{reading} a dad and his boys

I hope my boys know how lucky they are!

At any given time, Rich has a book that he is reading to C and another book that he is reading to J and T together.  And frequently the boys listen in on each other's books, which is cute.

Not many days go by without Rich reading at least a couple of pages of each book with the respective boys.

Most books start a little slow, with the younger boys being less than enthused when it is "time to read".  But once they get into their books they will beg their dad to read and ask for "one more chapter" when it is time to end.

This year they have already read 

"Summer of the Monkeys"

"Where the Red Fern Grows"

"Old Yeller" 

and they are currently reading "Tom Sawyer".

Like I said, I hope my boys know how lucky they are!

T's first art show

Last weekend the school district had a student art show with art displayed from all the schools in the district, with artists from every grade (K-12).

T was one of the few selected from his school and had a paper collage selected for display.

It was fun to go to the art show as a family and celebrate something that T enjoys doing so much.

Along those lines of T loving art, he is now attending an art studio one day a week and really enjoying that.

It is a "free art" time which just gives him access to any of the art mediums in the studio (versus being a formal class).  

He has a couple of friends from school that also attend and it is the same afternoon as J's piano lessons and scouts so it gives him a fun activity with friends while J is busy with his own activities.

J's 1st Pinewood Derby

We had one year off between C's last pinewood derby and J's first pinewood derby.

One year wasn't quite long enough for this momma!

As far as I can tell we will be doing pinewood derby's for the next six years with at least a couple of those years consisting of two cars.

Heaven help us!

Thankfully, J was very independent this year with his first car.

He chose the design.

He drew the design.

(his leader cut the design)

He sanded.

He filled the holes.

He chose paint from what we already had on hand.

He let mom nail on the tires.

He chose a lego-man driver.

He said "no" to sanding the tire nails or using graphite.

This car was HIS car - and for that I am pleased.

And here was the finished product!

Anxious car creator....

Taking third...

Thankfully, every car is a winner :)

In the end, I think J has decided that he wants to spend a little more time next year on doing the things that will give him a bit more edge over the other cars.

Turns out it really is more fun when your car crosses the finish line first.

Oh, and rumor has it that I have been fired from nailing on the tires next year :)

Heaven help us!

She can see!

Our cute daughter has been asking for glasses (and borrowing her dad's glasses) for a while.

The last time we had her eyes checked (when she had her heart totally set on a pair of cute purple frames) the doctor told us she didn't need glasses.  

Hmmmm....but she failed her eye exam at school so completely!  

Could it be she just really wanted those purple frames?

We gave it a couple of years, she grew out of the purple frame phase, and I finally caved and took her back to the eye doctor - with the threat of never taking her again if the doctor gave us the same $75 20/20 diagnosis.

It turns out her eyes have indeed gotten worse and she does need glasses to see the board in class (and to drive, which K was more than quick to point out).

We now have another eyeglasses wearer at our house (that makes 5 for 5 for those over age 14).

I really need to get a photo of her with Tanner and Conner cause I am pretty sure that they all have the same pair of glasses :)

In the meantime, I think I may  have another child willing to fail an eye exam at school all in the name of fashion....

they are beginning to get spoiled!

This marks C's second  year, and Rich's third year, of getting REALLY great seats to a Jazz game courtesy of one of Rich's friend/client relationships.

And when I say REALLY great seats.....

we are talking 1st and 2nd row...

we are talking about seeing yourself on the sidelines when you watch highlights of the game...

we are talking about beginning the game in a private box lounge with a buffet spread...

we are talking about half-time in the same box lounge with another buffet spread...

we are talking about hearing the interchange between athletes and referees...

we are talking REALLY great seats!

Glad C and Rich could enjoy the game together.

And this year J chose to make the road trip with the big boys, even though he didn't get to go to the game.  

He got alone time with grandparents and that was worth the 12 hour drive both ways for him!

My story of 100

The cross fit workout is called "Angie"

100 pull-ups

100 push ups

100 sit ups

100 squats

Easy Peasy!

Our teacher said scale as needed.

Do 1/2 Angie or even a 1/4 Angie.

Me?

I'm taking the challenge and going all the way!

Day 1, post Angie.

Seems appropriate that it is April Fool's Day since my arms are pretty sore!

Day 2, post Angie.

My arms are really sore!
I went back to crossfit anyway.  I know....stupid, stupid!

By that night, I had a bit of a Popeye bicep going on.

Or, as Rich put it, "Elephantitis"....

Day 3, post Angie.

The bicep is almost 4 inches larger than normal!

Cancelled morning plans with a friend because my arms HURT!

And the swelling has moved past the elbow.
Actually I think it ate my elbow cause my arm now looks like a giant chicken leg.

Got to love the friend who comes to check on me and snaps this one and forwards it out to the world.

Oh, and that Barbie arm bend....yeah, my arms are pretty much frozen like that.

Day 4, post Angie.

I haven't slept well in a couple of nights.

The swelling is continuing down my arm but luckily I still have a wrist.

Barbie arm bend continues.

Day 5, post Angie.

Same as above with only about 1 inch of wrist still visible.

I was the official freak show at dinner with friends.
The men couldn't just look, they had to touch it and then grimace.
I think Rich was proud.

Day 6, post Angie.

The pain is basically gone!

I can straighten my arm to close to a 30 degree angle!

But the swelling has taken over the arm and invaded the wrist.

Day 7, post Angie.
 It was crossfit morning!
I realize that I am slightly addicted because even after all I have been through the past week, I REALLY wanted to go!  (I wouldn't have done any arm exercises)
My kids took care of that urge for me by having two pukey's that stayed home from school so I stayed home from crossfit to play mom.
I am pretty sure that Rich would have wrung my neck had I even put exercise clothes on!

Day 10, post Angie
My arms can extend all the way to straight.
The only remaining pain is a bruise-like pain in the elbows when I touch them.
Still some pitting edema in the arms but they just look fat now - no more freak show.
Saw the doctor yesterday and no long term concerns but he did have a few words of caution.

It turns out that I don't need to do 100 pull ups.

Ever!

Lesson learned!

(but I still want a pull up bar for Mother's Day honey!
Please!
I promise I will never again do more than 30, 40, 50)

what mommy is good for....

With two older brothers on a road trip with dad, T and I had a couple of afternoons all to ourselves this week.

The first day to ourselves, I picked him up from school and told him he could pick anything he wanted to do for a special T & mommy time....library, park, games, etc.

He pretty much told me that I am not good at playing any fun games because I don't know how to "dodge" and I am not fast enough!

(let's just mention that J must be good at dodging and being fast because that is who T was missing bad within minutes of school letting out!)

So with my lack of dodging and speed skill set, T determined the only thing I was good for was making cookies.

He specifically wanted cookies that "don't have to be cut out but still need frosting".

I so delivered....

Who needs speed and dodging when you can whip up cookies on demand?

Easter and Eggs

Happy (belated) Easter!

As with all holidays, I am simplifying to the point that you would almost wonder if I was aware a holiday was occurring.  I totally own it and am okay with it.  

And man am I grateful that my kids are okay with it!

(note to self....do something special for Easter next year...and for St. Patrick's Day....and Valentine's....and the kid's birthdays)

What little we did do this year seemed to all revolve around Eggs.

A couple of days before Easter we Tie-dyed hard boiled eggs.

That took about 10 minutes, but I appreciated K and C still being willing to participate.

The day before Easter, Rich took J and T to the park for the community Egg hunt.....which is more of a grab and go since all the eggs are spread out on the lawn.  

Not too much "hunting" but the boys didn't mind when their haul involved sugar!

On Easter morning we did a quick egg hunt at our house with a couple of treats involved but mostly the "prizes" were coupons for "stay up an extra 30 minutes", "dinner of your choice", "bike ride with dad", "five days of not having to make your bed", etc.

Rich was in charge of the hiding of the eggs which took the hunt to an all new level and I think we all laughed more this year than ever!  He has a knack for the hiding!

The bonus part of the egg hunt at the house was that in searching for eggs the kids found their uncle's sweater that had gone missing last month.  

I highly suggest looking under couches more often.

The rest of Easter day was spent as a family watching General Conference (I love it when Conference aligns with Easter).  

Between sessions we had a special Easter Brunch with just our family.

Then for dinner we were invited to a friend's home for dinner.  I wish we had taken a photo because when we finally took the headcount after eating, there were 49 people there.  

That is a lot of people and it was sure a lot of fun!  

We sure feel lucky to have made such good friends since moving here to Wilsonville.

K's favorite holiday

Our prankster hit again!

K just LOVES April Fools Day and nobody is safe!

Thanks to his sister, C was not able to get out of his bedroom....

Thanks to their sister, J & T awoke to facial hair....

(just for the record, "washable" markers aren't all that washable after being on skin for an entire night)

Thanks to his daughter, Rich ended up with a blue tongue when his toothbrush had food dye on it...

Thanks to his sis, T had a hard time getting a clean pair of underwear....

And what did she do to the mom?

(other than the food dye to the toothbrush and the baking soda to the toothbrush....each of which mom was too smart to fall for)

The sis switched my salt for sugar in my baking cupboard.  

A switch that wasn't discovered for FIVE days!

We had some pretty bland waffles that left us scratching our head but it wasn't enough for K to remember her little switcheroo.

Sadly, the trick was on 49 guests (yes, 49!) at the Easter dinner we attended when my beautiful German Chocolate Cake (from scratch) was served and it just didn't taste quite right...it was good, but something was missing....  

Yep!  

It turns out that SALT WAS MISSING!!!!

I am still a bit sore on that one!

(not my cake, but mine looked just like it)

Looking forward to April 1, 2016.

NOT!

One Year Anniversary

It is hard to believe that we have been in our house for a year already.

What is harder to believe is that my list of "things to do" is still far from done!

Haven't painted trim or doors.  

Haven't worked on the front or back yard.

Haven't decorated the living room or the family room.

Haven't picked window coverings for the master bedroom.

Haven't even finished emptying the boxes in the garage!

But on this one year anniversary I think it is better to focus on what HAS been done....and that would be the kid's rooms.  They each chose new bedding for their new rooms and we decorated around what they chose.  I am pleased with how they all turned out!

K chose a chevron bedspread and she really wanted turquoise walls to go with it!

I am not normally a colored wall kind of mom but I kept a bigger perspective and realized that walls can easily be painted over, so K has turquoise walls with cute white and silver accents throughout the room.

I love the bedding C chose for his room.  I painted existing wall decor with colors to match the new bedding and it came together so well.  It is truly a teenage boy's room.

J and T's room was a bonus room that the prior home owners turned into a huge bedroom by adding a closet.  It is the perfect room for the two boys to share.  Their room is half "bed space' and the other half is "play space".  I love how it turned out!