Ethan's 9th Birthday

I love my little Ethan. He is such a sweetheart. He is our more quiet child (God knows we needed one of those.) Ethan is a lot like his Daddy. He has lots of friends, but is also content to play on his own. Ethan LOVES Pokemon. On his birthday date, he chose to go to Texas Roadhouse for a steak. Ethan loves a good steak. Then we went to Toys R Us and bought all Pokemon toys; including Black and White...the DS games. I have no real idea what that is, but Ethan can tell you all about it. And for his birthday cake, he requested a chocolate mousse cake. We found one at Costco for him that he loved. Then tonight, for his birthday, he wanted to stay up and watch a movie. So, he and Brandon and us (Mom and Dad) are watching, "Muppets from Space".

Anyway, Ethan is such a handsome, good, smart little boy. I know he will be very successful one day, and my guess is that he will be very successful in computers, like his Dad. I am proud of my little man and so grateful for him in our life. His nature has always reminded me of my Grandpa Hall. Ethan, like my Grandpa, is a man of VERY few words. He doesn't talk a lot, but you can tell there is a lot going on between those ears.

Since they are off track right now, we had swimming lessons and then they stayed at the pool all day playing. Ethan's idea of fun. He wouldn't take advantage of the $10 birthday bribe to go down the big slide. He is a bit scared of heights.

Ethan was thrilled, one of his birthday games (DS) came from Nana and Papa. Grandma and Grandpa got him a water slide and water guns which he was excited about. Ethan got Nana's card in the mail today. Ethan said, "You know what I love about Nana's cards? They are always homemade." And he is right. She makes the best cards. What a great celebration for Ethan. Thanks everyone for making it so special for my little man.

Football Season begins......

Since football costs $225 per child, I thought I would be so smart and save some money this year. I had a feeling Ethan wouldn't really like football, and once he got a taste of it at a football camp, he would refuse to play football again. Not that this has happened before or anything......for example.....like a fishing class or something.

Anyway, I thought $30 per kid for football camp for 4 days might actually save me money in the long run. WRONGGGGGG! Ethan loved football camp and insisted on playing football. I have to admit I have been a bit nervous as Ethan is a bit smaller than Brandon. But how can you deny your children opportunities they so desire. $450 later......OUCH!

And anyway, what better thing for any parents to do with a 3, 4, and 5 year old than go to TWO football practices each night during all of Fall for 2 hours a night that really ends up being 2 1/2 hours. And kids are SOOOO fun that time of night (6-8/8:30pm).

(Don't tell anyone, but this is when I really don't mind working 2 nights a week from 6pm-10pm. Cause that means I am OFF-duty for that fun for at least two nights a week. Thanks Brandon, you are father of the year.)

Anyway, the boys had tryouts this week, and are SOOOOO excited to find out what team they are on. And so are we. I am secretly hoping Ethan gets Brandon's coach from last year, who was SOOOO fantabulous; Coach Williams. He is coaching his younger son this year who is Ethan's age. Cross your fingers for us....... I love a coach who is truly a coach. Full of encouragement, kindness, and motivates by example. I am so grateful for these coaches who give up their whole Fall life for these boys.

So, to all my friends, I love you and hope to see you in about November. Take care of yourselves. Let's plan a great girls night for November sometime! Or feel free to join us at a football field every night and on Saturdays.

I am such a cheezy Mom. I may not have a clue about Football, but the kids look so freakin' cute in their uniforms.....AND last but not least, we have their Halloween costumes covered for this year. SCORE!

Oh, and by the way, Ethan wants to be called E-fighter from now on. And I am banned from calling him angelbaby, sweet angel cakes, cutie-petutie, and other fun names on the football field. Seriously? Could I be as bad as the Mom from Diary of a Wimpy Kid?

Go Ethan!

Ethan has two games tomorrow and one last game next weekend. Right now his baseball team, The Mariners is ranked first. How exciting for little boys. Little Ethan loves baseball and has really enjoyed playing with his team this year. I am so grateful for the coaches and volunteers who make all this possible for my kids to have great memories. What a fun season!

Ethan's Birthday Party

Ethan was turning 8. We had told the kids this year we were not going to have birthday parties this year. A couple days before his birthday, Ethan said to me, "I know Mommy, you are planning a surprise party for me." Then I felt a little guilty. He was so wanting a party. Ethan is not a demanding child. He is a sweet boy. How could I deny him a birthday party. So, we whipped up a party in a couple days. We used the theme, "How to Tame Your Dragon" and had "Dragon Games". Luckily the Dollar Store had foam swords. They also had dinosaur headed poles that could pass for dragons. And last but not least, they had fabulous silly string. What is a boy's party without silly string or "dragon fire". We had Little Caeser's pizza and Powerade for drinks. The boys had a great time. I am happy we put together this party for my sweet Ethan.









What's a party without silly string.

This is so not fair!!! When do I get my party?


Big Bro Brandon was so nice. He let all the kids attack him with swords. He played the part of a red dragon.

Pizza and Powerade.



My handsome Ethan.



Silly String Wars









Looks like more of a Dragontales cake, but what are you going to do?

Ninja Classes

Anyone know where they teach Ninja classes? Ethan (7) is asking.....March 2 at 8:19am


Laura Bartholomew Woodruff We would prefer for the classes to be in this country.
March 2 at 8:40am · Laura Bartholomew Woodruff And for them not to include the deadly star throwing or whatever it is.
March 2 at 8:42am · Chrissy Johnson Leland is teaching us ninja every day. His teacher is invisible. I can send him your way.
March 2 at 9:31am · Larissa Watson My oldest used to take Korean sword in Orem. Are you in Utah?
March 2 at 9:47am · Angie Jones Barzee Wish you could send him with my boys. . .
March 2 at 10:29am · Ryan Kendall I was just thinking about opening up a Ninja Training Class. Send all of your boys this way. The class is offers "non-deadly" throwing stars and invisible teachers. The invisible teacher is included in the Platinum Plan.
March 2 at 10:37am · Angie Jones Barzee Ryan. . .I'm sold. Sign me up for the Platinum plan! haha
March 2 at 10:38am · Laura Bartholomew Woodruff Yeah. All for the platinum plan.
March 2 at 12:08pm · Laura Bartholomew Woodruff @ Larissa, I am in herriman. Is the only plAce in Orem or are they all throughout UT?
March 2 at 12:10pm · Laura Bartholomew Woodruff Although Ethan and a sword. Hmmmmm. Scares me for some reason.
March 2 at 3:16pm · Carrie Morin Moeaki I will pay your invisible teacher with my invisible check and we'll call it good :-) I think Ninja is a state of mind...
March 3 at 4:04pm ·

You need to love us as much...........

My husband was at the store with Brandon and Ethan. My husband was picking out some treats for me. Ethan tells his Dad, "You need to love us as much as you love Mommy. You should buy us some treats."Mon at 10:11am Only Friends · Comment ·LikeUnlike · View Feedback (10)Hide Feedback (10)Susie Stryker White, Bonnie Mattson, Dawn Coats Perry and 3 others like this.
Margie Stryker Hamberlin Good logic there!
Mon at 11:37am · Rachel Dekker Moody no way - mommy always gets top billing!
Mon at 12:07pm · Haylee Larsen Kolkoski Smart kid! Just the right mix of cute and manipulative. :)
Mon at 3:18pm · Tina Loveland Sudweeks HA HA HA!!! How cute!!!! I love the logic!
Yesterday at 12:35am ·

Ethanism

Ethan (7) came up to Grandpa and said, "can we play chess?" Grandpa said, "when we get back to my house, we will play chess." And then Grandpa continued the conversation and said, "What will I do if you beat me?" Ethan said, "then you should call 911 and tell them you are not very smart."

Ethan Playing Basketball

Ethan Makes a Basket

My baby makes a basket!

Ethan---my basketball boy!

My little Ethan (7) just loves basketball. In fact, he is my Mr. Enthusiasm. He gets all excited for basketball, chess, computer games, etc. He has such spunk, it is adorable watching him play basketball, play chess, etc. He brings that childlike joy and happiness to things. He made a basket during practice and looks forward to his basketball games which are on Saturdays! He is my lucky number 13.

Kid Combinations

I love my babies. They all have such distinct personalities. Beautiful, loveable, precious, tender-----sweet children. I love my babies.

Eat the Worm

Benjamin (4) and Ethan (7) walked in from our backyard chanting "Eat the worm", "eat the worm". Ethan was holding a big, long worm. I told him to take it outside. Hopefully the worm will live. Sometimes I am frightened of boys.

I guess Ethan said someone in his class had eaten a worm. Pressure was on. He was trying to gain the courage to eat the worm. I greatly discouraged such action. I don't think he was able to. Thankfully.

Of course, this afternoon Maddie and Benj went on another worm hunt. So many worms have lived and died on our property. Poor bugs and worms.

Reading Time

(This blog entry is extremely boring, but hey, some of these little routine things I may want to remember some day) and I will always want to remember their little faces sitting at the table during their reading time. Ethan and Benjamin both reading aloud, although only one of them can read, which makes it highly amusing, as little Brandon is just trying to concentrate and get through his 30 minutes.

So, we are getting back into school routines. LOVE IT! We have figured out the boys need to practice piano in the mornings, and then make their lunch, besides breakfast and all the other morning fun. I had to specifically talk to Ethan (7) about checking the tag in his shirt when he gets dressed as he usually has his shirt on backwards. 3 days without a problem. Sweet!

Anyway, my boys get back from school at about 4:05. They have a snack, chill out for a sec, and then at about 4:30 we do reading time, as we have to leave for football by about 5:30 and need to have dinner done by then. (And two nights a week I work, so that adds some fun into the mix.)

I am just loving quiet, relaxing nature of having the boys do their 30/20 minute required reading schedules from about 4:30-5. It keeps down some of the noise level. I was enjoying having them reading as I cooked dinner. Brandon was reading a Hardy Boys book, that he tells me he does not like---I'm trying to change that, since I loved all the Alfred Hitchcock, Nancy Drew, and Hardy Boys books growing up. Then Ethan, starts to read aloud a book. Then Benjamin, in an attempt to imitate his brothers, grabs a book and starts reading it aloud. I don't know how they could concentrate, but it was darn cute, and they are getting a little used to this new routine, and it is working out. YAY!

Cheers to school, a bit of structure, and some routine! The joys of motherhood! Maddie and Benj start preschool September 1st. They saw their preschool teacher today. She is so nice and they/I am SOOOO excited. It will leave just Dylan and I. What will we do? IKEA may be calling my name. And Target. With only one child----I might just pee myself.

First Day of School

As you can see, the boys were a bit anxious about starting school today. They are getting to those ages------scared of that. Anyway, as soon as they met their teachers, they seemed to feel better. Brandon is in 4th grade (when did that happen?) and Ethan is in 2nd grade. OUCH! I also felt a little sliver as my son Brandon didn't want me to take him to school, he would rather walk. But, I figure I have a few more years to embarrass him. I think Ethan was relieved that I was there. Ethan has the same teacher Brandon had in 2nd grade. We just love her. Brandon's teacher is one of the best liked teachers of the school, so I feel we lucked out! I was running late, so didn't have time to "manage" Madison's choice of outfit. I had to laugh as she put on the black boots and grabbed one of my black bags to go with. Three years old going on 21. And I don't think I am buying her any more black boots!!!

I am sure we embarrassed Brandon plenty, me and the three youngest kids dragging around to each classroom to meet the teachers. Done my job for a little while:)