fast forward

 We are living life on fast forward. Everyone is busy.  Lots of fun stuff.  Lots of not so fun stuff.  So basically regular life :)

It's been chilly.  For May.  Silly weather.  I liked this picture of Hannah at the eagle project last weekend.  We have never had a horse of our own...but we love them.

Mother's day was Sunday.  It was a nice day.  We didn't have ward council so we all got to go to church together.  Hannah made a very delicious dinner and a beautiful raspberry lemonade cheesecake.

 We talked to our moms, and the girls talked to me.  Mom's are special people.  I wonder what life would be like if I wasn't a mom.  It would be Rob and I, a dog and a cat, living in a little house in the desert.  We'd go out to dinner, travel, watch TV.  We'd never fight or disagree because the only things we every disagree on is kid stuff: parenting, $ spent on kids stuff, kids misbehaving, chores, activities, curfews BUT we'd miss all the great times and the interesting times and the busy times and even the hard times.  The thing about having multiple children is you get all those time at once!

 Steve loves this chair.

fun Mother's day surprise that came in the mail.

 For example: a snapshot into right now,

Grace went to the mathletes yesterday.  She tied for first place, won $50 and a huge trophy for her individual efforts.  Her team also won first in the team division.  So happy day!! Yay!! Last year Ethan came in 2nd in individual and 1st in team so that made it all the sweeter for her.  They are a little competitive in the intellectual prowess dept.

Ethan: invited to play on an elite soccer team for a tournament this weekend.  They are short players and he's an invited ringer.  Yay!!  on the flip side he said something mean to a girl the other day.  Not really meaning to hurt her feelings but it did.  Part of growing up but still mortifying (to me) and a not so awesome moment for him.

Hannah: sheesh.  So much drama right now.  Some of it awful and hard. So two thumbs way down.  Leaving for college soon! Yay and exciting.  We're all over the place with this one.  We'll see.  17 is always tough.  They are on their way, the very edge of adulthood and it's a stretching process that is usually, always?, painful.

Jenna: going on a backpacking trip, she is excited and that is super fun! Having some health issues.  Not so fun.

Sierra: thinking about moving.  Where will she go?  What will she do? The whole world is open to her, and she's smart and capable.  But that's hard.  Too many choices is hard. 

Dani: well, she's a mom :)  She's a great one, and a good wife and good primary worker and lovely, fun person and she's got her own little set of ups and downs and crazy with three little monkeys living in her house.  Which is fun and two thumbs up for me:)

Eagle Project

 Today was supposed to be day 2 of 3 but actually the boys worked so long and so hard that they got it done today!

 It took over 120 man hours of labor alone.  Not counting planning and meeting.  Not everything went smoothly or as we hoped but no one got upset or discouraged.  They worked together, problem solved and tried different thing until eventually we had a beautiful, safe, secure fence in place.

 It was cold.  It's been a weird May, weather wise.  And super windy, ugh.

Grace, Hannah, Ethan, Preston, Jayce, Rob, Collin, Curtis, Emmett and Landon.  

later Braydon, Matthew and Parker joined us.

 The painted turtle is really nice.  They had their community volunteer day at the same time so we got to have breakfast and lunch in the cafeteria, which was really nice.  The boys were happy to be fed.

We all cheered when we were finally done.  It was a long day!

Then we got home and Hannah and I went shopping for a graduation dress...again.  Found one! Score!

Then we went to the grocery store :(

all about Rob

Yesterday was this cuties birthday!  47years old.  We had a nice, but kind of low key, day together.  We both went to work.  Before we left though I made him breakfast in bed: eggs & sausage and english muffins.
When he got home we took Ethan to meet his friends at the movies and then went to the mall.  I wanted to get him some new church shoes but wanted his foot with me so I couldn't surprise him.  Nana and Abba send him some presents that were a surprise so that was good.
Then we went to Barnes and Noble.  He wanted a map.  Then we went to the "jeep" store.  That's what the kids call auto zone or whatever it's real name is. Finally we went to dinner.

That was the birthday portion of the day.  Then we put on our parental hats and went to pick up Grace at the school.  She went on her first band competition. They competed in the morning and then went to 6 Flags. I was worried about her going with out me.  She was the only 6th grader invited to the competition. Anyway, everything went well.  She loved it, had fun with her friends,  and they scored well at  the competition.

Then we went to Walmart to buy water bottles and Gatorade for the eagle project.  Then it was time to pick up Ethan.  We had agreed to a meeting time and place.  And he wasn't there. So we waited a while and he still wasn't there.  Then I texted him.  No answer.

Backing up the story.  Thursday he says to me "tomorrow can I go to the movies with Sam and some friends?" This is on the drive home from school and Sam is in the back seat. I said, sure.  Who's going?  They list off some names.  All boys.
Fast forward to Friday afternoon.  We drop him off and there are girls standing there too.  One cute, tall, brunette seams especially happy to see him.  Hmmm.
The plan was see a movie then go to Red Robin and grab a burger.

So we're at Red Robin and can't find him.  I think maybe they've decided to eat somewhere else.  The theater and a million restaurants are all around the mall.  I try to text some of his friends.  So we start driving to different places and I walk in a look and he's not there.  I am not actually worried but I am annoyed.  This comes on the heels of the tennis match mix up a couple of weeks ago, when I was actually worried.  Anyway an hour passes.  I am now mad and he texts where he is and says can we get him in half an hour? Nope.  Now.
He got to enjoy a lovely lecture on the way home.  It is not too much to ask to be informed about changes in plans.  I am happy for him to hang out with his friends, to go out and do fun things.  I just want to know where he is.

Eagle Project

 Today was day one of the project.  Ethan got 3 friends and headed out.  They worked really hard.  I was very impressed with those young men.

 They had to take apart the existing horse corrals and mark the spaces for the holes to be dug.  It took them two hours of non-stop work.

 Ethan and Sam clearing the troughs from the corrals. 

 Saying hi to some of the horses that didn't have to be relocated to the barn.

 Sam, Ethan, Brody and Josh.

 So there you go.  We have two more days of work ahead but today went smoothly and hopefully the rest will continue to go well.

Brody came home with Ethan and they did homework and played video games.  We had dinner and then I had to leave for a laurel class presidency meeting.  When R got home they picked up Sam and the boys came out for our combined activity, which was volleyball.  

Fun fact: Ethan's first injury was volleyball related.  When he was a newborn we went to the church gym to play volleyball.  Mostly the men played volleyball and the women gathered on the stage and played board games.  We did this a couple of times.  One of those times was when E was like 2 weeks old.  Marcia was holding him and the ball flew up onto the stage from nowhere and hit him in the head!  He cried, She cried, I cried.  We all felt awful.  Warren was the one who hit the ball and he also felt awful.  He hopped up on the stage and checked little bub out.  Luckily there appears to have been no permanent damage but it was very sad.

On the drive home from volleyball tonight I asked the boys what was more fun volleyball or tearing down the fence? They all quickly replied "volleyball!!"

Sometimes I feel like we live busy lives, busier than average.  ...but probably not.  Everyone is busy busy.  Today I didn't take a job because I had a presidency meeting this morning, and the eagle project in the afternoon.  The rest of the day was taken up with chores, laundry and brownie baking (for the activity) and kitchen cleaning and what not.  When I work a lot the days at home are busier in catching up with chores.   Before I knew it it was time to get ready for bed again!  Crazy!!

weekend

 Friday Hannah went on a date with Jayce Alvey.  They doubled with Braydon and Sam T.  While they were gone the rest of us went to the movies to see  "Guardians of the Galaxy 2", don't worry she saw it Thursday night with her friends.  It was lots of fun and a good start to our weekend.

 Saturday Hannah spent with her friends.  I don't know what they did but I know baking, talking about boys and going to a heavy metal concert on the Blvd were among the plans.  Ethan went to see a Galaxy game with Matt and Grace had Makayla over to play.  Rob and I went on a date in the evening....so Grace entertained herself with Nigel.  She figured out that Nigel is very territorial but if you get him out of his cage he is nice and lets you hold him.  She's been very patient with el diablo.

Today we went to church.  Rachel taught an awesome lesson.  She is a really good teacher and the girls really respond to her.  We also got a new Laurel Class presidency.  Hannah did a good job in her time but she's graduating soon so it was time for a new el presidente.  Rylie was called and I am exited to work with her.

 We made huli huli chicken for dinner and peach pie.  After dinner we played a new game that I bought at a garage sale for $2 yesterday.  It's called Quelf and it was really funny.  You have to perform different tasks to move around the board. For example: Ethan had to build a fort and play from there.

 I had to use only my elbows to move around the board...which meant every piece got knocked over every time it was my turn!

Ethan had to make up and perform a dance.  He called it "song of the kingfisher".  People had to write poems, sing songs, answer questions and do all kinds of funny things. 

It was a good weekend.  I love this family of mine. 

May the 4th be with you

 First a little something I've taken from the big girls.  Abe has been sleep training in the tent.  He looks like Chewbacca in there with Jenna! His training hasn't been awesome and he has to stay home from their upcoming back packing trip.  Poor Abe!

 Dani and the girls wore space buns in honor of the day! Marshall dressed like Po.  It was all very awesome!

 Sierra at work yesterday.  Nothing Star Wars to see here but she sure is cute.  Can't wait to see her in a couple of weeks!

 I subbed for seminary today so I made these cute handouts.  It's a stacking crayon! We used it to mark our scriptures.  I I recruited Hannah to make Leia buns for a treat.  The class really appreciated!

Also Hannah and I wore our Star Wars shirts today.  Very fun.

Ethan and I went to the orthodontist and to the painted turtle.  He starts his eagle project next week.  It's rolling along!

FYI it's 91 degrees out today.  And it is hot.  And I have a headache.  I don't know if it's the heat, the early rising or the cold that's circulating in the family.

monday

 Since I worked all week last week, and then we were run run running all weekend our house was a wreck and our family was stressed.  Sunday night had some quick tempers and grouchy family members.  Honestly I don't know how moms work full time.  They are more capable than I.  So long story short I didn't work today.  It worked out wonderfully.  I was able to get the kids to school and Rob was able to sleep in, he's got a huge cold and only worked a half day.

Then to my surprise Hannah had a small group of friends over to study for the AP test that was this afternoon.  They gathered in the not so spotless family room and quizzed each other, and stressed together and studied and took breaks.  I made them muffins and then later Hannah and Sam made french toast.  So we sent them off with full stomachs and a nice morning behind them. 

Then I met R for lunch and went grocery shopping.  I also did 7 loads of laundry and talked with Grace and helped Hannah address her graduation cards.  It was a good day.

Hannah cut my hair.  She did a good job.  Also while I was getting Ethan from soccer R and H went down the street and bought tacos.  $1 each and so tasty!

Also Rob got a new job, still at Lockheed of course, he's going to be working at least half time on the new airship (pictured above.). Eventually I guess it will be full time.