A Blizzard... almost

We were all prepared yesterday for SNOWMAGGEDON and then.. nothing. Well, not nothing, but not anything that lived up to all the hype. We had a whiteout at our house for an hour or two, but that was more like a regular winter Tuesday night. It was the first time Utah was on "blizzard watch" since 2003. To qualify for a "blizzard" you have to have strong winds, very cold air, and some snow. Apparently you don't need a large volume of snow, just some to blow around. I learned this from the weather man.
I feel funny saying I was disappointed the storm wasn't bigger. I mean, I don't want people to get in accidents or be stranded or anything. I just want people to be tucked away safely at home and a lot of snow to fall.
Jack had a sleep over at his friend Will's house. Will's big brother, Sam, slept at our house. Jack told me he played "Billy the Exterminator" (his favorite show. He saw it on an airplane and can't stop talking about it) He played it at Will's with Will's cat, Casper. Jack told me that they held a pillowcase and tried to capture Casper in the pillowcase. Jack then mentioned that Casper didn't really like that game and showed me the many scratches on his face to back up that fact.
I texted Will's mom at one point to ask how it was going. (I couldn't stop by, whiteout and all) She wrote back that Will's older sister and her friend were currently playing beauty shop and shampooing Jack's hair while he was laying on the counter. He said it felt SO good. ha ha.
Tristan and Sam played video games for most of the night. They played Wii fit and exhausted themselves competing over and over in the jogging events. He's such a good kid. I fell asleep and woke up to tell them that they needed to go to bed in a half hour. In exactly half hour I hear him say, "Oh, it's time for bed. Let's turn out the lights." Aw. His eyes have been bloodshot all day from lack of sleep.

The boys are both taking guitar lessons. It's going pretty well. Their teacher is great and they love it, but we've already reached the I-don't-want-to-practice part.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and we're sad to not be with family. It was really fun to have Amy and Eli come up this past weekend. We did a turkey and the whole spread with them. Amy and I cooked the whole dinner ourselves. Look at us! We're all grown up. We went sledding in the mountains on Saturday and then it snowed enough that night so we could play in the snow at our house on Sunday. The kids were sad to see their cousins go, but we'll see them again in about a month.

We're going to stop by the firestation in the morning to see Brian and then we have a Thanksgiving dinner invitation at our realtor/guitar teacher/ friend's house. We did have one other offer... the one the kids would rather do. Will and Sam's family invited us to Provo to their relatives house. It sounded slightly awkward and it's too far from Brian's firestation.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Cornbelly's!

Hey... I've seen these guys before... couple of shady characters.

We went to the local pumpkin patch/corn maze (or as Tristan calls it a "maize maze"). It's a fun tradition we started last year. We look forward to it.

Hudson did NOT want to be carried. He wants to do everything by himself, including walk through the maze VERY slowly- getting distracted by pretty much everything.



They had these weird bouncy things. The kids liked them.
We invited Coleman to go too, but he had teenager plans and went later with his friends in the dark. After dark it's much spookier and immeasurably more hip.

Brian's job

Brian finally starts work on Tuesday. He'll work 48 hours on, 96 off. His shift just happens to include working the day before Thanksgiving, Thanksgiving Day, Halloween, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Day and more!

We are just grateful that he finally got the job and is starting work.

Hot Dog Roasting

We were invited by another family to go roast hot dogs in American Fork Canyon. It was SO beautiful. The leaves are in high color right now. Since it was UEA (I don't know what it stands for... but the kids have Thurs and Fri off of school. I think it used to be deer hunting season or something) weekend the canyon was crowded. We ended up pretty high up along the Alpine Loop. Anyway, of course I didn't take any pictures. We sat around a campfire, the boys all whittled on sticks and we talked and ate... then... suddenly... a group of 15-20 people BURST through the trees dressed entirely in various medieval battle costumes. The people were in the middle of a battle and shouting and clashing swords and weapons. There was an elf (you could tell by the ears) and others along shouting encouragement.

We were like, "WHAT???!"

Brian's mom was there and actually got a picture so I have proof. We watched them for a while and heard one say, "Aahh... you got me! Wait! I've re-generated!"

We looked for a camera. I mean, maybe they were filming a movie. I looked for someone walking along clopping 2 coconuts together. Maybe they were looking for the Holy Grail. We finally asked them what they were doing and they were part of a Live Action Role Playing (LARP) group. They meet several weekends a month. If you'd like more info, the guy was more than willing to have newbies join them. Needless to say, we've made some jokes about this since.

We had a great time up the canyon and Hudson cried when we had to get in the car because it was like the best day ever for him. He got to run around wherever he wanted and climb on things, etc. We need to get up there more often.

Grandparent's Day

I mentioned to Dad that Brian and I were going to Grandparent's Day in lieu of actual grandparents. Jack said that it would be ok if Brian went because he already has gray hair. Ha ha.
Dad surprised us by leaving California less than 12 hours later and driving here to be here for Grandparent's Day.

Jeri took lots of pictures.

Cub Scouting

A play Tristan's den performed called, "Space Men On Mars" or something like that.


We swept the pack meeting awards last night! We (by we I mean me and Tristan) have earned the Wolf badge, 47 electives- which translates to 4 arrowheads, and also 4 new belt loops (computers, fishing, archery and soccer). I was excited for Tristan to get these things we've been working on. I might have built it up too much though because on the way home he said, "Mom, people didn't cheer for me as much as you thought." Congrats to Owen who is also receiving his Wolf Badge at the same time (I think)!
In this ward, the scoutmaster makes a big deal for the Arrow of Light ceremony. This time he lit the Arrow of Light thing on fire and floated it in the water. He also made the boys climb up on this really high faux log on top of the slide/ waterfall in the pool. (not pictured)

Tristan-isms

We saw a Nissan Cube the other day. Tristan says, "Mom! Look at that car, it's weird looking." I look and say, "Yes, it's called the Nissan Cube." He thinks for a while and says, "Well, actually it should be called the Nissan Rectangular Prism, but I guess that's too long to put on a car."

Yesterday Tristan got his bands changed on his braces. They get to pick the color/s that are used. He chose black and orange. As we're leaving he says, "It's like my teeth just got out their Halloween decorations."

Jack hides and hoards things. For example, if we buy a box of fruit roll ups... a rare treat... he will put the box way in the back of the pantry, behind other boxes, so that no one can find it but him. This practice is common knowledge in the family. When we need something we always ask Jack. Coleman wanted a fruit roll-up for his lunch and asked Jack to raid his cache for him. Tristan then says, "Mom, do you think Jack's part squirrel?"

So handsome!

Ready for school! Impromptu photo shoot.

Halloween Crafts

Maybe it's that my kids are already in school, but I feel like Fall is in the air. I've already got the crafting bug.

I made some Halloween garland...

I just put it up for the photo. It's not quite time to start decorating for Halloween. Soon though.

I also want to make this wreath:
I have a door wreath hanger, so I'm going to move the bow down to the wreath. I love the black and white polka dot ribbon. Can't wait.
Amy's coming this weekend and we're going to make these:

I know that Brian's sad he's going to miss the craft-a-thon.

Hudson's favorite place

Hudson loves playing outside in the water. If the hose isn't on, he'll just stand in the dog's water bowl. He's so cute. It's weird having the boys gone at school all day... we're a little bored. Water pictures are courtesy of Kyle.

Update on school: They HATE it. Not that they hate the actual school, they hate not having friends. Jack has cried everyday except for yesterday. Our first day with no tears. Then, today when I took him, there was a substitute. Ugh! Jack panicked and started crying again. We do have a playdate afterschool today at our house with 2 boys from the new school. I met their mom and she told me that they just moved here from Idaho and her boys have no friends. She has a boy in Tristan's class and a boy in Jack's class. I hope it goes well. The school seems great. Like all schools though, it's takes a while to get going. Since they do all of their main academic subjects in small groups based on levels, all the students need to be tested to be placed. That's taken a lot of time and the groups don't start until next Monday. Another mom told me that they get to know all the kids in the whole grade because they will be mixed in with them in their groups. We also have the fall carnival to look forward to.

First Day of School

August 17th was our first day of school. It was... a huge failure. We found out the day before that Jack got into Mountainville. We scrambled around buying him uniform clothes and sent him the next day. It was rough. When the boys got into the car after school they were hot, tired and hungry. They both proclaimed that they hated it and Jack burst into tears.
I recognized right away that Jack was very tired. They hadn't gone to bed early enough the night before and Jack hadn't realized that school was going to be SO LONG! He's coming from kindergarten that was half-day. I had to insist they go back yesterday. After school yesterday was better. They both said it was a pretty good day. I'm trying something new today. I created an imaginary game for them. They get 1 point for talking to someone and 1 point for every piece of playground equipment they play on. Slides- 1 pt, rock wall- 1 pt, etc. The points can be exchanged for a video game. Yes, I'm bribing them. I hope that they just start having a good time.
Brian and I are at loose ends at home with just Hudson. We've been taking turns going out on our bikes and just hanging out. Currently Hudson and I are watching Yo Gabba Gabba. exciting, I know.
I'm training for a 100 mile bike race next month. We'll see. I cooked myself on my bike this morning and came home panting and purple. I came in and died on the carpet. I said to Brian, "(pant, pant) I feel kinda sick. (pant, pant) Like I might throw up. (pant, pant, pant) and I'm really hot. (pant, pant) what will make me feel better? (pant pant)" He just looks at me and says that I need to lie there and just get a little less purple. Maybe drink some water.

And for fun....

Allergy Testing

Most of you know that Tristan suffers from terrible seasonal allergies. We've been to our pediatrician twice before about them, but they seem to be getting worse and he gets no relief from the meds they've given him. So... we went to see an allergist.

He talked to us for a while and recommended allergy testing. Here's Tristan getting ready for the test. They tested him for 42 allergens.


Tristan was such a trooper. They essentially stuck him with 42 small needles. He didn't make a peep. He just laid there and sometimes flinched.

At the top of his shoulders they have 2 controls. A histamine control and a saline control.
This picture is of the histamine. This is what his marks will look like if he's allergic.

Here's the first one to pop up....


He had three allergens go crazy! The wheals that popped up were off-the-chart for size and each sprouted a pseudopod... they were spreading.
The nurse measured a few and put Tristan out of his misery a little by putting some anti-itch cream on him.
The results? Tristan is HIGHLY allergic to grasses. All kinds. Interesting though, because it's only when the grass is pollinating. In Utah, that's May-July. He's also allergic (not as severe) to the Linden Tree (random), and Dock/sorrel mix weeds. The Dr. gave us Zyrtec, anti-histamine eye drops (that the pediatrician said don't exist) and nasal spray. He said to use all three.

The allergist wanted him to agree to immunotherapy. He's not ready. I think Chantel has done this? All I can think of is The Princess Bride Iocaine powder. They give him an injection twice a week for 4 months, increasing the amount of allergen each time. It's a 3-4 year commitment and injections at first of 2 times a week, then once a week... then once a month. Yeah... he's not ready.
The Dr. said that he probably will be ready in a few years when he's tired of dealing with the allergies. A neighbor's son is 13 and he's begging for it.

It's Jack's birthday today. We're heading to the Sweet's Candy Co. factory tour. Yes! I hope it's exciting. I hear we all get to wear hair nets. I'll post pics.

Happy birthday that ends in a car crash

I had a great birthday, mostly. I got some great presents from family and friends. Brian and the boys bought me a new robe and the Pioneer Woman Cooks cookbook that I asked for. I got many more wonderful gifts, so thank you.

So, the official version of the car accident goes like this: We were on our way with our friends, Debbie and Gordon, to my birthday dinner and garden tour on Segways. I was pretty excited about the Segways. We were on a major-ish highway that has a lot of construction going on. They're widening the road and they have to cover/re-route a canal that runs by it. So we were almost at our destination when we had to stop suddenly because the cars were all stopped in front of us (construction traffic). We had cleared the intersection. Because we stopped suddenly, Debbie turned around to look to see if the car behind us was going to stop too. The truck in back of us was 50 yards back....plenty of time to stop. It was similar to this truck:


Debbie sees that the truck is not slowing down and shouts, "We're going to get hit!" Her husband was driving and says, "Hold on!" We hang on and BAM! The truck plows into us from behind. We guess he was doing about 40 mph. The driver confessed that he was looking down, trying to grab his drink and didn't look up until he hit us. We then were pushed into the trailer in front of us. The guy in front of us was towing a box trailer with bounce houses in it.

Gordon must have turned the wheel somehow because we were pushed left, out of our lane and into on-coming traffic. We surged into the other lane and T-boned a Ford Excursion. We bounced off the Excursion and spun and somehow hit a minivan. We ended up horizontal to the lanes in an intersection.
Brian looks up (he's the passenger) to see a semi-truck bearing down on us. The semi is trying to stop and has his brakes locked up. Smoke was coming out of all the wheels and he was skidding. Brian yells, "Gas! gas! gas!" Gordon slams on the gas and we jump the curb, blowing the rear tires off the rims, and come to rest in the landscaping of a housing development.

We all sat there for a second verifying that we were alive. I wanted paramedic Brian to get out and check all the other cars. Brian wanted to get out and start a fist fight with the driver of the truck. He sort of tried, but the truck guy backed down.

All 5 cars involved in the accident were totaled and towed from the scene. No one was seriously injured. We all have aches, pains and headaches. I probably have a concussion and Gordon has one for sure. (I haven't gone to the ER). Debbie has whiplash and back pain. Their car was a total loss and now they're fighting the ins company to get a rental. The guy that hit us was cited for being at-fault for the whole accident. He was driving a work truck for the company doing all the construction on the road.

We were sitting there and realized we had no one to pick us up. Not no one... but all of our neighbors were on vacation, together, in Butte, MT. They'd all gone to a bike race there. We were scrolling through our phones trying to find someone that didn't live too far and had a car big enough to pick us all up. We finally called a girl from the ward. She sent her husband to get us.

It was really scary, but we're just happy to be alive. Glad the kids weren't with us.

Anyway, briefly, I think I wasn't clear about the school situation because people keep asking. We ARE sending Tristan to the new school. He's going to try it. Jack will probably be going there too. He's #4 on the waiting list.

Decisions, decisions....

Many of you know that Tristan got into one of the charter schools around here. We orginally applied back in January to get it. It works on a lottery system so we didn't know if we would get in. We applied to 3 schools and got onto a waiting list for 1 school. In January, when we applied, Tristan was unhappy at school. (big surprise) He had some valid concerns. He wanted to work at his own pace in math and I felt he wasn't being challenged in reading. The charter schools all work based on achievement level. Anyway... we learned about two weeks ago that Tristan got into Mountainville Academy. It's pretty fancy.
Now he doesn't want to go. Great. Suddenly, he remembers that he has all these friends that he'll miss. Mind you, we've only seen 2 friends this whole summer, and 1 of those friends is going to go to a different elementary school anyway. His big hurdle seems to be that Mountainville has a dress code. Dun dun dun dunnnn.... School uniforms!!! Aaaaaaaaaaaa... Can you hear the horror? He is mortified. Anne was here and we were reading the dress code policy and one of us said, "Geez, do all the kids get beat up before and after school?" It's like, "They may not wear a jacket in class, but then can wear a school approved sweater vest or cardigan." lol. It's not soo bad. Mostly it's a polo with khaki pants or shorts. Now, mind you... it's only a white or navy polo with navy or khaki trousers. NEVER NAVY POLO WITH NAVY PANTS! never. (yeah, it specifies that) They can wear a sweatshirt if the school logo has been embroidered on it. whew.
In all though, the uniform clothes are cheap. $10 for pants and $6 for the shirts. On Mondays they have to wear the full dress uniform: White oxford shirt, Marymount plaid tie, navy pants and dress shoes. Don't forget the belt. A belt must always be worn and the shirt must always be tucked in. Everyday.

Tristan is protesting... a lot. His comment was, "You'd think if they wanted us to actually wear this stuff all the time, they'd have made it cooler."

But-- the school's academics are great. They offer an afterschool Robotics program!!! Helloooo... Tristan can work at his own pace in all core subjects. They have smaller class sizes. Every class has an aide, etc. He can be in orchestra this year, science club, etc. They have a fall carnival (don't underestimate the selling power of the carnival feature. I'm using what I can to sell Tristan).
They have a leadership training program called, "Leader In Me" and they have won awards for it. It sounds really great. I do feel overwhelmed though. All families are required to volunteer 40 hours a year. It seems like we've gotten ourselves into Super Elementary school. The first week of August there is a 2 day seminar on going to the school. 2 days. There are break-out sessions every hour on the dress code, the leadership program, the core subjects, the direct instruction teaching method, etc. uh... a 2 day seminar on how to properly send my kids to school. see? overwhelming.

As for Jack, he didn't get in. He has priority now that Tristan is in. He may get in mid-year, or we may have to wait until next fall. He said he doesn't mind going to Mountainville. He can make friends anywhere.

Coleman is coming soon. We're not sure the exact date. His football starts August 7th, so it will be before then.

We've had a great summer so far. I loved spending time with the family in California. I didn't take very many pictures, so I'm grateful to those who did. We just got back from Idaho and had a great time there too. Tristan's allergies were really bad in Idaho and he had an asthma attack. I'm going to take him to an allergist. I don't feel like his allergies are being managed well at all.

I feel like the summer is flying by. I already have so many things I have to plan for fall. We signed the kids up for flag football and school starts for Tristan on Aug. 17th. So soon. Tristan starts a week before Jack. (not a good selling feature.) He also goes 45 minutes longer everyday. ouch.

Six Months Since the Quake

I heard this story on NPR yesterday.

Yesterday was the 6 month anniversary of the Haiti quake. I thought this vignette was really good. I wish I could find a transcript of the broadcast because it would make a good talk.
If you go to the website, scroll down and it says "Listen Now". The Haiti thing is the first part. It's not long. I got chills and almost cried... good thing I didn't, it's hard to cry and drive.

Six Months Since the Quake —

Jack

Andrew made this for Jack... it's pretty funny.

Dance Festival

"Can I crawl out on to the field mom?"


They kids do a dance festival at the end of every year. I think the teachers use it to fill up time at the end when no one is trying to learn anymore.

Jack did The Haka. It's a Maori fighting dance. He learned all the words and actions. I'm a loser mom and didn't take a picture of him all dressed up. ugh! So... here's the video. It's terrible. They put a kid right in front of Jack. They I tried to zoom out... not so good. I was just using my little camera, so I'd like the camera to take some of the blame.



Close up of the face... after the dance.


Tristan HATED his dance. In this video he's 6th back on the right.



Waiting for his turn.

Kindy 500

School's out for the summer! I have mixed feelings about having the kids home all day... every day. The last month of school was CRAZY!!! There were so many activities. Here is Jack's Kindy 500. We had to build a car out of an apple box. The instructions said, "Use an apple box and glue 4 paper plates on as wheels and another paper plate as a steering wheel".

Jack wanted a tank.
Hudson is Captain Destructo. He makes HUGE messes. Please excuse the mess in this photo.... he is hard to contain. If we come and visit you... beware. Please put up anything he can reach.


The finished product. I thought we did a good job... and we did, but if you think this was the only, or the best tank, you'd be wrong. There are some incredibly talented parents out there who DID NOT use an apple box. Also, I think they have art/engineering/auto design/architecture degrees/build box tanks for a living.

Isn't he so cute? Notice the camo clothes?

He's about to sing us some patriotic songs.

The parade.

In their Kindy 500 cars they "drove" to different locations at the school and visited many of our country's landmarks. They went to the Statue of Liberty, the Liberty Bell, Mount Rushmore, the White House, etc. At each landmark they learned about it and did an activity. I think Jack's favorite was the Lincoln Memorial because they gave him a penny.