Happy New Year!

Happy New Year! I figured since I slacked off for the past six months, January would be a good time to get back into the swing of things!
We had a great New Year's Eve. I myself have never been much for celebrating it, but since the kids have started staying up for it, we decided to make it a fun night! We play games, have fireworks and eat fondue. Ethan made a photo booth to take silly pictures. It was great! This year Aubrey, Jackson and Tyler joined us for the fun! I was so tired by the end of the night. I felt like a party pooper. I couldn't wait to get into bed! At least someday I am hoping my kids remember they had a fun Mom :)

Andrew makes such a lovely girl!

The ping pong games were getting really intense.

It was freezing outside for fireworks!

Bundled up in the cold!

They all made it to midnight! Happy New Year!

Mmm. Fondue.

Boat Challenge



Ethan and Austin in the front. Tanner and Cole in the back.

The boys after the race. They told me they weren't tired, but I am not so sure :)

Emma and Jeremy riding on the tube. She had a blast!

Andrew and Clay.

Ethan and Cole.

Ethan and Cole again.

  Ethan's scout troop entered in the Lake Pleasant Boat Race challenge. They had to build a boat on their own. It could not have any type of metal in it, but could be made with almost anything else. They were really excited to enter this contest. They spent a couple of weeks building it. They did most of the work. Jeremy just helped with the power tools. They ended up naming their boat "Zippy" because it was held together by zip ties! We were all pretty impressed how it turned out. The boys even made their own oars!
  Saturday morning they all headed out to the lake for the race. They ended up getting first place in their age division (12-14)! They had to row to 1/4 of a mile, then land their boat, get a flag and row back and plant the flag at the ending point. They were so far ahead of the other boats, they were finishing when the 2nd place boat was just getting to their flag! We we proud of how well they worked together to row. They had a blast.
  After that, they had a race from the winners from all the age groups. Ethan's team came in 3rd overall. They were beaten by the 16 and older groups who had 7 boys rowing their boat. They really did well and are already making plans for next year! This is just one reason I love scouts. What a fun activity to help promote teamwork and creativity.
  We all had a great time watching. Afterwards one of the boys' dads had brought his boat and gave inner tube rides to all the kids. It was such a fun afternoon. I didn't think anyone would want to leave. Thankfully it was only in the 90's, so we didn't get too hot. Jeremy brought his shade and that helped a lot. It was a great day and we really enjoyed watching the boys and their boat!

Barbie's New Clothes

Emma is finally to the age where she is interested in Barbies. She got a Rapunzel for Easter, so we used the other Barbie she had to play. She really got into it, so we made a trip to Goodwill to find a few more. I thought we could use a little TLC to fix their hair. Well, it was quite the project. It will never look like new, but at least now you can put a comb through it! Much to Emma's dismay, the Goodwill Barbies were naked. I thought to myself "Hmm, I could sew some Barbie clothes!" Well, I got out my scraps and visited the bargain bin at Walmart and got started. I had so much fun! I just kept sewing and sewing. Emma was so happy to have some nice new dresses. She even thinks that I am the best mom in the world! I will just let her keep thinking that for now :)
My goal was originally to make some modest Barbie clothes. The ones they sell in the store are just awful. Then once I got started I realized that I am only an armature sewer (or would that be seamstress?) and sewing little, itty bitty sleeves were not something I could do. So, my sleeves are not top notch modesty, but I think the dresses look much better than you can buy. Now that Barbie has a new wardrobe, it leaves us so much time to play :) How thankful I am to have a little girl! After all those years of playing trains, cars, Batmans and Legos, I can finally sit down and play Barbies :)

Emma's favorite fancy gown.

Emma's favorite.

Track Meet and 5K

We had a busy few days for the boys. Friday night they went to the Surprise Hershey's Track meet. Andrew got 2nd place in the softball throw and 50m run. Ethan got 3rd in the 800m and softball throw and 1st in the standing long jump with a whopping 7' 3" jump! For as small as he is, he can really jump! Both boys qualified for the Hershey's track State meet next month. They are so excited that they did so well! The only problem is the Pinewood derby is on the same night. So, we will have to be making some tough choices in the next few weeks...

Ethan and Andrew with their ribbons. Andrew stressed over this meet for weeks, I am so glad he did well!

Andrew running the 50m.

Ethan and the softball throw.

Andrew doing the long jump.

Ethan with his 5K medal. So proud of him!!

Me and Ethan at the end. We made it!!!

 Saturday morning Ethan got up at 5:00 to run a 5K with his old, fat mom. Neither of us are morning people, so waking up that early was an accomplishment in itself! A storm had moved in overnight and it was freezing and windy. But, we braved the weather and ran our 5K. Ethan did amazing! He ran it in only 24:31. Outstanding time for someone who never even trained for it! He got a medal and everything. I was so proud of him! Me on the other hand...Well, my goal was to run the whole way and finish without dying. Which, I might say I accomplished! I was slower than dirt, but hey that's okay. I needed a goal to help lose weight and I hate running, but if I had something to train for, I figured I might just stick with it. I did get passed the last half mile by a speedwalking grandpa with a cast on his leg! The whole way I could hear the "clop, clop" of his cast/boot. I really didn't want to get passed by him, but I was just too tired! Such a funny story :) We had a great time and will do another one soon! Maybe next time I can beat any crippled old grandpas I see :)

Ethan's Backpacking Trip

Jeremy and Kevin wading across the river.

Cole, Ethan and Tanner crossing the river.

Jeremy, Austin, Cole, Ethan, Tanner and Kevin Shumway

Ethan had a backpacking trip for scouts. He was so excited to finally use his new backpack that he got at Christmas. Jeremy is the assistant scoutmaster, so he gets to go on all the camping trips with Ethan. It is really nice for them to both be in scouts together. Ethan really likes having his Dad along! They went to Clear Creek and hiked 5 miles in, then 5 miles back out. They were pretty tired when they got home the next day, but they had a great time! I am so thankful Ethan is with such a great group of boys! They were my Bears and Webelos back when I was a scout leader, so I have a special place in my heart for them. They are fantastic! The four of them have been together since they were 8. They really love scouts and all 4 of them just earned their Star last week. They are all hoping to get their eagle together by the end of next  year. Yay boys! A big thanks to Cole's grandpa Hank for always taking amazing pictures on scout outings! Jeremy and Ethan never remember to take pictures for me. Thanks Hank!!

Spring Break!

  I love spring break! It's so fun to have the kids home from school and the weather is usually so nice. It seems like my kids always manage to get sick over the break, although this year I was really hopeful everyone would be healthy since we had spent the last 6 weeks with various colds and flu. We actually ended up mostly well, except for the awful case of pink eye that went ravaging through the family. I guess you can't win them all...
  We did our best to have fun, without going anywhere! We had two different scout service projects Ethan worked on. We had a campfire in our back yard. We went hiking and playing in the river at box canyon. I told them we could do one activity that cost money, the rest would be fun free things. They decided among themselves to go to Jump Street, which is a giant indoor trampoline place. It was really fun and worth the money. I have paid a lot before are these bouncy house places that end up being a rip off. This was much better. The kids had so much fun there. I think we'll have to go back in the summer time.
  We were all sad when the break was over, we had such a good time. I'm already looking forward to the next one :)

All of my kiddos ready for a hike!

Box canyon

Trying to catch some little fish

Emma trying catch fish.

Eli digging in the sand.

Ethan trying to catch fish with his hands. I thought his reflection looked pretty neat!

Eli and Ethan.

My Scouts

I had a chance a few weeks ago to get pictures of both the boys in their uniforms at a court of honor. I love seeing them all dressed up. I am so grateful for the scouting program. It is such a great opportunity for the boys to learn, grow, serve others and have fun! I am so thankful to all the leaders who put in so many hours to teach them. ( I know, I was one of them for years. It's a lot of work!) I have enjoyed seeing what they learn and helping them earn belt loops or merit badges. Now that Ethan is working towards his Eagle, I am so impressed by how much these young boys do! What a great program to help them learn and become better young men. Thank you scouts!!

My cute boys :)