The talk

Matt had "the talk" with Mathew the other day. He's been thinking about what to say for a while.  I think it was easier for me because the girls were asking so many questions. 

Do you know where babies come from?--yes, Heavenly Father

Have you noticed that boys are built differently, boys have something different than girls.--you mean the priesthood 

It's hard to understand how Mathew can be so full of mischief yet so innocent and clueless.  He still completely believes in Santa and the tooth fairy.  The girls, especially Sophie have been on to us probably since kindergarten.

A few weeks ago we took chavo to a dog park and Chavo came home with fleas.  Over the last few weeks despite our efforts, it has grown into a full infestation. I am covered in bites.  We have chavo completely chaved down to nothing and are vacuuming and washing everyday, I put our comforter in the big freezer for a few days to kill the eggs.  We've been sleeping with the craziest blankets.  The other night, Matt and I slept with this think cotton blanket but we had to squeeze together and not move all night.

Finally got our comforter back out last night but I could hardly sleep with it because it reeks of freezer burn.

I think we just need to fumigate at this point.

Mathew is loving school right now.  His teacher, ms hemp has him really excited about wild iting a legend.

Ellie is doing greasy socially.  I'm on a bus right now for a field trip and she has a bunch of girls circled around her that love her.  She's super motivated  at school, super independent.

Sophie is changing so much.  She is interacting much more with the other kids.  She is being so sweet with me and patient with my craziness. She seems really cionfodent socially too.  She is well likes and here are a lot of girls she likes too.  

Yesterday she told me that a boy asked her out.   She says he is always hovering around her locker and. Yesterday he asked her if she would like to go to the movies tomorrow!  She said that she quickly blurted out that she couldn't because she had tennis.  But then later she remembered that she actually did have tennis.  I think this is going to be a long road for her.. Lots of boys lining up

Recovering from vacation

We got in at 10:30 but it felt like 3 am.  I have become the worst shot gun driver on roadtrips.  My job was to keep Matt awake and I could not keep my eyes open.  Troy was up at night coughing so I kept him home on Tuesday .  It was such a treat to have I'm home again.  He spent the morning drawing pictures -wanted to make me beautiful-with a crown, etc. he kept on talking about how greasy dad is and how he's the biggest dad in the world.  He drew him a picture , put it in an envelope and taped it to the door.  The. He sat there waiting for dad to come home even though it was 10am.  Too much sweetness !

Sophie stayed up til 1:30am working on a project.  She was supposed to write 5 facts from a chapter in the biology book.  She was given the chapter on DNA replication and "didn't feel comfortable" writing facts that she didn't understand so she ended up spending hours trying to understand the su just-researching on the web, etc.  

Ellie has a play date with audry today.  Her parents are a little eccentric and I'm getting worried about the hose not being clean enough.  The mom basically gave me an interview before agreeing to get her to come over.  -do we live on a busy street?  What snacks do we have available.  Is the park near our house busy, etc.

We went to a meeting to introduce families to the cubs out program.  Mathew is so excited, he wanted to start right away.  The next day he begged me to go to the scout office to get his stuff.  I told him wed go when he finished his homework.  He flew through it so we went. Then he was going through the manual asking if he could do things right away.  

Im at the Chinese embassy right now waiting to turn in our applications for Chinese visas.  I spent way too much time on those things!!

Runaround Wednesday

Bike ride to coyote point.  Listening to  game of thrones and it's getting to be too much rape and pillage for my taste but I've put on too many hours to stop now.  

Kids get home at 12:30.  Vincent was over to play.  We realized that homework started this week so it took a long time to get Tito into the zone.  It's always the same routine. As soon as it's time for homework this is what happens

He gets hungry-even though he just finished an after school snack.  After second snack, we slide back into the homework and his mind goes blank and he spends a lot of time deciding what he wants to do first. Then he starts sliding off his chair and as soon as he gets up he slides right back off.  Then, after about 15 minutes of craziness he snaps into the zone.  This is a critical time for him not to get interrupted.  This is what his fingers look like when he clicks into the zone. He has this thing he does with his fingers-straight almost overextended .

The thing is I think my house work avoidance routine is very similar

Lassen NP

Had a great weekend at lassen NP.  Sophie had a half day and we took the younger 3out a few hours early.  Got stuck in traffic on the way up and it took 9 hours to get to the campground.  We went with the James family.  They had super gourmet food planned.  Pasta and homemade Alfredo and brownies.  Stayed one night at butte lake campsite.  The kids kept calling it butt lake..ha ha.  We were going to have to move campsites after the first night so we just laid down the tarp slept outside.  Stars were awesome and ironically I had the best camping sleep I've ever had (with kids). We'd stayed up so late playing mafia the kids were exhausted.

The next morning Dave Hansen drove in with his 3 kids.  Ellie was having a hard time "sharing" her friends. We hiked the finer cones wilhich was pretty steep and all gravel.  Ellie mistakenly wore her Keens so the gravel was killing her feet-she ended up hiking barefoot in the gravel half the time it hurt so badly with sandals.  Understandably she was so proud of herself when she got to the top.  Interesting volcano rim and view.  Then we went to set up camp at kraggs campsite-this time we set up the tent.  Good thing because it was a lot colder.  There was a group of trees that made the perfect spot for a cool fort.  Hotdogs and chile for dinner and peach cobbler in the Dutch oven.  Alyssa told the "hairy toe " ghost story and I told the watermelon story.  More mafia. Mathew is really becoming an entertainer.  He was making up ghost stories and led a round of mafia.  

Sophie is interacting with Mitchell and Isaac. I'm glad she can still have a good time even though they are not technically her friends.  

The next morning they made eggs/pancakes.  Hiked bumpas hell.  Interesting boiling mud pots/crystal clear lake and steam beds. I'm having fun playing with the camera and the kids are being good sports about it. That night they made foil dinners Ellie wasn't feeling well and Troy wanted to go to bed early.  He got cold again in the middle of the night and I switched sleeping bags with him (second time).  

A small group got up at 5 to power through mt lassen.  Matt was gracious enough to stick withy the family.  My lassen looked too daunting for the time so we just went to the visitor center and finished junior ranger.  We watched the video about the eruptions.  Mathew and Troy had us laughing historically and they performed enterprative dancing to the narration and music.  Very funny!

Went back to camp to meet up with others.  Had lunch then went on hike to king creek falls.  Ellie's allergies returned in a bad way.  She was in so much pain.  She was stopping for her to empty her throught of gunk.  We took a dip in the freezing falls and just climbed and splashed around. We let Troy hike back in his underpants and shirt.  When we got in the car I gave Mathew some dry underwear but the. I couldn't find his dry jeans.  He quickly fell asleep and I had to wake him up at the restaurant.  He looked like he thought he was having a crazy dream when I woke him up saying "we are at a restaurant, you need to get some pants on.  Ate at carlitos-great Mexican murals.

Mathew's baptism

August 25, 2014

Mathew’s baptism was a wonderful experience.  We had both grandparents there but did not know who else might show up – turns out all his church leaders/teachers showed and the confirmation circle was large.  I somehow got the songs mixed up on the program and forgot a change of clothing but otherwise it went very smooth.  Friends really helped as well with the James’ providing cards for people to write notes to Tito while he was changing clothes and providing a picture.  He really listened to talks that Lara and I gave – which was a privilege for us to give.  When Lara was recalling the object lessons we had given him, he chimed in with one where we had tied him to a chair which elicited some laughs and showed me he really takes those lessons on.  Marti and Ellis gave him a set of scriptures and he is on fire with them.  He kept showing me Mosiah 2:17 and telling me to read it and how awesome it was.  He is going through and highlighting all of the scripture mastery verses and when Ellis talked about a scripture during family scriptures last night, we was busy highlighting it.  Lara and I were able to go out to eat when she picked me up from work last Friday – went to the Mission district and got pupusas at santaneca.  Sophia starts school this week.  Ellie blows me away with her ability to get things done – she did a difficult Chinese project entirely on her own using her ipad fluently with Chinese apps to help put a story together and printing to our printer.  We go to Lassen next weekend and then start gearing up for China.  There was a 6pt earthquake in Napa valley over the weekend – Sophia was rocking on top of the bunk bed.  

Saving, not conquering the world

Biked to coyote point.  Picked up Abby so she could hang with Sophie.  Spent way too much time cleaning the homework room.  I planted basil in a shoe organizer pouch by the sink.  It smells so good and makes me feel happy.  Fresh basil in my morning eggs is amazing.

Picked up Troy at the bus 2:15.  Went back to bus at 3.  Picked up Kai, Tito and Ellie.  They played on trampoline.  The girls dressed Troy up in my bathrobe, the pirate cape, jewelry--king.  I wanted to take a picture of his so I asked him to stand in front of the map to " show you conquered the world".  Troy was really annoyed with me "mom-not conquered the world, saved the world"

Tennis for Ellie and Sophie at 4:15.  Dinner on the table at 5:00.  Take Kai home 5:15.  Back to school night 5:30 and 6:30.  Pick up Sophie at 8.  Home at 8:15.  

Ellie had made sure boys had teeth brushed and had Mathew reading to Troy when I got home.

Sophie leads fhe

Yesterday I couldn't convince Sophie to come on a bike ride so I went on a ride to the airport .  I'm so out of shape-my back is sore now.  Then we ran errands until Troy came home.  We did a record fast trip to costco-20 minutes for a full load and a long line.  We pushed I too close.  Then we had tennis at 3:45 and got home around 5;30.  Sophie did an awesome job leading a fhe lesson on faith.  Mathew was making some really thoughtful comments.  It's hard to get much out of him about what goes on at school but. He said that kids were throwing a ball at a boy yesterday and he stepped in to stand up for the boy.  He said it was like a prompting to make a good choice. After the lesson her activity was to play "dead man" on the trampoline.  The kids LOVE it.

Last week Matt ordered a new net and new pad for the trampoline but after hours of putting them on we realized the pad was the wrong size and the net had a hole in it.  Hmmm.  Matt called and ordered another one.  

Everyone seems content at school.  Ellie is hard core with her homework--she's very organized and motivated.  Mathew is really on top of his assignments and excited about doing a good job.  Troy really likes "uncle Milburn".  It's such a long day, I just can't believe he can handle it.  Both Mathew and Troy are coming home reporting getting stickers for good behavior and so proud of it.  

Slow down

This morning I was telling Troy that he needed to do a better job wiping his bottom.  I told him that he really needs to slow down when he is going to the bathroom.  He was nodding his head thoughtfully and said "ok mom, I'll try, it's just that sometimes my peepee comes out fast". He was thinking I was telling him to slow down when he pees.

Troy has a lot of nick names right now.  Yesterday I added the "filibuster" because he will interrupt at anytime and is so long winded there is no way to get anything acomished when he has take. The floor.  One show chu, Bruno -his Italian personality, shirt fused and loving.  Tenacious -t. Tee-Roy ,  true.  Scoob

Today was stake conference.  The speakers were really great talks.  It's funny to be out of the stage where we are chasing kids around the chapel.

Chavo has not been getting as much attention these days.  We've been busy with Summer activities and it seems like he's left home a lot.  Ellie continues to dode on him though.  She loves to snuggle, brush, bathe him.  Her constant-"isn't chavo cute?!" remarks keeps everyone appreciating him.  Her positive energy is so strong.  I hope it never stops!

The wiggle

Friday Sophie and I loaded up our bikes and we went to San Francisco. There is a route called the wiggle where you meander through sf streets enjoying the sights.  You are supposed to end up at ocean beach but it was getting late so we had to cut it a little short.  It was a true adventure.  I not super comfortable in that Ind of urban riding so my heart was pounding half the time. We saw a lot of pretty buildings, a lot of homeless, passed out people(including one lady sleeping ?with her face down on the cement. One guy was passing another guy with a little dog and pretended the dog had bit him.  Sophie and I bother think it was a scamm but the guys was yelling so loud.

We made it through most of golden gate park but then rode back and drove to ocean beach to check out a restaurant called beach chalet.  A historic restaunt with a great view . We didn't have time to eat there but now that we've scoped it outsell have to come back.
It's so fun being able to hang out with Sophie-She's like having another adult...so mature and she's developed this fantastic sense of humor, keeps me laughing.  I am trying to soak her up as much as possible before school starts.

Play dates

True kids had  1/2 day of school. Troy had a play date with Vincent.  They have a great time .  Troy definitely likes to be I chargeable at this stage, Vince is ok with that.

Mathew had a play date with Kai .  They went swimming at his apartment complex.  Troy had tennis at 3:30, Ellie had tennis at 4;30 and Sophie had tennis at 5:15(she biked).  

We made coconut curry for dinner-I thought it was great. Mathew went to the tutor, miss candy at 6:15.  His homework has been to observe the moon --he has been so motivated. It's fun to watch him excited about school.

First bus day for Troy

Yesterday was the first day Troy took the bus.  He kept on saying that he wasn't sure he wanted to-that he would check it out first and let me know. There were so many kids, he just got swept into the bus  I couldn't see him through the window.  I guess he had no choice.  Ellie is so good with him, taking him by the hand and distracting him when he started feeling nervous.  When we were crossing the street, Troy asked "is uncle Milburn still going to be my teacher?".  Mathew perked up and said "Troy-do NOT call him uncle Milburn".

Mathew's friend Kai is now in 4th grade so he has a different time for lunch.  They really miss playing together so they try to make the most of their time on the bus and during the morning recess.  It sounds like at lunch Mathew is just shooting hoops on his own.

Mathew's birthday was Sunday.  We made a plants vs zombies cake.  I bought some action figures at the toy store and then Ellie supplemented by  making other characters with oven-bake clay.  Matt helped me make the fondant Saturday night.  the dough was so tough it broke my mixer.  Matt cut out chinese characters that said Mathew is 8.  It definitely did not look store bought but it was cool.  Mathew had said he wanted pistachio icecream.  The only pistachio smart and final had was this enormous bucket for $17.  I couldn't resist and bought it.  We will have icecream coming out of our ears! The Johnsons came over for dinner..they brought burgers and hot dogs to grill.  I had some iron on transfers so we made the boys "I love brains" shirts since they love plants vs zombies.  The boys have been here for the summer but will go back to LA this week.  The boys have really connected this summer, playing hide and seek, slip and slide etc.  I'm sad to see them leave.

Mathew got a new bike..it's almost the same size as Matt's.  It makes me nervous as he stretches so far to get to the pedals but I guess he'll grow into it.  He is so in love with it, everyday, he gets home and rushes to get on.  The only thing he'd asked for was a pitcher plant.  We found a nice one at home depot for 11 dollars and he loves it.  He is maturing so fast.  He is a complete joy to be around.  I got to spend one on one time with him while Ellie was at surf camp and Sophie was at tennis camp.  He has opened up so much and is so sweet with me.

Mathew said they had some Chinese quizes and he got 100% on writing his characters and has been helping others with theirs.  What a difference it has made to his confidence to be caught up in Chinese, he's doing great.