Week of September 21 - September 27

Brookside Elementary had its annual carnival this past Thursday afternoon. Doesn't it look fun?

I sent the kids while I made dinner. They even brought the camera! Can I tell you that having older kids to help with younger kids is THE BEST! Here are Cali and Cheyenne having fun on a bouncy/slide thingy:

Megan, Sarah, and Mariah had a great time, too. In fact, you could say, they had a ball!

Friday, there was no school. Yeah! So we went back to Payson Lake! Look! It's just like last year, isn't it?

It was a beautiful day and we caught five fish. Here is Megan doing her reenactment of George Washington:

Savannah, found a nice reading spot and Bethany did some exploring:

We did a lot of lake gazing . . .

And I had to make kids stop so I could take cute pictures on the path around the lake . . .

That Friday was also Sarah's birthday! She turned twelve years old! To which she exclaims, "Finally!!!!" She so wanted to start the Young Women program at church and be out of Primary. I guess her anticipation of it completely wiped me clean of any sadness I might have felt at having my daughter grow up so much. The truth is, she already grew up that much and her age has finally caught up with her. We went over to Grandma Gazdik's house that night and had a lovely birthday dinner, opened presents, and had cake and ice cream. Isn't she a lovely twelve year old?

Saturday was a pretty busy day for us, as well. Mariah had a soccer game in the morning. Then Kevin, Savannah, Mariah, and I, headed out to Provo Canyon for a 5K race. It was a really small one, and, consequently, I ran a very real danger of coming in last, last, last. My triumph for the day is that in the last mile I passed four people and saved myself from ignominy. Hurrah! Kevin and Savannah ran together and came in just under 25 minutes. Mariah ran it in 29 minutes. What a trooper! Can you believe she played in an hour long soccer game and then went and ran 3 miles? What kind of parents do that to a kid?? She had a hard time walking today. But guess what? She never gives up. She wouldn't have had it any other way.

I went to the Relief Society broadcast last night at the church. That was really nice. It was nice just to sit and watch something without interruptions! Although, I wouldn't trade my seven interruptions for anything.

Week of September 14 - September 20

We had a pretty normal week. The girls went to school. Mariah played soccer. Savannah ran cross country. Everyone did homework and practiced and complained about how much work they have to do and made big messes that increased all the work mom has to do. On Saturday, Kevin taught at a singles conference in the afternoon and then went to the BYU game that evening. The girls played in the "dirt hills" which is the undeveloped area on the road behind our house. They are building forts or houses back there and have a whole community going on. It has really captured their attention for a few days now. It is fun because they all like it from Savannah all the way down to the twins. They said that when they are done with their houses, that I need to come see and take pictures. So, that will be something to look forward to. I was going to go see it tonight but they said I'd have to climb under a fence and jump the irrigation ditch and since I am currently in a skirt and dress shoes, I decided I might not be appropriately dressed. It is definitely sounding like a kingdom with many perils guarding its gates! Terribithia anyone? And don't forget the beloved Roxaboxen.

We also took a video to show you how much Beth likes sitting at the table with us. If you can handle the shot of the messy table -- one-year-olds are not the neatest of eaters -- it is kind of funny. Savannah likes to sing at the table, and when she does, Beth shows her appreciation by dancing. Here, Sarah sings because Savannah is filming.

Kevin and I went back to the gym this week, too. I started lifting weights the way it's outlined in the Body for Life program. I started Wednesday, so I spent Thursday and Friday unable to use my arms and Saturday and most of today barely able to walk! I've been so sore! There's nothing like inflicting pain on yourself on purpose. I really hope it gets easier!

We told the girls that if they read 25 books this summer, we'd take them to Lagoon (Utah's giant amusement/roller coaster park). Savannah, Sarah, and Megan rose to the challenge (Megan reading her last three books the day before -- nothing like cramming, is there?) and Dad took them all to Lagoon on Labor Day. What a great Daddy-Daughter bonding experience, eh? They all had a great time going on roller coasters and the ferris wheel and getting really, really wet at Rattlesnake Rapids. This is my favorite video Dad made of the event because of all the yelling they do at him!

The rest of the week was pretty average by comparison. Everyone went back to school. Beth and I went back to hanging out in the backyard since when we're inside she only wants me to hold her and if we're in the front yard she tells me bye and heads down the sidewalk to Mapleton. As far as our afternoons go, Megan's orchestra got cancelled due to low enrollment and personal issues of the conductors and Mariah's orchestra is all beginners so I won't take her there anymore. Looks like it comes back to just me to motivate them once again. We'll see what I can come up with.

We had Enrichment this week. We got to visit in our neighbor's driveway and learn all about her amazing garden and what she does with the produce. It was great fun. She is from Taiwan and is growing Asian pears and other foods only grown in the Orient. Cool, huh? Next year we will have her demonstrate some Chineese cooking! Wanna come?

I managed to teach Beth some sign language! She knows how to sign "down" when she is in the high chair! The only problem is that she thinks it means "pick me up," so she does it fairly constantly and it is such a sincere effort to communicate, that I have a hard time turning her away! It is very cute. I've gotten her to do the sign for "eat" just a few times so I'm not sure she understands what it means. Mostly, she just gets very mad when she isn't allowed to do something. You'd think she was a baby or something! Good thing she's so cute!

Week of August 31 - September 6

Well, it's just Beth and me around the house in the afternoons. She's at such a cute age. She follows me everywhere. I go in the bathroom and she walks in a few seconds later and pushes all the bottles into the bathtub and gives me a big grin. I go to the closet to get my shoes and when I turn around, she's there trying my shoes on her own feet. It's the same no matter what room I go to. She watches me and if I stand up, she drops whatever she's doing and stands up, too. It's so cute!! She's not saying much, yet. Mostly she just makes the beginning sounds of things. She's gotten quite good at waving goodbye. Whenever we go in the front yard, she makes sure she does this repeatedly before walking away down the sidewalk. Hello? Where are you going little one? Do you have any idea how small you are? She has also started to demand that she be included in family dinners at the table. No high chairs for her! At first all of our daughters fought over who got to sit by Beth. Tonight, though after getting mashed potato smeared on them repeatedly (along with Beth's laughing glee), they pretty much cleared the bench. Funny, huh?


Savannah has joined the cross country team again this year and had her first real week of practices. She came home hot and sweaty and worn out every time. They are working her hard and she is loving it!

Mariah has started soccer (did I mention that before?) and is loving it. She will have games twice a week throughout the month.

Other than that, the girls busied themselves this week with cleaning their rooms. Actually, you don't need to read that again, they really did. We switched roommates. Savannah and Megan have been sharing a room and Sarah and Mariah have been sharing a room. This week we switched to Savannah and Sarah sharing a room and Megan and Mariah sharing a room. We decided on it because Megan and Mariah have been fighting a lot. We decided they needed a little "solitary confinement" therapy like in Parent Trap. Their relationship is already better, believe it or not, though we know it won't be all smooth sailing. In fact, Kevin thinks that maybe we should switch everyone's room around every year or so to improve everyone's relationship with each other. I think he's a genius! I'm loving it!

This Saturday as part of our goal to do a family service project each month, we helped clean the church with another family. That was actually a really fun service project as most of the work involved cleaning all the glass entry doors which kids are really good at. We sent the twins around to check every room for trash. They didn't find any, but they felt they had helped immensely! It was lovely. Afterward, we couldn't help but stay a little longer and play some basketball. Beth actually let me play a little this time while she followed balls herself.

Saturday night we had some friends over for the BYU game. We actually had a football party. Our daughters said, "We're going to do what???" When I suggested that maybe they'd like to sit and watch some of the game they said, "Why would we do that??" I guess that's my fault since I hardly ever sit down with Kevin to watch when the game is on. We had a fun time, though, and it looks like we might even do it again! Crazy, huh?

The only other pictures I have on my camera this week are from Savannah's Young Women activity. They went to the mall and had a scripture/photo scavenger hunt. It looks like they had a wonderful time! Do you suppose this is related somehow to Mary being great with child?

Week of August 17 - 23 and Week of August 24 - August 30

Oh! I do so dislike getting behind! It's so hard to catch back up! My computer frizzled on me, though. I could have typed on Kevin's computer, but I wouldn't have been able to do pictures. So, alas and alack, here I am two weeks later ready to give catch-up a go.

So, August 19 was the first day of school. The day before we went and met all the teachers. That was an adventure. I got to fill our lots of computer permission forms and field trip forms and sign papers saying that I had read the classroom policies with my child -- those are especially prevalent in junior high. My biggest pet peeve recently is the form about whether my child is homeless or not. What I find so irksome is that it is necessary to fill out a separate form for each child. So, I have filled it out SIX times this year! It's enough to make me want to get a stamp made with my name, address, phone number, -- oh, and siblings -- already listed! Seriously, couldn't I fill out one form and list all my children???? I promise that their housing situation is all the same.

Anyhoo, we made it through and excitement was high for the first day of school. Savannah left first for junior high and the eighth grade:

Is she styling or what? I failed to mention that on the day before school, I offered to do a hair wrap for everyone. Wow! That actually takes awhile, but it was a bonding moment -- or hour or whatever. Her cool purse was made for her by a friend and is made of felted wool and has seashells sewn to it. Yes, Savannah loves it.

Here was the next crew ready for Elementary school:

Sarah started sixth grade. Megan started fifth grade, and Mariah started third grade. Cute hairwraps, huh?

So, they all went to school and their teachers were nice to them and they loved seeing all their friends. They still didn't want to go back the next day. They did, though, and have continued as the brave soldiers that they must be.

The first weekend after school started, we had our ward campout up Hobble Creek Canyon. The kids look forward to that every year and they always have terrific fun camping out with all their friends from the neighborhood and church. Kevin and I definitely do it for the kids. It is also the loudest campout of the year with people staying up late and kids getting up way too early and talking way too loudly -- oh and don't forget the babies crying in the night -- even if it is mostly my own! It takes a while to recover from that campout.

Well, the next week we focused mainly on the twins. Wednesday was the first day of Kindergarten and boy, did I have some excited children on my hands. The twins have afternoon kindergarten so they had to wait all morning before they could finally go to school! I started out the morning feeling a bit nostalgic and melancholy, but as the morning wore on and Calianne got more and more angry that it was taking FOREVER and she whined and asked what time it was, I have to admit that my attitude somewhat changed. We were all so happy when "walking to kindergarten time" finally rolled around!

We had plenty of time for pictures (and bows in the hair!):

It has been awhile since I last dropped off a kindergartener. It almost felt like my first time. I got them settled at their desks and then realized I was done and I should go. Somehow, though, it seemed wrong to leave Paula (who is our RS president and I'm her second counselor) alone with 22 little people! I would never do that at church, for instance. I had to remind myself that Paula was a professional and was actually expecting us all to leave. So, leave I did. I knew my twins would have a great time. My only regret was that I wanted to watch them experience everything for the first time! Ah well. I content myself with grilling them extensively with questions when they get home.

On the twins' third day of school, they had their birthday. Mrs. Hylton treated them very well:

Later that night, we went to Grandma and Grandpa Gazdik's and had dinner and balloons, presents and cake. It was great fun! Here are the twins blowing out their candles:

The next day, we had their first ever "friend" birthday party. We went to a nearby park and played on the playground, ate pizza, opened presents, and broke open a pinata. Sarah helped them play some duck, duck, goose and tag, as well. It was super great fun!

What a busy couple of weeks, huh? I'm hoping things will settle into a routine sometime soon. I hope that isn't wishful thinking!