School Pictures

Or should I say class/team pictures? I'm kind of a cheap-o mom, and I hate how the school pictures that are taken don't always turn out and they seem to cost a fortune. So for the past few years, I've just purchased the class pictures for my kids, and then we spend our money on AWESOME family/individual pictures done by my friend Jen Stafford. You can visit her website here or go to http://jenstaffordphoto.blogspot.com/ to see her talented work. BTW...our pictures are going to be taken next week, so there is lots more to come!

So here they are in all their glory ;-) Also, Brady's pictures are actually his football pics, because this year he'll be getting a yearbook. Good times!


This year Jace has the same kindergarten teacher Rachel had...we just LOVE Mrs. McAllister, and I've warned her, I've got two more kids coming!

Oh...my poor tall girl Rachel...so different from when I was usually on the front row for class pictures.

This year, Zack, has his best friend Mitchell Menlove in his class...lucky kid!

Brady's team photo...Nate is also pictured here, he is the 3rd coach in from the right.

Fireworks

It's sad that every year when I buy fireworks, we always have good intentions of having a fun family night to light them up, but we are always scrambling for time to do it. But towards the end of July, Grandma Bug, Cassidy, and Kelly & Aimee all came over to have a fun night of lighting up the sky. It was a little nerve racking since the weeds on the mountain behind our houses, were pretty tall and really dry, but we were careful and had a fun night together!

Zack age 10.

Jace age 5.

Rachel age 8.

Hannah age 3.

Brady helping a very timid Hannah.

Seth age 9 months.

Brady age 12.

Something Scary

In October, Jace came home with this picture that he had drawn in Kindergarten. And not really understanding what the picture was I asked him what his teacher had asked him to draw.
He said, "She told us to draw something scary." (Understandable, since it was close to Halloween.)
So I had to ask what his picture was about, because I still didn't quite 'get it.'
"It's a guy who ripped off his arm. See where his arm used to be?" Jace said matter-of-factly, pointing to the little digits he had included.

OK...yes I guess that is scary...a little morbid, but still scary none the less. At least the guy is still smiling in the picture and there isn't any blood. I'm sure Mrs. McAlister was wanting them to draw a witch, monster, or ghost...but this is what she gets from a child with older siblings!

What came 1st? The chicken or the egg?

Since we were so excited to have chickens, you can guess how 'patiently' we were waiting to get our first egg.

One Sunday in July we came home from church, and I was making a mad dash in the kitchen because we had invited our friends the Claysons over for dinner. While I was busy in the kitchen, I heard Brady say something to Jace about the chickens and they headed outside. (The kids checked on the chickens multiple times throughout the day, because they always wanted to be the first to find an egg.) Minutes later, I hear their excited commotion outside, yelling "We got an egg...we got an egg!" Oh we were all so excited! I pulled out the camera, had Brady place the egg back in the box so we could take a picture, and snapped a few pics. Back to getting ready for our guests, I was distracted when Brady said, "I thought that the egg would be brown." "Yea, me too." I replied as I finished making dinner. After the Claysons arrived, we were chit-chatting, and as I was telling them the exciting news about our first egg... Mr. Brady was at the back of the kitchen SNICKERING in the corner! I KNEW IT! He had planted the egg to see if he could fool us all and he did! What a little stinker. We had a good laugh, and I made him apologize to Jace. I did think it was a little early to get our first egg, but it was just a couple of weeks, and we were just so excited!

But the story doesn't end there....

A couple of weeks later, after I had put all the kids to bed, I heard some rustling out in the kitchen. (Not a big deal because the older boys are always grabbing something to eat late at night.) I didn't think anything about it, until I then heard a knock. So I walked down the hall to get the front door, and there on the kitchen floor, right in front of the fridge was the carton of eggs WIDE OPEN. Huh? Another knock, I look up and the motion light was on at the back door. I open it up, and there stood Jace, who had locked himself out because of the self locking doors. He had such a sweet, but guilty look on his face. So with the straightest face I could muster, I pointed to the chicken coop and said, "Go get the egg." He turned around and sulked over to the coop and pulled out the egg that he was going to try and fool Brady with the next morning. (I gotta hand it to the kid, at least he did it when he thought he wouldn't get caught...if only he hadn't left out the carton of eggs as evidence, and locked himself out of the house.)

Oh these boys. I'm sure we'll have a lot of laughs throughout the years with all these joksters!


They were so excited...to bad it was short lived.



Here's our REAL FIRST EGG....and yes it was Brady who found it, and it was his chicken...who he hadn't even named yet. But he remedied that and named her Uno!

Pegasus

Earlier this year we decided that we wanted to raise chickens mainly for the eggs and being a little more self sufficient, and also for teaching our kids some hands on responsibility. I know I haven't ever posted about the 'Egg McMansion' (that's what our neighbors named our chicken coop) that Nate built. I'll leave that for another post, all by itself...because it deserves one. We decided that we should get 6 pellets that were more than a few weeks old, because we didn't want to worry about keeping them warm, and we wanted eggs sooner rather than later. We got 6 chickens, and each of the kids picked out which one was theirs. A few weeks after getting them, we think that a skunk penetrated the chicken run and we found a dead chicken the next morning. (Nate smelled the skunk earlier that night. And not to worry, that next day, the chicken run was reinforced extensively.)

That left us with 5, and things were going great until one morning in June, I went out to weed the garden and I heard a Cock-a-Doodle-Do! Sure enough...Jace's little Bantam ROOSTER was perched so I could see him, and hear every crow! (Honestly, we should have guessed he really was a rooster, since his comb seemed to be a little bigger than the others.) But hey we're urban farmers, and it happens. So we made a phone call to Aunt Chalise down at Hee Haw's and she said they would take Pegasus in for us, and that Jace could visit him any time he wanted.

Pegasus has made quite a name for himself down there. My friend Annie, who helped out with field trips during the maze season, made mention of how Pegasus was quite aggressive and charged her a few times. He loves to sit on the fence right by the pigs and crow his little heart out. Bantam's are generally a lot smaller, and the man who we purchased him from said they were really docile too. Not this one, I guess Jace taught him a few things while he lived up at our house.


All ready for one last good-bye.

24th of July in Fairview

Every year when we go down to our cabin for the 24th of July there is always a group of us family members that like to run in the 5K. Usually it is just the adults, and the kiddos run the 1 miler that is right before. But since B&Z have expressed how much they LOVE to run (hehe) we had them run the 5K with us.

So Jace and Rachel ran the 1 miler with their cousins, and unfortunately...Rachel tripped at the turn around point, so she was dead last to cross the finish line, with a bleeding knee, none the less. I was only stressed about it because she was going to watch Seth while I ran with Zack. I knew we wouldn't be breaking any records, so as soon as she came wobbling in, I handed Seth off to her and Zack and I took off for the 5K...the very last ones to start. But he did awesome and we passed A LOT of people for being the last ones to start. He never had to walk, and we only gagged a little and held our breath while passing the dairy farm that stunk horribly bad. But what can you say...it's Fairview! Brady did great, and of course Nate took 1st in his age group. Zack and I finished in 28 minutes, which was just fine for us. Next year we hope to be a little more prepared and maybe even have some more kids join us for the 5K.


All the kiddos ready to run.

The whole gang...man were a good lookin' bunch! Camping for a few days, then running a race...LOVE IT!

The Happy Couples ;-)

We're all smiles once the race is over.

Jace had a little encouragement from his brothers for his run.

Taylor did awesome.

Tanner was one of the first to cross the finish line.

Pack Meeting

Since I'm on the Pack Committee meeting, I volunteered our back yard this summer for the pack meeting about fire safety. We had a great time, and everyone couldn't get enough of the Smores' and Wolfems'! (What's a Wolfem? It's where you road biscuit dough over the fire and then fill with pie filling or pudding and cool whip...and the key is to eat it all in one bite...you know Wolf'em) They are quite tasty, and have become the new favorite at the Holmes', even edging out smores. I'm glad Zack has a great group of boys that he is in Weebelos with. And I'm even more grateful for leaders that fulfill their duty and keep those boys on track.


Rachel getting ready to take it all in one bite.

Jace, Zack, Julia Short, Bro. Jarvis (Zack's Weebelos' leader), Bro. Floyd (Cub Master), Autumn Olesen, and Tanis Olesen....good times!

It's Corn Season

Ahhh...love it....but not as much as my kids. They'll do anything for corn on the cob...especially if it's Uncle Kyles' corn. I'm glad I have such great helpers. I had to snap a picture of Brady and Rachel actually working together and getting along...makes me a happy mom when I see that. My kids also had a chance to sell corn for Uncle Kyle this year. They loved it and would load up our big red wagon and sell what they could. Of course next year we'll be better prepared and make signs and give people more warning. Rachel was the main entrepreneur, and earned enough money to buy feathers for her hair...her new fashion statement!

First Day of School 2011

Our school start times were a bit staggered this year. Since Brady entered 7th grade, they have all the 'sevies' come for 1/2 a day by themselves...just so they can get a feel for the Jr. High. HELLO!...what a great idea...wish they would have done that for me. And then with Jace starting Kindergarten, he actually had to wait a week. Killer! If anyone has ever had a kindergartner...they know how excited they are and to see their siblings start and not them is pure torture. But all is well and school is in full swing. I'm feeling a 'little old' with a Jr. High kid now...but nothing that I can't handle! A few people have asked me how Brady is liking Jr. High, and I have to be honest...the first couple of weeks I didn't think one of us was going to make it out alive. There was a lot of adjusting on both our parts. A whole new world has opened up to Brady, and I really didn't like not being able to shelter him from that whole new world. But we have a pretty open relationship, and he knows he can tell me ANYTHING...and if he doesn't....I'll ask question after question until he does. Things are better now, and I really enjoy the time before the other kids get home and it is just him and I and he can tell me about his day.


Off to start the day...catching the car pool.

First full day.

They're so different in many ways...but I love it!

This was the 1/2 day as a 'sevie'

Ready to catch the bus.

Of course she wanted a shot of her hair...and black eye...oops!



First day was a success!

\
Glad they are there to protect their little bro!

But as you can see in the attitude...he needs no protecting!

I had to follow the bus to the school to get one last picture in!

I'm off mom...time for me to grow up. BOO!

Labor Day 2011

I can't believe that this is the only picture I have from Labor Day...even my birthday. (I do have lots of video though...since that is what I got for my birthday...a new digital video camera...sa-weet!)

Growing up as a little girl, we always had a Labor Day quilt that everyone would help tie up at my Granny and Pa's cabin. Now this was just not any quilt...picture the most horrid, mis-matched material, and yet it was still in great condition and that is what made up the highly coveted cabin quilt. (I remember my parents or Aunts and Uncles saying...wasn't this Pa's coat...or was this that polyester leisure suit from the mid-60's?) Yes it probably was, because Granny didn't throw away ANYTHING...let alone high quality material! And we all wanted the quilt badly! We always felt jilted when a baby won it, and didn't know any different. Sigh. I never did win a cabin quilt, but I did get a blanket of Granny's when she passed away in 2001. So I'm okay with that.

Anyhoo...my mom started up the tradition again this year and she decided to have one girl winner and one boy winner. So Brady and Kaila were the lucky ones this year!

Jace's Soccer 2011

I can't believe we had only one kid in soccer this year. But we've gotten to the point that if they really don't want to play, why force them? As long as they are interested in something and being active, I'm okay with letting them choose what they want to participate in. Jace, however, is a lot like Brady where he wants to do EVERYTHING. This was his 3rd year of soccer, because I begged for him to be able to play before he was 3, and I promised to coach ;-) You can tell he is one of the older kids' on the team, but he still has a long way to go. Every game he would slide to kick the ball at least 5 or 6 times. (He thought it looked cool and was more dramatic.) It drove me crazy, because he would be so close to making a goal, just not close enough. He was super fast at getting down the field, but we need to work with him on 'shooting' his goals. He was also a great defender, and helped assist his team mate 'Joe' in making lots of goals. He says that soccer is his 2nd favorite sport (out of the ones he has been able to play)...right behind wrestling!


Sliding to kick the ball...at least this was a good thing while defending his teams' goal.

Always protecting the goal.

In this game our teams' star player 'Joe' was gone, so it was all left up to Jace to make goals. At the end of the game he said, 'I sure hope that tall boy with the black hair isn't there next time.' He gave Jace a run for his money...but we still won the game.

Here is another sliding picture...I was tempted to bribe him not to slide. Maybe next year.

Good job Jace, way to work hard at something you love!