This Weekend:

* The "Ladies" spontaneously put together a breakfast on the spot Friday morning; 

 we went to Sill's Cafe. 

(home of the scones as big as your face)

By the time we left there, they were serving lunch to all the tables around us!  :)

* I was planning on going to the temple afterwards - I'd gone to breakfast dressed for it...

But, first I went to a store,

then to get gas,

then to a grocery store,

then to drop off two garbage bags full of stuff at the D.I. from our closet clean-out.

And by that time, the kids who'd gotten home from school were calling me.....

So, I returned home.

* I sent Kyle off on a group date he had planned with his friends.

The went to the Ice Castles up in Midway, UT.

(sidenote: this girl's mom was one of Kyle's preschool teachers!)

* Matt & I had date night at Sizzler.

We were seated in THE SMALLEST booth ever!

There was NOT enough room for me, my coat, AND my purse.

* On Saturday morning, I took Kyle and Katelyn to go audition for 

the Farmington Youth Theatre upcoming production of... 

There was quite a long wait to get in to audition,

and some good silly, young teenager watching in the meantime, too!  ;)

The fact that Kyle is a 16 yr. old MALE auditioning, made him very noticeable to the directors!

Not a bad position to be in at auditions!  :) 

* My official [write-on] calendar was finally delivered,

so I spent the afternoon filling it in with all the things we have going on this month/year.

It felt so good - I've been a bit unsettled without my "brain."

* Matt & I went on a group date of our own - I think you'd call it a quintuple date.

Our friends had reserved a court at the Rec Center and we played wallyball.

We first did girls vs. guys - I was told that it was so the girls

would actually get a chance to touch the ball!  ;)  haha.

After that, we mixed it up - and I quickly learned it was very 

advantageous to be on Matt's team!

We were reaching/lunging/jumping/hustling in ways we

are not accustomed to.....and boy, have we felt it in our bodies ever since!!!

#gettingoldstinks

Two of the couples had to return home to their young babies/toddlers,

but the rest of us went to Dairy Queen for "cool treats" 

and visited for another hour - or two....

* Church-y Church on Sunday.

This year we changed to the 9:00 a.m. time block - my favorite [at this season in my life]!

* We watched our 2015 Year-in-Review 

slideshow that Matt makes for us every year.

Always fun to reminisce!

(BUT do I REALLY look like that lady in some of the photos???)

* Brookelle got on a crazy-hair kick,

and did her own hair first....

...and then she moved on to Kyle!

* We got a surprise visit from Grandma/pa.

* I ended the day by writing my weekly email to our missionary.

Christmas Morning.....Didn't quite Start Out the way it was Supposed to.

In our family, we all line up and enter the Family Room together, at the same time, on Christmas morning (no one is allowed to go in there on their own before the agreed upon time).
First, everyone kind of just looks around, and finds "their" spot where their things have been left, and then they sit down and soak it all in.

 

Then, everyone is free to leisurely go through their stockings and see what is in them - and act ALL excited AND thankful AND jubilant!!!  :)
After that, we start opening presents, in turn, one by one.

So....we all got seated, AND BEFORE WE'D OPENED EVEN ONE PRESENT, all of a sudden, Kyle says, "Look, I cut my hand!" as he holds up his hand in front of Matt's face.

From across the room, in my dazed state (very LATE nights/mornings for the previous few nights), I look over and I can't figure out WHAT he's talking about.  I mean, we've literally ONLY been in the family room a couple of minutes TOPS, so HOW do you cut your hand by just sitting there or pulling things out of your stocking???

Did Santa put something sharp in there?

Since my mind was running so slowly, I was just staring and thinking, but no words actually made it out of my mouth.  (I know - shocker, huh?!?)
Matt, on the other hand, immediately asks, "WHAT JUST HAPPENED?" 

Apparently, Kyle had wanted to open up some socks that he got, and he took Matt's Swiss Army knife (without him noticing) to cut those plastic barbs that hold new socks together.

AND he missed or slipped, and got his finger.

Matt informed him (& everyone) that ONLY HE should touch the knife!

So, then Kyle started to bleed pretty good, so Matt told him to get over to the kitchen, so we could get a towel to put pressure on it (and so the blood wouldn't drip on the couch/carpet!)

But, then he started to get freaked out by the blood.
Side note: he has a history of this - NOT doing well at the sight or thought of blood. ;)  In fact, earlier this year, when all the kids had to go in for labs, Kyle about passed out and was given a ice pack and had to lay down.  Katelyn locked herself in the bathroom, crying.  And Brookelle was totally calm and fine and cooperated perfectly and was done in 20 seconds.  Hmmm....what is wrong with this picture?!?  ;)

But, when Kyle got up to move to the kitchen, he started to feel faint, so we had him sit down in a chair.

And then his face got all white.

And he started to sweat.

And breathe irregularly.

And was demanding to know how bad it was bleeding, as he was bouncing his foot up and down and putting his head down on the table and groaning.

Meanwhile, Matt & I are playing nurse/doctor.  I go to get or look for cloths and gauze and Neosporin and antiseptic spray and butterfly band-aids (couldn't find a single one!) and Matt applied pressure and performed all the treatment.  And the girls just continued to look through their Christmas stockings - No, I'm sure they were worried sick about their brother instead!  ;)

It was difficult to ignore the mayhem going on in the kitchen!!

Well, Kyle was feeling sick - that was for sure - he thought he was going to throw up, so I went looking for our bucket.  It wasn't in it's usual spot, and I was told to go look in Katelyn's room since she had felt sick in the middle of the night.  So, I go up to her room, and I found it......WITH vomit in it already!  So, then I go to the bathroom and rinse it out, then run back downstairs with the clean bucket for Kyle.  Luckily, he hadn't needed it yet.

Then Kyle says he can't feel his hand.
Or his arms.
And his head hurts.
His skin looks kind of gray, too.
And then he starts to apologizing for taking his dad's knife!  (His form of "death bed repentance?")

I get him a drink of water and a cold washcloth, his sister comes to his side and rubs his back.
Matt stops the bleeding, and dresses the wound after multiple attempts on the tricky finger bends, but Kyle doesn't even want to lift his head up to look at the damage.

We finally get him back to the couch, and laid him down, put his head on a pillow, feet elevated, and cover him with a blanket.....because NOW he has the chills (and he wants the cut hand to be out of sight!)
His face was still super white (it was funny/not funny)...and his previous enthusiasm for Christmas morning had disappeared!

So, not the way we normally start out Christmas morning.  ;)

So, about an hour later than intended, we resumed our stocking discovery and eventually started opening gifts, too.

And then took a break when a special Skype call came in:

It ended up to be just what the doctor ordered.  Because Kyle was able to perk back up for that! 

Perfect Timing

Last Monday late afternoon, the person assigned to Family night treat had NOT planned ahead, and we didn't have anything around our home for them to use. 
Surprise, surprise!

And THEN....in the middle of dinner prep, Matt spotted a car of girls parked out front of our house, with another girl out walking/standing on our front walk and driveway, and then when she got back in the car, they drove away.   

Hmmmm? 

So I opened the front door to see what was going on.....


And WHAT did I see?

Manna Ice Cream from Heaven!!!

Yes!  Our Family Night Treat predicament had been solved!

  {Actually, it was all for Kyle - he was getting asked to Christmas Girls' Dance -

but he "gets to" share with his whole family in our time of need! ;)}

It turns out, Brookelle was out playing on her bikes & ride-in cars out in our driveway when the girls came, and she saw the whole thing, so the girls, not wanting to be caught while it was still light outside, set it up on the porch, then asked Brookelle to go ring our doorbell AFTER they had left.  But, I opened the door too early, when B hadn't made it over yet, and I caught her sneaking across our front lawn to "doorbell ditch" her own home!  haha.  ;)

A Sure Way to Get Your Teenager to Go to Bed Early on the Weekend

Here's the secret:  have them run the RACE OF THEIR LIFE in the High School Region Championship Cross Country Meet.

And SMASH their PR by 34 seconds!
(Those of you who aren't familiar with running.....to shave just a few seconds off your PR is fantastic.  To knock off 34 seconds is something I (and many) could never even dream of doing.  It's phenomenal, is what it is.)

 Ya....he pretty much ran out of his head. 

SO MANY student athletes were breaking their PRs right and left.  They did amazing!  I was so happy for everyone to see how excited they were!  The air at that meet was definitely filled with ADRENALINE and ENERGY.  To see a "spent" runner dig deep down within him/herself and find something, then pour it on at the end of a race is one of my favorite things to watch.

It's awe inspiring - and in some cases (my husband's at this meet), tears-producing.  The will of the human soul is wondrous.  You give it your ALL - and then some - until you're done.

....And because they were going above and beyond their normal capacities, there was some falling down, some passing out, some white lips, some throwing up, etc. after the race.

 Here, Kyle had just asked his teammate on the ground, "Do you know who we are?"

And he was pointing at each of them saying their names. (through heavy breathing and he kept trying to lie down)

He got it correct!  :)

But, the Viewmont boys AND girls cross country teams qualified to go to State!!! (the first time in several years).

So, needless to say, Kyle was a bit tired.

Worn-out.  

Weary.  

Exhausted.  

Drained. 

And I think all the other runners were, too, because no one came calling to get together and do something on that Friday night, like they usually do.

When the bus got back to the high school, Kyle texted us to come get him up (NOW).  

He got home, got in the shower, changed into comfy sweats/t-shirt.

AND WAS IN BED BY 8:00 PM!!!  And was asleep approximately 12.8 seconds after that.

THAT'S how you get a teenager to go to bed early.  ;)
(although, we, his parents, had nothing to do with it - it just happened on it's own)

Ya Gotta be Sherlock Holmes to be Able to Go on a Date

There was a knock at our front door tonight.....

And we found this on our doorstep.  It was obviously for Kyle, and he wasn't home at the time, so we left it there until he returned.  I KNEW he'd want to discover it for himself; he has a BIG birthday coming up next month (16!), and he has been greatly anticipating it!  Because then the whole world of dating is going to open up for him.  (Our kids wait until they are 16 to date - it is a family rule and a standard of our church).  Kyle will turn 16 on October 20th, and lucky for him, the Harvest Dance (Girls' Choice) is on October 24th!

When he opened the box, he found some delicious-looking harvest-themed cookies inside.  We figured the letters would spell the name of the person who was asking him.  Except it was not so evident to us; the 4 vowels were throwing us off!  Was it a first name and a last name?  Was it the first name and the first initial of her last name?  Or was it only her first name?  But, what first name has 4 vowels and 4 consonants?!? (Unless it's Hawaiian?  But, he couldn't think of anyone.)

So, we just started to move around the cookies.

Was it.....

"Lima?"

Could it be...

"Chem?"

Perhaps it's...

"Elm?"

I know!  It must be...

"Ace?"

Or was it the....

"Mice?"

Maybe he won't get to go on his first date, afterall, if he can't even ascertain WHO he's suppose to answer, and go with!  ;)

CAN YOU FIGURE IT OUT?!?  

Lessons learned at the Kitchen Stove

With the start of a new school year, and a new work schedule (all day) for me, I instituted a new "dinner plan."
That plan involves other people than just me making dinner.  Brilliant, eh?
I'm not available in the days to do all the dinner planning/prepping like I used to be PLUS it's time for my children to discard the phrase, "I don't know how to cook" from their vocabulary!
So, Kyle has Mondays.
Haylee has Tuesdays.
Katelyn has Wednesdays.

And I'll do the rest of the days.  EXCEPT, according to this article, my husband should be doing Sundays. ;)

There were also some "rules."

1. It has to be a REAL meal.  (Ramen, Mac & Cheese, and Spaghetti-O's or anything like unto these are excluded!)
2. They cannot repeat the same meal within the same month.
3. It has to include a vegetable and/or fruit, plus be a balanced meal (with a protein and a grain.)

 Here's how things went the first week:

Kyle wondered why it took him 2 1/2 hrs. to make dinner!
He learned that he shouldn't leave the kitchen multiple times in the middle of making dinner - especially when he has put butter in a saucepan to melt!  ;)
He also learned it will go a lot quicker if he cut up all the vegetables and cooked/diced the meat BEFORE he started cooking!

Haylee wondered how in the world we could stand eating all the pancakes she'd made WITHOUT any syrup!
She learned that she should probably take inventory of ALL the ingredients (including condiments) she will need for her dinner and, if we don't have them in our pantry, she should write them on a shopping list BEFORE mom went shopping a few days prior.
(Luckily, mom knows how to whip up homemade syrup, and saved the dinner).  ;)

Katelyn wondered why her entree did not yield as large of a quantity as it usually does (like when mom makes it) and worried there wasn't enough for everyone to feel satisfied.
She learned that she should follow the instructions on the size of pan that the recipe says should be used and add ALL the ingredients that were cut and measured ahead of time.  (She used a smaller pan and everything wouldn't fit in it, so she just filled it and then left out the excess ingredients).  ;)

{Hopefully, they all become more proficient, with time!}  :)

This first week, I had to answer a lot of questions and assist with various tasks, when asked, so I actually had to be available or present - but I did not take it over for them when they struggled; I wanted them to be "in charge."  My vision is that one day, they'll all be able to function in the kitchen like a well-oiled machine, and I could walk away from the kitchen or our home, and everything would run normally without a hitch and they would pull off dinner with success!

{In other words, I hope to "work myself out of my [cook] job."}

Three Months of Summer - Gone?!? (Which Means it's Over!)

Sayonara, August! 

It was good while it lasted.....yes, children, we DID do something!

Here's how it went down.

Queen of the Kingdom with these lovely ladies.

This song will forever remind me of this weekend!
It cannot be played now without me breaking out into song AND dance - seriously!!

Just playin' in the rain - more like an all out thunderstorm!

Heber Valley Girls' Camp

Haylee and Matt went....Haylee as one of the "girls."  Matt as one of the "Priesthood men."

Cousins "warming up" for the backyard races

ReAL Monarchs soccer game

Farmington City Volunteer Appreciation Night at the pool

Brookelle on the high dive?!?  

(Thanks to "peer influence" she had from a friend she ran into there.)

Desert Star Theatre

"GREASE'D: Happy Days are Here Again"

Splash Pad with friends

Look what I found while shopping at Ross here in our neck of the woods......

a Virginia Tech hat - my missionary son's stompin' grounds now! :) 

Kyle ran the Davis County 5K

(in the time it takes ME to go ONE mile!)  ;)

Brookelle (navy shirt),

Katelyn (grey shirt),

and Haylee (navy shirt) all did the Kids Mud Run on the same day as the 5K.

Flips on the tramp!

Inflatable waterslide party in our backyard with the Fowers cousins!

Off the strict bedtime schedule and fallin' asleep in weird positions.

The results of new school clothes shopping

Finally got to have the full-time missionaries over for dinner!

(as "payback" for all the West Virginia/Virginia families who are feeding my boy every night)

Seven Peaks Water Park ~ jetBlue Day

ReAL Salt Lake soccer game vs. Seattle Sounders FC

School started August 24th

Kyle's first Cross Country Meet for VHS (maroon uni on left)

(an "invitational" meet in American Fork with 40 high schools!)

San Diego with Matt officially finished out August....

 Because truth be told - - I needed a vacation from [the kids and] this Summer vacation. 

{kidding/not kidding}

And, just like that: 1, 2, 3 months of Summer came to an end!

Waaaaaaaa!

and

Yaaaaaaaay!  :)