Keeping Up With the Joneses

The kids got out of school last Friday and we took a quick road trip to St. George. We invited Grandpa and Grandpa to come along and all packed into the van.  Mason caught this great fish at Minersville Reservoir.  We stayed in a rental condo and the last day there was still a lot of ice cream left, so the kids all got ice cream for breakfast.  We went hiking in Snow Canyon and in Pioneer Park.  The condo had a great pool and hot tub.  McKay hung out with his mom and grandma while the big boys and grandpa did a big hike. He loved  the playground with the cement turtles. 

The kids spent most of Spring Break in Delta, but when they came back I took a few days off and we had a great time. We spent a day at Provo Beach Resort and the kids had a great time. The kids played laser tag, bowled, played video games, and ate LOTS of pizza.  McKay just couldn't get enough of the carousel. And you can tell by the looks on the older boys' faced that they were not impressed. 

I'm always through with my first year as a faculty member in the psychology department and so far, so good. I get asked to do a lot of special presentations. I thought this one was funny because they had a big sign advertising my presentation on anxiety that made me very anxious. A highlight of this year was inviting my former mentor, Clara Hill, to give a presentation at BYU. That evening I went out for dinner with both Clara and Mike Lambert, my undergrad mentor. 

Mason had his final band concert of elementary school. He's enjoyed playing the trumpet and will continue in band in Junior High.  Max LOVES sewing with his sewing machine and recently asked how you sew with just a thread and needle. I bought this little beginners cross-stitch kid and he took right to it.  Every year Edgemont Elementary has a big carnival as a fund raiser, and every year I hope the kids won't "win" a goldfish. Every year they do. Our goldfish from last year is still alive despite just being kept in a bowl on our kitchen counter. This one came home and lasted a few days. The kids on the barrel train ride and the Edgemont Extravaganza. Myles learned a lot about Utah pioneers in 4th grade this year. One of the days they were invited to dress up like either pioneers or "mountain men" and this is what we came up with. I drew the line at him taking a fake pistol to school.  Mason sprained his wrist a few weeks ago. It wa...

Myles and Max have been doing Hapkido twice a week throughout the school year and have made tremendous progress. Here they are with their certificates. Myles takes this all very seriously. Max does not.  Myles was awarded his brown belt. Next year he will join the advanced class and start working towards his black belt, which he could receive in 2 years and then start teaching. He is really talented at this and I hope he decides to continue.  Max has advanced quickly and was awarded his purple belt. He love the classes. 

I've been volunteering in Max's first grade classroom for an hour a week this year and have particularly worked with a few kids who have some behavioral problems. When they didn't have enough chaperones for their 1st grade field trip to the Thanksgiving Point Curiosity Museum, his teacher BEGGED me to come along to help with the more difficult kids. Fortunately the trip was on a day I didn't teach so I was able to arrange to come. I'm really not cut out to be an elementary teacher. Or maybe even the mom of 4 boys. This bus ride just about killed me. Everytime I ride a bus with a bunch of kids I feel like I'm going to throw up. The noise, the heat, the smells, the bouncing. Its awful.  Once we got to the museum we had a pretty good time. It is always fun to see Max interact with his classmates. One of the little girls had a HUGE crush on Max and wanted to hold his hand the whole time. She would grab his hand and Max would look at me with a panicked expres...