Last Night

We went up to Park City again tonight after the kids got home from school. Ethan and Hyrum got to get in one last swim, then they came back home with me and Owen and Daniel. Wes, Abi, Lily, Soph, and Natalie are spending the night. Wesley gets to sleep over and miss school tomorrow, cause he didn't sluff on Tuesday. The elementary kids don't have school tomorrow, so they get to sleep over too. Joseph and Melodie didn't come up tonight - flute lesson and homework and such. They are becoming responsible adults. The rest of us had fun one last time up in Park City.

Owen didn't swim, but Daniel did. Ethan got him ready and they took him down, but I learned afterwards that Eth didn't put on a swim diaper, he put on a regular diaper. Needless to say, Daniel had gained about 10 pounds by the time he was done in the pool

So all the older kids all swam. By the time I got there with Owen, Natalie was done so she played air hockey with Owen and also helped me with a puzzle. They had a big Disney puzzle that Natalie started, it had weird odd shaped pieces and was way hard. We didn't get very far. Natalie would take things I'd finished and take them apart and do them again - like Snow Whites face. I left the parts we put together out on the table just in case the next person that comes along wants a little help as they start doing it. Owen cheering for himself, yay! 

Corey has slept over in Park City this whole week except for Wednesday. He has so much work to do, I think he's enjoyed the quiet solitude. Not that it's a break, he's just working a ton. I brought most of the stuff home. I left Corey with a bag to throw in all the extra stuff tomorrow morning when they check out, hopefully the kids will be good helpers and it won't take them too long, he's got to get on the clock. I'm still praying for us to be delivered somehow from this financial situation.

Quiet Day

Back to reality today - I brought all the kids home last night so that Corey can spend some alone time up in Park City, allowing him to take care of his many tasks uninterrupted. So everyone went to school, it was a normal busy school year morning. JMEH all left for school at 6:15, then I took Wes and his friends to school cause Wednesday is my carpool day. I wake up Abi before I go so she can babysit, I get back at 8 to help her and Lily and Sophi get ready for school, they leave at 8:30. Owen and Daniel usually are awake by 8:30. Natalie sleeps in later. We watch soms PBS kids, eat peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for lunch. Today she and I worked on a 300 piece puzzle. She did a good job making the green leaves on the cherries.

Owen was flying around his spaceship toy (actually Lily's lego from Christmas but he hijacked it). A funny thing is he doesn't say it right. He put's a "t" at the end of it instead of a "p". It makes us all laugh, the teens act shocked at their toddler brother's profanity. You and your spaceship are okay Owen, you keep flying!

Corey had a day alone in Park City. I asked if he enjoyed the quiet time. He did, but he doesn't enjoy working all the time. Not much of a choice right now. Poor guy. So, he gets to enjoy a quiet day tomorrow again and then tomorrow night after the kids get home from school, I'm going to take them up to swim again. WALSN (WesAbiLilySophiNatalie) are going to spend the night. I'll take all the kids up that want to go swim one last time, but then the high schoolers have to come back down for school on Friday. They sluffed on Tuesday, Wes went on Tuesday, that's why he gets Friday off. Been a regular busy week, but it has been fun to spend some of it up there.

More Swimming Pictures

It's been a quiet day here at home. Joseph and Mel went to school at 6:15 and then Wes at 7, and then it was just me and my two little boys. So, I'll catch up with a few pictures from Sunday. On Sunday morning, we woke up in Park City fairly early and headed down to the valley so we could go to church. (Hooray for new year change to the 11:00 meeting time instead of 9) We hustled to get the kids dressed, but some of them had coughs and others felt sick, so I stayed home with half of the crew while Corey took the other half to church. I listened to an AWESOME talk on byutv - a BYU Idaho devotional by Troy Dougherty titled "The Practical Work of Building Zion" and it was so good. I was like "Yes! This is what our family need to hear!" So after church we came back up to Park City. Corey told the kids we could go swimming. I didn't want to, I wanted to stay in the room and read them the talk or have the kids listen to it, with a dream of them all sitting and listening quietly and nodding in agreement at what he said and then they would all commit to not ever quarrel or be annoying, mean, or naughty again. But like anyone is going to choose to listen to my gospel lecture over swimming. But it's a Sunday! This is was Sunday's are for! Gospel discussions! I was able to make them listen to 15 minutes of it, and then after they'd endured enough of my torture (and to prevent them all from falling asleep right there) Corey took them to the pool. He felt it was a good family bonding time activity cause he was sure there wouldn't be other people at the pool. Or if there were, the big group of us coming would be enough to scare them away. That plan kinda worked, we did pretty much have it to ourselves most of the time. But still, I'd still have been happier if we had spent Sunday's doing a Book of Mormon read-a-thon. Oh well. So they all went swimming and I took pictures.

Daniel was super cute in the pool - Wes rubbed is tummy and Mel held him, it was cute to see them attend to him so affectionately. Mel took a break and went over to the big pool, trying to get Owen to jump to her. Can you tell what he thinks of that idea?

He protested by looking at her and spitting his little tongue in defiance at her. "I don't jump to no one but Dad!!" It was kinda funny.

Wes continued to play sweetly with Daniel.

Daniel you're so cute! He really likes the pool.

Sunday night I took a picture of the kids sleeping before I headed to bed. Mel probably listening to MoTab ~

Abi nice and relaxed. The kids all wanted to sleep in the window seats, I admit they look fun. We should have a dozen bunk beds built into the walls, that would be cool.

Hyrum and Ethan were in their palace bed, Joseph was on the pull out in their room. Unlike his two younger brothers, Joseph did not enjoy a comfortable's nights rest. And then we had 4 kids piled up on the pull out couch in the main room.

So that's what Park City looks like for us - swimming and sleeping and watchin' tv.

Four Things in Park City

Happy MLK Jr. Day, everyone's always excited to have a reason to sleep in. Today we did the four things we usually do in Park City - Swim, Eat, Sleep, and Watch TV.
1st - Swimming. We walked over to the pool a few times today. We are lucky that there's no snow outside, it wasn't too cold and so we walked with our barefeet on the sidewalk which we could tell was heated. I headed out this morning with the littles and we were soon joined by the rest of the group.

Joseph and Mel weren't up here on Saturday cause they had a Lyceum concert, but we all went back down for church yesterday and they came up with us last night and we had a fun family swim today. I can't find a pic of them, I'll check Corey's phone later. But I did get a picture of the other person who rarely makes it into the pool (or photos) - me!

Yay! I got to play in the water too! Truly a rare and special occasion. Corey and Owen on the way back to the room on Saturday.

2nd: Eating. Corey took the kids grocery shopping today, which the healthy OCD eater in me loathes. But they came back with food and even some fruit and we're all still alive, so I should probably just relax about it. PB&J sandwiches and ice cream for dessert and nutella and lots of other temptations, I did ok resisting. 

3rd: Sleeping - Ethan down for a nap with Daniel on Saturday 

They are identical twins, just born 15 years apart. Daniel is my little Ethan. I'll have to get some pictures of Ethan as a baby, they are pretty much the spittin' image of each other. Cute little fuzzy head.

And last but not least - our 4th PC Activity: Watching TV. Ethan and Hyrum watched a show that they said they watched all the time on their band tour last year - Impractical Jokers. Kinda funny, but I'm pretty sure I'd be irritated if strangers did that kinda stuff to me. But I can see how it appeals to teenage boys. Here are Hyrum and Eth on Friday night - looking forward to their weekend of luxury

As usual, they were excited to have a big bed with a fluffy comfortor and pillows. I should/could probably get them more bedding for their beds at home. And the little kids in the pull out bed, watching tv - Disney channel stuff mostly.

Wes trying to read and watch tv at the same time. Lily coloring. Owen's got his lion Louie. Abi is over in the kitchen with Daniel.

When I got the remote control, I clicked through the channels til I found something interesting. I stopped at My 600 Pound Life. Pretty interesting to see the experiences people have and the choices they make and the things they tell themselves that get them into those tough situations. I felt bad for them. The kids vetoed me and so I didn't see how any of the episodes ended. Hope it turned out good. I am headed back home tonight with Owen and Daniel, so that Corey can get some work done. It's hard to get work done with all the kiddos around - but here is Corey trying -

Kids in the house = noise, mess, and fun. 

And cute smiles!

Daniel! You ready to go swimmin' before we head home? Let's go!

We're heading home soon with Owen, Joseph, Mel, and Wes. Joe Mel and Wes are being responsible and are going to school tomorrow. The rest of the kids are being slackers and are going to have one more lazy sleepover day, but I told them it's back to reality on Wednesday! But I'm excited as I think of tomorrow morning's wake up routine - I'll be done at 7! I might go back to bed! Or maybe I'll actually get something done? We'll see how nice O and D are to me. I'll probably post more pictures of swimming tomorrow, cause I'm sure there won't be much happening else in PC except playing in the pool, and home should be pretty quiet with all of them gone.

Summit Watch

So, this is kinda how we fly around here... Last night Corey was working at the computer and got on a tangent looking at timeshare deals, when he happened to see a good bargain for a week at Park City - starting TONIGHT! (It was already 6:00 pm) "Wanna go to Park City for a week? There's a good deal!" What kinda deal? A deal so good that we could get the whole week up at Park City for the same price as the one night we had at Wolfcreek last month. Half kicking himself, Corey wondered oh why did we plan ahead for that? See?! That's the kinda markup people pay when they plan ahead! Better to live on the fly and get a deal by taking a trip on a whim! We mulled it over for an hour - hmm, should we go up to Park City tonight and spend a week up there for no apparent reason, even though all the kids still have school this next week? And the house is a mess and it would be nice to have the kids help us get caught up on things since we're still recovering from the holidays... (that was my 2 cents) But Monday is a day off from school, so we'll be able to spend a few days together (Sat, Sun Mon...) sound fun? Ok, sure. So I gave my blessing, he booked the reservation, and we told the kids to grab their swimsuits, we're going up to Park City. Two hours later we were all playing in the water, wee.

Well, everyone except Mel and Joseph. Joseph called us later that night... "So... why are you guys up there?" Oh, just because. He didn't come up today cause of friend stuff tonight (a date? school b-ball game?) and Mel was at home when we all left and decided to stay and do homework, plus she and Joseph have to be in Provo tomorrow morning at 9 am for a Lyceum video recording. The older they get, the busier they are. It's a nice transition into college, cause they are so busy and gone so often anyway, that it might help us not miss seeing them around, I'm hoping. So, Ethan and Hyrum, enjoy the free time while you still have it, you guys are up next! As for tonight, they spent quality time with little D throwing the football around the pool.

Everyone having fun in in the pool on a Friday night. 

The pool closed at 11, party's over until tomorrow. Don't you worry Natalie, we'll be back!

The nice warm water steaming up Abi's glasses.

Seeing the boys standing in their towels reminded me of what we see many a morning as they play the "waiting for my turn to shower" game.

So today it was more of the same, we're just kicking back to do nothing for a few days I guess. We'll just tell ourselves that this is an important step to help us transition back into the rest of the school year after Christmas break, yeah. Honestly tho, I'm slightly bummed cause we've been dragging for two weeks and I really wanted to finally get back into the swing of things this weekend - myself and for the kids to remember how to work so they could get back into being contributing members of the family as well, but alas, no recovering from the laziness yet, we'll try next weekend.

Do Good

Yesterday, I invited the children that wanted to, to miss some of school and join me in attending the viewing for President Monson.

The viewing went from 9 a.m to 8 pm. I knew the evening would be busy, so I made plans to go in the morning. We attempted to leave at 8:30, and we were an hour behind. We were downtown and parking at 10:17. I wasn't sure how many hours to pay for. I assumed it would be less than an hour, but wasn't sure... I took a gamble and paid for an hour and we went in. Note to self, you've got till 11:17. The Conference Center with flag at half mast.

Yes, Natalie dressed herself (see her socks and shoes) and since we were already running late, we didn't bother trying to find Daniel's shoes. And look at his little smile!!!!

For some reason I was thinking the viewing would be near the pulpit in the big conference center, so it took me by surprise when, instead of turning the corner into the grand hall, I realized we were there - There was our dear prophet before us. The viewing was in the hall where there are portraits of all the past presidents. I held up Natalie to see and told her that was President Monson. He's gone to heaven. What a good man. God rest his soul. As his daughter said in the funeral today, quoting him when he pointed to a picture of himself in the Ensign magazine... "Hey, I know that fellow. He did the best he could..." We love you President Monson, you did a wonderful job by me, you have blessed my life. And the lives of many people in my ward, according to their own accounts in our last testimony meeting at church. We will miss him.

I took Ethan to his saxophone lesson in Orem last night. I went to Costco as I waited, and when I came out, the clouds were so pretty and pink ~

I felt like they were giving their approval of his a beautiful and good life. My phone didn't capture the colors on the mountain well, but ooh, so pretty, the bottom of the mountain in shade, the snow capped top all pink.

The funeral today was wonderful. Here is a link to watch it if you'd like, or some excerpts here. My final take away from President Monson's exemplarary life - Do good. Paint a bright spot on your soul by doing good somewhere each day. Love others and serve others and do good.

Learning to Write

On Monday night, at the counter after dinner, Owen took Lily's homework and started to scribble on it. 

He wouldn't let her take it, so Lily decided to just let him keep it and to join in the fun.

It's family art time!

We all ooh'd and aah'd and "oh cute!"-d at his little scribbles and at how he held his pencil.

He was pretty excited with himself when he actually did made a letter. The letter "O" is his favorite, and that is very appropriate.

His stuffed lion Louie at the counter with him, as well as his trusty blanket and binky.

At Daniel's 15 month appointment last week, the dr. asked if Daniel was still using a bottle. Yes, and unfortunately his older brother Owen has decided to take up the habit again too. "Yeah, we advise that you start to wean them from bottles and pacifiers this age." Ok, I predict we're gonna have some drama on our hand when we try to take those beloved binkies away from him. It's on my radar, Owen, you are warned.

It was cute to see them drawing together. Happy family moment, yay!

Parenting Strategies: Let's Make a Deal

So... 8 years ago, when our little Joseph was just a wee 10 year old, his father was thinking about his eldest son's future. And knowing that girls weren't a distraction now, but could become one later, his father made him a bet - a bet to help him stay focused on school and not get distracted by getting in a serious relationship too early. They made a deal that Joseph would not kiss any girls until he was 18, and if Joseph kept that part of the agreement, Corey would pay him $1000. Last night, it was time for Corey to pay up. Here was the moment, with a bit of Corey explaining once again the reason for the deal, surrounded by a bit a lot of the normal chaos that goes on whenever we're trying to have a serious discussion around here...

As Corey attempts to explain to the rest of the children "Why am I willing to make this deal?" "Cause you don't want us to be happy!" replies our funny Ethan (at 6:09). No, Ethan. This bet it not to make you miserable. This bet is to make sure that you're not just handing out kisses like they're nothing. If you're gonna kiss, make sure it's worth it! If the girl is worth it, go for it. But hopefully knowing you're passing up $1000 bucks will give you a moment of pause. Don't make your kisses cheap. We do think that this deal has helped Joseph stay focused and do well in school and on the ACT.

And Corey actually let the deal slide a bit - he said Joseph could pucker up as soon as his college applications were done, which was last month.

The slowly counting out (with $140 in ones) and handing over such a large amount of money had the desired incentivizing effect on the rest of the kids, as each proceeded to ask if they could make the deal with their Dad.

Lucky Mel, she's already almost there, just 11 more months to go. Corey has joked that he needs to switch it up for her and pay her to kiss, teasing that she's a little too timid and shy. Ethan didn't shake here, he made the deal years ago apparently. Hyrum, you in?

Wes? Yes, though he looks a bit nervous or something.

Each of the kids proceeded to shake hands with their father. Abi...

Lily... 

Sophi... Look at all this positive peer pressure in action!

 

I didn't get a photo of Natalie, did she shake? What is this? Even little Owen is in! Go O! This toddler is in it to win it! just 15+ years to go.

(You better start saving your quarters, sweetheart!)