{Little Miss Tumbler}

Can we say BEHIND?!? Again? I swear I just can't seem to keep up with this blog. The kids have been busy lately and that means this mama's been busy too. I thought about doing one big "Katchup" post, but I felt like some of the things deserved their own post, so I decided to do them all at once.... if you'd like to know what all we've been up too, keep reading after this post!

Last Saturday was spent at a little Tumbling competition in Spanish Fork with Miss Carlie. It was the first one we've taken her to and she'd been counting down and practicing for weeks!

Doesn't she look cute warming up with her fantastic teacher Miss JoAnn? She did a great job on her passes, so great that..... she took FIRST place out of the eight girls in her age group!

and of course she had to strike a pose with that medal!

{Orange.... the Color of the Week}

Last week Brock spent his hour (plus almost another half) at Karate testing for his Orange belt, and I got to stay and watch and see all the progress that he's made.

There were three others testing at the same time, so the process took a bit of time. Each child has to demonstrate each and every skill they've been taught since the beginning and Miss Camille gave each skill a letter grade.

They showed off punches, kick, Kata's and lots of other skills. They also had to answer 3 questions. When do we use Karate? Why do we show respect? And tell us 5 things that show proper manners? Brock also had to have a signed page from his school teacher that said he conducts himself in a proper manner at all times, and a place to comment if there was anything he could work on. When the testing was finished and scored, Miss Camille hits them with the new belt and any higher ranking class members line up to give a punch to the stomach! I think this week orange is my new favorite color. He's been working on this a long time, and I'm proud of him!

On another note, remember that "little" four wheeler accident my little man had a bit ago? Well, part of the deal was HE had to fix my bike, and pay for all the parts. Brock asked Grandpa Dearden, who just happens to own the Polaris dealership in town, for a job so he could earn the money for the parts. They hooked him up with a pretty fancy Polaris work shirt and he grabbed his tools and headed to work. How cute is he? After working each day, Derrick put him back to work tearing down my bike. He showed him what tools he needed, and told him what bolts to take out and left him to work. I'm happy to say he finished the job right in time for the weather to be about perfect for some riding! (and hopefully he learned a good lesson int he process).

{Preschool Craziness}

A day of craziness at Polka Dot Preschool.... well, crazy hair that is!

Carlie decided to go for little messy buns all over her cute little head!

(Check out that pose people! Do you think I may by any chance have a little DIVA on my hands?)Tylie opted for many tiny ponies! and I went for the flower garden look!

Fabulous, right? I know, it's awful and apparently I have no shame, throwing that picture out on the world wide web for all to see. But hey, my preschool kids thought it was great, and that's all that matters right?

By the way..... the rest of my cuties had some fantastic hair too, but I'm not sure if their parents would appreciate me sharing their cute faces with all y'all.

{Arrow of Light)

The highest award of Cub Scouting is the Arrow of Light badge, and the only Cub Scout badge that may be worn on the Boy Scout uniform.

The individual elements of the badge represents: - The sun shedding its light on all that we do. A reminder that Cub Scouts should be a light for those around them. - The seven rays of the sun representing the seven days of the week. A reminder that Cub Scouts should do their best every day. - The arrow which is symbolic of everything which is straight and true. Just as Cub Scouts should be straight and true in their lives. It also points forward to the trail of Boy Scouting ranks and higher challenges. The arrow of light is much more difficult to obtain than a belt loop, an activity badge or even one of the other rank patch. To obtain this award these scouts have met a number of requirements, including completion of eight activity badges, participation in camps, hikes and boy scout activities, the memorization of the Scout Oath and the Scout Law, and the commitment to live by these principles. The ceremony is in essence a 'coming of age' ceremony symbolizing that Cub Scouts are now ready to become Boy Scouts.

On March 29th, 2011 Brock was recognized for earning his Arrow of Light Award. The Cub master took Brock's scout shirt and removed all his badges and awards and moved them to this rabbit skin that he now has on display in his room.

At the end of the ceremony Brock crossed the bridge from Cub Scouts to Boy Scout and was welcomed into the Boy Scouting program by his Blazer leader (who also happens to be his Papa).

What a proud Mama I am! Though, I have to admit, it was a bittersweet moment for me. I'm proud of his achievement, but on the other hand, my boy is growing up a little faster than I'd planned on! Love ya, Bud!

(yea, I know, my eyes are closed, but Brock's were in the other picture we took and it's all about him, not me!)

{Birthday Boy}

We celebrated another birthday at our house.....KALEB turned nine! March is a crazy month for birthdays in our family.... I'm counting 10 in a matter of weeks. This is Kaleb's last year of single digits. Kaleb's birthday fell on a Saturday this year. Derrick and I had tickets to the Blue Collar Comedy show on Friday, so we convinced Grandma Jeannie that she should come down and spend the weekend (helping us with the kids Friday and then to be here to celebrate Kaleb's Birthday too). We just hung around the house with our little family on his actual birthday.

He was excited about his gifts and got pretty much just what he'd asked for.

It was Kaleb's year for a friend party (I only do one every other year) and he chose to go swimming. Along with the friends he invited, his cousins also joined in the fun. Kaleb made a special cake request of Aunt Lisa.... a replica of his bearded dragon lizard. I told him that may be a little tricky, his response to that..... I'll know how much she loves me by how well it turns out!?!? I think she must love him!

The kids all had fun swimming, opening presents and eating cake and ice cream!

I just had to add these two last pictures of my little man. I came home a few weeks ago and walked into my room to see this lovely haircut. I'd been bugging Derrick for weeks, like three at least, to cut Kaleb's hair. Well, he cut it, but not all of it and not how I expected. That was on Friday night. I guess Derrick told him he could keep the mohawk for one day. Well, it didn't get cut off on Saturday, and in all honestly it grew on me......

it fit him and I was really kind of liking it. He was begging to keep it and I finally told him if he felt ok going to church like that, I didn't care. Sunday morning came and we all got ready for Church. About 10 min before we had to leave Derrick noticed the hair and insisted it be cut before church. I have to admit for those 2 days, he ROCKED that mohawk!

{Therapy}

I mentioned in my last post that Derrick and I spent a day of learning at a Love and Logic seminar. A few of you had some questions and wanted more information. That was my plan for my next post, but as you know plans sometimes change. I do plan on posting about it and some of the parenting tips they offered, but not right now. Honestly, we did really well implementing some changes around here for the first four days or so, then I had a melt down at poor Brock, which ended in tears from both of us. It was one of those mommy moments that I'm not one bit proud of, so unfortunately the Love an Logic post is going to have to wait, as I'm not feeling like I can give any parenting advice at this moment. My little meltdown along with receiving some sad news from a friend, left me in a funk..... so I spent a few days locked away in my room of crafty tools, creating.

My momma and a friend needed some cards, so I got to work.

and while I worked, I thought....
and I reflected, and I set some goals for myself. And when I finished with the cards, I moved on to yet another project that I've been putting off.
A couple of pillows for Miss Carlie's bed (I got the wrong size pillow form for the zebra pillow, so hopefully I can find one soon), along with curtains (not pictured) for our Primary Room, just in time for our Great to be Eight night that I was also in charge of, and spent a bit of time getting ready for. I still have plans for a few more pillows to go on her bed, but while I was enjoying my preferred form of therapy, a tornado, or three, mysteriously tore my house apart and I need to focus on that for a few hours.

{Weekend Excitement....}

of both the good and bad sorts!

First, the not so good.

Ooooops! Actually, oops maybe an understatement. Friday afternoon Derrick and Brock headed up the road on four-wheelers to run our dog. Well, only one four-wheeler came back. I saw them pull in, but it really didn't hit me that anything was wrong until Brock came in crying. I'm glad I knew he was ok, before I saw where he rolled, how he landed and the damage to my four-wheeler. It could have been SO much worse and I honestly don't know how he walked away from that unharmed, he was definitely being watched over and blessed that day. I get teary and sick to my stomach every time I see the pictures and think how much worse it could have been.

Yes, he did roll across all those rocks. Yes, I'm positive it's a good thing he had his helmet on. Yep, the A-arm on my bike is broken and the steel rim is trashed (who knows what else we'll find when Derrick starts to tear it down to fix it). Yea, I think it's a good thing we may just know a great ATV mechanic and I bet a certain young man is going to learn just how much time and money goes into the fixing. Yes, the four-wheeler did land on top of him, and the handlebars were sitting on a rock and the back rack was on another rock, miraculously there were no rocks in between those two, where he landed. YES, he is a very lucky boy and I'd have to agree with his Papa that he better keep saying his prayers..... I know I will! I'm feeling very blessed right now.
Now onto the good!

Saturday I got to spend the entire day with my Hubby man! First, we attended two sessions of a Love and Logic Parenting seminar. I learned so much, and left excited to try some new things (now actually applying what I've learned is going to be the challenge). In between the sessions we had a yummy lunch at Kneaders complete with a yummy fruit tart, or maybe two or ummm, six. That evening we met six of Derrick's high school friends and their wives in Provo at the Brick Oven for dinner and then hung out at Cameron's for a bit and visited. I love that these guys still try to get together now and then and that all the wives get along well too. I love to hear and laugh at all the "remember when" stories from these crazy guys (I grew up with all of them too, so I remember them back in the day) but I hope and pray our kids don't act like their dads did!?!?
Did I mention that this blissful child free day, was all made possible by my parents? They gave us the opportunity to attend the Love and Logic seminar and kept the kiddos all day too!
The highlight of the kiddos day with Gram and Papa..... Horse Rides! The kids have been begging Papa to ride Prince for awhile now and Saturday was the day. Kaleb disappeared into the house before Gram could get his picture, but he got a turn too. Somehow Gram also had the time (and patience) to make homemade rolls and cinnamon rolls with them too.

Last but not least, we got to attend my cute nephew Kaden's blessing today and then enjoyed dinner at their house after church. We spent some time visiting, and most importantly I got a little cuddle time with that adorable little man!

Do you know what the perfect ending was to our exciting weekend......

A SUNDAY AFTERNOON NAP!