Sunday, March 25, 2012

Look at those muscles!!!

I almost deleted this picture because Liam wasn't looking as he was playing at Mason's pool party.  Then I noticed those muscles.  Our kiddo is cut!


Monkey Bar Master

We had a busy Saturday. First was Tae Kwon Do, then we ran some errands and stopped at a pet shop to love and adore some cute animals. This sweet little bunny about stood up completely to greet Liam. It was so cute!


After eating some yummy lunch at Cafe' Rio, we headed to the Rec Center for some ice skating. Yep, a glorious spring day outside - and the mom suggested the bike trail - but the kiddo wanted to spend his reward bucks on ice skating. So we had a great time having the rink to ourselves (for the most part).



After an hour on the ice, we started walking to the car - but wait - swings, monkey bars, slides... they called our names.



Yes, Liam has been a wiz at monkey bars for a few years now, but he really has upped his game since the beginning of the school year. I think TKD has helped his upper body strength along with his daily practice during recess at school. This kid was racing across the bars! Over and over again.

After taking video for a bit, I finally put him on my shoulders to show him the every-other-hand move. He picked it up and I let him go on his own.


His agility amazes me. So his father's son!



Thursday, March 15, 2012

Self-reliance - Beta Project

So, we've put together a new incentive program to get our boy ready for the day a.m. and ready for bed p.m. Proposed new materials and tactic: Visual task flash cards and a 60 minute egg timer. He will be asked to get the all tasks comp1eted and placed in a jar before the bell rings. If he doesn’t get them all done in time, no reward.

We are doing a 15 minute time reward card that he will get each time he successfully does the morning or night routine on his own... to save up for Saturday use for time with friends, video games, etc.



All set for tomorrow morning's drill. Task cards, egg timer, 6 year old - all primed and ready! I am excited to see how he does with this.


Send good thoughts his way... GO LIAM!

UPDATE: Liam has done exceptionally well with this program. Each morning he's done getting ready way before I am. He also keeps the timer going so he can give me updates of how much time I have left. We've gotten out the door with no stress every day since. So proud of my boy!

Tuesday, March 13, 2012

Weekend Jaunt to Idaho

We hadn't seen our sweet friends in Idaho for awhile and we sure have missed them! Liam and I hit the road Friday evening at 5:30 and arrived at about 8:30. The minute we walked through their front door, we felt so welcome and loved. Liam dove into playing with Isaac and Jacob and I plopped down next to Alli and started asking her all kinds of questions about her 11 year old life. Later, it was so nice to get the kiddos tucked in and then stay up way too late chatting with Katie and Josh. They are one of the funnest couples on the planet!

Saturday morning Liam got up bright and early at 6am so I handed him the iPod to play with until the boys woke up. I went back to sleep. Little by little I could hear the kids start to wake up and play. Then we adults thought it might be a good idea to start the day. I made some muffins and we all had a pretty relaxing morning. Lunchtime came and Katie made pigs in a blanket for everyone. Josh took a break from his woodworking project to eat with us. I had no idea how far along he's come with his crafting skills. Wow!


Shortly thereafter we loaded up the kids and ran a few errands. Katie let them all know they had to be on their best behavior so we could go to the park before we went back home. They did pretty well. Liam was the one to watch as Jake and Ike kept him in line so nobody lost park privileges. Suffice it to say, we made it to the park. And we had an unexpected amount of fun in that beautiful spring sun!





All the kids were making me laugh! Yep, Katie too!


Before we left, the kids gave me a quick spin on the tire swing. Oh I must be getting old, that spinning was too much for me!


On the way back to the house we took a slow drive past some cool junk. Alli and I snapped photos out the windows of the car. I think we need to go back there sometime and get some more close up shots!


A bit later in the day we made our way to the thrift shop - I couldn't break tradition! I love going to that place every time we visit! We always find the funnest stuff to laugh at ....and to find useful and actually purchase. This time I found a lot of treasures in the book section. Tons of beginner reader books for Liam and two brand new Book of Mormons! Both had the 23 questions insert too! Score!

That night, Katie took me and Alli to a play. We saw Fiddler on the Roof! The guy who played Tevye was phenomenal! I was so impressed!

On the way home from the play we drove towards a the most gorgeous moon rise touching the horizon! It was bright orange and so so so glorious! It was pretty cool to share that moment with two very special gals!



Photo courtesy of google images.

Church wasn't until 11:30, so the kids played around while I slept in... Josh made pancakes and I made sausage balls. We all got around for church - the kids were ready first so I put them to work to find the iPod that I hadn't seen since the previous morning. We did some more searching after church too, with no luck. Katie even put $5 on the table for the person who found it. We wouldn't find out until we got home to Utah that Alli found it in the only spot we didn't look! We are so glad it wasn't lost for long.

I have to say church was pretty nice. During Sacrament meeting, Katie watched over Liam and kept him entertained while Alli and I sat snugly close and enjoyed the talks. I didn't have to teach Primary and Liam went to class with Isaac and Jacob... so I thoroughly enjoyed Sunday School and Relief Society!!! I learned much and I am grateful we could attend.

We hit the road around 3:30 and went straight to Grandma and Grandpa's house to meet Dad! Liam slept for 2+ hours on the way... a very easy drive. It was good to see everyone and relax even more.

Thanks again to Josh and Katie for letting us have a weekend away! Your house never disappoints! We love you all very much!