Urinetown

Busy, busy day!  Isn't every day busy?  Seems like it.  We started the day by cleaning the church.  The boys went with me.  Both the girls were still asleep.  They were asleep even after we got back!  Wow!

Stockton & Preston

 Stockton's turn

I left Mike home so he could get ready for my Young Women activity.  I was having a Personal Progress Open House from 9-12.  Each Presidency member is planning on hosting an Open House during the summer.  I chose June.  Because I was the first one to do this, I had no idea how many girls would come.  Especially since we forgot to announce it!  We sent texts to the girls letting them know, I just didn't know if they would come.  Mike made crepes.  We also had muffins and chocolate milk.  I was so happy because a handful of girls came!  Paige, Nicole, Melissa, Ashley, Zoe, Kelsee and Erica. I felt that today was so productive for the girls that came.  I was able to hit everyone one-on-one.  I was able to go through their books and remind them of things they had done and forgotten to sign off.  Plus, they sat around the table eating crepes and reading their scriptures.  So excited it turned out like it did.  (They all loved Mike's crepe maker.  They loved making their own crepes.  My girls think Mike is the coolest!)

While the girls were here, I got a call from Maysen's tennis coach. Yikes!  She had a tennis practice at 10:00.  I totally forgot!  I remembered this morning, and even left my car on the side of the road so it wouldn't get blocked in.  I just got to focusing on the Young Women and just plain forgot.  Embarrassing!  Maysen wasn't even up yet!  The 40 hours of being awake straight really did a number on her.  I didn't want to wake her, so I just cancelled the lesson.  Too bad. Anyway, when Maysen did finally come upstairs she was so out of it.  I told her that we missed her tennis lesson.  She said in a groggy voice, "Wait, it's Saturday?"  Haha!  Loved it!

After the girls left, Mike spent the rest of the afternoon working on the pool.  We are so frustrated dealing with the insurance guy and the pool guy.  One will say they are waiting for paperwork, the other will say they sent it, they won't talk to each other . . . by the time they get around to it the summer will have ended!  Even though the pool needs to be fixed, Mike decided to start cleaning it out.  (The guy was supposed to come last week to drain the pool.)  Anyway, maybe we can get it swimmable so we can use it for a couple of days before it gets drained and out of commission.  I wish we could believe people when they say they are coming . . . 

Preston

 The pool is always SO GROSS the first time it is opened.

 Preston with our broken pool

This is the biggest problem.  The lining got torn.  We don't know if the fiberglass underneath shattered.  They won't be able to find that out until the pool is drained and the lining is removed.  If the fiberglass is shattered we will have to fork over a lot of moolah!

Mike and I went to see Urinetown tonight.  Matt and Sam saw it twice. They loved it.  Matt because of the politics. (Corrupt politicians tax people every time they go to the bathroom.)  Sam liked the writing. We enjoyed it.  It was funny and a little strange.  Especially the ending. Matt & Sam surprised us as we were leaving.  They ran up to our car and hopped in.  We drove down the block with them then turned around and dropped them back at their car.  (They were picking up one of Sam's friends who was in the play.)  Anyway, it was great to be on a date night.  Except the call we got at intermission.  Preston was spitting and sticking his rear end in Stockton's face.  Stockton retaliated by hitting him.  Ugh!  When we got home both Stockton and Jorja were sleeping in the guest room.  Preston was asleep on the couch downstairs.  Looks like he cried himself to sleep.  (I did find out that Stockton hit Preston with a pillow, so at least that wasn't as bad as it sounded!)  Oh they joys of date night.

10 Miles

I woke up pretty early this morning.  4:44 to be exact.  I thought about going back to sleep, but then I decided just to get up and go running. Plus, I was anxious to see where the kids had ended up.  First place I checked was their computers.  Maysen was wide awake!  She didn't even take a nap today.  She was still full of energy when she went to bed tonight.  She was up for about forty hours straight.  Most of the time was spent writing.  CRAZY!

Maysen in the morning.

 4:54 AM

The other kids had fallen asleep.  Preston was downstairs on the Thinking Chair.  Maysen said he crashed around 3:00.  Both Stockton and Jorja had put themselves to sleep in their own beds.  Stockton told Maysen that he didn't want me to take a picture of him in a weird place in the morning.  So, I took a picture of him in bed.  I'm not sure when they fell asleep, but it was after Preston.

Preston

 Stockton

 Jorja

So far Jorja has slept in a pull out bed in the boys' room all summer. Maysen now goes to bed later than she does.  She doesn't like to fall asleep alone.  At least the pull out bed is pretty comfy.

I got out the door at 5:03 for my run.  I was planning on running 9 1/2 miles.  Then I wouldn't have to run it tomorrow.  I have quite a full day planned tomorrow.  I ran up to the top gate, then down to my mom's grave, then back up to the top gate, then back to my house, then back to my mom's grave, then back home.  I knew I had hit 9 1/2 miles at the bottom of the big hill leading up to my neighborhood.  I decided just to keep running home.  Then I would have run for 10 miles without stopping.  The last hill is quite steep.  I can't believe I made it!  I finished at 7:00.  Ran for 2 hours straight.  I can't believe I did that. Neither can my knees.  They made me pay for it all day long.  I'm so sore!  It hurt so bad to go downstairs!  I ended up hobbling around the rest of the day.  Man, I'm getting old.

Blake wanted Preston to come play this morning.  I walked Preston over there.  I talked to Liz, Blake's nanny, for about ten minutes outside. Pretty soon we heard Preston crying.  Preston was bleeding.  A lot.  He had knelt down on their couch and something cut him.  I think he might have hit the zipper at such a weird angle in just the wrong place. We put a bandage on him and I carried him home.  As I gave him a popsicle I saw my neighbor, Stephanie, walking by.  I ran out and got her.  She is a nurse.  I wanted to know if Preston would need stitches. Not one of my kids have needed stitches or had a broken bone.  I am so grateful for that!  Stephanie came and checked him out.  She poked and pulled at his knee for awhile.  She couldn't pull a flab up, so she said he didn't need them.  Thank goodness!

The kids were all great today.  No fighting at all.  Sometimes the day after their big night awake is a little rough.  Mike put a Racing Tip in their cards for today.  It said, "It is extra important to be happy and polite to your parents and your siblings today.  You don't want to be grumpy the day after stay-up-all-night night!"  They weren't grumpy at all!  Love them!

Preston had a Detour today.  Print It or Sprint It.  On Print it he was supposed to help Mike print out something from the Marble Machine on the 3D printer.  Sprint it he was to run to the end of the street while someone timed him.  Preston ended up doing both.  He ran to the bus stop.  It was so cute to see him come running down the street in his pajamas & crocs.  He was so happy!  He made it to the bus stop and back in 3 1/2 minutes!  I think Mike is going to give him that challenge again tomorrow.

Stay Up All Night Night

We started bright and early this morning.  Stockton had baptisms at 5:30.  I couldn't believe how many deacons were there so early!  Love it!

Josh, Michael, Ryuhei, Josh, Johnny, Darby, Stockton, James, Isaac

Preston finished his puppy puzzle for one of his Amazing challenges. He is so proud!

We had Lincoln, Ella and Abby over today.  It's cute how Abby always calls Jorja, "My Jorja".  Stockton loves playing with Abby too. Adorableness.

Stockton & Abby, Maysen

Stockton & Abby

Stockton, Preston, Lincoln and Ella played so many games together. They loved making up challenges.  For one of Stockton's games, Lincoln and Ella were the last standing.  They had to drink water out of a cup with two straws.  One straw had to be on top of the other straw.  I was SO glad that I was eliminated!  Seriously, they did these games for hours!

We finally found time for our kids to stay up all night.  They love doing this after school is out.  (The get to do it once a year.) With Lagoon & then Maysen's Drivers Ed, we couldn't find the time until today.  The kids are really excited. Preston wanted me to take a picture by the sign to prove he was up at 10:30 and not even tired.

Preston

I was tired.  We got pizza and treats out for the kids.  Told them to enjoy themselves and not to wake us up.  I wonder what random places we will find them in the morning?

2nd Swim Meet

We had our second swim/dive meet of the season.  This one was a lot better than the first!  The parking was better, the weather was better, there were more chairs, there were not as many kids so the meet went faster, Mike was able to come . . . it was a great day!

Stockton scored a little better at this meet.  His total was 95.05.  He scored straight 5 1/2s on three of his dives, he thought that was pretty funny.

Stockton ~ 1/2

I put a ton of videos on this post.  I am not confident in my ability to do that, so here's hoping for the best!

Stockton ~ back flip

Preston is awesome.  I just love him to pieces.  There are so many whistles at a swim meet.  They each mean different things.  One to get on your block, one to get in position, one to start.  Lots of them. Anyway, Preston heard a whistle & jumped right in!  Luckily he noticed us yelling at him to stop.  He smiled and said, "What?  I was just getting ready."

Preston ~ starting his freestyle

I get such a kick out of watching him swim.  He swims in super slow motion and it is awesome.  I love it.  The coolest thing is he thinks he is so fast!  He was a little past half way when I'm pretty sure everyone else was finished.  The announcer must have heard me cheering for him because she said into her microphone, "Let's have everyone cheer for Preston!"  When Preston finally reached the end he said, "Did you see how fast I was?"  Love that boy!  The other day at practice he told me, "It might not look like a long way, but it actually really is."  I believe you Preston.

Preston ~ finishing his freestyle

I love to watch Jorja swim too.  I wish I could swim like she does.  She was excited because she was going to be able to swim the breast stroke in the relay, but then she wasn't able to because they didn't have four girls her age for this meet.  That meant she only swam three events. She was okay with that.

Jorja

Jorja ~ beginning her freestyle

Jorja ended up swimming her breast stroke in a heat full of boys.  She did great!

Jorja ~ breast stroke

 She calls this the 'froggy stroke'.
Any guesses as to why this is her favorite?

 Nice job Porge!

 Preston about to start his back stroke

 Seriously, how adorable is he?

 Preston ~ finishing his backstroke = awesomeness

Jorja's last event was the butterfly.  It is only a 25.  She was excited to be swimming it instead of the backstroke.  For some reason the backstroke is her least favorite.

Jorja ~ Fly

Finished!!!

I have no idea what Preston's times are.  I wish I did, because it would be so cute to watch him improve.  Jorja swam her 50 free in 52.28. Almost three seconds faster than last week!  She swam her breast stroke in 1:02.85.  Almost FIVE seconds faster than last week!  Her butterfly was about the same as she swam it in time trials.  Nice work Jorja Porja!  I LOVE watching you swim!

Mike took Stockton home after they watched Jorja swim her breast stroke.  They were able to see Preston swim his free and Jorja her free and breast.  Mike's eye was killing him, so they made a quick exit.  After the meet I stopped at Burger King for 50 cent cones.  The car in front of us was pretty slow, but I didn't mind.  When we got our ice cream they gave me three cones.  I told them I only ordered two.  They said the extra cone was for waiting.  I was planning on being good and not eating the ice cream, but what are you going to do?  I believe it was my duty to eat it.  It was a yummy duty.

A Big, Fat Day of FAIL

We had an amazing combined activity today.  Our neighbor is a federal judge.  He invited the youth down to his courtroom to participate in a mock trial.  It was quite awesome.

I LOVE THIS PICTURE!!!

Whitney, Ashley, Nicole, Paige, Zoe, Riley

It was Paige's 14th birthday today.  Boo!  I can't believe I am starting to lose my girls!  We didn't have any girls come into the Beehives last year, so I have become quite attached to the girls I started with.  They are all going to leave me this year.  I can barely think about it.

Waiting for Judge Waddoups
Stephanie, Maysen & Stockton in the front row.
I won't even try to name everyone else!

 Maysen and Stockton were part of the jury.

Harrison (the judge's grandson) is the one with his feet up.  Haha!

 Johnny getting sworn in by Jordan

I thought today's activity was fascinating.  Of course Stockton found it extremely boring.  Seriously.

Jacqui, Zoe, Paige, Nicole, Whitney, Ashley, Riley, Stephanie

Why did I title this post 'A Big, Fat Day of FAIL'?  Well, this is what happened while I was gone.

Mike and his screwdriver eye

Mike's jeep failed the inspection and he wanted to fix it himself.  He didn't have the correct tool, so he was trying to use a screwdriver to pry something off.  It slipped and gashed him just under the eye.  I can barely even look at him.  It makes me feel so scared.  Look how close he was to jabbing his eye out.  Holy cow.  So lucky it hit him where it did. Mike said, "Of all the crazy things I have done, I can't believe I hurt myself this way!"  He usually wears protective goggles, but he was working on something in front of him.  He didn't anticipate what would happen if he slipped.  So sad.

Mike did not want me to take a picture of him.  I told him it was blog worthy.  He said that if I put a picture of him up I needed to put a picture up of my bread.  Maysen and I made bread today.  I have no idea what happened.  It was so dry.  I couldn't get it to work and it was driving me crazy!  I finally decided to cook it anyway and see what happened.  It was edible, but not pretty.  It was also not nearly as delicious as it usually is.  That was annoying.  At least we were able to eat my mistake.

Sorry loaf of bread

Maysen, Tennis & Millie

I finally got a few pictures of Maysen playing tennis.  She has been taking lessons twice a week.  Hopefully she likes it.  I really want her to find a form of fun exercise.

Josh & Maysen

 Maysen

We watched Bubs' & Ange's kids tonight.  It is their anniversary. Number 14 I think.  (They went to 7 Peaks water park without kids!) Maysen was so cute playing with Millie.  The pictures are kind of blurry, but I just love to see Maysen smile.

Maysen & Millie

Maysen also started Drivers Ed today.  She is taking a summer course through the high school.  It will last three weeks, a couple of hours Monday through Thursday.  She was not happy when I picked her up. She did not like it at all.  It was boring and her teacher moved her to the back of the room where she couldn't see.  Plus the air conditioner blew right on her.  Well, at least it is only three weeks.

Amazing Summer

Mike and I have started putting together an Amazing Summer for our kids.  Well, lets be honest, Mike has all the good ideas.  We are hoping that this will take awhile to set up, then be easy to keep up.  The kids have their daily checklist of chores to do.  Basic things like making their bed, practicing the piano, reading for 20 minutes, getting dressed . . . we had to put getting dressed on there or they would stay in their pajamas the entire summer!  There is also a daily schedule that tells them things they will have to leave the house for. (Swimming, YM/YW, Drivers Ed - yikes!)

The coolest part of their ticket is the race info.  Mike has all kinds of crazy things he puts up there.  This is going to be the hardest part to keep up.  On the race info he has detours & roadblocks.  Here are some examples of detours.  Paper or Plastic Paper - Learn how to self-publish a printed book on Amazon by visiting www.createspace.com. Plastic - Learn how to self-publish an electronic book for Amazon Kindle by visiting kdp.hostedbywebstore.com.  If you couldn't guess, those were Maysen's challenges.  This one was Jorja's.  Grind the Flour or Move the Flowers Grind the Flour - With a parent, grind wheat into flour and then make 2 loaves of homemade bread.  Move the Flowers - Transplant at least 3 purple Iris flowers from the backyard to the front of the house.  Don't worry, we aren't planning on having a detour everyday!  On days we do, they sure will be fun!

Here are some examples of roadblocks:  Handwriting Challenge - Do the attached handwriting page as neatly as you can.  Scout it Out Complete the requirements for Citizenship in the Nation and make an appointment with the merit badge counselor.  Get as much done on your own and Dad can help you when he comes home.  Drawing - Draw dad a picture to give to him on Father's Day.

Anyway, we are hoping this will keep chores interesting this summer. Also, we are hoping that by doing this the kids won't end up spending their entire summer in front of the computer!  Have I mentioned how awesome my husband is?

We have also started a Speed Bump jar.  If the kids don't get their tickets done before bed time they can't get on their computer until all of the tasks for the next day have been completed.  They will also have to pick something out of the Speed Bump jar to complete.  Some of the tasks are hard and boring, some are more fun.....

Anyway, I'm excited for the kids to find their tickets tomorrow.  We introduced this to them last Sunday.  They have been waiting and waiting for it to start.  Well, Jorja is the most excited about it.  I hope this summer is awesome!

Parade of Homes

Our contractor recommended we go to the Parade of Homes for ideas on our addition.  Those houses are amazing!  Not quite in our price range I'm afraid.  Although there were a couple of subway style houses.  The inside of the house was meant to look like a subway station.  The bathrooms all looked like gross public bathrooms.  No idea what they were thinking there.  Glad I'm not hip.  I wouldn't want a house like that!

Lagoon in June!

Today was Maysen & Jorja's last day of school.  Maysen didn't go. Jorja wanted to be there really bad.  She was so disappointed that we were checking her out early to go to Lagoon.  Today was also Jorja's last day with Ms. Liao.  She has been Jorja's favorite teacher.  Jorja is going to miss her so much.  Ms. Liao is going back to Taiwan.  She is getting married.  Great for her, sad for us.

Jorja & Ms. Liao

 So hard to say goodbye!

We arrived at Lagoon a few minutes after it opened.  We hurried to the rides before the lines got long.  Maysen started with her favorite ride a.k.a. the worst ride in existence!  I can't believe she loves that ride so much!  She rode it by herself, no one else in my family is dumb enough to ride it!  I waited for her to see if she wanted to go on Wicked or Spider.  Nope she just wanted to ride that death trap over and over while the lines were short.

Maysen o AirRace

Stockton and I hurried to Wicked.  Jorja didn't want to ride it.  The line was pretty long already, but we decided it wasn't going to get any better. Stockton and I went in the single rider line.  We got through pretty fast. Stockton was so excited about it.  He totally thought we beat the system!

Stockton as a single rider

 Stockton ready to go!

 Stockton & Jorja waiting for Spider

Today was a nice, relaxing day.  The weather was perfect!  It is nice having a pavilion to go to.  Especially with all the food there!  Preston loved handing out Swedish Fish to everyone he saw.  Random strangers included.  I wish I had a picture of all my boys together.  They all picked out their Japan shirts to wear.....we didn't realize it until we arrived.

Preston handing out fish

Mike brought a hammock & a tent.  Both were put to good use.  Evelyn even took a short nap in there.  I wonder if she was scared when she woke up?  Preston, of course, wanted me to take a picture of him 'sleeping'.  He's not fooling anybody!

Preston

 Love this boy!

 Mike

I didn't have my phone with me very often, so I didn't get a ton of pictures.  I really, really, really wish I had my camera with me when we came back to Rattlesnake Rapids.  Bubs & Ange had planned to surprise Ella.  They brought a birthday cake and had presents.  When we came back, everyone started singing Happy Birthday to her.  She had the biggest smile on her face!  It was awesome!  And I missed it.

I did have my phone with me when Jorja & Matt rode the Rocket with me.  I quickly snapped a picture of Jorja before my phone could go to the same graveyard as Paul's.  (Paul's phone fell out of his pocket on Wicked.)

Jorja on the Rocket.  I think this one was Blast-Off

Stockton wanted to play a few games.  He brought some of his money. Stockton never spends money, but he loves carnival games.  He was so close on this one, but he didn't make it.

Stockton

We stayed until the very end.  Preston and I hurried and rode Bombora on the way out.  Preston loved it.  Especially with the lights!  I didn't get one picture with my grandparents.  They were there.  It was awesome!  I love, love, love my family!

Last Day of School for the Boys

Stockton and Preston both had their last day of school today.  One of them was a lot more excited about this than the other.  I'll let you take a guess as to which one.  Stockton was freaking out when he came home. He was pounding on the door, then went around the house screaming. He even made a video of himself 'calmly' tearing off the last chain.  Oh boy.

Maysen had her 9th grade Lagoon day today.  She loves Lagoon.  She decided to go, even though she didn't have anyone to spend her time with.  I thought that was very brave of her.  I don't think I would have been that brave at her age.  I wouldn't even be that brave now.  I hope next year she can find a friend.  It is so heartbreaking to watch her be so alone.  At least she is okay with it, most of the time.  She is one of the most amazing people I have ever met.  I hope she can find someone her age that will recognize how awesome she is and want to be her friend. It is hard to move in middle school.  Two years is a long time to be alone.  I hope high school is better.

Anyway, I told Maysen to bring her cell phone so she could text me if she wanted me to pick her up.  She rode a few rides, then after a couple of hours she asked me if I could come and get her.  She said the lines were really long and that she was spoiled with Overstock Lagoon day. Plus, she knows she is coming to Lagoon tomorrow.

I called my friend to watch Preston then I went down and found my precious girl.  I took her to Village Inn.  It was great to have some one-on-one time with her.  She was happy and chattering away.  I love, love, love that amazing, wonderful, beautiful, talented little girl.

Nearing the End

Today was Preston's last day with Mrs. Moon.  He brought her a gift he picked out at Kneaders.  Preston loves Kneaders.  He has loved Kindergarten and loved Mrs. Moon.  He does not want to leave her!  As you might have noticed, Preston is filled to the brim with love.  He is awesome.