little lukie goes to preschool

With all of the hype of his older siblings going to school each year, Luke was finally able to join in this year.

He is going to preschool at Heber Valley Elementary twice a week, and...he gets to ride the BUS!!!

At this age, that is what it's all about, and Luke is no exception.

We went to his preschool testing, where he whipped out all of the colors and shapes like he has been doing it for years.  He then ran over to the toy tools, and I literally had to drag him out of there.  I had no worries that he would struggle going to preschool.  After all, they had toy tools, with batteries. 

Luke started preschool the same day William started kindergarten.  He got the same treatment as the others.  A warm breakfast, pictures, new clothes, and he even got a school blessing from Ben during FHE that Monday, along with the others.

Luke was content to walk to the bus stop with Ben and I.  He was just thrilled to have a backpack and to be finally riding the bus, instead of waving to his siblings every day as then drove away in it.  Sam and his friends decided to take complete care of Luke, and they took over.  They talked to him, walked with him, and got him all pumped up.  It melted my heart.  We have good kids in this neighborhood.

Sam and Blake pumping up William and Luke for their first day of school.

Luke happily chattered and ran/walked to the bus stop.

Once we got to the bus stop, William got right in line, and Luke followed.  Check out how many kids are at the bus stop!

Finally, the big moment came!  The nice bus drive let the preschool kids get on the bus first, and she asked Sam to help Luke.  Sam was so sweet and good to Luke.


Luke was so excited, he couldn't stop grinning and giggling.

 Poor Luke tried to get up that first step, but just couldn't quite reach.  Sam came to the rescue, and this is now one of my favorite pictures.

Sam helping Luke on the bus.

Once Luke got up the steps, he turned and gave us a big wave.

Sam helped him get all buckled right next to his buddy who is also named Luke.

And then they were off!  Ben and I waved as long as we could, and that was that.  It was pretty crazy actually!

About an hour later, after fretting like crazy over Luke peeing his pants (potty training is still very new, and I was sure Luke would not tell his teacher he had to go), I ended up driving to the school and taking Luke to the bathroom.

Before I went in the room, I stood at the window and watched.  The teacher was reading a book to the class, and Luke was just sitting there, completely into the book.  He looked so tiny, and so cute.  Thankfully, he went to the bathroom, and went back to class just fine.

He came off the big bus after preschool grinning! 

I think Luke is pretty into this whole preschool thing.

we don't know crap

Mary: potty trained at 22 months
Sam: potty trained at 2 years
William: potty trained at 2 years
Luke:  3 1/2 years old and not potty trained???

Luke is living proof that no matter how many children people have...we don't know what the crap we are doing!

He is our fourth child to potty train.  We should be the ones writing all of those "potty training your 12 month old in a day" books that make everyone in the world feel like horrible parents, not the ones frantically reading every single one we can get our hands on.  For crying out loud!

It isn't that we haven't tried to potty train Luke, it is that he has absolutely and completely refused to have anything to do with it, even down to just talking about it.

I tried a few times in the spring, when he turned 3.  I was shocked that I had a 3 year old who was not potty trained! 
I bought him the fun underwear...he ran away from it.
I bribed him with treats....he didn't care.
I told him about all of his buddies that are going pee pee in the toilet.....he would just shrug.
I tried, and talked and begged until I was blue in the face, and he wouldn't budge.
So, I just gave up for the summer, hoping time would eventually help.

Fast forward to a few weeks ago.
I was lying in bed, and my brain was spinning with everything I had to get done before I had 4 kids begin school the next week.
All the sudden, I literally bolted straight up as I realized that Luke would be in preschool, at Heber Valley Elementary twice a week, for 1/2 a day...and I was pretty sure they weren't planning on changing his diapers!  I freaked out for a while, and then I got determined.  I promised myself that no matter what it took, I would potty train Luke...starting the next day.

The next morning, I bribed Luke with everything I could think of to get him to just put the underwear on.  After him refusing everything, I just took his diaper off, and put the underwear on him.  He screamed and thrashed and wailed like I had just chopped off his arm or something.  We were going nowhere fast.

Then, I decided to try to see if he would just sit on the toilet.  I had the older boys show him, and he watched, but when it was his turn, he ran away.

I spent the entire day trying one thing after the next.  I went to bed extremely frustrated and defeated.  I concluded that I knew nothing about raising children.  Dramatic...oh yes, but I was so frustrated!

I finally decided to pray about it.  I am not sure that Heavenly Father potty trained any of us, but I am positive that he knows Luke, he knows what will work for him, and he could guide me in the right direction.

It was very weird praying for my child to please pee in the toilet, but alas, I was to that point.  Go me.

The next morning, I again tried to get the underwear on Luke, no success.  And then out of the clear blue sky, or should I say it was beamed down to me from above, I knew what the problem was.  Luke just wanted to keep the diaper on.

So, I looked him right in the eye and said, "Luke, if I promise to put your diaper right back on, will you try to go pee in the toilet?"

Luke broke into a huge grin, screamed (yes, he actually screams everything he says lately..it is so fun) a big "yes!" and went sprinting into the bathroom.  (he also runs everywhere...he does not walk).

I was completely shocked!  I just stood there stunned for a second, and then followed Luke into the bathroom.  He did not pee, but he at least willingly sat on the toilet every hour that day.  SUCCESS!

The next day we did the same thing, no pee, but at least he sat on the toilet.

The following day, I decided to make Luke put his diaper on by himself after every trip to the bathroom.  It worked.  He realized that it was hard and time consuming, so he ended up asking for underwear!  And then the heavens broke open and the Hallelujah chorus burst forth!  At least in my head.

By the 5th day, Luke was finally peeing in the toilet and wearing underwear.  I felt like I had just conquered the world, and started to finally get rid of my certainty that I would be driving to Luke's High School to change his diaper.

 It's amazing what our children's bodily functions can do to us as parents.  Its ridiculous really.  "oh good Johnny, you just pooped in the toilet!  Let me sing while I wipe you bum."  Oh the things we do.

Luke is now trained to pee in the toilet, pooping is still in progress.  Baby steps...baby steps.

It pays to pray...even when it comes to Mickey Mouse underwear and peeing in a toilet.

big buddy goes to school

William has finally reached the ripe old age of 5, and gets to go to Kindergarten!  After two years of preschool, this boy has been more than ready...or so we thought. :)

At the end of preschool last year, they administered a test to all of the students to see if they were ready for kindergarten.  William passed the test without a problem.

Little did we know, that after summer, they have them take the test again.

The day William had his test was absolutely chaotic.  I had taken all three of my babies, to 2 back to school nights(days), taken Luke to his preschool testing, been to the doctor to get immunization records, and had also been to the gym.  The kids were done, I was done, and we were all ready to just go home.

Poor William still had to do his testing.  Luckily, they let me go in with him.  He passed the shapes and colors with no problem.  Then, it came to the letters.  The lady would point to a letter and ask William what it was.  By this point, William was looking all around the room, and just saying random letters and even some numbers.  HA!!

He wasn't even looking at the testing paper, or the lady.  She just kept right on pointing to letters, and he just kept right on rattling off random stuff.  I couldn't help but crack up, and also feel a little mortified that my child was completely failing his kindergarten testing!

Next up was saying the sounds of the letters.  William has a SERIOUS lisp, so I tuned in to this one.  I knew it would be interesting.

The lady said, "All right William, what does pu, pu, P start with.  (she was kind of telling him the sound already.

William said:  "mmmmm, lellow (yellow). "

I about bit my toungue off trying not to burst out laughing, but I was also dying inside.  What the heck William?

This continued on for each letter sound.  William would respond with a random noise and a word.

At this point, I knew we were headed straight to all day kindergarten.

Kindergarten is 1/2 day here, unless they need some extra help, then they go all day.

Sure enough, a week later, I got a phone call from the school.  The kind lady told me that William "qualified" for all day kindergarten!  He would do Spanish the first half of the day, and English the second.
I was not the least surprised, and kind of glad.  I know William is smart, and I am not worried about him.  He is also a boy, and he is very young for his grade.  I also know that he is so bored at home, and would love all day...if he didn't get too tired.

So, finally Williams big day came.  He had watched Mary and Sam have their first week of school, and it was finally his turn!  He is completely OCD with his clothes, and I mean real OCD.  He changed shirts over and over and over again, until he found one that "felt right."  Then he came down for breakfast.

He ate breakfast with his backpack on, because he was so excited and so proud.  He reminded me for the 100th time that I was not to walk to the bus stop with him.  I had to hang back and walk with Luke, while he walked with Sam and the big boys.  He was very proud to finally be walking with Sam.



I can never get enough of William posing for the camera.  I thought I would die laughing.

His school shoes mean everything to him.  He loves them so much!  He kept them in the box for a week when he wasn't wearing them.

First day for these two buddies.

I sent four kids off to school for the first time.

William proudly walked out the door with Sam, and Sam was wonderful to walk by him and include him.

William picked up his best friend on the way to the bust stop, and they both entered the bus like champions!

William and Tyson...best buddies.

I worried all day about William getting too tired, finding his way around at lunch, and everything in between.

He came home very happy, and very tired.  He was so proud to walk home with Sam, and to go to school "all day."

I love my buddy so much, and really hope the year goes well for him.  Go William go!

3rd grade rocks

Sam is in third grade this year!  I know it sounds so cliche', but of course, I can't believe it.  He was so excited when we found out who his teachers were.  He got Mr. Johansen and Mrs. Probst.  They are known for being some of the best teachers at Heber Valley Elementary.  They team teach, so Sam has each teacher for 1/2 the day.
To top if off, Sam had a class full of good friends.  He literally could not stop grinning when he heard the news, and started counting down the hours until school started.

Just like Mary, we went to his back to school night, where he got to go to his classroom and say hi to his teachers.  This only added to his excitement, and made me really happy and comfortable that Sam would be in great hands.

This was the scene in his bedroom the night before school.

I love how he put his belt in the shape of a heart.  He told me he got up three times in the night to rearrange his belt.  haha!

Sam was soooo excited the morning that school started.  When I woke up, he was standing in the kitchen, completely dressed with his backpack on.  It was all I could do to get him to sit down and eat breakfast.

 

As with Mary and Molly, some of us were more excited than others to see Sam go.

They missed him A LOT that first day.

Sam's friends came to the door to pick him up to walk to the bust stop, and after a hug and a swift kiss (yes, he still gives me a kiss, and I am not about to stop it), he blasted out.

Look at how incredibly cute this boy of mine is.  What a heart-stopper!

 

When he arrived home that day, he blasted in to the door and said, "School was awesome, third grade rocks!"  This is music to my ears and comforting to my heart.  He loves his teachers and is having a great time with his buddies.

I am hoping for this to be a great school year for my Sammy Boy!

it t.i.s. time

Here in Heber, the 5th and 6th grades are in a separate school called Timpanogos Intermediate School, known to everyone around here as TIS.

When I was growing up (oh my gosh..did I just say that!), Elementary school went all the way through 6th grade, so this was a new idea to me.

Mary was definitely nervous for this new change, and so was I.  It truly felt like I was sending her off to Jr. High...and we all know what kind of a hormonal rat race that is all about.  I had to keep telling myself over and over and over again that she is just 10, it is just 5th grade, it's all good.

I took her to the open house, where she got her locker!  Yup, they get lockers!  Mary was extremely excited for a locker, and had her bag full of locker décor all set and ready to go. 

the worlds skinniest locker, I swear!

We met her teacher, found her classroom, walked around for a while, and worked on opening her locker about 100 times, she is Mary, therefore, we stayed at that school and I watched her spin that locker combo over and over and over again until she could open her locker fast and accurately.  :)
I just sat there saying right, now left, now right. I am pretty sure I fell asleep saying that that night.

With the open house under way, Mary felt a lot better about going to a new school, and was very excited!  She is my separation anxiety girl, so this was a huge deal that she felt so comfortable and excited.

We did end up taking another trip to the school the following day though...with all of her siblings...so she could "make sure" she knew how to open her locker a few more times.

We also got to make a trip to the Middle School for Mary to pick up her netbook.  If it wasn't already weird enough that my daughter had a locker, and was changing classrooms, now she was getting her own computer!!  She was bursting with excitement, I was just trying to get over the shock.  All of the 5th-12th grade students here get their own netbook, it is basically a laptop that they do all of their homework on, and get their assignments on.  It has the internet, mircrosoft word and excel, and everything else a normal computer has.  Our school district rocks!

William was addicted to the locker, and made Mary show him how to open it over and over again.  I honestly thought we would never leave the school that day.

The night before school started, this was the scene at our house.

The kids were so excited, I thought they would never go to sleep!

Mary was up at the crack of dawn, and had decided on a different outfit.  I am pretty sure she had been trying on clothes for an hour.  hehehe

Some of us were not as happy as others for the first day of school.  Poor Molly didn't want her sister to leave!

I sent the kids out the door with a warm breakfast, a prayer and a warm hug. I was pretty nervous for Mary, since she was charting new territory. She didn't seem phased at all.

re-packing her purse, netbook, pictures for her locker, and who knows what else for the tenth time.  love it!

She came home that day all grins!  She absolutely loved it!  I was so proud of her for taking on this new adventure and fighting her demons that so easily make her nervous and anxious.  She has grown so much in this area and is a fighter.

It has been a week since school has started, and Mary is still loving it.  Her teacher has taken a special liking to her, so she is really enjoying the classroom.  :)  Of course, she struts out the door every day with her computer, her cute new stylish outfits, and is talking about lockers and friends all the way to the bus stop with her friends she walks with.  I wouldn't want it any other way.

And so it begins....welcome to TIS Mary!

just us

A couple weeks ago, Ben and I were able to "get out of Dodge" for a few days...just us!  It has been 5 years since we have done a trip together, and it was long overdue.

We started our trip off with hiking to the summit of Timpanogos. 

This was no small hike!  We started up around 10:00am, and got back to the car around 10:0pm.

It was a hard hike, but it was so nice to just be out in the mountains, with Ben, and no worries.  We were able to talk, enjoy the scenery, and do something that we both love.  We saw a cute momma mountain goat with her little baby.  The baby just peeked down over the rocks at Ben, and he got a picture of it.

I wore the wrong shoes, and absolutely trashed my heels.  I had blisters about an hour in to the hike, and by the time we were down, I had scraped layer after layer of skin off of my heels.  They were in bad shape!

When we got to the summit, somehow my phone worked, and we were able to facetime the kids back home with grandma.  It was really neat!  Mary said she was waving a huge stick in the air, and asked if we could see her.  :)

On our way back down, it became really dark, and with about 20 minutes left to the bottom, Ben told me to stop.  There was a HUGE bull moose right smack in the middle of the trail.  Right in our way.

We had absolutely nowhere to go, and the moose wasn't too happy to see us there.  It was snorting and pawing the ground with it's front hoof.

Ben and I were completely freaked out.  Seriously, if we weren't so depleted at the time, we probably would have peed our pants.

We backed up the trail, and waited and waited and waited for the dang moose to leave.  He didn't leave.  In fact, he was probably enjoying himself, while scaring the crap out of us.

We needed to get back to the car, and there was no way to get around the moose, so we decided to pray.  After the prayer, we felt like we should walk past the moose.  We were truly scared to death, and it took all of the faith we had, but we tried to walk past the moose. 

The moose just stood his ground, and we ended up backing down the trail again.

We waited another 10 minutes, and heard the moose move into the brush right next to the trail.  By this point, we had also heard his buddy somewhere in the brush near us as well.  Double trouble.

We decided to just walk past the moose again, and this time we did it.  It was terrifying!

We laughed at ourselves, and we laughed out of relief, but at least we made it back to the car!

We grabbed some food, and crashed in a hotel that night in SLC, and got about 5 hours of sleep before we had to get up to catch our flight.

We arrived in Riviera Maya, Mexico later that afternoon.  We stayed at the Hard Rock Resort, and it was extremely nice!!!  Ben earned the trip with Cintas, so it was an all inclusive paid for trip.  Gotta love Presidents club!

We spent that evening eating dinner at a restaurant that overlooked the ocean and the pools, and hanging out with some of Ben's team for a while.

We learned that back home, Molly was having a hard time, and Mary had been in the ER because she stabbed herself with an Epi Pen.  Yikes!!!  Poor grandma.  She was hanging in there though, and the kids really were doing ok.  I prayed hard that night that things would go more smoothly for everyone back home.  From the sound of it the next morning, things were going much better, and Uncle Devin and Nichole even came for a visit!

The next day, Ben and I headed out to a place called Xplor, to have some fun!  This place was really cool!  We got to zipline, raft through the caves, drive a jeep thingy around, and just play and have fun together.  The place also had an amazing buffet, and I ate 6 fajitas!!  The food was so so so good!  We had a great time, and we literally both fell asleep the second we laid down in a hammock there for a little rest.  ha!

We made it back to our hotel with just enough time to shower and change and get ready for the President's club recognition dinner.  This dinner is always fun, because we get to dress up, eat yummy food, and Ben gets recognized for all of his hard work.  I always feel so proud of him and so grateful for his job, and for all of his hard work during this dinner.  It really shows how blessed we are in this way, and I am always humbled.

Ben and his team mate Brian.  The lighting was horrible..sorry.

Prom picture...haha

Ben's team members that made it to P.club this year

One of the dudes announcing stuff

We stayed up late that night hanging out with Ben's team, and enjoying the night in Mexico.

 

The next morning, we basically just had to get up and go.

 

We traveled all day, and finally made it back home around 2:00am. 

 

It was so great to see all of my sweet babies soundly sleeping, and to give them all kisses.

 

My mom was a super star, and sacrificed a lot in order to help my kids feel happy and comfortable.  She kept Molly up on her medicine, and gave her much needed loves and cuddles, took Sam to scouts, got Mary to her sleepover for tumbling, rented movies, made treats, did laundry, cleaned the house, and kept up with the boys. They had a wonderful time with her, and made a lot of memories.  I am so lucky to have her, and so are my children.

 

It was wonderful to have this trip with Ben, and to be able to celebrate his hard work he does for us every day.  Sometimes it is so refreshing to be just us.

houston, we have a problem

A couple days ago, I was washing the dishes, and I left the water running in to a pot that needed to soak.  Our water pressure is basically non existent, and has been for a year. I knew it would take forever, so I left for a few minutes to do some laundry. 

When I came back into the kitchen, water was pouring out of the cupboard under the sink, and our wood floor was once again under water.  4th time in 2 years.  I let out a huge groan and called Ben, who called our neighbor to come help.

Turns out that the hose leading to our faucet has a hole in it, and was pouring down under the sink. 
Rock on.
 We had to tear the faucet apart to find the problem.

We ended up calling a plumber to come check out all of our dang plumbing issues we have been having for a long time now.  Enough is enough.  We should be able to flush the toilet and have a sink on at the same time right?  or am I just imagining things? I don't think I have had shampoo completely washed out of my hair in over a year.

The dude was here for 15 minutes before he declared that our plumbing is a piece of crap.  Yeah, I could have told him that.

Basically, our pressure valve is completely broken, which in turn broke our regulator, which in turn is loosening and breaking our pipes, which in turn broke our sink hose.  Dominoes anyone?!?!

Oh, and the best part, all of these broken parts are supposed to last a minimum of 25 years...we have been in our house 2 years.  Anyone else banging their head into the wall yet???

So, 4 floods, a broken sink, and 2 broken valves later, we FINALLY have water pressure and normal plumbing again, and the people who did our plumbing better get used to hearing from us, because we have A LOT to say.

Well, we almost have normal plumbing again.  Until the faucet part we ordered gets in, our sink looks like this.

If you turn the water on too fast, the hose flies up and sprays water all over your face.  I forget this at least once a day.  It is great...just great.