friday

This past Friday we ventured out to the Utah State Fair.

Will and Jake had fun at the Little Hands on the Farm exhibit.

Will was too short to go on the rides Ben and Jake wanted to go on,

so I took him on the ferris wheel where we got a wonderful view of our surroundings.

There are always strange animals to see, like this pigeon filling up its chest with air.

Love the tractors

But this is the real reason we came to the fair. In June Ben started an oil painting art class, and he recently finished his first painting. We missed the county fair, so with the nudging of my friend Jolee, who's daughter Ady is in Ben's class, we entered Ben's painting into the state fair. Ben's art teacher, Linda, told us that even to have your picture hanging on the wall at the state fair is a big honor, even if it doesn't win anything. Ben entered the junior amateur division, which is from ages 6-11, so we knew it would be tough competition.

We entered the fine arts building, and found his division in the back, and there was his painting of Point Bonita Lighthouse (near San Francisco)...with a second place ribbon!! Let me just say that Ben is amazing, and that he got absolutely ZERO art skills from either Daren or me, but my mom and brother, Darren, are great artists, so I guess it will be carried on through him. Congrats Ben!! Love you honey!
p.s. funny thing--I finally got my camera back right before the fair, but forgot to bring an sd card, so these pictures are still from my cell phone. Now I'm back in business!

first week of school...again

After three months of summer vacation, Ben and Jake finally, FINALLY, started school again this week. They had waaaaay too much together time this summer, and had just about worn each other out with their teasings, tauntings, and all around craziness that comes with being boys. We celebrated their return to school on Monday night at Chuck E. Cheese. One of my favorite things there is the picture machine. Will did his picture on his own and I LOVE it.

Seriously, I don't know if Jake is capable of keeping his tongue in his mouth...ever!

The next morning it was off to class. Ben is starting 4th grade(?!) and Jake is starting 1st grade. They both have great classes and I love their teachers already. These guys are growing up way too fast!!

After school I picked up the boys at the bus stop, and on our way home I asked Ben how his day had been. I specifically asked about his science class, because my friend Kim (whose son, Reggie, is one of Ben's good friends) just took over as the science teacher for grades 3-5. (Previously one of the 5th grade teachers) She has so much energy and is a lot of fun, and I knew she would be a great science teacher. So, when I asked Ben about Kim's class, he said it was better than recess. Now that is impressive!!

3 boys in school all day, 5 days a week. What ever will I do with all this "free time"? (At least until Will goes off-track in a couple weeks!) I spent the first couple days running around doing errands, i.e. walking up and down almost every isle of Target, taking my time, enjoying a bit of freedom from having to rush. It was glorious! But, with spending lots of time comes spending way too much money--what can I say, the Halloween decorations were calling my name!

And don't worry. I have PLENTY to keep me busy for a very long time. I'll be ok.

ben

With my camera still in the shop getting fixed, I have kind of neglected my computer as well, but sometimes a break from it all is good. There are a couple of things to write about though, so here I am, camera or not.

I love this picture of Ben I took back in June--to me it shows what a fun and crazy kid he can be at times. I love it when he sneaks over to me and asks me to go jump on the tramp with just him--it's our thing. So, a couple weeks ago Ben was going on and on about how great it would be to be the parent, because then he would have all the money in the world to spend, blah, blah blah...as if that's all I do! Well, I took him up on his request and suggested we switch roles for a day. That way I could read all day, with a few minor jobs around the house to do. Our day to switch was last Thursday. First thing when he got up (about 7-ish) he had to get Will ready for school. He got Will's breakfast together (Cheerios) and packed Will a lunch and made sure all of Will's homework was in his backpack. At 7:21am Ben said to me, "Mom, if I start to get really annoyed by doing this parent thing, can I just stop doing it?" That didn't take long at all!! However, I still took full advantage of our switch by making sure Ben knew he had to clean up and put away things from breakfast, and that there was lots of laundry to do. Did I purposely load him up? He might say yes, but really it was just a typical day's worth of stuff to do. By noon he was ready to throw in the towel, and we were leaving for the afternoon anyway, so he got out of the rest of it, but I think he learned a thing or two about running a house. And he didn't spend a dime for that kind of education!! I think I got ripped off, though, because I didn't get any reading done or play any video games.

We have been feeling a bit Ben-less around here this week. He left last Sunday to go to California until tomorrow (Friday) to spend time with Gma and Gpa Airplane, Gma Waterwheel, and other family. It was kind of a brutal send-off: first of all, I had to pay $100 just to accompany him through security to his gate, and then I had to wait to leave the gate until the plane had taken off. Didn't sound too bad until his airplane's engines couldn't get started and they sat there for almost 2 hours!! He made it there safely though, and had a touch of homesickness the first night ("Grandma, it wasn't allergies earlier. I just miss my mom and dad."--Ben talking about his watery eyes earlier), but he has been having a blast ever since, and isn't sure he wants to leave. We have missed him around here, so we'll take him back.

So that's our life with Ben right now. He makes me laugh all the time, and we love him for it!!!

this past week...

...So, it's more like the past 10 days, but really, who is counting. This is just a bunch of different things we have been doing for the past little bit. For starters, one morning I got up and heard some talking going on in the tv room, and walked out on this scene. We exchanged "good mornings," and then Ben and Jake turned to each other and carried on with their conversation. Usually they are nagging at each other so this was cute to see.

I love how my friends growing up and I stay in touch. This time our get-together was to go out to Wendover, Nevada, to see Bret Michaels in concert. Bret is known for being the lead singer for the awesome 80's big-hair, make-up wearing rock band, Poison, (one of my favorite groups from the 80's) but he's out touring on his own now. His concert did not disappoint!! After the concert his band came out and mingled in the halls, so we got pictures with them and bought t-shirts from them (cuz they were the ones behind the counter selling them). We stayed overnight and had too much fun together. "Nothin' But a Good Time!!"

Last Tuesday I went up for the day to girl's camp. I thought I'd pass along a bit of a secret I learned...baby powder. If you cover your body in baby powder before you get dressed it helps absorb the sweat and you don't get as sticky. It really works!

Ben has been so good to watch the boys at home while I run to the store from time to time, so I let him get the Harry Potter illuminating wand. It came in the mail last Friday and Ben and Jake were thrilled beyond belief. (The following few pictures are taken with my phone camera cuz my camera died at girls camp while I was taking pictures of girls riding the zip line. Bummer!!)

At the crack of dawn Saturday morning I woke the boys up to go to the hot air balloon festival in Sandy. They were still half-asleep when we got there, but they endured and ended up having a great time. Unfortunately, the winds above were too strong so the balloons couldn't take off that morning.

Does this picture look sharp or what? It's Julie's camera I borrowed for a day, and cousins were here for me to practice with it. Marissa (on the left) was visiting here from California and stayed with Ciera (holding Sydney) and Garrett (on the right) most of the time.

one tomato plant

The plant you see behind the boys is ONE tomato plant...and it is still growing!! You can't really tell by the angle I took this at, but it's as tall as Jake and much taller than Will. Now if it would just start producing some of those tomatoes...

in summer school / school in summer

in summer school

For the second year in a row, Riverton Park Elementary has opened its doors to one and all who want a little bit of education in the middle of their summer vacation. Well, "education" might be stretching it a bit, but it's a good excuse for a bunch of friends to get together in our backyard for a couple hours.

This year Ben had to cram it into four days--most of his friends around here are on year-round school, so they only had 3 weeks off of regular school in July, two of which we were in California. This left us with one week to get it in, and we did the best we could.

day one--getting to know you

Ben--the homeroom teacher

After making their folders, the kids found some shade under the trampoline to fill in their "All About Me" sheets. These are some funny kids!! Below, Gregory is trying to figure out what to write for his book report. I think he ended up drawing a picture.


I had to include this rare Adam moment--looking at the camera AND a hint of a smile. This has never happened before when I've taken his picture.

day two--lego day


If you use your imagination, pretend these candies represent square and rectangle legos...I know, it's kind of a stretch. Of course, then Dani tells me that our local grocery store has the lego-like candies in the bulk bin section. I'm guessing that Starburst and Jolly Ranchers tastes better, though.

The lego building contest was a favorite

Will working on his masterpiece

Thomas really concentrating on his work

Not bad on the creativity part. The lego dude in the shark's mouth cracks me up. The picture just above is Will's finished product (pictures thanks to Jake, cuz I was too busy outside talking to Maryanne). Ben was very impressed at Will's creation. "No way in a million years could I have been that creative and come up with all that." --said Ben to Will

day three--titanic day
The theme days were starting to kill me at this point. I would stay up way too late each night helping Ben get ready for the next day, but it was worth it. This year wouldn't be complete without a Titanic day. Yes, they are all still crazy about the Titanic--that's Will drawing one as I was taking the picture.

The schoolhouse turned into the R.M.S. Titanic for a day

Captain Smith, aka: Will, handed out the boarding passes to everyone and said, "Welcome to the Titanic. We are happy to have you here." Sooo cute!! He was so excited for this day he had a hard time going to sleep the night before.
Once everyone was on board, they learned about the Titanic from their very knowledgable teacher, Ben, while the "first-class dining table" was being prepared. Just below, Ronnie is looking over the afternoon's menu.



I had a hard time being the server and the photographer, so this picture will have to do--it's the best I could come up with for the "fresh fish and a roll" entree. Good times!!

day four--beach day






There were a couple things planned this day, but for the most part it just took on a life of its own. Between the water fights, water games, water balloons, and some chocolate donuts (hey--it was Donut Friday!), the kids had a great time. These school days bring together all the neighborhood kids like nothing else can. Ben did a great job putting it together (and thank goodness it was all done in less than a week!!).

school in summer

This week Will started first grade, right smack in the middle of summer. I have been so nervous and excited and worried for him. A year and a half ago when Will was diagnosed with ADHD, I don't know if I could have envisioned how far he would come in this short amount of time. Back then he was difficult to control in a classroom and could not sit still for the life of him. We started him, somewhat reluctantly, on medication, which turned out to be such a blessing--for him and us. We also took an awesome class on ADHD last fall, which helped us understand him and ADHD better. Will went to diagnostic kindergarten last school year and qualified to be mainstreamed back into regular school. It was a no-brainer that he would go to Riverton Elementary, where they had the best school psychologist, Dr. Terry Illes, and (from what I had heard), an amazing first grade teacher, Mrs. Payne.

In the spring I visited with Dr. Illes who recommended Mrs. Payne for a teacher for Will this year. It was because of him that Will is in her class this year, and I am so grateful for that. Just over a month ago I got a text from a friend that Dr. Illes had passed away that morning from complications during his treatment of lymphoma cancer. That's one of those times when you really wonder why someone who was doing so much good for so many people was taken away, and life just didn't seem fair. I am so sad he isn't there this year, but I will be forever thankful that I knew him and was able to learn what I did from him.

And so Will started a new school year, without Dr. Illes but with Mrs. Payne, and he really seems to love it so far.