Ready, Ready, Ready...Set, Go

This is what they yell when they snap the ball. I love it! It's so cute to hear these little 10 year olds yelling in their little men voices.


When he saw this picture he said, "I was having popcorn!"





I haven't been very good about taking pictures of the kids lately, but here are the couple that I have. We got lots of good video of Bubba's game yesterday, but only a couple of pictures and three of the four were on the same play. His team toasted the other guys 46-0. We've had lots of other coaches there watching our games writing our plays down and yesterday there were supposed to be 10 officials and 15 or so other coaches. I think it's ridiculous. They're ten years old for Pete's sake. Yes, we totally rock, but really? Bubba has been an animal this year. He did great at their scrimmage this past week. He made his catch and had some great tackles. He missed his catch in the game yesterday, but the quarterback under threw it-again, they're 10. He made some great tackles, though and gets to be on offense and the kicking team. The pictures above are from the kickoff team. He's the one next to the kicker who gets to put his arms up and then yell, "Ready!" He has the cutest little man voice when he yells it. I love watching him! We had a conflict yesterday so B took JP to his game (which was not at our usual field) while I finished watching Bubba and then took him to his best friend's birthday party where they played video games out of a truck! It was one of those lunch truck looking things. They also played laser tag in the backyard.

Thanks Uncle AJ and Aunt Alicia for taking the boys Fri. night. We went to a movie while they had the boys at their apartment and then we picked up Jo Jo while the other boys spent the night. They even got up early to take them to the football field! Thanks again, you guys are the best! We love you!

Choose the Right

Yesterday my awesome 10 yr. old volunteered his lunch recess and extra recess time to work in the library. They had received a large book donation and needed to go through them to decide what to keep. Apparently someone must have donated their entire romance novel collection because he said they filled two boxes, a trash can, and a large trash bag with "inappropriate" books. He told B that he didn't read them or anything, but that he was able to tell they were "inappropriate" because they had a woman and man on the front. I was so incredibly proud of him. He not only gave up recess for service, but also made good choices about what is not right.

Cute Jo Jo sayings-
-Whenever he hears a train he likes to tell it to "bonk" the horn
-Papa had to go to the hospital over the weekend and he kept asking where he was going and we told him the hospital and he called it the "hostible"
-I asked him the other day if he wanted to lie down in my bed for a nap and he said, "Sure!"
-When Bubba and B go out to mow he asks, "Is daddy whoa-ing the mawn?"
There's lots of other cute things that I should've been writing down along the way because right now my mind is a blank. It's been a long day.

My visiting teacher brought me a watermelon the other day and we finally got around to cutting it last night for our FHE treat. B went to finish cutting the rest and couldn't find it. We all turned around and saw this. He was giggling like he'd done the funniest thing ever, which really he had. After I took his picture Jo Jo said, "Take my picture. Cheese."

He can now sing all the words to "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" and the alphabet. He requests them each night for bedtime along with "Child" (I Am a Child of God). After a couple of nights he sang all the words to "Twinkle" as he calls it. And two nights ago I realized he could sing the whole alphabet. One of these nights I'm going to videotape him and hopefully with B's help I'll figure out how to post it. Oh, he also counts to 11. He gets the sweetest little soft voice when he sings or talks on the phone. It's the cutest thing.

Bubba's team won again Sat. 46-8 I was actually hoping the other team would score at the end because I felt so bad for them. At some point the other team's parents stop cheering and our parents kinda do too since we're so far ahead there's not really a need to get excited anymore. I always feel bad for the other team though because their parents should cheer through the whole thing even if there's no way for them to win. JP's team lost again, but at least this time it was 8-6. They're improving at least.

B's dad is staying with us for awhile while he does chemo. He's had lymphoma for two years now and has decided to come home to Idaho (instead of back East where he was) to finish up treatments. His step-mom left yesterday but will be back before his treatment on Fri. We made him a bedroom in the dining room so he has his own little room-oh except for the fact that he has no privacy whatsoever. Poor guy.

Busy week ahead with two parties for JP, scouts, RS meeting. Same old same old.

Camping

First tooth lost.


Goofing around the campfire.


Playing in the creek. I promise we feed JP. I think it's the way he's standing.


All the arrows Bubba shot right in a cluster. B said he just fired one right after the other like nothing.


Snuggling in sleeping bags.


Ready for the hike.

B took Peanut, Bubba, and JP camping this past weekend. They almost froze to death, but they toughed it out the whole weekend. Jo Jo and I hung out and had a chick flick film festival. I literally did almost nothing. (I did do one load of laundry and the dishes). It was really fun except for the part where he jumped on me on the couch the entire time. He missed daddy so much when it was time for bed. It was hard to get him down without his kiss from daddy.
They had a great time, caught 10 fish but only kept two to eat, went on a 7 mile hike up a mountain, shot bb guns and arrows, played in the creek, and got into town to get more hot dogs and stuff for smores. Oh and Peanut lost his first tooth yesterday before they left. It's a good thing he didn't lose it any earlier because I'm not sure if the tooth fairy would've found them all the way in the wilderness. I made them get in the shower as soon as they walked in the door. Bubba commented to B one night that he knew it must be hard for him not being with me. He told him that he missed me, but he was sure dad missed me even more. I'm so happy that they know how much their parents love each other. I missed my sweet husband so much. He looked like Grizzly Adams when he got home and everyone smelled like campfire. I'm so glad they had such a great time.

Football, Fair, First Haircut, and Bike Riding

This was a productive weekend. Both boys had their first football games on Sat. Luckily they were two hours apart so we could watch both. Unfortunately Bubba's game started late so we had to have JP run over to his field to practice and B had to go to the car to get drinks for Bubba's team during the last quarter. Then I went and got our lunch out of the car while JP's game was starting, but luckily I only missed the first play. Bubba's team kicked booty. They are an awesome hard working bunch. Bubba has really wanted to play offense this year, but is always on defense because he's a great lineman. His coach did let him play center a little at the end of the game, though. He's been practicing a lot in the backyard though catching passes and throwing. One of the coaches a few practices ago asked him if he wanted to play a little QB after seeing him after practice throwing to another kid. Then last night, his head coach finally asked him if he'd like to be a receiver. He's so excited. JP did great blocking at his game. He got taken out by a fat, mean kid. So his coach moved him to the other side. This kid kept tackling, but it's only flag, so his team would get a penalty. Anyway, they lost, but towards the end they started to improve. The problem is that their coaches aren't working with them enough on plays. He was the star at practice last night and the only one to not have his flag pulled. He's doing a great job.


In the petting zoo checking out the goats


In front of the Lego exhibit


On the train ride

After football we decided to hit the fair since it ended Sun. We weren't sure about going since we just went to Silverwood, but it's really not that expensive and we always go. So we went and saw the animals and let everyone pick one ride. I didn't go on anything because I had a headache and pretty much every ride spins which makes me dizzy. I used to love those rides, but I guess now that I'm old my equilibrium has changed. Bubba chose a ride that went in a circle upside down. It would go one direction and then the other. The guy across from him was looking sick after the ride and Bubba asked if he was okay because he was holding his mouth. Luckily he got out of there before the guy lost it all over the ride. B and JP did the same ride together. I don't even know how to describe it right. It's on a big arm with seats all around a circle and your feet hang. Then it keeps swinging back and forth and spinning and gets higher and higher. It's actually fun. I went on it last year. Peanut chose the caterpillar roller coaster for kids. And then he lucked out that we had a couple of extra tickets so he could take Jo Jo on a little train that goes around a track several times. Jo Jo freaked and screamed for the first few seconds when he realized I wasn't staying on it, but then had a great ride. We got a funnel cake after checking out the show cattle. It definitely wasn't enough to share between all of us, but those things are expensive and super fattening. It actually ended up being the worst fair food when they did a thing on the radio about fair foods. There's like 900g of fat in ONE! We left after that and got dinner because we had coupons for free kid's meals somewhere else.


Before


During

This is actually kinda fun


After

That night I decided to finally let B cut Jo Jo's hair. I made him use the longest attachment and he just did the back. I started to freak out and almost cry so he didn't cut the top. It's not really that short like how we cut the other boy's hair, but it's shorter in the back. He looks like a big boy now. It turned out really cute because it's still curly on top, but cleaned up in the back.


Ridin' along


Ready to go (I know, he's riding with no shoes on, but he had them on earlier)

Sun. afternoon Peanut FINALLY learned to ride his bike. It's dad's fault really because he hasn't really worked with him much, but he took him out and practiced until he got it. I was doing dinner and they called me out and he just took off down the street. So yesterday and today I rode with him to school. He fell twice yesterday, but got right back up. He still steers a little crazy so he stops quite a bit, but he's excited to be riding to school. He loves school so far and really looks forward to going. We asked if he has any new friends and told us that all the boys in the class are. Today they had to wear red and bring a picture of something red in. They'll go until halfway into Sept. when they've gone through all the basics.

School is in Session

Today was the first day of school! We went to meet the teachers last night and turn in supplies. (Don't get me started on that). The big boys rode their bikes this morning. Bubba really hates wearing a helmet. I think it's a too cool for it thing. He told me that he didn't know why he needed to wear it because it wouldn't do anything if he was hit. I told him that it would save his brain and he told me that his skull is way thicker than the helmet. I informed him that it wasn't and it would crack if he was hit by a car. That convinced him enough to wear it, though it was still against his will. I gave them firm instructions that since our school is the first to start (there's one across the street that will start Mon.) they needed to be extra careful this morning. I told them to only cross if there were no cars at all or if they came to a complete stop. I told them not to cross if it looked to them like the car was slowing because you can never tell for sure. Bubba seemed to be annoyed with this instruction because of course he knows it all. Last year I rode with them for the first week or so. It was good that I did because we were almost hit twice. Peanut doesn't start until 12:15 so he got to sleep in. About 11 he started asking when school started and why he couldn't go in the morning. I'm glad he was so excited and not scared. We had lunch and then he wanted me to drive him there. He said it was okay for me to ride my bike to pick him up since brother's had their bikes. We went around to the door where he is supposed to line up and all the other moms and dads were there with their cameras. He was very excited. When it was time to go in we all gave them one last hug and a wave goodbye. Jo Jo was a little upset that he couldn't go in too. I had to carry him because he was running away screaming about it. It was a bittersweet moment. He's been my little buddy now for so long since JP is 3 years ahead in school. But it's only 3 hours and he went to preschool that long last year but only 3 days a week. And I still have the morning to hang out with him. I was proud of myself for not crying.
JP's teacher this year was Bubba's 3rd grade teacher. We really like her. I got to observe Peanut's teacher last year and she seems awesome. I'm not sure about Bubba's teacher yet. She seems a little stern. She sent out an email letting us know that 95% of students get reallly stressed out the first month because the work load is really big. The work is going to be hard. I'm worried about homework and how he'll deal with everything with football practice every night. I plan on sitting with him everyday to help him stay focused. I'm going to put up a table in our dining room that is now the piano room so they have a separate place to study. And no one will be allowed to watch tv until everyone is done because they'll still be able to hear it in the other room.
I was looking forward to a quiet afternoon, but after trying to get Jo Jo to take a nap for an hour I gave up. At least he decided to go upstairs for awhile and play. At least I only had one with me at the bread store, although he wanted to put everything on every shelf into the cart. And then wanted to toss each loaf of bread onto the counter. It was actually pretty cute.
Sat. will be our first real football game. It looks like we'll only have 1-2 conflicts with the two different schedules. The rest are at least two hours apart and at the same place. As long as Bubba's games don't go longer than two hours we'll be able to see both of their games.

Last week JP did our family home evening lesson, which I'm embarrassed to admit has been getting forgotten now that football has started every night until 8pm. So we're opting for Sundays now. Anyway, he decided he wanted to talk about Jesus. He didn't have a specific plan, but wanted to show some pictures out of the new gospel art book. So I would hold up the picture and he would tell what was happening (because there's not a description under each one). He blew me away. We got to the picture of Jesus raising Jairus' daughter from the dead and I asked if he knew what it was and he told us. He also knew about the picture of Lazarus being raised from the dead. He also told us why He came to earth and what he did for us. He remembered the story of the Ten Lepers as well. He's definitely our special spirit. Sunday I saw him reading his new scriptures in sacrament meeting. I think the only time Bubba opens his is during Primary (and only if they're needed for a lesson). I was floored and actually almost started crying right then and there. B told me when we got home that he was already in 1 Nephi chapter 3. He said he had whispered to him that if he kept reading he would be done before Bubba. He got very excited at that. We have no idea when he started reading them since that was the first time we saw him. What an awesome boy. Hopefully you don't think we're bad parents for the fact that our older child isn't reading, but honestly I never read my scriptures until I was like 12 and even then I never read them all the way thru. Anyhow I just think he's a special boy. All of my boys are special in different ways though.

School starts Thurs. (thank heavens my sanity might halfway return).