Friday, December 6, 2013
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Time to Clean House
So I've been cleaning off horizontal surfaces in my house lately, partly to impress my husband (read: Dave is sick and tired of my messes) and partly because we have painters here fancying up our walls. Anyway, I came across some of Ben's school writing which I put before you now.
THE SILENT STREAM
Soundless starlight gleams
in moonlight and the stream,
is what my memory hears
before I see it in the windows.
Believe things unlike the truth,
like flight in a cloudless sky
that encircles the sun
in the beginning of the day.
Quiet flowing, waiting
and shining waters,
outline elsewhere.
Lest you think he is poetic, keep in mind that the way 3rd graders (last year) write these poems is pretty much like an ad-lib joke. He can't read it without collapsing in a laughing heap on the floor. But I do think it turned out lovely.
At the beginning of this year he had an assignment to learn about his ancestors (which country they came from, etc.) and give an oral presentation about them in class. We know way too much about way too many ancestors so we ended up focusing on a treasured heirloom, but not before we gave the actual assignment a shot. Here is his first attempt:
"My ancestors came from Scandinavia and the British Isles. Many of them came to America because they joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of them was the first school teacher in Utah. Her name was Mary Jane Dilworth. Another ancestor was a cowboy in Texas. Another one left England went to New Zealand before coming to America. Eventually they all settled in three states, Arizona, Utah and Idaho. Going to college has been important for most of my ancestors. Several of my great grandparents have taught at college and universities. My mom grew up in Idaho and my dad grew up in Arizona. They met at BYU in Utah. My grandpa told me his dad built a toy machine. On the machine was buttons to make a toy. Some of the types of toys were a horse, a plane or a truck. They would push a button and it would pop out. Soon for some reason when he pressed horse a plane would come out and when he pressed plane a truck would come out then he pressed truck and some spare change came out. Only years later did he realize that someone was in the toy machine and his dad had bought toys and one of the employees was in the toy machine throwing it out and eventually he ran out of toys so he threw his spare change out of the slot and that's the end."
It is good to clean house once in a while to find keepers like these.
THE SILENT STREAM
Soundless starlight gleams
in moonlight and the stream,
is what my memory hears
before I see it in the windows.
Believe things unlike the truth,
like flight in a cloudless sky
that encircles the sun
in the beginning of the day.
Quiet flowing, waiting
and shining waters,
outline elsewhere.
Lest you think he is poetic, keep in mind that the way 3rd graders (last year) write these poems is pretty much like an ad-lib joke. He can't read it without collapsing in a laughing heap on the floor. But I do think it turned out lovely.
At the beginning of this year he had an assignment to learn about his ancestors (which country they came from, etc.) and give an oral presentation about them in class. We know way too much about way too many ancestors so we ended up focusing on a treasured heirloom, but not before we gave the actual assignment a shot. Here is his first attempt:
"My ancestors came from Scandinavia and the British Isles. Many of them came to America because they joined the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. One of them was the first school teacher in Utah. Her name was Mary Jane Dilworth. Another ancestor was a cowboy in Texas. Another one left England went to New Zealand before coming to America. Eventually they all settled in three states, Arizona, Utah and Idaho. Going to college has been important for most of my ancestors. Several of my great grandparents have taught at college and universities. My mom grew up in Idaho and my dad grew up in Arizona. They met at BYU in Utah. My grandpa told me his dad built a toy machine. On the machine was buttons to make a toy. Some of the types of toys were a horse, a plane or a truck. They would push a button and it would pop out. Soon for some reason when he pressed horse a plane would come out and when he pressed plane a truck would come out then he pressed truck and some spare change came out. Only years later did he realize that someone was in the toy machine and his dad had bought toys and one of the employees was in the toy machine throwing it out and eventually he ran out of toys so he threw his spare change out of the slot and that's the end."
It is good to clean house once in a while to find keepers like these.
Wednesday, August 7, 2013
Summer Vacation
Oh what a wonderful three week break it was. The kids pretended to be pioneers in the wilderness, swam in the river, and basically needed minimal input from ME! In other words, I told them to go have fun and leave me alone. {smiley face}. I played with them some, too. Elaine was at EFY for the first week, Jeremy was at the National Scout Jamboree for the first two weeks, and Dave was working for the first two weeks. Then he hiked/trail ran 27 miles along the Teton Crest Trail in 10 hours with some other crazy people before joining us. Since Jeremy was gone, we had his cousin Bryce with us for those two weeks which was the greatest plan ever! Chelsea and her kids joined us for a week also, and Grandma and Grandpa were with us the first two weeks.
We saw bald eagles galore (4, to be exact), moose, fish, osprey, cormorants, pelicans, squirrels, chipmunks, dragonflies of myriad hues, Canadian Geese, swans, muskrats, and several other birds for which I need the handy yellow sheet from Yellowstone to remember their names.
We took several day trips to various locations including Targhee Creek, Ice Lake, Quake Lake, and Lava Hot Springs (I'll have to get pictures from grandpa). Of course we couldn't omit ice cream at the Old Faithful Inn. We didn't take the 3 hour float trip, but we took the 20 minute one several afternoons in the kayaks. Fun, fun.
We also got to spend time with Nana in Alpine where Jill got to play with her step-cousins. Mariah spoke in church for her farewell to JAPAN, which we attended and then hung out at their house for an afternoon.
One of the most fun things we did was watch the daily slideshows set to music that Grandpa put together!
I'm actually still feeling refreshed after being home for several days. There is something about the mountain air and Snake River and memories of childhood!
We saw bald eagles galore (4, to be exact), moose, fish, osprey, cormorants, pelicans, squirrels, chipmunks, dragonflies of myriad hues, Canadian Geese, swans, muskrats, and several other birds for which I need the handy yellow sheet from Yellowstone to remember their names.
We took several day trips to various locations including Targhee Creek, Ice Lake, Quake Lake, and Lava Hot Springs (I'll have to get pictures from grandpa). Of course we couldn't omit ice cream at the Old Faithful Inn. We didn't take the 3 hour float trip, but we took the 20 minute one several afternoons in the kayaks. Fun, fun.
We also got to spend time with Nana in Alpine where Jill got to play with her step-cousins. Mariah spoke in church for her farewell to JAPAN, which we attended and then hung out at their house for an afternoon.
One of the most fun things we did was watch the daily slideshows set to music that Grandpa put together!
I'm actually still feeling refreshed after being home for several days. There is something about the mountain air and Snake River and memories of childhood!
Monday, April 22, 2013
Monday, March 25, 2013
Paleo Lifestyle. Ugh. Elaine and I are participating in a Paleo Challenge, which basically means no dairy, grains, legumes (not even peas), sweets (not even honey), or processed foods of any kind for 6 weeks. I'm going crazy. I get full pretty quick when I eat, but then I'm starving an hour later.
Anyway, we'll see if it gets easier. I have been working out at Psychosomatic Fitness. Great name, huh? I'd like to go everyday, but it gets awkward asking my friends to babysit Jill so I can go work out. So I'm back to getting up at 4:30 to get it done. Ugh again.
So I took some pictures of the kids in their St. Patrick's Day getup. Not that we do this every year, but it worked out this year. I recently bought suits for all the boys (except Alex who is wearing a hand me down from Jeremy) and decided to commemorate it. Elaine is wearing one of Grandma Beth's sweaters. Jill didn't want to be in the picture, but finally looked up.
The following are a few pictures from our cruise on Royal Caribbean's largest vessel, the Oasis of the Seas. It was a fun ship.
And here are two photos from William's Super Bowl Game. Saints vs. Colts. He was a great little player. Two touchdowns. Alex and Ben played also, but their teams didn't make it to the Super Bowl, and I wasn't able to get any good pictures of them playing.
Anyway, we'll see if it gets easier. I have been working out at Psychosomatic Fitness. Great name, huh? I'd like to go everyday, but it gets awkward asking my friends to babysit Jill so I can go work out. So I'm back to getting up at 4:30 to get it done. Ugh again.
So I took some pictures of the kids in their St. Patrick's Day getup. Not that we do this every year, but it worked out this year. I recently bought suits for all the boys (except Alex who is wearing a hand me down from Jeremy) and decided to commemorate it. Elaine is wearing one of Grandma Beth's sweaters. Jill didn't want to be in the picture, but finally looked up.
The following are a few pictures from our cruise on Royal Caribbean's largest vessel, the Oasis of the Seas. It was a fun ship.
And here are two photos from William's Super Bowl Game. Saints vs. Colts. He was a great little player. Two touchdowns. Alex and Ben played also, but their teams didn't make it to the Super Bowl, and I wasn't able to get any good pictures of them playing.
Wednesday, January 30, 2013
Ready to Run?
I'm not sure I'm ready to run on Saturday! This past Saturday I ran ten miles in a downpour (see photo) and my calves got so sore! I don't understand why the week before I ran 9 miles with no soreness afterward at all! Anyway, hopefully the soreness will abate in time. The other issue is that our household are coming down with colds. Oh well. The jacuzzi will feel good at least!
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