A full week of activities

And I wouldn't want it any other way.  We had our normal activities during the week.  I am glad I made the change to swamp Tuesdays so I could have Mondays and Wednesdays at home.  I think the kids enjoy it as well.

Colten finally got all of his karate gear for earning his purple belt.  He can now spar with his classmates and be protected.

Friday night the kids went over to Grandma Chris' for a cousin's game night.  Alijah, Jeramiah, Trent and Paige were the cousins that joined them.  Mom asked me if I wanted to stay and help and I promptly said No.  Haha I already did the crazy one a few years ago when they were younger.  I just went home and watched a movie.  The kids weren't happy when I came back to get them but oh well.

Saturday morning was an early day for Colt and I.  We were running in our 3rd Swiss Days 5K.  Since the stomach flu, my body has not been the same.  I knew this run was going to to be rough since I haven't officially run a whole 3 miles this summer.  Colt knew he wasn't going to do well....and when he told me he wanted to start off walking I knew he was not up for it.  But he persevered and ran at the start.  I caught up to him at 1.8 miles when he was walking.  I pushed him to run a little more than he wanted to.  When I knew there was about .25 miles left, I told him to go ahead.  Well he apparently tripped on some rocks and fell.  So I had to stop and help him get set up again.  He said he couldn't run but I kept pushing him and when he saw the finish line he left me to go finish.  It was probably the first time he had to really try at this running thing because he hasn't been running much at all lately.  But I told him "We finished the race and therefore we win".  We went to Bishop's for breakfast afterwards.  Then he had a football game that we found out about the night before.  I love his willingness to push through and participate when he is tired.  But there was no complaining at all.  He played great in his game.  His team didn't have any subs so he played the entire game.  He didn't score any touchdowns but he did have the longest play for his team.  He sure knows how to change directions and look for holes in the defense.

I did take pictures of Colt and I before the run and after at the finish line but they have disappeared :'(

After the football game, we headed over to the church for auditions for our stake play, "The Best Christmas Pageant Ever".  I wasn't planning on being there for 2 hours, but a las, we were.  Colt was trying to get a speaking part and got called back for more auditions.  Aspen was also trying out for a speaking part.  We will just have to wait and see what parts they get.

Just as we were sitting down to watch a movie, Grandma Chris lets me know that she is taking the boys to the swimming pool and wants to know if my kids want to go.  "Sure" was their reply.  Good thing we did because we learned that on Saturdays Sand Hollow puts an obstacle course in the lap pool.  The kids had a hay day running that course.  I took back for home and tried to get a nap in.  I don't think I slept much but I at least rested.

We headed over to Grandma's after the pool so the women could watch the Women's Conference on TV.  The original plan was to go to the stake center but Grandpa had agreed to take Kayleeya's Homecoming pictures and wouldn't be able to watch the boys.  Aspen did great with watching and was excited when she knew who President Uchtdorf was.  We went home after conference (which was awesome).  The kids watched a movie while I headed up to Tuacahn to freeze haha.

I signed up for the Living Scriptures streaming services, they had a promotion to try it for $1 a month instead of $10.  The kids have enjoyed watching church videos this morning.  They were even engaged in the Gordon B Hinckley documentary that I was watching.  Hopefully the kids don't get tired of it over the next month.

The kids and I have also been going to visit Great Grandma in her new assisted living place.  Aspen has been reading to her from the Book of Mormon picture book.  Grandma is so thrilled every time that she does that.  We try to keep our visits short as to not wear Grandma and Grandpa out.  I hope this is brightening up Grandma and Grandpa's day and that it is teaching my kids the importance of family.

Ward social, football and a rodeo

Well it was a relatively slow week for us.  We have started doing family home evenings on Monday (I know it should have been happening long before now) but better late than never.  It is fun to have Holly join us as well.  And I have moved Aspen's gymnastics so we don't have to hurry through FHE.  The kids are really enjoying it and taking turns doing the lesson/activity/treat.

Tuesdays are our busy days especially now that Aspen is doing Girls on the Run.  Colten is now a purple belt so he goes to karate for 90 minutes instead of 60.  And I switched Aspen to gymnastics to Tuesday.  So we are pretty much out of the house most of the evening.  Luckily, Holly is there to make us dinner when we get home :)

Colten is still enjoying flag football and will be extremely sad when it ends in a few short weeks.  He scored two touchdowns this past Thursday.  The assistant coach has learned that he understands football and will run all of the field to get away from people.  Colt is also the only boy to quickly go by the coach as soon as the play is over.  He still struggles playing with boys who don't take the game seriously.  I have tried working with him on this and will continue to work on it.

This past Thursday we attended the Dixie Round Up rodeo.  One of my students was competing in the barrel racing so we went.  Holly was our commentator and explained what each event was and how it worked.  It was extremely fun.  Both of the kids really enjoyed it, Colt wasn't a fan of it going so late.  It was fun to watch my student and text with her mom.  She said that her run was horrible.  I said it's alright...still fun to watch.

 This is my student in the cream shirt.

On Friday night I was volunteering up at Tuacahn so the kids got to stay home by themselves.  It went pretty well except when Colt heard a noise and got scared.  My mom was shuttle driving and was planning on going home during the show so he stopped by my place on her way to check on them.  Both kids went to bed in my bed so I had to move them when I got home.  Colt doesn't remember moving beds so he claims to sleep walk...haha

Saturday I spent the morning deep cleaning my house.  Aspen got her room somewhat clean and Colt just read books for 2 hours.  Aspen was starving but I wouldn't make lunch until I was done cleaning.  Paula was hosting a party for Tori and Norwax that I was late to due to needing to shower.  It was a pretty cool party with lots of cleaning supplies (expensive at that) but fun.  Then we headed over to my parents house to watch the Tennessee vs Flordia game.  Colt is a Gator fan because alligators are a close relative to crocodiles haha.  We harassed him when Tennessee did good and sang "Rocky Top".  But Tennessee had 3 missed field goals and Florida won on a hail mary pass.  Luckily we ate right afterwards so Colt forgot about the game.  My mom and I walked over to the school with the kids so we could walk around the track.  All in all it was a fun day.

Today is the Primary program in our ward.  Aspen and Colt are singing a little duet in "I'm Trying to Be Like Jesus".  I haven't been great at getting them to practice so hopefully this last minute practicing is enough.  I am proud of them for putting themselves out there.

That's it for now!  Til next week :)

Labor Day travels and sickness

The kids were with their Grandpa Higgins and Sheila over Labor Day weekend.  They got to visit their Great Grandma Higgins and go up on the mountain to check Grandpa's trail cams.  They had a blast and have requested to go on the hunt with him.  On the way up to get the kids, I noticed their were a couple of accidents on the freeway going south.  So I decided to take the back roads from Cedar to St. George.  We stopped in Enterprise to eat at Marv's.  We were driving down from Enterprise just before Sunset and saw some pretty amazing views.  We also had a full moon.  So the kids were trying to get some photos of all the views.

For the past couple of weeks, Colt has struggled with having fevers on and off.  Last time, he had fevers on and off for 5 days...then was put on an antibiotic and seemed to be good.  This past week the fevers have returned.  I took him to a family doctor instead of the instacare this time.  His temperature was 103.5! He had been sleeping since he got home from school and didn't have energy to get up and walk anywhere.  The doctor was pretty much stumped.  He wanted a blood draw.  Colten has sworn to never do that again and wasn't too happy when I told him he has to come back on Monday for another one.  His white blood count was low which indicates a virus but the doctor said viruses don't usually cause high fevers.  So all he could do was say keep tylenol and ibuprofen in him.  And that the fevers could last about 5 days and the virus 10 days.  So this past week has been up and down with him feeling well.   Some days are good, some are bad.  Some days he has lots of energy some days he sleeps all day.  It has been rough watching him go through this illness.  And I hate that we don't really know what is going on.  Hopefully it will only last a little while longer.

Aspen was in heaven this past weekend cause she went to a sleepover with her best friends and was gone ALL day Saturday.  They watched Halloween movies and went to the Children's museum  and splash pads.  She also had to learn the hard way about being responsible with her homework.  She had chosen not to complete her Language Arts homework on Tuesday or Wednesday.  So I told her on the way to choir Thursday morning she couldn't play outside until her homework was done.  She tried to get a jump start and work on it during her free time at school.  But then she left it on the table when they changed classes and someone put it in her cubby.  She never retrieved it and therefore she left it at school.  So I told her that the deal was she could go outside when her homework was completed and since she hasn't completed it, she couldn't go outside.  She wasn't happy at all with me (there was a birthday party going on for one of the neighborhood boys) but she obeyed me and stayed inside.  Her teacher was nice and allowed her to come in early the next day and get it finished.  Hopefully this is the last time she forgets her homework.

School is well underway

Aspen is learning that 5th grade is no joke.   She has a lot more homework than she has in the past.  This past week she had an explorers test and she had to write a 2 page personal narrative plus various math pages throughout the week.  She doesn't like it most of the time but she is doing her best to just get it done early so she can do whatever she wants to.  What a trooper.

Colten is still loving the 3rd grade.  He has lost some of his drive to actually do his homework though.  For instance, he accidentally left his homework at school on Monday (early out day).  So he chose to stay inside at recess so he could do Monday's homework.  Well, Mrs. Beraz said there was no need to stay in at recess and that he could turn it in late.  So instead of just doing the few math problems on Monday...he has kept his homework over the weekend.  Oh well...as long as he does it that's what matters.

The kids have loved having their Aunt Holly stay with us during the week.  She took Aspen up to Richfield with her last weekend to hang out with her boys and then Grandpa and Sheila.  This weekend, Sheila was down to watch Mama Mia so she took the kids back up with her then Holly will bring them back tomorrow.  I needed this weekend to get caught up with work so it was nice to know that the kids will have fun up in Richfield.

I had the opportunity to head up to Salt Lake on Thursday to attend Back to School night for UTVA.  Much thanks to Holly, Sheila and my mom for getting my kids where they needed to be so I could go.  It was a fun night.  I met about 20 of my students.  That is the most I have ever met in person since I am unable to attend outings where most of my students are.  It was a quick trip up and back but at least we got a hotel.  Oh and we had professional development for an hour on Friday...well Lacey, Amber and I didn't want to get back too late so we started to drive at 7.  Stopped in Fillmore at the Burger King to use the wifi and attend PD and then continue on our way.  I am sure we got many funny faces as we hovered around the computer.

Colten had a football game on Thursday night.  Holly reported that he scored a touchdown.  And then she also sent me a video of him playing quarterback in which he threw the ball and the other kid actually caught it.  He loves the game so much and it makes my heart happy to see him so happy.

Well I think that is all for now.  No pictures since I wasn't at the game.  Maybe I'll take pictures of the kids doing their homework this week...they spend a lot of time doing that.

Ok scratch that...so we had the full lunar eclipse a couple of weeks ago and someone posted this picture of the temple with the eclipse.  I believe this is the Boise temple because Idaho was a location to get the full eclipse.   I love it!  Want to make sure I have it recorded.