Champions!

Okay so after this post I have to post this one. Matthew had his championship Junior Jazz game a couple of weeks ago. Thank heaven it wasn't quite the nail-biter the previous one was and I didn't spend it thinking I was going to have a heart attack. Great boys. Great coach. Great season!

The Final Hikes

One our last day of our Spring Break vacation we headed down to Dead Horse Point. Talk about an amazing view! Again Matthew was not too jazzed about the height but he was getting braver about it by now. Just don't expect him to do any crazy hike out to any ledges here. And honestly I am fine with that.

Hey look! An actual picture with me in it! Again, Josh striking another original pose.

Then we drove to Goblin Valley because William's brother Joseph recommended it. I have to admit after about an hour I was wondering if it would be worth it. It was. The kids loved it. Especially because you start off in the valley and can then climb around. I think the name the guy who first discovered it, Mushroom Valley was more appropriate though.

You have to love any place that gets brothers and sisters climbing together.

Goodbye Goblin Valley. Goodbye Moab trip. Sure was fun!

What Josh Learned During Spring Break

After we came home from Moab Matthew convinced Josh that he should get rid of his beloved training wheels. This is another area I fail to encourage my kids. Brittany was almost eight before she learned. I think Matthew was at least 6-6 1/2. Maybe it is because the moment always seems to come when Dad is at work and I am the one running behind the kid hanging on. Well this time Dad was home and all I had to do was take pictures.

The kid was a natural! This was only after a couple of tries. Look how excited his brother was for him.

Now he can go on bike rides with the boys. My last baby riding a bike without training wheels. Sniff. Sniff.

The Hike Goes On

So after Delicate Arch my kids decided they like hiking. Although Josh was concerned that all the hiking would be as difficult. Luckily I convinced him it wouldn't. We did all the hikes on the f Arches map. I was not as adventurous as the rest of the gang.

I have really bad ankles that turn if you look at them wrong so I took a lot of pictures.

I swear they aren't up as high as it looks!

Matthew and his Dad.

Josh at Double Windows. Josh can pose with style in any setting.

Brittany is quite the daredevil. She would follow her dad just about anywhere he was climbing and some places he didn't. I decided hiking was a good example of the ways William and I differ in our parenting. He didn't coddle or ask if they were okay, keep looking around to make sure they could do it. He just assumed they could and they did. I kept thinking about this while we were hiking and I am going to try and be more like that. I think it probably builds their self-esteem more his way.

Look! Delicate Arch in Matthew's hand!

Spring Break: Delicate Arch

Spring Break. It's over. We are finding our groove again. I love my groove. I love kids in school, dishwasher humming, laundry in the machines and actually accomplishing something. But man did we have a memorable Spring Break. We went down to Moab to hike Arches. I have to admit I wasn't the most enthusiastic about this plan but I figured that William had gone along with plans I have hatched that he was probably not too jazzed about so it was my turn to be a good sport. I have to admit it was fun and a trip I think the kids will remember for a long time. The first day we got there we decided to tackle hiking Delicate Arch. I am still not sure if this was the best idea, I think Josh was nervous all the hikes would be this difficult. It was the most spectacular too, sort of like having the finale first. My lunch friends had warned me that it was not an easy hike, contrary to what William tried to tell me. So I was prepared.

I was really proud of Josh, he kept up with everyone the whole trip. It was cloudy and windy that day so that added to the excitement.

When we finally got to the top it was really windy, can you tell by Joshua's face? We also rediscovered Matthew's dislike of heights. Can you tell by his body language he is really uncomfortable. Brittany, on the other hand found her inner daredevil.

William decided he was going to hike out to where the arch is. No way were the boys and I going over our protected ledge into the wind that felt like it was going to blow you away. William is the dot in the picture with the black jacket. The figure in the levi jacket holding on to the wall? That would be Brittany. This is the point I discovered she was following her dad. I decided there wasn't anything I could do about it so I would take pictures.

William is the black dot leaning on the arch. Brittany is the figure on the left in khaki pants.

There goes William, Brittany following.

This was a little arch on the way down. Crazy father and daughter. Guess this counts as bonding right? It was a great hike to start us off on a fun trip.

My Boys

I found a couple of pictures on my camera the other day showing what my boys have been up to. Matthew had an assignment to make a mountain man. Sort of the boy version of a paper doll. We used leather and paper and fabric from my stash. He was pretty proud of his creation and when that happens around here you take a picture.

They had a Harry Potter day at school. I talked Josh into letting me transform him. I found those glasses at the thrift store. I don't know why but there was no correction in those lenses so he looked really authentic. Don't you think this is exactly how Harry would have looked at five?

Love my boys!

The Hunger Games

Wow, two pictures of me on the blog in a row. Don't know when that last happened(thanks for taking it Jennie)! So Brittany and I had the chance to go to a showing of The Hunger Games Friday morning. My friend Jennie has a neighbor who rents out the theater for new movies like this early the morning after they come out and she invited us. It was a lot more fun than going at midnight in my opinion. I haven't read the books, I just couldn't get over the kids killing each other. And I don't like Post-Apocalyptic stories. But Brittany loved them. I have to admit to doubting my decision to let her read them, I really didn't realize how violent they were. So she kept me apprised of what was happening in the movie if I got lost. I enjoyed it more than I thought I would, it was much better than the Twilight movies and a really fun morning spent with my favorite girl!

Treehouse Museum

Last week I went with Josh on his field trip to The Treehouse Museum. I have lost count of how many times I have been on this particular field trip. In fact I was very tempted to cancel because I was really not looking forward to chasing kindergartners around for a couple of hours. Luckily Josh's teacher is brilliant and had this field trip set better than all the previous teachers. We spent time doing a play, a craft, learning about fairy tales and then had 15 minutes of running around chaos. See, look how much fun we are having!

Josh was Papa Pig in the play. Just think, I could have missed seeing my boy in pink. Probably not going to happen again any time soon.

Pretty cute Papa Pig huh?

End of the play, in the house that stood. It was a fun day. I can't believe that was my last field trip there. Wait a minute, I think they go in third grade too!

Basketball

I am not an athlete. Never have been, never will be. I was that girl who was always picked last, always was afraid of the ball (usually because I did allow it to hit me). Luckily as a teenager I had a friend who was very athletic and while she never turned me into one she did help me appreciate sports. More than a girl with no brothers would have on her own. I have thought of her on Saturday mornings lately when I am sitting at my boy's basketball games. Because of Sharla I have some understanding of the game and can enjoy it. Or I could until today. Today was a big day for Matthew. It was a playoff game. He was lucky enough to be on an amazing Jr. Jazz team this year with a great coach. They were undefeated. There was a lot of excitement leading up to this game, his best friend Chase, Grandma and Grandpa even came. And it did not look good for the first half. At one point they were down by 17 and they looked discouraged. I thought for sure I was going to have a heart attack or stroke. But amazingly they pulled it off and won. He has had fantastic coach and there are a couple of really talented kids on his team too.

This is a part of raising boys that I was afraid of. Sports. I sort of think my Mom might feel the same way. It was intense, my throat still hurts from screaming.
Matthew may or may not have a future with the NBA, but he sure has enjoyed Jr. Jazz. Now let's just hope I can survive the Championship game next week.

Bring on the Spring!

Happy, happy weekend! The sun came out and stayed! Which means my kids broke out the chalk and went to town.

Meet Lightning McQueen. Alice in Wonderland

And in honor of our new little cousin born in Texas, Perry Comodore, Perry the Platypus! I love that this is still an activity that Brittany and Matthew will do together.

Because the sun is shining and things are not frozen all the time Grandpa took Matthew to the local fish pond and this is what came home. Well, actually there were two, don't know how the other one got cropped out. I love that my dad is so willing to make great memories with my kids. Now here's hoping the sun decides to stay!

The Lamp

This is probably my favorite feature of Josh's new room. The Lamp. I'm not sure how I cooked this idea up. I think it evolved out of a frame I saw on pinterest. It is a thrift store lamp. I covered the shade with the flame fabric I used in his room. Some folding and a lot of hot glue.

But this is the best part. I bought about four boxes of dollar store cars because Josh loves and know each of the ones found in our houses. Plus I kind of liked how they were lighter weight. I used both hot glue and E-6000 to glue them on. I figured the hot glue would hold them in place until the E-6000 dried. I used some nuts and bolts to fill in the gaps. Then I sprayed the whole thing with primer. Then with several coats of red spray paint. It really is one of my very favorite things in his room.

The Last Kid's Room

I had no idea when I redecorated Brittany's room I had no idea what I was started. Remember how I had to do Matthew's for his birthday? Well of course the little guy felt left out and has been asking when I was "remodeling" his room for awhile now. So I have slowly been gathering a few things to change it up in his room a little. This was the before.

This is the after. Forgive the bad photo, I keep forgetting to take a picture until late afternoon when the sun is streaming in. I should be grateful there is sun shining again!

First up was a window treatment. I wish I could convince my husband that this really finishes a room. I have a few more windows that wish they could be treated. Josh wanted a car theme and this is the care fabric that his bed quilt was already made from. I added the checkered flag banner on top. I think I found that on pinterest.

Not sure where I got the name on the wall idea. I painted the chipboard letters. I hot glued them to a board I had made out of cardboard. William had a couple of big pieces they protect the wood he buys with. So the board is three layers of cardboard glued together and then wrapped in the checkered fabric. Josh really likes this part of his room, kids his age love having their names on everything. The round chair in the corner came from walmart it was only $15. The fleece blanket was $3 there too and I appliqued the J on it.
The big car picture was left over from Matthew's room and the monster truck ones came from Hobby Lobby. I used freezer paper on the black pillow on the bed. The lamp on the nightstand is covered in cars I spray painted-more on that later. Yep, that is a happy boy. He like that whiteboard and magnet board behind him too, just like his brother's.

Reading in your new room in your new chair and jammies. Nothing better!

New Fabric Stash

I know this is a little ridiculous, but I just have to document how fabulous my Brittany is and how much she loves me! I really wish I had a before picture because this cabinet full of fabric was so embarrassing. It was total chaos. But Saturday Brittany took everything out, folded it, and put it back by type of fabric. So even though my cute little pre-teen sometimes seems to think I might be the cause of all her problems I have documented proof she loves me!
Thanks Brittany!

Boys and Cars

We have new next door neighbors. We already love them so much! Among the long list of reasons why (yummy banana bread, fun dinners out and just general niceness) is that Jesse let William take the boys for a ride in this awesome car. Here they are hopping in. It is blurry because it was raining and I didn't want to run out there and get wet.

I think Matt thought it was the coolest part of his Sunday last week. Of course they had to take it over to Grandpa's house to show him. I guess the rain was a good thing, it washed the drool off. Thank heaven for lovely neighbors!

Kids on the Loose!

Apparently Brittany has a little too much time on her hands. I came home the other day to giggling kids on the couch. No one would fess up to what was so funny. Finally I discovered our family picture wall had been hit by an epidemic of moustaches. Oh, and word bubbles expressing our thoughts.

Funny, but I actually think that family picture in the middle there is vastly improved.

Yesterday she called to ask if she could do something she saw in Family Fun magazine. I said sure. You can't quite tell but the kids used a bar of soap like chalk.

Creative minds can change the world right? Hope so, cause man these kids have their creative moments!