Scout advancement

Eric finally advanced to Life Scout tonight. I say finally because he has been wanting a board of review for months and with a change of leadership and a number of other excuses, Eric wasn't able to pin on until tonight. His goal was to be an Eagle Scout in 2010 because it is the 100th anniversary of scouting. But now he will have to wait at least 6 months to advance to Eagle. Breaking his arm also made it hard to accomplish his goal. He wasn't able to go to Scout camp so he has a lot of camping nights to make up. Eric is an awesome kid and he works hard. I am so proud of him. I love these pics of Eric and I. Not often that Eric shows any affection in public. Helps when the Bishop tells the boys to kiss and hug their moms. Thanks Bishop!

It is funny because I was just wondering today when Eric stopped showing any affection for his family in public. I wonder because my twins hug and kiss me everyday when I drop them off and pick them up from school. I was just wondering how much longer they will do that. I will cherish the hugs and kisses everyday until they stop. Then I will be sad. At least I still have Erin to be affectionate in public.

Teacher Visits

In the Vail School District, we have the option of having the teacher make a home visit. They come and hang out with the student for about a half and hour and do anything that the student wants. Nathan chose to give Mrs. Lowden a tour of our house and then play Legos. He was so excited about her visit that he cleaned out the inside of my china hutch. Before school I saw him with the hutch's door open and I asked him what he was looking for. His response was, "I am cleaning it, my teacher is coming today!" I really don't think she would look inside a cabinet, but hey, if he wants to clean it for me, that is great. No complaints from me. Then after school I noticed that Erin's closet was off the track. After further inspection, I noticed the track was bent. I asked her what happened and she said Nathan broke it. He came in her room a few minutes prior to make sure her closet was clean (because his teacher was coming.) He took a quick look inside and said never mind and slammed the door shut which caused it to come off the track.

He and Mrs. Lowden enjoyed playing with Legos. Zach wasn't quite sure what he wanted to do with his teacher until he heard that some other kids played wii with her. So he played wii with Mrs. Rupel and the intern. Not surprising, he beat them at every Mario Kart race. I think it was fun for him to play against two people who didn't have a chance of beating him.

Boys Being Boys

Here's a few of the conversations I have been hearing around the house this week. I wonder if my boys will break the family record and make it to the principal's office before third grade.

#1

Zach: "Nate, I went to computers today and it was so boring."

Nate: "Then why didn't you just type in pbs.org"

Zach: "Because the teachers were watching"

#2

Zach: "Mom, I know how to leave the lunchroom without eating all my lunch."

Me: "Really, how?"

Zach: "I just close my lunch box before they come around and check."

#3

Zach: "We aren't allowed to run on the playground at recess."

Me: "Yeah, I know, Erin got in trouble for that last year."

Zach: "We just wait until the teacher isn't watching, then we run."

#4

Nate: "These new shoes don't fit."

Erin: "Let me try putting them on you."

Nate: "They fit now, mom just put one of them on the wrong foot."

Boring Week

I see now why I volunteered at the elementary school in Monterey almost every day. Having all four kids in school is great, but I am getting bored. Not that there's not tons to do. I have 3 bathrooms that need cleaned and at least 6 closets that need organized (there is a downside to living in a big house.) Unfortunately I can't get motivated to do any cleaning and organizing. After getting the kids to school, I clean up from the morning rush and then I talk to Mario on Skype until his bedtime and my nap time. I feel so guilty that I am not doing more with my time (talking to Mario is obviously a good use of my time though.) There are so many kids that need tutoring and I should be actively looking for them or cleaning my house. I keep saying there's always tomorrow. But I really need to get started today. I need some motivation. I guess that with Mario leaving Kabul (tentatively) in 25 days, I will get the motivation to clean the entire house from top to bottom before he gets home. I can't believe he gets to leave in 25 days. It still seems too long, but compared to 181 days, 25 days is nothing.

I booked airfare for us to go to Florida for a cruise in January. We fly to Tampa with my dad on New Year's Eve and then drive down to Miami the next day for a 5 night cruise to Jamaica and Cayman Islands. There were some better cruises, but most go to Mexico and the Air Force is not allowed to travel to Mexico on vacation. Too bad I have such a long wait until January. But a week in San Diego in October should help pass the time. The whole family is looking forward to that vacation.

Nathan's New Girlfriend

Nathan told me today that his teacher, Mrs. Lowden, is his new girlfriend. He has absolutely no problems with being separated from Zachary this year in first grade. He told me "My class is way too much fun for me to be in Zach's class." I am glad he is so happy. Zachary has Mrs. Rupel and he is very happy with her class too. He hasn't complained, but she isn't a young, blond like Mrs. Lowden. But she was teacher of the year last year.

Breakfast in Bed

This morning (at 4:45 am) Erin brought me breakfast in bed. She got up at 4 so she could make me an egg burrito with toast along with tomatoes, a peach, and a cup of orange juice before our 5 am workout on the treadmill and bike. She was very sweet. Now Zach is planning what he can make me tomorrow. So far, his plan is cinnamon toast with a hard boiled egg (if there is one in the refrigerator.)

My boys must have read my last blog about me being sad that they don't dress alike anymore. This picture is before school this morning. Nate was was unhappy fellow because we walked to school instead of driving. I had to give him the same talk I gave Eric about needing to walk for a healthy heart. He didn't really buy it. So he was grumpy, but at least he let me take the picture.

A Day to Celebrate

I actually got them to all cooperate for a picture...no easy feat!

I can't believe she is in middle school now.

Gotta love those skinny jeans and purple shirt

Nate's trademark socks!

No more dressing alike...makes me sad!

Zach wants to be a skater like his big brother.

Today was a day of celebration (for me at least.) All of my kids went back to school and the twins finally started first grade (full day of school). So what did I do on my official first day off from being a mom for a few hours? I went to see the orthopedic dr about my knee. Looks like I may have surgery in late August when Mario returns. Then I ran a couple errands and came home and found plane tickets for my parents to come at Christmas. I didn't clean my house at all! It will have to wait until tomorrow. I wish that secret elf was still here!

Prison time

Nathan has this obsession with prison. A couple years ago he asked me what would happen if "dad and you" went to jail. I asked him what he thought we did to deserve jail time. He said something like, if we accidentally ran over someone. I told him that you don't go to jail for an accident, but hopefully we will never run someone over.

Today he asked me what happens if your "dad is away or died and your mom goes to prison. What would happen to the kids? Who would we live with?" I am not sure why he asks these questions. I hope he really doesn't put much thought into these things. Poor little guy. Apparently he is stressed that I am going to leave him or something. I assure everyone, I haven't done anything to warrant these kind of questions.

I may have blogged about this in the past, but one time when the twins and I were registering for school in Monterey, Nathan stole a spatula (of all things) from the district office play area. I didn't know about it until we got home. But I should have realized something was up because he was asking some strange questions in the car like, "How do police know when someone steals something? Do they go to jail?" Again, this obsession with jail. I had to drive all the way back to the district office (I think that was when gas was like $4 a gallon in California) and make him return it and apologize.

Past 2 weeks

I am feeling pretty guilty that it has been 2 weeks since my last post. That's good though because it means I have stayed busy and the time is flying by. Usually I don't want time to fly, but this summer has been different since I am anxious for August and Mario's return. Here's a summery of the past two weeks.

My mom flew in from Florida on the Fourth of July. We hardly ever go view the fireworks because I put my twins to bed too early and Eric doesn't like the loud noise. So we celebrated the Fourth on Monday with a pancake breakfast at church and then afternoon swimming and bbq with the Brother and Sister Park and her grandkids. They are always so nice to include us in their family activities.

It was so nice having Grandma here. I put a load of laundry into the washer and in the middle of the night an elf sneaks in and folds everything. The floors get cleaned and the dishes done. I had to keep reminding Grandma that the kids need to do their own chores. My mom brought a 1,000 piece horse puzzle for Erin. We haven't attempted a 1,000 piece puzzle before. But I soon became addicted to it and helped my mom and Erin complete it. Now I am ready for another puzzle but then I won't get anything done around the house, so I better wait.

On Wednesday, we all went up to Mesa where Eric and I did some Temple work. Then we went to a mall where Eric purchased his first pair of skinny jeans. I wish that fad would leave as quickly as possible. I hate them. I told Eric I wouldn't buy him skinny jeans but Mario thought I should since at least they are modest. So I relented a little. The pair he bought were not super skinny.

After the mall, we ate at Jason's Deli since our Tucson one closed. Then we went back to our new favorite Hilton hotel in Phoenix with the waterpark (the same one that we stayed at with Missy.) We enjoyed all going on the lazy river together and playing in the pools. Something I noticed about Eric on this trip was that he really likes doing things all together as a family. Several times I offered for him and Erin to go off on their own and he quickly replied that he would like us all to do it together. I have seen so many young men his age want to quickly ditch their family, but not Eric. He is very close to his siblings. It makes me very grateful for such a loving son.

We attempted miniature golf but the course ran along side the lazy river and the kids quickly found it amusing to hit (or throw) their golf balls into the river so they could jump in and get it. Fortunately their weren't any employees around to bust them.

The next morning we spent more time at the park and then we headed back to the Temple so I could do a session. It was so nice having my mom here to watch the kids while I went in. I love the peace I feel when I am in the Temple.

On Saturday, my dad flew in. He barely had time for hellos before Erin had him up in her room hanging her new saddle that she bought from Sister Park. My mom brought Erin her horse heads that she has had for over 40 years. So my dad hung those too and fixed her bed that was breaking.

Fortunately the next day was Sunday, so my dad had one day to rest while he was here. The rest of the days, we had him busy fixing bikes, counters, and everything else around the house that gets neglected when a man is gone for 5 months. Our big project was building solar ovens for each of us. The Parks had just built one and so we used theirs as a model. It was fun to do a project with my dad. We wouldn't make very good engineers because nothing we did was with precision, but they still came out as well (in our humble opinions) as the original (that was done by an engineer.)

For Erin's early birthday present, Mario and I got her and my mom a sunset horseback ride by the Catalina Mountains. Erin really enjoyed her time with Grandma. Only Grandma shares her great love of horses. I am a bit afraid of them after falling 6 years ago. So it was nice Erin had my mom to go with.

It was a great visit with my parents. The kids begged them to stay longer, but of course they had to get back to work. Zach is going to miss all the bike rides with Grandma and Eric will miss all the late night movies with Papa. We really appreciate them both coming and helping our summer go a little faster.

Back to school on Monday. I am so excited! Gotta love year round schooling especially when it is 110 degrees outside.

Circus

The circus was in town this week and since the twins have never been to a "real" circus and the big kids haven't been to one in 10 years, I decided that we should all go. Eric really had no interest in going but I brought him along anyway since the rest of us were going. It was a great show, but while we were there, I realized why Eric didn't want to go. He hates watching people do death defying stunts. He gets so nervous. Not to mention, he hates clowns. It seems to me that the stunts have gotten a lot harder since the last time I went. Instead of walking across a tightrope, now they walk up a tightrope. Instead of being in a cage with a tiger or 2, the trainer was in the cage with 9. Instead of doing backflips off a catapult, they do backflips with the highs stilts on. The show I was most nervous about was the motorcycles in the the big ball. There were 7 riders, including one female, that rode around in the big ball. I have seen this stunt before and I don't like it at all. It scares me to watch. One of the last stunts was a motorcycle riding across the tightrope right over our heads. I have seen it before so I knew the motorcycle would flip over the tightrope. I wish I had a camera to video of the kids' reaction when they thought that motorcycle was going to fall on top of us. They brought out a baby elephant that they named, Barack. Some of the crowd went wild, I didn't.

It was a fun day for the kids (even Eric) and I. We finished the day off with dinner and a game of Cities and Knights with the Acosta Family.