Keep the stone rolling...

I suppose you might call him an over achiever, or perhaps the stars have aligned just for Makade this past month... the little turkey just made Student of the Month for the value of responsibility!

It's late, and I can't seem to get a decent picture of his certificate so here's what the spiffy document says...

Makade is a very responsible student. He tries very hard to complete his assignments. Makade is concerned about accuracy also. He is a very good student.

Even though responsible isn't an adjective Brandon or I would use to describe our son, we are super proud of him for being recognized as such a wonderful student. Keep up the great work Makade!!!

8/52

Yup, yup, why break tradition and actually be on time with one of these pictures?!? Here's the whole fam on our wonderful and (literally) breath-taking hike to see the Delicate Arch.

This is a spot called The Window to Delicate Arch which is an extra climb right before you round the rest of the mountain to actually see the arch in all it's glory.

I should mention that Corban gave us quite a scare as he ran to the edge to get a better look. It's as if he wanted to make sure our hearts were pumping to their maximum speed.

A new perspective

While going through 100's of pictures of our Moab trip for a (soon I hope) post, I came across this little beauty after my son had been playing with the point&shoot....
Is this what the phrase, looking down on you looks like? If so...I think I'll never judge someone again for fear of a possible nose boogie. ;0)

The thing about a bon-bon...

I waited all day until that darn school bus brought home the kids to get on the computer. I knew if I did, I'd be tempted to look at the results to see what part Tarryn made in her try-outs for the Nutcracker. (Yes in some sick way, this means we are already thinking about Christmas.)

I was happy to see that I wasn't the only one excited to see the results as Tarryn flung open the door and shouted, "Mom, did you look? I can't wait any longer! What am I? Did I get a part?" We logged on, and after a long scroll of names, found out that indeed, Tarryn got the part she wanted...... a bon-bon! What made it even better is that her close friend, Morgan got the same part.

Now comes the practices 2 nights a week and Tchaikovsky's music running through our heads daily; all to have 4 performances in the month of December and the experience of a life-time.

Tarryn, we are proud you set your aim high, and hit without a miss!

Wow! It must be Makade's day!

So I hope to grab a pic of Makade in his Kung-fu get-up soon and post it here, but I needed to post that he's doing wonderful in this form of martial arts! This evening our son moved to the next rank of yellow sash! He's so happy and his instructors we're very pleased to see him come out of his shell a tiny bit.

The only thing we were a bit disapointed in was that you can't watch during the review. We were unaware and invited Grandpa Herrick (my dad) to come. I was so sad that he made such an effort to be there and we all had such a let down. Well, now we know and we can still watch him during his regular classes if we wish.

Congrats Makade! We are so proud of you!!!

Picture now added. :0)

7/52

Okay, the long awaited picture of Makade and me! I must say (no offense to Brittany), but I was a bit disapointed when I saw the picture. I look like some crazed lunatic ready to strike at someone. Makade, on the other hand, looks fabulous! Man, I'd kill to have his skin!

Before I got to see this picture (due to my own technical dificulties), I pulled Makade in for a mini photo session the same day that I took the pictures from 6/62. You know, the ones with no make-up, no real hair-do, monkey arm style. Well, Makade and I were laughing so hard by the time we were done that we had Brandon, Kellan, and Corban chuckling just from listening to us. It was definitely one of those "I nearly wet myself" moments. So you, my readers, get to make your own decision on which photo session it will be for 6/52. I'm quite partial to the giggle session myself.

Student of the Week

Makade must be doing something right! And this must be the week for my boys to shine, because Mr. Makade came home to day with an award stating he was STUDENT OF THE WEEK!

Tarryn was so proud of her brother and was thrilled to hear her lil' bro's name anounced over the intercom this morning. I just hope we can keep up such good work all school year!

What a lovely poem!

I love scrounging through my kid's backpacks; especially when I find work that they didn't deem worthy enough of showing me yet I consider it a little gem, or at least some insight into their budding personality. A few days ago I was given one of those little treasures as I found a lovely poem in Makade's backpack.

Obviously, the topic was chosen for them and even had the rhyming part put into place for them as the paper said, *blank*, *blank*, *blank* and sweet. Watermelon is *blank* to eat.

My sweet and sensitive son who absolutely adores ALL fruit (please tell me you can feel the sarcasm in that statement), filled in the blanks so the poem read as:

Red, gross, awful and sweet.
Watermelon is horrible to eat.

Can you feel the love? He's going to melt hearts with this kind of stuff!

So Proud!

Corban came home today with the highest recognition in the 3 year old Challenger School program! He got his alphabet crown! ...and only 4 weeks into the school year. It's nice to officially have the school be aware of this because I'll be able to have help from the teachers with blending! Too bad Corban can't earn his blending badge until the 4 year old program. What a smarty pants! Okay, this Momma is done boasting. :0)

6/52

So I (meaning Britt) didn't get a pic of Makade and me until our marshmallow roast with Brittany on Monday the 15th. It will be for this coming Friday so I have time to get it from Britt's camera, so until then.... a 'monkey armed technique' picture of Kellan and me. A bit blury, no touch up, no make-up, just us sitting at the computer desk with a camera close by. (Which is usually how our life is.) *Man I'm getting gutsy throwing pics on the web with no make-up on!*

I'm adding another 'monkey armed' pic of Corban and me.... just because.

A short lived sports career.

5/52

Today Cambrey (sis-in-law) was over to pic up her son. She commented how far behind I was on my 52 week project so while I was reading a story to Kellan, she grabbed the camera to "help" me out. Obviously I shouldn't have been in front of a window, and something seems to be wrong with the settings on my camera because everything seems so grainy. I tried to work with it, and this is what we got.

Oh, did you notice I didn't cheat and post one pic as 5/52 and the other as 6/52? I may be late, but I still have my integrity! ...Plus, I've GOT to get a picture with my camera shy son, Makade. I've officially made this my project for tomorrow.

4/52

This was taken in the time frame of 4/52. I was getting ready to go out for a big to-do regarding my Father-in-law's retirement. I felt great, and my kids thought I looked great. My sister, Shaunna took the picture for me so I could email my other sister pics.

This is as good as it's getting for this week as I now have 3 weeks to post. Bleh!

A thing of the past...

As Brandon and I signed up for a new gym membership in July, we vowed that we would end our fast-food sprees in order to not only increase our health, but have a means in which to pay for the membership. We told the kids our plan, and they were not all that supportive. After I would finish my work-out, I'd pick up the kids from the daycare and they'd immediately start in on, "I'm starving! What's for lunch?" After running and working your muscles for over an hour, cooking lunch is the last thing I was interested in doing, so I'd give in and take them to one of the adored chains that can get your food to you within 5 minutes of deciding what you want to eat.

Obviously, our plan wasn't working. In fact, you know there's a problem when your three year old can spout off what he wants to the tee. We've even joked around about having him order his own meal in the drive through. "I want chicken, and fren-fries, and wrootbeer to drink!"

We needed a new plan, one that the kids would cooperate, and we didn't feel like it was such a struggle to keep up. I came up with the perfect solution! Turn it into a game!

On August 2nd, we started our game with the same rules as the quiet game, but with fast-food instead. First one to eat fast-food is out; whoever lasts a month gets a $20 bill, and winner gets a brand new pair of shoes, their choice(Tarryn has her heart set on some new Heeleys, Brandon has an Adida fettish, and I'd love some new runners). What is our definition of fast food? Anything with a drive-through window (minus sandwich chains), or anything that can be served to you in less than 5 minutes (IE, Panda Express, Cafe Rio, etc.)

Tarryn, age 6

Like most adventures, this hasn't been always easy. Brandon had a three week trip away from home! Do you know how hard it is to find food in an airport that applies to our rules? Running errands with the kids was difficult as well because I'd have to plan ahead and pack a lunch. But we've had some fun teasing the kids telling Grandma to take them to McDonald's on their outing, or saying, "If your that hungry, I can just take you to Wendy's" to which the kids reply, "NO WAY! I'm not eating that stuff!"

Makade, age 4

What has been the most amazing part of watching the kids, is their opinion of fast-food and how it's changed (Brandon's and mine as well). Makade was doing a school project involving cutting out magazine pictures and making a collage of things that he likes. I mindlessly cut out a picture of the golden arches with the logo, "I'm lovin' it." beneath, and he said, "That's fast food. I'm not putting that on there!" Tarryn found a picture of french fries and cut it out, "I DON'T EAT FAST FOOD!" was the reply from Makade.

Corban went from saying, "Mom, I want chicken, and fren-fries, and wrootbeer to drink" every time we were in the car, to, "Mom, I'm hungry, lets go home and eat." Music to my ears!

Our entire family is still in the running for this race. 41 days.....and counting! We've all admitted that we don't even miss the stuff and we all feel a lot better without it. I'm so glad we've made fast food a thing of the past.

Idioms Taken Literally

Waking up and starting the day (especially a school day) often ends up in a whirlwind of sharp words flying from every one's mouth, and little arguments break out about almost any little thing such as "he's not sharing", or "don't tell me what to do!"

This morning it was like we were in a completely different household. Makade gets Kellan out of bed for me, Corban shares with Kellan, Makade shares with Corban, Tarryn isn't being moody about what she's wearing, and the list goes on.

Like me, Tarryn seemed to have noticed the kindness floating in the air and stated, "Wow! We all must've woke up on the right side of the bed today!"

Makade corrects her by saying, "No. It's just that nobody rolled off of their bed today."

*giggle*

Yes Makade, not falling off my bed is a good reason to have a good day.

Gotta love the mind of a seven year old.

Late, late, late.

I know I'm super late on 4/52 and sorta late on 5/52. I swear I will work on this tomorrow! I wish I had some great excuse for reasoning and justifying why I'm late but even then, it would be just that. An excuse. It's coming soon, I promise!