The county fair is next week and there is a cookie competition for 5-12 year olds and he wants to enter. He is so excited. Now I just have to teach him to clean up. ;)
Thursday, August 5, 2010
The Cookie Man
Ethan decided the other day that he wanted to learn to make cookies...all by himself. We don't have any chocolate chips, so he looked through recipe books and found a sugar cookie that he wanted to make. I helped, just a little, but he did most of it by himself and was pretty proud of all that he accomplished. He even rolled them out and got them all cut and on the cookie sheet.
The county fair is next week and there is a cookie competition for 5-12 year olds and he wants to enter. He is so excited. Now I just have to teach him to clean up. ;)
The county fair is next week and there is a cookie competition for 5-12 year olds and he wants to enter. He is so excited. Now I just have to teach him to clean up. ;)
Tuesday, August 3, 2010
Classroom Assignments
Today was Parent's Day at the elementary school so we could paid for everything, get all the information we needed and get classroom assignments all at once. It has been long anticipated in our house. It started at 3 p.m. and we were about 5 minutes early and it was a good thing because at 3:15 it was PACKED full of parents and kids.
We started by verifying our information, getting a school t-shirt for Courtney (the students all wear the same shirt on Fridays), signing up for choir (Ethan was really excited about that), and then it was on to the assignment table.
Courtney has really been wanting Mrs. Clayton who was Ethan's kindergarten teacher but we weren't allowed to request for kindergarten this year so I was nervous. But there was no need because....Courtney is in Mrs. Clayton's morning kindergarten class. When Courtney heard this she began dancing around the cafeteria singing at the top of her lungs "oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, I got Mrs. Clayton!" That got quite a few snickers.
Ethan told me that he wasn't nervous at all but I think he was because he was really quiet and hiding behind me when they asked his name. We requested two teachers and we ended up with our number one pick....Mrs. Fishel. I worked with her on Community Council and was really impressed with her. Ethan was happy until he found out that two of his neighborhood friends (Brennon included) have the other teacher I requested, but that's okay. He and Brennon are on an every-other-year schedule with being in the same class, so he'll live.
Yeah! Now that that's over we can focus on getting ready for school to start next week. Yes, next week!!! August 11th is the first day of school.
We started by verifying our information, getting a school t-shirt for Courtney (the students all wear the same shirt on Fridays), signing up for choir (Ethan was really excited about that), and then it was on to the assignment table.
Courtney has really been wanting Mrs. Clayton who was Ethan's kindergarten teacher but we weren't allowed to request for kindergarten this year so I was nervous. But there was no need because....Courtney is in Mrs. Clayton's morning kindergarten class. When Courtney heard this she began dancing around the cafeteria singing at the top of her lungs "oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, I got Mrs. Clayton!" That got quite a few snickers.
Ethan told me that he wasn't nervous at all but I think he was because he was really quiet and hiding behind me when they asked his name. We requested two teachers and we ended up with our number one pick....Mrs. Fishel. I worked with her on Community Council and was really impressed with her. Ethan was happy until he found out that two of his neighborhood friends (Brennon included) have the other teacher I requested, but that's okay. He and Brennon are on an every-other-year schedule with being in the same class, so he'll live.
Yeah! Now that that's over we can focus on getting ready for school to start next week. Yes, next week!!! August 11th is the first day of school.
Monday, August 2, 2010
Hodgson Reunion
On Friday morning we packed up the car and headed to the Mapleleaf Girls' Camp in Mantua (near Brigham City) for the Hodgson Family Reunion. It was a long drive, but we had plenty of goldfish crackers to keep them happy. When we got close to Brigham City we realized that we didn't have the map to the camp, but Bryan figured that he knew where we were going...but we didn't know where we were going and got lost. But about 20 minutes later we found Mike and Lisa who were also lost so we didn't feel too bad. Luckily, Bryan's parents showed up and were able to help us find the place.
We looked around the camp, which is really nice. There are campsites with a pavilion/firepit/kitchen/bathroom/shower place where everyone else had set up their camps. There was also a huge house that has a large kitchen, bathrooms/showers, a large room on the first floor with tables set up and then a huge room that is the entire top story of the house. We all decided that we would sleep in that top room of the house since no one else was going to use it and it seemed a shame to waste it.
By the time we got all set up, everyone else was back from their days activities and we had dinner and then activities around the fire pit at the house. It was fun to hear stories and talk to everyone else. Then we put Ethan and Courtney to bed...oh, and we went to bed too...while others stayed up and listened to ghost stories and played games.
The next morning we had breakfast and then the missionary in charge of the camp asked us to supply 6 boys for the flag ceremony. Ethan helped out and got one cub scout requirement out the way. He was a bit nervous but did a great job and said he loved it afterward.
Then our family...along with Bryan's Aunt Kerri...went out to Pelican Beach at Willard Bay to play around. It was great water temperature and we had so much fun. The kids swam in the water or played on tubes. We had water fights and Bryan even got in an open water swim for training. We were there about 4 hours before we were all ready to go back to camp...after a little detour at an ice cream shop in Brigham City.
When we arrived back at the house, everyone else was back from their activities and had set up a homemade slide with plastic and tarps. They were pouring dish soap on the slide and watering it down so everyone would slide really well. We had to join in the fun and it was great!! You had to get a really good running start and then you would go for a long time. It got to the point where you ended up off the end of the plastic in a mud puddle. Courtney would scream the entire way down even though she had to propel herself most of the time because she didn't get a very good running start. Ethan did great and loved sliding all the way to the bottom. Bryan only went down once but he didn't hit the wood on the side like everyone else did...he did a great barrel roll to avoid it. And I went down a bunch of times and have the bruises to prove it.
When the fun was over, we had dinner, cleaned everything up and drove to Aunt Kerri's for the night. After Church on Sunday (Ethan was nervous to go to Primary but loved it and Courtney was anxious to go and ended up not liking it) we ate lunch and then drove home. It was a long drive because everyone was tired and grumpy but we got home in about 5 1/2 hours.
It was great fun and we loved seeing everyone.
We looked around the camp, which is really nice. There are campsites with a pavilion/firepit/kitchen/bathroom/shower place where everyone else had set up their camps. There was also a huge house that has a large kitchen, bathrooms/showers, a large room on the first floor with tables set up and then a huge room that is the entire top story of the house. We all decided that we would sleep in that top room of the house since no one else was going to use it and it seemed a shame to waste it.
By the time we got all set up, everyone else was back from their days activities and we had dinner and then activities around the fire pit at the house. It was fun to hear stories and talk to everyone else. Then we put Ethan and Courtney to bed...oh, and we went to bed too...while others stayed up and listened to ghost stories and played games.
The next morning we had breakfast and then the missionary in charge of the camp asked us to supply 6 boys for the flag ceremony. Ethan helped out and got one cub scout requirement out the way. He was a bit nervous but did a great job and said he loved it afterward.
Then our family...along with Bryan's Aunt Kerri...went out to Pelican Beach at Willard Bay to play around. It was great water temperature and we had so much fun. The kids swam in the water or played on tubes. We had water fights and Bryan even got in an open water swim for training. We were there about 4 hours before we were all ready to go back to camp...after a little detour at an ice cream shop in Brigham City.
When we arrived back at the house, everyone else was back from their activities and had set up a homemade slide with plastic and tarps. They were pouring dish soap on the slide and watering it down so everyone would slide really well. We had to join in the fun and it was great!! You had to get a really good running start and then you would go for a long time. It got to the point where you ended up off the end of the plastic in a mud puddle. Courtney would scream the entire way down even though she had to propel herself most of the time because she didn't get a very good running start. Ethan did great and loved sliding all the way to the bottom. Bryan only went down once but he didn't hit the wood on the side like everyone else did...he did a great barrel roll to avoid it. And I went down a bunch of times and have the bruises to prove it.
When the fun was over, we had dinner, cleaned everything up and drove to Aunt Kerri's for the night. After Church on Sunday (Ethan was nervous to go to Primary but loved it and Courtney was anxious to go and ended up not liking it) we ate lunch and then drove home. It was a long drive because everyone was tired and grumpy but we got home in about 5 1/2 hours.
It was great fun and we loved seeing everyone.
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Pack Meeting
We had pack meeting last night. It was held at a local park that has a splash pad so the kids could play in the water. Before the meeting began, the leader had a water balloon tossing game for the kids to play. Ethan and Brennon did well but Courtney and Jamie (one of her favorite babysitters, and Brennon's older sister) didn't do so well because Courtney kept jumping back from the balloon instead of catching it.
Thanks to Ethan's love of swimming and a wonderful swimming teacher, he completed the requirements for the Cub Scout swimming belt loop and pin. We had pack meeting last night and he got his pin and belt loop and ... a beach ball for being so "on the ball" with his requirements.
Then the kids ate Popsicle and played in the water at the splash pad. They were also given some bubbles and spent quite a bit of time trying to hit us with bubbles because the wind was blowing.
It was fun and now Ethan is motivated to work on more of his requirements. Yeah!!
Thanks to Ethan's love of swimming and a wonderful swimming teacher, he completed the requirements for the Cub Scout swimming belt loop and pin. We had pack meeting last night and he got his pin and belt loop and ... a beach ball for being so "on the ball" with his requirements.
Then the kids ate Popsicle and played in the water at the splash pad. They were also given some bubbles and spent quite a bit of time trying to hit us with bubbles because the wind was blowing.
It was fun and now Ethan is motivated to work on more of his requirements. Yeah!!
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Happy Pioneery Day!
Happy Pioneer Day everyone!! We woke up bright and early, I finished decorating the kids bikes (they want them decorated but don't have the patience to do it...like I do!!), loaded the bikes into the van, drove to Tuacahn to pick up our Bountiful Basket (if you haven't done it, you are missing out! www.bountifulbaskets.org , then drove down to the center of Ivins for a pancake breakfast sponsored by the Fire Department. It was actually a pretty good breakfast.
Then the kids and Bryan got ready to ride in the parade. Our ward's entry was the "Stroller Brigade" and the dads were supposed to push their kids in strollers while the older kids rode bikes. They all were supposed to wear red shirts and blue shorts. It worked out pretty well but there weren't a whole lot of kids who showed up. But they had fun. I sat in the shade and watched just in case a child (Courtney) bailed before the end of the parade. But they all rode great. The weather actually cooperated and it was overcast and not too hot.
Biking to line up:
Passing by:
When the parade was over, we drove home to clean the house. We then went swimming and it wasn't crowded at all. Now we are going to run to my parent's house for a BBQ this evening. Fun day!!
Then the kids and Bryan got ready to ride in the parade. Our ward's entry was the "Stroller Brigade" and the dads were supposed to push their kids in strollers while the older kids rode bikes. They all were supposed to wear red shirts and blue shorts. It worked out pretty well but there weren't a whole lot of kids who showed up. But they had fun. I sat in the shade and watched just in case a child (Courtney) bailed before the end of the parade. But they all rode great. The weather actually cooperated and it was overcast and not too hot.
Biking to line up:
Passing by:
When the parade was over, we drove home to clean the house. We then went swimming and it wasn't crowded at all. Now we are going to run to my parent's house for a BBQ this evening. Fun day!!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Air Conditioning!
Well, after a week of having sketchy A/C, we think it may now be fixed. I hope I'm not jinxing it with this entry, but we'll see. Last Thursday evening at 6 p.m. it started working but nothing was cooling down. By about 11 p.m. it was cooling again. The next morning I called a company who said that we were low on freon and had a leak. They put more in and went away. Friday afternoon at about 2 p.m. it started getting hot and took hours before it began cooling again. Saturday the company came back out and told me that it was again low on freon and we had a huge leak. "We can fix it for $5,000." Okay right! So we spent the weekend watching the thermostat go up and down and finally spent Saturday night at my parent's house with A/C. Monday a guy came who couldn't figure out what was going on but told us we should probably just get a new unit. Tuesday morning Bryan called our builder who called the company who put in our A/C to come out. They told us it was too charged with freon and took some out and it began working again. Wednesday it quit again and the company came back out to tell us that they had no idea what was going on so we didn't have A/C. Thursday they came out, took the entire thing apart, couldn't find anything, but put it back together with some more space in the filter for air to flow and it's working. Keep your fingers crossed for us!
It goes out each July so we are used to it but we hope it will make it through next year!
It goes out each July so we are used to it but we hope it will make it through next year!
Swimming Lessons
Yesterday was the last day of swimming lessons for Ethan and Courtney. Both are pretty sad because they love to swim and it's been the highlight of the past two weeks. I told Ethan that he could join a swim team that would practice 4 days a week and he said, "What?!?! Two days without swimming?!?!" He's a little fish and Courtney is trying her hardest to catch up to him. They both passed their levels with flying colors (it was even the first time in the class for Ethan).
Last month Ethan took the Advanced Class and Courtney took the Beginner class. This month Courtney repeated the Beginner and was a pro at it. She doubled the amount of time she could stay under water and even got her American Crawl stroke looking better. She is really feeling comfortable in the water, which is good and bad. Sometimes she forgets that she isn't really a mermaid!
Ethan moved to the Swimmer class (it was supposed to be Advanced but she switched it based on the abilities of the kids who signed up) which is a life guarding basics class. Ethan's class didn't work on strokes as much as they worked on how to life guard. He loved it. He was the youngest in his class but wasn't a bit behind.
Here are some photos:
Last month Ethan took the Advanced Class and Courtney took the Beginner class. This month Courtney repeated the Beginner and was a pro at it. She doubled the amount of time she could stay under water and even got her American Crawl stroke looking better. She is really feeling comfortable in the water, which is good and bad. Sometimes she forgets that she isn't really a mermaid!
Ethan moved to the Swimmer class (it was supposed to be Advanced but she switched it based on the abilities of the kids who signed up) which is a life guarding basics class. Ethan's class didn't work on strokes as much as they worked on how to life guard. He loved it. He was the youngest in his class but wasn't a bit behind.
Here are some photos:
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