Autumn time

We have been so blessed with a mild and pleasant autumn in Utah County. Its just now starting to feel jacket-worthy outside, and the changing leaves in the mountains have been beautiful. Here are this week's autumn happenings.


Savanna didn't pass the eye exam at Lindon Elementary this year and I was required by the school nurse to get her a professional eye exam to see if she needed corrective lenses. She was -.5 in one eye and -1.0 in the other, barely nearsighted, but we went ahead and got her the glasses. She picked the lenses herself, and she looks very cute! The same week we took her in for an orthodontic consultation. Her smile is nice, but her bottom teeth are really crooked. Come to find out she has crowding on both top and bottom and two of her teeth are 90 degrees turned the wrong way. She has all her permanent teeth already so the Orthodontist recommended we start the process of getting her braces. Lucky Savanna. Interestingly enough, she wanted the braces but not the glasses.




We enjoyed a drive up the mountains to see the changing leaves on Sunday, and Mondy had family night at South Fork. It was so pleasant my mom and I decided to go back up the next day and hike down the river from South Fork trail head. It was a very nice morning and a beatuiful hike! I'm so glad we took the time to enjoy it, for two days later it snowed in the mountains.



Jared took his cub scouts to a Fire Department Safety Fair/Demonstration and took Weston with him. They had a lot of fun learning about fires and what fire fighters do, and there was free cotton candy and weston ate an entire bag himself! Weston brought that red hat home and filled it full of water in the bathroom and left it there, and I not knowing it was full of water, did my rounds to pick up the house today and dumped the water all over the place. You got me Weston.



Fiora has a lot of fun at her Activity Day functions. They went to the BYU Art museum and had a real actual tour of the art there. This past week they went to Sarah Allred's and she taught them how to make bread. Sarah (pictured) has been a good friend for me here, she lives just a few houses away and runs with me in the morning when its good weather, and sometimes I get to watch her babies while she runs errands. I'm grateful for her, and all the good people and good leaders and good friends around here!

My son Weston has an infatuation twitterpation love-afair with Ninjagos. He got two mini kits for his birthday this year and has been nuts about them since. Ever since his uncle Joseph got quite a few more at his birthday, Weston's eyes have been opened to the Ninjago possibilities. He is constantly asking me to buy him the Ninjago white dragon, and when I tell him to do chores to earn the $20 required to buy it he moans and hangs his head saying its "sooo hard." He comes up with every angle, "But mom, Joseph got all the Ninjago stuff for his birthday and I only got two little things." "But mom, Xander has the dragons and he didn't have to do anything." I try giving him the lecture about having to work for things in life, but I think he simply hears "no." When the book fair came to Lindon Elementary, Weston found a Ninjago guide book, complete with a blue Ninja attached tot he cover. He was beside himself! "Please mom go to the book fair and get me the ninjago book with the blue ninja!" I told him my appointment with his teacher was Wednesday at 5:00, and if he had been a good student I would consider it. He could barely wait for 5:00 to come around. He made me get in the car 15 minutes early and when we got to school said, "hurry run, we have to get it before it runs out!" So we ran into the school. There it still was to Weston's relief, and of course his teacher had nothing but great things to say about Weston, even his reading is spot-on grade level, so I rewarded him with his Ninjago guide and blue warrior. He was so happy he carried it carefully and begged me to hurry and go home so he could open it, and read the descriptions of all the ninjas and skeletons and dragons in the book. I couldn't believe a 2 inch plastic toy could make someone so happy. That night when he went to bed he thanked me repeatedly for his blue Ninja, "I'm just so grateful mom. I love you more, most, never ending no matter what you do or what you say!" I felt so happy as I tucked him in. It made me think how joyful Heavenly Father must be when we are that grateful for the blessings he give us. Today I'm thankful for Weston!

Dirty Dash

Chris Chad Aaron

Chad, Jared, Todd, Cody, Justin, Chris
CHAD, AARON, CHRIS, JUSTIN

Aaron

Jared and his brothers all participated in the Dirty Dash, a 10K run through water dirt and mud. Jared's brothers all cut up plaid shirts and jeans, sported spandex underneath, and drew tatoos on their shoulders. Jared got a nice sunburn that day to top off the redneck look he was going for. I'm not sure how much actual running was involved, but Jared had lots of fun.

Soccer 2011

I am so proud of my kids this fall! They really played their hearts out in every soccer game. Savanna was mostly goalie, but only because no one else on her team wanted to do it. She said before every game she gets butterflies in her stomach. But she plays very well, and its so awesome to see her get right in front of the ball and block it from the goal. Fiora has completely overcome her fear of soccer and really gets in there despite being tripped and kicked and stepped on. I have watched her do a complete 180 degree turn from hating to loving soccer. She plays whatever position her coach puts her in but seems to like midfield best so she doesn't have to pay attention to staying on one side of the field. Weston has scored a goal in almost every game he plays. He is improving on his follow through and definitely runs toward the ball. He is good at kicking it between the legs of his opponents. Way to go kids! We made it through fall soccer. Until next spring!

September

OK, so apparently soccer has taken over my life because I haven't blogged for all of September and its already the 20th. Its worth it though when my kids, even Fiora, act so excited about their games and play their very best. I never thought I would like being a soccer mom, but this fall proved me wrong. Having pleasant weather has certainly helped. In downloading pictures from my camera I've remembered that there have been other events occur this month besides soccer.
Other September stuff:
We stained our back deck! It was HOURS of work but it looks SO GREAT! I made sure to take some before and after pictures this time. Jared has done the majority of the work and sacrified two entire saturdays and some weeknights, but I helped too, a little, at first, when these pictures were taken. I hope you can see the difference in these pictures, because it looks WAY better. If not, enjoy the view! (I love our view.)


BEFORE



DURING



AFTER

We visited Grandpa Neil on Labor day and had an awesome barbeque on his fire pit and roasted the best marshmellows imaginable from his smoking hot coals. We of course went on a 4-wheeler ride together and Grandpa loads us with gifts and food every time we go down there. We all love visiting grandpa!





The kids had crazy hair day at school. Savanna ratted half her hair, Fiora let me do upside down french braids (which I thought were so awesome) and Weston bravely sported a FoHawk (he is very particular about the way his hair is done, when he got home the first thing he did was comb down his hair).







We had our friends Cami and Jake over for dinner and their boys. It was so fun to reconnect with my highschool friend. We discovered we were on the same kind of diet for our health without even having talked to each other in a year! No wonder we love each other so much, we get each other's weirdities!

I've been building a clientelle in my new job as a therapist, slowly, I have 6 clients this week . . .the most I've seen in one week. Having only 3-4 each week has been nice because those 6 hours while the kids are in school goes SO FAST. I can't even find time to blog. But it is steadily building so I may have 10 or more hours of work to do before the year is over.
I also have 5 piano students, plus Weston, which fills in other "spare" time. Weston is doing well at excelling in piano, and Savanna is excelling in violin. Fiora still continues to write and read like a maniac.
Jared has actually been running lately, training for the Dirty Dash race this weekend. Real estate and rentals keep him busy, and he occassionally goes fishing. We managed to squeeze in an over-night camp trip up by Heber Lakes. The stake was hosting a marriage retreat so we got to dance and eat good food and canoe and listen to a wonderful lecture about the temple. It made us want to go, so we renewed our recommends due to expire this month and made time for a temple trip. I love being married to Jared, he is a good guy and a hard worker and he really loves me despite my flaws. The Lord continues to bless us, and we are grateful.

That time again

School, blessed school, has begun again. Heavenly Father has been watching out for us this year as we transition to a new school. Savanna miraculously was put in Mrs. Coyle's class, who was her teacher for third grade in Bonneville and who transfered to Lindon unbeknownst to us and happens to be teaching 5th grade this year! We were all delighted, we love her and Savanna had one thing to look forward to amidst many scary things. Fiora and Weston were put in with great teachers too, it was by the luck of the draw, but I never hear anything but great praise for both Mrs. Rolph and Mrs. Clouse and so far they are doing wonderfully well in these classes. Fiora continues to read and spell two grade levels above her grade, but in other subjects she is at her grade level. At Lindon Elementary they offer an Accelerated Learning Lab that I may see if Fiora qualifies for next year. Fiora has two friends she knows in her class, Carston Roberts from Orem and Lydia Nolte who lives across the street, so she feels comfortable at school. Weston had a rough first couple days at a new school trying to learn new rules in a different setting. Each day after school Weston's report got progressively more positive though, and I think he is doing great now. I knew my clever kids would adapt well! I was fortunate enough to have a lady in the ward approach me about a carpool so I don't have to drive and pick up the kids every day from school (its 7 blocks down and 4 blocks over and I'm a little nervous about having them walk that far, maybe on occassion but not yet). This is also nice in case I have a client scheduled right at the time I need to get the kids so I can call on the carpool ladies to cover for me. Jared, like every year, stayed to take the kids to school on the first day and took pictures. I love that about him! He's fun like that and I'd probably never do it, and miss these cute pictures.









Pros and Cons of School vs Summer
Pro: I have 6 hours of time to work, clean, rest, organize, and regroup
Con: I have 1 hour 20 minutes of scurring and keeping kids on task every morning geting ready to go
Pro: My kids are learning and having educational experiences daily
Con: I have to make sure they read every evening and sign every reading log and keep up with homework assignments
Pro: I don't have to enforce chores
Con: I have to do most of the house chores myself now
Pro: I don't have to worry about making everyone lunch
Con: I have to pay for school lunches
Pro: Kids need structure and schedules
Con: I have to be structured and watch the schedule
Pro: I don't have to be watching over them constantly, and I know I don't have to worry because I trust the Lord and have faith everything will be alright
Con: I still have a pang of worry and a little sadness each time I drop the kids off at the school, they are growing so fast and I just pray they are well and happy at school while I'm not there to watch over them.

Run down on the kids

The girls overruled me and decided to get a hair cut before school starts. I prefer long hair, and it takes a LONG time for my girls' hairs to grow long, so I pleaded with them to not cut it. But its their heads and they wanted it cut, so we got Aunt Holly over here to cut their hairs. They look gorgeous both ways.

Weston bravely pulled out his other bottom tooth, so he has a cute smile with gaps on the bottom row. Weston has been trying to save his money so he can buy a Nijago Dragon, it costs a little over $20 and he has earned $6.51 so far losing teeth and doing extra chores.

Weston also finished his summer karate course and earned a yellow stripe belt. After soccer is over (if we survive) we will get him enrolled in a permanent Karate course because he LOVES it and shows much talent. Weston is also quite the acrobat on the trampoline. Jared taught him how to do a back flip and he has been flipping ever since. Now he can go forwards, backwards, sidewards, and any other wards you can think of.

Yes we enrolled all three children in Orem soccer this year before realizing that we would be moving to Lindon. So we have 9 soccer committments every week that involve traveling a significant distance. We discovered Fiora has a huge fear of playing organized sports, and she has been terified about soccer. But she had first game Saturday and says, "Well um, it was fine, I guess. I just wasn't in shape that day, but I didn't get frustrated. But I did get kicked in the stomach with the ball." I suppose that is a better response than she gave her coach at the first practice, which was tears and hiding her face in my shirt. Hopefully she will be able to overcome her fear of playing soccer, anyway she is so cute in her tangerine uniform!

Savanna did very well on her first soccer game. She is becoming a fearless goalie. She grabs the ball regardless of the risk of being kicked in the face several times and then directs her defenders down the field to throw it back in the game quickly before the other team can regroup. She is also tangerine, her team name is Orange CRUSH!

On the last day of the last week of summer we finally checked out the Lindon Aquatics Center that is just down the road. Its a nice place, but Savanna was sorely disappointed there were no diving boards. The kids had fun but I think they prefer the Orem Scera pool.

I have been looking forward to school starting, but one thing I do like about the summer is having all the time I want in the morning to make fun breakfasts, or any breakfast for that matter, for my family in the morning. I got this idea from my cousin Rachelle to make watermelon waffles and that was a huge hit! They begged me to make it again a couple days later. (Green and red food coloring and chocolate chips for the seeds, they really are so fun!)