Here we go again

Even though I love not having to keep a schedule during the summer, I still like to have a plan. I like things organized and under control. Every May I create some type of schedule and job chart. It works great for about a week, maybe two, and then we slack off. This year I am determined to do it the entire summer. It shouldn't be too hard...right?

Told you so

With no neighbors to play with and nothing else to do, Saturday afternoon was going to be totally lame. Matt suggested going downtown. The boys were unimpressed. They whined. They complained. We persisted. We loaded up the van and--what do you know--had lots of fun. The best part of the day is that we didn't have any schedule to keep.

Riding the train is a really good time. We hopped on and off enough times that the kids became experts at mass transit.

Our first stop was Temple Square. We'd never brought the boys to the Church History Museum.

One look at this ship prompted Ben to run (he probably should have walked) back to thank me for bringing him here. We'd only been there for 5 minutes and he was already impressed.

The ship bunks had beans (or something bean-like) in the mattresses. The kids decided they could never sleep on them, especially not for 2 months.

I told the boys I'd take a picture of anything they wanted. Ben liked this stained glass.

Angel Moroni is big and super cool.

Noah practicing for future conference talks.

Zack would have stayed at this pulpit forever. He had a whole thing going here-mouthing who knows what, waving arms, dramatic expressions. Fortunately, he wasn't in silly bathroom words mode.

There is an I am a Child of God exhibit that was really entertaining. They have a bunch of hands- on things especially for kids.

The boys built temples:

did CTR rubbings and colored and built stain glass designs.

At the boys' insistence we stopped at the museum store. I would have bought this hat for Noah but he didn't want it.

We walked around the temple grounds. Zack was happy to see that we have some "temple flowers" growing at our house too. The boys are lovers of fountains.

All this water was making them anxious to get to the Gateway. I was getting a little worried that because they were already in swimwear they'd just jump (or fall) into one of the fountains.

We don't go to the Gateway very often, but often enough that the boys remember Ben & Jerry's is right by the water.

A big rain storm was coming and it was cooling off so they didn't get to play for very long.

This is the first year Zack has wanted to get wet. He had a blast and got blasted in the face a few times too.

A little yummy pizza to finish off the day.

I don't know how many times the boys used the words fun and thank you yesterday. We all had a really good time. Hopefully now they'll stop wasting time complaining so we can spend more time having fun.

and so it begins...

Festival de Primavera

I have three boys and zero girls. Which means that I spend more time at soccer games than dance recitals. I am cool with that. Last night I had the opportunity to watch Noah (orange sash) dance. It turns out he's pretty good. See for yourself:




I am not used to the whole costume thing so I didn't get decent picture of Noah.

In the grand tradition of Spanish programs, Noah had no idea what the words to the songs he sang meant. In the case of Guantanamera ("girl from Guantánamo") I can see why his teacher didn't take the time to explain it. I've actually heard this song before so I was curious and it's a long story. This video is a little shaky because Zack was dancing and bumping me.



He has been telling me for months that he was going to be sick on May 20th, but afterward he was pretty proud of himself. He should be proud. This is by far the best Spanish program I've seen. They kept it short with each grade singing one song (the 4th grade sang two but they were short) and dancing one dance. The costumes were adorable. They had pinatas, a mariachi band, burritos, taquitos and churros. It was definitely la fiesta magnifico!! Now I am extra excited for Ben to start Spanish immersion next year.

Cool, Beans!

I have been considering planting a garden this year. It's a lot of work but that isn't what worries me. I want to throw some seeds and plants in the ground, water them, do some weeding and then eat. Not so easy. Our soil here is faulty. I should send in soil samples to Utah State and have them tell me what I need to do to make it better. There is some sort of rule about peat moss, compost and vermiculite. I don't even know what vermiculite is. I should add manure or maybe not. It's all so confusing. It is way easier to go to the produce section.

A few weeks ago Ben's class read Jack and the Beanstalk for a fairytale Friday. He came home with a cup full of dirt. I watered it. It grew upside down. That was weird but I fixed it and watered it some more. It thrived. We got little purple flowers and then yesterday we noticed beans. Success! I feel like some kind of vegetable growing genius and that was just the confidence booster I needed. This weekend we are planting a garden.

Ben won't eat vegetables or fruit. Not one, unless you count ketchup. I was hoping for an I grew this bean and now I will eat it vegetable breakthrough but it didn't happen, not that I expected it. Maybe vegetables will grow better if they are around someone they don't feel threatened by. I'm going to go with that theory and will have him help me in the garden. If we fail, next year I'll send in soil samples.

The Graduate

I am pleased to announce that Zack is my third son to successfully complete preschool. I am so proud. There were a lot of songs to learn, hands to keep to themselves and pockets to sit on but he did it and now he's ready for kindergarten. He even got his shots last week.

We were really lucky that Miss Kim was looking for another boy to put in her class. She was a great teacher. Zack learned some sign language, went on lots of field trips and met a whole bunch of cute little girls.


Since Noah and Ben graduated pre-blog I am adding their graduation pictures as well. The first born has the best picture of course.

Ben has the best graduation cap--with a real tassel. All of the pictures I took at his outdoor graduation were right in the sun so you can't see him or anything else.

I think I should probably be sad about all this growing up, but I am ok with it. Maybe by next fall I will be more emotional. For now, I see nothing sad about 5 weekday mornings all to myself.

Soccer Stuff

Oh, that's right, I have a blog. I managed one post in April. That isn't to say that there hasn't been anything going on or that I have been too busy to post. I've just haven't been feeling the blogging vibe. Even now I am half-heartedly posting this.

We started and, with tonight's 5-1 loss, finished Noah's spring soccer season. It was pretty dismal. First of all, it was way, way, way too cold to be playing (or in my case, watching) soccer. One game it was 32 degrees. Truly. I sat in the car for that one. Our little start up team was also moved into the A bracket which meant we played all the premier teams which meant we lost a lot. Or in other words, we didn't win any. The kids played really hard though and with a little more practice and conditioning they could beat some of the other teams. These are pictures from one of the two warmer games. This kick ended in a goal.
Noah always has sock issues. When his sock falls down it reminds me of an old man's sock garter. It's not so bad in this shot, but at tonight's game it was all I could do to stop myself from running on the field to pull up his socks.
Next season the team name is changing from the Saratoga Sting to the Saratoga Rage. Maybe a more violent name will translate into a more aggressive team. They'll also have red and grey uniforms, which will be helpful to me since the refs wear yellow and black and I sometimes want get after the lazy kid who doesn't run after the ball--except that that lazy kid is the referee. I have other reasons to be mad at them.

The Zackster decided to play soccer this year too. It's fun to go back to the early days; it's far less stressful and it's way funnier . He was so excited for his first game. He went to bed early the night before so he could get his rest and had this big grin for nearly the entire game.

They get to pick their name and chose the Red Bolts--not Bulls. The first game was a little sketchy but Saturday's game was much better, except for the pouring rain. Zack had 2 1/2 goals.

I really enjoy doing the whole soccer thing. The games are fun when the weather is nice. And it's a good thing I don't mind because Zack's season goes into June and Noah will be practicing all summer long for the fall season.