Everybody's An Artist

Tanner's copy of somebody else's painting.
Porter's science project winning in 4th grade, and being nominated for regionals.
Sawyer's most impressive fort.
My personal favorite, Sawyer's self-portrait.

Cub Scout Box Car Derby

Sawyer in his ready to go red fire truck!

Cooper in his impressive green tank!

Miller trying his first donut! The cub-a-napolis was fun for all. Ten pit stops, including checking your transmission fluid (red jello) to brake pads (nutter-butters), change your oil (chocolate syrup) to windshield wash (wash your face) made the night just right :-)

Happy Birthday, Porter!

Porter turned 10 yesterday. He's such a sweet boy. He doesn't want to celebrate until Jarrod returns, but said I could make him banana-chocolate chip muffins, and I gave him Mom's present since it's cold here now.
We call Tanner Schroeder. This is his daily ritual.
Thanks Mom! She's the ultimate staging queen!

When the work is done, it's time to play!

Boy Stuff

I ordered three yards of mulch to finish the yard, and it arrived a few days before Mom did. The boys had fun digging a fort, Ranger loved being a part of the action, and Miller loved the wagon trips to the back yard. The boys made quick work of it. They shoveled it into the wagon, and would call me to dump it in the backyard. Works for me!

"I always wanted Ranger to come to school!"

It was a beautiful day yesterday, almost 70 degrees. The wind was a little chilly, but the sun felt so warm and strong. Ever since Ranger's left the boarding facility, I've always wanted to return to the routine we had of playing with him after school. He sits in the backyard too much. So yesterday I loaded him into the van when I went to pick up Cooper and Porter from school, and while we were waiting the 40 minutes before we could pick up Hunter and Tanner, we brought him to the school park, which is completely fenced. He was so excited to be out and about, he bounded and hopped like a rabbit at first. The boys worked hard to get him onto the playground apparatus, and were trying to use the ball to lure him down the twisty slide. It almost worked. He loves his ball. As obvious by the pictures, he'll even sit for Miller, and share the water with Cooper.

Pictures at the Park

B is for...boring blog

Tanner had a basketball game yesterday. It took great effort on my part to go. I made the effort as I haven't been able to see him play this year. Most of the games have been away, and in Texas they are a w a y. The coach rotates the players through pretty good, but it isn't every game. He lets a player or two play a major portion in a game, and then they may only play a minute or two in the next game. I seem to hit the sitting games. I arranged activities for my kids while I was gone, had dinner made, called for a ride, and took Miller. He probably played four minutes. So much for basketball. Porter, Hunter and Tanner all have their science projects due, Tanner's tonight. Having no car, I've postponed a few things so we're down to the wire today. Hunter also has a country report due tomorrow, which includes an ornament and a recipe. Some time today I'll be making a new recipe for forty kids to sample. I have a presidency meeting tonight, and the boys have scouts, so I'm not sure when we'll finish. I have a realtor coming this morning to begin the process. I suppose that's a yeah! but I'm running around finishing the house, wondering if it will help her appraisal because it's more picked up. Sawyer helped me take pictures of the house yesterday. Hopefully today I'll be able to get the car. It was towed, so whomever I find to take me will hopefully help me find the place in downtown Austin) those are transmission leaks on the driveway). Jarrod's doing a good job figuring out where we need to live. He talks to everybody, and will be visiting some schools tomorrow. The folks he's staying with are determined to keep him in the ward, which most likely isn't where we'll live, but they're working hard to sell their schools and houses :-) Sawyer told me this morning he had a dream that I went to West Virginia and left my kids behind. How nightmarish is that? Have a great day!

Survivors

Well, Jarrod's been gone five days now, and we've survived. I thought this would be a great way to stay in touch, as we share with him what he's missed. I think the colors are most appropriate! Although this is a quick recap, hopefully what he reads next will be in real time. His first day, Wednesday, he left about 9 a.m., and by noon I had to call Triple A as I knew the transmission had gone in the van. Not very happy news for someone driving between Texas and Tennessee. We had the few usual episodes from Sawyer that day, from him washing a metal photo album display "because the glass was dirty," to running across the clean carpet with muddy, wet socks yelling "I'm trying to put them in the wash room!" Since then, Cooper's is able to bend a wiggly tooth down to his lip, but won't pull it out "until Dad's back." Hunter gave a beautiful talk on baptism at the stake baptisms on Saturday. Tanner has had no one at his basketball games (see transmission). And Porter, missing that fatherly companionship, has called Uncle Aaron everyday to play chess on-line. Me? I saw a car slow down long enough to look at a neighbor's "for sale" sign, and went running up the street to let them know my house was also available. They got the tour. I had forgotten that while I was at the stake baptisms Porter, being a very able sitter, had utilized every chair, blanket, cushion, pillow he could find and made a great fort in the living room. So they walked around that, only to walk around a tuna bowl and crackers on a flattened box that had been emptied the night before. Lunch in the fort by Porter. They had also wrestled on my bed, so bedding and pajamas were walked around in my bedroom. You get the picture. It was a mess! But it was an exciting moment to try and convince them why they should purchase my house, even if they were really looking for a two story. Juan and Juanita may be back. Keep your fingers crossed!

Getting to church was a multi-family affair. Hunter's fast offering route has been reassigned to the assistant scoutmaster, so Hunter and Tanner rode with him. Jarrod's good friend here had his wife pick the rest of us up. This friend, Chris King, took Hunter and Porter to the Toro's game last night. They're the semi-pro basketball team in Austin. Their seats were right under net, so they had a great time staying out of the way. Sis. King let me know that when they went to a party Friday night, she could sense Chris was very antsy to leave. When they got out to the car, she said, "Why were you in such a hurry to leave?" He said, "Because my type of party is no longer here." He's very sad about having finally found a friend, and the friend had to leave.

They watched over the boys while I played the organ today. Even Miller sat. Once or twice I caught him looking up at me, but he held it all in. Today Jarrod typed an article to include in Hunter's Schenewark Star, so be sure to read this as well. Love, Amy Jo