P, P, P What Begins With P?

Grandma Dorothy and Grandpa Dale

We ended the month with Dad C.'s birthday PARTY. You can always count on good food and cake whenever there is a reason to celebrate. The kids all enjoyed helping him blow out his 20 something candles. (your at least that young still right dad?) Happy Birthday!!

After some good food and cake what's better than a movie, Princess and the Frog to be exact. AND some popcorn. It was definitely one of the better Disney movies they have made. The music was my favorite.

Jared was being a big stinker this day. I guess everyone can't be happy!

Practice AND Patience also begins with P. Luckily before plunging in taking other family photographs my kids got to be my practice (with a little bribery). I also have to thank my good friend Sarah who was willing to lend me her fabulous lens and expertise. I have learned nothing ever goes as expected. For instance, I had something in my head I wanted them to pose for and it went NOTHING like I wanted. The best photos ended up being the ones I wasn't even intending on them doing. Like standing in water! But, it worked, they had fun, and truely capturing a natural image sometimes takes a little patience.

My f stop was much to low for these photos, hence being a tad out of focus.

Originally I had planned for a dry, photo......

But, by the end of the hour I let them do whatever they wanted.

Here they are in waist deep water, yes WAIST DEEP!

I offered to take a few family Photos during the crazy month of December. Most of the ones I am posting went out as Christmas cards, so hopefully they don't mind me previewing them.

Clouse Family

Hall Family

Schwenke Kids

Varvel Family

Gustafson Gang

They for sure are far from perfect, but I think they turned out rather well for an amateur.

Playing games. My mom got our family the game "Ticket To Ride" for Christmas. Obviously we opened it a little early (thanks to Amazon) and can't get enough of it. It's so much fun! If you haven't ever played I highly recommend it!

Luke and Miss Emma

We also spent a lot of time in our home listening to this little guy practice the piano. I am hopeful that Luke keeps up his ambition to play because I have never heard Jingle Bells so much in my life. (seriously) For just a few months of playing Luke has become quite the piano player. We are so proud of him!

Luke also played soccer this season. He wasn't normally the one to score the goals, but he did make some great passes. This last game he came on fire and decided to score one of the goals keeping them ahead to win the game!

Coach Steve and Weston

Last, but not least we survived an entire season of three kids doing soccer. Weston was my biggest surprise. I never thought he would keep up his stamina running in every game, but man I was wrong. There wasn't a game he didn't either make 5 or more goals or pass to his teammates in an assist to score. His coach nicknamed him the "hammer" because most of the time he was unstoppable. Way to go Weston!

As for Jared he was the boys personal cheerleader. If he didn't have a football game, he was there supporting them.

New Molds

You can mold wax into all different sizes, types and formations. I sometimes wish each of my kids had the same mold, well when it comes to school. Don't misunderstand, I love that my children are diverse and have each of their own personalities, but when it comes to self-discipline and making GOOD choices, some are better at it than others. Over the past few weeks we have been dealing with issues I had hoped would never happen at school. It's one thing to deal with them at home, but school? For the most part Taylor and Jared have been fairly good role models in school-- aka teachers pet. However, 3rd grade has started off on the wrong foot completely.

I think Jared has a great teacher, but my 8 year old has Doug and I shaking our heads more than I would like to admit. Thinks such as "what were you thinking?" and "seriously?" have been the questions we find ourselves asking him on a daily basis. It's frustrating. At this point I am not sure whether it's the move, the age, or him just testing the waters. We try to be fair and treat each situation differently. But, we have now gone to the extreme of loosing ALL electronics and anything else possible that would sound tempting. Part of me really feels bad about it, but I am at a loss what to do. A consequence is a consequence. Should we pull him out of sports along with everything else (knowing that would be more of a punishment for us?) Bottom line is the behavior has Got. To. Change. Period. As anyone knows.....having a family can be challenging, life continues to be crazy and yes, things of this nature come and go. I think it's part of learning and being a parent. But, one I am struggling with. Suggestions??

Luke, Magnus and Tyler

Now that is off of my chest (phew!) I can focus on the happier things that have been going on in our home. Surprisingly, the weather has been effecting many our "extra" activities. We survived a pretty hot Saturday watching Luke kick the soccer ball around. It was by far worth every bead of sweat sitting out in the grass, just by being a spectator. I am finding that my used to be quiet boy is molding into an outgoing one. Luke was so excited to go out and play and was so serious when it was his turn to get the ball down the field. His team played 4 on 4. It really was a hoot. I was surprised as to how much they were able to catch on and they ended up tying the game 3-3.

The photo is a little smoky due to Doug's crazy grilling

Doug and I can no longer officially fly under the radar in church or secretly hope for that calling that you have to place the books back into sacrament meeting. Is that really a calling? Last week he was sustained as the new Young Men's President. And the first words out of his mouth were, "I believe every YM president I knew as a youth owned a boat, isn't that a requirement?" Um. no not until you put a much needed body of water in our backyard. Nice try though hon. I think if I had to choose any leader position for Doug this would have been the one. He fits the mold to a tee, not to mention he loves the youth. He also has some great advisers (Adam Hall, and Joe Germaine) between the three of them I think they make a great team. They had their first official mutual at our home Tuesday evening. Doug wanted to make sure they knew where we lived and if they ever needed a place to go our home is open. As far as my callings go. Drum roll please......I am a Den leader in the cubscouts. Go bears!

Jared at the top of the line up

Monsoon weather here is always so unpredictable. It can range from dust storms, to dark clouds and no rain, to rain and heavy wind and hail. Crazy! During the day it still gets pretty hot, but it has at least started to cool down at night when the storms come brewing in. Unfortunately, lightening isn't the safest thing to be around, especially at a ball field. We were surrounded by dark black clouds last night and finally as it kept moving in closer the lightening did as well. Jared was only able to get through 2 innings. I wasn't too upset since it was a late game, but it was a bummer they were ahead and it just went down as a forfeit. Thank goodness this week is winding down. Just a few more things on the calendar (Saturday--more about that later) You bet I will be welcoming Sunday with open arms!