Morning Chores

I am really trying hard to keep my kids consistent on their daily chores before school. So this morning as I was telling Ethan he needed to stop putting his papers in his backpack and come wipe down the bathroom, he gave me some sage advice. He said, "Mom. Maybe you don't know this, but a clean bathroom isn't as important as learning."

Dude, just get in here and wipe down the dang bathroom!

Here's the latest installment of "Bed Hair Gone Wild"

Starring....

Ethan Westenskow

Why Sunday was a perfect day for Valentines...

For moms that always seem to need an extra day or so to get it all in, having a holiday on a Sunday is fantastic! I usually have grand plans but end up running out of steam or not being prepared enough to pull it off in a day. So that is why this weekend was so great. It let us spread out the love over 4 days and we were able to do the things we wanted to do. We started out celebrating on Friday with some beautiful flowers being delivered to our door "from the boys" to Eva and I, and we had them all weekend to enjoy. Friday night we had a valentines couple's dinner for our recipe group and Saturday we spent relaxing, doing cookies, eating cookies, and then Kerry and I had a sitter that night while we went out for dinner and had a couples massage. Bien. By Sunday, we were going strong, so we had heart shaped muffins for breakfast and a Valentines dinner of lemon garlic tilapia, asparagus, and a red smoothie-punch- a- majigger that we rigged together.

Monday was a holiday with kids out of school, so there was no Sunday evening pressure to pull everything together for Monday morning and we watched movies and vegged. Monday I took the kids up skiing and had a great day with them, while Becks and Kerry had their own day together looking at golf clubs and going to McDonalds.

The whole weekend was just fun, and I loved that it was spread out and unchaotic feeling. That is the hardest part sometimes - to actually relax and enjoy it for what it is.

Here are some pictures of the kids and their creations.

Happy Valentines Day!

And The Little One Says It All

Beckham's primary teacher pulled me aside Sunday to tell me what Becks had said in class. She was telling them that if they are reverent and quiet they can feel the Spirit. She told the class to be really quiet, and then when a couple of girls weren't cooperating, Becks stood up in front of the class and put his finger to his lips and said, "Shhh. I want to feel the Spirit. Everybody Be Quiet."

Then he went over and whispered in his teacher's ear, asking her, "If we are really quiet, will Jesus come down here so I can sit on his lap and tell Him how much I love Him?"

This made my heart so happy to hear. The little ones seem to understand more than we know.

Last night, Beckham came upstairs after we had put him to bed and told us he had a nightmare, which means, he never fell asleep and he wants to watch TV with mom and dad. So we let him cuddle on the couch with us and then I told him he could sleep in my room with me while Daddy finished watching his show. He was so cute and sweet, saying things like, "Mom. I love you so much. Come lay down right here by me on the pillow, ok mom?"

As we were falling asleep he says to me, "Mom. I don't ever want to have to get away from you." I said to him that we would never be away from each other to which he replied, "I don't ever want to have to get away from you and take you to the dump. You are so much better than garbage."

Man this kid has a way with words.

Maybe you just had to be there......

Kerry and I had a laughing fit tonight as we were watching the pajamagram commercials. Just as Kerry was sarcastically narrating the words that he thought should be in the already cheesy commercial, it announced it's hottest new product.....

wait for it....

The Hoodie Footie! An all pink fleece hoodie one piece footed pajama for women. It's hot!! And especially for Valentines Day coming up....

Yowsa! Picture the kid on The Christmas Story that gets the homemade pink bunny pajamas from his Aunt Martha, and then put that on an infomercial blondie trying to be seductive for her significant other. It IS hot!!

I guess it was late and we were both in that kind of a mood already, but I about peed my pants laughing so hard.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I'm the next lucky gal to hear a 'ding dong' at my doorbell on Valentines Day with a special delivery from Pajamagram...

Random January Wrap Up

I know a lot of people don't like January, but I really quite enjoy it. The craziness from Christmas is over and I finally feel like I have some time to get things in order and to play a little bit more. Here are a couple of things we did this month: (thanks to having a good camera phone!)

Visited the Ogden Treehouse museum with Kristin and Lori's kids when they had a teacher's comp day. The older kids are gone at this point - all run off together and pretty much entertain themselves. Becks hung back and decided to start the day out as a fireman.

This is what you do when you are waiting for mom to get your hair combed before church. Precariously hang all of your Lego Bionicles from the cliff of bedroom death.

Sledding with Daddy,Uncle Steve and Devyn. It took Steve an hour to get Dev ready, and she was done after 1 time down. Been there before.... Now the boys couldn't get enough of it.

Skiing with friends up at Brighton. Eva with her friends Lauren and Chloe. Later that night we all had planned to go to our church and had a pot-luck and pizza and played dodgeball. Some of our kids are getting older now and they were the one's that the parents ended up playing over and over to try and beat. It's those 9th grade boys that are turning into men and have a lot of energy and skill, unlike their has-been dodgeball champion parents.

Same day skiing, this pretty much summed it up for Ethan, until the last hour or so. Angie and Kristin stayed with Ethan back at the lodge so I could get a good run in - off the groomers. When I came back, he was sawin' logs. On the lift earlier he said his ear hurt. Then he got off the lift and in the bottom gully of a hill, he said that he was afraid of heights. By the end of the day, he said his fear of heights was gone. I think he just needed a little nappy-nap.

Dooders long lost buddy Harrison came in from VA for Christmas and was able to get baptized here. Ethan's big day is just around the corner - crazy! Angie put together a fantastic dinner afterwards...would we expect anything less? :)

Playing fetch with the dryer balls.

Surf-n-Swim with the neighbors. Becks loooves Jacob. Older, cool kid that totally pays attention to him. He is such a cutie. Maybe he'll still be around down the road after his mission when Eva is starting to notice the boys....

A little bit of everything in a Utah winter....

Skiing the Wolf

Martin Luther King Day found us at Wolf Mountain with Greens, Walls, and Elinkowskis for a kiddos ski day. This was a pay-off day for me. All of the work involved in taking the kids skiing -sans Dad -is starting to pay dividends. Equipment management is the name of the game for this sport, and with extra kids in tow it can take a lot of effort just to get from the car to the ticket counter. Boots (x4) buckled and rebuckled, gloves tucked in to coat sleeves until just perfect, helmets adjusted, carrying the skis and poles only to find yourself taking everything off again so that they can use the bathroom before they hit the lifts.

Now I'm finding that Eva is pretty much skiing all over the mountain with her friends, and really doesn't need mom there anymore. Ethan is riding the lifts by himself, looking for jumps (teeny tiny) and is able to wreck completely on the hill and put his own equipment back on himself. I'm beginning to see the light.......!

The great thing about Wolf Mtn. is not only the price, but the small size and proximity of everything to the lodge. The magic carpet and practice hill is perfect for beginners and first timers, and the there is a terrain park right off the bunny hill that the kids love.

Ethan's first attempt at a jump :)

Generally I don't take a lot of pictures skiing. But today I was able to get a few because I wasn't skiing. I had decided to take Becks up for the first time and just walk up and down the practice area with him.

He loved the magic carpet and eventually was able to get on and off on his own.

Unlike his brother and sister, Beckham ONLY wants to do French Fries - ski's straight forward. He has no interest in learning how to do the pizza snow plow. He would not do it for me, so we really never figured out the stopping part.

Jewelia with Amanda on her first day. She did awesome!

Becks was tired of this dumb baby hill and wanted to go on the BIG lift. I hadn't purchased a ticket, so I just kept telling him no.... .

Until Brandon saved the day! He asked if he could take Becks up on the lift for a quick run. The look on Beck's face shows how ecstatic he was!

Jacob, Brandon, and Beckers. All survived.

Tricia :)

Eva and Anna - 2 little ski bunnies looking for trouble.

See Ya, Mom!

Becks at home

Yesterday Beckham told me to stop whatever I was doing and watch what he was going to do. As I watched him, he lifted up his one leg and bent forward with his arms out to the side like an airplane, balancing on one foot. (an arabesque) After I told him how incredible that was, I asked him where he learned how to do that. He told me he learned it at "balancing class". I asked him where balancing class was. He told me that the class was waaaaayyy over the mountain, far away. I wouldn't know where it was.

In church on Sunday, I looked out as he went to get a drink. He is always very good to come right back, arms folded. But he never came back. I leaned back and saw this little kid doing summersaults in the foyer, over and over, where everyone in the back could see him. As I went to retrieve him he was quite upset because he said he needs to practice for summersault class.

Beckham said the prayer for lunch yesterday. Amongst other things, he asked that we could all try and be good and do the same things that superheros do.

And just now he asked for the use of an empty box and wanted the tape. He said he was putting all of his toys in it and taping them up, because he has a mean friend that steals toys. This mean friend's name is Abba. (like the singing group....only it's a boy) and he is mean and steals all of his toys and that he lives (motioning with his arm in a big half circle) waaaaaayyy far away in the Island of Sodor.

At dinner I asked Drama Boy to finish his food or he wouldn't get to have a treat later. He said, "Mom, does it look like I care?" I told him he better not talk to me like that and he said, "Well, does it? Does it look like I care on my face?" He really wanted to know.

Bella....

I'm not sure how I missed this one in theaters. The story was beautiful and elevating and human. One of the most powerful films I've seen. It's a rare film nowadays that can leave such a positive message and really touch your heart.

It was complete chance - Nothing else looked good on the Redbox screen, so I thought we'd try this for a Saturday night movie. One of my all time favorites. It made me cry, but it is such a great story.

And the main character, well, you won't be disappointed ladies....