Front Seat

My kids fight over who gets to sit in the front seat with me in the car.  Today Beck jumped in first and since we were just going a short way I told him it was ok to sit up there.  He promptly grabbed the earphones and put them on while sitting there.  Such a funny, cute boy!

Knighting Ceremony

The 3rd grade has a math program at the school called Slaying the Dragons.  It helps the kids learn their multiplication and division facts.  Once they have passed off one of them from 0-12 they get to be "knighted" by Queen Bollinger in a special ceremony.  Rhen has worked hard and got to be one of the very few in the first knighting ceremony.  She was the only one in her class to pass off her multiplication facts and only 12 total in the whole grade have passed it off so far!  So proud of her and her hard work!

Daddy Daughter Night

I'm the activity days leader in our ward and LOVE it because both of my girls are in it with me.  We planned a daddy daughter night for the girls and their dads and did it Minute to Win it style!  As partners they all played a bunch of games together and the finalists were in one last game to determine the winner.  This last game was Junk in the Trunk and the dads had to shake their booty until all the ping pong balls came out of the box that was strapped to their waist.  Super fun and the girls and dads had a blast!

Bumbo

Desh found his old bumbo chair in the closet and dragged it out the other day.  He has been sitting in it ever since even though his chubby legs barely fit in the leg holes!  Silly boy!

Christmas Card

Christmas Tree

It's almost Christmas and that means it's time to pick out a tree!  The kids love hunting for the perfect tree in the lot.  I think we may have found it.

After some hard work putting the lights and ornaments on, this is the final product.

 I love how the house feels when all our Christmas decorations are out.  We love Christmastime!

Uncle Greg

Uncle Greg is in town and you know what that means...

Good story times

 And big workouts!

Plumber

Plumber's bum at it's finest...

Reader's Theater

Rhen's class performed a reader's theater today.  We were all invited to come watch and then have pie together after.  They did a really great job and the reading was so cute!  And of course we loved having pie with our 3rd grader!

Thanksgiving Feast

The 1st graders had a Thanksgiving Feast this morning.  Liev told me all about it and that they ate muffins, grapes, popcorn and applesauce for their feast.  Sounds like the perfect thanksgiving dinner!

18 months

Desh has just realized he is tall enough to open doors and drawers and basically get into anything he wants.  The latest thing he's been into is the top drawer in our bathroom.  He reaches his chubby hand up there and grabs our toothpaste and sucks on the top of the tube.  We find tubes all over the house.  Doesn't he look so guilty?!

Also he's 18 months old now!

Stats from Dr. Erickson:

Length: 2'10" - 96%

Weight: 27 lbs. 6 oz. - 87%

Head: 19.7 inches - 98%

Desh's Job

Desh has started taking his own diapers to the garbage after he gets changed.  He loves that he has a responsibility and he's so good at it too!  Such a cute boy!

Messes

I love when Desh looks at me like "what mom?  I didn't do that."  Right.

Reflex math

Rhen works on her math on the computer playing a game called reflex math.  It's a really fun way to learn math facts and the boys love watching her.  Almost every day when all other jobs are done, they pull their chairs up to the computer and watch her while she plays.  

Zones

We recently started a new job system and everyone is assigned different zones that rotate weekly.  I'm not sure what it is that's making this work over anything else, but so far these kids have been totally into it!  And are working hard everyday doing their zones!  Good job boys.

And this is how Beck unloads the dishwasher.  Picks up one piece at a time with the tongs.  No wonder it takes him 30 minutes to unload the silverware!

Shoulder Ride

Desh so cute riding on Josh's shoulders!  

BYU Football

We love football season because it means we get to go to the BYU games, eat cougar tails, enjoy the extremely hot games and also the very cold ones toward the end of the seaons, and be with our family!  It's been a pretty down year as far as the team goes, but we still carry on as fans.  Next year will always be better!

Parent Teacher Conference Rease

Mrs. Chambers couldn't say enough about how much she loves having Rease in her class.  She told us that Rease is an amazing reader.  Not only is she reading on a high level, she is also comprehending incredibly well.  She said that Rease is on a 10th grade comprehension level for reading.  She also said that Rease is kind and so helpful in the classroom.  We already know all those things about Rease but it was great to hear!

Parent Teacher Conference Liev

Mrs. Hernandez told us that she adores Liev and loves having him in her class.  She said he is fun, happy and so nice to others.  She also said that he is really progressing in his reading and doing awesome in math.  We know he is a hard worker!

Parent Teach Conference Rhen

Mrs. Workman had only good things to say about Rhen.  She told us that Rhen is the only student in the class that has passed off her multiplication facts.  She also said that Rhen is a great student and works really hard.  We know that about Rhen too - she is the same way at home!  

Parent Teacher Conference Keen

Miss Buker had so many good things to say about Keen.  She said he is kind and polite and works really hard in school.  She told us she loves having him in her class.  I believe it!

Ski Season

It's that time of year that we get our ski equipment all figured out for the year.  Beck is convinced that he's going to ski with us this year.  He looks so darn cute I don't think we can leave him behind!

Desh and Mom

Desh is such a happy boy when he gets up in the morning.  I had to snap this picture today cause he was all smiles!

Rease's trip to Boston

Rease has been saving her money all summer to buy a plane ticket to Boston to see her cousin Nolan. Grammie told her that if she would save enough money to buy half the ticket then she would buy the other half.  So she did!  She paid $150 to Grammie for a plane ticket and off they went!  They decided to go for Halloween because the kids had a couple days off school and also Boston is really fun at Halloween.  So we missed her on Halloween but she had a blast in Boston.  I found this list that she made to help her pack for the trip.  I don't know who she learned to make lists from??  She's adorable.

I sent her with a disposable camera so she could take pictures whenever she wanted.  She loved being able to do that and the pictures actually turned out pretty good!  Josh and I hid little notes all over in her suitcase and clothes so she could find them throughout the week.  She said she loved finding them every day.

 One thing they did when she was there is run a 5k race in the city.  Everyone dressed up in their Halloween costumes and ran.  Rease said she had a lot of fun running and was so excited that she got a medal!

 She had fun playing with Nolan's bird and his bearded dragon and just hanging out with cousins.

 Her favorite day was taking a drive out to Rockport and playing along the beach.  She kept telling me how beautiful it was!

 And of course Halloween is always a highlight!  We sure missed her when she was gone.  Our house isn't the same without our Rease.  But I'm so glad she was able to go on this trip with Grammie.  She worked hard and got to benefit from saving her money!

Liev's class

Liev's teacher Mrs. Hernandez is so great.  She is constantly sending home pictures of activities they do in the classroom from the Word of the Week, a visit from Smoky the Bear or Halloween.  They are always doing fun creative things!