Day at the Lake

We had a blast today boating at Quail Lake with our friends the Whitneys. It was funny 'cause their son Caleb is one of Toby's best friends, but he had a Boy Scout activity to go to today so we went boating with his family without him (poor Caleb). Toby, Arielle & I all rode behind the boat but Jim decided to save all his back injuries for Lake Powell in a couple weeks (wakeboarding kills his back unfortunately). It was fun watching Alison & Bryce do the "chair thingy", forgetting the name- wake chair maybe? The weather was perfect- calm water, sunny blue sky, refreshing water and not too many boats.

Goodbye Cub Scouts, Hello Boy Scouts

Wow, my little boy is growing up. This past week he earned his Arrow of Light award and moved into Boy Scouts. It was sad to say bye to Sister VanSteveran. She was so sweet with Toby & always planned fun activities where the boys learned a ton. She made a nifty Arrow of Light award for Toby to hang on his wall. She gave Toby a big hug and said she will truly miss him! They have this little tradition in scouting where the "graduate" walks across a bridge made up of sticks held by all the boys in the pack. In all the pack mtgs I've been to I've never seen one of the boys drop a stick...until Toby's night! It was funny and they had to do it over again since Toby fell through the bridge.

Jim's Future Occupation

For those of you who know Jim pretty well, I thought you'd get a kick out of this video. I couldn't get it to post, so you'll have to click on the link. This video will really help you see why Anesthetist is the perfect fit for Jim! As many of you know, he is applying for Anesthetist school. Believe me, it took awhile for me to learn how to say & spell that word (and you'll see on the video that apparently in Britain they spell it differently) Basically Anesthetist's put people to sleep or administer pain relief during surgery or other procedures (like childbirth). Anyway, Jim has applied to his first school of choice (he'll apply to a few) and he's getting ready to take the Graduate Record Exam in a couple weeks. Wish him luck, he's really nervous! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xuZl9tRqjoQ

Back to the Daily Grind

I have discovered a little something about myself. I like routine! (on my terms of course) School has started back up again and we're all pretty happy about it. The long "sibling squabbling" days of summer have come to an end. Toby's in 6th grade now and was too cool to have his pic taken on the first day of school. I drove past the bus stop with my camera, but decided to save him the embarrassment and not take the pic. I did, however, roll down my window and tell the 15 nervous 11 & 12 yr. olds that the bus driver called me and said he got held up and he asked me to give them a ride, so they all needed to pile into my car. Ha ha. The looks on their faces was priceless. Toby probably wishes I'd just taken a pic instead! I was nervous for him to ride the bus, change classes and all that "big kid" stuff. He jumped out of bed without having to be woken up by mom or dad and even packed his own lunch a couple of days. He's becoming such a responsible guy. Arielle LOVES her teacher who is so sweet & patient. She loves animals and has a pet bird in the classroom. She has already made a great friend in class (Charlotte) who likes gymnastics, swimming and animals. They're inseparable already with 3 playdates under their belt in the first week! With the school year starting back up so does soccer & piano. Toby's already had a game in Vegas, they went to Vegas and beat those city kids in 2 games back to back. Go Dixie Fire!

I FORGOT MY CAMERA! Whaaah!

Today was Toby's 11th BD Party. It wasn't his "real" birthday today so I'll save the special BD post for later. But as for "the party" was great! I made a list before we left the house to make sure I had everything squared away and everything went off without a hitch until 1/2 way through the party when I realized I FORGOT MY CAMERA!! I was SOOOO sad. We had 9 boys at the pool and they had a blast diving and playing with splash balls. We were lucky to have some friends who were parting with an Xbox and lots of games- they gave us a killer deal. So Toby was ridiculously spoiled with that big gift and also generous amounts of money from most of his friends. I made his favorite cookies (m & m covered chocolate moonpies) which he requested instead of cake. The weather was great, the boys had a blast and if I had just remembered MY CAMERA the day would have been perfect! (I did take a pathetic pic on my cell phone which I don't even know how to post- so just picture in your head nine scrawny 11 year olds posing- yeah some were actually flexing- in front of a pool on a sunny beautiful day. They actually cheerfully cooperated for the pic on my pathetic phone which they would NEVER do if I had a real camera present. )

Pioneer Day

For July 24th Bloomington Hills Stake puts on pretty cool little celebration. First I ran a 5k and felt so accomplished because I came in 5th overall (I won't mention that only about 20 people showed up for this run/walk). Jim had to work in the evening, but I took the kids to the church for the festivities. Crystal & Mylie joined us. In the evening every ward sponsors an activity on the baseball field next to the church. There's even a little parade to honor the Pioneers and their trek into and establishment of Utah. One of the wards organized little spelling bees that ran hourly. Toby competed and won a couple times. He got to take home a big, yummy caramel apple as a prize. Arielle's highlight involved horses (of course) The Son's of the UT Pioneers provided a nice wagon ride. Arielle and her friend Annie sat up front and felt so special!

Webkinz!

Webkinz! All the rage this summer. What are they? Glorified beanie babies with a high tech passport. Arielle's best friend's mom bought her a Webkinz and she has loved playing with it ever since. She even saved up her own money to buy a 2nd Webkinz. Now she's a proud owner of a cocker spaniel and a Terrier. She can get online and play lots of fun games and design a home for her pet. She can even "buy" her pet clothes and accessories. She gains these items by winning games & quizzes. You can even play online against friends who also have Webkinz accounts. As a Mom, what I like about it? #1, Its a safe place for her to play online. #2 She can play live with her best friend who lives 5 hrs away! #3 The "quizzes" that help the kids buy embelishments for their Webkinz are actually educational (like math & health quizzes). Arielle could spend all day playing with her Webkinz. She really won't like it in 10 days when school starts and we're back on a strict "computer time limiting" schedule!