Maxman

This morning when I dropped Maxwell off at school,

his teacher shared a little story with me.

Yesterday, Max was the clean-up person.

(I'm not sure what that means, except that he was the last to leave because

he got to dismiss the other kids and maybe erased the board.)

His teacher stood at the door, saying goodbye to the

other kids, and giving them a hug as they left.

Then she gathered up things in her room

while Maxwell got ready to go home.

When he was ready to leave, he stood by the door,

and said, "Mrs. T*, aren't you forgetting something?"

She quickly took stock of her room, and said, "no."

To which he replied, "A hug?"

So she hurried over and hugged him goodbye.

She thought it was the sweetest thing.
I didn't tell her that he has an overactive sense of justice,

and while he might have really wanted the hug,

there is an equal or greater chance that he just wanted

to make sure that he got what everyone else did.

John thought it interesting that while he dodges our hugs,

he actually asked his teacher to give him one.

6/12

23 August 2000

4 July 2010

Meet Trouble

(I really hope this is a short phase. I hope it's a phase, period.)

No counter or shelf is too high,

no distance too far,

no risk too great.

If there is something he wants,

he will get it.

He is Milo,

and he is in to

EVERYTHING.

First Day 2010 Part 2

Max is feeling better and is back in action.

Look out 2nd grade, here he comes!

He says he is sorry he missed the first day,

because the teachers don't want the kids to be

scared, so they are extra nice.

I'm pretty sure his teacher is always extra nice.

When I asked Bentley about his first day,

he said, "Well . . . this is what we ate,"

and then listed all of the various snacks

that his class had eaten during the day.

(Must have been the highlight in his opinion.)

It seems like all kids do at school now is eat!

Hopefully they sneak some learning in there, too.

First Day 2010 Part 1

Bentley is ready for 3rd Grade!

(Max is home sick and Jonah starts next week.)

And they lived happily ever after . . .

Ruby's Fairytale Ballet class is over!

She got to dress in Cinderella's ball gown

for the last two weeks of class.

Here she is the first week:

I asked her if she liked her dance class,

and was surprised when she said "No."

But then she said she would like it if

she got to go to dance ever day.

Phew.

Here she is with her class the very last day:

She was so excited to take home her crown and a sucker.

She said goodbye to her teacher, Miss Bethany.

And to her best "dance-class" friend.

I was a little sad for her class to end,

but Ruby is just excited for new things this fall.

Like her brothers going back to school in the morning!

10 Years!

(photo by Brent)

A Couple of Birthdays!

7 years ago our sweet Maxwell was born!
Here he is, brand new:

And here's a recap of his 7th birthday.

He got in trouble more than he wanted to,
and I didn't get his requested meals, "just right,"
but I think that by the end of the day
(i.e. after he opened his presents),
he had decided that this birthday wasn't too bad.

This was a pretty special weekend for Max.
He spent Friday and Saturday in Idaho,
(Mindy recaps the things they *didn't do HERE)
and his cousin Henry was born!

(This is Henry. You can read more about him HERE.)

*Mindy has a funny way of seeing things.
And a funny way of letting my boys do things
that I would never in a million years let them do.

Hugh and Emily Get Married!

On Saturday, Hugh and Emily were married

in the Oquirrh Mountain Temple.

We took the kids up before the ceremony,

and Elizabeth, Cleo, and Lyle took care of them

(and cousin Ella), while we were in the Temple.

Here's Elizabeth laying down the law while

all of the parents were there to hear the rules.

Her instruction must have done some good,

all six kids were accounted for when we came out.

I didn't get very good shots of the newlyweds

as they came out of the Temple, but Laura posted

some great photos of them on her blog.

Can you see how excited Ruby is in the photo below?

It's like her dream come true - a Bride at the Temple.

She immediatly ran over for a closer look.

Elizabeth helped Ruby get a good look at

both the Bride and the Groom.

Here is Emily with her lovely bridesmaids.

Judy was off-duty this weekend, but we

asked her to take a family photo for us anyway.

Not everyone was happy to be in the picture, but

the important thing is that they are all IN the picture.

Here's Hugh and Emily with their brothers.

And just Emily.

Isn't she beautiful? Look at those eyelashes.

Milo tried to find some shade to sit in while he

ate his banana and waited for the picture

taking to end. He found a spot in up against

the front doors of the Temple.

The Reception Luncheon was at Emily's

Aunt and Uncle's home. They had a water feature

in the backyard that all of the kids loved.

The little pond had fish in it!

I think that all of the little girls were in love with Emily.

Ruby said that seeing her in her dress was the best

part of the entire day. Even better than the fish!

It was nice to sit and talk with family and friends.

Or, it would have been if the John and I hadn't

spent most of the time chasing them around the yard.

Liz, John P., and Cleo got to sit down and chat, though.

Bentley, Maxwell, and Jonah found something so

exciting that they couldn't wait to show Emily.

The neighbors had a pool and a trampoline.

Emily was a good sport to trudge back there in her

gown to see the "amazing discovery."

A little while later, the boys got Hugh and Emily

to come back to their "forest under a tree."

I hope the tux and the dress survived the "forest."

We took a picture of all the girls

(minus Ginger who had a very good reason to miss the wedding).

Ruby got to carry around one of the bridesmaid's

flowers, (at least I hope she had permission).

While that wasn't as exciting as seeing "A Real Bride,"

she was still pretty happy about it.

Here's the Mother of the Groom

looking good in Laura's awesome heels.

Another discovery: the three boys found a little

metal sign that said "bleeding heart."

They showed it to everyone they could,

and then sat around trying to come up with

a scenario that would result in a bleeding heart

being left in that very spot in the garden.

Ella and Milo were troopers.

While it was a great day for a wedding,

it was a horrible day for naps.

They stayed awake at the end of the luncheon

by stuffing as many goldfish crackers into

their mouths as they possibly could.

Just about the time that Ella and Milo finished

their crackers, Hugh and Emily were ready to go.

We all waved goodbye as they drove away.

Word is that they didn't get far before they stopped

and undecorated the car. All that work . . .

We hope they have a great vacation,

and a wonderful, happy life together.

Congratulations Emily and Hugh!!!

Party On!

Hugh and Emily are getting married this Saturday (!!!),

and last night there was a party for each of them.

Elizabeth and I went to part of Emily's party.

We had some good food at Zupas,

some fun conversations with lots of laughs,

and watched Emily open a few little somethings.

After dinner, we came home and Liz went out with her man,

while I watched mine participate in Hugh's big bash.

John and Hugh played Starcraft 2 online with

Charles and Joseph (Lyle and Brent were missed).

By some miracle a few of my kids took naps,

so they got to stay up and watch some of the "party."

I think "video-game-bachelor-party-with-your-brothers"

is pretty much one of the best ideas ever.

Last time the boys were able to be in the same room for the party

(Charles was the man of the hour that time), but online works, too.

(Lyle, Joseph, John, Charles, and Hugh - February 2008)

Swimming Lessons, or a Lesson in Endurance

We just wrapped up a two week session

of swimming lessons. Although it's only 30 minutes

a day for 9 days, it is a lot of work!

However, John and I decided that it would be easier

than the two of us trying to take the five kids to the

pool on our own. And by some miracle, we got in!

(The lessons at our pool tend to fill up REALLY fast.)

Here they are on day one, ready to swim!

Jonah's lessons in a nutshell, he drank A LOT
of water, but thinks that he is part fish.

Milo came with me to watch for the first 6 days of lessons.
On day 6, he "discovered" the water in the pool.
He stayed home with John for days 7, 8, and 9.

Ruby had a great time at swimming, although she avoided
putting her face in the water whenever possible.
On day 8 she had a meltdown because her teacher
wanted her to jump into the pool.
We managed to end on a good note, because on day 9,
most of the teachers were too afraid of the lightening
to actually get in the water, so they reviewed safety
at the side of the pool. Ruby's face stayed dry,
and she stayed happy.

Bentley was happy about his class because they
didn't meet in the baby pool.
And because he got to swim every day. He loves it.

Maxwell is the one I was worried about.
As a baby he was terrified of the water.
He's taken lessons once before, but with Jonah.
This time he was on his own, and he was nervous.
Luckily, a neighbor girl ended up in his class,
so that helped a little. He conquered his fear
of the deep end, and made it to the end of the diving
board, but decided to try jumping off another time.

And we're done!

Hurray!

Cinder-Ruby

Last week Ruby's dance class started their "Cinderella" unit.

They dressed up in mouse costumes, and I don't have any photos

because John took Ruby to dance while I took Bentley, Milo,

and the camera to the State Capitol with the Cub Scouts.

This week, Ruby and the other girls

got to dress as Cinderella before the ball.

They even had tools for cleaning.

Rumor has it that next week they get to wear their ball gowns!

Adding Insult to Injury

Or in Milo's case, just adding another injury.

This time I think he ran into a brick wall.

Black Eyed Milo

I'd like to say the other guy looks worse,

but the other "guy" is Ruby.

They ran into each other, and she doesn't

have a mark on her.

Boys like to brag about battle wounds, though.

Right?