Doing Hard Things

So in motherhood like all evolving things finds new ideas and trends to pursue to help her young be strong, capable, talented. So my newest idea was to instill in my kids the need to do Hard Things. I dread hard things and I run quickly from challenges and have learned that challenges come anyhow and anyway. So way not learn to do hard things gracefully. I am still learning, but in hopes of strengthening future generations I challenged Katie to do those hard things she always avoids. So she decided (last minute) to run for scholar council. She had to talk to lots of kids and give a speech and make a poster at 10 o'clock at night. Win or lose I was proud of her for trying. She was successful and learned a lot in the process. Scholar council is not as fun as it sounds....boring. So then there was the hard thing of choreographing her own dance. Each year the dance students are asked, not required, to make up a dance. We have always been too busy and it would be "hard". So she tackled it. She made up a dance with Sara and showed it to her teacher in preparation for judging/being picked or not for the showcase. Sara was not on bored for the hard thing, and did not preform well in front of her class/teacher. So we were unsure of how to accomplish this hard thing and follow through when it dawned on us that she could use Max in Sara's place. A couple of the lifts were still doable with Max because he is so light and Katie is so strong. They performed for the judges, and did well. Max gave his first performance at anything and came out only a little scared. However, they did get picked for the showcase and Max without dress rehearsal and only two weeks of dancing practiced performed again on stage for a crowd. Scott and I were so proud of Katie and Max for doing something hard and working hard at it. There was a lot of practicing. So hopefully (since helping your kids do hard things makes you do hard things) I can also come alway from this trend a little better at doing hard things.

Making Money

Max has become a money man. We do not give allowances to our kids for the work they are expected to do. Make beds, put away laundry, keep their rooms clean, help with dishes..... However, you can hire out to do extra jobs and earn money. It is Max's new favorite thing to do. On this day he spent several hours filling up dump trucks with leaves and cleaning up the yard. His crew (Sara) gave him labor troubles, but he persisted and finished up his longest, hardest job yet... On his last job (cleaning out the fireplace) he asked if he got bonuses. Max is quick on his feet. Watch out Mom.

Daddy Daughter - I will never start a resturant

I could lie to you and say, that the last daddy daughter activity was amazing and I would totally do it all over again. But it would be a lie. These girls are creative and fun, but helping 16 girls work together to create a fun evening for them and their dads was exhausting. I hope they had so much fun....... because I did not. I was caught between a lot of other projects beside this one and it added to the stress of the evening. However, the Dads showed up and were charming and the girls all glowed at the attention. These pictures don't show the food prep and serving side of the night. It is probably for the best, no restaurant dreams for me. However, I am proud of these girls for dreaming up this activity and following through with assignments. They are awesome..... Good thing this is a once a year sort of thing... seriously.

Hayride with a Kindergartener

Scott went with Max's class to the Big Red Barn in Santaquin. They have a pumpkin patch there where little kids can pick out big pumpkins.....and carry them by themselves because Scott is too mean to help them. True Story. And when a little kid in the group wets himself he tells him it will dry and sends him off to play. Also true. But you win an award because you take lots of pictures of these cute kids....love you for that, also true.

Sleep

Why is sleep beautiful and peaceful. Max wakes up in the early hours to warm himself in our bed (till Scott kicks him out). He then cuddles on the couch to wait for the family to awaken or fall back asleep. This is his baby blanket and it is much to small and rarely used. However, he curved up into a ball to fit under it this morning and I of course needed a picture of my sweet Max dreaming.

Jonathan's Baptism

Jonathan was so excited for his baptism day to arrive. Grandma Schorr gave him a "comforter" which he loves to have closest to him at night. I loved watching him sit with Bishop Palmer and talk about being baptized. They sat in the Palmer's back yard rocking and talking so comfortably that I still have a picture of it in my mind. We discussed baptism with Jonathan and it was definitely his decision. We talked a lot about what he would be promising and they would be required to do. Fasting is something that he struggles with, and every week he asks if he has to fast. The first time around he only made it to the middle of sacrament meeting when he need a drink desperately and then ate treats it class. The second time around he made it to lunch, which we are viewing as totally awesome for this kid. We love Jonathan's need to understand and his curious nature. It was a wonderful experience to be with him during this special time.

The good old days

Great Aunt Linda Lee is letting Katie borrow her authentic 50's garb for an daddy daughter dinner. Katie and Abby tried it on for kicks and took pictures on the iphone. How fun to actually have been able to wear fun clothes like this in the real world.

Sara's Birthday

A butterfly birthday. A group of excited four year olds gathered to celebrate Sara's fourth birthday. It was a lot of fun and a lot of work to keep up with their energy level. We loved decorating hats and and looking for hidden treasures. But most of all it was wonderful to have all of Sara's brothers and sister (and friends) focus on Sara. We love Sara and are so happy she is part of our family. Hoping number 4 is special.

The Desk

Here is the desk that has taken us half a year to get this far. We work on it in such little bits as to move along at a snail's pace. I am so excited to get it finished.... and organize the office space. I need to not plan any more projects and hopefully get my garage back by winter. I hope to have a finished picture....soon?

New Glasses

Katie has been so excited to get glasses. We think she is pretty cute in them. She does too. We took this picture to email to Grandma. That smiles says it all, she loves being able to see and accessorize with glasses.

Day Camp

This is from a long time ago, but we had such fun. We could of stayed hours longer to play!

Fourth of July Parade 2011

This is the late night crew. Conner and Kaleb stayed awake all night to get good seats for the fourth of July parade. They played a lot of games with their uncles. They said they felt great but fell asleep every time they sat down. Slept through a lot of the parade. They were miserable the next day, but they were pretty proud of themselves though.

Abby and Katie showing their spirit. They always give me great smiles.

Jonathan came for the snap fireworks and the food.
Max wanted doughnuts, and more treats and not twirlers. He was really sticky and happy by the end of the parade.
Dave Allen and his brother n law plan and prepare this awesomeness. They had a balloon launch and flag ceremony. It is a great time to be had for those who want to celebrate the fourth.
Sara loved everything. She loved the floats, being with family, eating treats. She was one happy girl.
After naps and a little down time we had a family bbq after which the kids then put together a parade for us. Isn't childhood fabulous. Here is one of the more dangerous floats....Colby precariously hanging onto Olivia in the wagon with Brynn driving (pushing) the tractor uphill.
The parade was finished off by Jake (with his traditional mohawk) and Conner driving the tractor. They had a great day. However the end of the days included rain, mosquitoes and fireworks. Not as amazing and very underrated, but we are only showing pictures of the happy events, right?

Summer Evening Family Soccer

Wimps need not apply. Family games are intense, and a lot of fun, mostly. It is awesome that the kids will play together and can all join in. I do not know why Jonathan is in his swim suit. We love our walnut tree....I think we trimmed it a little after the game to make it easier to play. It provides a lot of shade in the evening..If we could just get rid of the fence.

Justin Bieber look alike

Race car driver?Baseball player?

I don't know how this summer evening started .....but we have members who like Justin Bieber and those who don't. But during the course of the evening we started "dressing up" to have our pictures taken and Jonathan did his version of J.B. It was hilarious.

Thanksgiving Point Dinosaur Museum

We are doing the library reading program this summer, which gives fabulous prizes to it's participants. One of the prizes was free tickets to the dino museum. It was so much fun, the kids are old enough that all of them enjoy it. This was Katie's favorite exhibit, the giant sea turtle. We have a sea turtle fetish right now.

A cousin sleepover

We do late nights, no sleep overs, unless your a cousin. Then we make lots of crafty projects and stay up too late watching old movies. The girls need no patterns, just a little help with the logistics. Rice pillows, decorated pillows and fish toys were all made and well loved by those who received them.

The Princess Festival

Sara and I received two tickets from Rapunzel (Kristin Freeland) to go to the Princess Festival. They held it at the Thanksgiving point Children's Gardens. It is a rarity that Sara and I get to do anything just the two of us. We had a lot of fun. It was great to see Sara wait in line to talk to the Princesses and remember her Thank You at the end of the conversations. She loved the plays (Magic Flute and Snow White) and conquered her fear of the Queen of Hearts. She and I loved sharing the morning together and learning together. I love her strong spirit and her excitement for life. Sara is a wonderful sister and daughter and makes our life exciting. Look out world, here comes a princess who knows what she wants and isn't afraid to say it.

BYU Book Festival

We have an amazing time playing together at BYU. There was so much to do we could not do it all and we were there for 5 hours. We spent an hour and a half waiting to have Brandon Mull sign our books. It was fun to make felted soap balls, and carry around balloon swords and animals while having our pictures taken with story characters. Max liked Darth Vader.... don't put the Curious George picture in my slideshow please. Is 5 too old for Curious George? Sara loved Curious George but would not stand by him. The 4 younger kids bounced at the bounce houses. Katie and Kaleb talked to Obert Skye (Pillage, Leven Thumps). They got to color, create and we enjoyed a great day. Jonathan asked how soon we could do it again. We have to wait another year..... but definitely worth a repeat next year. Maybe Scott will get to go too.

Pirates Tell No Tale

This past week we enjoyed the BYU Children's Creatvie Dance Concert. It is kinda a mouth full. Every year we are amazed at how wonderful it is.

Here is just Katie's group from Dance. They are awesome girls. Sky, the girl in yellow next to Katie is moving. We will miss her a lot. I am sure Katie will run into her sometime in her life again. They loved to play with each others hair. Dark Hair/Blonde Hair.... so awesome they could be friends and have an awesome couple of years dancing together. Sky is beautifully tall and we loved that. Rosie was Katie' s new friend this year. Then there was Sara who has a little sister Katie. Life has it's ironies doesn't it. Katie is already looking forward to next year.

This is Katie in her pirates costume with Captain Jack Sparrow. He looks the part and played the part. Incredible. Katie was not excited to be in a pirate dance when they first started but by the end she loved and owned the dance. We are grateful for wonderful dance teachers and an amazing program. Katie looks a little stiff in the photo (maybe it is the make up, she hates make up) we will see about that in a few years.

Friday Night Date and Mindy Gledhill

So Katie and I enjoy some of the songs of a local singer/songwriter Mindy Gledhill. So when we heard she was singing locally at a burger joint we decided to go and make it a date. I picked up Katie from Dance and we head over to get dinner and watch. Katie did not bring a coat or sweater. We live in Utah... to say the least it was cold and we had to snuggle together to eat and watch. They started the entertainment late... and we were the youngest/oldest people there. Someone nearby may have made a mother comment. However because it was so cold we decided to leave before we could here Mindy sing, but on the way out we saw her and said hello. We also asked for a picture to document this very cold and fun evening. She was so gracious and hugged us and now we have this picture below with Mindy.. So many things to laugh about that night.

Picking out an instrument - A new Drum pleas?

So no drums here but Sara sure enjoyed trying them out. Most of the kids picked an instrument to try. If only their Mom was patient enough to help 5 excited kids practice their instruments. Hmmm....




Every year at the Family Concert series at Abbravenal Hall they have a instrument testing activity. Katie tried the flute 5 years ago and rest is history. She loves to show off every year by "trying out the flute". One and a half years till she can play with a school group or community orchestra.

Boomerang classes

So these iphone pictures do not do justice to the art of making boomerangs. Boomerang making is kinda hard, esp. if Max is absent most of the time and needs to go potty. Yes, then making two boomerang's is kinda tricky. But the end result of a patient teacher and a lot of sanding you get a really cool boomerang. Kaleb's flew, Grandpa, Scott, Will, Elizabeth's, and Max's sort of flew. My boomerang had a mind of it's own. I guess making two boomerangs at once is not really good idea. Did I say the teacher was really patient with Jonathan and Max. It was a lot of fun....