1st week of summer!

I gave each of the kids an opportunity to pick a subject they would like to learn about and we are taking turns spending time learning all kinds of things about that subject. Jackson picked lava, fire, and electricity. Zoey picked rainbows, clouds, and the ocean. Eli picked building, bugs, and fire too. They also spend time writing in a summer journal each day and a summer school workbook.

We started with rainbows and have incorporated rainbows into our daily summer schedule that worked so well for us last year:
We have "Mom store Monday" where they redeem there tickets from doing chores for items at my store, "Time to get crafty Tuesday", "Wet and wild Wednesday", "Thinking Thursday", and "Fabulous Fun Friday". It's an awesome schedule for us and gives the kids something to look forward to each day.

Week 1: Rainbows! For crafty Tuesday, we painted rainbows on fish and made sun twirlers and learned the colors that appear in rainbows and in what order.

On Wet Wednesday we played a water game with rainbow sponge "bombs" and "ate the rainbow" for our snack..

On thinking Thursday we did some science experiments with a prism and learned how to create an experiment and record our results. We made a rainbow from the sun, and learned what happens when we shine light through water, what changes when we add milk to water and shine light through it, and learned that light can "bend".

For fun Friday we visited a rainbow park and fed rainbow trout up the canyon! Eli got to touch a couple of fish. They loved watching the swarm when they came to feed!  A successful rainbow week!

Can you find Jackson, Zoey and Eli?

Swim Lessons

We had to drive a little farther than we wanted, and pay a little more than we hoped, but we got some really good private swim instructors for the kids this summer.  I was kind of annoyed about the situation going into the lessons since things changed from what we had pre-payed for... and they wouldn't work with us to get our money back....BUT The instructors are doing a fantastic job of getting the kids water safe and swimming pretty good. Even though all the kids have come down with earaches and a mild cold/cough, I'm thinking the positives outweigh the negatives with the lessons this year. Maybe someday we'll have our own backyard pool and won't have to worry about catching other's viruses from the pool!  

We have a family reunion this year at Lake Powell and we really wanted to get the kids to be as comfortable as possible with deep water swimming. 

Jackson is ready for swim team next year! He has a beautiful dive and getting individual help in improving the details of  his strokes. 

Zoey is learning to coordinate her legs and arms and is becoming more comfortable in deep water. She loves to dive and she loves to dive for rings. She always checks to see if I'm watching her, and when I catch her eye I give her a thumbs up or wave to let her know I saw her :)

Eli is fearless in the water but he just doesn't know how to swim. He is coming along really nicely and get the concepts quickly, and forgets them just as quick :) He always amazes his instructors! And he won't--absolutely won't-- dive head first!

Calvin is very timid and afraid of swimming. He's afraid of floating on his back and the safety measures the instructors try to teach him about staying alive in deep water. He cries most of the lessons and has even thrown up. It's pretty rough on him....but he's learning. We're trying to get him to float for 60 seconds on his own. He started at 5 and is now up to 25 seconds! It's improvement!

Spring Soccer

Another year of Spring Soccer! This year was so wet that most games and practices were rained on. Soccer boys don't quit because of a rain shower though! 

Jackson isn't very competitive, he just enjoys being part of the team and playing with friends and getting a treat and drink at the end of each game. His team was pretty good this year and won most games even though an official score wasn't being recorded :) Kids in his age group are starting to understand how the game is played and using their heads, chest and bodies to block, punt, and bounce the ball to where they want it to go. It's starting to get fun to watch, but a little sad to see the competition involved as well. Jackson got his medal at the end of the season which, for him, was worth it all! 

It's raining, it's pouring!

We've had a really, really wet May. The rainstorms have only been broken up by momentary bursts of sunlight. In those moments, the kids rush outside to get a dose of fresh air. I love that! Zoey asked if she could splash in the puddles and I said "Go ahead!" Of course, the boys couldn't be left out of the fun.  It was fun for me to snap these pictures of them playing! How carefree it is to be a kid. 

Calvin turned 3!!

 Calvin was so excited for his birthday. We made a countdown chain for him and wrapped his door just like what we did for his big brother Jackson just a few weeks earlier! His request for a birthday dinner was fish and Brussel sprouts.... ya my kids like that stuff. I did encourage him in that direction though, because really, he had no idea what his favorite dinner was!

He requested a fire truck cake and I did my best to accommodate, albeit I'm no professional cake decorator! Calvin, who is normally a very patient kid, was very impatient in waiting to eat his cake. It barely made it to serving time looking much like these pictures...he dragged his fingers through the frosting so many times! I'm glad I got a few pictures right away, but even here you can see some finger marks already! This was a true test of patience!

Calvin is a fun and happy boy. He loves to laugh and play. He loves to build with Legos and hide in forts. He loves to help in the kitchen and garden. He wants to be a part of the action, no matter where it is or what's going on, he just doesn't want to be left out. He's sensitive and sweet and loves hugs, kisses, tickles, wrestling with dad and story time. This is such a sweet age for him.  He says the darnedest cutest things! A little while ago when we had a late spring snow and he said, "Holy mokelsy, is it Christmas?"

 He got a fire truck and a flash light and a big blue ball. Aunt Carissa got him a transformer and Grandma Gray got him a monster truck, which he loves, loves, loves! He's so excited to be 3, and he's already telling people that he's 4! He is doing really well with his potty training! We love having him. smooch smooch.

Jackson's Baptism

On Saturday, May 2 2015, Jackson was baptized and confirmed by Brian. It was a special day for him, and all of us. His Great Grandpa Schenk and his Great Aunt Denise made the special trip down for the occasion. Great Grandpa Schenk and Uncle Danny Beutler were witnesses. Aunt Liz played the piano and Grandma Gray said the closing prayer. 

Jackson shared his baptism with 3 other people from the stake, 2 of whom were at his party the night before. Kaylor Hansen has been a great friend of Jackson's since Kindergarten. It was neat to share that day together and have each boy witness the other's baptism. 

Grandma Beutler made Jackson a very special Afghan in the red yarn he chose a few years back! It was cool to see the beautiful finished product. The yarn is so soft and heavy, Jackson commented later that he understood why grandma made these special blankets for her grandchildren's 8th birthday: to remind them of the holy ghost! He has slept with it every night since!

Brian and I both had very special moments with Jackson. We all felt the spirit witnessing to us of the importance of this occasion. Brian felt a powerful spirit when he and Jackson both got dressed in the white clothes, while talking with Jackson about the symbolism of the occasion and while singing the opening song, "Baptism".  After the confirmation, I loved that Jackson came and gave me a big hug throughout the closing song of "When I am Baptized". I was trying to hold back tears because the spirit was so sweet. We are very happy for Jackson in making this step in his life. He is growing up so fast and we are so proud of the wonderful young man he is becoming.

Jackson's 8th Birthday

Jackson was so excited to turn 8!! It has been big year for him and he's excited to grow up. For him, it means no more booster seats on school field trips (yay!!), getting baptized, and more responsibilities... like mowing the lawn and taking the garbage to the road (yay for me!!). Jackson is a great kid. He's very thoughtful of others, tries to be considerate of feelings, and is great at trying to be silly and funny to lighten the mood when its needed. He's a hard worker, loves the outdoors, plays hard and loves life. He's a great negotiator! I sure love having him be apart of the family. We decorated his door for a morning surprise. He did a great job of bursting through it, making sure to get every streamer!

It was Jackson's year to have a friend party for his birthday. He hasn't had one since he was 5 and he probably won't have another until he's 12. It was a very fun party...and a lot of crazy!! We took a huge group of his friends from school and church and a few cousins to Boondocks. Two of his friends at the party would also be baptized with him the following morning (Kaylor and Sophia)! They started off with a pizza party, opening gifts, and topping it off with chocolate cake.  (Just to note for my family journal, his friends at the party were: Xander from soccer, Kaylor Hansen, Brigham Schofield, Jonah and Lynden Houghton, Taylor Washburn, Dominic Hiatt, Matthew Muhlestein, Mason Anderson, Bridger from school, Parker and Chloe Hansen, Sophia Hicks, and his brothers and sister)

The kids got unlimited chances to ride the go-carts and bumper boats and play laser tag (where they all started right after cake), miniature golf, and 20 tokens each to play arcades. Considering the craziness of the evening, I'm assuming everyone had a good time! We couldn't keep track of all the heads 100% of the time, so we just them go amok until it was time to go and hoped they each figured out how to have fun in their own way!

 Jackson tried out the go carts for the first time. I think he was a bit nervous at the start, he was pretty easy going with it, a little timid. He got 200 tickets for being the birthday boy to redeem at the ticket counter for prizes, and I think his tokens earned him a few hundred more. He was pretty ecstatic about trading those in for prizes. I hope it was a birthday he will always remember! Thanks Grandma/pa Gray for coming to support and  helping drive kids, and to Aunt Carissa for taking the trip all by herself to meet us at Boondocks! We appreciate your love and support!

 Since we got home from his party late and he didn't have time to play with any of his presents, he woke up early the next morning and went from toy to toy to toy. It was like Christmas morning all over again! This was a tin can robot set from Gandma/pa Gray, the first he chose to break into! He also got water guns, water balloon set, nerf guns, lego sets and other fun boy things. Happy Boy!