The task at hand....

.....teaching Porter that it is NOT okay to drop his pants and whiz wherever we are at whether it be in our front yard, tennis camp, soccer games, or at the neighbors.  This morning he decided to try out the garage as his watering hole.  YIKES!!  This kid is something else, nothing like his older brother Kaleb and he's giving me an education on how most little boys probably are.  On the other hand, I guess I could be glad that he's chosen other places as his bathroom because when he actually uses the toilet, I end up having to scrub the toilet and walls surrounding:)  Gotta love little boys!

My Montage 6/7/11 at OneTrueMedia.com

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Summer....so far

We've been out of school for 17 days now and somehow it seems like it's been a month.  It's great having the kids home, even though we've been running our heads off since the moment school let out.  It's great doing things together and having all of us together in our home more often.  I knew we were busy during the school year but I don't think I realized until now just how little I see each of my kids when we're all involved with everything during the school year.  I won't lie, it's totally stressful having all 6 kids home because of the crazy amount of food I'm preparing each day, the piles of laundry that adorn our laundry room, the non-stop action of kids in and out of the house, kids in and out of the fridge, a billion pairs of unmatched shoes/flip flops all over our house, yard, garage, etc., the disgustingness of the bathroom (okay, that was a totally made up word but that's the best way to describe the condition of our bathroom), and the list goes on but in spite of all that, I really do love summer break.  I love my kids and I love being together.  This is what we've been up to together:


*  Free 3 day tennis camp at Bonneville High School-I signed Regan, Morgan, and Jordyn up and as a bonus, Kaleb got to participate the last 2 days.  You should have seen the smile on his face when one of the coaches came and asked him if he'd like to play. 
*  summer reading program at the library-even though the prizes are a little lame, my kids are still motivated to read during the summer and look forward to our weekly trips to the library.  We went to the library last Wednesday and came home with 45 books. Jordyn checked out 12 of the 45 and by Saturday she was begging me to take her back to the library for more.  I enlisted her help in reading to Kaleb since I'm having a hard time getting all the little ones read to.  Thank goodness for little helpers!
*  The girls participated in piano duet festival and all ended up with really great scores. Jordyn and Morgan played two songs together and scored a 99% between the two.  Morgan played again with her partner Kylee Andrus and between their two songs, they scored a 99%.  Regan and Lindee played together and scored a 98%.  Once the older girls get 8 lessons in, they get a small break from piano.  Jordy isn't so fortunate, she's still new in piano so she'll take all summer.  They are all preparing new songs for their summer recital in July. 
*  Swimming lessons-  Lessons are bright and early in the morning at 8:30 and everyone but Regan is taking.  We have 3 lessons left and the kids have been troopers, even enduring some pretty yucky weather days (43 degrees to be exact and yes, it is an outdoor pool) Aaahhh, I felt like such a jerk, there I was decked out in my winter attire and their are all of my little ones in their swim suits and flip flops hopping in to the pool looking at me like I am one crazy mother.  Thank goodness the weather decided to cooperate the next day and actually made it to a whopping 65 degrees--Idaho weather is the BEST (in my best sarcastic voice)  For the record, I plan to sign the kids up next year for this exact time--even though the weather has been questionable, the class sizes are so small--no more than 4 to a class with 2 teachers.  Can't beat that! 

This is our 3rd year participating in the free camp and my kids love it!  If I could fit it in the schedule I think I might consider signing them up for a round of tennis lessons.  Now if I could only find the time.

 

Our ward held the father-son outing a couple of weeks ago at Sealander Park just a few mile out of town.  It was a perfect overnighter for the boys with dad, perfect weather, yummy food, smores, scavenger hunt, outdoor movie, games, etc.  Kaleb and Porter couldn't have been more excited to have a camp out with DJ.  It was all they talked about for a whole month before it actually happened.  They had a great time and the boys came home looking and smelling just like I had anticipated--s'more covered faces, grimy clothes, bonfire smell, and big smiles pasted on their faces--I wouldn't have it any other way!  And, DJ said they slept awesome, and he knows, because he was up all night:)  He'd enjoy camping if it weren't for the nights!

Memorial weekend

We spent Memorial weekend with DJ's family in Cokeville.  It was a great weekend to go home because we were able to see several of DJ's siblings and spend quite a bit of time with mom and dad.  Dad recently had a bad fall in his garage and gave us all a good scare.  He still doesn't remember what happened but my niece, Tanna  that is Jordyn's age found him lying on the garage floor with tons of blood on his face.  He doesn't know if he passed out or tripped but whatever happened, it left him with a huge bump and gash on his forehead and a very achy body.  We've been really concerned about him so we were thankful that we had already planned to go home to visit for the weekend.  The morning after we arrived, DJ and I took a run up to the Cemetery in Cokeville.  It's not too far from their home and sits on a hill overlooking the town of Cokeville.  DJ has several family members buried there including his dad's parents, Minerva and  Herman Teichert, Herman Teichert (DJ's Uncle), and  Jan Anderson Teichert who was married to DJ's brother, Matthew.  She passed away of cancer shortly after DJ and I were married, 16 years ago.  Though I didn't get to know her as well as I'd hoped, it didn't take long to realize what a great wife, mother, friend, and daughter she was.  She is loved and missed by everyone that was privileged to know her.   Later that morning we rode back up to the cemetery with DJ's parents and took the kids around to visit the graves of family members.  Jordyn was particularly helpful in decorating each grave with Grandma's flowers and showed genuine interest as we talked a little bit about the people who's graves we were visiting.  After spending a while wandering around we headed back down to DJ's house but first made a stop at the park where the kids played until the rain started to fall.  Just as we made it back to the house, DJ's brother, Mike, pulled in from Nevada with two of his sons, Jeremiah and Jed.  They are such good kids and we had such a great time visiting with all of them.  Ann and Val showed up later that afternoon and brought 3 new picture holders for grandma's hall.  She used to have what she called the "wall of fame" where she had individual pictures of each of her grand kids but it was just really huge and a big pain to load and unload the pictures so Ann and Val built her some awesome wooden picture holders to replace it.  Dang, I wish I would've taken a picture of it, but I didn't.   DJ helped hang them on the wall and then we worked on replacing all of the pictures.  The end product was awesome and I think DJ's mom was pretty thrilled. 

Here's a picture of the damage done by dad's fall, although I think it looks a ton better than what it did according to mom!

Kamryn found a new best friend on this trip, Uncle Val.  Grandma has a bean bag pillow that the kids love so Kamryn and Val threw it back and forth to each other for probably an hour.  She loved the attention she was getting and wouldn't leave him alone.

Janae and Jordyn playing the piano!  Two blond Teichert beauties!

Grandma Teichert slaving away in the kitchen. My kids love going to Grandma's house because she serves pizza and ice cream!!

Leona--another blonde Teichert beauty!

Johnny and Trinny (I'm not sure if I should call her Johnny's girlfriend) but she did spend the weekend with our family and we thought she was really sweet.  I'm not sure what will come of it, so we'll just wait and see.

Leona, Regan, Janae, and Yoli (Trinny's daughter) and I probably slaughtered her name. 

                           The kiddos having fun at the playground in Cokeville.  My kids beg to go and play on the playground every time we come to Cokeville so I'm happy that the weather held up long enough to squeeze it in.  The cousins have so much fun when they are together. 

Jordyn and Ali are having a makeup party!  Ali is DJ's niece, Ashlee's daughter. She's Kaleb's age and is so stinking cute.  Jordyn talked her in to having a little makeup party and surprisingly, she didn't come out looking to bad.  Jordyn was so proud of herself because she actually applied mascara on Ali.  YIKES!!!

Game time with Jed, Chris, Johnny and Trinny!

Yet another blonde Teichert beauty!!

Another season of soccer...over

Morgan ended yet another season of soccer last Friday evening.  The kid loves soccer.  She gets side tracked by any ball of any size that's hanging around the house and just kicks it over and over against the wall.  I was laughing with my parents and DJ the other day as we reminisced about Morgan's first couple of seasons playing soccer.  She bawled and bawled every single game.  She's be fine as we were driving to the game and then as soon as she'd cross over the white line on to the field, the tears would be free flowing.  Believe me, it was the most frustrating thing ever.  We would bribe her with ice cream after the game (I know what you are thinking....don't bribe your kids but we were desperate)  DJ and I about went to the loony bin and she was miserable!!  I felt so bad for her but at the same time, we were totally ticked at her because she'd beg and beg to play another season so we'd pay the money and then she'd bawl and bawl.  I'm not sure what changed but something just clicked and she's turned in to a soccer loving fool.  She works really hard to understand and implement the new things she learns and I think it helps that she gets to play with some of her very best friends! 

Kara (the coach), Holly, and I were laughing just 2 hours before this photo about the goofiness of our girls.  Particularly Morgan and Alissa and this weird pose that they love to do.  I thought it was funny that they didn't disappoint in yet another photo.  Oh, and you've gotta love the little guy in the black coat licking his plate clean, yes, that's Kaleb (he learned that trick from his dad:):)

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The girls last official soccer game was Thursday night.  They played awesome and their passing is so much fun to watch.  They really get it now and look for opportunities to pass to their teammates.  I love it when things finally click and I'm glad that Morgan gets to play with such a great group of girls.  Thanks to Kara for taking so much time to coach these girls. 

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After the game we had a barbecue with all the girls and their families which was a lot of fun but the funnest part was the game the parents played against the girls.  Unfortunately, DJ couldn't be there but most of the parents were and we played until we just about killed ourselves.  The girls were awesome and so were the parents, in fact, I was laughing so hard at some of the moves I saw on the field.  I didn't know these people had it in them:)  I think we all had one thing in common though, we're all getting a little old and out of shape and I think we all had a few aches and pains the next morning to show for it.  Oh well, it was totally worth it!! 

Last day of school

It' hard to believe that another school year has come to a close.  Regan will be an 8th grader at RMMS next year, Jordyn will be a 2nd grader at Fairview, Morgan will be a 4th grader at Fairview, and Kaleb will be a Kindergartner at Fairview.  This year has been so busy but tons of fun.  Since I already wrote about Regan's school year, it's Morgan and Jordyn's turn!  Both girls did excellent in school and were especially self motivated in the AR program.   Morgan really took off in her accelerated math.  She was excited that she was the first one in the school to complete 200 math objectives.  She also earned 530 AR (reading) points and earned all A's in her classes.  Her teacher, Mrs. Willis is a great teacher and really pushed Morgan to be her very best.  Almost every day,  Morgan would come home and say how much she loved Mrs. Willis, something that isn't typical of Morgan.  I love the teachers at Fairview!!   Jordyn took off in reading this year and ended the school year with 225 AR points.  She read right up until the last 2 days of school until she couldn't take anymore tests on books at the school.  She would bring home stacks of chapter books and picture books each night and have them all read by morning.  I'm thankful that I didn't have to push her much and that the great teachers at Fairview really motivate the kids to enjoy reading.  Mrs. Walker has been a great teacher for Jordyn.  She really strives to get to know each child and takes a genuine interest in helping each child succeed both in their academics as well as the social aspect of school.  Jordyn struggled a bit at the beginning of the school year because her best friend was in the other 1st grade class which meant that they wouldn't be spending much time together.  Mrs. Walker recognized that Jordyn was having a hard time and tried extra hard to help her make some new friends.  Within a couple of weeks, Jordyn was back to her happy self and had found some fun girls to hang around with.  I'm so thankful for good teachers that really take an interest in each child.   

They started something really cute this year at our school.  When the students achieve 200 AR points or 200 math objectives, they get to be "Principal of the Day,"  which means that they get to make some of the announcements on the intercom, deliver notes to students, spend some time with our principal, and they get to have a pizza lunch with our Principal, Mr. Lord's.  The kids love it, in fact, Jordyn could hardly wait to get achieve her 200 points.  At around 120 points, she started saying, "only 80 more points, only 78 more points, and on and on and on every day.  She was so excited when it was finally her day and it turned out that she got to deliver a note from me to Morgan which made it even more exciting!  Morgan got to be the principal twice, once for achieving 200 AR points, and once for achieving 200 Math Objectives.  Way to go girls!  Morgan and Jordyn also got to participate in the gifted and talented program every Thursday for 1 hour out of their day.  It was just a little something extra in their day and something they really looked forward to.  I'm sad that due to our districts budget cuts, they won't have the program next year so this just means I need to do a little extra with them at home.   

Morgan and Jordyn are only 17 months apart.  They are complete opposites!  They are either best friends or worst enemies:)  I hope they continue to work on their relationship and be great friends in the years to come.  Both are beautiful and talented in so many ways. 

The last day of school they had field day which included face painting, dunking machine (Morgan's favorite) she loves being dunked, snow cones, hot dogs, popcorn, Mr. Jenkins fun swing, cotton candy, and tons of games. 

Pre-Girl's Camp Photos- (Regan)

Our camp director is in the process of taking photos of every one of our Y.W. for girls camp this year.  Regan had so much fun with her mini photo shoot.  Kara just sent me a couple to preview, one really adorable picture and one seriously funny pic--I love Regan's expression in the bottom picture!  

Dang, she's growing up!

Sabrina, Lindee, Regan, and Tierra....  Cute girls. 

Regan leaves for Trek next Tuesday and then is home for a week and then gone again for Girl's Camp.  I'm going to miss her so much but I'm excited for her to have these opportunities!