Youth

Youthful Energy

My children are balls of energy.  And confidence.  The other day, Dash sat at breakfast and with an absolute straight face, he announced his belief that he could beat me in a mile race while running in the 8th lane.  He meant he would be running in the 8th lane.  That's too blatant a challenge to be ignored.  So, that afternoon, while Brandan taught summer school, the kids and I headed over to the high school track.  I took my GPS watch, and a baseball cap and sunglasses, just in case.  I convinced Dash that we should both run in the 1st lane and I planned to beat him soundly without putting out too much effort.  After all, I had already worked out that morning and it was a hot afternoon.  And he is seven.  I guess I forgot that my children have been taught since infancy to compete.  That son-of-a-gun child ran a 7:33 mile! And that's not all.  Colt wore his flip flops over to the track, but at the last second he decided to join the race and run around the track barefoot.  I figured he would jog around a bit and then get bored, or hurt, or hot, or tired.  Colt ran a 9:36 mile barefoot! He's five.  Sport and Sis participated as well.  Sport placed himself strategically around the track in push up position and acted as a human hurdle.  Sis threw rocks at us from the sidelines.  I believe she ate some as well.

Girlish Looks

Last weekend I took a group of girls over to Green River for a Regional Youth Conference.  Not once, not twice, but three different times I was mistook (accused?) of being one of the Youth.  A 14-18 year old girl.  The first incident occurred when I tried to sign in at the leader table.  Later, when my service group leader asked all the drivers to step forward for their directions, I was instructed that only leaders need come forward.  The final straw was later in the afternoon, when I was standing on the sidelines of the games (like all the other leaders who happen to be over 5' 1") and the Green River Stake President sympathetically asked me if I was having a good time.  I spent the remaining part of the afternoon in the van and during the dance that night I made my face a stern look of disapproval in order to avoid being asked to Cupid Shuffle with a 15 year old boy.  I would love to take it all as a compliment, but I'm afraid it might just be a result of my juvenile clothing and hair.  I like sweatshirts and ponytails, okay?

Young at Heart

Brandan is an incredible father.  Much of his success comes from the fact that he is willing to play with his kids.  I don't want to downplay the work that goes into playing with 4 children, but, seriously, I think Brandan enjoys the games as much as the kids.  And that's why we got him a new baseball mitt for Fathers Day.  I think he really loves it.  He has spent much of the last week breaking in the leather and playing catch in the backyard. 

Breakfast in bed.  Dash came into our room at 6:15 Sunday morning and whispered to me that he had woken up all the kids and they were waiting to bring in Dad's breakfast.  

Brand's Fathers' Day mitt.  With breakfast out of the way early, they were all able to be in the yard throwing around a ball before 8 am.

This is the note Sport wrote to Brandan during Primary.  10 years old, 6 feet and 400 pounds, but he loves to go run.

Colt's note.  10 1/2 feet tall, 5.2 pounds with red hair just like Colt.

Dash's note.  Ninety percent of his answers include the word basketball, but he also mentioned that he and his Dad hate stretching.

  

Beginning, End, and Lots of Stuff from the Middle

Spring!!

For much of the Spring, we hosted a couple of different moose.  This guy split his time between our yard and the neighbors.

One day, Sis tried her hand at applying mascara.  She needs a little more practice.

I'm super proud of my first runner's toenail.

Dash finished first grade off strong by reading the entire Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.  Sis followed his example.

Sissy reading Mrs. Piggle Wiggle, a family favorite.

Sis's other interests include shoes, especially fancy high-heeled shoes.

Sis has to work hard to look that good, however.  This shot doesn't begin to do justice to her daily bedhead.

At the end of May, we drove over to Casper to watch the State Track Meet.  It was awesome to see Dan, Jill, Boe, Kamber, Upton friends, and our new hero (a kid from Rock Springs who currently holds the fastest 800 & 1600 combined time in the nation).  Per their usual, the kids have become fanatic track fans this spring.  This is the long jump pit they made on the driveway by hauling sand out of the park playground.

The boys came up with a new version of basketball.  Brandan played the whole game while kneeling and ended up with skinned knees and feet.

Several times a day, Sport disappears and can be found scaling the pantry shelves to reach the best snacks on the top shelf.  When he finds something particularly good, he will shut the door and enjoy a rare moment of privacy.   

The weather has been awesome for lots of walks and bike rides.  This was a rare moment when Sport and Sis were getting along and actually holding hands.  Usually they are fighting over space and scratching each other or pulling hair (to be honest, Sis does all the scratching and hair pulling and Sport does a lot of crying).

Dash on the last day of first grade.  Dash had a really successful year.  He blew his teachers (and parents) away with his state test scores.  We are so proud of him!

Two days after Dash finished school, Colt started pre-kindergarten summer school.  I was really reluctant to send him because we miss his company so much, but he was so excited.  The last couple of months I have come to realize what a great little peacemaker Colt is in our house.  One of the many examples: during a craft activity at a play group, Sport became upset (mildly put) because there were no more sharks to paint, only fish.  Colt reasoned with him for just a minute and then willingly gave Sport his shark, the last one and the craft Colt really wanted.  Later that week, Sport snapped his shark in two (surprise, surprise) and Colt immediately consoled him with the promise that he would break his own fish.  How can I keep such an amazing social example to myself?!  

Also this spring, Brandan finished his Masters Program with flying colors, coached Junior High track, and went to several high school basketball camps in his new position as 9th grade coach.  In our spare time, the family has been exploring the local hills and helping the beavers build dams.