Mini Spring Break

We spent a long weekend in Utah to start out our Spring Break. We stayed with our good friends the Robertsons who are always so nice about letting us stay there anytime we're in town. The only pictures I took were of the boys (including dads) playing tag at the park on Sunday.

Other highlights included:
*taking the girls to the YW broadcast at the Conference Center
*spending time with Trevor, Lindsay and Brandon
*seeing Mark's sister Ann and her family
*shopping at the BYU bookstore
*eating at all my favorite places (that we don't have in Idaho) including Pei Wei, In-N-Out and Chick-Fil-A (let's face it, the real reason I wanted to go to Utah was for the food...I know you're not surprised)

Breakfast of Champions

Our elementary school has a fun program where they recognize students who demonstrate certain character traits each month. They receive an award, a t-shirt and a dogtag necklace at a "Breakfast of Champions". This month both of my boys were recognized for "kindness". I'm proud of how respectful and friendly they both are to their teachers and their friends. Way to go! Here they are with their super teachers (whom I love):

Apparently Brady takes his kindness very seriously, I could hardly get him to crack a smile!

And now off for Spring Break! Woohoo!!

(Except it snowed a little this morning...what the heck?)

Obsessed

Brady is a little bit obsessed with guns. I know, every little boy makes a gun out of legos or any random stick he finds. But Brady is constantly pretending to shoot or wanting to play army. He only wants to check out military books from the library. OK, his dad did spend 14 years in the Air Force. Also, maybe the fact that Mark collects WWII rifles has something to do with it. And we did give him a nerf machine gun for Christmas. OK, I guess we should take some blame here.

What I'm mostly concerned about is the fact that every time he wants to draw it involves some sort of shooting. On the back of every school paper is an intricately drawn battle scene. Here's a paper he brought home last week:

Notice how Dallin and I are apparently parachuting down, guns drawn, while Brady is on the ground shooting back at us. From the frown on my face and the red slash to my belly I don't think it's going to end well for me. I'm not sure if I should be flattered that he thinks I'm cool enough to be a paratrooper or concerned that Dallin and I are his number one targets. Something to think about.

Should Brady continue on with this military obsession he has some wonderful heroes to follow, especially this uncle. Jeff flies Chinook helicopters for the Army and just left for another year in Iraq. We love you Jeff and are thankful for all of the sacrifices you, your fellow servicemen and their families (especially their families!) make. You are constantly in our prayers.

S-P-E-L-L-I-N-G B-E-E

A few months back my friend Michelle (PTO President Extraordinaire) asked if I would head up a spelling bee for our elementary school. I said yes, not knowing just how time-consuming the project would be. I think if Mark hears me say "I have to go to a spelling bee meeting" one more time he'll scream. Finally the big day arrived and everything went relatively well (only a few disgruntled parents!) I'm just relieved to have it over with.

Not surprisingly Dallin was one of the three top spellers from his class:

He did a great job and stayed through the fourth round when he got out on "precocious" (he left out the "i"). Seriously, that's a tough word for a third grader! We're so proud of you D, and I'll admit I'm a little glad to not have to help you study for the multi-school bee next week.

Boys in Blue Blazers

If there's anything cuter than these two on a Sunday morning then I don't know what it is.

The Glo Girls

Here's the video from our fabulous talent show performance this week. This is all of the YW leaders in our glow stick dance. I won't tell you which one I am (why subject myself to that kind of ridicule from my sisters?), so just pick out which one does the best job and that's me. Obviously we received glowing reviews for this one!

Brady's Place

As I was changing the sheets in the boys room today I thought I had to document the small area of our house that belongs completely to Brady: the top bunk. And believe me, he makes good use of the space. He is always decorating it, adding to it and finding things to put up there. Currently you will find:
* balloons from Mark's b-day (what kind of helium is that? They've stayed floating for almost a week!)
*Star Wars cut outs and original Brady artwork taped on the wall and railing (that boy loves his Scotch tape...must get it from his Aunt Lindsay)
*hockey poster from Sports Illustrated Kids
*trading cards from S.I. Kids
*poster he made for the 100th day of school, featuring 100 things to do with BYU football (of course)
*leftover glowsticks from last night's talent show
*Bear Blankie he's had since he was born
*favorite space pillowcase, a hand-me-down from my brothers
*book left over from late-night reading

It's always an adventure to see what he's thought of to put up there. Sometimes it's surprising he even has room to sleep!

Look who got braces today! Two and a half years really isn't that long, is it?