En Garde!

Many of you know that Dallin started fencing after we moved here. He was always interested because his cousin (Reid) was also a fencer. It really is a great sport full of tradition, respect, honor and politeness. It really is a great work out too - it works almost every muscle group!

The academy where he takes lessons is one of the biggest around and he learns a lot from the instructors and other students. I thought you might like to see him in action - even scoring a point against the other student. Touche!

Outside is still the BEST toy

Of all the things the cousins could have played with at Thanksgiving, guess what was their favorite?

Yes... the cardboard boxes. All you need is a little sunshine, a hill, and some moving boxes and you are set for the day.

All the cousins (and some of the adults) had a great time "sledding" down the steep hills at Grandma and Grandpa's house.

When I was a kid, I was outside all day. In fact I remember very few of the toys I played with. I do, however, have lots of memories of the games I played with my siblings and neighbors. I also remember when my parents would bring home refrigerator boxes for us to make into clubhouses.

It's amazing how much fun can be had with so little. Just wait until we get some snow on those hills!

Baby Fix

Everyone who knows us will attest to the fact that we LOVE babies. Luckily we were able to get our baby fix through Isabella over Thanksgiving. We spent the holiday with the Seguines and Dan and Tricia came up from North Carolina. We are in a different phase of parenting now that all of our kids are old enough to go off and do their own thing, so we dedicated our attention to Ella. We never get tired of making a baby smile and coo. Thanks Ella!

First Pair of Glasses

No matter how hard you try to be on top of things, you have those moments where you feel like a terrible mom. I received the phone call from the school nurse telling me that Tayor had failed the eye exam and needed to see the eye doctor. (This is also how we found out Dallin needed glasses in kindergarten - even more traumatic the first time around!)

When we took her to the eye appointment we found that she could only see clearly about 2 feet in front of her. Her vision is 20/100 in both eyes. After some questioning we found that she had a system of closing her eyes tight, opening them wide and focusing on the board for a few seconds at a time. I let her know that if anything like this were to happen in the future to let me know a little earlier.

Anyway, she has her new glasses and we all think she looks great! (Lesson learned: I think I will take Cami to have regular eye exams along with the other kids and maybe I won't have to hear from the school nurse a third time.)

A Boy and a Dog

I have always believed that there is something very special about the relationship between a boy and his dog. Zoey is our family dog, but seems to have a special place in her heart for Dallin and he for her. She loves to climb up in his lap, roll over and go to sleep. The other night she was completely zonked out on his lap and I had to have a picture. Even those of you who don't love dogs will have to admit that a boy and a dog are a nice combination.

Laughing at Ourselves

We have been talking to our kids about learning to laugh at ourselves when we make a mistake or find ourselves in a somewhat embarrassing situation. This past weekend, Taylor took a spill in the mud at her Soccer party and we thought we would take a picture and enjoy a laugh...we're still working on the laugh part.

Thanksgiving Feast

I got to celebrate Thanksgiving a little early with Cami at the annual Kindergarten Feast. She made her pilgrim costume and wrote our names on the place mat before I arrived. We made pasta necklaces, colored turkeys, and visited with the other parents.

The highlight was actually when a classmate lost a tooth and all the kindergartners (green with envy) celebrated with him. Cami was so excited she insisted that I let her take a picture so we could remember the moment. She took the picture and seems to have some of her Grandma Katy's picture taking talent (the finger across the lens for those of you who were not familiar with Grandma Katy's photography).

I have much to be thankful for, especially (and for the last time -sniff, sniff) fun kindergarten celebrations.

soccer

This weekend Cami reminded me what sports are supposed to be all about(refreshing considering the tough season we have had with Taylor's team). I'll share.
Cami prefers not to have to fight anyone for the ball during 3v3 games. So...she generally goes the opposite way everyone else does and often scores goals for the other team.

Saturday after doing just this her coach took her aside to talk to her. He said, "Cami you are doing some great dribbling, but I really need you to score for our team at the other end." Her reply, "Don't worry about it coach...My mom is proud of me anyway. Right Mom?!" At this point she turned to me with a big grin and gave me the thumbs up.

My response..."Yes! Of course I am proud of you. Keep up the good work." She then half skipped half ran to the clump of kids chasing the ball and I gave the coack a shrug of the shoulders.

Thanks for bringing things back into perspective Cami.
Plus she looks so cute in her uniform!