On graduating, losing a tooth and getting fired

On Wednesday Andrew officially graduated...from speech!! He has met all his goals and says all the sounds properly that a 4 year old should say. We are very proud of his work. He got a certificate- which he is pretty excited about! He still wants to go to speech and is sad to not get to win more prizes. It is nice that we no longer have to interpret what he is saying to other people. Way to go Andrew!!

In the last month Luke has had some of his big teeth popping up behind his baby teeth. Since then we've been encouraging him to wiggle away. Well, today he succeeded in losing his first baby tooth! It was a very exciting thing- especially since it happened during sacrament meeting. He wanted to get up and NOT bear his testimony but simply open his mouth to show everyone. I think he succeeded in telling everyone around us and his teacher- who was many, many rows behind us. Losing teeth is a big deal! He said that it is pretty cool to be having a tooth (and soon to be many more- there are still 6 wigglers) come out so close to when a baby is also going to come out (we still have 8ish wks until that happens). Lets hope that Kiley does not pull the baby out during sacrament meeting as he did this tooth. VERY big news for Luke! I'll have to take a picture of Luke and his tooth for posterity and of course post it here for your viewing enjoyment.

Also in sacrament meeting I got fired...from my calling. This is also known as being released but I'm very sad about losing this particular calling. The loose/lost tooth was actually a very good distractor for me so I only got teary-eyed when they did the actual releasing and not when I went up to bear my testimony (this is when I invited Luke to come do the same- he declined but later regretted it because he couldn't show his new sort of hole (because remember- there's a grown-up tooth already in behind said hole)). I have been the primary music chorister and I told the primary pres. when I discovered this pregnancy might actually stick around that I didn't want to be released. Apparently said Pres. didn't know I was being released though the Bishop had discussed whether the calling was too much to handle with a new baby on many occasions. It very well might have been too much but that doesn't make it easier to say good-bye to my action packed 2 hours and head back over to be with the old, slow, boring people :) Oh well, as with all callings they eventually end. I just hope to sub A LOT and I hope to pick REALLY good music for Sacrament meeting- cause that's (part) of my new calling :) Oh- and I'll take my new little boy over this calling any day (and I may also be quite slow these days...so I'll probably fit in pretty well)

CL 32 wks

Labor Day Trip- day 1 and 2

Over Labor Day we headed down to San Diego to visit Curtis, Alaina, Georgia, and Levi. We love going there! Unfortunately it took us a long time to get there because I15 was closed due to a fire over Cajon Pass. We got there just before it opened but the back up was pretty far. The boys did pretty well sitting in the car moving very slowly but we were all happy to get there!

Our first day in CA we went to the San Diego Natural History Museum and the Mormon Battalion visitor center. I highly recommend the battalion visitor center if you haven't been recently- it is fantastic!

The 3 boys in the back of Curtis' new truck!

Andrew and the Manatee

Balboa Park

Panning for Gold at the Battalion

Working the water pump

Doing the wash

A well- the battalion members were able to teach the people in San Diego how to make bricks- an invaluable skill!

Hitting the road

Alaina, Levi, Georgia and Curtis with the Levi Hancock statue- member of the Battalion, relative, and Levi's namesake

Sunday we headed off to church and then spent the afternoon playing with the backyard toys

Luke LOVED riding the go-kart. He went on many trips around the yard. click on the picture to get a good look at Luke's face!

Andrew went exactly once and then was happy to watch...

First Day of School

Today is Luke's first day of school! His face would light up anytime he talked about it. He is SO ready for school. When we ask him what he's excited for he says "to see my friends 5 days a week!" This morning I asked him what subject he is most excited for and he decided it was math. No tears for any of us. This kid is beyond ready for school. Plus- it's half day- sort of. He'll be done at 10:45!

Ready to go

Close up!

Luke and his bf Noah

Brady (Luke's other bf), Luke and Noah

Ready to head in

Mr. Buono (Luke's teacher), Carly, Luke, Noah, friend we don't know yet, Jesse, and Stratton. Brady is also in the class- so that's 6 kids all from our ward! Yes, we planned it. There are 3 others from our ward but they have Mr. Buono in the afternoon. All 5 boys are in the same primary class!

Horseback Riding

I love groupon and have taken advantage of many deals. As part of Luke's 6th!?! birthday we went horseback riding. I LOVE horseback riding and am happy to have a companion along. My horse was named Cole and Luke's was Tinkerbell (his was ponied with the guides!). Both of our horses would kick the horse behind if it got too close. Mine put me in a bush once too- backing up trying to get the horse behind to BACK OFF. Pretty fun- I actually got to steer a little because of that :) Luke said something about my being the oldest there which I thought was ridiculous. Until I noticed that the other 4 in the group (not to mention our 2 guides) really were under 30. Yikes. Since when am I old?

See Luke up at the front with the guide?

6 Years Ago...

this boy joined our family and we haven't been the same since! Luke was very excited about turning six and I can't believe that day has come!

Some memorable things about today:

Luke requested Lucky Charms and Fruit Loops for breakfast. Last night he informed me he wanted them in bed. According to him- Mom gets to have breakfast in bed on Mother's Day and Dad gets to have breakfast in bed on Father's Day so he should have breakfast in bed on his birthday. So he did and he loved it!

He got to go to a sports shorts class with Andrew. At the end, his teacher let him (and Andrew) pick something from their treasure box.

We had planned to go to a friend's house but ended up going to Chuck E Cheese to play their games for an hour. It was a hit.

Luke requested Mac and Cheese for lunch with Cucumbers. He also had grapes.

Luke got to skip quiet time. He built Legos with Mom and we played Battleship. Then he played his new Wii game (lego star wars).

Two friends came over for Luke's smaller party. We had pizza, cucumbers and carrots (at least Kiley and I had those!), and watermelon. We finished it off with cake and ice cream.

We went to U bounce for 2 hours of open bouncing. When we got there we found out they had buy 1 get one free coupons there. Nice surprise. The boys had lots of fun and especially enjoyed the dodge ball.

Luke is sufficiently worn out and needs a good nights sleep to recoup from his crazy day!

A few things about Luke:

He has really come out of his shell in the last year. He gets up in front of groups, volunteers to help, and loves playing with friends!

He is soooooooooooooo ready for school. He continues to love numbers and is also a good little reader. His favorite books to read are the Elephant and Piggie series. He LOVES to hear the Magic Tree House series. We have the books on CDs from the library and he listens to them at bedtime and quiet time and lots of times in between. We always have 50+ things checked out from the library at once!

Luke is a caretaker and always looking out for his brother. Sometimes we get to remind him that we want him to be Andrew's brother not a third parent :) He builds awesome train tracks for Andrew to play with.

He got lots and lots of Legos for his birthday as well as several games. He is a real game player which his Mom and Uncle Uriah enjoy!

Luke is an attentive listener at church and we hope that carries into school too. He is excited to play soccer again even though he will be in a different division than his friends.

Luke's favorite church song is "I love to see the Temple" but he's done great learning the other songs too!

Luke's very favorite past time is the Wii. He would play it day and night if we let him. I'm willing to bet Lego Star Wars is now his favorite Wii game. Transitioning off the Wii doesn't always go very well...

Luke still likes to give big hugs and Mom still loves to cuddle with him.

Happy Birthday Luke- we LOVE you!!

Luke and Brady

Luke and Noah

New Favorite Wii Game

Mom and Luke on their date Saturday- a 90 minute horse back ride on Mt. Charleston. We loved it! Luke was on Tinkerbell and I was one Cole. Both our horses kicked another horse several times. They wanted their space!

My new favorite song

Be patient, be patient. Don't be in such a hurry.

If you are impatient you'll only start to worry.

Remember, remember that God is patient too.

And remember all the times that someone had to wait for you.

Luke picked this up from Uncle Uriah while we were in Phoenix. I think it is a fabulous song. Whenever we're in a crowd or often when we're driving in the car I ask Luke to sing it. Now I've learned it so I sing it too. It really helps and is soooooooo true.

Funnies

Today Luke spent some time with Sarah's Grandma and Grandpa O. Apparently they asked him what his Daddy does. He said he didn't know but he makes $10 a week! Wow- Go Kiley!

Andrew loves mini-vans. Aunt Melinda and Uncle Uriah happen to own one which he got to ride in once today on the way to the Science Museum. After that, all we heard about were mini-vans. He said "I don't like Grandpa's car (it's a rental), I don't like Mom's car, I only like mini-vans." This is nothing new. It's been an obsession for a while now. Every time we pass a mini-van I get to hear about it. If he sees one across the parking lot he wants to know why I didn't park next to it. When we're with one of our friends who has one- he wants to ride with them. Makes me laugh!

Luke's Talk

Luke gave a talk today- and he read it all by himself! It was about what he needs to do to live with Heavenly Father again. I was the picture holder. Here it is:

I want to live with Heavenly Father again!

To do this I will be good by listening to my Mom and Dad. (picture of our family)

I will also share my toys with my brother. (picture of kids playing)

I will listen to the Prophet. President Monson is the prophet now. I feel good inside when I hear him speak. (picture of the 1st Presidency)

When I am 8 I will be baptized and get the Holy Ghost. (picture of boy being baptized)

These are some things that will help me live with Heavenly Father again. I know the church is true.

In the name…

He did really good (despite the fact that the junior primary were being very noisy). For a kid who wouldn't even stand at the podium- it was so exciting to listen to him read his words ALL by himself. Way to go buddy!

Denver Adventure- Temple!

While visiting Grandma and Grandpa we had a lot of fun! The next few posts cover it all!!

We:

Visited the temple

The boys spent the afternoon with Grandpa while my Mom and I worked in the kitchen and then did a session. They had a blast! Here's some pictures Luke took while my Dad and I transfered carseats. A photographer in the making!

That's my Dad's car

The accomplice always happy to pose

We were paying really close attention- I promise!

Neighbor car- why not?

Andrew loved this rabbit and had it most the time we were at my parents- but he called it a mouse!

Temple grounds at their best

My Mom's car

I took a picture similar to this of my Aunt and Uncle on their wedding day. Do adults have heads in kids' minds?

Luke capturing Andrew playing catch

Don't want to forget what the inside of the car looks like!

And another classic kid shot! And that's about half of them :)

Littleton Historical Museum

Went to the Littleton Historical Museum aka the farm with my friend from our Parker Days (and the kids she was watching that day!)

All 6 kids (there's a cow back there too)

Me and Andrew with a little lamb

Luke and Mayci in the one room school house (these two saw each other pretty much every day when we lived in Parker! Mayci is actually a few months younger than Luke but she's tall- always has been!)

Milking in action- pretty cool!

petting the cat in the 1890's house

Checking out the lake behind the farms- there were some pretty cool birds!

Can you tell who the older kids are? They actually looked when asked!

Me and Brindi- we'll always be great friends (and I'm sure she'd like me to mention she's pregnant in these pictures- due with their third girl in September!)

Afterwards we had a picnic at the park but apparently there weren't many picture worthy moments.