I'm the Grand Prize Winner!

Whenever we get in the car, we race to get buckled. I of course am the last one since I have to help Abbey buckle in. Today it was me, Abbey and Lucas. Lucas is SUPER competitive and "won".

"Mom, you lose."

"Lucas.......be nice."

"I'm the grand prize winner. I won the Seatbelt Trophy."

.
.

.

.

Do you think an actual trophy would inspire my kids to buckle on their own w/o me telling them to 100 times?!

A new scripture story:

Driving Lea to school this morning (tomorrow is the last day!), she read aloud the back of a truck we were following. 

"Mom, that says Lamanites and Marbles, just like in the scriptures."

Huh? 

.

.

.

.

.

Oh, Laminates and Marbles. Those things are for building houses, not the people in the Book of Mormon. Then a discussion about how 2 switched letters changes the entire subject.

A visit from the Webbs

Brady and Debbie Webb came to visit us on their way from Idaho Falls to California.......if you know your geography, you'll realize that Phoenix is not exactly "on the way". They must really miss us?! :) Brady is Jeff's friend from high school and I was introduced to them the day after Jeff and I were engaged. Boys.....they talk about everything....... We've been close ever since, but have moved in opposite directions - them to Idaho Falls and us to Phoenix. We still stay with them when we make our long journey's north. Our kids are the same ages and have a great time together. We look forward to seeing them every year and were happy to have them visit us this time around since we won't be headed to Idaho this summer.

We enjoyed Beatles Rockband, trip to the still flooded river, backyard BBQ, Lea's baseball game and just being together - we miss being so close......someday.

Jonas, Lucas, Abbey, Lea, Hannah, Eli

Strong Man competition - Brady and Jeff

the girls: Hannah, Abbey and Lea

This is what happens when you stand right behind your big sister when she winds up to throw a rock - the very first rock she threw.

Jeff the pack-horse. We took a walk to see the baby cows. Jeff and Brady threw the kids across the ditch to get to the cow side.....all but Abbey - she stayed with Debbie and I.

All 6 kids - cute aren't they!

Filling up the "hole" with rocks.....

We tried to convince them to take all 6 kids with them to California......for some reason they politely declined.

Jeff and Brady

Brady, Debbie and Jonas

Until next time! :)

Teacher Appreciation

Lea wrote a card to her teacher Mrs. Noyes for Teacher Appreciation week. She had asked the students to not bring gifts - homemade cards were most appreciated and put into a scrapbook. Great teacher huh!

Lea's card read something like this (I wish I had taken a picture of it so you could see the handwriting and spelling):

Dear Mrs. Noyes, 

Thank you for teaching me math, reading and the Galileo Testing. I wish we could do more, but we're all done.

Thank you for being my teacher. 

Your student, Lea

Parent's note: Galileo testing is the benchmark testing the school district uses to see how much the kids are learning over the year. They take the test 4 times and it covers all curriculum for the whole year on every test. Lea's class has done EXCEPTIONALLY well - her test score from the final test of the year:

100% - Reading

93.3%  - Math

Congrats Lea - we are so proud of you! Love you!

What happens while camping doesn't stay at the campsite.......

Went to the park today around 11:30. We were waiting for Beckers to come and Lucas asked:

"Mom, where's a bush for me to go potty on?"
Ummmmmmmm, over there I guess - we're only a block from our house, but I'm not walking back.

I heard this too: "Mom - it (the pee) went right through the bush!"

minute later: "Mom! Do you have any hand sabitizer?"

"No.....wasn't planning on the potty break."

Later tonight, Lea informed us (Jeff and I) that Lucas peed in the backyard by the swingset........not a big deal except we have a VIEW fence which is right behind the swingset. Also he hasn't mastered the "Peeing Outside etiquette": shorts are at the ankles..............*sigh*

I think we've had enough camping for now.

What?!

This was too good not to post: Jeff and Lucas went on a campout this weekend with our Stake for church. Just the men and they went to the Mogollon Rim outside Heber, AZ. After they'd been home a while, I told Lucas he needed to take a shower because he smelled like campfire and dirt. While in the shower, I hear him yell this: 

"DAD! I'm taking a shower cuz I smell like camp-pire, dirt and spit!"

And because there is apparently no privacy in our house, we were all in the next room to which Jeff proudly says: "I couldn't be more proud of my boy. I didn't even have to teach him - he came up with it all on his own."

Why he smelled like spit.......I don't know and I don't want to know. :)