Pine Wood Derby

Our ward had a fundraiser dinner and derby last Friday night. Anyone could make one and so I asked Ben to make a VW Bug one (just like his car). And, in my most humblest of wives' opinions, I think Ben rocked it. I loved how it turned out. And the bug didn't race too poorly either - nor too greatly. But it made it to the finish line, won our first 2 races - then it lost. It even fish-tailed some and that was pretty sweet.

Here are some pictures:

The derby bug. Yes, pasting pictures of our kids on our derbies is becoming a tradition, I guess.

Pretty great, I think!

Ben had to drill out a ton of the car to make weight. A ton. It's practically a shell now. But he did get it down to the necessary 5 ounces.

Miles got to take it up the first time to race. Jonas did the second time. That was sure a special and exciting thing for them to each do. They were really excited and proud about it.

There she goes! Vroooom.

Fun, fun, fun.

Happy Spring

a little of this (winter) and a little of that (spring):

Miles' 2009-10 school pictures

Helmets - Good for Anywhere and Everywhere

So Ben got some helmets for the 2 boys - ski helmets. Jonas is in love. He wore his for 2 days - at weird and various times. Ben found his old helmet again and fell in love with it again. And apparently fell in love with placing it upon me at weird and various times.

Check it out:

Making cookies on Sunday (thank-you cookies for our neighbor/ski-instructor for the boys).

Bedtime.

Storytime.

Dinner.

Jonas also wore his walking Miles to school, playing the backyard, etc. Miles wore his, too - just not as much.

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Skiing!

We went skiing yesterday at the perfect little family-oriented resort in Silverton. Perfect place. Oh so much better than Telluride! There were tons of families there with little, little kids - including even babies. We even saw our neighbors up there. It was great.

There is one ski-lift and about 4 or so runs to come down - short runs, mind you. But perfect for novice skiers.

We had a bit of a rough start with Miles. Okay, a bit is an understatement. By the time Miles came down the mountain on his first run with Ben he (Miles) was done. As Ben took off to take Jonas up the mountain, I tried to help/talk to Miles. Then I was done - with him. I couldn't talk to him because he was being such a. . . brat.

Ben took Jonas down a couple of times and he did okay. Then we breaked for lunch. A total of 3 runs before lunch (The resort doesn't open until 11).

After lunch Ben took Emmy down; she absolutely loved it! Of course Ben just stuck her between his legs and held on to her and then skied down - going on jumps and all sorts of fun stuff. The last little bit Emmy got to do on her "own." She really had a great time.

Luckily our neighbors were there. They saved the day! First of all they gave us some gear to help the kids out - some little straps to go on the tips to keep the skis together. As well as a harness. The harness was absolutely key for Miles. As well as Greg (the dad) - he was key, too. Greg helped out our kids tremendously. By the time he had gotten down the mountain with Jonas, Jonas was totally skiing on his own (Jonas used the harness thing once with Ben). It was awesome! Jonas would do the jump and all sorts of fun and scary things for his mom to watch. The first time Jonas attempted the jump he went up it. . . then back down the slope. He didn't have quite the momentum to get all the way up and over. It was hilarious. (The jump was a long, big one.)

Miles went up with Greg many times. Miles used the harness each and every time. He wanted to. I'm not sure how he would have done without it. Probably okay. And probably very slow and cautious. Because Miles is Miles and is always so true to himself. Ben told me that every time they got on the chairlift Miles had to 1. Pull down the bar as soon as possible and 2. Find out the number of the lift they were on.

So after lunch we made probably a little more than a dozen runs - not each kid, but Ben and a kid. Greg took up the boys many times, too. Greg was also great in relaying to Ben that it was actually another neighbor/friend that was successful in teaching his kid to ski. So someday it will be Ben's turn to help another child learn to ski. :)

And what was I doing for the 4 hours the kids were skiing? Well, only 1 (or 2 when Greg helped out) kid could go up at a time with Ben. So I was pushing the other kids around, pulling them up little hills to push them down on their skis, or even carrying them up a small hill to practice/play. Basically just trying to keep them entertained while waiting for their turn.

So a rough start but a great finish.

(side-note on pictures: it was so bright out there I couldn't see in my viewfinder what I was taking. At all. So I didn't get many great action shots on the slopes or jumps. Only after did Ben remind me I could have looked through the eye-hole thing. You know that thing you used in the olden days? Duh.)

Looking good and still happy - this was before his first run.

After lunch. Feeling the confidence with his harness.

Jonas looking pretty great (as well as his sis in the background).

There is Jonas and Greg. Not the best of pictures, but it does show Jonas on his own, shows helpful Greg, and shows the jump behind them.

Such a cutie.

I don't know why, but Ben really wanted me to put this picture in too. He said Emmy would just talk the entire time when they were skiing down the mountain. She'd look up at him and just chat. Oh we love her.

Ha, I just love how Emmy is skiing! All chilled and leaning back. Too funny.

Going on the jump with dad!

Skiing brothers.

The end of the day. They were all a little bummed after their last run. But it was sweetened by some stranger who gave us the last of their birthday-party cake. The kids were in heaven. The perfect ending to a good day on the slopes - when you are 6, 4 or 2 years old.

The Celebrations.

The day started off bright and early at 6:30 when all the kids came down to the playroom where I was finishing up my exercising. Since it was Miles' birthday I didn't make them go back up until 7am. :)

Miles got to open one present after breakfast. He had actually picked out this toy a couple of weeks ago and deemed it the one he wanted to open. He loves it. It's called a dunkadoo (sp?) and starts out as a flat penguin and then you add water and it grows. The penguin is named March. (I did suggest the name.) But he slowly gets flat again as the water evaporates, I guess. And Miles told me that means he dies and then when he gets "watered again" he will get a new name. Very cool.

Later that morning we went to Target and Miles used his gift-card that he'd gotten from his grandparents and bought his own presents. He was delighted to get all he got. (A lot of small sea-like animals, plus bendaroos. I "encouraged" him to get the bendaroos b/c he loves creating and crafting. It was what he played with as soon as we got home. :)

The whole darn family got to go to Miles' school and help with his birthday snacks. It was very fun and Ben was able to get out early from work and thus surprise Miles with coming too. Here we are all singing Happy Birthday - we did it twice, once super-fast and once normal.

Here Miles is at his desk with his adorable desk-mates. :) Miles inspired the whole snack. I felt a little embarrassed afterwards that it was way too much, but there was no taking back anything by then. On Monday Miles and I worked together in getting them put together. We made awesome jolly rancher suckers , then put chex mix, CARS chewy treats and the sucker inside the cups. Then, because Miles so wanted to, we got some "bugs" and taped them to the outside of the cups. Miles hardly let me help him put them together; he just wanted to do them all.

As soon as we got home we opened the rest of the gifts. Some super fun stuff! And Miles was just so sweet and so excited about every little thing. He took time to look at each thing before moving on to the next and so that was great.

Aunt-E got him a great selection of great books - Ramona, The Twits, Ralph S. Mouse, etc. We started The Twits tonite. Oh how fun.

Emmy just being cute.

Emmy and Jonas got a little present, too - bubbles.

Here's the birthday cake. I got the idea from here. The idea had used M'nMs, but we thought gumballs were ummm more appropriate. :) I think it was fun and my kids thought it was great.

We had a few families over to help celebrate with us. I think we had 15 kids and 8 adults total - the most this house has ever held. :) It was great. Miles loved every minute of it, I am pretty sure. (This was the little-girls' table, I mean the big-girls' table.)

Miles and some friends enjoying some pizza. I think this is the first time our family has ever paid for Dominos pizza. So it was a real treat. :) We are all lucky to have such great families for friends. They are such good people and good kids.

Pinata time. It was a little scary and close at times, but fun indeed.

And Miles blowing out the birthday candles - well, actually, I guess Emmy did. I didn't notice anything b/c I was behind the camera, but that's what happened. And looking at this picture, that certainly looks to be the case. :)

A super fun day with a super fun birthday boy.

Happy Birthday Miles

Oh Miles. I never know where to start or what to say with you.

You are a boy full of juxtapositions.

You will do and say the sweetest things. Like when you found out I was pregnant one of the first things you said to me was, "I hope it is a girl for Emmy." Oh I could have melted (if I wasn't so cold in our drafty winter house). And you continue today to state that same thing, even though you think another boy would be fun, too. You say "thank you" quite often now without any prompting. You compliment. Like yesterday as we were going to church you told me, "I really like your skirt, mom." You always tell your father that you wish he had a "home job." You love him so much and want to be with him most of the time.

But, on the other hand, you are our family's pester-er. It's so weird and it really doesn't fit with your personality, yet it does. You don't bother so much as by punching or shoving. Just by pestering. By slight moves. You are the master of "slights." Jonas tells me every day, "I'm not playing with Miles anymore!" I wish he wouldn't so you would maybe learn, but Jonas loves you and loves playing with you. You just have so much energy and sometimes lack the desire and the patience to tame that energy into good.

Another juxtaposition is you and eating. You continue to love most all foods (yes, you still adore sardines. I know.). You'll have eaten a big meal (more food than me) and then say, "I'm still hungry!" You eat good and healthy foods, but also loves your treats. However, if you get treats (candy, gumballs, etc.) you don't necessarily eat them right up - like, ahem, your 2 younger siblings. Sometimes you'll even save some candy for later on in the day, or even the next day. It's impressive. And there is no way I can ever steal candy from your halloween bag - you'd know exactly what was missing. Really. I think I got caught once.

You are wild, but you are also cautious. You play wild and loud and crazy A LOT. You create HUGE messes. You scream, you growl, you run about like a mad-man. You body or your mind seems to be constantly stirring, hardly resting. You want to go, go, go and do, do, do. But cautious you remain. Cautious, aka "scared." Scared of the night-time darkness. Scared of trees falling on our house. Scared of being struck by lightning. Scared of robbers. And, yes, you still remain scared of MOOSE. Big, dead, stuffed moose. This is an innate quality about you apparently. It began when you were around 18 months old and screamed and cried at a store where a large moose-bust (or whatever you call it!) was mounted on the wall. And just recently we were at the BYU Bean museum and there was a life-sized real (dead) moose there and you. . . freaked out. You would not get close to it. You would run as fast as you could, without looking its direction, to get to the other side of the museum. Wow.

This year was a year of firsts, as well. Like your first organized sport. We signed you up for T-ball. I liked to refer to it as tee-hee ball. :) It was a blast watching the 5 year-olds out on the field. But you were my absolute favorite to watch. Oh I loved watching you. You were so. . . you. You just have this personality that cannot leave you - no matter what endeavor you are engaged in. You had sort of fun with T-ball. But it was probably too boring for you and you just couldn't understand the purpose of t-ball. You are a task-oriented kid, but apparently hitting the ball and running around bases isn't task-oriented enough. I loved when you would blow kisses to your family as you'd run around the bases. I also loved how you would beg to have Jonas or Emmy sit with you on the bench. Oh those were the best moments.

But your biggest first this past year was starting school. The Big K. Kindergarten. You started out okay. Definitely smart enough. But lacking in desirable social and behavior skills. But you have much, much improved. In the first few months I would have quite a few days where Mr. James (your great teacher) would need to talk to me. Now I rarely have those occasions - and if I do, it's usually very positive. Sure, you still have some issues to work on, but you have improved greatly. And you do love school. You tell me that a lot. Even though there are days you beg me to let you stay home and "nap" (yeah right), when you get out of school you always tell me you had fun and that you like school. Of course your favorite part of the day always seems to be recess. But you're learning a lot about being a good friend, a good student, and a good person. It's been fun for the whole family having you in school. I don't mean by having you gone 1/2 the day. I mean the school activities, fairs, events, etc. School is now part of our family and it is a very fun and positive part.

You remain our family's resident hoardiculturist. You know, like horticulturist? Only we mean that you love, love, love to hoard things. Little things. Little toys. Little things found on walks. Little rocks - I have a stash of rocks found on your playground and then brought to me. You really treasure things and hold on to them. It's neat. And also not-so-neat. Every so often we have to deep clean your room and get rid of all these "little things."

You remain Creative. Intelligent. Inquisitive. Talkative. True to yourself.

I remain in love with you.

Happy Birthday my handsome boy,

mom.

BYU International Folk Dancers

so this was a not-so-boring event.

the BYU dancers came to our little town - well, actually, they didn't even come to our little town. they came to an even smaller town about 20 miles away. so we went. all 5 of us.

it was a lot of fun. before it had started i leaned over to ben and told him, "maybe we'll leave at intermission." he nodded. not that i didn't think i'd like it - but i wasn't sure how my 3 kids would do sitting for 2 hours.

we didn't leave at intermission. we stayed the whole time. the kids - including our boys - loved it all. after every dance number they would shout, "another!" i thought it was great. ben loved every minute of it. good talent is just inspiring and uplifting.

but perhaps my favorite moment of the night happened early on. the dancers had just come out on stage and had been out for just a few minutes. jonas leaned over to ben and asked:

"are those people real?"

the costumes, the make-up, the symmetry of dance - it did look a little fairy-tale-ish.

boring

there hasn't been a post all week long.

because it's boring around here.

not the, "i have nothing-to-do-boredom." but rather the, "i don't want to do this again." my life has felt very, very Groundhog's Day-ish this past week.

i have had stuff to do like host jonas' preschool group; organize and attend cub scouts (will i ever get out. . .???? :); wash clothes; wash the dishes; get breakfasts, lunch, dinners and snacks; sweep the floor; pick up, pick up, pick up; assist emmy in potty-training; "school-time" with jonas; make my bed; work-out; and play with my kids. (while playing can be a joy, somedays i just don't want to play with 6, 4, and 2 year olds. seriously.)

we did have a few excursions that were different and fun. like biking with the 3 kids (i push emmy on a trike with a long pole) while ben roller-bladed. but, then again, i was slightly bored that i just had to putts along walking. i wanted to bike. get some speed going, energy flowing. but i mainly just pushed emmy along as my 4 and 6 year-old kept wanting ben to go "real fast!" which he would to their utmost delight.

it was sunny and warm yesterday (upper 40s) and so after school the 3 kids and i walked down to a cute little shop near us. an "antique shop." it was fun, but could have been awesome if i wasn't petrified of one my children breaking something at any given minute. or annoyed at miles wanting every. single. bird. paraphernalia. in the place.

but other than that it's been hanging out at home, playing who-knows-what. oh, but today, did i luck out for 30 minutes! the boys wanted me to lie (lay, which is it mom?) down on the couch (*bonus*) as they placed toy bugs all around my body, in my hair, between my toes, etc. it was restful - until emmy came up to me smelling of poop and wanting me to help her "wipe." she's cute. but messy and stinky, too.

anyways, so that's really it. i haven't been following american idol too much. too many contestants right now and not many of them are really fantastic from what little i've seen. except crystal bowersox. i saw her first performance on the computer last nite and fell in love with her music. (seriously, for some reason i always want to cry when i listen to her sing this song.) i love her. i want her to win the entire thing. i think i will vote for my first time ever this season.

(p.s. one of the best lines in Hand in My Pocket: "I'm short but I'm healthy." makes me smile.)