August 2015

Well I have some extra time to write on my blog since I am not training for my marathon this week. Grrrr! I ran 15 miles two weekends ago and felt awesome. But the next week I still felt tired and sore every time I ran. On Thursday I ran 4 miles and ended up limping home for the last half mile. Boo!!!! I had to finally admit that I was hurt and take a week and a half off from running. I have been using a foam roller and soaking in Epsom salt baths and finally feel better so I'm going to try running at least 5 miles this weekend. If I can't get my mileage back up in the next week or two, then I won't have enough time to finish training before the marathon. I have been so bummed out about being hurt, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I can continue!!! My little family has been so cute and every time I come home from a long run they clap and cheer for me and Mitch makes me breakfast and has a big glass of water waiting for me. So sweet!

Layla is still enjoying school and is making new friends every day. She is such a social butterfly. It was Sophie's birthday and she got to pick one person to sit at the birthday table with her ... she picked Layla. Sophie is a new friend from Kindergarten whom I have yet to meet. I am just pleased that Layla is a good friend and I hope she will continue to be and find good friends throughout her life. I am not excited for the girl drama that I'm sure will happen, but I hope I can prepare her and help her through it in the best way.

She is still enjoying piano (most days) and I have seen a lot of improvement. With Suzuki method piano I am her coach, and that is rough a lot of days! Do you think she wants to listen to her mom lecture her about proper hand position? But I must be doing something right (not to toot my own horn or anything) because her teacher tells me each week that I'm a good coach. In reality I think I'm too strict on Layla a lot most of the time. I try not to be, and I am working on it, but that girl has so much potential and I hate to see her waste it! Anyways, I love listening to her play and I love her smart, pretty little face, and her goofiness, and her sweet, kind heart. She's the best. Lately she reminds me more of me when I was young: loves to read, play the piano, did I mention loves to read? In other ways she is still so much like Mitch: very logical, good number sense, things must be a certain way, total perfectionist. And in other ways she is completely her own personality: extremely social (Mitch and I are both very much introverts, especially me), and talks nonstop (again, introverts). And I mean nonstop. She never stops talking! But I love her, even when it's exhausting to keep listening. ;)

I am loving hanging out with Marcus one on one these days. That boy is absolutely hilarious! He genuinely enjoys making people laugh and is getting good at figuring out what things people find funny. He reminds me so much of my brother, Brock, it's crazy! They both get the same goofy grin on their face when they're proud of something they've done, they both like to make people laugh, and they're both so fun to be around. Marcus is still a Mamma's boy, and he has taken to calling me Mommy, always saying things like, "Okay, Mommy" and "Sowwy, Mommy" and "Wuv woo, Mommy!" He pretty much melts my heart. He and Layla are best friends most days and have a grand time playing together. I hope I can encourage them to stay friends throughout their lives.

On the days that Layla is at school and Marcus is napping, I find myself quite bored. At first I thought it was awesome that I actually had two hours to myself to relax, but now I'm over it and I need something to do. I could start taking more pictures and use that time to edit them, but then I have to find time to actually take people's pictures and weekends and weeknights are pretty much shot until Mitch finishes school. So then I thought about doing some more online editing and actually use my degree, but I feel like I need to take a grammar course or something before I can call myself an editor again. Lol. But I really need to figure it out because I'm sick of being bored. Maybe next time I write on here I'll have found a new hobby.

Mitch is just as busy as ever. How does he do it? He might just go crazy when he finishes his Ph.D. and finds he has oodles of extra time. He is about ready to start writing his dissertation proposal so that's exciting! Last week he was invited to tour the Disney Imagineers campus with his focus group at work and he said it was awesome. He is still traveling to California for work frequently, but there are definitely perks that come with that. We have fun on the weekends when there is no school or work! We've been lucky enough to go on several dates just the two of us lately. We've been to the temple, seen a few movies, out to dinner, and found our new favorite cupcake shop. I love spending time with him and he always makes me laugh.

What else? I went to girls camp with our ward last month. We stayed in Bloomington, Idaho, on the north end of Bear Lake. It was gorgeous and we were also able to tour the Minnetonka Caves, which were incredible. We have some amazing young women in our ward. They are by far better girls than I was at that age! I only hope that I can raise my daughter to be as good as they are in every way.

I have loved having a niece close by (who actually lives in our same state) and watching her grow and change. I mostly love seeing how much my kids enjoy holding her and playing with her. I hope they will all be friends as they grow up, and Tennesey too, it's just harder because she doesn't live here. It's fun to be an aunt and for my kids to finally have cousins!

Well, I guess I better go change a poopy bum now. Oh the joy. Marcus keeps asking to go on the potty, but I'm trying to wait until we come back from our vacation. I don't really feel like potty training on the airplane or at the amusement parks. :/ But I'm hoping since he's interested that it will be easy once we do start! I'm a little concerned about potty training a boy, but I guess we'll figure it out. I just remember sharing a bathroom with my brother and being amazed at the amount of pee that ended up around the toilet. Sick! Hoping to curb that at our house.

Kindergarten!!!

I can't believe we have a kindergartner. Cliche, but it went by way too fast! Layla started Kindergarten on July 20th (year round, hopefully just for this year since the new school should be done for next year).

She is in the Chinese Immersion program, which means she is there for five hours a day. The first hour and ten minutes is with her English teacher who teaches English and re-iterates the math instruction that they cover in Chinese. Then recess and lunch. Then the last three hours of the day is spent with her Chinese teacher (literally a teacher from China) learning math, science, social studies, art, etc. Basically everything besides English.

with Amelia

I attended all of the meetings regarding what to expect when you enroll your child in an immersion program. But I am still uneasy with some of it. The idea of her learning things in a different language and bringing home homework that I don't understand kind of worries me. For example, she may learn about the water cycle in Chinese, and only know the word "evaporation" in Chinese. So when she comes home and tells me about it, she can only explain it in Chinese and I have to teach her the English words. They say by third or fourth grade their vocabulary catches back up. I guess as an English major the idea of my kid's vocabulary suffering kind of freaks me out. Ha, ha.

Marcus was grumpy that he couldn't go with her.

That being said, I have also read multiple studies that say how advantageous immersion programs are, so I'm focusing on that and going with it. The immersion program here goes through high school, at which point she should be just a couple credits short of a minor in Chinese. Pretty awesome, huh? I don't know if she'll ever use the language beyond that point, but it is the second world language, and being in Utah there are so many job opportunities for linguists should she decide to go that route. We were told at one of the meetings that the Utah government is trying to make Utah the model immersion education state and the top state for linguistic employers, so I figure our kids might as well take part. And who knows, maybe the Church will be able to have proselyting missionaries in China and she will be called to serve there. That would be awesome.

So, back to the first day. I didn't cry like I thought I would. (I cried for several days before, but not on the actual day.) Letting your oldest child be away from you for five hours a day after being with them every day from the day they were born is tough! But it helped seeing her excitement. Mitch had given her a Father's Blessing the night before and I think she was comforted by it. I was overwhelmed dropping her off; so many kids, so much noise. Layla actually got sad and shy, which is the complete opposite of her normal self. But she was okay and we left. When I picked her up that first day she was SO excited and happy and already knew several Chinese words. And she's been on a roll ever since!

A lot of mornings Marcus insists on wearing his "pack pack" while we drop Layla off at school. Oh, and that hat. It is trashed from falling in the lake, and two sizes too small, but he loves that hat!
 

It's seriously so weird to hear her speak Chinese! We're a few weeks in now and I'm still not used to it. She'll be telling me something and in the middle of the sentence she'll throw in a Chinese word and I think she's just mumbling and tell her to speak up and then realize it was Chinese. HA, ha, ha!!! But in all seriousness, it is amazing to me how much she already knows. It blows my mind. Oh yeah, on the first day of school she came home and said, "Mom, my Chinese teacher had me write some numbers in Chinese and I think she must have been making it up because it was silly!"

On the English side of it I went and talked to her teacher about finding her more difficult books to read. She was so helpful and went to the school library and checked out the first A to Z Myteries book to send home with Layla. She is also sending home the easy peasy books, but including a worksheet with them with questions like, "What was the problem in the story?" etc. for Layla to do in addition to her normal homework. My worry is that Layla will think school is so easy that when it gets hard she will be frustrated. I know it's just kindergarten, but when she already reads that well I want to find other ways to keep her challenged. She's a smart one, my Layla!

After the first full week of school we had to have several talks with Layla about not talking during class. She told me several times she doesn't like her Chinese teacher and I finally got it out of her that it's because she always gets mad at Layla for talking too much. (HA, ha, ha! I've known this was coming since she was three years old.) She is a talker, that's for sure! I think our little chats helped though because she seems to be doing better in this regard.

Marcus and I walk her to school every morning and she rides her scooter home with the neighbor girls. She just seems so grown up to me when I see her riding her scooter down the street with her backpack on. And the eating lunch at school thing is weird for me too. I think I miss her the most at lunch time! Marcus misses her every day and always asks me where she went, but I think he missed her less once he realized he has free reign to the toys in her room. Lol.

They told me at the immersion meetings that most of the kids would rebel, act out, throw tantrums, etc. for the first month or two until they adjust to everything. That is most definitely true at our house! She is acting like she's back to the terrible twos again and it's no fun, but it's getting better and I still think the benefits of immersion outweigh a few tantrums. We go off track in a few weeks and I'm hoping once we go back after the break she will be over that part of it.

When we moved one of our main criteria was a good school, and once I found not only an amazing school but the immersion program, I was sold. And I can see now that we made an excellent choice. I am so grateful to be here, surrounded by inspiring, kind neighbors, with access to excellent schools, and wonderful friends for my kids to grow up with. We are so blessed!

The Rest of Summer 2015

In July we spent a weekend in Bear Lake with the Craguns. It was a perfect weekend! Kevin's grandparents own a cabin right on the lake, about a ten minute walk from all the shops and restaurants. The kids did nothing but play with each other outside and we adults got to talk, laugh, and dream up how our own cabin will be that we want to buy together. ;) (Seriously though, it would be so awesome to have a cabin!)


I am grateful for our friendship with the Craguns! We all have a great time when we're together and I love that I can trust them to be second parents to my kids if I'm not right there to discipline or make sure they're safe, etc. We need to have an annual trip tradition with them.



For the 24th of July we had the Craguns and the Bells over for a BBQ, s'mores, and fireworks. (We  invited the Kitchens too, but they were out of town.) It was a great party and Marcus wasn't too scared of the fireworks this time. Several of our neighbors were also lighting off fireworks and it turned out to be quite the show.

This summer we also spent time outside jumping on the trampoline, playing in the water, at the splash pad, the library, and probably too much time watching TV. Ha! But we've had fun and enjoyed each others company.

June and July 2015

Might as well cram two posts into one!

The first half of June was busy with SWIM LESSONS! 

I enrolled both kids this year and did the parent/child class with Marcus. To say that he HATED it would be an understatement. Ha! I thought he'd love it since he loves the bath and will even put his face in and blow bubbles, but boy was I wrong! He despised every second of it from the first day there and by the last day, two weeks later, he was screaming, "Adi (Marucs), wah-wah (water), no!!! Uh-uh!!!! Nooo!" while we were still at home putting our swimming suits on! Poor guy, I felt like I scarred him for life! 

Layla, on the other hand, is my little fish! As much as Marcus hated the water, she loved it! I have never seen her work so hard at something or have a bigger smile plastered on her face (the whole time)! I would watch her and the other two girls in her class, and I noticed that Layla was the only one of the three students who could actually tread water for 15 seconds, and do some of the other skills required to pass the class. I told Mitch I thought she might actually be a gifted swimmer and that it might be "her thing" seeing how much she loves it. 

Well, on the last day of class, the teacher told me that Layla is a "natural and gifted swimmer" and he is having her skip the next class level! My suspicions were confirmed and we have ourselves a little swimmer. Needless to say, we will be signing her up for another round of swim lessons this summer (we're just too busy this month, so it will have to wait until August). I will not, however, sign Marcus up again this year. He needs some positive experiences with water and then I'll sign him up for the preschool class next summer. :)

They crack me up! ;)

And, I was so proud of Layla for jumping off the diving board for her first time ever! I honestly didn't think she'd do it (she's scared of most new things like this such as riding her bike, etc.), and I really didn't think she'd do it after the first girl in line chickened out, but she surprised me and jumped off without even hesitating! I was so happy and proud of my girl!

 Layla also graduated from her online preschool the end of June. While it was a pain the butt a lot of days to have her log on and do it, I am so grateful for the program because it taught her so much!
This picture is of the last time Layla logged in to online preschool. The smile wasn't normally present, this is just special because it was the last day.:)

I told Mitch that when we went to the graduation, I hoped I would get a diploma too since I was the one constantly reminding and nagging her to do it. Ha! Well, I wasn't disappointed ... they gave the parents a certificate too!

Poor Marcus had a pretty crappy May and June. He had nasty mosquito bites on his face in May. Those went away and he came down with croup! One Sunday we went to visit Mitch's grandma and while we were there Marcus had a fever. We came home and it was 104! I told Mitch I had a feeling I would be taking Marcus to the pediatrician in the middle of the night. And that's exactly what happened. I'm glad I listened to what I believe was the Holy Ghost, because he would have been much more sick had I not taken him in that soon.

From Layla

After the croup, he got two nasty bug bites on his face. It must have been some sort of gnat or spider this time. We ended up back at the doctor and on an antibiotic. The doctor was pretty concerned, and told me he was worried the swelling and infection (cellulitis) would go behind the septum and into his brain! Ahhh! That freaked me out and made me sick with worry for a day or two. Thankfully the antibiotic kicked in and the swelling and infection were dramatically better within a day or two!

Layla has been so tired and grumpy lately. I think she could benefit from a 45 minute nap every day, but of course she refuses. The other day she did tell me she was tired and then I found her like this. Pretty awesome. I have a feeling this will happen more often once she starts kindergarten.

She loves to peel the garlic and I love to let her.

 
He is such a messy eater and loves to show me his food while it's in his mouth. So gross.

The are cuddle bugs!

She loves to do little homework worksheets. Always reading and learning, this girl. 

So is he. Still has a ways to go on his Ph.D. and is constantly reading more material. Can't wait until he's done!!!

Sometimes he just reads his car magazines and dreams about the car he's going to buy when he graduates. Marcus likes to join him at breakfast.

 We had a swim party with our friends the other day and I decided it's time to buy a bigger swimming pool. ;)

We bought a lemon tree and have since purchased a lime tree as well!  

 This year's garden. I think Mitch planted the rows too close together and too dense. But we have enjoyed eating the peas! Still waiting on everything else to be ready. We also planted raspberry bushes and I am most excited for those! We're trying cantaloupe for the first time this year. Every time I look at the garden I think of the primary song, "The Prophet Said to Plant a Garden."

Mitch and I ran Ragnar this year with our neighbors. I was a slacker and took one picture.

 

It was fun, I guess. To be honest, it was really hot, we all suffered from slight heat stroke, I was exhausted, and the Ragnar people kept costs the same but cut back on things and we all felt ripped off. We decided it's our last Ragnar. But I did honestly enjoy the experience and our neighbors. My parents watched the kids while we were gone and they had lots of fun of course. My mom sent me this pic of Marcus literally napping on Layla. They slept like this for over an hour! If he doesn't have his momma, he wants his sissy. :) 

 We had a get together with Mitch's dad's side of the family (the Botts). Haven't had the whole group together in a couple of years. It was great to see them all again.

 Also wanted to say we had a great time celebrating Mitch for Father's Day! We bought him a punching bag and it's been a hit (no pun intended) with him and the kids! We made him breakfast and sent him on a treasure hunt to his gift. It was fun to help Layla make up the clues! She cracks me up. She also filled out a questionnaire about Mitch. Most of her answers were typical (his eyes are blue, hair is brown), but her logical answers are what killed me. For example, for the question, "If my dad were to go on vacation he would take: (fill in the blank)," she answered, "A suitcase." Of course! Ha, ha! My logical little girl.

I went hiking with the young women recently. We hiked over 6 miles roundtrip to Elephant Rock. The view was amazing!

 We had a lot of fun celebrating the 4th of July! On Friday Mitch and I went and saw Jurassic World and loved it. The kids loved having a babysitter (Katie Oliphant, our neighbor). Friday night we ordered pizza and set off fireworks. Marcus did not like the fireworks and would cover his eyes and say, "Bright!" Layla loved them though. On Saturday we went boating and the weather was perfect! Layla, my parents, and I all swam in the lake and it felt wonderful and Layla had the biggest smile on her face the whole time. Marcus loved the boat and didn't mind his life jacket at all! That night we went to dinner with Kevin and Kathy. And Sunday was another great day at church. It was a great 4th!