My son is nuts!

I wish I could make a video or write down all the crazy things my cute little boys says, but I can't remember them all.  I have captured a couple lately.

One night he insisted I say his prayers instead of him. Then he got mad at me because I forgot to bless Hanrahan Lincoln. When I asked him why we needed to bless Hanrahan Lincoln, he said, "because he died!" (I didn't bother to ask who Hanrahan is.)

The strange pronunciation of Honest Abe has actually come up several times lately (in prayers and elsewhere).  I'm not sure why he talks so much about him, but he does . . . and usually in the context of "he died."

Last night, he woke up with second wind around midnight and I could not get him to go back to sleep.  He just kept rambling on and on about tractors and trucks and who knows what else.  

Midnight ramblings from 3 year olds . . .

Jack: How does the dirt get into the dump truck? It can't do it by itself. Oh! The crane truck or the excavator must put the dirt in there.

Dad: jack, are you going to drive those when you get big?

Jack: yes. And I will drive the boat trains.

*****

Jack: when I grow up and get old can I drive a truck, and a car, and a motorcycle?

Mom: yes, but wear a helmet when you drive a motorcycle.

Jack: I will wear a bike helmet. I will also drive an excavator and a tractor and a backhoe. Molly can drive the bulldozer. Mom, don't forget to bring your phone. And molly CAN'T come.

Mom: ok.

Jack: . . . . . .

Molly 5 year Check Up

This is my daughter. Her name is Molly.  She was curled up in a ball like this because she didn't want to get any shots.  It was her 5 year check-up and she needed kindergarten shots.  She really only ended up with needing 1 shot (though they may have goofed and given her 2) and when it was done she realized it wasn't that bad, she didn't even cry, and she was pretty proud of the little circle band aids over her war wounds.  

I just don't understand this girl and what freaks her out and what doesn't freak her out sometimes.  Sigh.  Dr. Havlik is excellent, however, and seeing Molly in a ball on my lap decided to have the aide do the shots first, and then continue with the rest of the check-up.  She went from frozen ball of nervous ice to goofy, smiling 5 year old in a matter of seconds and the rest of the appointment went smoothly.

Here are her 5 year old stats:

Name: Molly

Age: 5

Weight: 41 pounds (58th percentile)

Height: 44.25 inches (78th percentile)

Heart Rate: 83 bpm

Blood Pressure: 100/50

Eyes: 20/30 in both.

Body Mass Index: 41st percentile (and continually decreasing -  I guess she needs to eat more)

She is doing well and everything is great!  We talked about bike safety and went to buy a new bike helmet after the appointment (she still doesn't like it, but we'll work on it).  We talked about her anxiety issues and that I am a little worried about her going to kindergarten in a pleasant manner.  Doctor Havlik suggested seeing a Child Psychologist at least once just to talk to Molly about coping skills for her anxiety and also to talk to me about some strategies.  Apparently I have expressed concern about her inability to cope with things in previous appointments because he had several notes on it.  The doctor he recommended is hard to get into and we may actually start kindergarten before getting an appointment, but I agreed to at least be referred for the appointment and we'll see how things play out.  In the meantime, he suggested going to her new school often and walking around it and playing on the playground to get her more comfortable in going there.  We've been to the school twice, but we haven't done that.  It sounds like a good idea.

Afterwards, we went to McDonalds for pancakes and hashbrowns.  It's pretty much the rule for all doctor visits!

Dinosaur Land

We decided to plan a little weekend trip to Vernal and go to Dinosaur Land.  It is an inexpensive place to visit. There are plenty of places to eat and plenty of dinosaurs to look at.  We had fun. When we got back and I asked the kids what their favorite part was, Jack said, "swimming and jumping on my bed."  Molly's response was "the motel room and the dinosaur bones."  Other than some routine minor meltdowns, everyone was pretty well behaved and we had a fun time!

FRIDAY - 

We got a late start since Molly had spent the entire afternoon/evening on Thursday puking her guts out.  She is typically not a puker, but must have had some weird 24 hour bug.  We were playing it by ear whether to even go or not, but when she seemed to perk up (and hold some food down), we went for it.

We got to our fancy Best Western in the late afternoon, unloaded and went for a walk.  We started at the Uintah County Heritage Museum because it is open slightly later on Friday nights and was right by our motel.  It was . . . . small . . .  and kind of interesting?!?  The kids bought their first souvenirs and then we left.  At the recommendation of the overly enthusiastic museum kid, we went to the restaurant across the street called the 7-11 Ranch Restaurant.  It was good enough.  The kids were a little crazy after being held up in the car.  All they wanted to do was go swimming!! So, we did, and swimming capped off our night.

SATURDAY - 

We ate breakfast, loaded up, and headed out.  We started at the Utah Field House of Natural History State Park Museum.  It has a long name, but is basically the Vernal Dinosaur Museum.  It has a lot of life-sized dinosaur replicas that are cool and a few actual dinosaur bones.  It also has an exhibit about prehistoric mammals and Indians.  It was interesting (especially compared to the Uintah County History Museum).

Next, we got back in the car and drove to Dinosaur National Monument.  We visited the visitor center, checked out the gift shop, rode the tram to the Quarry, stressed out a little, attempted to go on a short hike, then rode the tram back to the visitor center.  After carefully selecting a souvenir, we found a shaded picnic table and ate our lunch snacks while enjoying the company of a cute little chipmunk who really wanted to eat our Pringles.

After bathroom breaks and drink refills, we decided to get back in the car and venture some more.  We drove to the end of the road and saw Fremont Petroglyphs and this old pioneer cabin and homestead (which really wasn't pioneer era since the lady who lived there died in the '60s, but it still felt that way).  Those two sites were actually pretty cool and Molly, especially, had lots of questions and found it pretty interesting.

Next, we decided to venture to the Colorado side of Dinosaur National Monument.  We knew there were no dinosaurs there, but everything I'd read said that it was a scenic drive and at the end you could see the confluence of the Green River and the Yampa River.  The kids both kind of needed naps so we decided to drive it.  Um . . .  there really isn't much to see.  It's not really any different scenery than what you see on the highway and at the end, to see the two rivers you have to do a 2 mile hike with a 100 foot drop.  The kids were awake/asleep and going to be hungry.  We weren't even going to attempt that (and honestly may not have even if I didn't have the kids to blame).

We turned around and made it back to Vernal.  We were hungry, but when I asked the kids what they wanted to do, they of course said, "Swim!"  Jack and James swam for an hour or so.  Molly danced around the edge of the pool with her swimming suit on.  Then, we got cleaned up and headed to Wimpy's Diner.  It was the most delicious hamburger I have had in a long time.  Your choices were a single (half pound) or a double (full pound) and then these guys came in and ordered a triple (you do the math).  Holy huge hamburger . . .  but delicious!  They also had homemade fries and James and I had lime rickeys.  Yum!!

After that, we drove around, let the kids play at a park near the Vernal Temple and turned in for the night.

SUNDAY - 

On Sunday morning we ate breakfast and loaded up the car.  The kids were sad to leave our super fancy Best Western and wanted to stay there forever.  Oh well.  They'll live.  We drove north to Flaming Gorge, walked to the water, threw rocks in the water, tried not to let Jack fall in the water, and then went to the visitor center.  There, we carefully selected another souvenir, learned a little about the dam and then got back in the car.  There was a boat and a couple of jet skis by the dam and Molly could not figure out how they got in the water.  We decided to go find a boat ramp and watch a few boats be pulled out of the reservoir.  That was and educational experience for both kids and they could have sat and watched the boats all day.

Next, we drove to Fort Bridger, Wyoming.  I was a little nervous about this stop, but the kids were actually interested.  They have a few buildings with period things set up in them, a museum, and then a replica of the original Jim Bridger's Fort Bridger.  The best part of this was when Molly screamed that a fly was getting her.  Because it was Molly screaming, we dismissed it as typical and told her to stop screaming that it was just a fly.  Finally she said, "IT'S IN MY SHIRT!!"  Sure enough, she had a fly buzzing around down the back of her shirt.  I guess her freaking out was justified.

After Fort Bridger, we drove to Evanston, but had either major construction or accident diversion nearly all the way to Kimball Junction.  We were starving and a little crazy by the time we got there, especially when we had decided on Zupas only to find that it is closed on Sundays.  We settled for a super crowded Cafe Rio, but ate and left happy to go home!

We made it home and cleaned out the car.  It was a fun trip.  Planning any kind of trip, as the mother, is definitely a TON of work.  Planning it, making sure everyone is fed and watered, bathed and toileted, making sure everyone is happy (including the dad), etc. . . . Phew!  

I decided to try something and give each kid $20 in a ziploc bag.  They could buy whatever they wanted, but once the money was gone, it was gone.  Buying prizes became not only a focal point of the trip, but they were very careful about what they chose, paid attention to what money they were spending, and were content once the money ran out.  I don't know why I haven't done something like this before, but I will definitely do it on all prize adventures in the future.

Summer!!

Our Summer started during the last week of school.  We went to an end of year swimming party for all the Spartan Station kids.

One night I had this crazy idea to walk to the Holiday to take our Red Box movie back.  Jack wanted to ride his bike.  We took the wagon and a cable just in case I needed to tow him.  It didn't go well.  It was a long 2 miles round trip pulling little Rock-It behind us.

We went to Parker's graduation! 

We've been to the library a couple of times.  

Our first Spartan Station play day was at Wheeler Farm.  Jack is just a little bit obsessed with tractors.  The kids chose the cow train over the hay ride.

One day we went to two different parks and ended up killing time by wandering around the canal.  We learned about canals and watched horses.  

We started swimming lessons.  Jack has liked it more than Molly, but Molly has done better than she has the last two summers.  However, better still doesn't mean that she is going to pass level 1.  That girl is totally paranoid around the water.  This round of lessons has been successful because 1) she's cooperated and 2) she hasn't run away crying.  Now if she could only float on her back for 3-5 seconds AND let go of her death grip around her teacher's neck, she might be able to go to level 2.  Jack on the other hand, just loves it and tries not to drown or drink the whole pool in his excitement. 

We like to go to parks.  We've been to this blue park and splash pad two different times already.  It is fun!

I've been slowly working on cleaning up the basement.  We are in the process of processing the thought of finishing it.  It's a slow process.  We need to do it, but biting off the time and money it will take to do it is making it a slow process.  Plus, I want to make sure we do it right and don't mess up in how we lay it out.  I'm probably overthinking it, but in the meantime, I've put up some shelves and taken two loads of junk to the D.I.  That's progress, right?

We've gone swimming at Grandpa's a couple of times.

We've also eaten a lot of french fries, played with the neighbor kids, played with cousin Max, gone to the Zoo, visited Annie and played with the boys at her house, gone for walks, rode bikes, played on the swing set, and and done other fun stuff.

End of Year Program

My kids are fortunate to attend Spartan Station.  They love it!  Though many would argue that home is the best place for kids to be (and they are probably right for THEIR kids), I think this is the best place for MY kids to be.  Here are my reasons:

• They love going there and they love all of their teachers!  Their teachers all love them!
• They LEARN so much (basically they are in pre-school from age 2)!
• They have friends and they learn to positively interact with others.
• They are better eaters because they have to eat whatever weird school lunch they get that day.  At home I just give them the same things over and over again.
• They have positive experiences with lots of different kinds of people.  They know "little people," girls who wear veils, people with tattoos and blue hair, people of different skin colors, and people who look just like them.  It sometimes lends itself to interesting discussions in the car, but at a young age they are learning to accept and value diversity.
• They are much more structured and routine than I could ever be at home.  Though I love the summer, I'm a bad stay-at-home-mom.

Anyway . . .  I'm so proud of my kids and what they learn and how they behave (most of the time).  I'm so grateful for this wonderful place to take them every day.

We had a bit of a battle at the end of the school year because the school district had decided to cancel the unfunded (by state funds) bus routes to two elementary schools and one route to a junior high.  This included the route that picked up kids from Spartan Station to take them to Liberty Elementary, the school Molly and 7 other kindergartners will attend next year (nearly 20 kids total, mostly teachers' kids).  It put many of us parents in a predicament and gave us some challenging opportunities to address the issues with our district leaders and school board.  I even had the unique opportunity to sit down one-on-one with our district superintendent, Steve Hirase, and discuss the matter. That was quite a learning experience for me.  

Poison Pen Petersen hasn't struck in quite a while and I realized that some of my strengths include the ability to write poignantly, problem solve, and also that people look to me in a leadership position when I get involved.  I haven't had an opportunity like that in a while.  

Long story short . . .  the problem isn't solved, nor did we as teachers get any credit for putting on the pressure to solve it, but one bus route did get extended for one year and we now have that year to figure out a more permanent solution.  

This post was supposed to be about my amazing children and their ability to recite difficult text.  The year end program had a patriotic theme.  Here are the results!

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal . . .  - Declaration of Independence

“A thoughtful mind, when it sees a Nation's flag, sees not the flag only, but the Nation itself; and whatever may be its symbols, its insignia, he reads chiefly in the flag the Government, the principles, the truths, the history which belongs to the Nation that sets it forth.” - Henry Ward Beecher