Black Belt Testing

        I am so proud of McCabe.  After 4 years of tae kwon do, he has earned his black belt.  It took about 3.5 hours of exercises; kicking, punching, sit-ups, push-ups, running, forms, sparring, and board breaking.     He also had to complete a 3 page exam.  I am so glad he stayed with it.

Sunday, October 30, 2016

        It is Sunday morning and if you take a snapshot of our household this is what you would find.  Tim, Sasha, and Jacinda blogging (i.e. typing in their journals).  McCabe making brownies.  Xadia and Teagan using fake money to buy fishing lures from each other.  Never a dull  moment in our house.
         Halloween is tomorrow!  The kids dressed up in their costumes and had a parade at school.  Jacinda and McCabe made their costumes.  Jacinda is a candy girl and McCabe a vending machine.  Xadia is queen Elsa from frozen.  Teagan is spiderman.  I have a spiderman costume for Teagan but he does not want to wear it.  Instead, he wears his spiderman jacket because it has a hood that covers part of his face so he looks like spiderman.

Xadia's first grade class, Mrs. Buttars.  Xadia is on the second to last row. 

        I had the opportunity to listen to Teagan's pre-school class sing some halloween songs.  It was so fun to watch and listen to all the kids.  They did a stellar job.  I recorded it as a memory.  I know my kids will enjoy it in the years to come.

        Tim and I enjoyed a weekend get away....all thanks to grandma Margaret for watching the children.  We took a quick trip to Wendover to watch Gabriel "Fluffy" Iglasias.  He is a funny and clean comedian, unfortunately his opening act and friend Martin was just the opposite.  We had a good time.  No we did not gamble.  We are not that type of folk but it was interesting to see those who do gamble.  They did not look like they were having a good time.  In fact I overheard a conversation as I was waiting in line to be seated for breakfast that one gentleman kept falling asleep at the slot machine.  Security had come by 3 times to wake him.  He had a room but chose to sleep by the slot machine.

Sunday, October 23, 2016

                I was able to go to my high school reunion on Oct. 15^th.  It was outstanding.  So many great people.  Everyone was so nice and easy to talk to.  I had the great opportunity to take lots of pictures and make a movie.  I tried really hard to pictures of everyone.  My fellow Vikings have turned out to be amazing people.  I just loved the evening.  I was so busy talking and taking pictures that I did not get to eat dinner and I lost my voice the next day.  In the end, it was all worth it.

                Jacinda is exceling in school.  She got a 100% on her spelling test.  I am so proud of her.  She is going to do great things in life.  At the moment, she likes Studio C, Minecraft, and listening to audio books.  She recently signed up for the school choir and I think she is planning to do the school play.

                McCabe is doing great in school.  He does well in whatever he tries.  He recently earned his black belt in tae kwon do.  He loves fishing, the book series “Diary of a Wimpy Kid,” and treats.  He asks me every day after school if he could get a treat from the freezer.  McCabe is also doing a great job helping on our “project” trailer.  Yesterday he helped with the roof, sanding the cabinets, and vacuuming the inside.  We have a lot of work ahead but we are getting a good start.

                Xadia loves first grade.  She is reading and helping a lot in the classroom.  I like to see her when I take Teagan to school.  It is also fun to eat lunch with her.  Xadia likes Minecraft, Roblox, and coloring.   She is a great helper at home.  When I ask her to do a chore, she is willing to help.  She is also starting piano. 

                Teagan is my buddy.  We spend a lot of time together.  He goes to pre-school twice a week.  He likes to bring the letter of the week to school.  When he does not participate, he gets very angry.  Last week I did not have him take anything for the letter ‘E’ and he gave me an earful of crying.  Teagan likes his kindle, Sheriff Callie’s Wild West, and reading “The Kissing Hand” and “My Little T book.”

                We have a lot of fun together.  I love my kids and enjoy being their momma.

Grandma's Quilt and my Wall Hanging Oct. 2016

My grandma (Meta) Blackham was an avid quilter.  She always made blankets and quilts for family members.  Grandma created the most beautiful quilts and always sewed by hand.  She watched a lot of M*A*S*H and Murder She Wrote as she worked on the individual quilting blocks.  As a little girl, I would ask her to put her quilts on display in the Mormon Handi-craft windows.  But she said her quilts were not good enough and she would rather give them to family.

As I got older, my grandma taught me about sewing.  One day she showed me a pattern of a Sun Bonnet Sue.  I was intrigued and she encouraged me to make one.  So I started with the green Sun Bonnet Sue and then I got an idea to make one for each of the young women’s values to fulfill one of my YW requirements.  Twenty-four years ago there were only 7 values because virtue had not been added yet.

Seven years later, in 1999, my grandma surprised me with a beautiful Sun Bonnet Sue quilt for a wedding gift.  My grandma spent more time on this quilt than on any other.  It is an honor to have this quilt and I cherish it so much.  I lost my grandma in 2004, but a little piece of her still resides in my home with this beautiful quilt. 

Sunday, October 2, 2016

     Teagan is becoming quite a good swimmer.  We went to the rec. center this past week and he jumped of the high and low diving boards for the first time and also did the wibbit obstacle course. I am pleased that he is able to do that by himself but it worries me that he might think that he now does not need mom or dad to watch him swim.  Oh the joys of kids growing.

      We got to go to a Bee's game for Tim's work.  While getting our tickets we saw Ronald McDonald.  We could not pass up getting a picture with him.  When Ronald saw Tim/Waldo he said, "hey we shop at the same shirt store."  Tim was a big hit at the game.  So many people kept saying, "there's Waldo."  It was fun to see how many people smiled as Tim walked by them.  I think I married a pretty great guy.

       School has started and the kids are loving it.  Jacinda is in 6th grade and has Mrs. Wiedman.  McCabe is in 4th grade and has Mrs. Peterson.  Xadia is in 1st grade and has Mrs. Buttars.  Teagan is in Pre-school and has Mrs. Chris and Ms. Amy.  The weather has been beautiful and as a result the kids get to walk to school.  I am pleased at how well they are doing in their classes.  Xadia is reading and Jacinda is doing so well at spelling.  McCabe is also excelling in math.  I get to do 1st grade again for the 4th time.  

      McCabe has been taking an interest in cooking.  In this picture he is making fudge.  He is learning that some treats take time and patience.  We had to use the candy thermometer to make sure it reaches the right temperature before we could add the chocolate and the butter.  The batch turned out fantastic and for the next week he kept begging me for a piece of fudge each day he got home from school. 

      Here we are at the annual Tech Trek to raise money for the kid's school.  They got to run laps.  Xadia ran 27 laps, McCabe 32, and Jacinda 13.  I am so proud at how well they did.  Jacinda also worked at the snow cone station with her friend Brooklyn Thompson.  I also did some laps and got to enter my name into a drawing.  I won one of the prizes, a free massage.  I will be using that gift certificate some time in the very near future.

Sunday, October 2, 2016

     Teagan is becoming quite a good swimmer.  We went to the rec. center this past week and he jumped of the high and low diving boards for the first time and also did the wibbit obstacle course. I am pleased that he is able to do that by himself but it worries me that he might think that he now does not need mom or dad to watch him swim.  Oh the joys of kids growing.

      We got to go to a Bee's game for Tim's work.  While getting our tickets we saw Ronald McDonald.  We could not pass up getting a picture with him.  When Ronald saw Tim/Waldo he said, "hey we shop at the same shirt store."  Tim was a big hit at the game.  So many people kept saying, "there's Waldo."  It was fun to see how many people smiled as Tim walked by them.  I think I married a pretty great guy.

       School has started and the kids are loving it.  Jacinda is in 6th grade and has Mrs. Wiedman.  McCabe is in 4th grade and has Mrs. Peterson.  Xadia is in 1st grade and has Mrs. Buttars.  Teagan is in Pre-school and has Mrs. Chris and Ms. Amy.  The weather has been beautiful and as a result the kids get to walk to school.  I am pleased at how well they are doing in their classes.  Xadia is reading and Jacinda is doing so well at spelling.  McCabe is also excelling in math.  I get to do 1st grade again for the 4th time.  

      McCabe has been taking an interest in cooking.  In this picture he is making fudge.  He is learning that some treats take time and patience.  We had to use the candy thermometer to make sure it reaches the right temperature before we could add the chocolate and the butter.  The batch turned out fantastic and for the next week he kept begging me for a piece of fudge each day he got home from school. 

      Here we are at the annual Tech Trek to raise money for the kid's school.  They got to run laps.  Xadia ran 27 laps, McCabe 32, and Jacinda 13.  I am so proud at how well they did.  Jacinda also worked at the snow cone station with her friend Brooklyn Thompson.  I also did some laps and got to enter my name into a drawing.  I won one of the prizes, a free massage.  I will be using that gift certificate some time in the very near future.