The End of Summer is Near

I was at the store and on a whim bought Noelle and Julia a matching outfit. It is their first one. I found that it was hard to get the right sizes when Noelle was small, but now that she is easing into 12  month stuff, it will be a lot easier. I think I am going to look forward to many more matching clothes. It is just too cute.  

We had Breken stay at our house last week and it was a lot of fun. He is just the best kid and fits right in with the rest of us. By Thursday, the house was so trashed. I finally told everyone, including Breken, that if we cleaned it up really well I would take everyone to Leatherby's for some ice cream. Bingo!  They all pitched in and helped get our place tidy again. And the ice cream wasn't too bad, either.

Right after ice cream, I took the little kids over to Katie C.'s house. Her daughter Molly was having her 4 year-old birthday bash. Katie rented a bouncy water slide and the kids had a blast playing on it for a few hours. It was hard to get them to leave.

Then on Saturday, I dropped Raef and Zach off at the Carolina Hills trailhead to help build a trail for their merit badge. The volunteer coordinator Mike sent me this picture of my boys working hard. He said they did a great job. And like a mentioned before, they now have their merit badge for this one. Thank goodness.

Things are starting to fill up on the calendar for this fall. I guess that is what happens when you have 5 kids doing five different things. Life is about to get crazy for a few months. Raef and Zach will be heading off to Draper Park Middle School this fall. We are going to try out public school this year because I need a break and a chance to really focus on my little kids and get them going academically. I just can't see myself doing it well if Raef and Zach are home and I am pulled in a million different directions. It is just too  much for me right now. I know my limits.

Eli is finishing up the 100 Easy Lessons book and he is becoming quite a good reader. I am very pleased. I would like to have that done before the end of next week. I also ordered his school books and they should be here soon. My plan is to send the boys off to school early every day, then get the little ones up, do a few chores, practice violin, and then head off on an adventure every morning to get all of the wiggles out. Then we will come home and put Noelle down for a nap and do school work. This time I plan on doing most things separate. That means I am going to set up little stations and rotate them through each one. One will be with me and then there will be an electronics station for educational games and then a hands-on puzzle/game type station. I hope that I can keep all three of them intellectually engaged for a few hours every afternoon.

This is totally going to work...right?!?!?

The bottom line is that all of my kids are ready to have some mental stimulation and challenges to help them grow. My school room and play rooms are all cleaned out and I think I am about ready to go. I sure hope it works out even somewhat close to what I am thinking. But I guess the most important thing with homeschooling is the ability to be flexible.

We shall see.

More Merit Badge Stuff

It was the summer of merit badge craziness. After talking with the merit badge counselor at the zoo, she said that Zach would be able to sign off his Mammal Study badge if he built a bat habitat. Apparently, bats are good to have around because they eat rodents and pesky insects like mosquitoes. This sounded like a job for dad. I am happy to report that the bat habitat got built and painted and passed off. He has now completed Mammal Study. Thank goodness!

They also finished Soil and Water Conservation and have Bird Study about 98% done. But they also have to do a big project in order to complete Fish and Wildlife. I think it is something like build an aquarium and watch it for three months. It is something along those lines. My brilliant idea is to try to coordinate it with their science project for school and kill two birds with one stone. I will find out next week when I talk to their counselor.

When they have a Court of Honor again, my boys will be getting a whole lot of badges. I think they are more than halfway to Eagle. That is going to feel real good to have it done.

Merit Badges Galore

It has been a merit badge extravaganza this week. The boys had two classes at Hogle Zoo for Soil and Water Conservation and Bird Study. They also worked hard on finishing up their Insect Study badge and got that passed off when they went back for these classes this week. Whew. Getting to Eagle is not easy, that is for sure. Yesterday was the soil class and I dropped them off at nine and then had to kill three hours before I could pick them up again. There was no way I was going to drive home and back again. Not worth it.

Instead, I took my little kids to Liberty Park. They have completely redone the playground area and it is now quite fabulous. There is a splash pad and all new equipment. Three hours sped by, especially since we made a quick stop at Trader Joe's for some treats to hold us over.

Noelle just loved the swing.

And she loves her brother Eli. He was so cute with her. Julia and Harry each found kids to play with and keep them occupied, but Eli seemed content to just hang around with me and play with her. It was charming.

Then when we got home from the zoo, the boys spent another hour finishing up their insect scrapbook. It took us about 5 hours to find bugs and then have them sketch and observe and research. Oy.

Today, I decided to take the little ones to the University of Utah bowling alley, a popular spot for my husband all through college. He wasn't too sure where the library was, but he found the billiards and bowling alley the first day of school. And boy, my kids fit in well. We played with bumper lanes. I even bowled one game. And I really, truly stink at bowling. Believe me, I tried. I think my score was 65, with bumpers!  Harry and Eli beat me handily.

Harry even managed to get two spares in a row, and Eli threw a strike. Julia has inherited my bowling prowess, unfortunately.  And I think she is about as interested in it as I am. But Harry and Eli really enjoyed lobbing those balls down the lane. They bowled a second game and Julia quite after the 4th frame. Harry and Eli would each bowl her frame for her. And they both broke 100 on their second games. I think Harry's score was like a 114. He has got his daddy's skills for sure.

We then walked down to the bookstore and got a couple of kids books so that I could get the parking validated. It was free popcorn Wednesday, so four bags of popcorn was a nice consolation prize as well.

We then picked up Raef and Zach, got some lunch, and then went to the Jordan Water Plant in Sandy. The boys did a tour to learn about how we get our drinking water and then I made them write everything down when we got home. Like I said, it was a Boy Scouting extravaganza these past few days.

I am wiped out!

Ice Cream, Camping, Walks, Moments

I was going to blog a bunch of stuff last week and then I got derailed with computer stuff, cleaning things out, plugging things in, excavating office space. And then what do you know? Another 5 days has passed. Whatever!

Harry loves his little sister, and so does Julia.

And this was a funny moment. Zach just came into our room and was trying to tell us something and apparently it really cracked him up. He could barely get out what he was trying to say, he was laughing so hard. Yes, Zach is generally a pretty hilarious kid.

And then sometimes it is just really nice to slow down and get down. I was able to do that this past week as well. Rinar took all the other kids out somewhere and I stayed home with my little sweetie. I just watched her wiggle, squirm, grab, roll, and just move non-stop. This was my favorite move. She was working on her yoga form and really had the downward dog looking pretty darn good.

Raef and Zach went on their second Scout overnighter and it was at Spanish Fork Canyon. They have hot springs up there and it seemed like it would be a perfect camping weekend, until the rain and snow hit. I don't think they brought enough warm stuff. I was a little worried for them. But they came back the next day all in one piece. That was a relief. And they still like scouts and camping.

But while they were gone, we took the littles to the newest restaurant in Draper, Leatherby's. I have to say, I highly approve of this joint.  The ice cream looked amazing and Rinar and I shared a fish and chips entree, which was really good. Noelle had her first little bite of ice cream and the first time it went into her mouth, her eyes popped wide open. She was pretty darn happy.

And so was everyone else. Julia was a meticulous connoisseur, keeping it neat and even all the way around. She also was pretty speedy and had hers polished off in no time.

As for the boys, it was a melty mess by the end. But they loved it all the same.

And this was my view on the way home from church on Sunday. I am really committed to walking every week, as long as the weather is not wretched. Looks were very deceiving, as it looked beautiful but was freezing cold. I think it was actually colder at noon when we went home. And then I checked the temperature when I got home and it was 40 degrees, with a wind chill. Whoosh. But my kids were troopers and didn't even complain. 

Proud Moments

Saturday was a lot of fun. Rinar took Raef and Zach to the Klondike scouting event on Friday night. I was surprised to see Rinar come back home at about 9 a.m. on Saturday. I was getting ready to go to a birthday party. Rinar was with Zach. Apparently, it was so cold up there that when Zach had to go to the bathroom he was unable to unzip his pants. Poor kid. He was pretty devastated, but I am happy to report that by the time he was home and giving me his report of the unfortunate event, the tears were soon tears of laughter. I am sure that when he looks back on this embarrassing moment, he will get a good laugh from it! Rinar decided to help ease the pain by taking him to IHOP. IHOP makes everything better, right?

So I was on my own with the four little ones. But we made the best of it and headed over to the birthday party for Hutch. He is Harry and Julia's friend. The party was at a cheer gym. There were lots of things to jump and climb on and my kids had a blast.

Hutch's mom gave me the nicest compliment about my kids. She told me that whenever a kid needs help with something, they are always right there to lend a hand. Ahhh. That is sweet. I do have incredibly kind and loving children. They teach me every day how to be better.

Okay, I always post smiling, happy pictures of Noelle, but she has her moments too. She is human after all. Even if she is a 'super' baby.

And these two are close to being professional posers.

Once the party was over, we headed out to Eli's very first basketball game. It was a riot. I enjoyed it immensely. It is pretty much his soccer team with a few extra kids. They did great. They ended up winning by about 30 points! And I couldn't believe it, but Eli scored a basket and got two assists. He was really the only kid out there willing to pass the ball.

I am one proud mama.

Camp Tracy

What would summer be without Boy Scout camp, right?  July was also the month for the boys to go to Camp Tracy. It is an awesome, permanent Boy Scout camp in Millcreek Canyon. They went for three days and I was able to take all the scouts from our troop on the last day of the camp.  That equals four boys: Raef, Zach, Matt D., and Caden C. 

They were able to pass off a bunch of stuff for their rank advancement. I helped them do the compass requirement. Actually, I just helped Raef and Caden. Matt and Zach finished before us.  They asked if they could go do rock climbing while we finished. I told them they could and then about 15 minutes later I went to look for them.  But, of course, they were not there.  Then the hunt began. It soon ended at the pond and canoes. I saw them out there and waved for them to come in. Matt and Zach came right back and when they came to dock the boat, Zach was really upset and crying.  I was a bit taken back by his emotional state. They both got out of the boat and Matt took off.  Zach proceeded to tell me that Matt was keeping him hostage on the canoe because Matt wanted to canoe, and Zach did not. Matt is much bigger than Zach and so he was pretty much powerless.  Zach begged him to go back to shore but he wouldn't.

Oh the drama of an 11 year-old mind.

Then they went swimming and everything was okay again.

Diving boards can make everything better.

***
It has been nice to have Rinar around more. Even though he travels a lot, he is able to work from home when he is in town.  That means we have been able to go on a lot of lunch dates together.

One of our lunch dates was to the Serving Time Cafe.  It is a cafe at the prison in Draper. It is run by female prison inmates. They get release time and work at this little cafe.  Rinar and I tried it out and were pleasantly surprised. The food was darn good and it was a neat little place to eat.

We will definitely be going back again.

Our First Last Cub Scout Meeting

It was a big day for Raef and Zach.  This was their  Cub Scout meeting. They are turning 11 next week and are now officially in the Boy Scouts. And with a last minute push to the finish line, they were able to earn the Arrow of Light award.

And here they are crossing the bridge from Cub Scouts to Boy Scouts. It was a good moment for both of them.