The Sledding Hill

We've been lacking in snow around here, so the local sledding hill that the kids so enjoyed at Christmas was unusable.....then we had the forecast this past week for snow.  We waited, and the days passed with an inch or two falling, but finally on Friday the big storm came!  We woke up Saturday morning to 6+ new inches.  I was surprised the kids weren't suited up and ready to go by 7 AM, but they held out until after lunch.  Nana and Poppa came out so Ron could help set up Poppa's new cell phone.  Then we had lunch and finally headed over to the sledding hill.  Pure joy!

 

Apparently Poppa makes a good sled too!

 

Eight is GREAT!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, eight is a big deal, and that is because that is the age the children are baptized and become members of our Church. I took Nicole out for a little photo shoot, first, so we could catch her at 8, and second, so I could send out some invites to Grandparents and Aunts and Uncles for the baptism! I, of course, procrastinated until the last possible day, so I was just praying I got some I could use. Nicole is funny....her fake smile is obviously fake and forced, but if you get her laugh for a genuine smile, she either throws her head back and laughs as well, opens her mouth up too big, or squints her eyes down to almost nonexistent....makes for fun pictures! But here are some of the good results:







We used the one above for her invitation. Not the typical baptism look, since she wasn't in a white dress, but the door was perfect to put words on with photoshop, so I was thrilled!

Since the other kids were there that afternoon, I caught some quick ones of them:







Riley hates having her picture taken and is highly uncooperative when we try.....Ron had to grab her and hold her arms down to her side in order to get this.....someday, she'll be sad she was such a stinker about it since she'll have hardly any pictures of these years. :)

Is this guy in my house?!

I love the comic strip Baby Blues....almost as much as Calvin & Hobbes. I find so many of these strips that, I swear, I think I have a hidden camera in my house that this guy is getting his material from. This one is especially fitting since we've just visited our dentist, and since then, Jared has become a tad bit obsessive about flossing.

Costumes, Round 1

The kids were able to wear their costumes to school today...poor teachers! I honestly think they should get hazard pay for dealing with a room full of over-excited kids all day, and then the sugar rush of the afternoon halloween parties?!

I scurried around yesterday getting the rest of the "stuff" for the kids costumes. Had to get make-up for Nicole the Geisha(and wish I'd gotten it earlier to practice it before this morning, but she was excited about how it turned out, so I'm not going to worry about it.) I even had to make a quick run to Panda Express for chopsticks for her bun. I realized as I was resizing the pictures and posting them on facebook that we completely forgot about a fan. I couldn't find one at the store, so I was going to see if she wanted to make one....oops! I don't think she even thought about it though. I had to get both of them some warmer clothes to wear under their costumes as it might get into the 40's today....as the high. Jared was not happy about having to wear sweats under his costume since he now looked like a "puffy" ninja! Better than freezing though!

Ellie has announced that she is no longer going to wear her flower princess costume as she is pictured in the posts below. She now wants to be a ballerina, which was the original costume she was going to wear....sigh. Oh well, it just isn't right if they don't change their mind the day before, is it?!

Here they are before I schlepped them off to school....I'll post the new Ellie costume later!

Fall Soccer 2009

Jared has been playing soccer again this Fall. This morning was the last game until Spring Season in April begins. We were blessed with amazingly good weather this year, just a couple of cooler morning, but so much better than previous years.

Jared did well again. He still remains aggressive, but is getting a bit better about passing off to his team-mates....occasionally! We'll continue to work on that! Really, it depended upon the game and how he was feeling about playing hard or not as to the end result. If we could just make the goals about two feet wider, he'd have had a lot more goals to his stats. This year, he'd take the ball down really well, but then right as he'd kick it in the goal, it would go out to one side or the other....DOH!

My only mishap was this morning. My fantastic little 3 year old early riser had me up at 7:30. Jared's game was scheduled for 9, and as I thought about things, I realized his uniform hadn't gotten washed after last weeks game! So my washing machine and more importantly, dryer, got it's first real test at efficiency this morning as I needed the stuff washed and dried in an hour! Thankfully, it passed the test and he had a clean, sweet-smelling uniform on for the game! :)





These pictures weren't from this morning....it was cooler today so Jared had to wear sweats under his uniform and gloves as well.....I didn't have my camera today, but these from earlier in the season. :)

Four - three = one, and a SMILE!

Back to school today for the three oldest! I'm left with my little one at home, and so much more peace and quiet that I can't help but smile. Don't take me wrong, I love and adore my children, but how can you miss them unless they leave the house?! That, and too much together time for them equals more and more arguing and fighting, which frankly, drives me bonkers! But onto the point of this post:



Riley entered the world of high school this year. It literally seems like yesterday that we were walking her to 1st grade, so it is just so weird to think of her in high school. She was nervous, but excited. I hope everything goes well for her! I caught this picture as she was waiting for her friend to come pick her up...lucky Riley has a friend that is a junior and has access to a car. :)



Here's a look at our newest 2nd grader, sporting her new hairdo. Nicole and Jared are back at the charter school, and Nicole happily got the teacher she was hoping for. :) The only thing that could've made her happier was if she'd ended up having more of her friends in her class.....but no worry there, she'll see them at lunch and recess, and she'll make new friends in 5 minutes flat anyway!



Jared was so excited this morning he woke up all on his own, and came out all dressed and ready with even shoes on before he'd even had breakfast. First grade. I will admit, I will miss him. All day is a long time to be gone! He is very excited about three recesses and taking his lunch to school though. He told me this morning how he was going to organize his desk as soon as he got there. He is a funny kid! :)



So now, it's me and Ellie. I'm glad I have my little princess here with me for a couple more years! When we were out school shopping, Ellie decided she needed a lunch box. So we let her pick one out. She brought it with her today as we dropped the kids off. Then she asked if it was time for her to go to ballet. Nope, not until Monday! When we got home, she asked that I pack her lunch box with, what else? Lunch. So I did. She then put her cereal spoon down, and ate her lunch. At 8:30 AM! Ellie and I are doing a co-op preschool here in the neighborhood, but that doesn't start until September, so we have to figure out how to fill our days until then. But I'm liking the quieter and peaceful mornings just fine! :)

Get it right!

sigh.

Nicole. The girl loves music and loves to sing, but she can't carry a tune to save her life! Even worse is when she puts headphones on and the sings along, loudly, with the music. Quite painful and frustrating for the rest of us in the car with her. :) Ellie was quite certain that she didn't have the words right....oh my, if that was her only problem...in her defense, she was a little more in tune than an earlier song that we didn't catch on video.

Or how about this one:


Jared joins in and really helps out the beauty of that one!

We love Nicole. She keeps us on our toes!

Birthday Fun

Favorite game at the birthday party: DodgeSponge. DodgeBall with a twist....no balls used, just wet sponges. No surprise that it was the favorite, considering that it was over 100 degrees out! UGH.



The cake was supposed to look like SpongeBob's home, Bikini Bottom.....hmmmm....didn't turn out exactly at all like he pictured it!



He was SO HAPPY to get what he asked for....as he called it, "a big boom"!



The gift I was talked into...an airsoft pistol. He was excited about it, once he figured out what it was! The one rule that is already being drilled into his head is that this is a gift that he only gets to use with parental supervision. We also found one that shoots at a much slower velocity, and we are putting it away in a secure location so he can't break the rules! :)



Birthdays and the passing of another year usually don't signal "losses" until you are older. Unless you are Jared! He decided that a great way to enter into a new year was to lose his 1st tooth! What are the odds?

The big 6

It's Jared's 6th birthday today! Happy Birthday son! I couldn't ask for a cuter boy. He calls himself my cuddle-bug, and he is! He is a fun brother, and can be nice to his sisters....when he wants! ;) You have so much ahead of you Jared! Stay happy, try hard, and there's nothing you can't do! We love you Jared.

*Thanks to Heidi for the picture!

Wrecking Ball Wilson

Looks pretty serious, doesn't he?

And he is. Watching him in his practice runs around the track, you'd assume that we aren't gonna be sticking around the races for long since he just sorta takes it easy. Races are a different story. The kid is insane. Unfortunately since he is still young he doesn't have the experience and know-how of how to stay centered over his bike, and how to absorb some of the "air" that he catches. So he crashes and burns. :(

This last Thursday, he had two chances to make it into the semi's. He made it to the rhythm section in first place in his 1st moto. Then came the wreck. But he jumped right up, back on his bike, and finished 3rd. Then on to the second moto, which he took easily since he'd already beat the kids he was racing against once. And happily for all of us, he stayed off the ground!

Semi's time, and he made it down the starting ramp, and up the first hill and then his handlebars took over and he flew over the front of his bike and landed hard.....mom's nerves don't like this. Despite the full-face helmet he hit and skinned his chin. There was no jumping up and finishing the race after that one. But he got a round of applause when he got up, and told the announcer when he was asked that he'd be back.

This week's plans now include taking him to a 2-day BMX clinic. We are hoping with the extra time on the track, and some pointers from some experienced riders, that the crashes will decrease and that the extra "oomph" he puts out in the races will net him a win or two. :)

Jared Finishes Kindergarten

Jared got better from his bout with pneumonia just in time to go back for the last two weeks of school. Every (well, almost every!) week Jared's class spotlighted a student. Most of the kids did it during their birthday week, but since Jared was born in July, he will never celebrate a birthday during school. I tried to time his week during his 1/2 birthday, but someone had already claimed that week as well. So I just waited until the end of school to get it as close to his bday as I could. We got to make a collage poster about Jared, he filled out a questionnaire, got to bring home and fill the "show & tell" box, and then we brought a treat in one day...since it was so hot that week, we did Otter Pops during recess! :) He was excited to finally get the chance to be Star of the Week.


On Friday of that week, Jared's class performed an Operetta of "Peter Rabbit". Jared played "Cottontail". He had a few memorized lines, and a bunch of songs. It was very cute. Ron did a video of it, and if you are really interested, you can find it here. This was also the day that I found out from a couple of other kindergarten moms that Jared has quite the following of "girlfriends" that are apparently going to "marry" him! So many, in fact, that one of the girls is "giving him up, because the competition is too stiff". (Little girls words, quoted to me from her mother!) The funniest part is that Jared doesn't have a clue that these little girls like him, he just thinks they are his friends that he has fun with! Now to figure out how to keep him going with this idea well into his teen years!


Last Thursday, Jared has his Kindergarten graduation. It was so cute, of course! I got all teary. This year just seemed to fly by. The weirdest part was when the presenter finished giving out the certificates, she presented them as the "Class of 2021". On to First Grade! What will I do with him in school all day?!


And last but not least, last Friday I got a black sheet to use as a backdrop...I pulled it out of the package and decided to try it out.....it'll look better (I hope) now that I've washed the fold marks out of it. Jared was only interested in doing goofy faces, so I took what I could get!

What I found....

My absolute favorite picture of Jared, ever. 1st birthday destruction of the cake. Just looking at this adorable chunk of a baby smeared with chocolate makes his mother want to eat him up! :)

Spring has Sprung, Race Results, Soccer Fun, and Green?!

Finally, Spring has sprung around this town. Although Mother Nature is still doing her bast to squelch it with wind, cold, rain, and occasional snow. It melts quickly though, when it happens. Here is our cute little Quaking Aspen putting out it's leaves. Am I the only one that finds new leaves almost as cute as new babies?! They are so fresh and clean, shiny, and are just a great color of green.


We got the results of the Fun Run the kids were in: Jared took 3rd place in the boys age 5-8 division! He couldn't have been prouder. The 2 kids that beat him were both 8 yr olds. I thought it was awesome that he stuck to his little race so well and was rewarded for it. Nicole took 11th place, and wondered why they didn't have a ribbon for her as well! ;) We are proud of both of them for doing their best.


Tis the season for soccer, and we finally had a little bit of decent weather for it. Jared had a great game with 3 goals. He loves playing soccer. I love getting fun shots with his "game face"! This weekend is supposed to be nice weather as well, and hopefully he will be able to go play. (He's trying to get over pneumonia right now!)



I'm not sure what is going on with all the lime green in this post, coincidence I suppose?!

Pick Up the PACE!

The kids competed in a 5K/1 mi Fun Run today for their school. We did the 1 miler due to time constraints...and the fact that I wasn't sure the kids would have fun running almost three miles! So Jared and Nicole ran....I wimped and rode my bike alongside. :) Which turned out to be a good choice since Jared blazed through the race and Nicole needed some encouragement. It also made it possible for me to see both of them finish as I could go between the two! Jared ended up finishing around 7th place, and we are pretty sure he was the first one for his age group. We have yet to see the "official" placements.

For your viewing pleasure....a little video my husband put together of the race highlights! (Oh, and if any of you are confused that you can't see this video on Google reader, it's because the hubster set up the security settings that way. Just click over to my blog and you'll be able to see it just fine!)

Jared's New Love

I posted last year about a little BMX race we took Jared to. He had lots of fun.

Then in January we took him to an indoor race, and he competed in the actual race instead of the "Big Wheel". He did really quite well, taking 2nd in his first heat which automatically qualified him for the finals. He was doing really well, but then crashed on his last little stretch. He was pretty sad about it, and didn't even want the participation trophy he got, but he did get over it. Since then he's been talking about racing this summer when the outdoor track opens again. It also helps that our next door neighbor, Kolin, is really into it, and Jared thinks Kolin is awesome!

As it turns out, this year our neighbors were getting their other son, Kaden, a new racing bike, so they asked if we were interested in buying his old racing bike. We took them up on it, so Jared is the proud owner of a "new-to-him" RedLine chro-moly BMX hybrid racing bike.

The track organizers are starting to get the track ready for the race season, and today had a little work session that if the kids (and Dad's) came to help out with some weeding and raking, they could practice on the track for a bit when they were done. Jared was so, so wanting to go and try out his racing bike that Ron put aside the other things he needed to do (such a good Dad!), and took Jared up. It didn't take much work to ready the track, so the 20 or so racers there got some good practice time in. A few of the regulars were talking to Ron, and asking about Jared, and told him that "he's going to be good"....I'm not sure what they look at to determine that, but I guess we'll just wait and see what happens this summer as the racing begins...

Our park in the foothills

Turkey in the Straw

The school the kids go to have a Presidential Pageant every year around Presidents Day, celebrating a different president each time. This year, being Abraham Lincoln's bicentennial birthday year and held on his actual birthday, they honored "Lincoln's Legacy." Each grade had a different presentation. The Kindergarten (showing above) performed the Virginia Reel to Turkey in the Straw, the 1st grade did a puppet show about Lincoln's life, which Nicole was the narrator for one of the groups. We did video that as well, and if you are really interested, you can come by and watch it! ;) All the students from 1st-9th grade also wrote essays about different quotes of Lincoln. The Jr. High quote was "It's not the years in your life, it's the life in your years." This was the essay judging I mentioned in an earlier post that kept me SO busy when we got back from Florida. To our delight (and I promise I didn't rig it!) Riley's essay won "most creative" for the 9th grade! She actually won this same award for her essay in 7th grade as well. She was embarrassed and didn't want to go get her ribbon, but she knew she couldn't get out of it! We were really proud of her. Riley also sang with the choir, but since I still hadn't figured out how to take video with my camera at that point....well, you understand... :)

Jared's Christmas Concert

The Kindergarten classes at our school put on a cute Christmas concert tonight. They did a great job! Of course, I am biased, but just a tad. The video is small, and not great quality, but you get the idea. In case you are wondering where Jared is, he's "Dasher" (He was very excited for his part, and jumped up a little bit early!)

Check THIS out!

Recognize these kids?!

He, he, he, he! The kids had a blast! Thanks, Nicole, and Rubberball, for letting us come play!

Go to THIS POST on THIS BLOG for more smashy face fun.

And thanks to onehm for the heads up that it was posted! ;)

Soccer

Jared was our only soccer player this season...Nicole has moved on to dance instead. These pics are a little late, being that the Fall season is now over, but oh well...better late than never? :)

Jared once again had fun, and is improving. He still isn't afraid to get in the thick of things and be aggressive.....we actually need to work on him not taking the ball from his teammates. :) So here is a look at his season, and you'll see the "Green Lightning" again in the spring!

GOOOOOOOOOAL!

GOOOOOOOOOAL!

Not sure if the frown is because he's sad about soccer season ending, or because he missed a goal!

Thanks again Coach Thomas! You're the best!