Not Another Summary

Hunter finishes his first full week in “pageant” in about 15 minutes. Hooray for a week off!

Emma and Hunter have been zipping through the “Harry Potter” series. With the movie coming out this week, they have become obsessed with catching up to it. In spite of the fact that it’s rated PG 13 so they have to wait for Mom and Dad to see it first… although if they have read the book, the movie is the same stuff huh? Don’t know how that will go yet…

Hannah and Sabrina are taking a weekly ballet/tap class together. Hannah loved the first class, and Sabrina did most things. She only refused one excercise that involved leaping and then having the class applaud the effort. She didn’t want any part of that spotlight.

We have been keeping busy with trips to the park or the pool, reading, Wednesday lunchtime with Daddy, playing around the house, a discount showing of “The Tale of Despereaux,” and cleaning up! The latest strategy for this is “five minute flips” where we pick three areas or rooms that need cleaning up and make those our stations. We split into three teams and each rotate through the stations every five minutes. I set the timer and everyone works on their area for five minutes. This seems to work because they can focus their attention for that length of time pretty well, and know that they don’t have to do it all, just keep going until they hear the buzzer.  We do the rotations until it’s clean, so the better they work, the sooner we’re done. I’m not sure if it will work for the whole summer, but for now our house is cleaner than it ever was during school. That’s nice.

I’m still having fun adding to my Mia Maids’ blog and taught a class today on testimony that seemed to go pretty well. I’m also way behind on the photo gallery for this blog, but one day I’ll get back on top of that.I would like to participate in Craft Hope like my sisters-in-law, but the deadline is fast approaching.

Rob has decided to start learning Greek. He has been reading a lot of history on the Bible, and figured it would help him to be able to go back and read some of the Greek text. I know, “Whaa?” But I have to say I’m jealous of his ability to find things like that so interesting that he can read about it for any length of time without falling asleep.

Tomorrow Hunter starts a week of basketball camp, and Emma starts an acting class. Then we’ll do more pageant, swimming lessons, and a family reunion in August. I’m not sure why I have so much packed into summer. Maybe it’s because I don’t want it to become a chorus of “I’m bored” around here, and once school starts again, they’ll feel like it’s a breeze. We’ll see how well this strategy plays out.

Summer Rollercoaster

One of the girls from our ward wanted to do some service for Personal Progress and asked if she could come help out here this morning. Of course I said yes, and she spent some time helping the other kids fold laundry and clean the bathroom. They all had fun helping out because we had a visitor, and she was able to be like a big sister to the kids while helping us. Nice!

Our family walked over to the lake to see about doing the peddle boats or canoes, but realized that we couldn’t pay for it there.  We had to go to the association office to buy a pass. Too far to walk and still have the energy for the boats so we scrapped that idea, and the little girls played in the sand while the rest of us played the ABC game. Bummer, but we made the best of it.

We walked back home and had lunch. Leftover tacos, yummy.

Rob and I decided to give the kids a choice in an afternoon activity. Either go get passes and then do the boats, or bike over to the shopping center and visit the candy store. The votes didn’t go over well at all and there was whining, complaining, and teasing that led to pushing… We didn’t end up doing either choice, and cleaned the garage instead. Terrible, horrible, mean parents.

While Rob started on the garage with the kids, and Hannah rode her bike in the front (because she wasn’t one of the whiners) I took Sabrina (in her favorite car, the Civic) to go get boat passes in case we want to try again tomorrow. I wasn’t sure if they would be open today, so called and they told me it was “mostly” closed, but I could still come get a boat pass. So Sabrina and I arrived ready to buy tickets, only to be told that they could only take a check because they were technically closed. “You can’t even take cash?” I asked. Nope. I left there muttering how it would have been nice if the guy told me that when I called ahead…

I drove home and got my checkbook and headed back to the association office. I got the passes and tried not to be annoyed when they told me I couldn’t get the family pass that is the better deal because “they were closed.” Huh?

Sabrina immediately after we walked out the door started fussing about wanting to go to the candy store.  I told her we couldn’t go today because there had been too much fuss, and that was why Hunter and Emma were now at home cleaning the garage. She continued to whine and I told her harshly that she would be cleaning the garage too or going to take a nap when we got home (for some reason these are equally bad to her). I started backing out of my space still trying to manage the annoyance I felt over the last hour, when I heard a thump.

I had backed into another car parked in the lot. I got out to see the damage and luckily there was no damage to the other car; It was an older model with a real bumper, and I just saw some flakes of paint from my car. I looked at my bumper and won’t tell you the word that came to mind. There was a long six inch break in it and it was all scuffed up. I drove home and cried.

Rob tried to make me feel better about messing up the only nice car we own. I know he handled me way better than I would have if things had been reversed. I spent some time alone on my bed, and eventually fell asleep.

Rob woke me up when dinner was ready. He had grilled up some hot dogs for dinner and the kids were all cheerful and happy to see me reemerge from my short depression.

After dinner there was a debate about who should have the first turn on the computer. After a few minutes it was figured out, but as soon as I left the room we could hear fighting about how things were fair/unfair. So then the kids were sent to clean their closets and didn’t get computer time. Mean parents again.

Bedtime went smoothly and the kids all had their stories, prayers, hugs & kisses, and were tucked into bed with smiles on their faces. Maybe not huge ones, but thank goodness there were no tears!

Whew, summer days can be so exhausting. I need some ice cream.

Four Times Three

Sabrina: 1 – has to have a ponytail and a headband in her hair at all times; 2 – is working on perfecting the “glide” on her scooter; 3 – Can put on her princess backpack, socks, and shoes all by herself.

Hannah: 1 – loves to have “math” printed out so she can do homework; 2 – is learning to ride a big girl bike with training wheels; 3 – came up with a way to get a puppy: “…get a baby, sell it, and get a puppy.” (Once when she asked why we couldn’t get a puppy I told her I would have to trade in one of the kids, and I wouldn’t be able to decide which one)

Emma: 1 – wrote a song called, “My Rainbow SUV”; 2 – started a new blog called Huge Laff as a place to do little web shows; 3 – cracked her tooth while eating a roll and said, “…I saw the sticker on it said 75% off, so it must have been old.”

Hunter: 1 – is raising money for 6th grade camp by doing a garage sale this Saturday; 2 – designed a Lego racer for his last Pinewood Derby. It won second place in the maverick (no rules) races; 3 – scored in the 99th percentile on the GATE test- smarty!

Name Game

After seeing Mel’s great post with information on baby Hilly’s namesake, I was inspired to let my kids know why we chose their names:

Hunter– I babysat a cute little boy named Hunter, and loved reading the biography of Howard W. Hunter. He was a great man and I would love for my son to look to him for direction.

Robert – Chosen for his dad (obviously), and Pappy, and both of Rob’s grandfathers. The tradition lives on without having the title of “the third” in his name.

Joseph – This was my grandfather’s first name and is also for Joseph Smith the prophet. Both were men of integrity with strong convictions and personality.

In Rob’s family it was tradition to give everyone two middle names. We decided to do two middle names for the boys and one for the girls since they will gain an additional name when they marry.

Emma– We loved this name and agreed on it before we knew Hunter was a boy- In large part because we loved the story of “Emma” by Jane Austen. When Hunter was about a year old I was driving down the road when the thought came to me almost as if someone was talking to me, “Emma is waiting and ready to come.” I came home that day and told Rob that I knew we had a daughter named Emma coming to our family.

Elisabeth- This is the name my parents originally meant for my middle name. My great-great-grandmother in Germany on my mom’s side was named Elisabeth. Because I was born by emergency cesarean and my mom was still groggy from medication when the nurse pressed her for a name, I became Amy Lisa. Only afterward did my Nana tell my Mom that Elisabeth was called Lisa by her friends and family.

Hannah– We were getting very close to delivery and could not find the right name for our baby girl. At the time Keira and Brooklyn were at the top of the list, but we both were still not sure. I asked Rob to ponder it on the last fast Sunday before I was due and let me know of any revelations. He heard someone in the ward talking about their daughter Hannah and it just seemed right. I had always liked the name, but never brought it up because I thought it sounded so similar to Emma.  In the end, we followed Rob’s inspiration and chose Hannah.

Brooklyn- Both of my mom’s parents (who passed away before our children were born) were born and raised in Brooklyn, New York.

Sabrina– The day before my scheduled cesarean, Rob and I were putting names on pieces of paper and drawing them to determine the winner. But since neither of us could leave things completely up to chance, this helped only to narrow things down to either Gina or Sabrina. Rob favored Gina because of it’s Italian connection, and I favored Sabrina because it sounded sophisticated and was also the name of one of my best friends in junior and high school. Rob told me I could make the decision because I had a difficult pregnancy with her; and well, he felt sorry for me. After she was born I was leaning toward using Gina and told Rob. He asked, “Are you sure?” and I answered, “…I don’t know.” Then shortly after I decided that Sabrina was a better fit for her, and we never looked back.

Isobel- Chosen for Rob’s grandmother who was born in Scotland and raised in Ireland.

Every name fits each child perfectly, and we love our kiddies all so much.  Each one came to our family with special talents and gifts that are unique to them and it is a great blessing to be their mother.

March Up Tos

– I paid the $90.00 ticket for talking on my cell phone while driving. I was talking to Hunter who was home alone to let him know I was running late so he wouldn’t worry, 30 seconds tops… Of course a cop was sitting there ready when I turned the corner.

– Hannah and I went whale watching with her preschool class and saw some beautiful whales and dolphins. She and her friends had the most fun barking at the seals though.

– Rob found an as-is large screen TV at auction and we picked it up for a good price. Then we discovered the color was off and that this model was part of a class action lawsuit requiring the company to replace faulty parts. Fortunately for us, the parts were on super back order so they offered to replace ours with a brand new flat screen plasma TV. This is by far the best deal we’ve ever stumbled upon. We had a movie party on Friday night, and there will be many more ahead I’m sure!

– I worked at the Calligraphy/Hornbook station for the 5th grade Colonial Day. We practiced writing with feathers and ink wells.  All of the 5th grade classes spent the whole day dressed in colonial clothing, and doing colonial things: whittling, square dances, buzz saw toys, corn husk dolls, quilting, embroidery, tin punching, painting… It was a lot of fun for me, and for Hunter too.

– Emma took a mini-drama class and played the part of “Baker” in The Gingerbread Girl.  She did a great job remembering her lines and looked so cute. Our girl sure loves to be on stage.

– I finished my beginner Photoshop Elements class and passed the final with a 97%. I haven’t really had time to do much with what I’ve learned yet, but hope to soon.

-The transition, after the boundary changes, into our new ward has been great. We’re all happy and still doing our best to keep up with our friends who are now in other wards.

– Rob got a new calling in the ward. I can’t tell you yet what it is yet, but he’s a little nervous. I know he’ll be great! Our new bishop assured me that he has a job waiting for me, but until then I’ve been filling in the gaps while our new ward is staffed (nursery, sunbeams, and leading music-the toughest so far-).

– I tallied laps at the school Jog a Thon and let me tell you, it’s no easy task when they’re all wearing the same t-shirt! I told my four kids they had to give me a high five every time to make sure they were counted for each lap. They all had fun running, dumping water on their heads, and eating popsicles afterward.

So that’s the gist of what we’ve been up to this month. Here’s hoping that April will be a better blogging month. I have some March photos in the gallery now too.

Hi-cup

Have you ever tried to get your kids to take you seriously when you have the hiccups?

“Come on guys it’s time for ch-u-ores.” No movement. “Hunter, get u-i-up and clear the kitchen coun-huh-ter. Emma, do you think I’m kid-up-ing? Go empty the dishwa-a-sher now-hu-ow.” I can’t help but smile at how ridiculous I sound.

So then they were laughing at me. But they were also doing chores so I guess it worked out all right.