Busy Weekend

This Saturday was a busy one! We started out helping Kyle and JoEllen man an aide station for the Washington City Dogtown Half Marathon. It was a cold as wet morning and I thought it would be a perfect day to sell PVHS blankets. So I took Sophie (Shayne was at a Stake Youth Girls Camp sleepover) out to the Starting/Finish line at the park and set up a canopy and a little booth for her to sell them. Then I went home, grabbed the boys and went out to our aide station. We froze. We all had gloves and beanies on. But we had fun. There were around 300 runners and I was glad I wasn't one of them. Burke was and he also had 4 of his teachers running as well. The boys were excited to see him run. He does the marathon every year too.

As the runners came towards us we yelled out "water, water" so they knew what we were holding. The best part was listening to David say, "Wadda? Wadda?" It was so cute. After the last runner came by I ran back up to see how my awesome Sophie was doing and she was soaked and cold and didn't sell a single blanket. I wish I knew the secret to selling these wonderful things. I can't get rid of them. I have 10 boxes in my room, 4 in the little boys room and 5 more in the hall! There is a soccer meet this Friday so I hope that someone there needs a blanket or two to wrap up in.





Then later that night we went to Sophie's play. Seussical! She is a Tiger. If you've never seen it then it's hard to explain. But Miss Houghtaling is an amazing teacher. She has 100 students either in the play or behind the scenes being techies. Sophie loves being on stage. And we love watching her. Jan and Andy came to support her and JoEllen and Kyle are taking there kids next week. "Break a leg, Sophie!"

1st day of Preschool!

When I signed David up for kindergarten last month they tested him to see if he was ready and he knew all his colors, could count to 30, knew his shapes and could say the alphabet. But when it came to looking at a random letter and knowing what it was he was a little lacking. He knew the obvious: O, X, S, B, D, A, V & I. He needed to know 10 but the teacher said that he would be fine. She then told me that the Elementary was starting up a preschool for those kids who needed a lot of help now before Kindergarten and it was only $20! I asked if he could be in it and she said that they'd see if they had any room after they were all done with everyone else and then she'd call me. Lucky me! She called the next day. So his first day was Wednesday. He got a new backpack and was so excited. We took 1st day of school pictures and then I went and dropped him off at 9. The teacher met us out by the gate and had the kids say by and then took them all into class. We weren't allowed to come back with them. One little girl was crying so hard and the teacher said that it was better if the Mom stayed there and she picked up the girl and carried her to class. I thought that was a little harsh but David didn't care about me he was to excited. I was stoked! He was excited because his class was right across the hall from Ben's and he came with me every week to help out in Ben's class. So, I was really surprised when I came to pick him up and the PTA president, J'Neal, who was helping the class out, and is also in our ward, said that David was standing in the corner at recess crying and wouldn't talk to anyone. So, I went over and asked him what was wrong and said that he had an accident. WHAT!!! What the heck? He knew where the bathrooms where. He'd used them all the time. I went over to J'Neal and asked her what happened and wondered why no one called me to come get him. She didn't have an answer. She didn't notice and felt bad. So, when we got home and got him in the tub I asked him what happened and he said that he didn't want to talk to the teacher because he didn't know her and held it as long as he could. I wanted to cry. Then I wanted to kill that teacher. She's a young, right out of college, newlywed who doesn't have kids or experience. Later that night Joel talked to him and he said that the teacher told him that if he left then he'd miss out on something fun. Then I really wanted to kill her. He didn't want to go back to preschool and I didn't blame him. I guess J'Neal could tell I was mad and she talked to the teacher who called later that night to talk to me. I gave her an ear full and said that I will be with him for as long as he wanted me to be, in class, at school on Monday. Who then must have then told Burke about it because today when I went to pick David up, yes he went, Burke called me into his office to see how we were all doing and tell me how much he appreciated our family and how sorry he was that David had a bad first day experience. Burke is an amazing person. The kids love him and if he ran for President of the United States I'd run his campaign! He has changed the lives of so many children in all of Southern Utah. Anyway, David then came walking down the hall and had a huge smile on his face. He had a great day and didn't have any problems. GOOD! Good for him, good for me and good for that teacher. As soon as we got home he got to work on his homework - tracing his name.

Crazy Hair Day!

My best masterpiece yet!

DSC Baketball

We haven't been to a basketball game in the Burns Arena since Brian was playing almost 10 years ago. But now that Kyle works for the college they go to every home game with Jillyn and Mason and take all of there kids. At first I thought they were crazy but once we joined them I saw the method in there madness. We go in, sit down, and let the kids go crazy. They can yell and scream and they fit right in. They can even go in the hall and run around and no one says anything. It's awesome! JoEllen, Kyle, Jillyn, Mason and Joel and I get to sit and watch the entire game and the kids have a blast. Here is the proof:






The boys love to chase down the mascot and Emily is constantly trying to get autographs from the cheerleaders. It's a lot of fun.

We are thinking of new hair stlyes everyday tell me what you think of this one: Valentine Hearts
We absolutley love this blog and get a lot of ideas here.

Ben's 7th Birthday!

Well Thursday went much better than Wednesday! Ben got up and was feeling fine. He opened a few presents and got ready for school. It was my day to tend JoEllen's kids because she was in charge of a fundraiser and wasn't going to be around. So, I had Matty and Evan from 11 to 4 and then we took Matty home to Kyle, picked up Emily and George and went to meet Jan and Andy at Pirate Island Pizza. That is the perfect place to take kids. I love it. They can run around and have fun and be loud and no one cares because that's why everyone else was there. We had a Kracken Pizza which is HUGE and then opened more presents and had cupcakes. The kids all got tokens and went to the arcade to win prizes. It was a lot of fun and very needed. I am so grateful for my family who loves supports us. They are amazing. It will definitely be a birthday and day before birthday that we'll never forget.

Scariest Day In My Life So Far!

So now that I've calmed down I can blog about it.

On Monday I asked Ben what he wanted for his birthday and he said a new BMX bike. Well, we have 2 perfectly fine BMX bikes sitting in the backyard that just needed new tubes put in them. So I told him that Dad would fix one up for him. So, Joel took one to work and fixed it all up. But, this bike unlike the other ones he's ridden has hand brakes. So, Joel brought it home and showed Ben and he liked it. Josh got on it first and rode it a second and told us that the brakes were bad on it and Joel said the front ones were bad but the back ones where fine. So Ben got on it and rode around for awhile on the side of our house. Now, there is NEVER any traffic on the side of my house because there is only one house that faces that street and a cute little old couple lives there and I don't think they drive. So it is always covered with boys playing or riding around on it. On Ben's old bike he liked to get going as fast as he could on that road and then slam on his brakes right before he went into the other road to see how well he could skid out. But his old bike had the back brakes where all you had to do is push your pedals backwards and you stop. So, when he was racing down the street to try to skid out on this new bike with hand brakes he couldn't stop. He went right into traffic and my neighbor, Tonya, was driving he son to school in her suv. She tried to stop and Ben tried to stop. Ben's eyes where huge as he tried to back pedal to stop and the remembered that it has hand brake and tried them too. It didn't work. He even tried to put his feet down to stop but everything went so fast. I was standing there, Joel and Josh were standing there and none of us could do anything. It was like slow motion where you saw every detail and knew what was going to happen but couldn't do anything about it.

Ben slammed right into the passenger door when his best friend, Rayce, was sitting. Luckily Ben didn't have time to try to brace himself so he didn't brake any bones. But his stomach slammed right into his handle bars and he fell to the ground. We all raced right to him and he hopped up trying to act like nothing happened because he was embarrassed and thought he would get in trouble. I took him in the house and checked him out and made sure he wasn't bleeding and to see where he hurt. He said it was just his stomach which didn't make me feel any better. Joel's brother Jared was riding off a bike jump when they were little and crashed and they thought everything was alright but it ended up that he punctured his spleen and had to get surgery! So I was still freaking out. Ben on the other hand wanted to go to school. Joel stayed outside to talk to our neighbor and she left to take Rayce to school and then came back to check on Ben. Ben loves being at her house and is over there if they aren't over here. After a minute Ben said he wanted to go to school because they were doing Valentine's Day stuff today. Well, I let him go knowing that I was going to his class in an hour anyway to help out. But I should have made him sit and cuddle with me all day and never move. But that would have been only good for me. So he left, Josh left and Joel left and I went in my room and curled up in a ball on the floor and cried like I never have before. I couldn't stop replaying it in my mind and thinking what could have happened. I kept thinking how stupid I was for having Joel fix up an old bike when I should have just bought him a new one. No amount of money could replace one of my kids so if I needed to spend money on a new safe bike then I should have done it and not thought twice. I wanted so badly to go back to sleep and wake up having it all be a bad dream but it wasn't and all I could do is cry. David was up stairs playing on his Leapster oblivious to it all. I called Jan and then my Mom and then decided that I'd better stop crying so I could go to the school. I was so worried about Ben. I wanted him to say that he wanted to go home with me so we could curl up together and watch a movie but he didn't. When I got there his teacher wondered if he was o.k. because he hadn't said a single word to anyone and was just somber. I told her a very short version of what happened because I didn't want to cause a scene in his class and told her to have him call me if he needed anything. I asked him if he was o.k. and he said his stomach still hurt but that he wanted to stay. So I told him to call me if he wanted to come home and I'd come get him. He stayed and I went home to curl up again and see if maybe David would take pity on me and curl up with me and comfort me. But as I was pulling up to the house JoEllen pulled up with a big Diet Coke for me and when we went in Joel was home. I was so glad. I just started crying again. I couldn't talk about it without crying. I'm still tearing up right now thinking about it. Joel decided that I needed to get out so he took David and I to Cafe Rio for lunch. Which helped but as soon as we got home our other neighbor called because she heard about it and was wondering how he felt and I started crying all over again. I kept thinking that I needed to call Tonya to see how she was but I knew I would just cry and that would make her feel worse so I didn't. I also wondered how Rayce was doing and hoped that he saw Ben at school so he'd know everything was alright. After school was over Ben was fine. He said that his stomach didn't hurt and was running all over the place. That night Joel and I took him to the store so he could pick out a new bike that had back pedal brakes and a helmet. While we were there we got him a pillow pet and anything else he wanted because I felt so bad. When I went to bed I thanked the Lord for keeping Ben safe and was so emotionally drained that I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow. The next day was Ben's birthday and I knew I needed my sleep.

Region 9 State Swim Meet

BYU once again did an amazing job hosting all of the 3A and 4A schools in Utah in our 2 day state meet. The swimmers left Thursday morning at 9am to make it up in time to have a private practice in the BYU pool (One of our coaches used to swim there and pulled some strings). Before they got on the bus Shayne and I handed them each a new pillpw with a pillow case that said Pine View State Swim Team on it with our logo and their name. It was sooo cute. That way they could use it up and back on the bus. Joel and I left around 1pm and were planning on meeting up with the team at Brickoven that night for dinner. We had Ben and David and Emily and Evan with us because Sophie had her Region Math tournament and play practice and Josh didn't want to ruin his perfect attendance record. Whose kids do they belong to? So, JoEllen brought them up Friday night after they were all done. We took the 4 little kids to my parents house and dumped them off. Literally. Thank goodness my parents are awesome and so willing to help us out or Joel and I would never get any time to ourselves. Then we met up with the team. After dinner there was a big team meeting with Pine View, Desert Hills and Hurricane to boost everyone up for the next 2 days. Then, since we weren't official chaperons this year we didn't have to stay up to make sure they all got in bed and where quite so we went to bed. It was go good to not have to set an alarm or make lunches, curl hair, find shoes, etc... I didn't even have to make breakfast because our hotel had an awesome one. At breakfast we gave each of our kids a lanyard with an ID holder attached that we had made that had paw prints and said Pine View State Swim Team on them. These were important because in order for you to get into the pool you have to show your deck pass and photo I.D. So, the kids were able to put them both on their lanyards and not have to worry about them getting lost or wet.

Since both 3A and 4A are the same weekend they do 3A in the afternoon and then 4A in the evening. So, we were all able to relax in the morning and some kids watched the movie "Miracle" about the USA Olympic Hockey Team to get motivated. Then we had a team lunch at the Wingers in the Provo Town Mall and the 3A kids left from there to go to the meet while we stayed and played around. Our little Pine View team consisted of 10 amazing kids - Shayne, Alex Meyer, Mikell Braken, Ashton Turek, Jordan Vane, Nick Rabbit, Kyson Sullivan, Kyle Buck, Mitchell Hutchings and Zack Paddock. So we were able to have a boys 400 yard freestyle relay team and a girls 200 yard medley relay. They were both ranked 16th out of 16 but we were determined to place 15th! One thing you should know about this group of kids is that I tear up every time I think of how they love and support each other. I would have killed to be in a group like this in High School. It's so important these days to surround you with good people and they do. I love them all like my own which is why they call me and Joel Mom and Dad.

So after the mall we still had 2 hours to do nothing so I had bought UNO cards for everyone and put a note on them that said "You're #1! Get it?" They loved them and played for an hour and a half while Joel and I took a nap!!! YEAH!!! I Loved it. We got to BYU around 5:30 for them to warm up and the meet started at 7:30. The girls relay team was the very first thing. I mean very first. The slowest teams are in the first heat and they get faster the further back you are. So Shayne was giving them a pep talk on how they could go nowhere but up from last place and they were happy and excited. But after they were done they found out that they were disqualified. Shayne was the reason. She was our anchor leg and left early. She said to the girls after, "Well, I was wrong, you can go lower than last place." It was funny and the girls had a good laugh. They were having the time of there lives. Where other teams where crying and disappointed our girls gave each other high fives and ran back to talk to the team.

Meanwhile, Jan and Andy and JoEllen, Kyle and the kids were trying to make the trip up before Shayne swam. Joel's parents and Kellie and Garrett came about 15 minutes before it started and 5 minutes later Jan and Andy showed up. They left the dogs in the car and ran in. 2 minutes before the national anthem my Dad, Bradie, Katie Sloan and Nick all showed up. Steve dropped them off and went to find a parking spot which was almost impossible. He missed the relay but went in and watched her next race. JoEllen missed it too but they were still driving. They came running in right before her 200 Freestyle and watched it from right inside the doorway. Shayne was ranked 4th in the state. She swam an incredible race and came in 3rd place and knocked off 2 seconds from her best time! It was so fun to watch. Shayne was so happy that so many people came to support her and cheer her on. We watched her get her medal from the medal stand and were so proud of her. That was all our team had that day. Everyone else was swimming the next day. So we all left and the team went back to the hotel and Joel and I went to Cafe Rio. We didn't have to rush to get back to anything and took our sweet time. It was a great day.

The next morning the 3A kids had to check out of there rooms and go over to the meet around 9am. By the time we got up they were already gone. So, all of the pine view kids played more UNO and watched "Get Smart". We were all so relaxed and having a great time. I thought that the Desert Hills team was going to implode on each other. I LOVE our kids! Did I mention that before? I do. They are AWESOME! So around noon we started getting everyone packed up and clean up the rooms. Needless to say that the boys room was disgusting! Then at 1pm they loaded the bus. The meet was exciting but Shayne didn't do as well in her 100 Butterfly. A girl named Leah Heger who goes to Snow Canyon was in the heat before her and she dropped 3 seconds to knock Shayne off of the medal stand. Shayne was ranked 7th in state. Shayne also qualified for about 4 other events but in High School sports you can only do two personal events. If she had done the 500 Freestyle, which she did her freshman year she would have taken 2nd place. But you never can tell who will do better in what race. I wish they could do 4 events and choose if they want them to be relay or individual. But there is a quote from Grumpier Old Men that says, "You can wish in one hand and crap in the other and see which one gets filled first." So we do the best we can with what we've got and be happy and move on. Mitchell Hutchings is our Freshman and he took 6th in both his 100 Butterfly and 100 Backstroke. He will be outstanding when he's a senior. I can't wait to see it. Zack swam the 100 back and 500 free and Alex swam the 200 free the day before and they both did a great job. Alex's shoulder was really hurting her before he 100 Breaststroke the last day but Shayne talked to her and they taped her up and she ended up taking 2 seconds off her time! So our boys relay was the very last event of the entire meet. They were swimming there hearts out and we were screaming louder than any other team there. They came in 15th!!! We were so excited! It was a great way to end a great State trip and season. I am so proud of all of these kids but especially Shayne and her hard work as their captain and all of the time and love she gave them. After the meet we went to Bajio to eat and before they loaded the bus to go home we gave them a Pine View water bottle filled with yummy chocolate candy like snickers and twix and m&m's. Stuff they have gone without for 4 months. They loved it and got back to home at 2am. It was a meet to remember. One of the funnest yet. I can't wait to see what next year, Shayne's Senior year, brings.