Every year...

Sorry I didn't write last week. I was cranky and had nothing nice to say about our week. Scott had been gone all week to Montana for a "Builder 20" meeting (where builders from across the nation are put into groups of ten or so to help each other better their businesses, among other things). By Sunday, I was tired and didn't want to think about the kids or anything for that matter! Here is Dallen with one of his many catches. He would just carry the butterfly around the house like that. Every now and then it would just fly away, and then we would re-catch it later. It was pretty funny.

We just got through parent/teacher conferences. I don't understand why it is the same thing every year...how do I get my kids (one in particular) to change their habits? I have one that his grades in his classes were either an A or an F...depending on whether or not he wanted to do it. It is frustrating! It wears me out! Derrek and Calvin are steady with their studies. They get it done early and know what needs to be done and just do it. They have always been that way. As for the other three...ARGH! I blame Scott :).

We have taken on a construction final clean job. We have basically 34 apartments and a clubhouse to be cleaned. We are trying to help the boys earn money for their National Scout Jamboree that they are going to attend in July 2010. We are seriously squeezing it in our free time.

We went to go and get Derrek his permit this week. I had a window of about an hour and a half to do it. So, we got there, and as we were getting out of the car, I realized I had forgotten his birth certificate! We had to go back home (it is a 20 minute drive to get there), and we weren't able to do it this week. He was so mad at me and wouldn't talk to me the whole day. I don't blame him really. So, hopefully tomorrow we will be able to accomplish getting him his permit.

We get to go to Disneyland this week and are so excited to be able to go. I won't be posting anything next Sunday because we will still be in California, but I will the next week. It is my birthday on Friday, and so what better place to spend a birthday? Can I eat with the Princesses? That would be fun!

Football is still going great. Calvin was proud of himself this last game (that they won) because he made one of the biggest kids on the other team cry! It's a little disturbing how much enjoyment he gets out of that!

Well...until we get back from Disneyland...

Excitement continues...

Wow! Another eventful week. Derrek had his 15th birthday this week. He is really maturing into an amazing young man. We were watching home movies today, ones that we haven't been able to view for a long time because we didn't have an adapter, but I bought a new one. In the videos, he was still leader of the pack, but it was all about him, and as I watch him now, it seems to be changing into seeing other people. Yesterday, he knew I would be gone most of the day and the house was a pit, and while Scott was taking a nap, he and Alec decided to start cleaning up. That is huge in our house. Anyway, for his birthday, we went to my mom's for pizza, pie, and a swim. He just wanted to be around family, and then Scott took him home and stopped in a BIG, VACCANT, parking lot to practice his first real chance at driving. We are going to California at the end of this month and he asked today if he could drive down there if he got his permit before we went down! I am really not sure I am ready for this. Anyway...I have control issues, and I am thinking this is really going to help me get over them quickly! Sorry there aren't any pictures...they are on another camera that has to be downloaded on Scott's work computer! Anyway...
It was also Calvin's first football game. In the clip below, he is #95 (on the line). He told me he wasn't hitting hard because he was very tired. Anyway, it is a good video. His team won, 30 to 0. He LOVES it though, and I am excited for him. Scott even enjoyed the game, and he is not the biggest fan of sports, so for him to say that...it must have been a great game!
I just have to toot my own horn today. Scott and I have been learning sign language because our ward is paired with the Deaf branch in our stake. So, we have been taking a class during Sunday School. Today the teacher taught us how to bear our testimonies and then challenged us to bear them in sign language during their Sacrament meeting, which was right after our block. So, I did! It was definitely short, but I was excited I could do it. She bribed us with her blue ribbon cookies! That's all it took :) I still cried, because I cry whenever I bear it anyway, but I was grateful for the challenge. It has been a great experience. So...toot, toot!

Whew...this week is over!

As you can see...we had a couple of birthdays this week. Thanks goodness they are on the same day! Scott and Alec had their birthdays. Scott turned 37 and Alec is now 14. We tried to make it special. We started the day out by opening presents. The kids bought Scott a present..."UGLY PILLS". They thought it was the funniest thing in the world. They spent their own money on it and wrapped it up for him. They were almost jumping out of their skin to give it to him. On the side of the bottle, it gives directions and part of it said, "two words...PAPER BAG". Alec got three pairs of shorts and two shirts. He didn't think I could pick things out for him, but I didn't do too bad. Sunwest took Scott to lunch (that he was late to), and Alec got extra money for his school lunch. We went to Jumpin' Jacks, where they have all these bounce houses set up in a warehouse and you pay money to go play on them all. The kids love it. I actually fell asleep on Scott's shoulder for about a half an hour. We came back to the house and had some cheesecake and sherbert ice cream. This week is Derrek's birthday. He's a little excited.

This week was also my first PTA "assignment" for the teachers. It was S. E. P. week (basically parent/teacher conferences and the kids are out early) and it is also the end of the month and so I had to do birthdays. My job was basically to "spoil" the teachers. They needed snacks or food or something like that so they could take it to their room and have it there to eat in between the parents coming. I couldn't pick just one snack, so I loaded up a basket full of different snacks (granola bars, fruit leather, ritz bits, etc.). I just set it on the table each day and would go and pick up the empty basket the next morning to be re-filled. Thank goodness for Costco. It worked out. Then on Thursday, I took in a cake (from Costco, of course), and eleven goody bags full of a "movie night" (popcorn, Hollywood Video gift card, and candy) and handed those out to those who had a birthday this last month. Then an hour and a half later, when I went to take the basket of goodies in for the SEP's, the cake was GONE! I couldn't believe it. Anyway, I made it through and don't have S. E. P.'s until November.

Saturday rounded out this week nicely. The three older boys went with their Scout group and hiked the Narrows in Zions National Park. They had a blast. I went to work at the temple, and came home to Scott mopping the kitchen floor. He and Dallen and Ashton cleaned the whole house except the older three kids' bedrooms and the two bathrooms. What a treat! All I had to worry about was laundry, so I grabbed the book "Twilight" (because I have been told I must read it), and started it. I had about three or four hours to just sit and read. It was great. Those moments are rare for me. It's a good book and easy to read. I am pretty sure I am like the last person to read it. Oh well...