October 2016

BYU Football Game

Charlie invite Lance and I to attend a BYU football game this month! I'm not a sports person but I do have childhood memories of attending the games with my parents.  It was a nice night out doing something we don't normally do. 

Haircuts

The kids all needed a trim so our friend and neighbor Nicole did some awesome hair cuts for all three of the kids.  

Soccer

JJ has had a good experience playing on this team.  He's made some friends and learned a lot.  Now that he is 15 he is in the age bracket where is has boys from age 14 to 19 on his team.  

Halloween

As Asher's room mom this year I get to plan out all the class parties and recruit other moms to help out.  I'm grateful for willing moms who spend a lot of time and money making the class parties fun for these 4th graders.

Halloween parade. Somebody is trying to be invisible . . . like a ninja.

This year JJ wanted to be a BYU basketball player for Halloween. Guess what?  Those jerseys are hard to come by and super expensive.  Lance found one on eBay which JJ decided wasn't good enough.  He threw a fit but had to suck it up or not wear the costume at all.  Hannah's costume was completely made up of stuff we already had and she was perfectly thrilled with it.  Asher was a ninja again this year. He wore his costume from last year so I didn't have to buy anything for him either and he also was totally happy with it.

 Home Improvements

We recently made the decision to begin the process of sprucing up our house to sell it.  It will take us a bit to do all the things we want to before we can put it on the market but it was a big decision just to start down that path.

 JJ's Birthday

JJ turned 15 this month. In some ways he is so incredibly grown up. He looks like a man. In other ways he still has a lot of growing up and maturing to do.  We have officially hit the "you know nothing" stage of parenting a teen.  He thinks he knows it all and we are old fogeys.  There are some really challenging days and Lance and I do lots of things wrong.  But we love him and keep trying.  Hopefully we aren't sending him into a future filled where he needs tons of therapy!  The good things are that he works pretty hard to maintain good grades at school, he has some good friends who are all trying to do good things or at least avoid the bad stuff (which is pretty difficult these days).  He is pretty responsible about doing his chores even if he balks at doing them sometimes.  He has hit the point in his life where girls are pretty dang interesting and he likes going to stake dances with his large group of friends - both boys and girls.  He loves basketball and soccer mainly but will give most sports a try.  He still hates anything that scares him like rock climbing and roller coasters.  He has pretty much everything done in scouts except his Eagle project.  JJ is very excited to get his learner's permit and start driving but he's a little nervous about it at the same time.  

JJ's fav restaurant is Brick Oven

Josh came with us when JJ went to the DMV to take the permit test.  JJ passed it on the first try.

 Lance's Birthday

Happy birthday to Lance!  He is enjoying working at Intermountain Health Care. He is grateful that he can take the train to work most days.  He is working on various home projects. He enjoys being able to listen to audio books while riding the train.  He is still on the Arts Council but is ready to "retire" from that position.  He enjoys using his BYU basketball season tickets.

Birthday dinner at Texas Roadhouse

 Lehi High Football game

Hannah had the opportunity to play her flute with the Lehi HS band during a home football game.  We went to support her but of course we couldn't hear or see her. It was freezing cold and very uncomfortable.  (Have I mentioned I'm not a sporty person?) The LHS team lost despite the fact that the people behind us were screaming the entire game.  

 Pack Meeting

 Pets

 PTA

I took on the Box Tops competition this year for the PTA.  We had a pretty good result this month, earning over a thousand dollars for the school.  

 School House Rock Live Jr.

My good friend Ashley asked me it I would co direct School House Rock Live at the Lehi Arts Council.  I really don't have much talent for such an undertaking other than keeping the kids inline and the parents informed.  Not sure I was that great at that either but it was a fun experience because the kids were amazing and I love working with Ashley. I'm totally in awe of her ability to teach dance, acting and vocal.  It was great to spend the time with Hannah as well.  It is awesome watching her become confident enough to be a leader among her peers.  

 Vote!

This year the choices for the Presidential election SUCKED big time. I didn't feel that any of the potential candidates represented my values or were anything other than crooks and egotistical maniacs.  Well I voted my with my heart and voted for Evan Mcmullen who had next to no chance of winning but represented my values.  The country is truly hanging by a thread.  I'm trying to have faith that what I do on a day to day basis will have a greater impact of my life and the life of my children than what happens in the White House.  Crossing my fingers that we don't end up in WWIII or another Civil War.  

 Silly Stuff

Asher likes to get creative with simple household stuff like plastic cups.  Any kind of engineering feat is his favorite.

The kids really enjoy having the Price kids over for board games and lots of silliness.  This is the scene at our house at least once or twice a week.

Reality Town

I volunteered to help out with the 9th grade activity called Reality Town.  Volunteers are assigned a booth where the kids can "purchase" something they might want or need as an adult.  It is an attempt to help them understand having a budget and how much things cost in the real world.  They are each given their own scenario where they are told what kind of job they have, whether they are married and or have children etc.  Based on their scenario they have a certain amount of money to spend using a fake checkbook.  It was pretty sad when some kids came up to my station - the daycare station- to realize that they hadn't used their money wisely enough or they didn't have a good enough job to pay for the amount of daycare they would need to care for the children they had.  I believe that it was eye opening for some of the kids.  JJ was one of the few kids who came out with money in savings and having spent his money wisely.  I was pretty happy for that! I know it is no guarantee that he will never make mistakes but hopefully he will do well in his life.  The reason I have this photo is because I was using my phone as a calculator and one of the kids I was helping picked it up and snapped the photo of me.  P.S. my arms look giant.  I really need to lift weights or something.

September 2016

No Braces!

This month JJ got all his braces off and Asher got his top braces off (he'll get the bottom ones off too in a few more weeks).  JJ was thrilled and has got a great smile thanks to Swenson Orthodontics and a boat load of Lance's money. Hopefully he will wear his retainer and keep his smile clean and bright so we won't have spent all that time and money for nothing.  Asher is doing the 2 phase braces so he has more time in braces to look forward to.  

Silly Pet Tricks!

This puppy has been such a blast.  I'm not totally sure why we had such a rough time with Jax during his puppyhood in comparison to Spirit's.  Spirit for the most part has been pretty dang great.  He really only chews on his own toys and is figuring out the house training slowly but surely.  Jax was a full year before he could be at all trusted to not pee or poop in the house. Even now years later he will occasionally relapse just because he is lazy and doesn't want to go outside if it is cold or wet.  Spirit loves Jax and Mouse completely.  He treats Mouse like his own personal chew toy - thank goodness Mouse is a good sport about it.  Jax and Spirit like to play tug o war with the chew toys during that 10 minutes a day that Jax isn't snoring in his dog bed.  When there's no one to play with Spirit loves to snuggle with anyone who is sitting down.  

Make yourself comfortable why don't ya? I wasn't doing anything important on the computer anyway.

Spirit and Jax at the vet getting thier shots done.

I conquer this zucchini for lovers of squash everywhere. 

Spirit came with me to Asher's school Munch and Mingle (lunch with the parents).

PTA Shenanigans

I'm not the PTA president this year, YEAHHHH! But I am still helping out with lots of PTA events like the Reading Rocks Party.  Karen Smith and I had a little bit of fun with the cotton candy. Yumm.

I also am co chairing the Room Parent group so I made some little centerpieces for the Room Parent Tea.

Soccer

JJ and Asher are still doing soccer in the Fall and Spring.  JJ is on a different team this year and has learned a lot.  He has enjoyed making new friends on the team.  

We asked that Asher not be put on the same team he has been on the last several years.  Last year was horrible for him and us.  He HATED playing last year on the other team but this year with a new team and coach has been great and he has gotten his confidence back.  Sports for Asher are very much a mental game.  He has the physical capabilities but if mentally and emotionally he feels like he isn't living up to people's expectations or that he is unwanted and unneeded he just gives up.  We prayed really hard that this year would be a good experience so that he wouldn't give up the sport altogether and the Fall season has been great so far.   

Kid Dates

Lance and I decided to take each of the kids on a date to spend some one on one time with each of them.  We don't do it on a real regular basis but this month we made it work.  It is always great to let them talk so we know what is important to them right now in their lives.  

Sushi with JJ

Denny's with Hannah

Pizza Pie Cafe with Asher

Random Happenings

Hannah and I have a love hate relationship when it comes to her hair.  She hates having it done but doesn't want to have it not look nice. She has a sensitive scalp which makes brushing her hair a bit of a screamfest.  I've gotten to the point that if she wants her hair done I tell her she has to brush it out herself. This can last for hours - which makes getting to church on time difficult sometimes.  She hates when I find hair styles on pinterest and want to try them out on her but occasionally she lets me do it and it usually turns out ok.  This Sunday's style was pretty dang cute and easy.

These two have such a great relationship.  They spend a lot of time together.  Sure they still fight a little and get on each other's nerves once in awhile but for the most part they love hanging out together and get a long really well.  

It's always lovely when we can walk to and from church.  Sure we could probably walk in bad weather too but who wants to get snow in your Sunday shoes?  Another reason I like when we can walk home is that the kids tell us everything that happened during their church classes.

This guy has to have his outdoor time other wise he gets really grumpy.  We are savoring these last days of Indian Summer.  

We are so proud of Hannah! She is an excellent student and we were thrilled to see her recognized out of her HUGE school as Student of the Week. 

I enjoy the new beginnings of a school year but miss the long summer days.