Britton and cousin Caden

This boy just loves babies so much!

Crazy Hair

This is the hairdo that Haley requested for Valentine's Day. 

She loves being silly!

Soccer

Britton played soccer again this year after a break last year. It seems like the soccer season ended as soon as it started. It zipped by. The weather was pretty cold for pretty much all the games. Actually, I think their March games were better weather than the May games. Crazy.

Britton played for the Green Goblins and absolutely loved it. He has improved quite a bit over the years. He actually has some skills and tries to pass and use his teammates. It's fun to see. His last game he scored a goal and barely missed on 2 other great shots. It was a fun season and we'll see what next year brings...

Britton's 8!!!

On April 19, Britton turned 8!  I can't believe I have an 8 year old.  This is such a big year for him.  He got baptized and got to start Cub Scouts.  He's been so excited for both of these things. 


He had a party with a lot of his friends from school, but I didn't get any pictures.  We had a picnic at the park and a little treasure hunt and a kick ball game.  It was really fun.  

I still can't believe how grown up he is and how much busier I am keeping up with his schedule now.   We only added scouts, but it happens to fall on our busiest day of the week.  I know I'm just beginning the craziness of juggling my kid's schedules though.  It'll only get busier from here on out.  Fun, fun, fun.

Britton's Baptism

On Saturday, May 1, 2010, Britton got baptized.  It was such a special day for me.  I am so proud of the person he is becoming and the decisions he is making.  It was such a wonderful day.  We had a lot of family from both sides there to support him.  Both his grandpas were the witnesses.  And his cousin, Reed, gave a talk on the Holy Ghost.  His friend, Ben Fletcher was baptized the same day, so it was fun to share the morning with his family.

After the baptism and confirmation, everyone came back to our house for a barbecue and just to hang out.  It was so fun spending the day with everyone.  I'm so grateful for all of our relatives who are so supportive and such good examples to us.  Britton has so many great cousins.  He is so happy just being around them all.

Haley Turns 6!

 

Haley's birthday was March 6th so these are way late being posted, but she had such a fun birthday party.  It was a princess party.  All the little girls wore princess dresses and then some of my neighbors came to help out and do their nails and make-up.  They all looked so cute!  The girls did a fabulous job making them into princesses and all the little girls loved it.  We played lots of basic games, but changed them to fit with the princess theme.  It was so fun seeing my little princess surrounded by all her friends having so much fun.             

St. Patrick's Day

This is the first year ever that I did anything for St. Patrick's Day.  I left green treats from "Lucky the Leprechaun" and dyed our breakfast green.  It wasn't much compared to some people, but my kids sure had a blast with it.  The pictures are from right after school.

Hooray!

I finally uploaded all my pictures from my camera, so I can blog again!  It's time to play catch-up!

Add to my list of favorites

Today Britton got baptized.  Wow.  What a special day.  I don't even have the words.  Definitely one of my favorite days ever. 

I can't believe it's been over a month since I last posted

Sometime within the last month, I have managed to misplace my camera cord that connects to the computer so I can download pictures.  There are so many things we have done recently that I want documented, but I keep waiting because I want the pictures to go along with it.  So, I've started a bazillion posts and saved them, just waiting for pictures so that I won't forget anything.  And I'll just try to post more often about our day to day happenings until I find the cord.

We have been really busy around these parts.  Life just doesn't ever seem to slow down.  I spent my day today running around.  To the school, to the store, back to the school to help out, to soccer games, to Pack meeting, to McDonald's.  It was a full, but fun day.  Now it's 11 pm and I work from 1-4 am so I have to keep myself awake until then.  My life is crazy. 

I love my kids

I have been having so much fun with my kids lately.  I think it's a combination of the weather being warmer so we can play outside and me not being quite as busy.  Whatever it is, we've been having a blast. 

The other day after school we went straight to Nickel City, a new arcade place that just opened up.  It was so much fun.  It wasn't crowded at all.  We played ski ball, air hockey, and Britton won the jackpot several times on this one dump truck game.  He earned enough tickets so that Haley could get a cute little teddy bear that she wanted.  She was so happy.  She even named it Britton since he gave her most of the tickets.  I love it when they are nice to each other.

When we got home, we went straight into the back yard to climb the tree and play with Britton's parachute men that he got.  Britton got talking about things he wanted to do this summer.  I told him about a list I made of all the homeschool things I want to do and he got so excited.  I forget how much he loves learning from me.  He asked if we could mostly do science-y things because they don't do much science at school.  Of course, I'm happy with that.  Love that kid.  We talked about the field trips we would go on and projects we would do.  Haley got really excited and said, "Let's start now and do it everyday after school and on Saturdays and days off."  She had an idea that we should learn about pirates and then go to Pirate Island for a field trip.  Britton piped right in, "Haley, Pirate Island is just kind of like an amusement park, you don't really learn anything there."  I thought it was hilarious.  He's so serious about his learning.  (when it's at home with me, not so much at real school)  It was so great just hanging out with them hearing them get so excited about learning.  I think once they started school, I stopped focusing on teaching them things.  And I need to remember how important it is to still do it.  Of course, I still teach them things, but not in the same way as when they were younger.  I really made a huge effort when they were younger.  So, I'm going to go back to that even though I don't have all day every day with them. 

Britton went to go get Isaac and I thought they were just going to play in the backyard, but they came running in to get me.  I guess Britton had invited him over to have a science class with us.  :)  So, I really had to scramble to put something together quickly.  We ended up making a hummingbird feeder and they LOVED it.  It's not quite warm enough to hang it yet, but I can't wait until we can watch hummingbirds everyday. 

That evening, when Jason got home, we played a football game in the front yard--me and Britton against Haley and Jason.  Later, as I thought about my day, I became overwhelmed with gratitude.  I love days like that.  Nothing overly special, but completely enjoying the moments with the ones I love. 

I stole this picture from Jason sister's blog (I hope that's okay, Kris!). It is from her baby Caden's baby blessing day. Caden is the newest member of the Kemp family. I just love this picture. They all look so perfect holding a little baby. We need to get us one of those. :)

I have been the worst blogger in the world lately. I have so much to post about and so many pictures to upload, but I just wanted to jot down a few things about Haley lately before I forget them.

*The other morning she came in first thing and woke Jason up, "Dad, dad, is it a lion or a lamb day today?" It was so cute. Jason didn't have any idea what she was talking about. They've been talking about March coming in like a lion, going out like a lamb at school I guess. So, everyday she wants to know if it's a lion or lamb day.

*A week ago, Haley turned 6. This week I have overheard her so many times saying, "When I was 5, I used to..." like it was soooooo long ago. And like she's so much more grown up now. It's funny. And adorable.

*Just a few minutes ago, she came running up the stairs crying so hard. When I asked her what was wrong she said that the boys made a mii on the wii named Haley and that they were calling it "the real Haley". Through sobs she said, "But I'm the REAL Haley". It was so funny, but she was so serious, I couldn't laugh about it.

*The other night, we told Britton and Haley to go to bed and Britton jumped up and started dancing all over the room. Haley jumped up and said, "Oh, Britton, save it for your pillow!" I have no idea where she got that from. Jason and I couldn't stop laughing. She obviously heard it on tv or something, but it was too funny hearing it come out of her.

Cousin Sleepover

A few weekends ago, Hayden and Corbin slept over. They all made this fort to sleep in. Britton wanted to sleep in a "real pile" like on Where the Wild Things Are.

Poems

Here are a few poems Britton wrote at school lately.

I write of me climbing, and jumping
on the bed.
and thanks-giving,
about monsters!
and monkeys,
and beautiful mountains.
about animals
and stars.

I think I will do nothing for a long time,
but listen to the sounds of birds chirping in trees
and crickets chirping at night,
I hear music and the water in the fish tank,
I hear my neighbors talking.

I love these! They are just so him.

The other day I straightened Haley's hair.

The Note

The other day Britton handed me this note after school and said," I wrote this a few weeks ago, you'll know what it's about."

Note:
"This is just to say I'm sorry I was climbing on the bed. You were watching a movie. I'm sorry. Forgive me. I was just having fun."

And then it said, "I'm sorry" a whole bunch of times all over.

I thought is was such a cute note, but it also broke my heart a little. You see, I can't even remember this incident. And I feel horribly that I apparently got mad enough at him for him to be worried about it at school. Lately, it seems like I am getting mad at him all the time. Over every little thing. And, it's not fair to him. I've been so busy the last few months. And I don't always take the time to give him the attention or patience that he needs. And that breaks my heart. I love that boy more than anything. And I wish I could show that more.

Added to yesterday's post

I just had to add this to yesterday's post.

Haley and I just got finished reading and she turned to me and said, "Mom, when you get 155 moneys I want to buy some new books."

155

Haley's thing is "155" lately.

As in, "This is going to take us 155 minutes!" Or "If I count to 155 and you don't do it, you are going to time out." Or "when I'm 155, I'm going to..."

It makes me laugh every she says it. No idea where it came from.

Thanksgiving

I found these pics today and they just made me laugh. I took pictures of Thanksgiving before everyone arrived and then totally forgot to take any pictures while people were here. :)
So, enjoy some pics of my empty house! It was full of people most of the day after these were taken and we had a great time!

Yesterday

Yesterday was a messy day. I nearly broke all of my New Year's Resolutions. And it was only January 5. It was one of those days.

However, there were some good moments and that is what I want to remember.

We went to the Rec Center as a family, something my kids have been begging to do lately and I keep putting them off. Monday night I had planned on going, but then put them off again and PROMISED we would go on Tuesday. Tuesday came around and all I wanted to do was sleep. Jason even offered to take them alone and let me sleep, but I felt guilty about that, so I went. And I'm glad I did. We had such a good time. It's been a while since we have all gone there together. Here are some of the highlights:

*Haley getting soooo excited whenever she would make a basket. Sometimes she wouldn't even make it, but it sort of looked like she did, and she would still get all excited.

*Britton surfing on Jason's back in the pool. This has got to be one of my very favorite things to watch. Jason swims underwater and Britton balances standing up on his back like he is surfing. And it looks like Britton is just gliding on top of the water. They have gotten really good and can go the whole length of the pool. This time Jason even made it a little turbulent to see if Britton could keep his balance. He's really good. And I love watching all the other people at the pool stop to watch them. Haley and I even sang "Surfin USA" just to cheer them on. Good times.

*Watching Britton back float across the pool singing "I believe I can fly" REALLY loud. Hilarious.

*All the funny things Haley says while we're in the locker room changing. Her observations are priceless.

Haley's outfit

I just had to document one of the outfits Haley chose for school a while back. A bright green skirt, purplish shirt, silver polkadot tights, and purple boots. And she INSISTED on wearing it all, just like that.

Overheard Yesterday

Yesterday I heard Haley say the following to her cousin:

"My mom works at night and gets paid money and my dad works in the day and gets paid money so soon we will be able to live in a castle. Ahhh, I wish I was the princess of the world!"

It just made me smile. She is sure the princess of my world.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone!

I am loving Christmas already this year. We started out our festivities last Saturday with the Kemp family Christmas party at our house. And we haven't stopped playing since. We have had numerous cousins sleeping over every night since then. And it has been so much fun. Hyrum came to stay with us Saturday night and was here until yesterday. John and Leanne's family stayed with us Monday and Tuesday night. And Kenna slept over Tuesday night as well. So, it's been a great big party all week long. And then Anna has been over off an on to play because she has been staying with Jon and Mijoung. We've been sledding, shopping, watching movies, eating a lot of treats, and just enjoying everyone's company. Kim and Ryan also came over Tuesday night to join the crowd for watching the BYU bowl game. It has been so much fun. I love that my kids love all their cousins so much. They are in heaven when they can just play all day (and night) with them. Yesterday afternoon Kim took Britton and Haley to her house for a sleepover, so Jason and I were able to get the rest of our shopping done. Britton ended up coming home late last night, but we will go over to get Haley and hang out for a bit. Then, it's off to Sheryl and Ryan's for the Christmas Eve party. What fun. I love Christmas!

9 Years

Today is my 9th anniversary.

Jason and I are both sick, exhausted, and stressed beyond stressed.

Not exactly the romantic anniversary one envisions.

However, I wouldn't want to be sick, tired, and stressed with anyone else!

It's been a great 9 years--here's to 90 more!

Yesterday Britton bought himself a guitar with money he's been saving for quite a while.

We were totally going to get him one for Christmas. Now what do we do?

But, he was so excited when he saw it and realized he had enough money for it. He has been playing it ever since. This morning when he got up, the first thing he said was, "I can't believe I really have a guitar." It's so cute.

My Job

I started working again about 6 weeks ago. I don't work a lot (about 15 hours a week), but it's at night, so it has completely thrown any schedule we did have completely out of whack. But, I really love my job and I think it is such a blessing in our life right now.

For a while, I had been thinking about getting a job on nights or weekends, when Jason is home, but I am a teacher and there aren't a whole lot of teaching jobs on nights and weekends. So, I feel very fortunate to have found this job. I teach English over the internet to kids in Korea. It is really cool how it all works out. I teach 14 classes a week right now and each class has, at most, 10 students in it. My students are ages 7-12. The classrooms are set up so that I can see all the students at the same time and they have a big screen so that they can see me. There is a Korean teacher in the room to help with discipline and translating when needed, but I am their main teacher. I love that I found a job that allows me to work at nights while my kids are both asleep AND teach. Right now, I have to go into the office to teach, but after another month or so I will be able to teach from home, so that will be even better. It has been really fun so far. The kids are great. The curriculum is really organized with lesson plans already prepared, but I can still add my own little games and personality to it. I'm excited to get teaching experience like this too as I think there will be more and more opportunities for online teaching in the future. It's definitely different than what I am used to because I am limited in the things I can do since I am not actually in the class with them. But, it's a fun challenge trying to think of fun interesting things to do and show them so they aren't just staring at my face the whole lesson. I'm amazed at how interactive I can still be. We play games all the time and I show pictures and objects and bring props. They really are a blast and they love every silly little thing that I can come up with. The technology is really amazing and I'm learning so much. Another thing I love is that from month to month, I can work as little or as much as I want. So, I can go down to one hour a week for a while to stay in the company, if needed.

Even though I really enjoy my job, it still has been a major adjustment for us. I don't get home until 3 or 4 in the morning most nights. Luckily, Jason works for himself, so he has started getting the kids up and ready and taking Britton to school at 9 on his way to work. That's when I usually get up to be with Haley. But, still that's a lot later than I used to get to sleep in. So far, it's working. I sometimes nap after Haley goes to school. Also, if I'm extra tired or know I have something important in the afternoon, Jason has been able to stay home all morning and be with Haley so I can sleep. One day my mom took Haley all morning so I could sleep too. So, I at least have options so that I can rest enough. It has really helped me be a lot more organized and prioritize my time a lot better. I have had to let go of a lot of things that I used to do so that I can get the day to day home things done. And then some days, nothing gets done because I choose to just sleep the whole 4 hours that Haley is at school. And that's okay.

Mostly, I'm just grateful that this job came along right at the perfect time.

Britton

I was just playing around with photos the other day and I made this collage of Britton. He is such a fun, handsome kid. I'm so glad that I am his mom.

My Two Little Monkeys

I just overheard Britton and Haley playing. Britton is opening up the "School of the Monkeys" and Haley is his first pupil. They are picking out uniforms right now. Can't wait to see what he teaches her...

My thoughts for today

It's been a really long time since I have been good about blogging regularly. I don't really know what it is keeping me from it. The other day I went back through the archives and read some of what we were doing a year ago and it made me so grateful that I had recorded so much. And it's the small things that I really enjoy reading about. It's fun to look back on the big events too, but those things seem to stay in my mind anyway. So, it's all the cute things my kids do and say that I love to look back on and read. I'm hoping I can be better once again.

It feels like time is flying by at the speed of light lately. I barely realized October was over and then Thanksgiving was here. And now Christmas is a short few weeks away. I constantly feel a pull at me to slow down and let go of things that aren't important. But, it's easier said than done.

The last few months have been stressful and hard for our family for many different reasons. But, it's also been full of miracles and blessings. Things have happened that remind me once again of how much Heavenly Father knows our little family and watches out for us and blesses us with things beyond our understanding. He knows the desires of our hearts, of this I am sure.

Grateful

Reading Time

For Britton's daily reading time, lately he has chosen to read the Old Testament. The other day he asked me for a scripture marker so he could mark the parts he likes. I gave him one, but I just assumed he would randomly mark things for fun. But, I was glancing through his scriptures and read some of the parts he marked and could tell that he really was giving it thought and marking things that spoke to him. My favorite part that I saw was that he marked just the phrase, "he made the stars also" from where God was creating the earth and heavens. It just made me smile that Britton decided to mark that part because he has always loved the stars and anything to do with space. I could just feel his gratitude that God has made stars for us to enjoy.

Sunrise

This morning, Haley came into my room right next to my bed and said, "I know it's still night time, but I want to watch the sunrise with you."

And even though I'm really sleep deprived and this is the only day I can sleep in, I just could not resist that little girl.

Halloween

Haley was a Butterfly Princess for Halloween.

Britton chose not to dress up at all (how is he MY kid?). He didn't want to dress up for the ward party, for school, and he didn't want to go trick or treating at all. He wanted to hand out the candy and tally up how many "customers" we got. Too funny. And so him.

This might have been the cheapest Halloween in history since Haley already had a princess dress and we just bought a few butterfly accessories. Nice. And easy.

But, we had a great time.

Exchange Student

About a month ago, we had an exchange student from Japan come to stay with us for a week. His name was Shinichi and he is 15. It was a lot of fun for my family. We did a lot of fun things, bowling, went to the cabin, BYU football game, temple square, went to the movies, and then there was a big dinner for all the students the night before they left. We packed a lot in since he was gone to school things all day and we only had him in the evenings. Here are a few bowling pics. It was his first time and he definitely was a natural. He beat all of us by quite a lot.


Good form!