A simple job!

We don't ask much of our kids.
In fact, we don't ask enough!

Today being the first day of spring break David told the kids that they had one job that had to be done before he got home from work.
ONE SIMPLE JOB!

The boys had to take the branches that were sitting in piles in the yard and stack them on the trailer. No big deal. An easy job that should only take minutes with 3 boys working at once. I told the boys to get their shoes on and a sweatshirt because it was cold outside. None of them chose to listen!
They all went outside and then Carsten began to work.
He worked, and he worked, and he worked!

Ethan and Bradon screwed around!
They screwed around, screwed around, and did NO WORK!
They complained that it was too cold as they stood out there with no shoes on and blankets draped around them! Seriously how much work can you get done with a blanket wrapped around you?
Proven by Ethan and Bradon, NOT MUCH!

I went and got the camera.
I took a few pictures to document the truth!
The 2 oldest brothers being outdone by their little brother.

And Carsten continued to work...

And Ethan and Bradon continued to work at NOT working!
Then I pointed out the obvious! I told them that since Carsten was the only one working, I would be taking money out of each of their accounts and putting it in Carsten's account.
WHAT???

They both quickly jumped up and began to work!
Funny how that happens!

What do you know?
$$$ Money motivates! $$$

Yeah, pretty funny huh?
At least it looks like Talan thought it was.

Dads and Doughnuts!

Finally it was Reagan's turn for Dads and Doughnuts at school. She has been so excited for this day to come! She has watched as each one of her brothers have had their turn with dad and now it was finally her turn!
On Friday David took the day off work and together they went to school. One thing really special about being in Kindergarten is that at Dads and Doughnuts they don't just do doughnuts, they do lunch... IN THE CAFETERIA!

At lunch she got to sit with her friend Callie.

After lunch David and Reagan went back to Reagan's classroom. They ate a doughnut and read a book together. Usually after dads and doughnuts David checks his kid out of school and they go do something special together. But Friday was the day of the Kindergarten Easter party. Reagan didn't want to miss out on her party so they decided it would be best to go do something together on another day. I can't wait to see what they choose to do!

BUZZ on the brain!

TOY STORY in my opinion is one of the greatest movies ever made. It's genius! My kids have all been BIG fans. Years ago we bought Buzz, Woody, Jessy, and Mr. Potato Head... we had it all! Then eventually the boys grew older, the toys made their way down to the basement and out of sight, out of mind.
With the upcoming movie of Toy Story 3 coming out we remembered what a great show it was and thought, "I wonder if Talan would like it?" We pulled out Toy Story 1 and Toy Story 2 and what do you know, Talan is in love!
24/7 Talan wants to watch BUZZ!

We went to the basement and found Buzz, Woody, and Jessy. They are all a little worn/broken but still usable!

It's funny because seriously I can't keep track of how many times we have watched Toy Story over the past month yet nobody tires of it. Every time it plays everyone gathers around. We have all been quoting the lines and having so much fun with it!

Talan's one happy boy!
And we love him
'To infinity and beyond!'

Doughnuts for A's!

Bradon came home from school on Friday with a report card of straight A's for the 3rd semester in a row! He came flying through the door telling us that Krispy Kreme Doughnuts will give a free doughnut for every A on his report card.
NO WAY!
A FREE DOUGHNUT!
AWESOME!
We collected all the kids report cards and for family night last night we headed to Krispy Kreme's! Everyone in line had report cards in hand ready to redeem their doughnuts! Bradon had 4 A's and Ethan had 2. We showed the girl working their report cards and she gave us a 1/2 dozen doughnuts. Then she asked me what else I had in my hand. I told her that they were the report cards of my younger children and explained that they don't receive A's and B's in the younger grades. She reached out with her hand and grabbed their report cards and told me that they give doughnuts for the younger kids grades too! Wow! How nice is that? She then handed me another 1/2 dozen doughnuts!
We didn't want to just take free doughnuts and not buy any so we bought a dozen to take home. And guess what? If you purchase doughnuts at Krispy Kreme's while their HOT DOUGHNUTS NOW light is lit, they give everyone a sample doughnut to eat right there. So she handed me another box of 7 doughnuts! We walked out of there with 31 doughnuts in all!
The kids thought they were in heaven!
Way to go kids for getting good grades!
And an extra way to go to Bradon for straight A's and telling us about the FREE Krispy Kreme doughnuts!

Mini Reunion of Sorts...

Just over 14 years ago I was transferred from Ichinomia where I had served for 8 months (with a Japanese companion) to Toyota were I would spend the last 3 months of my mission.
My new companion was Peterson Shimai. I remember being shocked that President Mackley had put us together. Shocked and elated all at the same time. Peterson Shimai was one of the funnest sisters in our mission and we were both just about to go home. We got to spend 2 full months with each other and it was a total blast!
Reed Choro was our district leader. He was a fun guy and together our district was one big party!

Last week I got word that Thom Reed was in town job hunting. I sent him a message and told him that I would love to meet up with him. Lori Peterson Preston lives just down the street from me in Lehi. Yeah, go figure, I have lived here for almost 4 years now and Lori and I haven't ever gotten together before now. Well I think Thom being in town is all the reason we needed to get together and have a mini Toyota district reunion of sorts!

We met here at my house and had so much fun talking, telling stories and reminiscing about our missions. I brought out pictures of us serving together and we had some good laughs! We went to dinner at Texas Roadhouse and then to The Smart Cookie for dessert. We came back to the house and then Thom called President Mackley making our mini mission reunion complete!

I have a tradition...

On St. Patrick's Day I give each on of my kids a box of Lucky Charms. This year I can't tell you how many times I saw a box of Lucky Charms sitting on the grocery store shelf and I told myself, "It's too early. I'll get it later." Yesterday just after checking out at the grocery store I realized that I had forgotten the Lucky Charms. I was in a hurry and thought, "I'll just get them tonight." So last night I went to a different store and they were asking $5.00 a box! There is no way I'm spending $5.00 for a box of cereal! So I went to Walmart. You know the store that is known for low prices. Well unfortunately it's also the store that runs out of things! Every single box of Lucky Charms had been sold! ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Obviously I'm not the only one with this cute little tradition! Well apparently 3 grocery stores in one day is my limit because I was done! So this year my little tradition went by the wayside and GREEN frosted cinnamon rolls took it's place. The kids likes the cinnamon rolls so who knows, maybe this will be my new
St. Patrick's Day tradition!

Good weather = good times!

This week has been beautiful! The sun has been out and so have the kids! I love to see the neighborhood come alive. Kids running, playing, and having a good time! It's been a good little reminder that summer is just around the corner!

Carsten and his friend Tate have been skateboarding a lot lately.
Working on some tricks and basically just being cool!

Carsten catching a little bit of air!

The Gledhills were out driving their Escalade!
Talan was thrilled to go for a ride. It started with Taylor giving Talan a ride. Then Callie jumped in. And before I knew it, Reagan was in too.
This crew is just too cute!

Now if that doesn't look like one satisfied boy...
Talan loves to be outside! And to be outside cruising around in a Cadillac is even better!

And then cuter than cute is Taylor and Reagan.
These two are the best of friends. The are practically inseparable!

It's good times like these that make me appreciate the good weather!
Let the good times roll!

Cupcakes!

Ethan had to make a solar system model for school.
He decided to make his out of cupcakes. Of course he didn't tell me about MY little homework assignment until the day before it was due. Okay, he helped a little but you know how these projects go. We could have had a better presentation than just sticking them on a cookie sheet, but when the clock struck eleven o'clock I was done! Ethan was most proud of the planet Saturn. Saturn's rings are made out of a few sticks of gum. His project was completely edible!

Have you ever seen the show, Iron Chef?
They has a secret ingredient that they reveal at the beginning of each show. The chefs then battle it out in the kitchen making a full course meal using the secret ingredient in all their dishes.
There is a group of us girls in my neighborhood who get together once a month and battle it out at our own Iron Chef party. Whoever hosts the party announces the secret ingredient and then we all come to the party with something to share using that secret ingredient. This last months ingredient was sour cream. I made cupcakes. For Christmas my friend got me a cupcake book with some of the cutest cupcake decorating ideas. I just had to test it out!

I think they turned out cute!
They would be perfect for a pool playing party.
They were really quite easy to make too! Well truth be told that's why I picked these, they were super easy! And look at the little chalks. Aren't they cute?

I wasn't anywhere close to being the winner of the party but it sure was fun learning a new fun way of decorating a cupcake!

Our STAR student!

Reagan is the STAR student in her class this week!
I love how this picture really shows her size.
That poster board looks HUGE!

Reagan has been telling me since the beginning of the school year that I needed to make her star student poster because I had forgotten to do it the week she was the star student. This conversation usually took place while Reagan was looking at Carsten's old star student poster. I would tell Reagan that we hadn't missed her week and that her week would some day come. It's hard to wait for something so exciting! I hadn't received anything in her backpack about the star student and figured that when it was her week I would know, something would be sent home. In years past my kids have been star students around their birthday. Reagan's birthday isn't until May.

Last week I finally decided that I would go to the teacher and ask her about the "STAR STUDENT" thing. You know so I could give Reagan an exact date and then she could quit bugging me about it. Mrs. Barns said, "Well I'm not sure when Reagan's week is, let's go look." We walk over to the star student schedule and she looked and looked. "Well I don't see Reagan's name. Oh here it is, Reagan was the star student on October 19th. She was the first star student of the year!"

Yet another reason someone should nominate me to be
The Mother of the Year!
The reasons just keep staking up!

Poor little girl! She has a looser as a mother who refuses to listen to her. She knew what she was talking about and I.... well, what can I say. Nothing but, SORRY REAGAN!

Luckily Mrs. Barns said that Reagan could be the star student this week if she wanted to. I raced to the store and then made her star student poster. She was so thrilled to see it that she giggled with excitement!

As I took pictures Reagan decided that it would be fun to take a picture with her lying on the ground in front of her poster. I think she had a pretty good idea. Cute girl!

Knowledge Bowl 2010

Another year of Knowledge Bowl has come and gone.
Ethan has had so much fun competing in the Knowledge Bowl over the past 3 years. This years subject was Geography!

Apparently this years team was a little sassy. Ethan said that during practices if one kid would get a question wrong then everyone else would jump down their throat! Funny thing is that when watching them compete you could tell that this was true. At one point they all questioned the moderator, "Where is that?" When he told them it was in South America the whole team turned to Dakota and said,"That was your continent, you should have known that!" I think this was a sign that they all felt pretty comfortable with one another and liked each other.

Oh and look! A picture of Ethan with his #1 fans!

In ready position! Go get em tiger!

Dakota, Chandler, Dalton, Hunter, and Ethan.

Game #1 vs Foothill 3. We lost 100 to 140.
Game#2 vs Foothill 1. We lost 115 to 170.
Game #3 vs Foothill 2. We won 140 to 55.
Game #4 vs Northridge 3. We won 135 to 0.

Total points earned = 490
Plus a 25 point bonus per win = 50
Grand total = 540

Ethan felt pretty good because he was the captain for all the games they won. Ethan did a great job. David and I were very proud of him.
Way to go Freedom 3!