Back Seat Driver!

If any of you think your spouse is a back seat driver, I would like to offer to let you drive around with Courtney for a while. You will appreciate your spouse so much more after that experience. Seriously, Courtney LOVES to tell me how to drive and it drives me nuts some days!

Today we were driving to the store and I suddenly heard from the back seat, "Mom, put both hands on the wheel now. We are going to wreck!" So I put both hands on the wheel and then I heard, "No Mom, put them like this (and she shows me her hands at 10 and 2)." So I made sure my hands were at the correct position. When we got close to a stop light she said, "Mom, it's red. That means you need to stop, so stop." (Yeah, have I told you that she's a bit bossy sometimes?!) I stopped and no sooner had it turned green than I heard, "Mom, go now, it's green. Everyone is waiting for us to move." And this went on and on. Each time I took one hand off the wheel, she would oh so nicely remind me to put both hands on the wheel.

She's cute but she acts way too old for her age. I just have to say that Ethan is an angel because she mothers him quite a bit and he takes it well, most of the time.

Here are some photos of my driving pal:

It's Little League Time!

If you know Bryan at all, you will know that he loves baseball. Last year we tried to get Ethan to let us sign him up for Little League, but he just wasn't interested. He had done soccer, basketball and wanted to be a "normal kid" without any practices. So we didn't push him. This year, however, he decided that he really wanted to play. I logged on and signed him up for the Snow Canyon Little League. Since his birthday is in May and the cut off date was April 30th, we had a choice whether to play his up (7-8 year olds) or down (6-7 year olds). Bryan had a bad experience when he was young playing up so we decided to play him down, but we left the decision up to him. He decided he would rather be the largest and oldest on the team and do well, rather than be younger, less experienced and not have a fun time. I think he made a wise decision.

His coach called Sunday night to tell us that he was a Cub and that they were having a practice Monday night at 5 p.m. Bryan was so excited. He came home from work early so he could take him. Ethan was really excited too. He told me this morning that he wished it were after school so he could go to baseball practice!

When we got to practice it was obvious that Ethan was the tallest on the team. He also did really well. His coach has a lot of baseball experience and is really into letting the kids learn and have fun. I think he is going to be great and Ethan was so excited to get his hat and uniform. He told me tonight that he wishes he had baseball practice every night. Bryan turned to me during practice and said, "Boy, this is better than the first day of school!" I think the two of them are going to love little league! ;)

Here are some photos of our cute boy!

New Dance Class

A couple of months ago I switched Courtney to a new dance class. I liked her old teacher but the class was too expensive and way too long. Courtney would lose interest and end up on my lap. Then I would become frustrated because we were paying so much for her to sit there. So we switched to the dance class with all the little girls in the ward in it. There are 4 of them from our neighborhood in it with one more probably starting in another month. It's a carpooling dream.

Anyway, Courtney had a rough adjustment to the switch and didn't like it at first. When I would take her she would cling to me and cry the entire time, so I felt, once again, as if we were wasting our money. One of my friends in the ward offered to carpool one day and Courtney loved it!! Now I can drive her and she will dance, but she won't let me leave her there. That presents a problem because Ethan gets home from school right when she is in dance class, but so far we have made it work out.

Here are some photos from her new class. You have to lay on your side for the last one. Sorry, but I'm too lazy tonight to fix it. You will notice that she is just in regular clothes. She has a fit when I try to put her in a leotard and tights anymore, so I decided it wasn't worth the fight and that was another reason she now likes it. I guess no girl really likes wearing tights!

Girl's Camp Fund Raiser

Saturday was our fund raiser for Girl's Camp. This year we wanted to do something different for camp. Usually the camps have been on a stake level, but this year it's all on a ward level. We wanted to give the girls a break so we choose a site where we wouldn't have to set up tents, had flush toilets and showers, and (something we tried to keep secret) it has a swimming pool. But...we had to work and earn the money it would take to rent the place. The assistant camp director and I talked about money making fund raiser and she mentioned that they had washed windows a few years ago and it had done really well. We took the idea to the girls and they thought it would be fun so...we washed windows.

A month ago we sent sign-up sheets around the ward and we had (originally) 40 houses sign up but 2 dropped out before the fund raiser. I got a ward map and marked where each of the houses was and then put them into 4 teams. The assistant camp director bought spray bottles, made up a vinegar/soap/water solution, and brought them over. I collected squeegees, rags, water thermoses, and other things we would need. Then the girls met at my house Saturday morning.

We did a training on how to wash a window, split them into 4 groups, gave them each a wagon to pull with the supplies on it along with a water thermos, apples and granola bars for snacks, and sent them on their way. The girls had a great time and we were able to wash the outside windows of 38 houses in 3 1/2 hours! It was amazing. We charged $30 for a single story home and $50 for a 2 story home. We made enough money for the location, gas money to get there, and entrance fees into the National Park where we are going. So we are set!

I've had some suggestions on how to make it better that we'll use next time...I think people want this as an annual thing. It was fun enough!

Evening of the Arts

Tonight was the Santa Clara Elementary's Evening of the Arts program. Ethan decided that he wanted to play the piano a few weeks ago when they had sign ups. So we picked out a song and he was working on it. Then came Spring Break and he didn't practice at all (I know, it's bad, but I decided to give him a break). Yesterday he decided he wanted to do another song, that was easier, because he didn't feel confident with his other song. So we worked on it and he was ready. He was first on the program and did a great job! I would show you a video but our video camera konked out so we didn't get any of it on video. But he really did a great job.

After the piano portion, he took us to his classroom so we could see his work of art that he created. He is really talented in art also. All in all, we had a great night with him.

Here are some photos:

Ethan announcing his song:


Ethan playing his song (you can't see him but he's back there):

Ethan and his certificate:

Ethan and his artwork:

Our Cute Boy!

I know I'm his mom so I don't say with with any objectivity, but I just think he is the cutest boy in the world, next to Bryan of course. I think part of it is because I know his sweet personality and how much he loves everyone and wants to do what is right.

Each Fall, a company (LifeTouch) comes to schools and takes photos. They are the usual class photos you think of when you think of elementary. But they come back in the Spring and always take really cool photos. So I am learning to only buy the class composite photo in the Fall (so we have all his classmates) and then buy the Spring package because it's so darn cute!

Goodbye to Spring Break

Monday morning was bittersweet because it was the last morning of Spring Break. We had forgotten Bryan's car at his work so the kids and I had to drive him to work. I had errands to run and it just seemed fitting that, on the last morning, I should take them to breakfast. We pulled out the old Dixie Direct and found a place to go. The kids both ordered the 2 pancakes kid meals and I was a bit nervous they would still be hungry afterward. Never fear! The pancakes were huge and even Ethan couldn't eat it all.

We then went shopping, which went great because a) it was 9 a.m. and we were the only shoppers so the lines were short and b) the kids were full so they didn't want any treats.

Ethan wanted to watch the second Harry Potter movie so we went home, had a movie morning and then went down for naps. I spent the rest of the day cleaning the house like mad and getting ready for school to start up again.

After FHE and baths, we did our usual nightly routine and got the kids down to bed. Ethan took FOREVER to fall asleep though. He was way too excited to go back to school. He really missed his teacher and wanted to go back to see her. She was gone the week before Spring Break because her father was killed so Ethan really hasn't seen her for 2 weeks and he is having withdrawls.

Andrew should be getting his mission call this week so we all were set to test our webcams so we could watch him open his call. At 9:00 everyone started logging on and trying to get things set up. After about 20 minutes of experimentation we found out that you can't do a webcam chat with more than one other webcam at a time. So David, the computer guru of the bunch, got on justintv and set up a channel so we could all see and hear him. Then the fun started. Apparently after 9 p.m. at BYU things get a bit crazy. David spent the next 20 minutes entertaining us while we mindlessly watched him on our computers. It was pretty funny and gave us a new insight into David. But we are now all set up to watch Andrew open his mission call this week.

Anyway, Tuesday will be back to live as normal.

What book was that?

Courtney loves to sing the song that lists the books in the Book of Mormon. You know the one:

"First and second books of Nephi, Jacob, Enos, Jerojuana"...WHO?!?!

Yeah, Courtney hasn't quite gotten all the names correct, but it's funny to listen to her sing it! She has a whole different set of prophets than the rest of us do ;)

Compassion

I just looked up the word "compassion" in the dictionary and was shocked, shocked I say, that Ethan's picture wasn't next to the word! ;) The kid just amazes me at how he feels other's pain.

Courtney was threatened last night that if she didn't stay in bed she wouldn't get a story tonight for bed. She got up 2 more times so we told her that she wouldn't get a story for bed tonight. She remembered this and when we were eating dinner she asked Bryan if she would get a story tonight. He told her "sure" but then I kindly reminded him that she had disobeyed and couldn't get one. She started to get upset so we tabled the discussion until a time when we weren't in a crowded restaurant.

During scripture reading tonight she told me that she was really sad because she wouldn't get a story. When Ethan heard this he became more upset than Courtney was and began begging us to let her have a story. This has worked in the past because we just can't stand how sad he is for his sister and it softens our hearts, but it doesn't teach Courtney anything. So we didn't give in this time. Ethan was not happy with us.

I sang Courtney a song and then Bryan put her to bed. We were in Ethan's room reading "Harry Potter" when Courtney came out. She had to go to the bathroom, so I helped her and she went back to bed. We were once again reading when the door opened again. Bryan asked me, "Has she been threatened?" I told him that I hadn't yet threatened to take away another bedtime story. I got up and as I walked out the door I heard Bryan say, "Courtney, if you get out of bed one more time..." and his voice became muffled. When I got back to Ethan's room I found out that, when Ethan heard Bryan starting to threaten no bedtime story, he jumped up and covered Bryan's mouth so he couldn't finish.

I wish I could say that everyone appreciated how compassionate out little guy is, but they don't. I just hope that he knows that I appreciate it and love him for it. He really is a textbook example of "compassion: a feeling of deep sympathy and sorrow for someone struck by misfortune, accompanied by a desire to alleviate the suffering."

Saturday!

Ethan decided a few weeks ago that he doesn't like Saturdays because it means that we don't have anything planned. He is really into routine and plans and so when we just get up and don't have something set to do, he is lost. But today, going along with our Spring Break staycation, I had a plan...Yard Work!

I needed to finish planting the garden, the lawn needed some TLC and we needed to clean up weeds from our rocks. So we all set to work. Ethan and Bryan did a great job dethatching the lawn and then mowing it, while Courtney played with a friend in the house (yeah, she got out of helping quite a bit, but she didn't bother us while we were working, so it was a win-win situation). I finished planting the garden and got the soaker hoses all set up so everything will get watered nicely and then I fertilized the lawns.

When we finished up, the kids got to play for a while and then it was off to lunch. It was my choice, so we went to Olive Garden. It wasn't too packed because we went early enough but as we were walking in a little kid in a baseball uniform said, "Hey, did you know that Greg Maddox is in there? His son plays little league in Las Vegas and he's here watching." Bryan was the only one who knew why this was such big news and so he said, "Yeah? Cool!" There are all kinds of little league and softball tournaments going on right now in St. George, so we have a lot of baseball/softball players in town. When we went in Bryan explained to me that Greg Maddox is a retired pitcher in major league baseball, so I was impressed. As they were seating us, Bryan was checking out the tables to see if he could see Greg Maddox, but he didn't. We were seated next to a huge table full of little league boys sitting with their moms. After we ordered the dads walked in and there he was. Bryan was really cool and didn't act awe struck of anything, he just used his eyes to show me who he was and then I glanced over. It was cool. After they left Bryan told me that it was cool. He had made eye contact with Greg Maddox. So there was our brush with fame for the day.

When we got home, Ethan played with some friends while Courtney took a nap. Bryan and I got some things done and cleaned. Then I had to run dinner to a family in the ward. When I got home there was time to play and then it was time for baths. Ethan took a really short one, I was amazed! He usually takes 20 minute showers and then takes another 10 minutes to get dressed. I don't know what he does in there, and I'm not sure I want to know, but this time he was quick.

Courtney likes taking baths and today she didn't want to get out. Bryan ended up having to go in and get her out. She wasn't too happy with him because he tried to put her panties on her backward, then he had a hard time getting her pj bottoms up, then he pulled them up too far. It just was a contrary night.

Anyway, they are now in bed and we hope they will stay there!

Day 5 of Spring Break

Today we had another of Ethan's favorite breakfasts: bacon and eggs. Then the kids watched some TV for a while until they decided they needed to play with friends. Courtney called her friend Lia across the street and then waited until Lia was ready to play. Ethan called his friend Preston who lives around the corner and their family was going to a park for a picnic so they invited Ethan go to along. So after about 45 minutes, Ethan was off to a park for a picnic and Courtney was across the street playing. It was heaven!

I immediately did what any mom does when her kids are gone...I started to clean like a mad woman! I got so much finished in the 45 minutes I had before Courtney was due back home. And it was great for all the quiet too.

After Courtney got home I put her down for a nap and then 15 minutes later Ethan came home. He and I hung out and I read him stories while Courtney had a good nap. Then we ran an errand, picked up Bryan at work and went to Pizza Hut (Ethan's choice) for dinner. When we were all sufficiently stuffed, we drove to Sportsman's Warehouse and bought me a backpacking backpack and a pad to sleep on. I was pretty excited because I am going on a backpacking trip through Zion with Bryan's family at the end of April and I need to get my gear together.

We then took the kids to the Washington City Recreation Center that has a huge swimming pool with slides and stuff. It was a lot of fun except Courtney was a bit afraid of all the falling water and wouldn't go down the slide at first. I went down it with her once and then she was fine.

We were all pretty tired when we finished swimming so we came home, got ready for bed, watched basketball and then put the kids to bed. Bryan and I stayed up and watched a movie and Courtney and Ethan took turns coming out to see what we were doing ;)

It was a fun day and I'm starting to feel sad about the end of Spring Break. But we have until Tuesday!

First Day of Spring!

Today is the first day of Spring! I have been getting spring fever pretty badly lately and now I have a good excuse...it really is Spring! The trees have been so beautiful with all the blossoms on them and I love the sound of all the bees in the trees. Our plants in the front yard have been really growing. I think last night something whispered to my honeysuckle that it was going to be spring because it seemed to have shot up over night. And the black berry that I planted in front has really beautiful green leaves on it. Now I just have to dethatch the lawn, fertilize it and get it to be green, but that, and the garden, are our projects for tomorrow! I think Spring is one of my favorite seasons!

Candy Anyone?

The kids were off playing with friends so I decided to get out our scant Easter decorations and put them up. Each year I make it a goal to get more holiday decorations and each year I think "I'll do it next year." So there wasn't much to bring up from the basement. I found a few cute Easter baskets and a bag full of plastic eggs from the neighborhood hunt last year. Then I found this cute basket filled with plastic eggs that I must have gotten from my visiting teachers last year. I started digging in all the grass to freshen it up so it wasn't all smashed and I discovered a bunch of unopened, candy filled, plastic Easter eggs!! GROSS! The M&Ms were all smashed and I didn't evne open the peanut butter cups. I threw it all away and was glad my kids weren't here because they would have wanted to eat it! Next year I think I'll check things a little better.

Day 4 of Spring Break

We had a lazy morning. This week has been awful for our schedules, but it's been fun. We woke up, got ready and then went out for breakfast to the Egg & I. Bryan kept teasing Ethan calling it the "Waffle & I" or the "Pancake & I." Before we left Courtney told me that she hoped they had dry oatmeal at the Egg & I. I told her that they wouldn't and she said, "Then I don't want to go out for breakfast!" But she finally decided that pancakes or waffles would be okay.

There weren't very many people there so Bryan told the kids to be kind of quiet because it was a "reverent restaurant." That didn't last too long but Courtney did find some waffles to eat. Ethan got to have more sausage (his and also Courtney's) so he was pretty happy. When we finished eating, Courtney got out of her seat, took her kids menu and began to "play waitress" and take our orders. It was pretty funny but she took a bit far when we were walking out and she started trying to seat people ;)

Today was the BYU game so Bryan stayed home in the morning from work to watch it. But a few minutes into the second half he decided to stop "punishing" himself and went to work. Ethan and Courtney immediately decided they needed to watch "Harry Potter" again and eat some popcorn. I think we may have to buy the movie ;)

After the movie was over, Ethan and Courtney decided they wanted to play in the backyard. I thought that was a great idea because I had some work to do on the lawn and thought I could do it while they were playing. It didn't take long for them to decide that it was hot enough outside to play on the slip-n-slide. So they got their swimming suits on and I got it all set up. Ethan made the first pass and...FROZE! He isn't too into cold water but Courtney doesn't care at all. Ethan kept sliding for a while but Courtney was the one who stayed at it the longest. Even after Ethan was dressed, she kept playing and playing. We had a blow up alligator that she and Ethan slid on but he was soon flattened and went into the garbage.

They finished up and got changed back into clothes and then Bryan came home. I had made pigs in a blanket and we loaded up dinner and started biking to the high school. Many of our young men are on the school soccer team and they had a game tonight so we went to support them. As with basketball, most of the coaches and players are in our ward so it's fun to watch the games. Courtney was a little erratic on her bike and we had to ride in a box around her so she wouldn't bike in the busy road. We tried to convince her to ride in the bike trailer, but she is little Miss Independent and had to bike. So it took us about 45 minutes to get to the high school that is a little less and 3 miles away. But that's okay because it was a fun ride and great exercise.

We watched the JV game. They tied. And then I rode my bike with the empty bike trailer home (which is uphill the entire way so I got my exercise for the day!), got the car and some jackets, and then drove back to the high school to watch the varsity game. We weren't sure if the kids were going to want to stay the entire time so the original plan was for all of us to bike home after the JV game and then Bryan would go back alone. Ethan and Courtney were having too much fun playing around outside and didn't want to go. So finally, after a fun game where Snow Canyon Varsity tied, we drove home and put the kids to bed WAY past their bedtime. But it was fun.

Day 3 of Spring Break

We woke up this morning and had Ethan's favorite breakfast: sausage and eggs! Then Bryan went to work and the kids and I had a lazy morning of watching "Harry Potter" again and doing nothing. At 10:30 we left to run errands and met up with my parents at 11:30 at Jumpin' Jacks. This is the favorite place of Ethan and Courtney and we had a coupon for 2 free admissions so we decided to plan it in. It's a huge room filled with all kinds of bounce houses and they change them around periodically so it doesn't get boring. Ethan usually finds tons of people to play games with and Courtney just runs around like a wild woman. But Ethan didn't find anyone to play with so he just bounced around on his own and came back to us once-in-a-while to check in. Courtney was her usual self and was off like a rocket! She has no fear and goes down the tallest slides without a problem.

After about 45 minutes the kids were getting tired and hungry. I don't take my wallet in to places like this so when I'm asked for money I can honestly say that I don't have any. But Grandpa always has money ;) He gave Courtney money to ride the rides and Ethan money to play a couple games with him. It was fun. Then we got a free pizza (I love the Dixie Direct) and went back to my parent's house to eat it. We then went home to take naps and Ethan played with friends.

Courtney happened to wake up just as Bryan was coming in the house from work, so it was perfect timing. Ethan loves to play tennis, so we decided to bike ride to the Unity Park by our house and play tennis. Bryan hooked up the tag-a-long so Ethan could ride behind him and not have to use his little bike (the tag-a-long is just the right size) and I had the bike trailer behind my bike in case Courtney got tired. It was slow going because of all the Courtney stops to get water or just to look around, but we all biked all the way to the park. When we got there we realized that Bryan had only loaded the 2 big tennis rackets (usually we take the 2 raquetball rackets also so the kids can use those because they are smaller) so we would have to share. Unfortunately Courtney got ahold of a racket first and it's hard to get it back from her. Ethan played for a while and then we all traded off. It was pretty fun but you could tell that Courtney was tired and Ethan was getting frustrated at not being able to play a good game.

We decided to bike home and go to dinner (another coupon we had). We loaded up and tried to convince Courtney to just ride in the bike trailer. She refused so we started off....slowly....back for home. About 4 blocks from the park Courtney biffed it trying to get up on a sidewalk and began screaming. I had just calmed her down and gotten going again when my bike lurched and the back lifted up a bit. I stopped and looked down to see that my back wheel had fallen off! I think if I hadn't had the bike trailer on there that I could have flipped over because the bolt that holds the tire in place was lodged in the back spokes. And it was lucky that I was going to slow because I didn't have any problem stopping.

Bryan and Ethan rode home while Courtney and I sat on the side of the road and waited. Courtney helped me fold down the bike trailer so it would easily fit in the back of the van and it was no time at all that Ethan and Bryan were back. They loaded our stuff in the van and we slowly drove back to the park to look for the missing piece of my bike. We found it!! Then we all went to dinner at Dairy Queen.

By the time we returned home it was time for baths and bed. We were all pretty tired, but Ethan said it was a "great day!" So far this has been a great success!

Day 2 of Spring Break

It's St. Patrick's Day which Bryan refuses to acknowledge but that's okay because I tried to and it didn't work so I'm not going to try next year. I made green waffles which only Bryan and I ate because "that's gross Mom." So I made oatmeal for Courtney and Ethan didn't eat.

Bryan ran to work and Courtney, Ethan and I ran errands. We ended up at the dinosaur museum where we had a 2-for-1 coupon. Courtney was free and they only charged me for Ethan and made my ticket free. Score! It was a fun time. They had rubbings you could do of different dinosaurs, fossils to dig up and some touch exhibits. We watched a short movie about dinosaurs and then explored the museum. It isn't much but it is interesting to look around. We bought a couple of things at the gift shop and then went outside to their sandbox. In the bottom of the sandbox are fossils that you can dig up. It's pretty cool and the place where the kids spent the most time.

Then we were off to the Art Museum. Ethan had been there once before with my parents and we have been there once as a family, but I wasn't sure how interesting it was going to be. We had a 2-for-1 coupon for that too, but they charged me full price and let both the kids in for free, so I really couldn't complain. They had a beautiful exhibit on Zion National Park which Ethan loved and wants to take Bryan to see. But the best part was the kids art area. We were the only ones at the Museum, which I think isn't that well attended, so my kids had the run of the place. They had art supplies all over and paints for the kids to use. They each made a couple of creations and then Ethan found a little play area where he could design his own museum. He liked putting things into categories and putting teh smallest paintings together and so on. Courtney loved the book nook where she could look at all kinds of children's art books while sitting on a bean bag chair.

While we were looking around the kids section we found some clipboards with a quiz on them. The instructions said to go around the museum and find the answers to the questions and then take it to the front desk to claim your prize. Ethan was very excited and we took off to get all the questions answered. Since he can read, he would read the question to me and then find the art. He would then ask me if he was correct or not and write the answer. It was great! I helped Courtney, she would write a few letters she knew and then I would take over the rest. When they finished we took it up to the front desk where they claimed their prize. The woman apologized because the Art Museum is going through some rough financial times so the prizes weren't all that, but my kids loved it anyway.

Then we used our free pizza coupon and got Dominos for lunch. Courtney took a long nap while Ethan read and then played with friends. After her nap and Bryan was home, she and I ran to the library to check out the first Harry Potter movie. Bryan just finished reading it to Ethan so we wanted to watch the movie. We had dinner (split pea soup to go along with the green theme) and then popped popcorn and had orange julius while we watched the movie. It was fun and the kids loved staying up late, although now we can't get Courtney to go to bed. But that's life. Maybe she will sleep in tomorrow...yeah right!

Day 1 of Spring Break

Monday morning after breakfast and Bryan left for work we had a movie morning. The kids and I cuddled on the couch while watching, "The Princess Diary." When that was finished, we loaded on our bikes to ride to the park to play. The park is a couple of miles away so I hooked the bike trailer on back of my bike so Courtney could sit in it when she got tired of biking. Her little bike fits nicely on the bike trailer too so it isn't a problem. The problem came when we were about a mile from our house and Ethan started to get really tired. His bike is WAY TOO SMALL for him and I knew this but didn't realize just how hard it was going to be for him to ride a small bike so far. He was so tired by the time we got to the park. And Courtney kept hopping in and out of the bike trailer. One minute she wanted to ride her bike and the next she wanted to ride in the bike trailer. We almost turned around about 10 times, but we finally made it.

The kids got their snack and then played for a while on the equipment. But then a day care van showed up with a ton of kids on it and Courtney and Ethan wanted to go home...but neither wanted to ride their bike. So I put both Ethan and Courtney in the bike trailer, both of their bikes on top and took off for home. Now, Ivins is kind of a bowl shape. The park is on one rim and our house is on the other and you have to go through the bowl to get from one to the other. Luckily, both kids finally wanted to get out before we had to really start up the last incline, but I got a pretty good work out. Then they ended up walking their bikes the last 4 blocks because they were exhaused.

We ate lunch, Courtney took a nap, Ethan played games and then Bryan came home. When Courtney woke up we went to Fiesta Fun to play miniature golf. This was pretty funny because a) Courtney kept switching balls with me because she couldn't decide between pink or purple; b) Courtney kept trying to hit the ball sideways instead of down the green; c) Courtney missed most of the time she tried to hit it so she would just pick up her ball, put it next to the hole and hit it in from there and then give herself a little cheer; d) Ethan did really well and it was fun to watch him really try and concentrate on the shot; and e) we were playing as a family without pressure of anyone around us because we were alone on the course!

Then we went to Applebees for dinner. We each get to choose 1 restaurant during the week to go to for dinner and it was Courtney's choice. Luckily, Ethan's choice was already on our list because we have a coupon.

Then we came home, had FHE, played as a family and went to bed. It was a good day and Ethan said he even had a lot of fun riding to the park...good thing for short memories!

Staycation

This week is Spring Break and we debated whether or not to go someplace, but at the end decided that Bryan couldn't take the work off and we didn't want to spend the money. Besides, we have too many trips and things coming up this summer that we have to prioritize. So we decided to do a staycation (a stay at home vacation). I saw an article on it from Family Fun magazine and thought we should try it.

We bought a Dixie Direct discount card at the beginning of the year from Ethan's school and it has a ton of coupons in it. I started by looking through there and making a list of all the activities and restaurants that had coupons. Then I made an itinerary of activities we would like to do each day. Bryan is working in the mornings so the kids and I do things in the morning and then after Courtney's nap, when Bryan gets home, we go and do things as a family.

Ethan wasn't too sure about it at first because his friends are doing things like Disneyland and camping, but it has worked out so far and we have found a lot of places around our area that we hadn't explored too well before. I'll keep you updated!

Bible Stories

Courtney was sitting on Bryan's lap during Sacrament Meeting looking at the pictures in the children's version of the Bible stories the Church prints and you buy at the Distribution Center. She is fascinated by the stories and kept asking Bryan to tell her what was going on in the pictures. Unfortunately, each story she picked wasn't the real upbeat stories that you want to tell your 3 year old during Church.

The first picture she wanted explained to her was where Abraham was posed above Isaac getting ready to plunge a knife into him. The second was the story where the king (I don't remember his name) was going to cut a baby in half so he could find out who the real mother was, so it was a picture of a baby with a knife posed over it. And it went on and on. We were nervous each time Bryan turned the page to see what she would find next. It seemed that she could find the worst pictures in the book to look at! Poor Bryan was dying! How do you nicely and delicately explain to a 3 year old that a baby is going to be chopped in half?!

Anyway, it doesn't seem to really phase her but it was funny to us.

Another one gone!

Ethan seems to lose teeth in pairs. He lost one on Thursday and then tonight Don and Kathy took us all to dinner. When Ethan left the restaurant he commented on how loose his tooth was and was playing with it. I told him to pull it out and so he started to try but couldn't get it out. As we were driving away he said "I got it out" but was just kidding us. We got on the freeway and drove a ways when he shouted again that he had pulled it out and then said "I'm serious, I pulled it out!" I handed him a tissue so he could blot the blood and there was his tooth. He said, "I figured it out. I know how to pull a tooth." He then proceeded to explain to us how you do it, which I won't go into because it makes you cringe. I think he should be a dentist or oral surgeon when he grows up because blood and pulling teeth doesn't even phase him! Now he looks like a jack-o-lantern!

Out little tree

Spring is here in St. George. The trees all have blossoms on them, the grass is getting green and the weather has been really nice. I noticed our little tree in the backyard had some blossoms on it, but not too many. It kind of looks like some stray cotton landed on it. Here's what it looked like, poor little thing:

Latest Cakes

When it rains, it pours. I got orders for 2 cakes this week. Luckily they were pretty easy and weren't a problem so it wasn't bad. I did another soccer ball cake, which isn't the most fun, but Bryan and I are getting better at this so it looks great. Bryan puts the pattern on the cake and then I trace it and decorate it. He does it much better than I do, it's a spacial thing I just don't get! Anyway, they turned out cute.

Busted!!

Bryan has always felt like it was dishonest for us to mislead Ethan and Courtney with the toothfairy and other magical creatures (if you get my meaning), but today we got really busted.

Ethan was at school, wiggling his latest loose tooth when it fell out on his tongue. He took it out of his mouth, cupped it in his hand and began running for his classroom. Somewhere near the playground he realized that he had dropped his tooth. He looked all over and started to get a little upset because the toothfairy couldn't give him money if he didn't have a tooth to give her. Along came a very helpful classmate of his that told him that it didn't matter if he had his tooth or not because his parents are the toothfairy. Ethan was shocked. After he got off the bus he came right to me and asked me to "tell me the truth" about who the toothfairy was really. I took him into his bedroom, away from Courtney, and told him the truth. He was pretty upset, but not about us lying to him for 6 years, but because he was nervous that the money train had stopped with the truth. I assured him that we would still give him money under his pillow for his teeth.

But Ethan is smart and began thinking things over. I had to take him to the store to buy a birthday present for a friend and we began having some deep conversations ;) Ethan asked me how I knew how to be the toothfairy. He wondered if they had a class for parents explaining how to be a toothfairy. I told him that my parents had done it to me before and so I knew what to do. He asked how they were taught and I said that their parents probably did it to them. I explained that I really didn't know how it got started but that we had to keep up appearances for Courtney. We decided that he could be assistant toothfairy for her.

Then he asked what I did with all his teeth. To be honest, they are in a plastic baggie in our cabinet by the bathroom sink. I didn't know what to do with them and didn't want to throw them away (I don't know why!). So he devised a plan to put out his old teeth so the "sugar bugs" (another lie we use to get them to brush their teeth) would be attracted to his old teeth and would leave his "mouth teeth" alone. I told him I wasn't sure if that would work or not, but he is intent on trying it sometime.

He also asked me about the notes I have written from the toothfairy on the nights when we have forgotten and haven't left money until 2 days after he lost the tooth. He also asked WHY we had sometimes forgotten and hadn't left money for 2 days. He is a really deep thinker.

It was pretty interesting and I think he took the news well. I told him the only reason we did it was to make him happy and I think he understood that because the thought of helping be Courtney's toothfairy made him smile.

Fire Station Field Trip

Today was the field trip to the fire station for the neighborhood preschool. On Tuesday they did fire safety and Courtney didn't like it one bit. For some unknown reason, Courtney is really terrified of firemen and fire engines. She thought for a long time that firemen set fires, not put them out. So it's been hard to get her to listen to reason. On Tuesday the woman set off her fire alarm so they could hear what it sounded like and Courtney went nuts, screaming and crying!

I had been talking up the field trip but she wasn't buying it for a minute. This morning I tried to get her to think it was going to be fun, but she wouldn't listen so I just dropped it. After all, it is just a preschool field trip. But at 10 a.m. I asked her again if she wanted to go, but she said "NO!" So we loaded in the van to run some errands. She asked where we were going and I told her the stores but said that we could go after the field trip if she wanted and she said, "okay, let's go to the fire station."

I drove as quickly as I could so she wouldn't change her mind, but it wasn't fast enough. By the time we got there she wouldn't get out of the van, so I started to drive off and she said to stop and said she would go in if I would go in with her. So we went in and found the other kids. But she had to be held because she didn't feel safe near the fire trucks. It took about 30 minutes before she would let me put her down, then she started to have fun. She wouldn't go in the fire engine, but she went into the ambulance for a little bit before she freaked out and wanted back out. But she loved getting a badge and a fire hat. She called herself "Fire Girl Courtney." So in the end she had a lot of fun and will tell anyone who listened that she had a great time. The fireman told a few scary stories so I'm hoping she doesn't have nightmares, but she did learn a lot about fire safety.

Sweet Boy

I just have to share how sweet Ethan is. I have really begun to dislike allowance. The minute Ethan gets his, he wants me to take him to the store to buy something and he usually doesn't have enough money so we ended up him upset and crying as we leave the store. He finally managed to save his allowance for a while and got some cool Legos the last time, but it has been a real struggle to get him to understand savings. He is more into instant gratification. Anyway, there are some weeks when we have Family Council and he doesn't join us so he doesn't get allowance. This last week was one of those so he didn't get his allowance.

Monday morning in his class his teacher was called out into the hall by her husband. Her father had been killed in an airplane crash in New Mexico that morning after she left for work and he was there to break the news to her. Understandably she was really upset. This is only her third year of teaching and she is also pregnant, so that just compounds the loss. She left and a substitute was called in to take her place all week. We have Spring Break next week for 10 days and then she will be back after that, but it is so sad.

The class has been taking donations from students to buy her something to help her feel better. Ethan urged me, no he actually ordered me, to give some money so they could get something nice for Mrs. Feltwell. Ethan loves this teacher and she is really great at pushing her students but showing them love and how to have fun. So I sent some money with him for that.

Last night he asked me if he could get his allowance from last week because we forgot to give it to him. I told him that we would have to talk about it because he wasn't at Family Council. He told me that he really needed it so he could donate it to his teacher so she would know he loved her. How can you say "no" to that?! He also has been praying that she won't be too sad and that she can stop crying. I thought that was sweet. I'm glad I have a little boy that thinks so much of others. He's a real example to me.

Technology

I remember my mom telling me when I was a kid just how lucky I was because she didn't have TV when she was little. I thought she was nuts because TV was around when I was born so I had no idea what she was talking about. Now I find myself thinking the same thing about my kids. There are so many things now that we didn't have in the 80s that my kids have no idea the difference in lifestyle.

Example #1: Ethan has been getting kind of upset with us because Bryan doesn't have a cell phone. There have been a couple of times where we have made plans to meet Bryan at the library, only to go to the wrong library. I assumed he was talking about one library and he assumed we were talking about another. This just upsets Ethan so badly because he can't believe we wouldn't pay the money to have a phone that goes everywhere with us. I tried to explain to him about pay phones but he just didn't get it. I think maybe we need to find an antiques shop to show him a pay phone! I remember the first cell phone my parents had when I was in high school. It was ENORMOUS! They called it a "brick phone" and it was a in a huge box and the phone was attached by a cord to the box. Yeah, that was cutting edge technology.

Example #2: Bryan's parents gave everyone a webcam for Christmas so we could all video-phone each other. It's taken us until this week to set ours up and now my kids are ADDICTED! Courtney always wants me to check and see "who is available so I can see them." I've tried to explain to my kids that we didn't have computers when I was young. I remember the first time they got them at Huntington Elementary and I was so terrified of them because they seemed so HUGE! When I was young, we looked forward to Huntington Heritage Days every year because that's when all my cousins from California would come back to visit and we could see them. Yesterday Courtney got to see Baby Carter on the webcam and sing him songs.

Example #3: Ethan and Courtney both have CD players in their rooms and they listen to Primary music each night as they fall asleep. In 9th grade we got our first CD player. It was a little portable one and it was expensive! I remember thinking that tapes were much cheaper and that CDs weren't going to last because they just looked weird. Now there are movies in DVDs and we can't live without them!

I could go on and on because there weren't digital cameras (heaven forbid you had to wait a week for photos to be developed only to find someone had their eyes closed!), iPods, portable DVD players (no wonder so many fathers in the 80s threatened to "turn this car back around" on family vacations), and I could go on and on. It's just a changing world and now I realize how much I sound like my mom!

Bad Fruit?

I asked Courtney what she wanted for lunch and she said she couldn't decide. I told her that I was going to have some fruit and asked if she wanted some. She went nuts and started screaming at me that Heavenly Father doesn't want us to eat fruit and that if I eat any He will be really mad at me. I asked her why she thought that and she said, "Well, Adam and Eve ate fruit and they were cast out of the Garden of Eden. Don't eat fruit because I like you as my Mommy." I just had to laugh. I set her straight by asking her if she liked apples (which she eats a lot of) and then told her that was a fruit. She said, "Okay, so they ate a bad fruit then." I love it!

Daylight Savings Time

I had a love/hate with daylight savings time. I love that we have light in the evenings but I don't like having to wake Ethan up for school. Before he was in school I would just let him sleep as long as he wanted. I really hate waking my kids up because a) they are really grumpy when I do, and b) I like all the quiet time I can get in the mornings. They still go to bed at the same time they did before the time change, but now they sleep an extra hour. It makes mornings so much more rushed because we lose an hour to practice the piano and figure out what they want for breakfast. But Ethan wasn't too grumpy when I woke him up this morning and did everything without complaining. Now if we could get Courtney to wipe her own nose during the night instead of yelling for us three times each night, then we would be good. But that's another story...

Nicknames

I decided to post some of our nicknames.

I call Courtney "nutter" or "nut" because I used to call her "coconut" but it was too long so I shortened it.

I call Ethan "bug" because I used to call him "bug-a-boo" but it was too long so I shortened it.

Courtney calls Ethan either "E-E" or "bugga." The "E-E" comes from when she was a baby and couldn't say Ethan so she shortened it. And "bugga" is a new one that is her version of a shortened bug-a-boo.

Courtney calls Bryan and me by our first names a lot of times or "mama," "mom," or "daddy."

Ethan just calls everyone by their name, Courtney, Mom and Dad.

Cute Courtney

Courtney has been going through this separation anxiety phase lately. And she isn't just attached to me! At Church, if all of Junior Primary is released and she happens to see Ethan before he goes into his classroom, she will yell and cry for him until someone has to come and get Bryan or me. That happened last week and Bryan had told Ethan that he isn't to take Courtney into his class so he just stood in the hallway with her until another adult took Courtney and brought her to me so Ethan could go to class. What a great big brother!!

Anyway, we switched Courtney to another dance class that is cheaper and all the neighborhood girls go to it. I thought she would love being with all the girls and the first week she did fine. But the second, third and fourth weeks, she just clung to me, wouldn't dance and screamed each time I tried to leave her side. I had about had it. Another mom in the ward, who I will be forever grateful for, suggested that she take Courtney this week to dance. I was nervous that Courtney wouldn't do well, but she was so excited to be going with "Lydia's Mom" to dance class that she was ready an hour early. I also didn't make her put on a leotard and tights (this may have helped too). She went right out to the car and Leann was wonderful with her (it helps that Courtney really liked her too). All reports came back that Courtney did great and she was much happier. So I think the solution is just for me to have no involvement in her dancing but I still have to carpool them when it's my turn. But it really made my day yesterday to know that she did so well. Maybe she's growing up!

Courtney's Way of Thinking

Yesterday Bryan wanted to treat the family to dinner out. I was pretty excited because I was tired and restless and a meal out sounded great. But Bryan soon regretted saying anything. Courtney's favorite restaurant is Applebee's, Ethan's favorite food is either pizza or a cheese sandwich from Sonic, and Bryan felt like Panda Express. As the discussion moved on there was no way to sway Courtney from wanting Applebee's and Ethan didn't want to drive "so far to eat dinner!" After Ethan stormed from the room screaming that he wasn't going to "drive forever" just to eat dinner, Courtney turned to Bryan and said, "How can we help Ethan decide that he wants Applebee's?" Yeah, she wanted us to come up with a plan to "help" Ethan change his mind in her favor. We just had to crack up.

We ended up at Pasta Factory where the kids got pizza, I got alfredo and Bryan got a salad. It wasn't the best night out we've had and quite a few tears were shed over the decision where to go. Needless to say, we won't be going out as a family for a while! Our kids are addicted to $5 pizza!

Read-A-Thon

Thanks to everyone who donated for Ethan's school Read-A-Thon! He was able to raise $60 for new books in his school library. He was pretty excited. All the kids wore their pjs to school and took pillows. Ethan sat on the floor, lounging on his pillow and did what he loved to do...READ! They only took breaks for lunch and recess. I don't know the total amount of money raised, I'll let you know later. Thanks again to everyone!!!

Dr. Seuss Trivia

This week has been Dr. Seuss week at Ethan's school. They have read a lot of books and even had a read-a-thon today where they wore their pjs and read books all day. Each class was asked to put together a team to compete in a Dr. Seuss trivia contest on Thursday. Ethan, of course, volunteered for the team and spent all week studying the trivia sheet they gave him. He was fun to study with and now I know quite a bit of Dr. Seuss trivia. Anyway, yesterday he came home from school so excited because his class team had won the 1st grade category! He loved it and was so happy that he had been able to help them answer questions so they could win. There were about 5 on each class team and they competed against the other 1st grade teams. Today he brought home a poetry book that was his prize for winning. Good job Ethan!

Riding to the Park

Monday morning I decided to do an experiment. Courtney has been resisting her naps lately and I devised a plan to WEAR HER DOWN so she would be so exhausted that she couldn't do anything but sleep.

After Ethan left on the bus, Courtney got her 30 minutes of TV time then we got on the bikes. It has been great weather here so I decided to take advantage of it. I put the bike trailer on behind my bike and then got Courtney on her bike. I figured that we could bike to the park that is about 1 1/2 miles from our house (I'm just guessing there) and when Courtney got tired I could put her bike on the top of the trailer and her inside it.

Courtney loves speed and so I had to rush to keep up a lot of the time. But we had to stop a few times to fight monsters she saw and to rescue R2-D2 and Luke Skywalker (but that's another story!). She is quite erratic when she rides too. I had forgotten about that but Ethan was the same way. They stop on a dime and don't let you know, so you have to be on your guard or you run over them. And Courtney loves to crowd me, so I kept having to move over to let her by but then she would keep crowding me. It really was hilarious because I crashed twice because I am a funny bike rider, but I'll blame it on Courtney's erratic riding ;) No, when I was little my Grandpa Andersen told me that there is only one way to mount and dimount a horse - from the left side. Somehow this switched over to the way I ride a bike. I can't get off a bike or on a bike except on the left side and if I have to stop it has to be with my left foot down. If I have to use my right foot, I fall. And that's what happened a few times. I had to think too hard about which foot to put on the ground when stopping quickly behind Courtney. But it was fun.

About halfway there she got pretty tired and got in the bike trailer for about 4 blocks, then got back out and finished on to the park. We played at the park for about an hour and then rode back home. I noticed when we took off for home that she was a bit slower than she had been before so I knew it was working!

About halfway home she just told me that she "couldn't go any more" and I put her in the trailer and drove back home. It took up all the morning and she was so tired when we got home. We quickly ran to the store for some supplies for our turn to do Preschool this week and then we ate lunch at home. By this time she was really worn out so I put her down for a nap and didn't hear from her for 2 1/2 hours! It was awesome. I think I may have to do it a couple of times per week just to get her a good nap.

Here is her crazy ride down the slight decline by the park. She was pretty wobbly and kept looking around and getting distracted. I thought for sure she would crash but she just loved the speed!

Piano Practice

What a difference M&Ms make. This morning during Ethan's piano practice, he asked me to video tape him because he was doing so "great!" So I did. I took 3 tries because he would stop to itch or something but then we got one he was happy with. Here it is:

Those darn Legos!

Ethan was playing Legos yesterday morning in his room when he came out and ran into the bathroom and began spitting into the sink. I couldn't figure out what was going on so I went in to see if he was okay. He was building a Lego creation and needed a small piece that was attached to a larger piece. He couldn't get the smaller piece off with his fingernail so he decided to use his tooth. He forgot that his one tooth was loose and used that one. Apparently by trying to leverage the piece off with that tooth he really loosened it and it began to bleed. He was really afraid that he had done something really wrong, but I just told him that he had helped it along. But I don't think he is going to use his teeth to pull Legos apart any more.