Random stuff

The kids love to play with Jackson.  Jackson sits by the window every day waiting for the kids to come home.  The boys love to wrestle with Jackson.

I have been going to the temple twice a week while the kids are in school.  It is so great to have time during the day to do things because nights are so crazy.  I have been trying to be very meaningful with what I do with my time.  My depression was pretty bad for a couple of months so now that I am feeling better, I'm trying to make sure that I do things that will help me continue to do well.  The temple has definitely helped.  Kyle gave us a bunch of family names and I'm working hard to get those done.  I'm also trying to spend my time reading and listening to books instead of watching TV.  The hours fly by while the kids are at school.

Kyle was in a Latin American dance program a couple of weeks ago.  We had fun watching him.  He did a great job.

Keith got to go two Jazz games last week.  Daniel took him and a couple other people from work to a game last Wednesday night.  He got to sit in a suite with lots of great food!  On Friday night Katie called and said Ben had two extra tickets to the game so we sent Keith and Wyatt off to join them.

Wyatt loved being at the game.  He also loves his new hat! 

Wyatt loves cub scouts.  He loves to go every week and he has been working hard to pass things off.

He earned his bobcat on Tuesday night.  He did a great job giving me the pin.

Wyatt doesn't hand out hugs very often, so I was glad they told him to give me one!

He looks so adorable in his uniform.  It still seems like it should be Jonah in that uniform, time keeps flying by!

Caitlyn was thrilled to get her braces off today!  She is so excited to be able to eat without getting food stuck in her braces.  That is one beautiful, very expensive smile! One down, only three more to go!

Work hard, play hard

Last week Hallee and Wyatt helped me rake leaves after school.  We had a great afternoon, we worked hard and we played hard!

We made a big pile for each of them to jump in.

Wyatt had a great time and was happier than he has been for a long time.  He has struggled a lot lately.  He gets upset very easily, yells and then is mad at himself for yelling.  He has told me that he doesn't like himself and feels dumb after getting upset.  It makes me so sad to hear that.  I've been seeing things that concern me with Wyatt for a few years now. I was fairly certain he was struggling with depression and it's bad enough now that we feel like it's time to get some outside help.  I started with contacting his school counselor.  A couple of weeks ago he started a "strong start" group.  He meets with the counselor and a few other students once a week.  They talk about emotions and feelings and learn how to problem solve and stay calm.  Wyatt is enjoying that and I have noticed that he has told me how he is feeling more and talked through it with me instead of just running off in anger.  We also found a counselor for him.  We had his first session last week, which was basically just giving family history and going over my concerns about Wyatt.  He will be meeting with her every week for now.   I think Wyatt is feeling hopeful that these things will help.  It is tough because he can't articulate his feelings, but I think we are both feeling hope that he can start feeling happy again and having more good days than bad.  It is so hard to watch your kids struggle, especially with things that you struggle with yourself. 

Hallee loved jumping in the leaves.

Hallee is always talking a million miles a minute.  She always has something to say and loves to make other people laugh.

Wyatt and Hallee have not been getting along very well lately.  When Wyatt is having a hard time he really struggles with Hallee.  Wyatt is very sensitive and hates noise when he is upset and Hallee is always singing or talking.  They have been butting heads a lot lately, so I was thrilled to see them having so much fun together!

Wyatt wanted to play football so we would rake some leaves and then stop and throw the football around.  Wyatt and Hallee wanted to play a game against me.  Hallee didn't quite understand where the quarter back was supposed to stand!  It was so great to see Wyatt laugh instead of get mad at her.  They were so cute!

We threw the football a lot and Wyatt was so excited that he kept getting better and better at catching the football.

He ran inside to get some football clothes on!

He had fun kicking the football too.

After a while Wyatt decided he didn't want the football clothes on.  Hallee ran over to put them on and thought her socks would make great football gloves!

They thought it was pretty funny when I asked them to get in the garbage can and jump on the leaves.

I love that Hallee gets so excited about everything she does.

They played tag for a few minutes.  I couldn't stop taking pictures because I was so excited to see them having so much fun together.

It was one of those perfect days where we all just laughed and played together.  I'm so grateful for these good days, they help me get through the bad days!

Field Trip with Hallee

Hallee was so excited for her field trip to Scera Theater for a play.  She was really excited to ride a bus.

Her teacher asked me if I could help on the field trip.  Hallee and I had fun taking selfies on the bus.

She was excited about her snacks.  The play was cute and Hallee liked it.

It is fun when the kids are little and they are so excited for you to come on their field trips.  I know as they get older that changes!

Basketball

It's basketball season again and we are all excited!  I love watching my boys play basketball and they love playing it.

Jonah is playing pre-season right now.  It has been a little crazy because they haven't had very many practices and the coach was out of town for the first two games. 

Jonah swished his two foul shots in his first game.  Jonah has played great.  He was a little frustrated when his coach put him in as a forward. I told him to talk to the coach about it, but he either forgot or just didn't want to.  He did pretty good as a forward.  They play him on the left side and that is his strong side for shooting.

His coach moved Jonah back to guard in the last game.  He had Hyrum (who moved down from the A team) playing point guard and I think he realized that Jonah and Hyrum could work well together as guards. 

Saturday Jonah had a basketball game at 5 PM and 8 PM and a soccer game in-between.  He seemed to get more energized as the night went on, I don't know how he does it.  He had 12 points in his last game.  He had a couple of 3-pointers and some nice lay ups.  He is sure fun to watch.

Jonah also started indoor soccer last week. He is loving it!  It is so fast paced.  He loves kicking it off the walls.

He played awesome on Saturday.  He loved playing forward and was thrilled when he got a goal.

Wyatt started basketball too.  He loves basketball!

He is playing with Rockwell and Kellen and loving it.  Rockwell and Wyatt always do such a great job guarding their guy.

This league is so chaotic.  They aren't allowed to steal and they don't call fouls or follow very many of the other rules. 

Wyatt is a great dribbler and has done really well at driving to the hoop. 

He gets so excited when he makes a basket.  He does this cute, little strut down the court after he scores and he always looks over to make sure I saw!

One team they played had giant kids.  Every kid on their team was so tall.  It was a rough game. I loved that Wyatt still played tough and drove the ball to the hoop!

Keith has coached them a few times when Matt couldn't.  Jonah helped Keith coach one game.  I think Jonah learned that it is tough to coach.  He had a hard time getting the boys to listen to him!

Jonah was in charge of subs during the game.  I loved seeing him coaching Wyatt while he was out.

Such handsome boys!

I'm so glad that Wyatt enjoys sports, it is a great outlet for him.  

Halloween 2018

We kicked off Halloween week with our annual Halloween dinner.  I'm  glad Mel gave me this idea years ago because I'm not a huge fan of Halloween, but this has made it more fun.  The kids love it and look forward to it every year.

Caitlyn decided to be an 80's girl.   I thought it turned out cute. 

She wore her costume to school.  I'm not sure if it's the hair and make up, but she sure reminds me of Jen in this picture.

Jonah was just going to wear sunglasses and be "Jonah undercover," but he and Tanner decided to be body guards instead.

He sure looked cute!

Wyatt wanted to be Harry Potter.

Isn't he the cutest?

Hallee was excited to be Anna.  She looked adorable.

Mom came down for the costume parades and she joined me at Jonah's class party.  We did a cake walk.  The kids were all really nice and I don't think I embarrassed Jonah too much!

After that we went outside for the costume parade.  Jonah is too cool to wave at me!

Hallee got excited when she saw me and grandma. 

I love Wyatt's smile, it is contagious!

The kids all loved seeing grandma.  It worked out perfectly that my mom could take Caitlyn home so that she would be able to trick-or-treat with Amarie.

Caitlyn was so happy when I told her we would make it work for them to go together.

Mel took all of the girls around trick-or-treating.

They got a ton of candy!  Caitlyn loved spending Halloween with her cousins.

Hallee and Tessa had dance on Halloween.  They got to wear their costumes to dance.

The boys play on the playground while the girls are dancing.  Rockwell looked so cute as Ash.

Jonah went trick-or-treating with his friends. Hallee and Wyatt wanted to go alone, so I let them go on our side of the street by themselves before Keith joined them.  I stayed home and passed out candy.

It was cold so Hallee was ready to come home and help me pass out candy.  Wyatt and Keith went back out for a while.

The kids had fun trading candy for a few days.  They all have so much candy!