Wilderness Adventures!

We spent Friday night in the woods with a bunch of friends from church! The kids had a great time getting dirty and staying up late.

Look at that cool fort-like structure the kids made out of sticks!

This was the only picture I could sneak of this little guy who insisted that he should not have his picture taken!

Savanah and Josh are entomologists in the making!
These crawly caterpillars were all over the place and the kids loved capturing them-except for little Carson who tasted it-Yuck!

I think camping should last longer than one night. It is way too much work for such a short time. But, we take what we can get these days! We left as soon as Ladd got home from work on Friday (around 7pm) and as soon as we got home on Saturday (around 12:30pm) he headed straight back to work. A little camping with Dad is better than nothing...

Dinosaur Day

A group of friends from church decided to do a Summer Camp with our kids this year. Each mom plans for one day and gets the rest of the days off! Today was my day to host camp. I had 5-6 year old boys and figured I couldn't go wrong with a dinosaur theme! We ate dinosaur chicken nuggets,

dug for dinosaur bones in a pan of dirt (aka brownies),

made fierce T-Rex's out of toilet paper rolls,
played Dinosaur Egg Toss (aka water balloon toss), read dinosaur stories and poems, and of course played to our hearts content! Now I can relax and enjoy the rest of "Summer Camp"!

Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day to the Greatest Dads Ever!

I am so blessed to have such a wonderful dad, father-in-law, and husband! I cooked dinner for these great dads today-ribs by request of Ladd, and we had a nice afternoon together.

Ladd and his dad started to play basketball on our little basketball hoop and Hunter was thoroughly offended. He did not think Grandpa should be trying to take the ball away from Daddy and he let Grandpa have it. Hunter is a tough little defender. The whole time this little basketball game was going on, Tanner was asking me to get out the paint for him so he could work on his box he was painting. He had no intention of playing any kind of sport if he didn't have to. This is a typical scenerio at our house, one athlete and one artist. I am so glad Hunter is into sports so Ladd will have one son to follow in his footsteps when it comes to sports!

In honor of Father's Day, I am going to share this sweet video. Ladd and I watched it yesterday and we both had tears in our eyes by the end. It will inspire you to be a better person...

My Favorite Room

The other day Tanner needed something from me and said, "Mom, where are you?" "In the school room," was my reply. "Oh good, that is my favorite room in the house," Tanner exclaimed as he came running into the room. It has become my favorite room too!



I feel so blessed to have been able to homeschool Tanner for kindergarten. I have been able to have so many meaningful conversations with Tanner this year because of books we've read and experiences we have shared. My favorite part of the day is our "school time". I can feel the Holy Ghost leading me and guiding me as I work with Tanner. I am so grateful for this guidance as I certainly could not do it on my own! Last summer I felt very strongly that homeschooling Tanner was the right thing to do, and I wasn't quite sure why. Although I may not know all the reasons, I do know that it has made me a better mom and given me the opportunity to teach Tanner so many important things that are not learned at school. I have seen Tanner grow so much this year, spiritually, emotionally, and academically. I love knowing his strengths and weaknesses and finding ways to encourage the strengths and improve the weaknesses. I would not have had it any other way. Don't get me wrong, it can be challenging. I need a break from my kids every now and again, but I get those breaks when I need them. (And, boy do I appreciate date night more than ever!) But, the positives certainly outweigh the negatives when it comes to taking on your child's education 100%!

I am very proud of Tanner and all he has accomplished this year. Last year I was always worried about what people would think when they found out we were homeschooling our kids. Well, now I can tell them it is a wonderful thing, there are lots of wonderfully normal families from all walks of life who do it, and there is tons of support and classes available to homeschoolers. So, we are planning to homeschool for first grade! I am looking forward to another exciting year with a whole new theme. At first I was a little worried about Hunter getting older and he probably won't be napping as well as he did this year, but now I am excited to have him join in on more of the fun. In an effort to keep the school room as the "favorite room in the house", I have a school year to plan this summer!

Take Me Out to the Ball Game...

This week, we signed Tanner up for T-ball (although practice doesn't start until August), went to Ladd's softball game, and took the boys to their first Angel's game! Baseball season has begun at our house!

For Mother's Day, we got my mom tickets to an Angel's game and used those tickets last night. It was a nice night for a game and one of the players, Torrey Hunter, happened to get three home runs! That made it fun for the boys because we got to see lots of Fireworks!

Grandma bought Rally Monkeys for both boys which were big hits! Both of the boys slept with their monkeys last night.

Another big hit were the hot dogs and other junk food the kids got to eat at the game!

While we were getting ready to go to the game, Tanner noticed all of the Ladd's softball gear was still in the car from his game the previous night. He got an excited look and said, "Is Daddy playing in the game tonight?" I told him if Daddy was playing in the game tonight we would not live in Fontana! Even though Ladd is not on the Angels, we all had a fun time. Although, we decided Hunter might not join us at the next professional sporting event we go to! He had a little too much energy for the small space alloted him in the stadium! Two year olds make every outing an adventure...

Run Like the Wind!

We took part in our city's Annual Race this year. Tanner ran the Half Mile Kids Dash and I ran the Half Marathon. The weather cooperated with us and we all had a great time (minus the black toe and red blister I got!)
For some dumb reason the kids race starts at the same time as the half marathon, so I couldn't see Tanner's race, but luckily my mom and Ladd were there to cheer him on. They said he talked to his friend the whole time he was running (surprise, surprise) and looked like he was about to fall over as he crossed the finish line. But they got some great shots of him...

The "I am about to die" face...

It is all thumbs up after the race because now it is time for snacks!

Josh, Tanner, and Dallin after the race. As my mom was taking this picture, a newspaper woman came by and took a picture of the boys and wrote down their names. We are hoping to see them in the Fontana Herald News next Friday!

The Half Marathon was a nice downhill run through the mountains. I enjoyed it and am only a little sore today. I didn't push myself too hard and my time wasn't quite as good as last year, but I am fine with that. I finished in 2 hours and 2 minutes, with a 9:23 average mile. I haven't been in a race since the dreadful marathon, so this has inspired me to do more races. The half marathons are MUCH better than going the full 26.2 miles! Thank goodness for this guy so I can train in the mornings while everyone is peacefully sleeping...
On a side note, I was surprised to I run into so many people I knew! A friend from high school dance team was running, Janine Newman; another friend from high school, Steve Nelson's, wife was running who by the way is very fast; a friend who lived in the dorms with me at BYU's husband was running; and of course all the people from my ward whom I expected to see there. It is a small world!

This kid probably would have won it all if he was old enough- he is fast!

Next year Ladd says he will do the 5k, it is on!

UTAH!

Armed with a car full of snacks and a few books on tape, we set out for our Second Annual Trip to Utah for sports camp at BYU. This year Tanner went to Basketball Camp. Sam (my friend Jenn's son) went too. At first Tanner was upset that Sam couldn't be on his team (they put all the lefties on the same team, Sam is a lefty) but then Tanner decided that he had the best coach so it didn't matter that Sam wasn't on his team. Tanner said his favorite part about camp was his coach Haley, the popsicle break, and free time. Can you tell he really loves sports?

Tanner and Coach Haley

Well, he may not win MVP, but he did win the Teammate Award for being a good sportsman! I was so proud and so was he. He got to go up in front of everyone and get an arm band for his Award!
Sam also got an award, the "Hustler Award", and he earned it! He is quite the basketball player!

When the kids weren't playing basketball, we saw the sights of Happy Valley. We went with Lawni and Jenn (and kids of course) to the Dinosaur Museum at Thanksgiving Point.

Future Paleontoligists

We also spent plenty of time a walking around BYU going to the museums there and of course getting ice cream at the Creamery. The campus was flooded with EFY kids and we were amazed at how they always seemed to be eating, and this was on top of the three cafeteria meals we assumed they get.

Enjoying some treats from the BYU Bookstore
We love little ones who share!

Lawni was so nice to let us stay at her house. We were all a little cranky towards the end thanks to an abundance of late nights and early mornings, so I am hoping we didn't wear out our welcome and she will let us stay there next time we venture up North...

Brielle and the boys watching TV in the morning