The food...

This shirt of Nate's just about says it all about our 4th of July BBQ

But with a little help from our friends

we manage to fill in a few more options

You know it has been a good week...

You know it has been a fun week when your 9 1/2 yr old chooses to take a nap that ends up lasting a whopping five and a half hours! YIKES!!!!

We had a great week hanging out with lots of Texas family who made the trip to visit. Nate's parents and his brother Mike's family of 8 all came it was so fun to see and play with everyone!

Our yearly 4th of July BBQ reached a new high of 210 (at least that is our best guess). It is amazing because it didn't seem like that many people were there except that all 6 briskets were gone within about an hour and a half. We probably could have done 2 more and still have them all disappear.

We try and warn people that if you want the best selection of meat you need to come at 1pm and if you want the most side dish and dessert options you come later. Or you just make two trips (or more) through the line - which is the preferred method, I think.

I will be sharing lots of photos of our fun throughout this week.

Cousins!

Alright- get ready for a large, fun filled post!

Spencer and Jenna were so excited to have some cousins come and visit. Tanner and Christopher were able to tag along with Uncle Mike on his business trip. It was a week of fun!

There was a softball party at our house one night with Jenna's team and the boys got really wet both from filling the water balloons and from the water fight itself. It seemed they were rather outnumbered!

I had them tag along and help pick some beans from a friends large garden- perhaps not their favorite part of the trip. But it was nice to have a few extra hands to make it go quickly.

We spent one afternoon at the beach. It was a beautiful day to be there.

We checked out a water skiing show. It was like figure skating on water skis with all of the moves they did- hard to show that in a photo though.





We also went to the Bakken Museum here. It was a free day and they had some fun activities going. There was the electricity activities. They had fun creating charges and then using them as Ben Franklin did. Here is what he used as an alarm when storms were in the area.

Jenna absorbing some of the static charge.

They shared a charge in this circle.

This is a unit that used magnets to remove metal out of eyes. It looks a little scary to me!

Then they enjoyed being challenged to catch some ping pong balls from one of the youth inventions.




But I think the hands down favorite was boating. There were lots of smiles and fun!

Here are the before shots.
We must have a slow leak somewhere because one of the sides (the right one) was a little goofy.

This is one of my favorites even though it isn't in focus.

The goggles came on after the first ride. It was a little hard to see without them!

This is another favorite! They were so cute!

Too bad the fishing wasn't too successful. I think all we did was feed the tiny ones that were in the lake. It is hard to find a lake that is good for boating and fishing.

Some of my favorite moments not recorded by photos included:

• listening to them all laugh
• listening to them laugh at Spencer while playing Snorta- no, "me-haw" is not the sound a donkey makes.
• watching how well they all got alon
• At bedtime: no, not because they were quiet but because of their bedtime habits. They all read their scriptures and said their prayers without being told. They enjoyed quietly chatting - but not for too long because they tended to be tired.
  

Thanks for coming Tanner and Christopher, it was wonderful having you.

Black Belt Promotion

In May, all of the hard work of attending karate paid off for Spencer and he finally earned his black belt. He is very excited and proud that he made it and has plans to continue and someday become an instructor. (That is great if it means I won't have to pay for more lessons.) But that is a few years down the line. Here are a few photos from the belt promotion.

One of these days we will figure out how to take good shots with the weird lighting at the hotel where they do the black belt promotions but until then...

It's official. He has his name on his belt now.

A photo of all of those that received their black belts.

And here are a few videos from that day.

It can be hard to figure out who is sparring when they are wearing their gear.
Spencer was able to recognize himself quickly by one of his first moves- a flying backfist. Apparently he may be the only one to use it. He begins on the right hand side.

Here he is doing his bow staff form.

Summer Reading

I am all about finding free things to do in the summer. Books and libraries are a HUGE part of our summer plans. I have a firm belief that reading is a key part of succeeding in school.

My kids are signed up for all sorts of free classes at the public libraries (books clubs, art classes, computer programming, etc).

We also love to read... and there are so many programs out there to help kids earn free stuff.

Free Food

For those in the Twin Cities I found out that the Twin Cities Public Television has teamed up with Dairy Queen. Check out the details at tpt.org/dq. Reading will get them a free 12 oz blizzard.

Book Stores

I have also found programs at the big name book stores.

Barnes and Noble- read 8 books and get 1 free

Borders Books or Waldenbooks- '10 Summer Reading. Double Dog Dare Challenge: read 10 books get one free.

Half Price Books- They have a program called Feed Your Brain and you can earn weekly $3 gift certificates for reading 15 minutes, 5 times a week.


Anyone else know of any other deals? I found a link talking about a program at Cub Foods that will reward readers with Twins gear but I couldn't find any specific details.

Update: Pizza Hut -Book It! Read 5 books and enter to win a pretty cool gift bag. Check out this link to find out more.

Videos!

Alright - Blogger seems to be messing with the settings and for some reason my ability to load videos disappeared! Anyone else having such problems? If so- I figured out how to fix it so let me know. Here are some of the videos of his musical numbers.

Sorry this is a little shaky. I was standing in the back of the theater without a tripod or anything and although you can't see him clearly, you can hear his voice well.


Here is the fizzy lifting drink scene. They used some special effects so you can't see Spencer well. This song was a BIG hit with the elementary kids. When I saw his school performance the kids kept bursting out laughing.



Spencer was nervous because he isn't the type of kid that can burp on command, but luckily the soundtrack had those sounds included once the music started.



Spencer had such a good time. We have the final performance tonight for the other cast. (They had 2 casts- which made for automatic understudies.) With how bad the first dress rehearsals were last week I was impressed at how well everyone did. Obviously this was a 6th grade production but they were pros when dealing with minor issues like microphone problems.

Nate and I were really surprised by how well Spencer did singing. At church he barely opens his mouth while singing. We will not be surprised if he decides to do more plays in the future.

Charlie Bucket

Spencer did such a great job this week.  Here are a few highlights for those who are interested- excuse the bragging- parental rights you know.  :)

The "staging" -not his favorite part!

 

He gets to run the factory!

I can't believe I actually got the shot!

If I can figure it out I will post some videos of his songs.

When you get distracted...

It is amazing how easy it is to get distracted.  Sometimes it is with good things, other times not. 

Today's distraction (my computer) led to a very disappointing batch of bread.  I lost track of time and let the loaves raise way too long so that they actually rose and fell before I managed to cook them. 

The result: brick shaped loaves with tough top crusts. Bummer.  

Please note that the cut slice is from a full sized loaf.  Generally you want these to be bigger than mini loaves.

So I tried to pay attention to the next batch and had a much better shape and color.

But I started thinking about distractions today.  Lately the distraction has been karate, karate, karate.  So much so that I was shocked to see that I had over 400 photos from the last several months still on the camera!  No wonder I didn't have any photos to blog about nor the time to put into it. 

But karate is a good distraction because Spencer has been working so hard for a goal.  He chatted with Nate about trying to get his black belt in time for the May Promotion.  In order to do this he has had to go to karate 8 times a week (twice on Tues and Thurs) for several months to get in the required amount of classes completed.  Despite the time commitment, Spencer has been cheerful.  Has never complained about going.  Always had his homework done.  Was always ready for class.  He has been happy.

It started me thinking how important it is to have worthwhile goals. 

• Goals that are realistic (8 classes a week was only realistic due to this time of year).  
• Goals that have a set end date (Black belt promotions are only twice a year and he didn't want to wait for November.)  
• Goals that in the end make you a better person than you when you started (through talents, health, skills, etc).  
• Because Spencer had this goal he used his time better (looked ahead for homework to make sure he had time to complete it).

I grateful for the time that I have had to help Spencer work towards his goal.  Because of our efforts he has earned enough classes that missing a couple as other activities are happening isn't a problem.  And a week from Saturday he will indeed achieve his goal.

I think that now that I have let another distraction (blogging) happen I will now get down to work and find some goals of my own to work on.

He got a part!

The 6th grade does a musical every year.  It is a fun tradition.  I remember being in one when I was in 6th grade too!

This year they are doing Willy Wonka Kids (for a description click here).  Spencer tried out for parts thinking that the Oompa Loompas sounded fun...and if he didn't make that chorus he was perfectly okay being on the stage crew with his friends.

He must have done pretty well during the auditions because not only did he get a part...he is

 

Charlie Bucket!!!!!!

Spencer was sooo excited when he found out and genuinely shocked!  It was pretty cute.

Here is how the above link describes the part:

"The role of Charlie Bucket is the emotional heart and soul of the musical. The actor performing Charlie should have an unchanged voice and lots of pluck and enthusiasm. Think a male "Annie." Charlie is in nearly every scene, so make sure you select an actor who can handle the demands of a sizable role."

So now they have a couple of months to practice.  There are two casts, and 2 performances for each cast (built in understudies!).  I think the final performance is in the beginning in May.

Let the memorizing begin!

Trash Talk, Part Deux

TO: Dad
FROM: Jenna

Oh Brett and Aidrian Peterson BEAT the team of yours!
Your`re BEET

DIRECTIONS FOR " BEET":

1. beat up beet


2. add salt/bruises


3. add pepper/injure a few players


4. add spice/ stuff of your own


5. let cook for two quarters/let them be behind on points.

Good luck DIEING! WAHAHAHA :-D ;-)

                    I`m cool 8-)

The preceding was Jenna's follow-up to the original trash talk posted previously. This showed up in my email about an hour prior to kickoff of the Vikings/Bears game last night. She has raised this to an art form. Apparently it worked, too. Brett Favre and Adrian Peterson combined for 75 points and the Bears defense added another 8 points as Kim and Jenna's "Cheetah Girls" team came back from a 153-85 deficit to win 168-153 and take 3rd place in the family Fantasy Football league. Congratulations, girls!

Cougar Pride

Jenna didn't watch much of the game tonight, but she showed her BYU spirit in her own way.

 

She first drew the football player.  Then she disappeared for awhile and returned with the whole background filled in.  As you can see she prefers to use pencils and for some reason she generally only colors in her pictures at her art class.

Trash Talk

Subject: Fantasy Football

From: Jenna

To: Dad

Listen to this Mr, I AM going to win. We are going face- to- face with a black eye, HA!

   Do you want to have fun? Nope you will be SO embarrassed you will be emotional!

 Al of your players will be rusty, hurt, and tired. Mine will be clean, not hurt, and ready for the next game.        It won`t be CLOSE! You will get one point and I will get MANY MANY MANY!!! have fun dieing for us.

          -Jenna ;-)    wink

            Be embarrassed :-[    You will be surprised. =-O   BYE

Yep folks, that is a real email... from my 7-year-old daughter. We don't hold back in this family.

What happened to September?

Here I am wondering how the last two months have flown by?

Well, with school lots of things get added to the schedule. Although, one thing was subtracted from the list. I have recently been released as the Young Women President at church. I am missing my girls like crazy- but I will still see them around at church AND at Girl's Camp because I was called to be the Stake Girls Camp director. The 2010 planning has already begun.

Over the last couple of months we have been having some fun.

Spencer turned 11! Can't believe it.

Spencer is such a good kid.

He is an example to everyone who meets him of how to choose the right. He will not go to bed at night before reading his scriptures or saying his prayers. He would rather skip brushing his teeth!

He enjoys playing soccer and really stays busy on the field. He generally plays center defense/midfield and really is quick when he needs to be.

He does well in school. He loves to learn and this year has learned to plan ahead for assignments when he knows he schedule is busy.

He does a good job of getting along with his sister. They enjoy playing games together and he has taught to her to like most of his Discovery Channel shows so that they don't argue about what to watch.

He has finally discovered the joy of watching football- much to Nate's delight.

He has had an occasional preteen moody moment that catches me so off guard that I don't know how to react. Just a preview I guess.

In September, Spencer also received his Arrow of Light. I don't know how we missed the opportunity to take some close up shots with his arrow but it was a crazy night since me and Jenna were coming straight from Soccer practice.






It was a big pack meeting for Spencer. They had not met all summer and we had a busy summer. It was mentioned to Spencer that there was an award for accomplishing all 20 Webelos Activity Pins. Guess what we did all summer and finished the last one up the day before his birthday!



It is a pretty cool patch. Now I need to figure out a plan to display all of his awards. He didn't get a lot of them until that last pack meeting so I didn't get around to it then. Maybe for Christmas?

Jenna Promoted!

Jenna also had a great September. She promoted a belt in Karate. She is so motivated these days- it is pretty cute. Here are a few moments from that night.


We got a good video of her sparring this time. We recorded it on the camera without sound so you will just have to imagine. She is the one throwing all of the punches when the video starts.

And we recorded her receiving her new belt. She is now a Purple with a Black Stripe. Only one more belt and then she and Spencer can attend the same class! (At least until they move him up to the teen/adult class.)

King of the Trees

We have been keeping my brother busy.

After having every tree service stop by to offer to help us clean up our trees we decided to hire my brother to do it instead. We have only done one tree thus far but it felt like we took off a small tree.

And then Nate decided that it was time for our over grown "bushes" to go too.
Hello, neighbors!

Spencer got to finally drive the tractor mower and pull a small trailer with the chopped up wood. We are saving it for some bonfires and BBQs in the future.

It is amazing how hard Spencer worked when allowed to do something so grown up.

He didn't stop all day!

One tree trimmed, now at least one more to go.

Primary Activity at the St. Paul, Minnesota Temple

In the spirit of catching up I am going to add some posts about what we did over the summer. I figure if I try and have a goal of one a day I may actually get it done.

In August, our ward had a primary activity at the temple. Primary is the what the youth Sunday school is called at our church. So I drove them out to Oakdale, which is about a 40min drive for me- perhaps a little longer for others.

It was a beautiful day that did NOT feel like the first weekend in August.
My kids were wearing sweaters!

The kids had a bunch of questions to try and answer about temples and got to walk around the temple grounds. We tried to keep them reverent. I did wonder if any of the patrons were able to hear them though.

A member of the temple presidency came out to talk to our group
on the front steps of the temple.

President Smith is such a nice guy.

Each of the kids got to have a small piece of marble like the temple is made of and also a small photo of the temple.


After they were able to have a snack and who were the first to offer to help pass them out?



Here is the whole group.

It was a wonderful way to start off a Saturday.