Hard Work

After Elle was born it quickly became clear that she wouldn't be released within 48 hours. At that point I was overwhelmed with all that we needed to do regarding our older children. Of all the things that weighed on my shoulders football for the boys was at the top of my list. Elle was born on Thursday and football practiced was starting on Monday. Of course I know how silly that sounds, football being my biggest concern, but it wasn't as much about football as it was about ALL the hard work Ethan had put into getting ready for this season.

At the beginning of summer Brian and I sat down with the children to set and write out their summer goals. Ethan had a lot of goals, but his number 1 goal was to play running back this fall in football.

After that goal was set a plan was made to accomplish the goal. Ethan spent countless hours working out and practicing to get ready for evaluations to show the coaches that he was ready to play running back for their team. I have never seen or known a kid to work so hard for something. He gave it his all, literally his blood sweat and tears went into getting ready.

And he was ready.

This being our 3rd year playing in this league I knew how positions would work. For Ethan's team the coaches pick the boys based off evaluations for certain positions (especially running back) and they start position work in their first practice. If Ethan was drafted for running back I couldn't let him lose the spot he worked his heart out for just because he wasn't there. I wanted this for him as much or more then he wanted it, and I couldn't let us being in a different state hurt his chances. So the decision was made to get the children home so the boys would only miss one practice.

Tonight was the first scrimmage, and Ethan played running back. He did great! It took nearly the whole team to bring him down. I am so proud of him. Brian and I have been preaching and teaching the importance of hard work to all the children, and today Ethan enjoyed the rewards of his hard work.

Of course the hard work isn't close to over as he has to continue to practice, work hard, and improve.

Wild Wings - Father and Son Edition

Being a fairly large family we have to have rules when we go places like the movies, sporting events, and pretty much any place that sells food separate from the activity that tickets have been purchased for. 

The pirates game was no different. 

The rule for the pirates game is: everyone can choose 1 dinner item such as a hot dog, nachos, or burger, and 1 treat. Kai knew way before we arrived at the field his treat of choice would be cotton candy, when it came time to purchase the cotton candy Luke and Olivia jumped on the band wagon. $15 later we had 3 happy children getting sugar drunk on the worlds largest cotton candies!

Ethan had chosen to wait and get Dippin Dots. (He is really mine!) Well, one thing led to another and the game went MUCH faster then last year and we missed the Dippin Dots. So we promised him another treat that would be delivered on the next day. 

 Saturday came with a full agenda as always, but Brian decided when we got home from the outlets he would take Ethan to get his treat before he went to Wild Wings to watch the fight with his friend, Nate. Shortly after Brian left Nate called and could no longer make it. When Brian called me he said "I have another idea for tonight." I was excited hoping it would be him bring home a Red Box and some Ice Cream, but instead he suggested taking Ethan to Wild Wings and skipping the fight. I was on board right away and knew Ethan would have a BLAST!

 He did, of course, have a blast spending time with his dad all, and the wings were good too! As it turns out his favorites are the regular flavor, again just like his mama!

 Lastly the dessert came. The treat promised from the Pirates game! 

I think Ethan would tell you it was well worth the wait!

Surprise Date

One of my favorite things to do is spend one on one time when the children away from the house. The away-from-the-house part is key, because it's so easy for me to sucked into projects and house work. The best way for me to accomplish this has been monthly dates. It has been one of my favorite parenting goals thus far. I love surprising them and listening to everything they have on their minds. I get to hear uninterrupted jokes, and all that's going on at school. I get to show them that they are number 1 in my world, and that they are the most important thing to me. 

May has been a very busy month, but I got my dates with Olivia and Kai in weeks ago. Ethan kept reminding me over and over that he hadn't had a date in yet May. I knew that today would be the only day that would work and planned to take him to the pool. The weather decided not to be pool weather which left me to think up something at the last minute. I finally decided on picking him up early from school with a surprise scavenger hunt date. 

 He was all smiles as we walked out of the school to car. Seriously, how handsome is this kid?!

 The first clue sent us to the used book store to pick up some books for our summer of classic reading we are planning on doing. They didn't have all the books we wanted, but we settled on Treasure Island and David Copperfield. I can't wait to get reading!

 The second clue sent us to Wal-Mart to get the stuff we needed to make his teachers end of the year gift. I didn't get any pictures of us there!

Lastly we were off to DQ. He got a banana spilt, I got a Blizzard, and

 Luke our little tag a long got a dipped cone!

 We had a great time together. I sure love this boy who is getting ready to turn 9 in just a few short weeks. Life sometimes gets so busy with all the children and their activities, church callings, and the everyday chores, but these dates force me to slow down and enjoy these sweet babies. I am so grateful for them and the joy they bring to our lives. 

Ethan's Birthday

Even though his baptism is going to be the BIG celebration this year we wanted to make his birthday special for him. I decided to take the children to BounceU. They have been begging to go since school got out, and as an added bonus it is on our Summer Bucket List.

I loved every second of watching the children running around enjoying everything they were doing. It was "all ages jump" so there were even some teenagers there so Luke stayed pretty close to me.

Luke would go up those stairs and then come right back down.
The children had a great time. My favorite part of the was listening to all the chatter about their favorite part, or when they were coming down the slide and they did a twist so they were backwards, or how they slipped going up the spider web but helped each other. It was awesome!
Ethan had a friend Joe come over to spend the night with as a special treat.

Happy Birthday ETHAN!

Happy Birthday Ethan!

(4 year old Ethan on Valentines Day 2008)

I was up all night last night thinking about your special birthday. I know I say it all the time but I can't believe you are 8. Lately, you have been running and doing drills with dad in the back yard for the upcoming football season. Whenever I see you running around I can't help but remember when you were about 2 and we lived in Charleston. Every time you went out back you would run to the back fence, and then run 2 laps the length of the fence before you started playing. Dad and I would watch you and laugh at how insanely cute you were. Now you are out there just as cute, but way sweatier!

Time has past and you have a grown, but so many things about you are the same. You have always played with a purpose and an objective. You are incredibly creative and come up with fun things to play with your friends and siblings. You are so kind and come home from school all the time with stories of how you helped others. You love to learn new things. Recently, you have been very interested in US Presidents, and spend a lot of time reading and doing projects about the ones you find interesting. You also love to teach others the new things that you learn, and have "school time" with Kai and Olivia all the time.

We have been talking about your upcoming baptism a lot since the beginning of the year. You are very excited and have been reading your scriptures and praying more and more on your own. We are so proud of you and the awesome person you are becoming. You are such a great example to us and everyone around you. We love you more then anything in the world and feel so blessed to have you in our life. Happy 8th Birthday Ethan!

Father's Day

Last year Father's Day and Ethan's Birthday were on the same day. I tried to do a little something to show Brian how much we love and appreciate him, but it was totally trumped by all that we had planned for Ethan. So this year I wanted to do a little extra for him. Since yesterday's Amazing Race was his gift from me, I wanted today to be all about food and rest.

For breakfast we made steak and eggs, with bacon, toast, strawberries, and orange juice. I think he was very surprised!

Luke in bed with Brian to mooch all his food!

My favorite 5 people!

Before we headed off to church!

Brian had a nap after church and for dinner I made kabobs with one of his favorite salads and watermelon. We all told Brian what we loved most about him, and then Nate, Emily, and Ethan came over for dessert, brownies and ice cream! I think Brian really enjoyed his day!

What we love about Brian:

Ethan: He helps us with our homework and stuff like that.

Kai: The best thing about my did is that he is my dad. He helps do my room and he is going to put my basketball hoop back up.

Olivia: He helps me with my basketball camp. He helps me shoot and dribble. He helps me with my room. He helps me make things. He helps me draw. He helps me with my homework. He is my friend. He reminds me to brush my teeth. He tells me to go to bed so when I first get in my bed so I won't be tired in the morning.

Danae: I love that Brian is so helpful around the house and with the children. I love that he is willing to do whatever crazy project or idea I have. I am so grateful for how hard he works and his great example to me and the children. I am so grateful that he is a worthy Priesthood holder. I love the way he teaches the children what is right and wrong with love and compassion. I love that he wants to spend all his free time with his family and loves us so much!

Happy Father's Day

Kids Parties

Today I am linking up with Kelly's Korner which is all about Kids Parties. People who know me know how much I LOVE parties. Here are some of the idea's I have had over the years.

Olivia's 6th Birthday Party - Mad Tea Party

As all the little girls arrive we painted their nails.

Once everyone was there we started the games. The first game was a hula hoop game. Everyone has to hold hands and you have to move the hula hoop as fast as you can from one end to the other. This was really fun and the girls wanted to do it a bunch of times. Then we played another game where there were two teams, each person in each team had to dress up in a dress, scarf, shoes, and necklace of mine then run down to the bottom of the hill, come back up, take everything off and then the next girl would go.

After all the games the girls came over to the table, but before they sat down they all got a necklace, bracelets, and petti skirts to add to the fun.

Here are some detail pictures

Ethan's 5th Birthday - Carnival

Invitations

All the Booth's Set up in the backyard

Kissing Booth - Kids had to guess how many Hershey Kisses were in the apothecary jar. Who ever was closest got all the candy.

Lucky Duck Booth - There was water in the table and each duck had a number on it. The children would pick a duck and whatever number that was at the bottom of the duck was the number of little prized they were able to get.

Hola Hoop Rocket(I do know how to spell, it was just 3am when I was finished these posters! HA!) - Someone held the hula hoop up and the kids had to try to get the nerf rockets through it.

Tic Tac Toe - My husband built this game for the party and it was a big hit. Each kid got 6 balls to try and get three in a row. It was a big hit!

Gone Fishing - There was a stick with a clothes pin tied to the end of the rope. The kids would toss the string over and then when it came back up a prize was attached.

Cake

Party Favors

We also had a cotton candy machine, Popcorn, Hot Dogs, and Hamburgers. It was such a fun party. Also, when all the kids walked in there was a little area for them to decorate their own bag for them to put all their prizes.

Tomorrow will be my son Kai's 5th Birthday which is Pirate theme and I cannot wait!

Luke just had his 2nd birthday which was Toy Story 3.

Favorite Character

In honor of Dr. Seuss's Birthday the kids' school asked that they dress up as their favorite character from any book. Starting last Friday we spend countless hours talking about what they wanted to be, looking to see if we had the stuff to be that character, and begging Olivia to be Fancy Nancy.

Ethan really wanted to be Max from "Where the Wild Things Are" but I couldn't find anything that resembled his white wolf suit. So he went with his second choice Niki from "The Mitten"and he wore his snow boots, a hat (we didn't have a solid red one), and a white glove. Yes, I realize the story is about a mitten NOT a glove, but I did the best I could! I think he looks great!

Olivia had loosely agreed to be Fancy Nancy, but backed out last night. So we spent 30 minutes past bedtime trying to think of something else for her to be. She came up with nothing and so she just had to go to bed. I really wanted to have every already decided to avoid frustration during the morning hustle and bustle. So this morning she woke up and still had no idea. I begged her again to be Fancy Nancy, I told her we had all the stuff, but no. Then she said she wanted to be Olivia the Pig. I started to look for anything red and of course we have NOTHING. Back to square one! FINALLY she decided to be Junie B. Jones, which really is just her wearing her regular clothes and her regular hair, LAME! Oh well, I am just glad it is over!

I hope they have a wonderful day!

My Little Helper

This year I have been really trying to get myself and the house organized. I have been getting rid of just about everything I possibly can, and I have been trying to find better systems for the things that seem to not be working. One of the first thing that I changed was laundry. I have to do at least a load a day, that is the only way I can keep up, but I have added small laundry baskets one for each child. Their job is to put all their clothes away (in their newly labeled drawers) and then to put their baskets away in the linen closets.

Everyday since I showed the children how I wanted it done Ethan is the only one who has done it right when he sees the basket, and without me asking him. I am so grateful for his help. I could just brag on him all day long.

Today was the third day in a row that he got his laundry done that Olivia and Kai did not. I didn't want to punish Olivia and Kai, I just wanted to reward Ethan. He got a Jolly Rancher and was able to do his reading out on the trampoline.

I have a feeling Kai won't be missing anymore days.

Off to School in the Snow

I seriously love those sweet babies!

Ethan Date

Today Brian and I decided would be a great day for me to get a little one-on-one time with Ethan. We dropped Olivia off at a birthday party and then went to run a few errands. The most important thing we needed to accomplish was getting all the supplies to start Ethan's Gingerbread Castle. I really enjoyed spending time with Ethan today. He is such a great kid and I am so proud of him. He is very funny and always up for an adventure. He is so excited to get started on his Gingerbread Castle, and while I am dreading how much hard work it is going to be I am so glad that I will be doing it with him.