Summer Review: My Birthday

Oh, internet, I have so much to tell you.  Summer has flown by, so I will try to work my way back to document all that we've been up to.  

My birthday started with figuring out how to get three kids to three different fields at the same time.  Thank goodness for grandmas.

We are going to have our share of overlapping game times this fall.  I hate that because I hate missing any of their games.  Mike took Kiki, Grandma Jones took Drew and I took Bev.  She was so excited to get back to soccer, and back to playing goalie.  She got absolutely no action at the goal, so after the first half, she played the field.

One of my favorite things to do with Mike and the kids is to hike.  We haven't gone much this year, so after church we hiked to Bells Reservoir on the Granite Trail in Little Cottonwood Canyon.  It was a scorcher on the way up, but we had some cloud cover on the way down.

The kids played in the water and beach.  I love watching them use their imaginations.  Christian got a stick spear and was in a battle with the ducks.  Drew told Bev he would pay her to catch a duck.  Jessi perched on a rock and posed like a mermaid.

It was a great couple of days with my favorite people.

week 31

I got behind for a few weeks, so I am catching up on my Project Life.

there's a teenager in the house

My firstborn is now 13.  I am sitting here trying to figure out where the time has gone.  I feel a little torn about this growing up business.  I have loved him being a kid, but I really think this adolescent thing is going to be a blast.

My firstborn is now 13.  I am sitting here trying to figure out where the time has gone.

His dreams came true and he got a Kindle.  He is already using it a little too much and I am realizing that it is going to be tricky figuring out if he is reading or playing Angry Birds.  Mike and I spent the next evening getting all the parental controls set up.

He got breakfast in bed and I did the unthinkable--I got him McDonald's.

We surprised him with 13 presents--Mockingjay pin, favorite candy bars and gum, clothes, keychain, gift card and a new trapper keeper for middle school (I'm in denial that he is starting middle school.)

On his birthday, I dropped him and Bev off at Classic for three hours of fun.

We did his birthday dinner (a day late) at Cheesecake Factory.  Cousin Courtney joined us.

13 things we love about this kid

He is in that really fun in-between time where he is starting to "get" adult humor, and he still plays with Legos.

He is sensitive.  He loves babies and animals and he watches out for his mama.

He still (and always will) lets me snuggle him.

He is a saver and hard worker.

He is funny.  He is always quoting something or making hilarious observations.

He has this great, contagious laugh.

He sets a good example for us.

He is smart.

He has good character.  He is honest and polite and wants to follow Jesus Christ.

He is supportive and encouraging and always giving compliments.

He is grateful.

He gets excited about things--little things and big things.

His expressive face.  Since he was a baby his face tells it all--excitement, anger, sadness, happiness.

I'm not ready for this.

This kid has been waiting for two years to be eight so that he can play tackle football.  He counted down the days to registration and getting his pads.  We tried convincing him that another year of flag would be great, to no avail.  It's in his blood.  Every day he puts on his gear and runs plays around the family room.  Every day he tells me "thank you for signing me up."  Every day I worry about his brains and bones.  

now playing...

During the summer, we have days when the tv is off all day, and others when the tv is on a lot.  Here is what we are currently watching:

I have been slowly catching up on episodes of The Good Wife online.

Whenever we have nothing to watch, we pick an old episode of Modern Family. It is such a smart, funny show, I could watch the episodes over and over again.  The kids get to watch a few of those.

The kids love America's Got Talent, but it's not always mom approved.  (I went to put in a load of laundry just as a 300-pound pole dancer took the stage.)

When there is nothing on Tivo, the kids go with Disney Channel.  The only show that doesn't make me feel like I lose brain cells is Good Luck Charlie.

We are big fans of Duck Dynasty and anything on Animal Planet.

new pets

   

After a work appointment, I met Mike and the kids at Mike's childhood pet store, Mark's Ark, to shop for hamsters.  Christian decided that he wanted one too.  He said that maybe they would live longer if they had a friend.  He got his heart set on an orange and white one.  She was a girl, and he decided to name her after himself, so it was Christina.

Bev decided on a Black Bear hamster.  We were told that if they were both girls, they would probably get along, so Bev picked a girl.  She was the smallest, and youngest of the Black Bears.  Her name is Ash.

We got them home and soon realized that Christina was a bully to Ash, bumping her, trying to bite her and scaring her.  Poor Ash was constantly running away from Christina.  We decided that it was not a good fit, so, the next day, Mike took the kids back and Christian decided he would trade Christina in for a kinder hamster.

They got to the pet store and Christina was diagnosed as being a boy.  He is now called Chris, and Christian didn't want to get rid of him.  The pet expert encouraged them to put perfume on each of the hamsters, that they could trick them into liking each other.  We are now watching them to make sure we don't have another tragedy.

empty cage

Poor Nibbles the Hamster was critically injured in a Barbie house accident, and died a few hours later.  It was a sad day for the family.  Bev held him while I investigated the accident.  It made her nervous to hold him, so I held him as he took his last breath.  A few of us were crying, when Andrew walked in and said he had something to play for us on the piano.  It was the Funeral March.  Mike and I exchanged glances--he was trying not to laugh and I was trying not to laugh through my tears.

We made a little casket out of paper towels and buried him in the garden near the bleeding heart.  Bev and Christian are already making plans for a replacement hamster.  They are also establishing rules about where the hamster can play (not in the Barbie house) and who might need supervision around the hamster.