Learning to Teach...

It has come front and center to my mind lately that I need to do more in teaching my children some of the basic truths of the gospel. It's been humbling, but I promise to do better. A couple of my reality checks:

1. I intercepted a tithing envelope from Tessa a couple of weeks ago.... and quickly scribbled over the note she had written on the back of it: "Dear bishop, heres som mony for you. I hope you can bye sumthing you want."

We had our Family Home Evening lesson tonight on tithing.

2. I overheard Trevor explaining to Tessa what missionaries are: "They're these guys that just go to RANDOM COUNTRIES and teach about the gospel."

Our lesson next week is missionary work.  

Second Sucks

That's all Chris had to say about it when we were all done.

But you should have seen how hard these boys played. I knew how completely exhausted they were... I desperately needed a nap and I hadn't played 6 games in 4 days.

The semifinal on Thursday morning was very well played - we could tell that Colorado Storm really wanted the win, but we were still able to take it with a final score of 4-2.

The final match was on Thursday afternoon against the Pride Predators out of Colorado. We took the first goal, ending the first half at 1-0 - but they came back late in the 2nd half and tied it 1-1. In the last minutes of play, the Predators were able to score again off of a corner kick, ending in a heartbreaking 2-1. Our boys played with so much heart and hustle it was AMAZING - I'm so proud of each and every one of them!






This is a B-52 Bomber and those two super cute little things underneath are Mike and Trevor.

Meanwhile, the girls had so much fun playing at Uncle Rich and Aunt Randie's house with Sarah... and the gerbils... and Jake. They were able to go swimming in their neighborhood pool and enjoy hanging out, which was way better than being tortured into watching another soccer game. We all had a great time relaxing with them when all was said and done... and spent who-knows-how-long sitting around the table doing a puzzle and laughing our heads off... a really great end to our trip!

But the drive home? Ugh. I don't even have any funny conversations to tell you (although I'm sure there were some, I just wasn't laughing.) Oh wait, here's one:

Mike: I'm sorry, Officer, we're just on our way home from Colorado and these kids are arguing in my ear, so I know I was going way too fast.

Officer Friendly: Yes, sir, I clocked you at 86. How fast do you think you were going?

Mike: Well, right before I saw you, I was closer to 90. (Yes, he really said that!)

Officer Friendly: (after taking our license, registration and insurance) Well, sir, I appreciate your honesty, so I'm just going to give you a warning this time (woo-hoo!), but remember that arriving home safe is more important than arriving home fast.

We really liked Officer Friendly.

Thanks for the pics, Rich - super cute!
And all I have left to say is, ahhhhhhhhhh, my bed, my very own, wonderful bed.

Vacation - Day One

Today was not much more than a very long day of driving. Luckily, we had the kids in the car with us to keep us entertained (yeah, right). Chris rode in a different vehicle with some of his team mates, but we met up at the Olive Garden in Denver to have a good dinner. I'm sure you all know how enjoyable it isn't to drive in a car with arguing children, but here are some snippets of our free entertainment:

At one point, Tessa desperately needed to go to the bathroom. We were just trying to make it to the next exit that had services, when we hear from the back:
Trevor: It's okay, Tessa, it's just a few more watery minutes.
Tessa: Moooommmm! Ohhhhh! I need to go NOW!
And a few seconds later:
Tessa: I wish I could just roll down the window, sit on the door and pee!
Mike accelerated a little bit faster.
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Another time, after Trevor and Tessa had been arguing (again) and Tessa was losing the argument:
Katy: Trevor, people are people, no matter how small.... that's my motto.
Trevor: Yeah, well my motto is 'kick hard'.... no wait, I changed my mind. My motto is... 'got balls?'
Remember, we are on our way to a soccer tournament!
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When we were stopped at a gas station, Mike had just purchased us a fountain drink and paid for a full tank of fuel. Feeling the sticker shock, he got into the car, handed the drink to me and said, "Sheesh, that was sixty-five dollars!"
Immediately, Katy responded, "FOR A DRINK?!?"
Mike is quick on the take though... he told her, "Yes, Katy, this drink was sixty-five dollars.... but they let us fill the gas tank for free."
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We were driving up a canyon on the freeway when we heard a very loud 'BANG!', which scared us all to death. I turned to check on the kids, and all of us were yelling, "what was that?!" at the same time.... looking around to see if we had blown a tire, or judging more from the sound, been shot at. The only vehicle around us was a semi not too far behind, so our only reasoning was that he may have blown a tire.... it had just seemed so LOUD for it to have been anything other than something with our own car. Then all of us started to smell something... like, well, cheddar and sour cream.... when we realized that the bag of chips in the back window had exploded from the heat and altitude.
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Oh... I almost forgot this one. We're driving along quietly (for a change) and then this:
Katy: Ohhhh... I want to adopt a highway! (I quickly turned to look at her face to see if she was serious... and she was.)
Mike: (laughing) I don't think that means what you think it means, Katy. It's not like you get to wrap it in a blanket and take it home.
Trevor: Yeah, Katy, it's not like, (in a baby-talk voice), "goochy, goochy, goo... you cute little highway.... you cute, cute little highway!"
After we explained to her that it meant that once you 'adopted' said highway, you were then responsible for keeping it clean, which means W-O-R-K.... she quickly decided that she doesn't want to adopt a highway after all.

Like I said, pretty much just a very long day of driving.... but tomorrow we get to watch Chris play soccer, so it's all looking up from here.

We're entering unchartered waters...

No one could have summed up this week better than Trevor did for me last night:

"Mom, when I get older, I’m not going to be a stinker teenager."

Oh, how I desperately wanted to walk (no, run!) inside and get some sort of recording device! But I know that I can’t hold him to it... besides, if I remind him in say, 5 years, he’ll deny saying it anyway, no matter what proof I have. At the very least, today I’m grateful that he sees teenagers (at least the ones that currently reside in our home) as the stress-causing, sleep-depriving, attitude-giving, I-couldn’t-live-without-them stinkers that they are. I won’t go into details because, well, I love them... forever and always, no matter what... that’s one of our family mottos. And because for all of their naughtiness, their goodness by far outweighs all of it. Besides, for anyone that has seen ‘Dan in Real Life’... I keep reminding myself about this conversation (I’m ad-libbing, not quoting, since I’m going from memory, which is scary):

Dan’s dad: How are thing’s going?
Dan: Well, my kids hate me.
Dan’s dad: Well, that means you’re doing something right!

Is it sad that I’m using that as a comfort to me right now? Oh, and I read up on the stripling warriors... and how their mothers were so freaking wonderful and taught them all things good (oh, how I’m lacking!)... and I keep telling myself that at some point, even those boys must have not wanted to learn all those lessons, and that even they had consequences to their actions, right? I'm so deperately in need of validation right now... anyone?

Five things my kids are sick of hearing this summer:
1. "Remember who you are."
2. "You woke up at what time? That's ridiculous!"
3. "Are your chores done yet?"
4. "I need to sleep - even if you don't!"
5. "I taught you better than that!"

A Day in the Park

A few weeks ago, we went for a picnic and took some pics... here are some of our faves.... just click on 'play', then on 'play' again in the bottom left corner...

Make a Smilebox slideshow