Reading makes me tired...

I am not much of a reader. I can read for a few minutes here and there but not for a long time. It makes me too tired! Every night my kids read before they go to bed as their school homework. Well, Eli just started kindergarten so he thinks he needs to read like Madison and Gabe. All I care about is that he stays in bed. Some nights he will be reading his scriptures, or Go Dog Go. Apparently, he takes after me and this is what he was reading last night.....

I went in before I went to bed and this is what I found. He was snoring so loud, probably because he couldn't breathe. I wonder what he was dreaming about...maybe, a boy named Max who wouldn't eat his dinner!

PS, This is for Kinney. Madison keeps bugging me to put a picture of her doll for you so here it is! For those of you who don't know, Madison worked all summer to earn this American Girl Doll. She absolutely loves it!

Back to school...

It has been a busy summer. We did a lot of fun things and took some fun trips. I promise, soon, I will post some pictures of our crazy summer. For now, here are a couple pictures of the kids and their first day of school.

Madison and Gabe started on August 17th and they both have male teachers. This is new to us. In all the teachers we have had, we haven't had any male teachers. So far, 2 weeks into it, the kids love them.

Eli started on Tuesday this week. He absolutely loves it, I THINK. He loves to go but doesn't talk much about it. This is wierd to me because Eli usually doesn't stop talking. Some of you know, Eli rarely shuts up.

Enough, blah.....blah....blah....here are the pictures:

Madison and Gabe right before we left for school, they love posing for these pictures. They always tell me where they want to stand or squat like in this one.

Madison and her friend Katie. They were so excited to see eachother!!!

Gabe was a little nervous but he did OK. He cried, as usual, but his teacher gave him a hug and reassured him it would be fine. After a few days of crying I had to bribe him with a prize. So far that has worked pretty well.

Eli was so excited. He even picked out his outfit. It wasn't my favorite but you can't fight this kid. He is sooooo persistent.

And last but not least, the token picture taken in front of the school. I think they should probably have some feet painted on the sidewalk...saying stand here for school picture. After I took his picture I noticed a whole bunch of other moms taking the same picture.

So, there you go. It's a little late but the school pictures are finally posted.

Lagoon and the Holy Ghost

We went to Lagoon on Wednesday for our stake Lagoon day. It was so fun! We went with just our little family. Just the 5 of us. It was fun to have a day to just hangout with eachother and have fun. The day was perfect, mid-80s weather and shorter than normal lines. Who could ask for more? Eli of course...

At the end of the day we were getting ready to leave. We decided to go on the Terror Ride. It's not too scary and there are no hills. As we stood in line Eli kept hearing screams, you could see he was getting more and more nervous. Finally, it was our turn so I made him get in with me and he immediately put his head in my lap. He wouldn't even look around. I finally talked him into lifting his head up. Right then something scared him, so back down went his head. He didn't like it until it was over.

Once we got off the ride, Eli and I had this conversation:

• Eli: "Mom, it wasn't too scary except for the Holy Ghost."


• Mom: "What do you mean the Holy Ghost."


• Eli: "The Holy Ghost was tickling my legs the whole time."


• Mom: "Oh, really and that was the scary part?"


• Eli: "Yep, that was the scary part."

I have no idea what he felt in that terror ride, but he is pretty sure it was the Holy Ghost.

Eli wanted to dress just like Dad! I had to get a picture, it was pretty cute.

(I just realized I have no pictures of Madison, sorry Madison we will get some next time).

Absent....

Sorry about my absence on the blog lately. I have been a little overwhelmed with everything that I am supposed to be doing. I say "supposed to be" because I should be doing everything and I am not even doing it all. I am doing what I can do, and the blog, obviously, isn't one of them.

I have had:

• Sick kid stuff (Madison missed most of the last week and a half of school)
• Work stuff (Yuck!, I even quit again...)
• House stuff
• Summer stuff
• School stuff (Yes, we are still in school but Thursday is the last day)
• Church stuff
• Friend stuff (I went to dinner with friends I haven't seen for at least 15 years. Fun!)

I have had a lot of STUFF, so please forgive me and I will be back shortly. Maybe I could have the Dr. write me a note while she is writing one for Madisons absences from school.

Rain Rain Go Away!!!

Even the ducks don't need to swim in the creek because there is so much rain


I am so tired of the rain! Anybody else with me here? We watch the news and read the paper everyday and it always says: Monday/Rain, Tuesday/PC and rain, Wednesday/lightning and rain, Thursday/TS and rain, Friday/freaking more rain. I like rain but not when it rains for 15 days straight. A nice afternoon summer thunderstorm is nice but not every single day.



However, my boys have come to like the rain. The new thing they like to do is take their shirts off and run around in the rain. I try to make sure they don't run around when it is thundering and lightning but sometimes I can't stop them.



Boys being crazy in the rain, you can tell they haven't had much sun.

Our creek keeps flooding because there is so much water.

Little Red

For the third time I rode Little Red. A woman's-only bikeride up in Logan. We decided we were going to do the 62 mile ride. A couple of the girls in our group wanted to try for the 100 miles. I knew I wasn't ready but I rode with them anyway. We had a great time until 1.5 miles in. My bike started feeling funny. I was hearing funny noises and feeling every bump. FLAT TIRE! We stopped and thanks to Sunny's friend, my tire was fixed in a jiffy and we were back on the road. Things were great until we got up into Idaho and the wind hit. We battled the wind for about 15 miles (it seemed like forever, but maybe it wasn't that long) until we stopped for lunch at about mile 60.



So, we continued and the next stop was at mile 81. Somewhere in between my knees started hurting and my legs started cramping. I was not in any shape to think I was going to ride 100 miles. Then, at about mile 78 my tire went flat again. At this point, I was done. I called Troy and said come and get me. I have never had my knees hurt like that before. So, thanks to my wonderful husband, Troy, within minutes I was sitting on my nice comfy seat in the car (and not on my bike) drinking Diet Coke and eating a snickers. I am horrible, all I wanted was something sweet!



The rest of my group finished the century. Liz, Sunny and Sally. Good job girls and thanks for dragging me the last few miles!



I was a little bit sad at the finish line, it was a bitter-sweet moment for me. This ride benefits womens cancer research. I wanted to ride across that finish line so bad but I knew I couldn't do it this year. Maybe next year!





Sunny, Liz, Sally and me. At the finish line, I love the banner behind.

Sunny and Sally getting Lei'd. So cool! Sunny just had a baby 7 months ago and Sally's baby is 16. It is so cool that they finished.

Good job girls! Thanks for the ride and we will be riding again soon!

***Oh, and Heidi was there too but she had to leave. Heidi I need the picture Jason took of all of us so we can have you on here too. Just so you all know, Heidi is the driving force behind this group. She is the one that got us all there. Thanks Heidi!

Updates

It has been a while since I wrote. Things have been crazy busy with work and school and play.....Here are some updates:

Madison

• She is growing up so fast. She loves to babysit and earn money. She always begs us to go on a date so she can be in charge.
• She is doing really well at piano even though I can't ever get her to practice.
• She has had testing at school this week and next week so she has really been working hard at school.
• At school she is trying to pass off all the things for the Presidential Fitness award. She is killing herself to get them all done.

Gabe

• He is getting ready to start 2nd grade. I can't believe it.
• On his birthday he moved up in BMX from 6 novice to 7 novice and then the next week he was moved up to 7 intermediate.
• In his 2 races as a 7 intermediate he has made it to the main both times and has placed 3rd. We are so proud of him.
• He is always doing something, whether it's digging in the dirt or eating or legos or riding bikes. He is always doing something.

Eli

• He is learning to not play with knives. Two weeks ago he cut himself and had to get stitches. Yes we are great parents and let our kids play with knives. They will learn sooner or later.
• He is done with pre-school and is so ready to start Kindergarten. Maybe it is me that is ready for him to start.
• He gets to go to play with his cousin, Megan, 4 days a week while I go to work. I think he really likes it (Thanks Lori). He also goes to Grandmas 1 day a week, he loves to go and eat her cookies.
• This kid is like Gabe and is always doing something. However, he is usually doing something a little more mischievious.

Troy and Kelli

• We have been busy at work. Troy has been bidding jobs like crazy and I hope that will end soon.
• Troy has also been racing a little bit of BMX and getting some Mtn. Bike and Road biking in.
• I am riding Little Red tomorrow and I am not ready. Hopefully I will still be able to walk after it is over.

Here is a little video of Gabe's race last night. He has the silver helmet on and is in 4th place most of the time until the last straight before the finish he passes for 3rd.