Spring Break

I decided to get the kids into some better habits this week, so Monday morning after they woke up (& did family scripture study) we did chores and homework first thing.  Two glorious hours of well-earned play time, topped by an exciting time at the Childrens' Museum with Tess & Aubrey.

I'm working extra hard on just accentuating the positive things that the kids do this week, and trying to be as uplifting as possible. The kids are incredibly patient with me, and it's so interesting to realize how much parents have to continually learn and grow with their children. I'm also trying to teach the children that helping and hard work can be fun. They don't seem to mind it if we are all doing it together.

Thursday the boys spent all day at Gymnastics' Camp. I was worried James would be scared (he's so shy), but Alec stayed with him all day and when I arrived at 4, they had some free play time and were happily climbing near each other.

Then came Friday. Friday was the best, because Paul took the day off work! We took the children to Craig Ranch Park. It's a huge new park near our house, and it requires both of us to be there to keep track of all three children.

We had wanted to see 'Sherman and Mr. Peabody', but it turned out it wasn't playing at the theaters near us. We decided it was worth a trip across town, and left Evelyn napping with my mom. Well, it turns out I had misread which theater it was at, and we went to the wrong one! Making lemonade, we decided to have some frozen yogurt and a nearby shop.

Then the trek back across town to watch 'Rio 2' at the theater near our house.

The boys didn't mind a bit!

Then they got to have Nana babysit, whilst Paul and I went to the temple with my grandmother. 

Saturday morning was our ward egg hunt. Paul and the boys had walked around the block on Wednesday and invited our neighbors.

We also invited my brother Christopher, and his family.

Saturday night Paul & I had another night out! 

The performance was amazing!! I cried and Paul said it was, "pretty good". High praise from a non-musical fan!

A 007 'secret agent' party

Is the theme Alec decided on a few months ago. Yes, the boys choose themes shortly after Christmas. Yes, it's probably a bit ridiculous.

James had a tummy bug on Wednesday and by Thursday have one and I both come down with it. It seemed to linger, and flareup mostly on Sunday for us. What this means is, that my well scheduled 'week of preparation' leading up to his party went down the tubes. Ah, well. One thing we definitely caught onto at James's party, is that the boys want to just run around and play for most of the party anyway! 

We still manage to enjoy General Conference on Saturday morning with the Legos, but then Alec had to be whisked away for his soccer game at 11:20 (they won again!), then gymnastics at 1. 

But, back to the party: we created an obstacle course, got the food and cake sorted, threw in a couple balloon popping games and the boys were happy as can be! Largely due to the fact that the obstacle course included two squirt guns. Prized commodities.

Preparing to manuevur through the 'lasers':

I even made them put their fake mustaches back on for a group photo.

Alec's uncle got a little carried away with the mustaches at one point.

He loved it! I'm really loving the fact, that he's becoming more self-confident. When things like this happen, he just takes off laughing and everyone simply joins in with him. He's just a fun kid to be around.

On to the, "Mom, how many more questions?" Questionnaire:

How old are you? 7

What makes you happy? Mom. James. Dad & Evy.

What is your favorite thing to eat? Pizza!

What is your least favorite thing to eat? Bananas

What are your favorite things to do? Play squirt guns, soccer 

What is your favorite scripture story? Ammon

What is your favorite movie? Atlantis

What is your favorite color? Red

What is your favorite song? I Am a Child of God

What is your favorite book? Non-fiction books about Sea Dinosaurs

What is your favorite sport? Soccer

What is your favorite animal? Lion

What are you really good at? Soccer, gymnastics, reading, math

Who is your best friend? James

What do you and your mother do together? Play and read books

What do you and your dad do together? Get ice cream and go to the park

Where is your favorite place to go? Flip N Out (indoor trampoline)

What do you want to be when you grow up? A paleontologist 

James at 4

James just had a birthday and it's definitely one I couldn't wait to celebrate. Terrible three's are over! He's fantastic four now! 

With his penchant for bad guys, we settled on a pirate birthday party. I love organizing and planning these parties (thank you, Pinterest!)  and since he picked his theme a couple months ago… It wasn't too hard. I do wonderful copying ideas, and tweaking them to fit our needs, I'm just not creative enough to come up with most of these on my own.

James even looked through Pinterest with me one night to decide what he wanted his cake to look like. This was the best shot I could get of him with his cake:

Ironically, I got the party mostly set up on time, but we forgot to send out all of the invitations on time. Yeesh. Still, most of his buddies came, along with all local cousins.

Everyone seemed to really enjoy walking the plank, and hooking pretzels. 

Evelyn and Aubrey waited until the boys had cleared out to try their turns at walking the planks. Smart girls.

Coming up with silly pirate names for the food was half the fun for Paul and I beforehand:

But, the big hit was the treasure map and once that was out, they didn't want to play any other games. I loved that they were using their imaginations and playing well, so I just 'forgot' about the other games and let them have fun:

James is so shy, that even at his birthday party he didn't want many pictures taken of himself. 

So, on to the birthday questionnaire!

How old are you? 4

What makes you happy? Cuddling

What is your favorite thing to eat? Cake!

What is your least favorite thing to eat? Pepperoni

What are your favorite things to do? Play Star Wars Angry Birds

What is your favorite scripture story? Ammon

What is your favorite movie? Star Wars

What is your favorite color? Blue

What is your favorite song? Frozen, 'In Summer'

What is your favorite book? Hop on Pop

What is your favorite sport? Air hockey

What is your favorite animal? Turtles

What are you really good at? Air hockey

Who is your best friend? Kayden

What do you and your mother do together? Cuddle up

What do you and your dad do together? He shows me his race car game & he takes me to stuff on daddy dates

Where is your favorite place to go? Roos N More

What do you want to be when you grow up? A superhero

Desert Gardening

I've decided to try a bit of gardening this year. I don't know how, so I've been directing loads of questions to my mom, the employees in the gardening sections at Lowe's, Home Depot and, well, maybe a few during Relief Society...but I was still listening to the lesson also!

Living in the desert, we don't have grass and I'm desperately craving some green and flowers to liven up our yard. The kids have been wonderful about helping me: digging in the dirt and watering plants are now ranked as some of their favorite activities! 

James and Evy even found another favorite thing about gardening:

Running beneath the recently watered flowers made a fantastic little game for them!

They were soaked and happy.

I love this time of year in Vegas. Gorgeous sunny days that just beg for park trips, and cool breezes that blow the scent of jasmine through the front door. 

Alec took the gardening a bit more seriously, and insisted on picking out his own flower. His favorite color is orange, so of course he was drawn to any orange flower. But, when he realized this beauty called the 'star of Bethlehem' he was certain it was the one!

Ah, the feel of dirt on our fingers!

It got better!!

We decided put Alec back into his assigned public school, which has an incredibly strict 'hands off policy'. After we explained what he's gone through, they've even got him meeting with a counselor to work through the frustration and anger that accompany being bullied.

His first day was Monday and he was so excited/nervous!

This was the most I could get him to sit still for a picture. His teacher came out to greet us and she was wonderful! She appears very organized and caring which will be great for him.

After school, he was all smiles & happy stories, "no one hit or kicked me the entire day!" What a change! At Somerset NLV, he didn't want to go, always came home rather 'down in the dumps', and had always been hurt physically at some point in the day.

SO many positives now: he has normal homework, so I don't feel like I have to supplement! His teacher tested him, so he's working at his correct level now-yay (fourth grade)! 

Another big advantage to having him go to the local school is that it's in bikeriding/walking distance. So, Alec has really enjoyed being able to ride his bike and I'm enjoying getting a little bit extra running time in.

I can tell it's better, because I don't have a sinking feeling in my stomach when I drop him off. What a wonderful change!

This has been a huge burden on our family and looking back now, I can't figure out why we didn't just pull him out sooner. I believe we felt so invested in the school, because we had wanted him there so badly, put so much time and money into it, and had such high expectations. I definitely feel like it was a 'parent fail' on our part as we should have just pulled him out sooner. 

This has humbled us a lot, but I feel like we have learned a lot from this situation. It was a good way to realize that we should trust our own personal revelation, more than the professional administrators at the school who continually promised us that things were getting better. I'm grateful I was able to volunteer so regularly, so I could see what was really happening at the school-not just the bits Alec reported (he told me, maybe, 1/10th of the violence that was being permitted). I feel like it was a good learning experience for Alec, who now really appreciates a fantastic, dedicated teacher and a wonderful school where his safety is important.

Apart from talking in class, (which his teacher reports at the normal level for a 6-year old boy) he's not having any problems! When I went into his class Wednesday, I was shocked at how much calmer & organized the entire school was! This was definitely the right decision. Lesson learned the hard way.

Day of looove

We love Valentine's Day at our house! Paul and I prefer spending the evening with the kiddos, as we have some fun traditions. The boys made cards for each other earlier in the week: 

We ALWAYS order Chinese takeout. A few years ago I was too tired to cook, and since Paul loves Chinese food (I'm not a fan), I thought he'd be cool with takeout as a surprise. The boys thought it was wonderful, so once a year we eat Chinese takeout.

This year we talked my brother's family into coming, along with my mom and grandma. 

Kaelyn and Evelyn tucking in:

We played several games:

Then decorated cookies for each other:

Making cards, then cookies for each other always makes for a sweet holiday! They get so excited to show each other what they've created. I love it. Serving each other happily!

100 days and a photobomb

Alec's class celebrated their 100th day of school on Tuesday. Here in Vegas they make fruit loop necklaces, group small things into various-sized piles to add and multiply to 100 (he brought 100 Lego pieces), then make cute crowns. I wasn't there, but a friend texted me this cute picture:

Alec is adjusting to his new teacher, Mrs Scott. She uses a lot of positive reinforcement, which is key with Alec, so he was pretty proud of the ring pop he brought home after school Friday. I'm not thrilled that it's sugar, so maybe I'll donate some dollar store knick knacks.

James began reading some Dr Seuss this week-'Hop on Pop'. 

He couldn't stop laughing at the cat picture. I'm worried it translates into more terrorizing poor Monty.

Evy's had another ear infection, but seems better already. She's so funny, talking more everyday. She loves dress up; putting on my necklaces or hats.

Especially when she can use them to stall bedtime.

She's not a fan of getting her hair done, so for church this morning I did it whilst she ate breakfast in her booster seat:

This was James, photo bombing me in sacrament meeting. He thought he was hilarious...he was right. I laughed.

Here's what I wanted to remember:

It's getting better

It has been a really rough week for us. James has been an absolute beast. Last Sunday I had to carry him football-hold style out of sacrament, never to return. I then carried him screaming to Sunbeams. Constant tantrums this week! His Uncle Christopher had to carry him kicking & scratching to preschool on Tuesday (okay, that was kinda funny, because I only heard about it & Christopher called me-desperate to just bring James back home). Ugh. I have no idea what's going on with him lately. All I know is our sweet, cuddly James is now angry all the time. I remember Alec acting up a lot during the home stretch to his fourth birthday, so maybe this is the same situation?

Then there's Alec's school situation. We have fasted and prayed multiple times, with no clear answer. His class has several severe behavior issues. 3 boys with blatant anger-management issues & several violent ones. (Alec's been stabbed with a pencil in the chest, knocked down & kicked several times & constantly bullied). Unfortunately, Alec, at least at this stage in his life, is a complete follower. As a result he's become angry & violent (hmm, maybe that's where James is getting it?). Alec has regressed behaviorally in class & academically. I feel sick to my stomach sending him to school. Bear in mind this is a charter school, that should be safer & more controlled than a public school. So frustrating. So, they forced his teacher to resign Thursday morning. I feel sick about it. Friday whilst I was in class, one boy got into a huge fight in the bathroom with an older student & two others got into a fistfight in class. So, we're debating between homeschooling & putting him back into his assigned public school.

Friday night Paul and I took it to the temple. I was SO uptight and stressed about the situation, which is only making it more difficult to make the correct decision. The amazing peace that washed over and relaxed me halfway through the session was amazing. I cried through a lot of the session, but felt so much calmer after. Thank goodness for the opportunity to attend the temple. We've got some guidance now, so on to happier topics!

Today is my birthday. The boys spoilt me this morning with cards & colored pictures.

Alec built me a 'paperweight spaceship' from Legos. 

James created a cute Mr Potato Head & proudly showed me the secret stash stored for me "...to make more, mommy!" 

They sang & hugged & kissed me. 

Paul even brought me breakfast in bed!

Which Evy begged for. Immediately.

I loved every second of it! 

ALL my siblings called and sang to me. 

My mom made me my favorite: eggplant Parmesan for dinner, and strawberry pie for dessert.

I'm stuffed for tomorrow even! Too bad the Broncos weren't having as good a day. Not that we're into American football, but I grew up in Colorado, so it was disappointing to hear how horribly they lost.