Championships Baby!

Levi has been playing soccer for the last few years through YMCA. I love playing through YMCA because up until this year, they really didn't keep track of scores and everyone sits together, cheering everyone on. This year scores were kept and I was surprised to find out last week that Levi's team was going to the championship game. It was kinda irritating that it was on Halloween night but since we had already been trick-or-treating on Saturday, I guess it was ok to skip out. Boy, am I glad that we did. They won and Levi couldn't have been more proud! Every year, every person who participates in soccer gets a trophy (and they are all the same) but Levi's team got a different set of trophies than any other team......1st PLACE!

Just a funny story.

Levi doesn't get most social situations. He can be pretty clueless at times when someone doesn't want to play with him or what to not say to people.....you know, the things that most of us get. So, I wasn't surprised at all when Amanda Bishop told me this story last week. It still makes me laugh!

She was taking Levi and Brigham home from school when she over hears Levi say, "I was the best player on my soccer team last year." Brigham replies with, "Hey! I was on your team last year!" Levi very honestly says, "I know."

Now you just have to know Levi. He doesn't have a cocky bone in his body. He just states facts. He is very confident. He often tells me how he is the smartest kid in his class. He just doesn't get that there are some things that you should keep to yourself. It cracks me up how clueless he is at times!

And just so you know, he was definitely not the best player on his team last year......though, I might just have to agree with him on him being one of the smartest in his class........

Officially a Redneck!

Ok, this is going to be the grosses post ever so if you are squeamish, I would leave this page right now!

I warned you....

We have a friend who is not from around here who feels that he/she needs to experience everything Okie. Now, I will be the first to tell you that I have seen my fair share of odd things around here but I have yet to have met anyone growing up (or now as an an adult living in Oklahoma again) that has actually eaten opossum or squirrel or armadillo or whatever. As you can see, I am not naming any names because this individual wants to remain anonymous......and now that I think about it, maybe I do know people who have eaten these odd creatures but just doesn't want anyone to know. Can you blame them?

Ok, so we have animals getting in our garbage quite often and so when we found out about our friend's obsession, David offered to catch one for her/him. Luckily, this person is a hunter because there was no way we were dissecting this thing!

I have to admit that I found it a little odd looking at this thing on the grill knowing that a few days ago I had fed him some bread because David couldn't get to the critter in time (he has been very busy lately) and I didn't want him to starve to death.....

I won't be kissing this mouth for a while!

Now, the grossest part about this all is listening to this individual talk about the fleas he/she found on this nasty animal when field dressing it. I guess it was pretty stinky and covered in fat. If you are still reading this, are you puking yet? It gets better. As I am imagining this, I hear Brigham say, "Possum is good. I want more!"

And just so you know, apparently opossum tastes like Dove.

Trick or Treat

The city of Grove had its residents celebrate Halloween tonight instead of Monday. I'm not sure why, but it makes my kids happy since they will celebrate the holiday on Monday also in Jay. This will be our first year getting to go and see family members on Halloween.....DOUBLE THE CANDY! Of course that's not counting all the corn maze, carnival, and parties that the boys participated in on Friday that brought home even more candy.

This year 40 of us met together at our house to have pizza before heading out to go trick-or-treating. Our family really has been blessed with great friends and neighbors to get to do stuff like this together every so often.

This was my favorite costume of the night. Brynlee was "White Trash." This toilet was in front of our neighbors house with dried ice smoke coming out of it. Brynlee very reluctantly posed for this picture. I asked her to lean on the toilet and she said, "GROSS!" Maybe she isn't cut out to be an Okie just yet :)

Oh yeah,

Oh yeah....and we made Levi's first diorama. He was SUPER excited and would not leave me alone about making this. I kept telling him that I wanted to wait until fall break to do it with him. The night before fall break he asked me if he could wake me up early to start on it!

My favorite part of this is that he added a little Utah/Idaho to it!

Fall Break

Well, fall break certainly wasn't a "break" for Mom but it was for the kids and school. Honestly, it was fun for me to be so active with them this past Wednesday and on. I took more naps than I am used to (because Hyrum always wants to sleep with someone.....not that I'm complaining!) but other than that, we seemed to be going, going, going.

On Wednesday we went with the Bishops to "attack" Elder Tabau's front door. He has served for 2 years for our Lord and is going home, to the Gilbert Islands. We don't often get missionaries that leave our area to go home.....and a home so far away and so different from our part of the world. We themed it "Oklahoma vs. Gilbert Islands" and printed off pictures of things that are on his Islands and things that are somewhat similar to us here. My favorite was, "You have geckos and we have the Geico Gecko......but I'm pretty sure yours doesn't sell car insurance!"

Then we had to horrible experience of getting the kids their flu shots at the ECC. Every year the school here gives them free to the kids. Levi is 8 years old and he completely scared poor Amanda's younger kids. We had to have 2 people hold Levi down and honestly, we could have used another body!

After hearing the boys fight all day on Thursday, Mommy was very happy to go to a Relief Society event that night. It was our annual service auction. I left with 3 loaves of bread and a quilt for a........GIRL!!!!! Yes, I fought hard for the girl quilt even though Tricia and Amanda kept making it clear that I didn't have any girls. I will say it again, "HELLO! I'm a girl!"

Friday seemed to go a little bit better with the bickering as there was less Wii playing and more imagination being used around our house instead. That night we went to Grandma and Grandpa's for a weenie roast.

But before long, my boy's imagination had gone and I was hearing, "Mom! Levi's hot dog is touching mine!"

Earlier I had bought the boys some glow in the dark (small) swords. I was excited for them to use them in Grandma and Grandpa's large yard......it wasn't long before Levi ran into a tree though......

Saturday was a Cub Scout event on Monkey Island. Here we are in one of those pedal boats.

I think this may have been Hyrum's first time riding a horse. The guy next to Hyrum is a pastor at one of the local "Cowboy Churches" around here. It was so odd for me to listen (at one point where we all sat down) for this man in chaps to preach to us. I'm not used to hearing, "Can I get an 'Amen'?" but it was COOL! It really was. I was glad that I was able to expose Brigham and Hyrum to another way of worshiping God.

This man was so good with Hyrum. He followed him around throughout the day just to help him. It was really sweet.

These last few days have been nice but I have to admit I am excited for tomorrow just to have church and that's it!

Randomness

Things are always crazy when school starts. There are so many activities to be at and involved in plus I have been "subbing" for the flower shop and the day care my sister works for (TLC). I feel my poor house has been neglected. What is bad, though, is when you start neglecting your family because your home doesn't feel like home anymore. So, I am trying to say no a little bit more and focusing on more important things.......like these sweet boys.

Tonight was a soccer game for Levi and Hyrum. I think it was the first game this season that I really enjoyed. I guess I just felt more relaxed tonight. Here is Brigham and Elton not paying any attention to the games but having fun while doing it!

You know how cats are and how they love getting into things...he is no different...well, actually he is. He has started this thing where he walks up to me and puts his wet nose on my legs......IT DRIVES ME NUTS! I told my mom, though, that I guess I deserved it for all those times that her dogs did that to me and how much I complained and got so irritated. I guess I deserve this dog-cat.

The school is always raising money, it seems. This was a new one. The teachers went to McDonald's one night and helped the staff there. Some of the proceeds from that night were donated to the schools. Here Mrs. Glasgow is waiting on Levi.

Just a bunch of randomness but I wanted to document it so I can remember to calm things down a bit. Sit back and enjoy this time in my life. Let the Lord guide me more than I have let Him in these past few months.

Ward Halloween/Corn Maze Party

The ward had our annual Halloween party at the Right Choices Corn Maze. This year it didn't rain on us so we got to participate in a lot of activities. I didn't get most of them on camera but the new edition of the blown up bouncy thing (kind of like a bounce house only you are jumping up and down on a very large air filled plastic thing without walls) was a huge hit. It was sooooo cute to watch Bitty try to bounce on it. He got bounced around everywhere!

This year Brigham wanted to be Mario. Soon Levi followed with wanting to be Toad and so while I was trying to find Toad online Hyrum got all excited about being Luigi. I WAS THRILLED! I sooooo miss not being able to dress them up alike for Halloween and so it was PERFECT for me that they wanted to be in a theme. Can you tell what their favorite Wii game is right now?!

April's little ones did a cowboy/cowgirl theme.....I love little Elton's face in this one!

Here is the majority of our group. The corn maze is always very full of people and every year we come and have a cookout before entering the corn maze area where the activities are. Every year, we cause quite the stir because we are the only ones dressed up! It is so fun to hear random, "Oh my gosh, there's Luigi!" and "Look at that mushroom on that kid's head!"

This was our little group that headed off in the corn maze.

This was the best part of the night. We were all kind of worried for April. She is so close to her due date and the maze was quite long. At one point we came across this boy who worked in the maze. April starts working it on how she is pregnant and needs to know which way to go to get out of there and he makes some comment about how it was her choice to go in the corn maze. Well, that is all it took for us to start teasing this guy. We ended up running into him a few times in the maze and by the time we left, we made sure that he knew if April ended up going into labor while in this maze that the baby was being named after him. This baby was going to be named Steven whether a boy or girl! He was a fun kid.

How do you title something like this?

I was tempted to copy some of my friend's blogs and their "Wordless Wednesday" and just put these pictures on here with no explanation and see what kind of responses I get.....

.....and as I try to explain these.....well, how in the world do you explain these.....I'm still scratching my head!

So, I go in to check on the boys before I head to bed and this is what I find. I guess it was a little warm in the boy's room, but I'm not quite so sure that I would have taken off my FULL BODY night outfit and put it in my underwear!

I immediately ran to get David and the camera. David laughs and says in his "Dude, where's my car"/teenage boy voice, "Dude, bet you can't fit it all in your pants?" as if this is the conversation that was going on with Brigham and his brothers as we hear their nightly giggles.

Oh my, the things you experience with having boys.....

Just a group soccer picture......so cute!

Brigham + Fire Alarm = NOT GOOD!

So, last week was a terrible one for me. It really was. It is at the end of Sunday now and I am truly grateful that this week ended with General Conference. Though we were busy most of the day on Saturday, we still recorded the sessions and I am grateful that we live in a day that we can do just that. I am looking forward to this coming week and just calming down. My breaking point was Thursday, so when I got the news that Brigham had pulled a fire alarm at school on Friday, I couldn't help but be grateful that it happened on this day and not the day before. On Friday, it was funny......on Thursday, it may have set me over the edge!

Ok, so I have a wonderful friend who takes Levi and Brigham home from school everyday. I pick up Hyrum at Head Start at 2:20 p.m. Levi and Brigham's school is right next to it so if I were to wait in line, I would be there for almost an hour. This is what we did all last year, except I would find myself making excuses to pass the time with shopping and getting a "happy hour" drink at Sonic. My booty and stomach are not so thankful for this routine......Bless you Amanda Bishop for helping some extra pounds disappear this year!

So, Amanda pulls up with the boys and I walk over to her car. She timidly asks me, "How are you today?" She knew that I had had a very bad day, the day before. I told her that this day was so relaxing as I had finally put things in the right perspective. She kind off looked relieved as she told me that she had to tell me something. She proceeded to tell me that Brigham's teacher walked him out to her car (This is not usual. They have people hired to bring the kids out to the parents). I knew right then that something bad had happened! Apparently, he and his class were walking to the cafeteria for lunch when some of his classmates told him to pull the alarm. As I am writing this, I am still laughing.....I can't believe that kid sometimes! I mean, seriously, what did he expect?! As she is telling me this I am picturing all these firetrucks at the lower elementary and wondering why no one called me. Luckily, he was escorted to the principles office right away where they were able to tell the alarm system people (that called to check up on the school) that it was just a student and all was well. Amanda said that Brigham's teacher said that he was in the principles office for a long time and was pretty sure that he would NEVER do it again. It was funny telling my grandma this story because she got all defensive about Brigham getting in trouble. Don't get me wrong, she immediately laughed when I told her what he did but when I got to the part of him getting in trouble, she didn't care for that at all......Grandma, I love how much you love my boys! I on the other hand called Principle Trumbull right away and thanked her for making sure that he knew that what he had done was serious. She had him do laps for recess along with the scolding, I'm sure, he got. At the end of our conversation she told me that she appreciated me supporting her. After I got off the phone, I thought of the hard job she must have. I bet she gets phone calls all the time of parents complaining. I am just grateful that we live in the Grove School District. I really love the school here.

I later told David and of course he smirked and said that part of him wanted to give him an "atta boy" for having the guts to do it........this is why we have MOTHERS! That is all I have to say! He, of course, did not tell Brigham this.

When I talked to Brigham, of course he told me that others had told him to do it but I immediately told him that it didn't matter. That all through life you are going to have people "telling" you what do. Ultimately, all that matters is the choices we make. I was proud of him however, when he stopped me at one point in our conversation and asked me if he would get one of his privileges taken away. I told him that I didn't know because I hadn't talked to Daddy yet. He told me that he had already thought about it and that we could take his Nanny/Poppy night away from him (which was that night). You have to understand how much my boys look forward to these nights. So to have him suggest that was very impressive. I couldn't take that away from him but I was proud that he even suggested it.

All in all, I guess it could have been worse. At least the firetrucks didn't show up. The kids did file outside, however, just like they have practiced in times past and I guess later the whole second grade had an impromptu assembly on the importance of our fire alarms and only using them on emergencies......