Julia's 1st grade program......

   I am behind in my blogging but I am trying to get caught up before summer comes. I think I'm almost done!
   Back at the end of March Julia had her 1st grade singing program for the parents. Julia had been practicing and practicing at school for weeks. All of the first graders were doing a celebration of songs and dances from around the world. Each 1st grade class was assigned a different country. Julia's class got America but focused on the Hawaiian Islands. They were suppose to wear a bright colored shirt. Erika did Julia's hair up in a pretty bun for the night.....she loved that part! Once she walked out with her class she had a grass skirt on, a flower lei and also a blue flower in her hair. She looked so cute.They did the hula while singing the Hukilau. She was right up in front of the stage. The shortest are usually in the front. She did such a great job. Each class did their dance and song and then at the end they all sang a few songs together, 2 of which Julia new really well. It's a Small World, and the Cuckoo song from Sound of Music, where they sing goodbye to their guests. It was a fun night! Way to go Julia!!

Easter......

Everyone woke up to a lovely Easter morning. We did a little egg/candy hunt for everyone. Julia and Christian always love to look for the eggs. Last year Christian would find an egg and just open it before he moved on. This year he collected them all first. They loved all the candy! Easter baskets were filled with art supplies and bubble guns. And of course we had to try them out before we went to church.

Easter outfits as usual. We actually had some from last year that worked out great for this year as well. At I got Christian to actually wear a tie...it usually comes with a lot of bribing! Julia got her first pair of high heels. I was looking for some summer sandals but she insisted she get the high heels. She couldn't or should I say wouldn't take them off at home. She was in love!

At church all the kids in primary were higher than kites but we did have a really great primary lesson. I team teach and she was in charge. She had 12 eggs that had things inside to remind us of Christ's sacrifice and atonement, his death and resurrection. It was such a great lesson and I actually learned a few new things I hadn't before! Christ loves each and everyone of us. He knows us personally and can help us through anything because He has gone through it too! He was resurrected so that we could reunite with our bodies and also live with Him again some day! I am eternally grateful for that sacrifice! HE IS RISEN!!

More Change..........

Well, we had received a call about a week ago asking if we could take on another proctor kid. The family that was going to take her had to bow out at the last minute for health reasons. So we thought about it and just thought we have a lot on our plates right now and adding another girl to the mix would makes things even more crazy. So we got a call about a couple of days ago and it was the director of Redwood Therapy. He said he has only asked 2 favors of any family in the program in its entire history and this was his 2nd attempt to see if we would take on another proctor daughter. It was only for a temporary placement, the longest she would be staying would be a month. She was located in Ogden and he was also trying to expand Redwood Therapy up to that area because they really need help with the troubled kids in the area.

Before we said anything we all sat down and had a family council about it. I think Layne and I were hesitant because we didn't want to infringe on Erika's space and make it inconvenient for her. But to our surprise she was all for it. She was willing to help in any way she could and wanted to have someone her age to hang with. So Layne and I both knew we couldn't say no. Again, it was a big adjustment to our already crazy life but we were up for the challenge.

We were given single beds to accommodate both girls. Redwood Therapy really stepped up and helped us get everything ready to go. Erika was okay with sharing a room and was really great about rearranging a few things in her room. Kameron showed up on Friday, April 18th. She is 17, just like Erika and let me tell you they hit it off great. An instant bond was created!

2 weeks passed and we got a call that a family was ready to take Kameron. So again, we all sat down and had a council. We told Kameron that we were willing to let her stay but it was up to her. We told her to be selfish, with regards to her goals and what she wanted from the program. A new family meant her own room, more one on one with proctor parents, etc. We knew how hard it was for these kids to adjust and Layne and I both knew we just didn't want to have her start all over with someone new. Kameron thought about it for a few minutes, made a few calls, and then let us know that she would be staying. I think everyone was happy and relived.

So we have 2 new proctor daughters living with us. Its been interesting. I'm not in the realm of dealing with or let alone talking to teenagers on a daily basis and its a whole new ball game compared to littler kids. They are really into boys and music! They both love school and they get along great! We do have to remind them to keep the music down and to be quiet because kids are sleeping. Not to many incidents have taken place. Both Kameron and Erika are very respectful and work hard when we ask them to! It's nice to have them here in our home.

It's also interesting to see how different each girl is. Erika is more open and talkative with me and Layne.She is more outgoing and Kameron is a bit more closed off and puts up her defenses. Kameron is a lot like me in that she likes her alone/quiet time. A little bit more introvert compared to Erika's extroverted nature. But not that that is bad, I'm just saying it's different and it all works out really well for our family dynamic. Building trust with both of them is crucial to their success and happiness.

Schedules are crazy. We usually have something scheduled every night of the week. Its hard to balance rides and pick up and drop off times, but we are making it work. I think this is just preparing me for the teenage years with my own kids. Crazy times!!

Picture of the Week........

I absolutely LOVE this picture. My sister has a great eye for capturing the perfect moment. This is so precious to me and reminds me of the love that the Savior has for each and everyone of us! What a great picture to share with Easter on Sunday!

A Case Study..........

My proctor daughter Erika has a Sociology class and I got a call from her teacher one day. He wanted to know if I could bring in Christian to class and just have him do a few experiments and just have the kids observe his behavior. They had been studying developmental stages of humans, the different stages one goes through in life. I said sure, sounded like fun and I was happy to do it. Erika was excited to show Christian to the class. Her teacher often asks about the kids the proctor kids live with and Erika loves to talk about Christian and Julia and the funny things they do.

So we headed into class and with most kids his age he gets shy and wants to hide behind me. He stayed pretty close. The teacher just said let him roam around and let him do whatever he wanted so the kids could observe him. He didn't stray to far. The kids took notice of Christian right away. He was being silly and making his eyebrows go up and down and the kids loved it.

The teacher grabbed some play dough and took 2 pieces, rolled them both into the same size balls and asked which one was bigger. Christian said they were the same. Then the teacher smashed one of the balls and asked which one was bigger. Christian said the one that was smashed was bigger. He also took 2 jars of water and filled them to the same level and said "Look Christian these are both the same." Then he poured one jar into a very tall, skinny glass and then asked Christian which one had more water in it. He pointed to the one which was tall and skinny. The teacher did the experiment a few times and it was the same result. As adults we know that the water is the same no matter what kind of container its poured into. Christian had a different perspective. It was very interesting!

The teacher gave him a choice of bouncy balls to play with, he asked him to count, he shared jelly beans with him and let him hold the class snake, Ketsia, at the end of class. He was so excited to touch the snake. Christian is pretty fearless and had no problem touching or should I say squeezing the snake. He was tired by the time class ended but he had a great time and the kids loved it. They are still asking Erika about him and how we are doing!

 Hanging out at the back of the class

 A little hesitant at first

 Holding and squeezing Ketsia

Tickle time

8 Years Ago.........

 Still in love with his personality and his ability to make me feel comfortable as well as everyone around him.

One of my most favorite things is when Layne and I laugh together. Whether it be about the kids, The Tonight Show( or something else on TV), or just about life, it just puts me in a good mood!

 Our passion of sports keeps us united.......well at least when our teams don't play each other. I love that he loves sports so much, even more than I do!

I love that we like to travel and enjoy new adventures together!

 8 years ago today we created a family unit! I couldn't ask for a better friend/partner to go through life with. Happy Anniversary!

We didn't do much for our Anniversary but Layne surprised me with flowers. We ate a little dinner at Rhonda's Pies in American Fork. Everything is homemade and absolutely delicious! I picked out some mint brownies for dessert!

Fashion Sense.........

 I really hope he doesn't stay with this current trend!! He put his own socks and shoes on the other day and the underwear was to be funny. He did do it on purpose. Watch out for this one girls!

Geocaching.......

During spring break this year we decided to try something new. My sisters have been geocaching before and I wanted to try it. What is geocaching?

Geocaching is an outdoor recreational activity, in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or mobile device and other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers, called "geocaches" or "caches", anywhere in the world.
A typical cache is a small waterproof container containing a logbook where the geocacher enters the date they found it and signs it with their established code name. After signing the log, the cache must be placed back exactly where the person found it. Larger containers such as plastic storage containers (Tupperware or similar) or ammunition boxes can also contain items for trading, usually toys or trinkets of little financial value, although sometimes they are sentimental. Geocaching shares many aspects with benchmarking, trigpointing, orienteering, treasure-hunting, letterboxing, and waymarking.

I just downloaded an app on my phone and then looked up some geocaching right in my own back yard. Its so fun to try and find them. It was pretty rugged terrain when we went and I don't think we were quite prepared but it was fun nonetheless! We had 3 we wanted to try and find. We found the first one pretty easily. Its nice because the app on your phone will guide you right to it and then say "you have arrived." And it should be pretty close. The 2nd one we searched and searched for but never found it.

 The first geocache....we picked out a toy and left one behind.

 The last geocache we found was entitled something like "mullet madness." We had to do a little searching for this one too. It was in an ammo box surrounded by a bunch of trash. I found it first and opened it up. We all had fun taking pictures with the mullet wig on :)