Homework

It seems like the only person I have blogged about is Chance. But what do you do when he is always doing something so goofy? I had to post a couple of his homework papers. The first one is gross, you have been warned.

He had to write the last two sentences on his own by using as many spelling words as he could. Please forgive the poor English in the first sentence. But seriously, "My dad does not want his fungus fixed?" I won't go into detail about how he came up with that sentence! I was so embarrassed!

This pink one has a little explaining to go with it. I guess the "correct" answer was that the blue team should have given one of its players to the red team. But I thought he answered it wonderfully! You can tell we've been involved in sports a lot lately... It must've struck Mrs. Filiaga funny because Chance said she photocopied his paper to show to her family!

The second explanation has to do with the teacher addressing Chance as "Mr. Redd." A few weeks ago, Chance was asked to come to the front of the class to explain something that had to do with math (I'm still not sure what it was.) So when he got to the front of the class, he introduced himself as the teacher, "Mr. Redd." I didn't know about this story until he brought home a birthday book with notes from his class members. They were all addressing him as "Mr. Redd" in the book so I asked him, um, why? So now I guess that's what kids call him at school! He also told me that sometimes the teacher will ask Mr. Redd to come to the front of the class and ask the class to be quiet. The class, for some reason, always obeys Mr. Redd. What a character!

Baptism and Primary ProgramMy cute boy Chance was baptized on October 9. It was a little stressful for me to get ready (don't ask me why, I didn't even do anything!) but it turned out wonderfully.

Chance was so happy to see that a few of his friends from school were being baptized on the same day! There were four boys all together. The talks beforehand were wonderful - neither of the speakers were from our ward, but their talks were very well done. Chance only had to be "dunked" one time. When he came out of the water, he had the biggest smile on his face and he started to giggle. Which made everyone else giggle. Then he began to tread water to the stairs. He must've forgotten it was only waist deep? Shawn made him stand up and walk, the little clown. The confirmation was wonderful, and Shawn's Grandpa Ted gave a great closing prayer. It was a prayer/blessing, which is what he usually does. Classic.

For some reason I thought Shawn was going to have to wear a jumpsuit, too. Wouldn't that be funny!? Probably just funny to me.


warning: big mama in the house

We had a dinner afterward in the cultural hall at the church. That was my best idea yet - to have the dinner at the church instead of at our house. The turnout was AWESOME and there would have never been enough room for everyone in my house. After it was over, Shawn said he felt bad we didn't let the kids play basketball. I told him we couldn't because there were other people in the building and it would have been too loud. Shawn replies, "But that is every kid's favorite memory - playing basketball after their baptism." Really? I have no recollection of that! ha! Shawn made a huge batch of meatballs (that were to DIE for, if I might say) and we had meatball sandwiches, salads, appetizers, and desserts. I think it was a success. Luckily I asked my sister Lindsay to take pictures at the baptism - otherwise, there would be none!

At first I was bugged about Chance's messy meatball shirt, but now I think it's kind of cute. I made those #8 cookies and they were huge!! I think they were supposed to be teeny but I got a little out of control. The picture on the right is Uncle Jason dragging the kids around. It seems like he's always throwing them or dragging them or something! He is the best. Then of course my mom, Chance, and Lily. That is one of my most favorite pictures ever! Lils is the cutest baby in the world.

The very next day we had our primary program. Chance was in charge of ringing a bell and took that task very seriously. He rang it right on cue and as hard as he could! It was very cute. He then had to tell how he felt when he received the gift of the Holy Ghost. Since it just happened the day before, I had to write down a few lines and he read it. But that's okay, he'd had a stressful few days! My little Miss Hannah knew EVERY word of EVERY song, and gave her part memorized all by herself. Here is what she said:

My family is a garden
A place where we can grow
Our garden is for people
Not plants grown in a row

We can tell that we are growing
The seeds of love and cheer
We fill our home with sunshine
And feel our Savior near

I love our family garden
Although I'm still quite small
'Cause in our family garden
I'm growing straight and tall

Prior to all of this, we had Chance's birthday, Shawn's birthday, and last but not least - Rags' birthday. I think Rags had the biggest celebration (if you don't count Chance's baptism dinner). We went to the dollar store and bought him some toys and a "happy birthday" balloon with a dog on it. Spoiled rotten this dog is. Ragsy is going to be in for a shock with the arrival of the baby! For Shawn's birthday (the big 3-5 this year!) we went as a family out to dinner to a new chicken wing place in Layton. I am not a wing fan so I ordered a grilled cheese sandwich, with led to Shawn feeling a little embarrassed and deciding to apologize to the waitress for me with "she's pregnant." It's been a fun, busy month so far!

Alaska

Shawn went to Alaska for nine days during the first part of September. Shawn's mom gave Shawn's dad the trip for his 60th birthday, and of course Shawn had to go along to show his dad the ropes! They had a great time, but the only part of the trip I remember him telling me about is when he accidentally let my FAVORITE camera get wet and ruined in the river. I'm glad the SD card survived, but my poor camera! Oh, and then I heard a story about Shawn falling into the river then running around in his garments or something? I guess that got quite a laugh. Oh, and one more thing I remember - he didn't call us the entire time he was gone because he claims a bear ate through the phone line at the lodge and they didn't get cell service. Hmmm, still don't know if I believe that story! Here are a few pictures of the trip:

Shawn, Bryan, and our neighbors Jody and Jeremy Deamer

Bry

Shawn

Anyway, right after Shawn left Chance said to me, "Mom, I feel bad for you." "Why?" I answered. I was hoping he'd say something like "Because you're pregnant and can barely move" or "Because you have to take care of us all by yourself." But instead he said, "Because Dad's not here for a whole week and you don't like to cook." I laughed and said, "Yeah, you should feel bad for me." Chance then provides his solution, "I guess we should go live at Grandma April's (Shawn's mom) for the week so we can eat." Then he pauses and adds, "Well, you are good at making breakfast food. Like cereal."

How time flies...The other day, Hannah pulled this little gem out of a box of pictures I have. Where has the time gone?

First Days of School
Chance started 2nd grade this year! His teacher's name is Mrs. Filiaga. My next-door neighbor is good friends with her and said she is an excellent teacher. I met her and I think she will be great for Chance. It's freaky that he is starting 2nd grade because I remember when I was in 2nd grade. That's really the first I remember of school.

Hannah started Kindergarten this year! I can't even believe she is old enough. I guess because she's been our baby. Shawn came home from work to see her off on her first day. I thought that was so cute of him! She totally has him WRAPPED around her finger. Hannah has Mrs. Judkins in the afternoon. Chance also had Mrs. Judkins and loved her. She is such as sweet teacher. We have been very lucky with teachers at North Ogden Elementary.

We went to the dentist (Uncle Mark) a week or so ago and the dental assistant asked me what I was going to do with all of my free time now that both of my kids were in school. I guess she missed my big, fat belly so I informed her that I was probably going to stay pretty busy with a new baby in the house!

Scouts
Chance was lucky enough to start scouts a little bit before his 8th birthday. Since I have ZERO brothers and this is my first boy, I have NO clue about scouts. I walked into the scout store and the guy there sold me one of everything in that place. I didn't know where the badges should be placed on the shirts, or what he was even considered - Bear? Wolf? Bobcat? Chance commented, "Mom, you don't know what you're doing, do you." Was it that obvious? Yes, I guess.

Anyway, scouts began and I can at least help him show up on time. His scout leader is Cleo Christensen and she is the sweetest lady! She's probably in her 80's. The troop (is that what it's called?) took a trip to Antelope Island on a Saturday, and they were the only scouts there. It just so happened that a Deseret News reporter was there so she published a few pictures of the kids in the paper! Here is a classic of Chance looking at a brine shrimp that was printed in the newspaper for all to see...

A couple weeks ago, the kids were playing tennis for scouts. One of the other boys accidentally whacked him in the nose with a tennis racket. His poor nose was bleeding out of control and I could see sort of a weird thing poking out of one of his nostrils. We thought it was broken so we took him to the Instacare. It turned out to just be a bad bleeding nose with no break (luckily). But for the few days afterward, Chance was traumatized and hesitant to return to scouts! I promised him that if they played tennis at scouts again, he didn't have to play! Shawn had to tell Chance's football coaches that he was missing football practice because he was in the Instacare and might have broken his nose with a tennis racket. The coaches just looked at Shawn like, "really? tennis?" Such a wimpy sport compared to football.

Football

This was Chance's first year of real, live, tackle football. It has been so fun, but it has been an eye-opener for me. I went to his first practice and was in shock - these 7, 8, and 9 year olds were being treated like adult players! They had warm-ups, stretching, and learned to run plays. The coaches were all dressed alike and were yelling at the kids like crazy! It was quite a sight. His team doesn't huddle before a play - the coach just writes the play on a board and holds it up for the team to see. Then they are supposed to remember the play and position themselves to run it. It's pretty impressive. On one of the first practices, Chance's helmet was hurting his head really bad. He just wasn't used to it, and those helmets are heavy! He ran over by me to get a drink and he had tears in his eyes. I wanted to give him a big hug (but I refrained) and I asked him if I should ask the coach about his helmet. He said, "Gotta go, Mom" and ran back out as quick as he could. Chance is a perfectionist and does all of his warm-ups and drills perfectly. He is never first in any of them, but you can be sure that his form is perfect! He's really good at leg lifts and sit-ups. A lot of the kids struggle with those, but he has a pretty strong little core. I made the mistake of telling him that I thought he was developing a six-pack on his tummy, so now that is his favorite thing to show off.

at practice

Their team has practice every night from 6-7:30 p.m., with the exception of Thursdays, then games every Saturday. Chance loves it. He plays hard, but he's not quite as aggressive as some of the other kids. He's getting better, though. I love watching him. I have always liked football so it has been fun for me to watch him get out there and play. Because he's one of the youngest/smallest on the team, he does not start and plays 2nd string defense. (Although he was moved to starting defense after an awesome game against Roy!!) He will play nose guard or on the line on defense. During practice, he'll play running back. He says he doesn't like running back, but he never fumbles the ball and I think he's pretty good at it. I just think he doesn't like being tackled all of the time. I don't blame him. But they look so cute in their little outfits, don't they?!? Unfortunately, they lost their first game like 37-0. It was quite the learning experience. When they sent Chance in for his first play I was so nervous! It was like I was out there! But on his very first play he got a tackle! I was so proud of him! Go Warriors!

Sarah's Birthday (August 2010)

Shawn loves to tease his sister Sarah. She is the baby of the family and is 13 years younger than Shawn. On various birthdays, Shawn will give Sarah embararrasing gag gifts just to be funny. When Sarah was going into Junior High, he gave her this huge leopard print bra. Another birthday he bought her a bra made out of candy. I think his infatuation with bras had to do with the fact that he was struggling with realizing his little baby sister was growing up! When Sarah turned 16, he bought her a car. Yes, a real, live, running Chevy Celebrity. It was quite the junker, but it ran! Not sure what ever happened to that car... When Sarah was going to college, he gave her a care package with little embarrassing sayings, including references to avoiding the "Freshman 15." Isn't he rude? Sarah's 21st birthday was no exception. Shawn thought of giving Sarah a blow-up doll for this birthday because he remembered his Uncle Glen received a female blow-up doll around the same time in his life. We thought it would be so funny to give Sarah an inflatable boyfriend because although she dates a lot, she was not seeing anyone seriously. Little did we know that between the time we thought of our surprise and Sarah's birthday, Sarah found herself a real boyfriend! We had to change our approach a little bit and make it sound like the blow-up doll was a back-up boyfriend in case things with she and her current boyfriend Josh did not work out. But it was still pretty funny! We named him "Josue" which is Spanish for Josh. Aren't we just so funny?Gracie, Brielle, Sarah, Josue, and the real Josh