Happy Birthday Max!

Max turned 8 years old in October. He was so excited to have a birthday party with his friends

He invited lots of people and we played games and had some yummy cake. He got lots of presents and got almost everything he wanted. (and YES, he asked for a tie! =)

So here are a few things I love about Max:

1- He loves to read. I know I say that about all of my kids, but he REALLY loves to read. He has really excelled at it this year as his confidence as grown.

2- He is competitive. When he plays sports, he throws himself into it like his life depends on it.

When he plays, he plays hard- to win. There is no half-way for him.

3- The boy is GOOD at the Wii! Granted, EVERYONE is good compared to me, but he is really good. He also has the patience to work at a game over and over until he passes a level.

4- Max can dance and sing. He plays a mean air guitar too! One of my favorite things is to see him walking around with his ipod on singing and dancing to the music. He even signs up for our ward's Talent Night to dance. He's a crowd favorite!

5- Max likes to write and illustrate stories. His teacher has started letting him type a story on the computer and prints it for him to draw a picture to go along with it.

6- He loves school. Ask him about it and he'll give you the usual 'I don't like school' answer, but he really does. He is doing really well too. He's one of the best readers in his class, and he finishes his work before most of his class. His teacher loves him too.

7- Max is a good brother. Yes, he fights with his brothers/sister more often than not, and he drives them crazy. But Max truly loves them. He probably wouldn't admit it, but he has been spotted doing random acts of kindness for them- not intentionally. He just does it.

8- He is (almost) always willing to give a talk in Primary. He is often asked to fill in for people who aren't going to be there or if a class doesn't have enough kids to fill the spots. He loves it even more now that he can read and doesn't need me whispering in his ear. He's a great example with his willingness to help.

9- He's a snappy dresser. Every single pair of pants that he owns has a ragged, ripped edge in the back. One day after folding the laundry and seeing this I snapped at him, 'Why don't you just fold your pants up to keep this from happening?' He looked at me and rolled his eyes and replied, 'Moooom. Rolling your pants up JUST ISN'T COOL. I don't want to look like a dork.'

I couldn't argue with logic like that.

10- His laugh is infectious. I can't help but smile when he really lets loose with his deep belly laugh, or his snicker that sounds a bit like Ernie from Sesame Street. It's just too much!

Max is a great boy who makes me happy every day- even if he makes me crazy! I am so blessed to be his mom and I look forward to watch him grow into the great young man I know he'll be.

Happy birthday, Max. I love you.

Cast off!

FINALLY!

The day finally came to get Chris' cast off. We were all ready to not have to wrap his arm up for his daily shower, or cushion and wrap it up for every football practice or game. Chris was tired of not being able to play the violin and only plucking the strings in class. We were also tired of trying to pull his white shirt over it every sunday with the seams threatening to bust at any time.

After the dr.'s assistant cut the cast, she asked if we wanted to save it. Um.... no. Thanks? Do people REALLY save the casts? Well, I am just not that devoted a mother. (Ok, so my bishop's mom still has his cast from when he was a kid. She can HAVE the trophy for best mom. If that's what's required to get it, count me out! Yuck!)

Now, I was told that it would smell.... really bad. But I was not prepared for how bad it was. Thinking about it though, I realized that it was never really cleaned after it was broken before the cast was put on. Add that to the fact that Chris was at football practice 3 days a week and played (hard) in a game every weekend and you have one smelly cast. So I made Chris scrub.... and scrub..... and scrub. Until....

The poor kid had a nice raw spot on his wrist. Oh well. The Dr. saw that it had healed a little bent. He said it wouldn't matter and would eventually fix itself, or not, but it would be fine either way. But if we were concerned about it we could 'fix' it. I left that up to Chris. He decided to take his chances with a slightly irregular bone. Good answer!

Pumpkin Time!

I love fall. I love pumpkins. I love buying pumpkins to decorate the porch. It makes me happy. Every year we end up buying pumpkins with the best of intentions to carve them into great jack-o-lanterns. This year we decided to go to a local pumpkin patch to 'pick' our own pumpkins and try out the corn maze. It was sunny and warm and windy. A perfect fall day to get you in the mood to search for the perfect gourd and roam around a maze looking for the exit! Everyone was so excited. It took a while but we eventually found our way out (after Scott and a couple of the kids came to find me!).

After the maze we roamed the piles of pumpkins so everyone could find their own perfect one. The only rule is that if they can't carry, they can't get it. We ended up with a great variety!

Max and Cam went traditional with orange pumpkins, Chris found a really large grey pumpkin which he couldn't resist, while Kenna and myself went with white pumpkis. I wish I could tell you that we had a great time emptying and carving our finds, but we were so busy that week, it didn't happen. Oh well. Luckily Halloween comes around every year without fail!

First day of school!

The best time of the year.... the first day of school! Ok, maybe not the best time for kids. But this isn't my kids' blog!

This year we had a couple of firsts in our family. Chris joined Kenna in Middle School and Cam started Kindergarten! I can't believe that ALL of my kids are in school, and the best part is that Cam was able to get into an all-day kindergarten class. (happy dance!) I have to admit that it was a little sad to cross this parental threshold. I didn't cry (like some people thought I would).

Kenna was excited to rule the school as a brand new 8th grader, Chris was ready for a challenge in 7th grade, Max was excited to start 'real' school in 2nd grade, and Cam was just ready to be out of the house like the rest of them! I was amazed to see how happy my kids were about this year.

As for tears, catch me next fall when Kenna starts HIGH SCHOOL!! THAT may just get me crying!