Mikki

Mario made a deal with Erin. If she did all her chores perfectly for a month, we would allow her to buy a bird and all the accessories. Yesterday was the end of the month so with all her money saved up (about $100) she and I went to Petco and she picked out Mikki. She is hoping a sibling will buy one too and name it Mouse. We don't know yet if Mikki is a boy or girl but the store employee told us that it is about 6 months old. She also told Erin how to train it so Erin would be able to hold it. She said it would take about a week. Apparently Mikki bonded quickly with Erin because she was holding him within a few hours. I am even becoming attached to Mikki. Maybe I will have to be the one to buy "Mouse."

"I Eat Stuff"

This is an assignment that Nathan completed in class. I love how when you are in first grade you don't have to really answer the essay question and they still give you a star. I try to put some of the boys' work on my blog because I feel bad that I throw all these cute little stories away. I was dusting the coffee table several months ago and found a drawer full of Nathan's schoolwork. He said he was tired of me throwing all his work in the recycle bin....oops.

NJHS

Erin was inducted into the National Junior Honor Society last Monday. We are so proud of her academic accomplishments.

Busted

Golf Lessons and Law School

Eric and I were recently eating lunch at Subway during his lunch hour when the high school golf team walked in. What appealed to me about this team was they all had clean cut haircuts and they were all well dressed. I didn't see a single one wearing low rider jeans with boxers hanging out. What Eric saw was a bunch of kids getting out of school to play golf. I asked if he would be interested in playing golf in high school and the thought of playing golf during the school day appealed to him. I don't want to give the impression that Eric is a slacker in school though, because he continues to get straight A's and is very motivated to keep that up in high school.

Since he has never swung a golf club in his life, I decided I better look at getting him some lessons to see if he even likes it. Fortunately the base was offering one hour of lessons for kids for $5. Only 3 boys showed up so they got a lot of individualized attention. Eric needs a lot of practice but he liked it. So now I think I will get him some one-on-one lessons. I figured golf was a good sport because hopefully it will be easier on his knees. His knees took a beating in baseball and wrestling. Plus his goal in life (at least right now) is to go to law school. We figured golf and law would be a good combination.

Speaking of law school, my sweet, innocent little girl announced this weekend that she wants to attend law school also. Her reasonings are way different than Eric's though. She wants to go because in her own words, "All the lawyers in the movies are good looking." She plans to meet her future husband there. Mario's comment was that she has been watching way too may movies.

Nathan's "Sick" Day

Nathan got ready for school and ate a big breakfast. Then he told me his tummy hurt. He seemed fine, but I had a Physical Therapy appointment in town, so I didn't want to take him to school and then risk getting called by the school to come pick him up. I decided that even if he weren't really sick, he could use a day off with me. His teacher had given the class some extra credit work to do anyway if they wanted an E on their report cards for Social Studies and Science. So he worked on that during my appointment. Then we went to the mall and he finally got his Lego shoes that he's been eyeing for months. They were on clearance for $16. Then we topped off our day with lunch with Mario.

I think Nathan may decide to have sick days more often. Nathan just told me it was fun to stay home, the only bad thing was his tummy hurt. It sure didn't seem to hurt while he was shopping for shoes or eating lunch at McDonalds. :)

Here's a copy of his extra credit report on Mount Rushmore. He probably did more work at home today than he would have in school anyway and he and I learned a lot about Mount Rushmore. Next report is on bin Laden. The teacher said to choose a current event. The only thing I could think of was bin Laden. Now I am having some regrets since Nathan knew nothing about him and now I am wishing I hadn't told him. But it may be better coming from me instead of other kids or teachers.

Grandma's Visit

My mom flew back with me from Utah on Sunday night. She had 3 days to spend with the family. Unfortunately the kids had school so they didn't get to spend as much time with her as they wanted. I did take Eric out of school on Wednesday and we went to the Gila Valley Temple. In hindsight, I should have taken each of the kids out for at least a half day so they could have spent more time with her.

She watched Erin at track practice. Erin was learning the hurdles. The last meet, they threw her in to do hurdles without her ever trying one. Fortunately she didn't fall, but I am glad they took some time at practice to teach her. Grandma also spent time with kids at the pool, park, and bike riding. She always takes lots of pictures which I appreciate especially since I don't take many. As you can see, Erin is going to pass Grandma in height soon. Eric measured 5'8" in the ER a couple weeks ago. We are hoping he will pass up Uncle Billy by time we see him in September.