Toilet Paper War

These are a few scenes from our house last week after a trip to Costco. Evan tried building a fort with the rolls before the kids got home from school, but was disappointed that they didn't stack very well. The TP was still out later when friends came over. They declared a Toilet Paper War and had a blast throwing the rolls at each other for about 10 minutes. I think it was every man for himself!

Nothing in the house got broken and Thomas was the only one that didn't like getting hit. I was glad for my kid friendly house when I watched them grinning from ear to ear playing!

Fall Break 2008

This past week we enjoyed a fun relaxing week school free. Even though we stayed in town we loved just hanging out!

Highlights were:

Evan's early soccer game - he was so excited to have Grandma Taylor there
Jarom and Ben stayed home to mow the lawn- Jarom is in training to take over
Going to the MooMoo Palooza at Superstition Farms-loved the Cherry Cream and Lemon Flavored Milk we tried

Jarom spent all Monday working with his Grandpa Skinner

Evan hung out with Mikey, going to the Museum

Getting more books for Jarom from the Library

Camille playing with friends

Spent most of Wednesday at Saquaro Lake-

swimming, playing cards, eating lunch, and cruising the lake

Jarom had a Wii party at a friend's house

Thursday we had soccer practice and everyone's hair cuts at Cosmos

Camille finally let Allison give her an updo! So cute!

With the cute hairdo they went out to see Beverly Hills Chihuahua

Friday night all the kids spent the night at my parent's house- Date Night!

Gecko Grill and falling asleep to new Indiana Jones movie

Saturday morning Ben, Dad and Jarom hiked Squaw Peak

I cleaned the house while the kids were still at my mom's

Washing both cars

Babysitting Co-op- entertaining 12 kids here so we can go out the next two weekends

Loved the break, but now back to school!

First Soccer Game

We recently went to Evan's first soccer game. When I first told him he was going to be on a soccer team he was scared saying that he didn't know how to play soccer, and we weren't able to discuss it for a couple of weeks. Then he started to get excited. He is on a team with one of his good friends, Dalen and Dalen's mom is the coach. They have so much fun doing monster kicks and playing shark at practice.

When Evan was rotated in for the first time, he did good at knowing which way to kick the ball. He got a kick or two that first quarter but when he was rotated out he started crying. I knew instantly that he was disappointed he didn't make a goal and that I had neglected to warn him about unrealistic expectations. I'm sure he imagined making lots of goals and being a soccer superstar. I talked to him but I could still see that look in his eyes that he was on the verge of tears. It was so cute- he was trying so hard not to cry. Dalen got in on the conversation, being so sweet about making him feel good.

He loves playing soccer, especially with such a great coach! He is getting better at each game. He is still very enthusiastic and has to wear his uniform to every practice. We are so proud of how hard he works!

Like Mother, Like Daughter...

A few weeks ago my mom and I got together and canned salsa. I do have some very talented members of my family that do this regularly, but this was the first time for me. I have to admit that it was easier than I thought. I think I had some preconcieved ideas about canning that scared me and kept me from trying. One thing I remember about my Grandma Rogers who passed away when I was 12yrs old, was that she was often in her kitchen, over the stove, canning. I remember her canning pomegranate jelly- to this day I have no idea how to get enough juice from pomegranates to be able to make jam. We loved her jam, bread and everything that came from her kitchen. So mom- what should we do next?

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Being old enough to feel how devastating it was when grandma passed away, her death made a huge impact on my life, how much I appreciate my mother, and my testimony of Heavenly Father's plan for us. Some of my memories of going to grandma's include:

Chewable Orange vitamin Cs in the brown bottle

Family Parties- lots of family parties

Hawaiian Punch homemade ice cream- with Saltines on the side

the flowers along their front walkway

learning about Ranunculas

Ceramics

beautiful seamstress

spending the night at her house

playing Mystery Mansion

swing set in the backyard

hiding in her pantry

gardening

going next door to the Wilkins- to their trampoline

the back room with the pink shag carpet

encouraging us not to pierce our ears

quilting- playing under the quilt

being scared to go under the grapefruit tree

picking tangerines

she loved her grandchildren-made us all feel like we were the favorite

beautiful smile, contagious laugh

huge pinetree in the front yard

back row-my mom, Aunt Leslie, Grandma Rogers and Great Grandma Matthews

in front- baby Scott, Beth, me, baby Jocelyn, and Aunt Diane

Happy Birthday to Ben!!!

Our favorite things to do with Dad:

Jarom

swimming races

hiking with him & Grandpa

playing Wii

Camille

going on bikerides

playing in backyard

playing Ticket to Ride

Evan

playing MarioKart

playing ball outside

shooting guns

Thomas

playing chase

flying helicopter

playing in the back of his truck

Favorite Memories:

Jarom loved biking early on a Saturday morning with his dad. They ate then drove half way to Grandma and Grandpa's, got out their bikes and rode the rest of the way to Queen Creek. He loved stopping for snacks and talking, and the 2nd breakfast they got at Grandma's.

Camille's favorite memory was going on a date with her dad. They went to her favorite place- Pei Wei, and she got rice and chicken with soy sauce. She took three fortune cookies to go. Then they went to see Shrek the Third.

Evan loves to go camping. A few weeks ago they went to Roosevelt Lake to camp and Evan remembers his dad teaching him that most spiders can't hurt you, just the black widows. He loved going on the boat too. Evan and his cousins pretended that the boat was sailing away and they would say-"SOS, Save our ship! All aboard the abandoned ship!"

Ben is the greatest dad- he would much rather be at home with the kids everyday then working. I appreciate the sacrifices he makes to keep me and the kids happy! He is my best friend and I wouldn't change anything about our life together. Happy 35th Birthday Ben!

August Essay, Camille- 2nd grade

I love the phonetic spelling of all the words!!

First Time in Nursery

Our countdown to nursery has arrived. Thomas is officially part of nursery. I didn't think I would I be with him though-I guess I will try to enjoy it while I am. My accomplishment last Sunday was that all nine of my nursery kids passed a toy to their neighbor. I was so excited about that. Funny, huh?

I love comparing what my kids all look like at the same age!

Jarom was the only one that didn't fuss going into nursery. He never even looked back. I was a little devastated that he could care less. Should have counted my blessings- the other three have been hard.

Eighteen months always seems the magic age with my kids. They start repeating words I say and seem to understand more. Thomas came to me this morning and told me he was poopy! That is the first step to potty training right?