Basketball

Samuel's first basketball game was last Saturday.  He's been so excited to play and was even more excited to show us his "skills" on the court.

So his team gets onto the court for the tip off and some kid from the other team gets the ball.

Samuel starts running at the kid.  

We assumed he was going to try to get the ball from him.

But, nope.  

He tackles the other kid.

Yep, you read that right.  

He TACKLED the other kid.

I'm pretty sure he thought he was playing football.

I know football is big in our house, but really....tackling?

I may have laughed....A LOT.

I got it on video just so I can re-live the magic of the day.

I also may have used the video to try to prove that our family may be a little over board on the football addiction.

I didn't work.

Hopefully tomorrow there won't be any tackling.

If I was a betting person I would wager that there will be.

Did I mention his number is 1?

Oh yeah, that one went to his head!

The boy that I worry about the most....

turns out to be one of the sweetest boys I know.  

Some days I feel like pulling my hair out because he CAN NOT keep his room clean and can't ever find anything....I mean anything.  He's obnoxious, loud and well just plain boy.   

But, he was the kindest kid I know today; which brings tears to my eyes.  Because out of all the things that drive me crazy about him, my fear is that he will be "the mean mormon" kid.  Sounds silly, I know.  But I knew a few too many of those "mean mormon kids" and because of them I almost didn't join the Church.  

In Samuel's class at school they earn "economy dollars" all month long doing their "jobs", keeping their desk clean, turning in their work etc.  The last school day of the month they have an auction.  The kids can bring in items they want to auction off and they get to keep the "economy dollars" they earn from the auction.  

Now, there is a girl who isn't very well liked in his class.  There are various reasons she's not well liked none of which matter on this blog, however suffice it to say today the other kids weren't very nice.  She made a paper doll to auction off and no one bid.  That's right, no one.  As the teacher was telling her she was sorry that no one wanted her homemade doll Samuel stood up and said he wanted to buy it.  All he had left was 10 economy dollars and so he offered her that for the doll. 

I don't know how she reacted except that she thanked him. 

And, I am proud.  

Proud that he's a nice boy and proud that he did what was right.  He showed kindness to a little girl who probably doesn't see a lot of it.  Any time of year is a good time to show kindness, but what better time of year than at Christmas for him to have done something like this.  

I sure do love this boy, and I'm grateful for the lesson he taught me today!

First Day of School

The first day of school for KatieJo and Edward (a.k.a. Samuel who has chosen to go by one of his middle names) was Tuesday the 31st.  I have pictures, honest I do.  However, I can't for the life of me find the cord that attaches to my camera so I can put them on the computer.  So, you'll just have to trust that I have awesome pictures of all of the kids on the first day.

On Thursday August 26th both KatieJo and Edward (still a little weird to be typing that but I'm trying!) had to go in to do some placement testing.  It's standard procedure to see where kids are when they come in from new schools.  However, Edward...because of his age and the fact that he skipped 1st grade last year had to take an extra test to make sure that 3rd grade was an appropriate placement for him.  He placed appropriately for 3rd grade and so I have two 3rd graders.  It's a little bittersweet after the fight we've been through to watch him walk to his 3rd grade classroom with kids who are taller than him.  After talking to his teacher she says he's doing great, which is WONDERFUL to hear!

I find it a little funny that both KatieJo and Edward have been playing together at recess.  At Church they ignore each other during Primary, however at school they're stuck to each other like glue!  It's nice to know that they are there for each other, and that deep down they really do like one another. And if you are wondering they are in different classes at school.

Phillip misses both of them, and the first 2 days I couldn't get him to do anything because all he wanted to do was go pick them up at school.  Maija on the other hand is really good at telling them "BYE!!!!" at the top of her lungs.  She also says "SEE!"  which means see ya! to them as they head out of the van.

I did get Phillip to do some table time this morning after I let him play at the park for 1 1/2 hours.  He can now proudly tell you that A says a, ah & aw.  I really need to get the book out of storage to teach him to read.  He's excited to read and I'm hoping if he has something to do he'll calm down a little.

KatieJo started tap dance class this week.  We're thrilled because the dance studio we chose has sent students off to Juliard and some famous ballet companies.  Not that I expect that of KatieJo, but we are excited that she'll get actual dance instruction rather than what she was getting.

Both KatieJo and Edward are going to be starting the violin or viola this year.  The first 3rd grade orchestra rehearsal is on September 13th.  They are SO EXCITED!!!!  KatieJo wants to play the violin and Edward wants to play the viola. 

Besides that things are pretty normal around here.  Stuart is helping with football in the hopes that he'll get hired on as a coach...which looks like will probably happen.  He hasn't been getting home until almost 7 every night. 

Idaho

We spent Memorial Day weekend in Idaho Falls visiting Stuart's parents and siblings. We had a WONDERFUL time! I of course forgot that I brought my camera until about an hour or so before we left...go figure.
It may look like Maija has fallen here, but Samuel was under the trampoline and Maija thought it was terribly funny that she could see him through the tramp.

My sweet baby...looking well sweet!
Trying to jump.
Such a sweet boy...this one.
Singing...."Mama had a baby and it's head popped off" and then popping the heads off of the dandelions.

These four...are MINE! And I'm so glad!!
Notice Phillip's nose here (it looks MUCH worse now.) He had a mishap on Sunday that involved the outside of the trampoline. The doctor told us that they can't do anything until the swelling goes down and at that point we should be able to tell if it's broken. GO PHILLIP!
This is what she looked like when we left. She is staying up in Idaho and gets to go to her cousin Annie's baptism...she is SO excited. Well she was excited until she started running a fever today and now just wants mom or dad.
And this is what our Van looked like about 3 minutes after we left.....such sweet sleeping babies!

Easter

Happy Easter!

The Easter Bunny went easy on "baskets" this year. He left each of the kids a present at their spot at the dinner table, and a bag of jelly beans. We had warned them that we had talked to the Easter Bunny and that they weren't going to get a whole lot...especially candy!

It was Conference this weekend, and although we didn't have them dress up yesterday we did today. The girls wore their Easter dresses with the flower hair bows I made this weekend, and the boys just put their normal Church clothes on.

Typically I make Easter dresses for the girls and bow ties for the boys. However, since we were in the process of getting our house ready to sell and looking for a new job we nixed the sewing. I was sad about it, but somethings just had to give.

Both Phillip and Samuel got Doodle Pro's (Samuel's is a Superman design....the "S" stands for Samuel according to him just so you know :0) and Phillip's is Buzz Lightyear). KatieJo got the Princess and the Frog and Maija got the Veggie Tales Jonah movie. They were THRILLED! We have other Doodle Pro's, but both Samuel and Phillip used theirs all day. In fact Samuel was writing out what he wanted to say instead of talking.

Well, here are the pictures from today....
This isn't the best picture, but cute nonetheless.
Phillip studying one of the new movies, and eating Bear Claws Stuart made this morning.
Maija struggling to make it through the first session.
KatieJo & Samuel "watching" conference. If you are wondering about Samuel's nose...he had a fight one night last week with the railings on his bunk bed. He lost that fight! He went to bed with nothing on his nose...and woke up with what looks like road rash all the way up his nose and forehead.
Maija SERIOUSLY enjoyed the jello salad at dinner! We couldn't get her to eat anything else. And when we pulled her out there was jello running down the high chair...WHAT A MESS!
Watching the Princess and the Frog. If you can't tell Maija likes to sit "with" people!

Hope you had a Fabulous Easter!

THE weekend

This is Phillip with his "stash" on his birthday. He thought Buzz was the greatest thing ever!What a weekend the kids and I had! We were supposed to leave after school on Friday, however it was snowing and so after looking at the road conditions (there was black ice in some spots) and talking to Stuart I decided to leave by 10-10:30. And, I somehow managed it. Friday evening we just hung out at Grandma and Grandpa's. Grandma went to visit Aunt Ila and KatieJo went along for the ride. While they were gone Phillip and Maija got a bath (we had spaghetti for dinner) and Samuel played chess with Grandpa. He got a chess book for Christmas and so LOVES practicing!
Phillip was convinced that only Grandma Baxley could make his birthday cake, and he wanted a chocolate cake...and so she did. He was THRILLED!!!Saturday morning Grandma, the kids and I headed to the Little Monkey Bizness at the Orchards Town Center in Westminster. It was FABULOUS! They played for about 2 1/2 hours before we had to leave to get Phillips pictures taken. The place was awesome, a little bit pricey but worth it! Somehow I didn't get very many pictures here, but they had a great time.
After pictures at JC Penny's we headed to the Orchard's Train Phillip was ECSTATIC! Mom and I rode free with the kids and they all wanted to ride again. We probably would have let them but it was nearly 1 and very much lunch time.So, we went to 3 Margaritas for lunch. It happened to be right by the train, and smelled yummy. Samuel wasn't too sure about it until he got his nachos and said "this place isn't bad!" Guess Rawlins food choices are ruining him to decent restaurants.Sunday morning the kids and I stayed home because Phillip had something funky going on with his eyes. (After his doctor's appointment on Monday we found out that it's most likely Adenovirus.) So after Grandma and Grandpa got home from Church we had a big breakfast and then put our pj's on over our clothes so we could stay warm and went out to "shovel". Phillip was mainly interested in riding on Grandpa's tractor. He wanted to ride on it the night before but there was no reason to pull it out.They had a great time "shoveling" and wiping the snow off of Grandpa's car!
Poor Maija wanted out SO bad...but we didn't have any boots. Eventually Grandma put her coat on her and took her out to help clear the snow off the car...but she really didn't want much to do with it.
Monday morning got us up early so we could be in Laramie by 9:30 for Phillip's 3 year well-child check up and Maija's 15 month check-up. We are HAPPY to say that Maija FINALLY weighs over 20 pounds. She is exactly 20 lbs 6 oz...however I'm convinced the only reason she weighs that is because she ate right before we got there. Stuart turned her car seat around before we even left the doctor's office parking lot...we were a little bit excited! Maija is thrilled too, she absolutely loves being able to see new things! She is 30 3/4 inches tall which puts her in the 60%, and her weight puts her in the 15%...at least she's on the charts!!

Phillip is 38 1/4 inches tall which puts him in the 75% and weighs 38 1/2 lbs which puts him at the 95%. We're pretty sure he's getting ready to sprout up because he's "chunked up"

Peter Pan

Because Samuel's birthday was in August before school started we decided to have a birthday party after school started. Somehow I didn't get my act together sooner, so Samuel and I decided on a Halloween/birthday party. We combined a party with Samuel's friend Mattias since his birthday was right after Samuel's. It worked out really well as I did the cooking/baking and Mattias's mom Shonda did the games.

The boys had a blast! We had "Worms on a bun" a.k.a. hot dogs cut into strips to look like worms (see below) with "blood" and "diarrhea" a.k.a ketchup and mustard (disclaimer...the boys came up with the "diarrhea" as we didn't have a gross name for it) chips and apple juice mixed with sprite. Then they played a game outside where they made a "spider web" by throwing a ball of yarn around a circle. They also played "Trick or Treat" where they had to do a trick..like spelling a word or do some kind of physical task to get a piece of candy. Instead of decorating a cake we decided to let the boys decorate their own "monsters". They each got a cupcake and we let them have free artistic discretion with their frosting and "eyes" a.k.a. chocolate chips. I'm glad they all went home not too long after having the frosting! You'll see why below.

Mattias the Mummy and Phillip the Crab"Worms"YUM!
Samuel aka Peter Pan!
Look at that Frosting piled high! They all ate the frosting and then were too "sweeted" out for the cupcakes.

The winds of change

I love change...don't you love change? Okay, I jest. I don't particularly care for change, but once again my life has been thrown for a loop. Not only have we been fighting illness since before school started, I am now Home Schooling Samuel. Well technically we are using the K12 Wyoming Virtual Academy, but I am his "learning coach" aka teacher... although, he does have a licensed teacher who oversees everything but I do the teaching.

After a year long fight and IQ and other assessments that said Samuel should be in 2nd grade (although quite a few of his results placed above the 2nd grade level) the school district decided not to do what Samuel needed. Samuel got to the point where we were fighting to get him to go to school and was VERY depressed. I didn't know a 6 year-old could get like that! So, we pulled him out. It's been almost 2 weeks and he is doing FANTASTIC! He is learning so much more than the schools here in Rawlins offer. He gets to take Art, History and Science. They do a little bit of History and Science here in the schools. But absolutely no Art. He has already learned a little bit about Van Gogh, Da Vinci, Nomads, Mummies, The Fertile Crescent, The Nile River Valley, Amun Ra, Osiris, Isis etc. He thinks the Nomads and Mummies (because their insides are taken out before they are made into Mummies...quite a good reason to like them. Don't you think?) are the coolest ever.

It's been a pretty big change for me as I'm not used to spending a big chunk of my day working on school work with him and planning for what we need for the next day. However, I think it's been positive for Samuel & Phillip. Phillip is learning quite a bit along with Samuel and was "measuring" things during Science the other day with Samuel, and at the very least it has helped Phillip sit at the table and do some "school work".

Having Samuel home means we don't get to run out and do whatever we want, but with a little planning we can still do quite a bit. It's been so great to have our son back again! It's a little scarry to have your son so depressed. And I'm grateful for options that allow us to get him what he needs.

A lot of people have asked how KatieJo feels about all of this. Well, we offered her the option of staying home to do school as well. But, she was very adamant about wanting to stay at Mountain View. She is a social butterfly by nature and needs the social interactions. Samuel on the other hand enjoys being at home. It perplexes me about how different my children are! However, I am SO very glad they are who they are!!!

Dishes

We have a chore chart in our home that involves the living room and the kitchen. Both KatieJo & Samuel take turns being in charge of keeping one of them clean, and it rotates weekly. This week Samuel happens to be in charge of the Kitchen. When one is in charge of the Kitchen the chore is that they are responsible for putting clean dishes away and making sure the floor stays clean...i.e. picking up any toys that may have somehow gotten in there or sweeping etc.

Yesterday there were a lot of dishes to put away, and Samuel had just wiped out on his bike and hurt his knee. However, it was chore time so he had to go in and do his chores. I kept hearing moaning and complaining from the Kitchen and didn't really think a lot about it other than it was irritating me a little bit that he was complaining so much about doing his chore. It's not like this isn't something that happens everyday!

After a while he was still putting dishes away...yes there were a lot, but not so many that he should have taken an hour. I needed to get into the kitchen to start dinner and Stuart was about to get home and so unless the person in charge of the Kitchen is helping with dinner I usually kick them out. Yesterday was no exception. So dinner got made, put on the table and consumed. And as the kids were clearing the table I happened to have to use the bathroom.

As I walk into the bathroom I noticed a cake pan on the back of the toilet. Mind you this is the same cake pan Samuel had asked me where it belonged. As it turns out he hid dishes all over the house. I am laughing now, but at the time I was a tad bit irritated. There were baby bottles hidden behind step stools and other places, etc. It took him longer to hide the dishes than it would have if he had put them away. On top of that he started re-arranging my cupboards instead of putting dishes away, and even after I told him no he told me "trust me mom, it'll really be better this way."

I'm proud to say that I didn't yell, I didn't send him to his room, I didn't even get red in the face trying not to do these things. Instead I calmly (albeit a bit smugly) told him he had to do the dishes next week as well. He was less than thrilled (KatieJo did a happy dance though because neither of them like Kitchen duty). He also lost movie privledges-not that we really ever watch anything for the rest of the week.

My mom found it terribly funny, and got a really good laugh out of it. I on the other hand am frustrated. I don't really know any other children who would come up with something like that...and then to re-arrange the cupboards too? I'm going to go gray because of him! Thank goodness I love him!

Happy Birthday!

Happy Happy Birthday this is YOUR special day! Happy Happy Birthday from me to you today!

Happy Birthday Samuel! The big number 6!

Samuel as a baby-2003
Samuel Christmas 2004 (about 16 months)
Kisses! Mom & Samuel a few months before he turned 2 (2005)Samuel and Daddy shaving- about 2 1/2 -Christmas 2005 (date on picture is not correct)
Samuel's 3rd birthday 2006....don't you just LOVE the tie!
Samuel age 5 (2008)- Doing one of his favorite activities...Soccer!
May-Grandparents tea party for the Kindergartners....doing something else he does really well...READ!
My handsome 6 year-old!

My 6 most favorite things about Samuel:
1. He is a Cuddler! He LOVES to cuddle at night and help make up stories before bed.
(I think this may be the last time I'm allowed to mention this fact!)
2. His love for reading....everything....all the time...including books left in the bathroom....like Harry Potter.
3. He's ALWAYS cheerful and energetic....ALWAYS!
4. His LOVE for learning! He is always excited to learn something new!
5. His smile, no matter how crazy he tries to make it.
6. His love for his bike!

*Note* I do have pictures from Samuel's 2nd & 4th & 5th birthdays...however in the about 40 CD's I pulled out with pictures on them those particular pictures weren't on them. And, I ran out of time to look through the rest. I think I might have a picture addiction!

Memorial Day weekend

We went to Idaho Falls for Memorial Day weekend and for our niece Caroline's blessing. I of course managed only to take pictures yesterday while we were having a picnic at a park in Rexburg. And, I don't have any of KatieJo as she was off watching the Uncles play hockey on rollerblades.

Samuel and the diggy thing...I don't know what you call those things.Phillip in this picture is on the diggy thing as well, but this was a better picture than the other one I got. He LOVES his new hat! Stuart thinks the color is great. Phillip had an awesome time at the park because it was right next to the Rexburg airport and so he got to watch planes come and go. He LOVES planes, trains and automobiles and so his day was MADE when we went to this park. He wouldn't even eat lunch because of the planes...now that's saying something!
Maija has never really been laid on grass, so this is a first for her. Granted she wasn't on the grass instead was on a blanket, but she thought it was great! Did I mention she's now 6 months old and FINALLY weighs 15 pounds 10 ounces? She's finally outgrowing her 0-3 month clothes!

To make things even better, ALL of the kids slept for more than half of the way home (I did too!). Stuart got to listen to what he wanted and for the rest of us the trip went REALLY quick!

We hope you all had a great weekend!

A day in the life....

It's Wednesday. Usually Wednesdays brings nothing terribly fun or exciting. The kids get out of school at 1 for their early release day. But today, today was different.

Today was the Mountain View School Wide Spelling Bee. And KatieJo was one of two representatives from her class. There were 6 students from each grade and she was THRILLED to be one of them. Her good friend Isaac was one from his class as well. It was kind of exciting to see her up there, although I think she may have gotten a little nervous because she lost out on "again". She did however make it to the last 3 from First Grade. Not too bad if you ask us. She was sad because she wanted the trophy....there's always next year! We're VERY proud of our little speller, and really quite grateful she can spell (since my mom and quite a few Mobley's can't). GO KATIEJO!!!
I've recently started going to the Chiropractor (recent as in yesterday) for my wrist. I've had pain in my right wrist on and off since before Phillip was born. WOW is all I have to say. The regular doctors don't know what's wrong and a guy in our Ward is a Chiropractor so I figured I'd give it a shot. I went yesterday and today and I'm impressed! I haven't had my brace on my wrist since yesterday afternoon. YIPEE!

Samuel went with me to the Chiropractor, and when we got home I decided I was going to water the lawn. Instead Samuel decided to do it and Phillip got to the spicket before I did and turned the water on. Samuel of course was soaked and Phillip thought it looked like fun. It's not quite warm enough this afternoon to run in the sprinklers, but they sure did have fun!