CHILCOOT SALOON

For the past 6 weeks, Daxon has been staying after school practicing for a melodrama. He has had so much fun taking part in this play. One of the added benefits of the schools here in Iowa is that they have great programs for children to participate in whatever the interest may be.

He played the part of Pierre le Deaux Deaux, the main man in charge of the french trappers. I had never witnessed Daxon in this kind of a setting. In fact, when he told me he wanted to participate I was a little surprised. Acting? Okay! He was AWESOME!!!!!

It was so much fun to see his personality come out this way. The other night as we all went to the show as a family, our hearts were racing for him. He acted as if he had NO FEAR. He was so funny. It was so much fun to watch him. The entire cast was adorable. What a great age. Man, the youth of today are so great. I really am amazed by what they are able to accomplish. They get up early, go to school all day, get good grades, participate in all kinds of activities, do jobs at home, and just keep going with big smiles--like energizer bunnies, they keep going and going. AMAZING-They are AMAZING!!!!!!

Truthfully, before the show Jers, and I were FREAKING OUT!!!! HOW are we going to make it through the whole thing with little miss Ashlynn. Sitting still isn't her idea of a great time. We had Britton's concert from 6:30 -7, (I will post more on that later. Elementary concerts are always so adorable. LOVE THEM:), then Daxon's show from 7:15 -9. We brilliantly downloaded Dora the Explorer from I-tunes. That with the play, kept her in her chair still for the almost 3 hours. HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY. We didn't have to take her out or bug the peeps around us. Sometimes technology is such a wonderful thing:)

It was a great night. Daxon is already saying how excited he is for the next play. What a fun night.

STUDENT OF THE WEEK

Yesterday Ry told us he was student of the week. We congratulated him told him that was neat and that we were proud of him. As I was checking my e-mail this morning this was what I found.

My name is Clay Young, I am the assistant principal at South Middle School. I have recently asked the different teams in the building to send me the name of a student they are really proud of and think deserves some recognition. Riley's name was sent to me by the teachers for demonstrating a great attitude and positive work ethic!
Congrats on the great work and thanks for being a good role model!!!
Thank you for all your support!
Clay

He is the same at home. I am amazed at his peacemaking skills in the home. He is often the one teaching me:) He is so blessed to be surrounded with great friends. I thank HEAVEN for that gift everyday!!!

Thanks RY for being such a great kid I feel so blessed to be your MOM:)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY ASHLYNN

Our baby is officially 4 :( WHERE DOES THE TIME GO? She celebrated her birthday at school on Wednesday, then her official birthday on Saturday.

One of the HIGHLIGHTS of Ashlynn's birthday was definitely the package Grandpa sent.

I must say it was a BRILLIANT GIFT!!!! She has played with her little princess dolls NON-STOP. They are like a built in babysitter. Great job choosing Grandpa & Thank you. WE LOVE YOU & MISS YOU!!! xoxoxox

Ashlynn LOVES to bake. So I decided it would be fun to make her cake together. I was right--we had a great time making her little cake & decorating it. When we finished, she could NOT stop touching the cake so I put it (on a NEW adorable plastic tray in the oven) :( BAD IDEA!!! Later that evening as I became a little crazy, I turned the oven on, and the cake was forgotten about until Daxon yelled "MOM, YOU ARE BURNING THE PIZZA." To which I replied, "I am not cooking pizza." Then Daxon replied then why is all that smoke coming out of the oven? Only then did my CRAZY brain remember what was in the oven!!!!

Ashlynn is still saying, "MOM YOU MELTED MY CAKE." We could have just refrosted it, but it had a thin layer of saran wrap over it. We decided to just have a do-over.


I blog about Ashlynn often, but something I haven't ever added is how silly she is about mixing up her words. Here is a list of some of her favorites...
look its a birdplane=Airplane
Whenever her PJs, or something she wants to wear, are in the wash, she gets this sad face & says OH they are in the DISHWASHER:)
-Gorilla=umbrella
-I have a contest=concert

MR= Sister at church & other places she can often be heard calling all the women MR. then whatever their last name is.

The Entrians are coming over=missionaries

I love tomatoes for dinner=potatoes

Ashlynn does so many things everyday to make this family smile. She is so full of life & energy and blesses our lives every single day:)

P.S. She doesn't use these words because we haven't taught her the correct ones, we have. She just speaks a four year-old brand of English.

TANGLED

The other day as I was getting ready to go do Ashlynn's hair, she insisted that she was plenty capable & could do it herself. I reply, "Ashlynn, your hair is all TANGLED, you have school, and I am doing your hair today." She went ballistic. So I reply, "whatever, go do your hair." She came back down stairs a few minutes later with the BIGGEST grin you have ever seen. "WOW, you did your hair," I said. She replied, "YEP, I combed it with my toothbrush & got all the bugs out." I laughed all day. We always say lets brush your teeth & get the bugs out. But your HAIR? It was a great moment:)

ART CLASS

For Alyssa's art project, she choose to do a Tangled castle. The work that girl went through putting it together was INSANE. The first night she brought home all these pieces and it didn't look too much like the Tangled castle. She became upset, took it too school the next day & worked on it some more there. Then she brought it home and worked on it some more. She ended up with this masterpiece. I was impressed!!! I thought she did an amazing job. It was even put in the art display case at school.

CTR

I found the cutest CTR posters on line the other day. I really wanted to do something fun with them but wasn't sure what. About 3 A.M. I arose with this picture in my head ( flashback from Temple project a few posts down:) Just cut out wood, spray paint it, modge podge the poster on it, tie a bow & you have a fun easy craft that is super inexpensive. The link has 6 different posters all VERY cute!!! The theme in primary this year is CTR so I'm kinda hooked on that theme. If interested this is the link.

PINE WOOD DERBY

Britton was so excited for the derby this year. His car earned the "Best Workmanship" award. 32 cars were in the race this year.That's some CraZy energy in one area let me tell ya:) I wish I would have taken a picture of the treat. It was little derby cars made out of Twinkies, with Oreo cookies on the sides for wheels. I loved the coloring area where I spent most the evening with Ashlynn. Great times were had by all!!!

MOUNT EVEREST!

Recently I have been very intrigued with this MOUNTAIN. Throughout life we have moments where we are on FIRE and full of passion. Other times, NOT SO MUCH.

I HATE dieting-- which is surprising since I have been on one since... OH FOREVER. I have lost and regained the same 30 pounds over & over again. (and I actually need to loose about 50, but my passion never lasts that long. so whatever.) Anyways, I lose the weight & then my LOVE for eating holiday food at the moment, baking treats with my kiddos, eating at delicious restaurants, etc. etc. kicks in & trumps ANY passion I once had. The pounds creep back on ever so QUICKLY and this vicious cycle starts once again. Why is it that it takes FOREVER to get the weight off & practically overnight it can be back on again?

The passion for HEALTH remains in me, even when I am not being healthy. I read every health diet book and magazine I can get my hands on. It's not like I don't know how this is done. I would love to go back to school to study dietetics someday. It is a topic I never get bored of discussing, reading, or learning about. Why is it that putting the things we know into practice such a difficult task sometimes?

About a month ago I checked out "INTO THIN AIR " from the library. The language became a little intense. At times I have a tendency to curse, as much as I hate to admit it (I'm working on it:) so it has to be extreme for me to be to offended..It was, so I returned it but I was hooked on the story & wanted to know more. I found these
videos. Our family LOVED them. The fact that anyone has made it to the top of this mountain becomes more amazing with each new fact there is to learn about "the top of the world". What does this have to do with dieting you might ask? PASSION & FREAKIN' hard work!!!!!! I could not believe the amount of passion these people had. They were willing to give up everything for the accomplishment of climbing the tallest mountain in the world. 192 people, probably more now, have. SO I am on day 5 of my Everest climb you could say. (30-day method modified to be healthy) The desire/passion to be healthy and practice the things I know has knocked on my doorstep once again, as it does often:) Ya know, the desire that gives me the ability to eat this instead of cheesy Enchiladas.
The study of EVEREST gives me HOPE. Many do not conquer Everest on the 1st try for many reasons. Mark Ingils lost his legs from the knees down. Mark loved the outdoors, so he chose NOT to let the loss of his legs handicap him. He became the first man without legs to climb Everest. THAT'S PASSION. I guess when all is said and done, it boils down to what we want most. To climb Everest, you KNOW you might die. Yet you are willing to take that chance for your passion.

"In 1921, famed Everest explorer George Leigh Mallory wrote to his wife saying, "I can't tell you how it possesses me, and what a prospect it is." In 1924 he perished trying to reach the top. His body was not discovered until 1999."

So here it goes. I am going to start climbing my own Everest for the million & tenth time. This time I plan to reach the top of the dang thing. I do not want to be found years from now in the same place I am today, perishing, per say, from a lack of self discipline to accomplish something I have had a passion for my whole life. Edmund Hillary said it best in two quotes after reaching the summit "It is not the mountain we conquer, but ourselves."

“You don’t have to be a fantastic hero to do certain things – to compete. You can be just an ordinary chap, sufficiently motivated.”

I am copying this next thought from a quote I read a long time ago but don't remember exactly...
"I guess once the motivation is present, our character comes into play as well. Will our character be strong enough to keep going strong when the desire to continue has past." When my tummy is growling, and the cupcakes with delicious frosting are sitting around from Ashlynn's birthday, when it's still dark & I need to get out of my warm comfy bed to exercise, when it's smores season:) etc. etc., I'm going to say YES!!!!

Wish me luck. Everest here I come;)