School Karate Party!

 The martial arts studio put together a great summer party for all the karate students and their families over the weekend. All month long all the students got to put a ticket in a box for two raffle prizes. The first one was a weapons package where they'd get all their weapons for free, and the second grand prize was a brand new oculus gaming system. By the end of the month there were hundreds of tickets in both raffles. We had to be present to win any of the raffles, so we went to the park and all the kids had so much fun playing on the playground, volleyball, corn hole, and they had a giant beach ball the kids were running around with. They had food, a photo booth, and a dance competition. The owner and the senseis were going around meeting all the families and saying hi. I just love Evolutionary Martial Arts! They have been so good with my boys, and I love the way he runs his business.

So it's time for the raffles. They chose the first ticket for the oculus so everyone there had an equal chance of winning it. then they pulled for the weapons package. They kept those a secret until the end. They pulled a couple dozen more tickets to give away some awesome swag from the studio. Zander got called and won a desk dummy-he loves it! I remember thinking when they had finished that Lucas was going to feel so bad he didn't get anything and Zander did. Zander won the last grand prize when the studio gave away a prize; he won an RC car. Anyway, Lucas's name got called and he won the Oculus!!! He got the grand prize; I couldn't believe it. He ran up there to claim it and got his picture taken with the owner of the studio. They even gave Stephen a free t shirt. It was so awesome to see that the boys both got something they loved. And even if they hadn't won anything it was still a great party and they had fun playing with their friends and senseis. 

                                       

 

Man Trip and Daddy Daughter Campout

 Stephen took the two older boys on a man trip for the day. They went out to the west desert and went shooting, took a hike, cooked some hamburgers, and hung out for the day. The boys had a great time!

Last weekend was Hannah's turn. She got to go camping overnight with Dad up in Morgan. She had a blast getting to play with her friends and hanging out with Dad. 

Root Beer Floats For the Win

 After a long challenging day and with dad gone for work I decided to end the day on a high note and make root beer floats before bedtime. Cheers!