The Biggest Loser?

About a year ago, Savannah came to me and told me she wanted to repeat 8th grade. I kind of brushed it off and expected her to change her mind. She didn't. As the year progressed, I began to understand that she was serious about this and I started going through the steps to make it happen. Basically, calling a million people and arguing with them and having a conference with all her teachers and principal and arguing with them. You know, fun stuff like that for which I had tons of time to spend since Tyler was away. Finally, I was able to find a charter school in Salt Lake that was willing to let her repeat. And that was the end of the story... so I thought.

I had always planned on having Oliver repeat kindergarten. I think boys mature a bit later, he is a little bit smaller and it just seemed like a good idea. Little did I know, I would have the same fight with the district because, as I've hear a million times, "we don't do that in Utah." Well, a few million phone calls later- I finally talked to the superintendent who is a "super" nice lady, if you ever need to talk to her. She agreed that I could do whatever I wanted and helped me make the phone calls to principals, etc. to get the ball rolling. We were doing really well until he took the end of the year assessment. His teacher came out, wide-eyed and said, "I think this is going to be a hard sell. No, he doesn't read or know all of the letters of the alphabet but he was VERY high on math skills." But, she was still willing to support me. Years ago she had to pass a kid in the 5th grade who read on a 3rd grade level. So now we were on to the next challenge. Should he repeat at the same school or go to a different neighborhood school? I was asking Oliver his opinion, and this conversation ensued.

"I don't want to go to the same school again for kindergarten. At recess, all my army (he calls his group of friends his army) will say I'm a loser. Wait, Mom. I've got a great idea. We just need to think of a really great disguise. Then, when they see me at recess they'll just say, 'Hi new kid Oliver. Want to play with us?'"
(as Jon says- if you have a great disguise, you can just keep your old name =)

So as we were thinking of great disguises, I had the brilliant idea that I should pray and go to the temple about this. And guess what? My answer was that Savannah should go to East High School next year and Oliver should go to first grade at the same school he attends now. I am really struggling with this because it is the exact opposite of what I thought was the "perfect plan." Okay, AND I feel like a big idiot calling everyone in charge and telling them I've changed my mind. While I reflect on that, you can enjoy a picture from Oliver's "E" book. What was I thinking? He's obviously gifted! ;-)

While we are on the subject...

A couple of weeks ago, our doorbell rang at midnight. You can imagine the panic that ensued. Turns out a dog had gotten loose and jumped up on our laying boxes, lifted up the hinged roof on our coop and gotten in with the chickens. Only one chicken initially died (another died about a week later from injuries from that night- we think). Now we still had 16 chickens at that time. Not all of them had names, but of course, that one did. It just happened to be Oliver's favorite- Ginger. I didn't tell the kids before school because there wasn't really enough time to mourn and still get to school on time. And I truly hoped that Oliver would just think one of the other chickens was Ginger.

Not a chance! As soon as he got home from school, he ran to the coop and I could hear him say, "Ginger? Nope- not out here. She must be laying an egg," as he searched the house. I explained to him what happened and attempted to comfort him. We went inside, where Tyler tried to help as well. We were sitting in the front room, focusing all of our attention on Oliver when we heard a thump down the front stairs and a scream. Tyler ran down to Tucker and yelled up the dreaded words, "Can you bring me a diaper?" That's always Tyler's code for "there's a lot of blood and I don't want you to see this."

I guess Tucker tried to climb down the stairs with both blankets- "Deet," and "Blue" and got them tangled around his legs. Tyler ran him down the street to InstaCare to have it checked out. By this time it was about nap time and his being tired and a bit traumatized by the experience made him a little subdued, I guess. Anyway, for what ever reason- they were concerned that he wasn't acting "like a two year old should." Tyler had to go to work, so I took Tucker up to Primary Children's Hospital. They quickly established that he was just fine. Maybe due to the fact that he was running around in the waiting room yelling, "I wike this! I wike this!" (I like this!) It was decorated with murals, there were fish and other fun things for kids. They quickly gave him 3 staples and we were off.

I used to wonder why my kids were so accident prone. Savannah had her first stitches at 18 months and broke her arm and Emmaline's had stitches about 9 times now, I think. In the past couple of years I've certainly had my share of crazy accidents as well (cutting off my finger in the disposal, dropping the seat in the van on my foot... to name just a couple). Guess I'm just a late bloomer.

Bumps and bruises OR Why you shouldn't learn to ride a bike when you're 37 years old.

So my neighbor across the street had a great idea a few months ago. She was entering a triathlon so she could write an article about it for a magazine and offered to let me tag along and train with her. The only problem? I've never owned a bike and I don't know how to swim. But you know me- why let that hold me back?

Now, I did, technically know how to swim. This is a topic we've discussed before, but to refresh any of those un-interested in searching my archive of other boring topics, I took swimming lessons for a month when I was about 11 years old and never swam again. I mean, I went in the water- but never tried to swim laps or anything because I never got very good in that month and I HATE doing anything I'm not good at. Anyway, I discovered this really revolutionary method of swimming called "Total Immersion." It has been amazing and the results have been pretty dramatic. I had worked a couple of days a week for a month and been able to swim about 4 laps without stopping. After doing "Total Immersion" for a week I stopped counting how many laps I swam... I could just go on without getting tired. Now, I still have more work but continue to see progress and yesterday Tyler said I was getting hard to keep up with. I like that!

So why was Tyler swimming with me on Monday? Last week, my neighbor and I were attempting a bike ride. I bought a bike, but the weather has been so bad that I've only ridden it a couple of times. Unfortunately she fell and we had to spend a couple of hours in the E.R. instead of going for a bike ride. That should have clued me in that this is hard... she's had a lot more experience than me, but of course I just figured it was a crazy accident.

But let's back track for a moment. I learned to ride a bike when I was a kid... on my mother's bike. I think I was like 7 years old or something. It was a tan Schwinn and the only thing I remember about it was that I had to prop it up and climb up this metal column on the breazeway to attempt to ride it. It hurt TONS when I fell, I could barely reach the pedals, but somehow I learned to ride it. Why didn't I have my own? There were no sidewalks where we lived and the road was super dangerous and I wasn't allowed to ride on it. Anyway, fast forward to 1994 when I went "back packing" through Europe. All my friends rode bikes and Erin and I even rented some bikes while we were in Germany, but I never got good at it. By "never got good," I mean that all my friends laughed at how I weaved around and I think I ran into a tree when Erin and I were riding.

When I went to buy my new bike, I was so terrified of it, we propped it against the counter and one of the employees held on to one side while we attempted to "fit" it. I brought it home and practiced quite a bit on our awesome, huge driveway and felt pretty good. My first bike ride was by myself. It went really well. I actually just rode down to the park and rode around it a few times. This was a good idea. This morning was a BAD idea.

I figured, why go someplace boring when there are awesome trails in the mountains? After 45 minutes of riding straight uphill, I was pretty tired. By "pretty tired," I mean that I was pretty sure I couldn't make it home. The part of the trail before I turned around was a pretty steep decline, so I knew I had to go uphill for quite a way before I could go completely downhill all the way home. So I had the genius idea of taking a "short cut." I would go on a bike "trail" for a little way and then hook back up to the main road. Only problem? This trail was made for walking/running or a mountain bike and I was on a road bike. And then... there was a huge hole where they were putting in a new metal pipe for some reason. I tried to stop and turn, but to no avail. I crashed my bike and face planted. Luckily I was able to call Tyler and he came and got me because I bent the handlebar. So sad!! I don't know which I was more sad about... the fact that I was bleeding all over the place or that my bike was crashed. Well, probably that I was bleeding all over the place because now I have to endure the looks and questions of what happened.

Will the humiliation never end? I just healed from a huge gash on my forehead. The boys left some yogurt containers outside. I bent down to pick them up and forgot that the window above me was open. Anyway, word to the wise. Learn to ride a bike when you are a kid or not at all! Hmmm... I guess I'm not wise... the bike's in the shop and I fully expect to be back at it by Saturday.

Quotes of the Day

We've been having terrible weather here. On Saturday, it was rainy and freezing cold- but apparently still acceptable weather for soccer. Since they usually cancel all of the games for the younger kids, I've never bought any Under Armor for Oliver. In a desperate search to find something to keep him warm, I decided to use some of the girls' black tights to cover his legs. On the way home, he yelled from the back, "Why in the world did you make me wear these heels." I guess he has heard Savannah complain about how uncomfortable high heeled shoes are, and knowing he was wearing something "girly," figured they must be heels. What a funny boy.

Easter Eggs and the beach

We decided to dye our Easter Eggs before the trip to California.

It was an interesting experience because our chickens lay eggs that look a bit ready for Easter already. We have brown, white, pink and blue eggs.

But the kids had fun adding a little extra stencil and seeing what colors they would turn with more dye.

You kind of have to know Tucker to understand just how funny this picture is, but he is VERY animated and is constantly making crazy noises and just being loud. This picture seems to capture it well.
The original idea was to hide them at home and be done with it, but between lots of soccer games and some pretty awful weather, we ended up taking them with us on the trip. We had a great time hiding them on the beach.

This was an interesting day at the beach since it turns out, there was an earthquake while we were there. We didn't feel it, though. But we did see whales right by the shore. I don't know if this was a result of the quake or not- they seemed REALLY close to me. I've never seen whales in the wild that close up so it as a pretty awesome experience. Oliver made a little nest of his eggs.

Making a castle. (Tucker doesn't go far without his hat- backwards!!)

He was sure he could catch one of those seagulls.

Emmaline is always best at finding critters.

Lots of time together as a family was a great way to begin our California adventure.

I'm two!

For about a month, Emmaline and I have worked with Tucker, teaching him to say, "I'm two!" and holding up his pointer finger on each hand. It's adorable, but of course he won't do it on camera! Luckily I have an equally cute photo from our recent trip to California.

Here he is, in all his silliness, sporting Savannah's swim goggles and his favorite red hat (he hardly goes anywhere without that crazy thing) carrying some beef jerky.

This turned out to be almost an un-birthday for Tucker this year. Between Tyler and I just getting home from the Philippines and preparing for our trip to California, I just couldn't muster any sort of celebration. We did, however, sing "Happy Birthday" to him several times. Being the budding singer that he is, he thoroughly enjoyed this and walked around the house all day saying, "Happy, happy, happy."

Luckily, some other family members pitched in to make this a true birthday for him. Aunt Georgia bought him a toy cash register. He was VERY excited about this since it was something he almost got for Johnny for his birthday. A couple of hours after he opened it, Savannah came in and said, "I guess Tucker really likes his present. He 'marked' it." He had taken a Sharpie and almost completely covered it. As our walls attest, Tucker loves to draw almost as much as he loves to sing. And the things he loves the best receive the most attention.

Grandma and Granddad also sent him some money to spend on a present. Tucker decided to buy two foam swords. He loves that he chose something that Oliver actually wants to play with him. Oliver likes them so much, he "carved" his name in his favorite sword with his fingernail. I guess he didn't realize that Tucker can't read, and even if he could- I don't think he would care.

Every chance he gets, he brings the swords out to play. If Oliver isn't available, anyone else will do. You don't feel like playing with swords? Too bad for you- he shoves them in your face and says, "Fight." For such a little person, he sure has a big personality. We're so happy to have him as part of our family.

Coming Home

Almost immediately after I got to Cebu, Tyler said, "Being with you makes me miss the kids more already." He is usually the last one off of the airplane. He hates standing up, waiting for people to unload the overhead bins and pushing through the center aisle. When we landed in Salt Lake City, I've never seen him so anxious to get off the plane. And as made our way to baggage claim, he was practically running.



I think everyone was kind of in slow motion when they saw him. So glad to see each other, but kind of nervous as to what to do. He picked up Oliver, then Emmaline, and made his way over to Savannah and Tucker.

First Tucker would not let go of the "Welcome Home" sign in his hands, then he just sat in his arms, not making a peep. Now that I think about it, I really believe that he was trying not to make a sound or wiggle to make sure that Tyler didn't put him down. He stayed like that for a LONG time until Tyler brought out the "jeepney" toy he bought him and the rambunctious, silly Tucker we all know and love was back.
Straight from the airport, we had to race to an art opening for Emmaline. I think she really enjoyed being able to share that with Tyler first thing.

When we got home, the kids had made a banner for the front porch and the dining room to welcome us back. We had a lot of fun eating sherbet (have you tried the sherbet packaged in real coconuts, oranges, etc. from Costco? My kids think it is the best!) and poking through all the shells that Tyler found in Vietnam.

We saved all the souvenirs we got the kids for another day so we could just enjoy spending time together that night, not distracted by "stuff." It was a great night to just be all together again. Here is a little video of the event.