Sleep Is Fun

As I'm wondering what to type, I'm listening to the squeals of delight coming out of the boy's room. They are both in there with Jorja "sleeping". I highly doubt much sleeping is going on. I already caught them putting their stuffed animals on the fan. (Shiver, Oakz & Jorja's kinz klip). I caught them having a pillow fight. I caught Preston groundpounding. I caught them having a blanket fight. Let me go see what they are up to now . . . I guess they thought it was so funny to chant, "Diapie, diapie, diaper". Don't they realize that sleep is fun?

"No Ground Pounding"

"No ground pounding" . . . that is what I had to say to Preston today. He fell asleep in the middle of the day, so bedtime is a nightmare. Which is probably why he kept ground pounding Jorja while she was trying to sleep. What is his response? "I want to". Oh, well that's different then.

Preston also threw a gigantic fit today because I wouldn't let him have the entire bag of swedish fish. He kept screaming, "I want them all!" Naps.....I hate them. It makes for one grouchy Preston.

Preston did help with the cleaning today. What a cutie. Now, he is out of his bed and watching me type. I just asked him why he wasn't in bed. He said, "I don't need to". Wrong answer little boy.

Pump It Up

Best idea for a party ever! Kathryn had a surprise party for Manly at Pump It Up. No kids allowed. Wow. Usually I just watch the kids go crazy, this time we got to enjoy the fun. We raced, we jumped, we played in the dark. It was fun being a kid, especially since they didn't have things like this when we were little. Kathryn had rented out both rooms, so we were able to just go crazy. Especially Paul. Mike was super fast through the obstacle course. I have skinned elbows. It was worth it.

Mike & Stephanie

We came home to find all the children asleep. Thanks Maysen! Jorja loves sleeping with Preston on the weekend. They look pretty zonked.

Preston & Jorja

Some Things Never Change

While cleaning out our filing cabinet today, I found this picture. Hmmm. Looks mighty familiar. Looks like it could have been taken last month. It's hard to tell which one of my brothers is the stunt man. My guess is John. Plus, remember the good old days? They days of our first awesome sled hill. The days before someone had to go and build a cabin on our hill. Those were the days. Since then we have had "The Springs", "The Top" and "Lets build a giant train and see how hard we can crash each other!" Fun times. Although my old body is still hurting from our fun times over Christmas. I can barely move in the mornings. Can't wait to go sledding again!

Kung-Fu Spelling

Maysen won first place on her spelling bee today. Nice job. She finished in the top two in her Language Arts class (they never actually finished). The one today was the top two of all Mrs. Smallwood's LA classes, I think. Anyway, she's pretty hot stuff. She also learned self defense in Young Women's today, so watch out!

Hola y Adios

Maysen was placed into Spanish today! Hooray! She hasn't had a chance to go because they changed her schedule during the day, but I am so happy about it. The principal talked to Maysen, which was kind. She also sent us a couple of e-mails. I am glad we got the doctors note, because I don't think anything would have been done without it. I hope she enjoys this class. It's gotta be better than PE!

We have to say good-bye to our van. We actually said good-bye to it last Christmas when we gave it to my dad and Cathy. We loved that car. My dad and Cathy have loved that car. Too bad the teenager from Las Vegas didn't realize how much we loved that car when he slammed into the back of it. The car is no more.

Maysen ~ 2001

Stockton

I Got a Letter!!!

Our doctors office called. They had the letter I need to get Maysen out of PE class! Hopefully it works. I will take Maysen to school tomorrow and hope for the best! Wish us luck! (Sorry about all the exclamation points John)

You Can't Be Serious!

There is no school tomorrow AGAIN! Don't get me wrong, I love having my kids home. But it snowed on THURSDAY!!!! How many make-up days are we going to have? Mike had just sent out fliers for classes he wanted to teach during winter break. Now most of those days will be spent in school. Yuck.

On the plus side, Maysen hasn't had to go to PE. Mike and I just wrote an e-mail to the principal. For all the interested parties (Maysen) this is what we said:

Ms. Davis -

Thank you for taking the time to speak with me last week about my concerns with my daughter's schedule.

My husband and I were really hoping that we could work something out regarding her having PE again. This will be the third consecutive quarter that she has had PE and once again has the same student that has been bullying her in her class. We had also hoped that we could get her moved into a foreign language class because she has such a desire for it, is doing well in all her gifted classes, and rarely brings home any homework.

This is a serious enough concern for us that we are looking into some other options. We have looked into home schooling and have spoken to some people at [a local charter school] regarding possible enrollment.

However, we would still prefer to work something out with [the school] due largely to Maysen's enthusiasm for the upcoming Reading Bowl competition. Maysen participated in the reading bowl for the past two years at [her elementary school], has been part of the Reading Bowl club at [the school], and has read 17 of the 20 books for this year's competition so far. She would be so disappointed not to be able to have a chance to compete after her preparation. Even so, she tells us that she would rather miss out on this opportunity than to go through another 9 weeks of PE.

You mentioned that you would speak with Maysen yourself and discuss these issues. Would you be able to do so this week? We would really like to know the outcome of your conversation, so please let us know how that goes.

We would be happy to discuss the situation further with you. We can come in for an appointment with you or you can call us anytime at [our phone number].

Thank you for your efforts in making [the school] a success.

Sincerely,
Stephanie and Mike Smith

We will see what happens. I'm also still hopeful that the doctor will contact me and agree to write Maysen a note to get out of gym.

On an unrelated note, our neighbor Justin came to church with us today. We also had him over this evening to watch The Restoration. Andrea Pierce came over as well. (Andrea knows Justin from high school . . . well, mostly Chaz - her missionary "friend" does.) We had cookies and brownies with icecream. Yummmmy! We decided that calories ingested while talking to people about the church don't count.

Pressure Floors

Mike had the brilliant idea to use the pressure washer on our kitchen floors. We have A LOT of tile in our house. Mike connected the pressure washer to the hot water tank with a garden hose. He would use the pressure washer and then have me suck up the water with the carpet cleaner. Preston thought it was great and kept running over to help us. The floors do look better. We were able to get about half the kitchen done. Now that we have figured out the best system, it will go faster next time.

Snow Day!

School was cancelled today. Look at all that snow! In Georgia's defense, Mike did have to brave the roads. In his 4-wheel drive jeep. On the way to the freeway he spun donuts . . . 5 times. He swears he didn't do it just for fun. Mike said it was just like the cartoons, he just kept going and going and going for about 200 feet. Luckily no one was on the road except farther down, and they were able to stop while Mike had his fun. Good times.

He Got Mailed!

Preston received a package from Grandma and Grandpa Parry today. Inside was his beloved dog, Shiver, and his green blanket. We had left those in Idaho when we were there. Preston opened the box and screamed with delight, "Shiver! You got mailed!" Then he carried around Shiver and said, "I missed you so much!" and "Shiver missed me so bad." It was very, very cute.

Maysen received her schedule for the next nine weeks yesterday. She got pe AGAIN! I called the school and asked who I needed to talk to about a schedule change. They wanted to know what the problem was and I told them I needed my daughter out of pe. I was told that wouldn't happen because all 6th graders needed to have an entire year of pe unless they were in band or chorus. I asked about foreign languages and why some six graders get in them. They told me that only certain 6th graders that score high enough on some test are allowed to take a foreign language. (I about lost it there because I knew that was a load of crap . . . if they chose the students based on test scores you could bet Maysen would be in there). Anyway, I asked what was the test this decision was based on. I was put on hold. Then they came back and told me there was no test and it is randomly decided who gets the foreign language. I asked that Maysen be moved to a foreign language class and they said I would need to talk to Mrs. Benson tomorrow afternoon.

So, I went to the school today to talk to Mrs. Benson. I found her and the principal was right at her desk. They will not let Maysen out of pe without a doctors note. The principal said, "If I let her out then I would have to let everyone out who has a problem." I said, "What you don't understand is she can barely handle pe. She has a brilliant mind, she has straight A's and she never has any homework. She needs a language." I was told Mr. Sims decides who gets what connection classes (He's the BAND teacher for crying out loud) . . . and I was told it is only for 9 weeks. I said, "This is her third nine weeks of pe."

Anyway, I went straight to my doctors and left her a note asking if she could help me out. They never said anything had to be wrong with her, they just said they needed a doctors note. I hope she can help me out, but I don't know if she will.

I asked Maysen if I can't get her moved out if pe, would she like me to homeschool her? She said she would. I told her that means she wouldn't get to do the Reading Bowl. She is going to think about it. Hopefully it won't come to that.

In other news, it SNOWED today! Stockton and Maysen were both annoyed (with people's reactions, not the snow). Stockton said, "The thing I hate about living here is when it snows a few flakes, people run around like crazy screaming, 'It's snowing! It's snowing!'" They did have fun pelting me with snowballs while I was talking on the phone. I wonder if they will have school tomorrow......

Derby Plans

For Scouts today, Stockton drew up plans for his pinewood derby car. Good luck - we think he's a little ambitious.

Back to Business

We spent the day taking down the Christmas, going to orthodontist appointments, laundry . . . just getting back into the swing of things. I called the primary president and asked her what was going on. Mike got a call from the 2nd counselor wanting to talk to me, but I wasn't home. Sister Shaw said, "I don't know if I'm suppose to tell you, but I think you can guess." I said, "I think you're moving me to a counselor position and moving Amy to teach Stockton's class." Yep. That is what she did. I will miss working in the presidency with Amy, but love, love, love the fact that Stockton will have her for a teacher. Sister Shaw said, "I hope you're okay with that because they sustained you on Sunday." That is the second time I have been sustained for a calling without being asked. This one is okay though. Last time I was called as the Enrichment Leader without being asked. Anyone who knows anything about me knows I DON'T DO CRAFTS! (I know there is more to that calling than crafts, but it really stressed me out.) Anyway, Sister Shaw was filling me in on the Primary news. I about fell out of my chair when I found out who is going to be Jorja's teacher! They haven't been sustained yet, but I am so excited about it! Now I am off to bed. Tomorrow is school. Here we go again.

HOME

I. Love. It.

If Bugs Bunny Had a GPS . . .

he wouldn't have forgotten to take a left turn at Albuquerque.

We left Steve & Shannon's house at about 8:00. Preston threw up twice last night and twice in the car. Luckily he was perfect with the bowl, so we didn't have to drive two days in a stinky car. Jorja's ear was hurting her, but Shannon let us take Weston's ear drops and gave us some ibuprofen. That was very helpful, and she was able to stop crying.

We were able to make it to Texas today. Now we get to go to bed so we can do this all day tomorrow!

Games and Packing

We met my brothers at my dad's house to play games. I was surprised, again, to see my grandma there! I think she is really lonely without my grandpa. She says it's hard to not hear any voices during the day. I would hate that too.

Grandma, Stockton, Maysen

Preston, Jorja

Mike, Stephanie, Preston, Grandma

Jorja, Stockton, Maysen

Tonight my dad took the girls to the aquarium. They had a great time. Stockton did not want to go. When my dad asked me if he could take the kids, I laughed and said, "ask Stockton". So he did. Stockton's eyes got real big and he shook his head back and forth real fast. When he was asked why he didn't want to go he said, "I don't like going anywhere you would go for a school field trip."

Anyway, my dad spoiled the girls and let them pick out anything they wanted from the gift shop. Jorja picked a toucan and Maysen picked a laced moray eel. They are both pleased with their new friends.

Jorja & Maysen

I spent the evening playing games with my brothers and now we are packing up to leave. When Stockton was saying the prayer tonight he said, "Please bless that we'll have a safe trip back to Georgia and that tomorrow will take forever to get here". I agree.

New Years Resolution

Number One: Move to Utah.

We looked a house that was up a few streets from Steve & Shannon today. We are going with a realtor to look at houses tomorrow. I hope we make the right decisions about our future.

We had a girls night tonight. Shannon, Erica, Maysen, Jorja and I all went to see The Princess and the Frog. Jorja's idea. It was pretty good, but pretty scary. The girls were sitting in front of us, I pulled Jorja into my lap. I liked watching the movie with her snuggling with me. When the frogs turned back into humans (spoiler alert!), Jorja whispered, "I think they looked better as frogs".

After the kids were all tucked all snug in their bed we played Ticket to Ride again. Steve won. Poor Preston hasn't been feeling well today. Hopefully he will be back to his self tomorrow.

Happy New Year!

It’s the end of 2009. We spent tonight at Steve & Shannon’s house. Lisa, Nathan and their family came over, so did Scoop and Cori. All my kids stayed up until midnight. That includes Preston - Preston who didn’t have a nap the entire day. Wow. He was really good though. He loved blowing his blower and liked it when his blower crashed with other blowers. What a fun boy. While waiting for the ball to drop, Mike made No Names (which his dad declared the best thing to come out of Monroe), and we played several games. It was pretty fun, there was always at least three games going on at the same time. That doesn’t include the Wii either. Spencer was playing Mario Kart with Stockton and asked him, “How are you so good at this?” Stockton replied, “I’m awesome”. He’s humble too I might add.

Preston

Ticket to Ride

Spencer, Mike, Steve, Aimee, Nathan

Bananagrams
Erica, Scoop, Stockton, Mike
Maysen, Erica
Lisa ~ Bananagram Champion

Jacob & Shannon

Erica & Scoop

Jorja ~ ready to ring in the New Year

Happy New Year!

Scoop & Maysen

Nathan, Aimee, Michael, Lisa, Taylor

Spencer, Shannon, Steve

Weston, Brandon, Jacob, Erica

First Family Photo of 2010!

Maysen, Mike, Jorja

Stephanie, Preston, Stockton

After all the guests left, we tucked the kids in their beds and then Steve, Shannon, Mike, Spencer and I played more games. Shannon and I finally went to bed at 3:30. Who knows when the guys got to bed, they were busy playing Pirates. I’m going to be so tired tomorrow! What a way to start 2010!

As the last entry of 2009, I feel I need to make some sort of conclusion. Our family had a fun, fun year. I know many people worried about us, but we have been really okay. We don’t know what 2010 holds in store for us, but we know we will have many changes. Thank you to everyone who has made us feel so loved. I have the best husband and children around. There is no where I would rather be than with my own family . . . and that is pretty cool.

My Family!

DI

This morning Mike took the kids on their long awaited trip to DI. I don’t know why they love DI so much, but they do and their favorite DI is the one in Idaho Falls. I skipped the trip and went to see my cousin BROOKE! She arrived last night from Coeur d’Alene. My grandma & grandpa took Preston and I over to the Fuller’s. Then I was double lucky and Courtney walked through the door soon after I arrived. It was great to visit with the Fuller family, even though it wasn’t very long.

As soon as I came home from the Fuller’s, we packed up and headed for Utah. Mike and the kids declared the DI trip a success. Mostly based on Maysen’s finding of Calvin & Hobbes books for $1 each. We were worried about the roads because it was snowing pretty bad, but once we started it wasn’t awful. The kids were excited to be back with their cousins again.

We spent the rest of the day playing Mario Kart and after the kids were in bed, Ticket to Ride. Not to brag, but I won. It’s something I am capable of doing when I am playing with first timers. It is now 1 am and we are tired and headed to bed!

Leaving the Cabin

I woke up this morning and realized that we forgot to read our scriptures yesterday! No 100% club for us. We were doing really good. We had made it about 25 days, and that is really hard when you are on vacation! Oh well, we will start our 100% club again today.

We left the cabin today. I had so much fun this trip. I love being around my family, especially at the cabin. The cabin is one of the last pieces I have left of my childhood. It is also nice to be able to share something I loved so much as a child with my own children. It’s a perfect place to be together with my family because it is just us. We can be ourselves and enjoy each other without dealing with the outside world. Who knows what it will be like next year. Hopefully Mike & Christen can come, but John & Cassie will have moved away and Brett & Rachel will be living in Japan. Hopefully we will be able to see each other often. I don’t like being so spread out from my family – I know I started it, but I’m coming home soon!

Jorja & Marie

Jorja

We left the cabin (spotless, my sister-in-laws are amazing!) and made it to Grandma & Grandpa’s house. From there Brett & Rachel left for Boise to see Rachel’s family and Matt, John & Cassie left back to Utah. I hope the roads were okay. They are suppose to be worse today, but at least we won’t be driving at night!

I love being at Grandma & Grandpa’s house. We were able to just have time to sit and talk with them. Grandpa is such a tease. I love watching my grandparents interact with each other. We stayed up talking until we couldn’t keep our eyes open very well. Except for one person. One very small person. PRESTON! He slept the entire way from the cabin and was wide awake! His sleeping pattern is so messed up. While we were tiredly talking, Preston was running around like crazy yelling “Speed boost!” as he jumped off the two stairs on the outside of the room. We pulled him into our bed to sleep, but it took quite awhile. I can’t get frustrated with him when he’s so dang cute! (Too bad he knows that secret and uses it to his advantage.)

Sledding, Cabin & Fun

Fun! Fun! Fun! I love it up here! We have had the best time so far. Steve & Sharon let us borrow another 4-wheeler. We were able to take two 4-wheelers up to the Springs. The Springs was awesome this year. Super fast! Stockton stayed out there for hours. I was able to make three runs down on a sled. That was all my body could handle, but it was worth it. I was able to drive the 4-wheeler up several times though. One time Stockton sat in front and I let him drive for a few seconds. Pretty cool for a 9 year old boy. Jorja had a great time at the Springs and was not ready to come back. Maysen REFUSED to go. She was in tears while I was trying to convince her. “No! Please don’t make me!” Oh boy. The last couple of years the snow has been so heavy that the Springs were pretty slow. And she got lost. I tried to explain that this year is different and she would love it, but she would not be persuaded. Poor girl doesn’t know what she is missing.

Preston & Mike (Ella, Ange & Maysen)

Jorja
Brett & Marie

Preston & Mike
Rachel, Brett, Marie & Dad
Preston & Mike

I came back from sledding at the springs to find Preston asleep on an overturned chair. Hmmmm. Wonder what happened there?

Preston

We spent most of the evening playing games. Maysen and Brett had a Pirate game that went down to the wire. Seriously it came down to one roll. Brett was victorious. Stockton loved playing the new Bananas game (Bananagrams). He’s a lot better at it then I am. Rachel played many games with Jorja while we played Ticket to Ride. After all the kids were in bed, we stayed up playing Mafia. Bubs still refuses to play. All because ten years ago we ganged up on him. Bubs was always the first person the mafia would kill. Then if Bubs wasn’t killed we assumed he was the mafia and we would kill him first. It was so funny, just not to Bubs. My dad would always do awesome death scenes when he was killed. John was mafia three times in a row (doot!) and Cassie won the last game. Life at the cabin is wonderful!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is my 36th birthday! And for my birthday, I got old. I broke myself. Well, I’m not sure what I did but I know how I did it. I think I bruised my tailbone. It hurts like the dickens! Stockton and my brothers made this awesome jump on the sled hill. I had been too chicken to go off it because the hill is really icy right now. The sledding’s great, but I was nervous about the jump. So, I copied my brothers and went inside where I put a pillow in my snowpants. I then was excited about the jump. I decided to take it sitting down because I had a pillow in my pants. The jump was great but the pillow didn’t help the landing. I am hurting so bad right now. I didn’t even get an awesome picture out of it. I got an okay one, but not cool pictures like the guys did. Stockton got hurt too. He took the jump and landed on his back. But his picture is great! And he’s not hurting anymore, so that is good.

Stephanie ~ bad idea

This morning my dad made birthday scones! Yummy! Then we had church at the cabin. My dad received permission from his bishop to have church up here. Maysen, Stockton and my dad all gave talks. My grandma let me take up some of her Children’s Friends that they could look at. They are from the 50's and 60's.

My dad

Most of the day was spent outside. Everyone had fun! Fun! Fun!

Jorja, Preston, Stockton, Maysen

Preston

Stockton

Stephanie & Preston ~ pre-jump

The best way to get up a hill!
Preston, Mike, Stockton, Maysen, Jorja

Preston
Jorja

Cassie & Maysen
Stockton ~ the time he got hurt


Stephanie & Stockton ~ pre Steph crash, post Stocky crash
John
John again

Maysen & Preston
Brett

Mike

Bubs made a yummy dinner tonight. I made a jello with it. (Ouch! I just sneezed and it hurt SO bad!) I put candles in my jello for my birthday cake. That was before I realized that my wonderful sister-in-laws had made an Asphalt Pie. (Mint chocolate chip icecream in a pie shell.) I think Ange spearheaded that effort. Thanks!

Jorja, Preston, Stephanie, Stockton

Birthday jello ~ Birthday pie was a TON better!

I’m going to bed early tonight. Hopefully I’ll feel better in the morning. By the way, if anyone calls our house and get Jasmine the psychic, we don’t know why that is happening. We use Vontage for our phone. When we left, Mike took our Internet router down so we could use it on our trip. Apparently now when you call our number you get Jasmine. Hopefully we will get our same number back when we get home. Weird.