It's Getting WIGGY Around Here!

Here's a few pictures

from our wiggy little home this Spring.

Hunter came up with Sable dressed in this wig the other day, and I couldn't stop laughing. Her head with all that hair looked HUGE on top of her little body (kinda like E.T.) Her little poses were just too adorable. We just can't get enough of this sweet and sassy little girl!

  Next is Teagan sporting his fabulous "Billy Bob Teeth" that he begged to get for Christmas. He kept sneaking mine and wearing them around the house (which was a little gross.)I think he figured out that was a good way to motivate me to buy him his own! ...smart little dude... He's had a lot of fun just wearing them randomly around the house. It's also a great way to explain what happens to teeth when we don't brush them      regularly.
Funny how everyone has upped their tooth-care routine. (No, not really, but it was worth a try. ha ha!) 

 

Lastly, I thought a little girl had stopped by the play dress-up when I realized it was Connor. What has amazed me through the years is how much fun children have with dress-up. It doesn't matter if they are 5 or 15, boy or girl, male or female. Everyone laughs and has a good time. These days, the boys and their friends get such a kick out of dressing up in everything from super hero garb to dresses and wigs!  I almost can't decide if the boys like dressing up more than the girls or vice versa. But either way, it looks like the costume box is here to stay! But hopefully Connor in a wig, isn't.

An Undefeated Season!

Hunter played soccer again this Spring and had an amazing team. They were undefeated all season! He had the same coach from last year (Coach Tirado) and he is terrific. He is patient and really knows the game well. He does a good job of motivating the boys while staying calm. Hunter had a good experience. I signed him up because I understood he wanted to play. Then I found out he wasn't happy that I had done so because he wasn't wanting to pay half of the fee which was $10.00. (That was the deal if the boys wanted to play.) He knows the value of money because he had to earn that by pulling weeds for 8 hours! I couldn't get our money back because the season had already started. His team needed him as there were only 2 extra players on the team. None-the-less, he struggled to make the decision of whether he wanted to continue playing. He doesn't enjoy running a great deal and the coach did quite a bit of conditioning. I told him I could pay him back, because of the misunderstanding, but he needed to decide and let his coach know if he wasn't coming back. He sat for a long time wrestling back and forth and even got a little emotional. At this point, I felt it would be important for future choices to learn how to weigh the pros and cons and work through making a difficult decision. I taught him how to make a pros and cons list and he spent a few minutes thinking through the consequences of his decision. In the end, he decided to play. I wasn't surprised when I looked at the list and see that the number one pro was that his team mates were counting on him. He is always wanting to help and serve others. I took him to practice and he had a great time. When he got back in the car he had a big smile on his face and he told me that he was really glad he decided to play. Connor and Teagan played soccer as well and did a great job. Connor had several opportunities to practice with Hunter's team and play some scrimmages, which made his chest puff out. The coach told me that Connor is a great player and can really run fast. He loves to run and loves soccer. I hope we can get him on a year round team eventually. Teagan really enjoyed it as well. This was only his second season, and he is still working on getting control of the ball amidst the mass of feet! It was really fun to go and watch the boys play each weekend. We hope to play soccer at the park with friends through the summer to keep up their skills.

Homeschool Play: Between the Lines

The TIME Homeschool Co-op that we take part in 3 semesters per year, puts on a play each winter. This year, we enlisted the help of an amazing woman named Betty Ashcraft who taught drama in the high school for over 20 years and is now retired. She did such an amazing job of selecting a play to accommodate our unlikely bunch of varying age groups and skill levels, and of encouraging and creating a safe environment for the children to try. It was a musical, which provided an extra challenge. I was really impressed with the work they all put into it as well as the quality of performance. I didn't expect it to be very good, but was delighted at the result. But most importantly, all the children had a good experience and grew in their confidence on stage. Hunter was cast as one of the narrators and sang 2 duets which sounded great! Connor blew us away with a strong and clear solo. He has got a set of lungs!! His part was that of Devin who was a 7 year old human boy that terrorized the fairy tale characters from the other world because of his human-ness. There were two performances with a nice luncheon in between. The mothers each brought food and the kids ate in the cultural hall (the play was held at the stake center.) I watched the first show and then helped in the nursery during the second show. Ryan had been sick all day, but drug himself out of bed to come to the second show. He was glad he did. Aunt Kari and her children also came to watch, which made the boys feel really special. The Jonas cousins.

God Loves Teagan, Warts and All!

The last 2 years, we have been battling warts that began forming all over Teagan's hands. I took him to the doctor and he recommended filing them each day so the body would recognize them and the immune system would take care of them. We came home and began the regiment of daily filing (which was a big pain!) To our dismay, instead of the body get rid of them, they began to multiply. He went from having 15 or so, to double that! It must have spread the virus because Ashton started getting them as well! I don't typically take my children in for annual health check=ups because I don't like passing the bill on to the taxpayers, but because of the warts, when his annual check up came due, I took him in to see what could be done. I am so grateful I did. Last year his eyes seemed to check out perfectly, but this year, he couldn't even see the big E with his left eye. I was very concerned and went in to talk with the doctor. After discussing his eye, we started talking about his warts. He took Teagan's hands and couldn't find any warts. "What?" How can you miss them? I took his hands, and sure enough, there wasn't a wart left. A few scars, yes. But not a single wart! In a matter of 2 weeks since I had last looked at his hands, his immune system had destroyed them. God revealed His love for Teagan that day because not only did he bless Teagan's body to fight off the warts, but unknown to us, there was a hidden blessing in those warts. They were the only reason I took him in to be checked. Because we homeschool, we don't have the annual eye checks they do at the schools. We wouldn't have known that Teagan's eyes needed help. But, because we have caught his vision problems early, there is a very good chance we can correct it and he might not have to wear glasses the rest of his life. Teagan had to have some drops put into his eyes to dilate them. While we waited for them to dilate, we walked over to McDonalds for an ice cream cone. Teagan got to wear some really hip glasses to help keep the light out of his eyes.

Dr Nathan Price is in our ward and he took great care of Teagan.

Teagan picked out these glasses. He looks so handsome. He has been really good about taking care of them and remembering to put them away when he rough-houses with his brothers.

A New Year!

I recently visited a friend that uses her blog to journal the family going-ons for the year and then has the book printed out each December. I loved the idea, because as our family grows, it is getting more difficult for me to find the time to journal for each of the children. This will be a wonderful way of capturing our weekly happenings so we can look back later and enjoy them. My goal is to take at least 1 picture each day of the week, and post on Sunday.