Report Cards

Today was a milestone day in Payton's life (or in my life as a parent)...he brought home his first report card from school. Payton did well on his report card. Here is what his teacher had to say:

*Accomplishments & Strengths, "Payton easily knows all his letters and all their sounds. He works hard in class and gets along well with others."
*Areas for Improvement, "He is very quiet in class. I would love to see him talk more."
*Goals, "Be on a "C" reading level in March (I hope to find out what this means); participate more in class discussions."

I already knew all of these things, but having it written down on a piece of report card history finally made it click. Is this really my child?!? I mean, I know it is. His teacher definitely explained my sweet little Payton, but I started thinking, how did this "quiet" child come from me? "I would love to see him talk more in class." All of my teachers in elementary school were commenting that I needed to talk less in class.

As I was pondering these questions, I thought that I would go back and refer to my report cards. I remember that I was always getting in trouble for talking too much. (I'm sure that doesn't surprise anyone.) So, I took a fun stroll down memory lane today and I found my Kindergarten Report Card and also a picture of me in kindergarten.

You can't read it very well, but the ONLY comment that my teacher had on the report card was, "My goal is to find things that will be a challenge for Brittany. I think that will help build her interest in school." On the work habits and social behavior section I got a "S-" in "Makes Good Use of Time" and "Does neat work." I about died when I saw that...every quarter I got an "S-" in "Does neat work." So when did I turn into a neat freak, Mom? Dad? I can't believe that I wasn't "neat" in kindergarten. And...I didn't make good use of my time...I would say that is one of my "Honor" categories as an adult. I'm so embarassed!! Plus, that is another direct opposite of my child, Payton. He is such a neat freak. He is always erasing things if they are not done properly and will start over. He is a perfectionist on his homework assignments, drawing, making his bed, getting dressed, brushing his teeth, etc. Everyone thought that this was because of me, but apparently, it has NOTHING to do with me. My child looks and ACTS just like his Dad. I guess that's a very good thing...especially when it comes to report cards. I would love to see Tim's kindergarten report card. Tim? Ann? Does anyone know where it is?

What a funny stroll down memory lane. I'm proud of Payton's report card and I've told him that he needs to talk more in class (at appropriate times). He said that he would work on it. However, I think I learned more about myself today. Maybe it's true that we learn from our mistakes. If not, I'm going to try and be more neat, make better use of my time and do things that are more challenging so that I don't lose interest!!

Monsters

Here are my scary monsters! Parker gets really scared when people wear masks, but he's starting to get a little bit better. I think he feels better if he has a mask on also.

Regional Conference

We had regional conference today and it was wonderful! We went to Tim's parent's stake center to watch the broadcast (our stake was invited to the conference center). The talks were all wonderful! Here are a few of the messages I'm going to try and work on in my life:

1. Slow Down (especially on the Sabbath Day)
2. Attend the temple more often. Go in place of your normal leisure activities.
3. Have a mutual respect for your spouse.
4. Be more soft in your answers (I think he was telling me to stop yelling at my children).

There were so many great messages, but these are a few that I'm going to try to work on this week, month, year. I'm putting them here so that I can hold myself accountable. I really feel like I have so much to work on right now, but I think you have to take things one baby step at a time!

Best Saturday Ever!

Yesterday was one of the best Saturday's I've had in awhile. Don't get me wrong, I love going to soccer games, birthday parties, lunch with friends, running errands, out on a date,etc. However, sometimes you just need a day to lounge around at home with your family. First, we slept in this morning which was great. The boys got up and watched cartoons in the family room while Tim & I watched a movie in bed...it was great! The boys made their way into our bed as well and we played with them for awhile. Then we got up and Tim made breakfast; bacon, eggs, english muffins...it was delicious! After breakfast, we got cleaned up and made phone calls to cancel Payton's soccer game because of the rain. Then, we all got busy cleaning our playroom. It was such a disaster, but we all worked together and after a couple of hours...it was clean! I love cleaning, organizing, and finishing a project. It was a great sense of accomplishment. Tim left and went to his soccer game. Payton and I hung out while Parker took a nap. After naptime, I played games with the boys. Tim got home and he hung out with the boys while I started my second project of the day...cleaning my office. It also took a couple hours, but I got it done. Aaahhh...it feels great! As you can tell, I'm beginning to feel like my old self again. Tim thinks that I've started nesting, but really I'm just trying to clean up all of the messes I created over the past couple of months. I'm so happy to feel well enough to clean again...woohoo! After we got the kids to bed, I finally showered for the day (I know, I know) and then we watched a movie. What a wonderful Saturday!

Pumpkin Party

On Friday night we got together with Brett, Camille, Makenna and baby Samantha. First, we met them at the pumpkin patch to pick out our pumpkins. The kids had fun running around and trying to choose. Then we came back to our house for dinner. We had cheese soup and rolls. (I have to say that this is the first meal I have cooked in over a month so I was very proud of myself!) After dinner, we started decorating cupcakes with the kids while the guys started carving the pumpkins. The kids loved piling their cupcakes high with sprinkles and candy. The guys worked very hard on their pumpkins. This was the perfect way to carve pumpkins...let the guys do all the work and the girls & children enjoy it afterwards!! The pumpkins turned out great. We had such a fun night. We love hanging out with the Siebenbergs!

Fieldtrip to Engh Gardens

We had a fieldtrip today for Parker's Play School. It was so fun! We got to listen to stories in a teepee. Then the kids got to play on a pirate ship and walk through a maze. Also, they each got some candy and a little pumpkin. It was so cute and the kids had a great time!

Park City Getaway

We spent the past week in Park City, Utah. It's not far from home, but it was far enough! Payton is off track right now and Tim really wanted to go on vacation while Payton was out of school. I didn't have the energy or feel well enough to do a traditional vacation so we settled on relaxing in Park City. We stayed at the Marriott Mountainside, which was wonderful. We had such a fun week! Here is a breakdown:



SATURDAY, OCTOBER 6TH (GENERAL CONFERENCE)
We headed up to Park City after all the soccer games, birthday parties and conference sessions. Brett & Camille came up to hang out with us. We had dinner, hung out and the guys took the kids down to the hot tub (Thanks again!) It was snowing (according to Tim it was a blizzard) so it was pretty cold, but they had fun! This is a picture of one of the hot tubs. It didn't look like this that night, but other days it did (without the sexy couple!!)



SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7TH (GENERAL CONFERENCE)
This morning we slept in. We normally have church at 8:00 am so it was a nice break. We watched conference, which was wonderful!! I love conference. It is so inspiring and uplifting. The counsel that our prophet and apostles gives to us is always so needed and timely. I'm grateful for what I got out of conference this year and hope that I can become a better person because of it. My family all came up (with the exception of Erika & Brian, but thanks for the yummy cookies...we ate them all!!) It was so fun to watch conference with them and play fun games. They stayed all day long. Payton was in heaven because Clint brought his Xbox. Thanks a lot for that, Clint!

MONDAY, OCTOBER 8TH
Tim didn't work today (well most of the day) and we enjoyed sleeping in, hanging out and having fun. We got out the door and had to make our first stop at Walmart. Payton earned money last week so that he could buy a toy when we got to Park City. He was so excited to finally get to buy at toy. It took him at least 30 minutes to make a decision. It was pretty cute how much thought went into his purchase. Parker got to pick a toy also. Plus, I had to buy toothbrushes, sipppy cups, socks for Parker, face wash, soap for the boys, etc. I forgot so many things it was ridiculous. After Walmart, we went to the outlet mall. Lucky for Tim, I wasn't really in the mood to shop (that's how you know I'm truly sick). He bought a shirt and that was our only purchase. Crazy?!? The kids played on the playground for awhile then we headed back to our hotel. Parker & I took a nap while Tim & Payton went down to the pool. They were actually swimming in the pool (in 60 degree weather). Pretty crazy if you ask me! Payton was in heaven. Plus, he was playing with a friend that he met at the pool (so we thought). As he got out to leave, Payton said, "I'll see you when we get back on track." He then told us that the kid is in his kindergarten class. Small world! After swimming, we went outside and walked around. Tim & Payton went on the Alpine Coaster. It is a roller coaster on a mountain. It goes up to 60 miles an hour. They both loved it! Payton kept saying, "Go faster, Dad." Parker was bummed because he was "too little" to go on the ride. He said, "I can go when I get taller." He talked about it for awhile afterwards. We walked around and enjoyed the gorgeous weather and the beautiful colors on the mountain. Then, we went to Tim's favorite restaraunt for dinner, "Baja Cantina." The food tasted really good (which is very odd for me right now). After dinner, we headed back to our room and enjoyed playing games, watching tv and just hanging out!









TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9TH
Tim had to work today so he woke up early and left. We all slept in and hung out in our hotel. Thank goodness my friend Michelle, who lives in Park City, called and wanted to get together or else we would have stayed in our PJ's all day! We met Michelle and walked a trail that was lined with Scarecrow's. The kids enjoyed running outside and seeing the different Scarecrow's. After the Scarecrow Walk we went and got ice cream at Cold Stone. It's always fun to hang out with Michelle and the kids had a lot of fun with her kids. We went back to our hotel and met Clint & Becca. They came up to hang out with us tonight. We went and rented a movie then headed over to Main Street. We bought caramel apples and then Tim met us at Main Street Pizza & Pasta for dinner. Yummy! After dinner we went back to our hotel and watched "Evan Almighty." It was a pretty dumb movie, but we had a really fun night with Clint & Becca!






WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10TH
Tim took today off and we got to sleep in this morning! Actually, Tim woke up early to get work done and the rest of us slept in. We hung out this morning and then Payton & Tim went down to the pool. (Crazy!!) Parker & I headed down to the pool after a little while. All 3 boys swam in the freezing cold water and had lots of fun! I got to watch them enjoy swimming. After swimming we went back up to our room. I took a nap. Parker took a nap. Tim did some more work and Payton played with his new toys. After a day of doing not much at all, Tim's parents, Brady & Mahina came up to visit. We went to "Baja Cantina" (again) for dinner. It was great! Then we went back and hung out with his family at our hotel for awhile. We have been so lucky to have lots of visitors this week to keep us busy. Thanks for making the trip up to Park City!



THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11TH
Tim went off to work again today. The boys and I headed out of the house pretty early this morning. We went over to the outlet malls and met the Carley's. Jaimy brought her boys up to Park City to play with my boys. They live in our neighborhood and our boys are the same age. Chase & Payton are in the same Kindergarten class. Payton & Parker were very excited to have some friends to play with. Instead of shopping, our boys played on the playground the whole time while we chatted. Then we headed over to Wendy's for lunch. (Disgusting, but it's what we do for our kids.) My sister, Erika, met us there. After lunch, Jaimy & the boys went home while Erika & I went back to the outlets to shop. We didn't last very long because Parker was exhausted. We went back to the hotel so that Parker (and I) could nap. Erika took Payton down to the pool and they went swimming. We hung out the rest of the afternoon. Tim got off work early. We hung out for awhile then he went back down to Salt Lake for a soccer game. I started cleaning up the room and packing up. It was a nice relaxing evening.



FRIDAY, OCTOBER 12TH
This morning I got up early and began cleaning and packing things up to leave. We got everyone loaded up in the car and headed over to my friend, Michelle's home. When we pulled up, Payton said, "She lives on a farm." Yes, she does. They have a couple acres with horses roaming around. Her new home is beautiful! Camille, Dani and their children came for lunch as well. Heidi had a sick little girl so she couldn't come. We missed you! It was so fun to eat lunch and chat with friends. The kids loved playing together. They especially loved feeding the horses. Thanks for being such a great hostess and for a wonderful time, Michelle!

Parker's Manicure

I was painting my nails and Parker really wanted me to paint his nails. So we did! He was so still and let me do a good job. Afterwards, he was so careful with them and did great letting them dry. I was so proud of my little boy! (FYI: Don't worry...2 mintues later he asked me to take the paint off. It didn't last long!)

I'm Baaack!

Okay, I don't want to jinx myself and start reporting good news too early, but I've been feeling really good today (which is why I have a dozen new posts to follow...sorry...just catching up.) Anyway, last week, I felt good early in the week and then got really sick again. I finally couldn't take it anymore and decided to take some drugs. My doctor gave me a prescription for the amazing "Zophran" and that really helped, but I only got 9 precious pills so I have been trying to use them sparingly until I found out if my insurance would approve to give me more (for under $150). I decided not to take a pill this morning because I was feeling pretty good. Amazingly, I've lasted all day without one. I also found out today that my insurance company did approve for me to get some more pills. Woohoo! Things are really looking up for me. I hope that my worst days are now behind me.

Witches at Gardner Village

Today I took the boys to see the witches at Gardner Village. Camille dropped Makenna off so that she could see the witches with us. It was so fun! Everything is decorated sooo darling. I love this time of year. It was so fun to walk around and see all the cute and creative witches that they have hanging around. The kids loved it. We stopped at the candy store and got a treat. After we saw all the witches, the kids entertained themselves by running around and climbing up rock walls. Camille came and chatted with us for awhile before she had to leave (time to feed the baby again!!) Payton, Parker & I stayed and got some lunch from the bakery. It was so nice to get out of the house and do something fun with my boys. I felt really good today...I hope this continues!!