Thanksgiving 2018

We made plans to go camping Friday/Saturday after getting together for a Thanksgiving feast on Thursday, but the weather showed 60-75% chance of rain and the temperature predictions kept dropping to the low 50s. Cold + rain = not fun camping. So we altered our plans and cancelled our reservation and opted for camping activities instead. Of course the weather ended up being beautiful...

Roasted hot dogs for lunch

S'mores

Playing at a park

Going on a hike

Fall Sports Season

Bryson had his first season of a sport and played soccer. Bryson was excited for every game but whined and complained about every practice. After a few weeks it was obvious that he didn't have the drive or natural athleticism of our older boys. As competitive parents and with competitive older boys, it was difficult not to be frustrated with Bryson during games. Run after the ball! He did do a good job of staying in between the ball and the goal when defending, but he didn't get close enough to apply any real pressure to the player with the ball. Matt coached the team but was at a loss for how to help the players improve. They worked on basic skills, but trying to teach the players to hustle seemed to be a foreign concept in their brains. For this soccer league, different than Caleb’s, you rank your child’s ability according to experience when you register and that’s how the teams are divided up according to those rankings. All the other teams they faced had at least 3 good players that could dribble the ball down the field and score goals. Matt finally approached some parents on his team to ask how they ranked their child. 3 of the 7 players ranked their child as very experienced when they were obviously not since Bryson was better than all 3 of them. So Bryson’s games were pretty painful to watch. He did improve throughout the season and scored a total of 5 goals. (My other boys at Bryson's age scored 2 or 3 goals per game.) 

He was so proud of his trophy at the end of the season. It helped that they won their last game (their only win of the season), so they went out feeling like they won first place! :)

We were excited for Carter to make premier since he was combined with 10 year olds for the fall. Carter had the same coach as last season. The coach really likes Carter, but unfortunately the coach drafts a team horribly choosing players he knows instead of players that are best. For example, Carter was drafted 3rd when he should have been drafted towards the end since there were strong 10yo who had experience pitching. (This was Carter's first season playing kid pitch vs. machine pitch last season.) This fall season was even more painful than spring. Loss after loss and the morale of the boys got so low. Matt was an assistant coach, but he had little control over decisions made during games. He made suggestions to the coach, however they were mostly ignored. The coach got discouraged as well towards the end of the season and blamed refs on bad calls and finally gave Matt more control because he didn't care anymore. Matt enjoyed being in charge more because he really wanted to coach Carter's team this season from the start, but the directors would only give him an elite team and Matt didn't want to be the reason Carter didn't make premier. Despite the games getting closer, the other teams were just better. So Carter's team only won 1 game and got last place in the tournament.

Caleb had a fantastic season of soccer because he had a great coach and a great team. It's been 3 years since Caleb has played soccer, so he had to put in some hard work to hone the skills of other players on his team that have played more regularly. There were 4 boys from church on his team (including Caleb), and they were probably the best 4 on the team leading out on aggressiveness, hustling, and scoring. He had so much fun playing with his teammates and scored many goals and was a huge asset to his team. They had an undefeated season.

Ribbon Festival 2018

Caleb participated in a Suzuki Ribbon Festival where he played two Suzuki songs from the current book he is in (4) in front of a judge and an audience. It's simply a chance to practice performing with pressure and give the students more experience. Caleb didn't perform as well as he had practiced at home but still did very well! The other students in his group were quite talented playing some very difficult songs so it was fun to listen to them!!

Caleb and his good friend, Tyler, who started Suzuki about a year ago.

Tyler is tall for his age and Caleb is short for his age--makes for a big difference even though they are only 3 months apart! Caleb and Tyler were actually in a car accident earlier in the day on the way home from a soccer game. Tyler's dad was driving and someone ran a red light and hit them. Fortunately no one was hurt, but the truck was totaled. They were both a little shaken up the rest of the day.

Bryson's 6th Birthday

Opening presents first thing in the morning. Unfortunately Daddy couldn't join us after seminary as he had a work meeting to rush off to, but he listened in over the phone.

Mastermind, balloons, Kinetic sand, magnetic building blocks, gum

Eating lunch with Mr. B at school. Then he passed out powdered donuts as a birthday treat to share with his class.

Instead of a party this year, we went to Red Robin as a family after his Saturday soccer game. Here is Bryson's birthday treat!

Celebrating on Sunday with some cake and ice cream.

Bryson loves pumpkin bars--since I had just made them recently, I suggested this pumpkin crumble cake instead.

As I suppose is bound to happen, this year was a Mom Fail. Bryson didn't love his presents or cake and was pretty upset that we did a family activity instead of a birthday party (which we had discussed the previous week and he was okay with). We ended up exchanging some of his gifts, and he eventually got over the fact that he didn't have a birthday party. He asked for the cake for breakfast the next morning and enjoyed eating it over the next few days, so his attitude did play into the birthday fail. Hopefully next year I can get it right!

Austin's 3rd Birthday

This little boy could not wait for his birthday!

He requested strawberry cupcakes for his birthday dessert.

The following day, Grandma and Grandpa took him to Build-A-Bear for their traditional 3-year-old birthday present. Austin chose to make a dog--Chase from Paw Patrol.

Austin was very nervous about his 3yo well visit, but he did well, even while getting his blood pressure taken and the vision test. He is in the 5th percentile for his height and 21st percentile for his weight. (I'm sad that he's so short.)

One thing that people pick up on quickly is how well Austin speaks in complete sentences with a high level of vocabulary. He says things frequently that impress Matt and me. He loves to volunteer to say prayers and says them independently. After his older brothers all leave for school, he says, "And now it's just me and Mommy." I love spending time with him each day. Austin loves to sing his ABCs and read books and help me bake.

Time Out For Women 2018

A big thank you to all our husbands for letting us have a weekend away!

We did some shopping and enjoyed Jason's Deli for Dinner on Friday night.

Friday night listening to the speakers. My favorite was probably Tom Christofferson--loved the message but his delivery was a bit sleepy. 

Kari put together a cute bag full of snacks, gum, pen, notebook, and these relaxing/nourishing face masks!

Saturday my favorite speaker was the last: Laurel Day. I also really enjoyed S. Michael Wilcox's message about analyzing Christ's questions in the book of John. City of Enoch also had great music.

Any chance to have a break from "Mom" duties feels awesome, but it's even better to spend time with these awesome ladies and be spiritually fed. So fun to bond!

Six Flags Amusement Park

With my parents home from their mission, Matt and I did took advantage of a weekend away at Six Flags at the end of July. The kids were so jealous that we promised we would take them at the end of the summer. So on September 18th, it was their turn to go to the amusement park. To say they were excited was an understatement. 

Just finished the first ride and ready to run to the next one!

Bryson and I on a pirate ship

Bryson driving a car

Austin and I in the backseat as passengers

 Jared and his family decided to join us which helped for switching off and taking turns on rides.

A boat ride

This wigged Caleb out!

When Matt and I went in July, we splurged and bought a fast pass so we spent less time waiting in line. The downside was that there wasn't much of a break between rides, and after the 3rd spinning ride in a row, I almost threw up. I was done for the rest of the day. All the rides just caught up to me! We ended up leaving an hour earlier than we planned on, but we did ride all the rides! We planned to ride some rides again but didn't because I wasn't feeling well.

Going with the kids, I was careful to take breaks between rides so that I wouldn't feel that awful again. However, both Caleb and Carter got sick like I did. They both had headaches and Carter actually did throw up in some bushes. We were all tuckered out and left at 4pm. The boys were bummed that they didn't get to ride one ride that shut down early because someone had a heart-attack on it. There were about 5 rides they missed out riding because they weren't feeling well. :( Because we did the driving and the park all in one day, it made for one LONG day. I have to add that Carter threw-up again in the car on the way home--not fun. The boys are already asking to go back though!