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.