Cookie the Cat

Meet our cat Cookie. We adopted her when our neighbors moved a while ago, and we miss those neighbors by the way! The kids wanted to adopt her right away but I was adamantly opposed! Then one day I saw our little Nathan (before he was talking to any of us very much) sitting on the back porch talking to Cookie the cat and sharing his apple with her--for almost an hour! She just sat there next to him and let him love her and my heart started to melt. Later that day when I went to get him after nap time I saw she had jumped in his window and was sleeping next to him on his bed with his little arm around her. So I decided that Cookie the cat was part of Nathan's learning process and we adopted her! A few weeks after that Cookie didn't have much to do with Nathan any more--the girls were probably safer. I find it interesting how animals can sense our needs. For the past couple of days Nathan had a high fever and did not feel well. Finally, one night I had to put him down and do some cleaning. About halfway through my work I looked over and there was Cookie snuggling Nathan because I couldn't and he was sick. It was so cute I had to take a picture!

 

PTA Reflections

In the fall the PTA sponsors an art recognition program. Every students is invited so submit up to one piece of art in each of several categories. Iy made a submission for 3-D and visual art. Ev made a submission for photography and 3-D. Et made a submission for photography, 3-D, visual art, and literature. The school recognized every student for submission(s) and selected two from each category (in 3 different age groups) to represent the school at the next level. Et's submissions for photography and visual art were selected at the school level and he received a couple of medals and a certificate. Ev's submission for 3-D was selected to represent the school. Sadly, I did not get pictures of Iy's art and it no longer exists. But here is some of the art:

 

Et took this picture and 'tweaked' it--it was his photograph submission.

 

Ev took this picture which we all fell in love with. Sadly, it was not selected to represent the school but the PTA Pres did ask if she could buy it!

 

Here is Ev's 3-D submission. She called it "Jivin' to the Music".

 

Here is Ev after the awards night this last Thurs where her 3D art was selected as the region finalist! Her 3D submission will represent all of Tooele as it moves to the next level! Obviously Ev's photography skills are superior to mine. Congratulations Ev!!

I tried to get a picture of Et with his certificates, as he was also recognized that evening. He was one of the only kids to receive two certificates at this level. Unfortunately he was experiencing severe camera shyness, so we settled for blogging his photograph.

Mystery Cemetery

For those of you who don't know, I teach "Challenge" classes at the school as a volunteer. Ev and the other 5th and 6th graders have been studying Archaeology. Et and the other 3rd and 4th graders have been studying Moon Bases. Today we started the Mystery Cemetery project which is a simulation of an archaeological burial site. The students have to interpret the site and determine who is female, male, royal, adult, etc. and what specific artifacts/characteristics identify each burial. Today was the best class I've had with the students because this project is such an intriguing challenge. Thank you Google and the Archaeological Institute of America! Here are some pictures:

 

 

 

 

Proof They are Really Listening

So Et is our financial kid--at times he seems obsessed with earning and spending money and rarely shows interest in saving. Today he had two friends over to play and they were playing Clue. They asked Et what he would do if he won a million dollars and he said, "Save it." YAY Et!! The friends said, "Why?" Et replied, "For my mission!" YES! The friends said, "What about after your mission?" Et said, "College." I'm feeling like such a responsible parent right now!

Sunday Shenanigans

This post is a tribute to all of our enjoyable Sacrament Meetings with Dad on the stand. Most of you have already heard these stories but in the interest of making a complete record of our history (or fool of myself) I am posting them. I can do this now because we can finally laugh about these things. Sometimes. And they don't happen anymore (or at least not nearly as often). Hopefully it will make some of your Sundays seem a little less stressful. When your child starts to do something unmentionable in church you can say to yourself, "At least we never had a kid.___________like the O. family!" This also ensures that I will have a permanent record of said events so when my kids start having kids misbehave in church I can say something like, "Your child is just improving upon behavior you introduced!" In order to protect the guilty I am writing them all anonymously. Don't be misled--EVERY one of my children is represented well on the list! You may vote for the most infamous act. Here is our top ten list--in no particular order--for nefarious Sacrament Meeting behavior:

1. Making 'firecrackers' out of cheerios. And then when mom stops you and tries to help you clean them up deciding instead to very defiantly squash them into the floor with your heel.

2. Spitting on people. Not little spits, either. Back of the throat loud spitting! And refusing to stop until mom takes you to the bathroom and puts soap in your mouth (you had to be dragged all around the building because that Sunday you were of course sitting on the other side). And when you get back to your seat again, spitting more. It was fun to see all the people politely move to the edges of their seats!

3. Getting away from mom (she had another baby and a toddler), running up to dad on the stand and then JUST before he can get a hand on you running away, giggling of course, and then LEAPING off the stairs on the stand. Repeatedly.

4. Coloring on the benches. With red crayon. A solid mark that measured at least a foot square. Because red crayon on blue upholstery is SO pretty! It had to be professionally cleaned.

5. After spending two weeks driving mom crazy tying everything in the house in knots (shoelaces, toaster cords, hair dryer/curling iron cords, strings to the blinds, etc.) mom gets the brilliant idea to bring some of dad's really long shoelaces for you to tie into knots during Sacrament Meeting. At which time knots became boring and lassos and whips became cool--complete with sound effects.

6. On the second Sunday in a brand new ward, throwing a pen like a missile where it connected with a target--the back of the head of the wife of a bishopric member sitting 3 rows in front of you!

7. Reading and looking at books in church is not fun. After 5 minutes it is boring. Books are much more interesting as drumsticks and even weapons!

8. Tapping rhythms on the radiator next to our bench.

9. Running up and down the itty bitty little space where only little people can fit that runs between the bench and the wall--while various ward members sympathetic to mom's plight try to grab you. Very disruptive.

10. When one of the Primary Presidency comes to ask if you will be an example to other kids, kicking her in the shin. Which we decided was NOT an accident!

There it is--my top ten list of my most memorable Sacrament Meetings sitting alone with the kids while dad sat on the stand with his hand in front of his mouth stifling chuckles. Or else turning really red in the face and coming after one of our little monsters--thank you dad!! Last year Elder Ballard came to our Stake Conference and told a story about how he sat on the stand while all his children were very young and the first Sunday he sat with the family his wife excused herself after the opening prayer and never came back. Because she was in the foyer watching him between the crack in the door and laughing. I love Sister Ballard!!

From Iy's Primary Teacher

I enjoyed having Iy in my class this year. She is always happy and positive about life. She loves to participate and answer lots of questions. Every once in a while she would have a hard time sitting still in class. One week we were in sharing time and Sister Cruz had all the kids stand up to get their wiggles out. I asked Iy why she wasn't standing up. She said, "my mom said I can not wiggle". I was very proud of her for listening to her mom. She showed us many talents she had in class. She is really good at coloring and tries to sing the loudest! She told us some fun stories about your family. I will miss her in my class. Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Love, Sister B.

Wasn't that nice? In my defense I told Iy not to wiggle because 2 weeks prior to this she had to be "excused" from Primary. I have no idea what stories she told about our family. I thought about asking the teacher about that but decided I'd rather not know. It's probably more fun to imagine.

More Cousin Fun!

Cute pictures of I. with cousins!

 

I. loves cousin M--we wished she lived closer!! It's nice for I. to have a girl cousin her age!!

 

I. with cousin L--L may be a little younger but she and I. are two peas in a pod! They are so much alike!

Cousin Fun!

Here's some fun pictures of N with cousins--love my new camera!

 

N with cousin L--they loved this rocking horse--probably too much!

 

N with cousin A--he followed her around a lot on New Year's Eve!

 

N with the dog--he loves dogs! We are glad that he can visit this one!

Happy New Year!!

This may seem a little late, but the New Year's Celebration was wild. We had a party at Uncle S's house with 12 kids and 10 adults--adults were outnumbered. It was great fun! All of us except the three youngest were on hand to welcome in the new year. We played wii games, board games, and N enjoyed chasing Aunt K's dog around. In the morning we had a giant breakfast and then did a lot of nothing until we got bored with that and came home. Also--the family convinced me to set up a facebook account. I have been having a blast finding lots of old friends--too much fun. I think I am going to have to set some limits on my computer time. I'm sure the kids would be willing to help enforce that! I have made a few New Year's Resolutions but none I am going to put on my blog.