Lions and tigers and bears, OH MY!

Jacobs speech therapist has been working with animal sounds to practice oral motor skills. I try to repeat what she does throughout the week, and this week we have been roaring and hissing, and growling with the best of them. So enter our zoo...if you dare!

Jacob has learned to ride his bike with training wheels this month. He loves the independence and speed! He is getting faster everyday and thinks that he is now big enough to ride all the way to the girls school (1 mile). On biking mornings he try's for a "get away" before I put him in the trailer. And of course because I don't have huge amounts of time to spare, sometimes I just pick him up where he made it too, and leave his bike on the sidewalk until I get back. I am sure the neighbors all think I am nuts. Oh well! We have been having issues with Jacob sharing seats, like the car on the front of the grocery cart, the bike trailer, etc, and one terrible behavior that resulted from this was BITING! I hate biting! I was mortified that my kid was the one doing it. But honestly was only slightly surprised given his lack of understandable communication and the fact that he was my super oral baby. But after about ten days of very consistant consequences and lots of positive reinforcement, he hasn't bitten again...whew! Crossing my fingers! But there was one funny story that came out of this. One day the boys were eating lunch. They were on opposite sides of the table, and Jacob just got down out of his seat walked over to Spencer and bit him. Of course I was mortified, but when telling it to his speech teacher, she just burst out laughing. L:aughing! she then told me she just imagined him sitting there thinking about some wrong Spencer had inflicted upon him and got down to business making it even.

Spencer went on a field trip to the fire station with his preschool class. He was SO excited. He talked about it non stop for a week. The morning of he is kind of quiet, and after running an errand we arrive and then I see it. Pure fear. He won't even go close to the truck, let alone climb in with the other kids. And when the fireman dressed in his fire gear try's to give him a high five, he about burst into tears...go figure. I hear the fire man is visiting his classroom a few more times, maybe that will help...
We had some family pictures taken a few weeks back and I asked the photographer (who also has become a good friend of mine) to focus on getting some good ones of Spencer, as it has been a long time since he has willingly participated in any photo session. And she did fabulous! She got great ones of everyone else as well. But look at these faces...seriously, they are so Spencer!



Maren has been loving school. I have loved being in her classroom and watching her interact with her friends in her "community" (that is what they call their classroom). She has this boy that follows her around at recess and he really likes her. She was telling me that he wants to marry her. So I asked her if she wants to marry him, and she tells me "Oh no, I don't even know his name yet." Hopefully he will loose interest before she learns it!

Maren has also been thriving at soccer. I have to say that this level has been so rewarding to watch, as the whole team is getting the hang of passing and the results are amazing. So much less ball crowding and so many more attempts at the goal. Maren has had a ton of attempts including two that have made it in. (Dave was lucky enough to be there for that game) And she also plays a rocking defense. The last game they asked for a "silent saturday", where the players play free of interruptions from parents, coaches, and referees, as much a possible. I love to watch her play, but I also love to cheer, it was hard to keep quiet the whole game. But it was fun to watch the kids, some really thrived with the silence. I noticed Maren really lost her energy midway through the second half, and it occured to me that I forgot to tell her about the "silence". When I explained after the game why it was so quiet, she responded "that's why no one was cheering for me".

Amanda has been learning about Native Americans in her classroom since school started. She has loved this, and comes home telling me interesting facts. Back when Doug and Heather visited and we went canoeing on the mesa, there was a Navaho man playing his drum and singing. Amanda was entranced with his concert and went right up front to listen. At the end he asked if there were any questions. And she asked if he would sing another. He sang a song with her name in it, which was so cool, and then let her come up and drum.

(Sorry not the best picture!)

Love hands on learning!

When my mom came to visit a few weeks back Amanda helped me pull of an impromptu birthday party for her. She also was a huge help canning and great company as well. She has been disappointed when I have been caning pears without her while she is at school, but the after school crazy time is not conducive to canning! But that time is improving with a car pool to swim...so much nicer to have someone to share the driving with! Amanda has been working super hard at swim and recently moved up to to next level. She is excited for her first meet this weekend in Aspen. Seriously...a swim meet in Aspen, now what could be better than an excuse to drive to Aspen in the fall to see all the fall colors. Fantastic! Have I mentioned how much I love where we live!

Dave has been rediscovering his love for reading. I recently bought (mostly, thanks to Amy for gifting us the last three) the Harry Potter series for Amanda to reread and for the rest of the kids to enjoy, eventually. And next thing I know, I never see my husband...now I know where Amanda gets it from. But I have to say I am thrilled to see him have time to enjoy such luxuries as reading again. It has been a long time. Work is steadily getting busy for him, and we are loving the home call, and half day Fridays to fit in a little more fun. Dave and I have been alternating playing Friday afternoons, while the other one runs the home front. Dave has been mountain biking, and doing some road biking as well. When it is my turn to escape I have been rediscovering my love of mountain biking with a good friend who has been kind enough to show me some fun trails. So much fun! Ill get a picture up one day. For now here are a few pictures my sister sent me of some of the crew who came to visit over the weekend of Maren's baptism.

Maren with Grandma Patty after her baptism.

Such great family we have...have I mentioned how much I love being closer to so many of them!