A day at the park.

I took Brenna and Bryant to the Marana Park while Preston and Wyatt were at cub scouts.  The park is just down the road from the church, and it has so many fun slides and play places.  They were in heaven!  "Watch me mom!",  "Look over here mom!",  "This is the best day ever!"   --- and it was!!  :)

this week

Riley has earned his LIFE badge.  I am very proud of him.  I spent the afternoon sewing on patches and merit badges.  Good times.

Brenna has finally lost her other front tooth!  What a cutey!

Preston loves to sit by Bryant and share his ipod.  They watch a lot of SpongeBob on the road.  It is sweet (and quiet for the rest of us in the car!)

The 8th grade class is doing fundraising for their class trip to Disneyland.  Today was a pancake breakfast.  They got up early and made the pancakes and cleaned up.  They worked hard and earned almost $400.00 in just a few hours.  Great job!!

Bryant-isms

Bryant is a cute boy!  We love him so much.  He is talking more than ever and really saying things that are unexpected!
-  He loves to play hide and seek and announces that he wants you to play with him and lays out the whole plan.  "You count and I hide!"   "OK, now you hide and I count, no I like to hide..."

-  Whenever we are playing ANYTHING, Bryant loves to win.  He will announce, "I'm the WINNER"  If someones else actually wins and they say, "wait, I won"  Bryant will say in a panic, "NO, ... I'm the Winner!!" 

-  I will give Bryant a kiss and say, "You're cute Bryant!"  To which he will say,   "I AM cute!"

-Out of the blue  Bryant will say, "BING BONG" with a big smile on his face.  (He loves to immitate the doorbell for fun!)

Advice from a cowboy ...

who also happens to be our Bishop.  :)   

The other night we had a meeting with the Young Men Leaders of our ward.  They were outlining the upcoming scout camps and encouraging parents to continue working with their YM on the "Duty toGod" program.  It was a very positive night and we left feeling a renewed importance to not let these programs go by the wayside.
Our Bishop spoke at the end and gave a great analogy.
He said if you have ever been a part of moving a herd of cattle, it is like raising boys.  He continued, "To move 900 head of cattle you really only need 5 or 6 GOOD COWBOYS.   Out of that 900 head of cattle you really only need a few leader cows to charge out ahead of the bunch.  The rest will follow.  As you are moving them along you keep them in a bunch.  Follow the leaders and keep them together.  If you lose one or two it is really hard to get them back.  They get lost and disorientated.  They become "HOT".  They start doing things that don't make sense, --they don't THINK.    When you approach the gate of your destination (a small area in size),  if you get those leader cows inside that gate... the rest of the herd follows.

IT IS AN ART MOVING CATTLE.  IT IS AN ART RAISING BOYS! 

Parents, you need to COWBOY UP!   Use the programs of the church, they are inspired.  Scouting is a wonderful program that will turn your boys into men.  The Duty to God program will keep them on the right track to go on missions.  Do whatever you have to  to get them here to mutual night.  KEEP THEM IN THE BUNCH.  The last thing you want is a HOT boy.  When they lose their way and become hot, they don't think. 

KEEP'EM IN THE BUNCH AND THE BUNCH MEETS HERE. "

I am so thankful for Bishop Alexander.  He cares so deeply for our youth and wants them to be happy.  I know that Riley can achieve that happiness if he follows the counsel of our leaders.  We are very blessed in our ward to have a great scout program.  I am very thankful to those leaders who give of their time to our boys... to help keep them on the right path.

fun with puffles

What is a puffle?   Wyatt loves these little fluffy stuffed animals from the "Club Penguin" game online.  He has taught Bryant all about the joys of stuffed animals and he is addicted!  It is sweet really!

cell phone rules

Riley has been wanting a cell phone for so long!  For his 14th birthday we decided it was time.  He is going to High School in the fall and will be 30 minutes from home.  Just for figuring out rides and to stay in communication, it was just the right time! 

Technology is great, but with this great technology comes rules.  When Riley opened his present, he was so thrilled that he did not worry about rules.  We talked about it later and agreed on our new phone rules...

1.  The phone goes to "bed" at 10:00pm on my nightstand to charge.

2.  No texting at the dinner table (this one had to be added)

3.  We may peruse his phone whenever.

4.  If Riley GETS an inappropriate text, he needs to tell us. 

5.  If we FIND an inappropriate text from someone else, Riley is in a bit of trouble.  Therefore Rule # 4 must be followed.  We would like to stay open in our communication, even if it is a little uncomfortable... 

OUR SOLUTION: 

Just tell your friends, My mom checks my phone... so don't send me junk!

6.  Be Smart,  Be Good,  Be Happy!

Riley getting a phone was an adjustment for all of us.  Vince and I had many talks about what kind of a plan to get.  Vince didn't think Riley REALLY needed a texting plan  (The kicker... Vince also thought he would only need 5 minutes per day of talk time).  I thought Vince was not being very realistic... it was an adjustment to say the least!  We ended up getting unlimited texting. (good thing! That is what the kids are doing these days, you know!)

It is rough to let your first grow up!  It really is!  But we are doing our best!  :)

2 things I KNOW FOR SURE!

#1  When we have a place to go in the late afternoon or evening,  Bryant MUST take a nap earlier that day!!

Bryant was SO happy all day today!!  I just hate to put him down for a nap when he is so rosy and cheerful!!  I paid for that decision later today at Riley's basketball game!  He was a handful and then some... Ugh. 

#2  Homework MUST be done after school.  Not "a little later" or "after dinner".

Today was a busy afternoon.  We were only home for 30 minutes after school before we had to head back to school for Riley's basketball game, Brenna's dance class and Preston's football practice.  The kids wanted to wait till later for homework and understandably so...  But when we got home at 5:30 they wanted a little outside time and I said "OK" while I was cooking dinner.  -After dinner- homework time is hard.  I know that.  We are all getting tired and the thought of having to understand division at this time of night is not fun. 

So I knew these 2 tid bits of mothering before today... but now I KNOW these things FOR SURE!!