Phineus and Ferb Inspriations

(Sam actually reading a card before the wrapping paper starts flying!)

HAPPY 7TH BIRTHDAY SAM!

Sam turned 7 years old this week. We celebrated on his birthday with just us and then threw a party for his friends on Friday after school. Sam opted for a Phineus and Ferb party. If you haven't seen this cartoon its about two boys who are bored during summer vacation so they decide to build fun things like roller coasters in their backyard and bring dinosaurs back to life and build theater stages for the neighborhood. They seem to always have things cleaned up before their parents arrive home which annoys their big sister.

We took the show to heart and built a bowling alley in the garage and had Lego car building races in the living room. We also decorated pumpkins and had a treasure hunt. Sam had a friend also celebrating a birthday and his mom asked if we could combine the parties (something I will never do again by the way!). We had a great time and the older brothers and sister were great helpers! I was so happy to have them there helping because all the prep work to get the party put together wore me out and it freed me up to take pictures while the kids were at their various stations.

We are so happy Sam had a good time!

Some of our helpers. They restacked the bowling pins countless times and were happy to do it.

Decorating pumpkins

Bowling a strike!

Sam smoked everyone in the Lego building contest. He even put the stickers on before anyone was even close. That kid is fast when it come to Legos!

I had planned on the cupcake tower being the cake until the mother of the other birthday child insisted on her son having his own cake to blow out the candles. So I did the cupcakes for the masses of kids and small individual cakes for the birthday boys.

Bowling Fun!

"Red Slip" Revisited

Today another "red slip" came in the mail from the Principle at Sam's school. I was concerned when I first picked it up. Here's what it said:

We're proud of Sam Bjarnason because he is an awesome 1st grader. He is a strong reader and a super speller. He pays attention to detail and does his best work. Way to go Sam!

It signed by the principle and his teacher. Quite a difference from the last ''red slip"!

Last night Sam told us he was tired of being a 1st grader and that he wanted to be in 2nd grade. He cried for a good hour. This note made his day and he says he likes being a 1st grader again.

Red Slip

After school yesterday Sam came to me with his head down quietly said "I'm sorry Mom" and put a red slip of paper in front of me. This was a discipline notice sent home from his teacher for me to sign. I asked Sam what happened. He informed me that he and 3 other boys climbed up on their desks and jumped off when their teacher had left the classroom and two girls tattled on them. I had to bite the inside of my cheek from laughing out loud. Every ounce of me wanted to laugh, give him a high five, and say way to go Sam. I was good, I didn't encourage the behavior even though I could remember countless times wanting to do something similar at his age only I was too chicken to do it. I asked him how he should act when the teacher was not in the room (part of me also thought, that's what you get when you leave a room full of 1st graders alone), he said he should act like his teacher is still there. I knew he knew what the "better" choice should be and that was the end of the "talk". I signed the slip and handed it back. He asked if he was in trouble "not one bit" I said. He was way harder on himself then I was and I felt that was punishment enough!

Sam has really struggled with full day school this year and his hyperactivity. He works so hard to stay in control at school and so when he gets home I pretty much let him go. The other kids tell me Sam is really loud at home. I just laugh and explain to them that Sam does his very best to keep it together at school so I give him lots of room to get that extra energy out at home. It makes home life a bit more interesting and difficult at times but considering how hard he works at school I think the rest of us can work a portion of that hard to accept the extra energy at home. I know there are times where that energy is going to get the best of him at school and anticipate more of these "red slips" coming home. I will happily sign every one of them knowing how hard Sam is working, especially if they are about doing something as small as jumping off his desk when his teacher is out of the room.

Academic

So you know you are married to an academic (aka.. a nice way of saying total nerd) when he orders a math textbook with his birthday money. Then he gets completely engrossed in it and occasionally laughs out loud while reading it. I love him dearly but really a math book for your birthday, I guess if that's what you want......

A Comedy of Loose Teeth

Denise has already posted about some of the kids misadventures with the dentist (Dr. Branton Richter). Recently Charley and Joseph visited the orthodontist for the first time. The verdict: Charley is going to need braces sometime in this coming year. Joseph is going to need a retainer (or similar help) in the next year, but needed to have 3 teeth pulled immediately, so we scheduled another appointment with Branton for the extractions. One of these teeth was already loose, and so we figured we'd pull that one on our own and save a few of our pennies. While this was all going on, Sam was getting his first loose tooth. He was really excited because for years he's been watching Charley and Joseph get rich of missing teeth. (Holy Cow! Our tooth fairy pays out a whole dollar!) For a few nights in a row, Sam would ask me if I would wiggle his tooth. We had a deal worked out where he would let me put my hand in his mouth and move things around as long as stopped when it hurt (he'd let me know by saying "AAAHHH!!"). Sam really wanted to get his tooth out, but was really nervous about the pain, wanting to know exactly how much it's going to hurt and for how long.

While I'm wiggling Sam's teeth, Joseph starts to wiggle his loose tooth, which we can tell is on its way, but still has some serious root there - maybe a week or two before it's ready to come on its own. He asked me to feel how loose it was, so I reached in, felt that it was pretty loose, and without warning, cranked on it as hard as I could. The tooth fell to the ground, and Joseph started to wail. No doubt it hurt, but I really surprised his as well. While he was going through bloody napkins, Sam started hopping all over and breathing heavy. Denise and I had the same thought "Great, now Sam's never going to let us get his tooth out!", at which point Sam shoves his finger in my face and commands me "NOW YOU HAVE TO PULL MINE OUT. IF YOU DON'T YOU'LL HAVE TO PAY ME MONEY!!" ... really, I'm not sure where that last part came from.

So with a fresh napkin, once again I reach into Sam's mouth. I explained that it was going to hurt and that he was going to bleed. Unlike previous attempts, he kept his hands still to his side - not on my arms, breathing nervously, but resolute that he was going to lose his tooth that night. I had to laugh a little at the whole experience, but with one good yank, his tooth was in my hand. He didn't wince, he didn't cry. I showed him his tooth, and he said "That didn't hurt at all".

I'm pretty sure that the tooth fairy had to make an unexpected stop at the grocery store that night to pick up some extra cash.

Happy Birthday Ronny

Ronny turned 36 this month. His birthday always falls during conference weekend. Usually this weekend has some member of his extended family visiting. We decided to make it a tradition and have a big Bjarnason family dinner Sunday night after conference and invite all the those in the area to come and celebrate and be together. (Unfortunately I forgot to get a picture of everyone before they left.) Thank you to all those who were here, we love having you!

This year the kids were super excited to give their gifts to Ronny. It was so funny watching the kids unable to stand still while their dad unwrapped his gifts. Sam was the most excited as his gift was a shovel. (I was hesitant to give this to him as usually shovels come with holes and I really don't want any holes in my yard right now.)

Here are a few of Ronny's many accomplishments in the last 36 years in no specific order:

1. Completed 5 marathons
2. Completed a Phd
3. Got a job that pays the bills!!!
4. Bought a house
5. Has helped to bring 4 children into this world and teach them daily
6. Married me :)
7. Read the Book of Mormon by himself countless times, and as a family almost 10 times (we hope to finish the 10th before the end of the year)
8. Taught his kids to play baseball
9. Coached his kids soccer teams
10. Reads and teaches his children about the scriptures and their Heavenly Father daily.

Ronny really is the greatest guy (which is why I married him!). He serves his family and his Father in Heaven humbly every day. We sure do love him!!!

SOJO 2010

Ronny just after mile 10

Mile 14

Ronny's cheering squad. They enjoyed munching on peaches and nectarines while we waited for him to run by.

Roger from Portland. He was a very entertaining runner and the kids cheered him on all the way to the finish.

Ronny at the finish feeling all 26 miles now. He says he is a big believer in KT tape . (Green tape on his knees)

Ronny's blisters, he insisted I take a picture.
(Just another reason why I will never run a marathon!)

Ronny with his division certificate, he apparently will get a nice plaque in the mail with a picture of him running the race.

The first annual South Jordan marathon was run yesterday. Our good friend Dr. Luce was one of the initial sponsors and begged Ronny to run. Of course Ronny jumped in with two feet, literally! The race sold out with 97 marathon runners and over 500 half marathon runners not to mention all those who ran the 5k and the children's race. The marathon ran right by the temple and through our neighborhood.

The night before the race we watched Dr. Luce's kids while he taped and treated runners at the check-in. Afterwards he stopped by his office to pick up more tape to tape Ronny at home and discovered his office had been broken into. After the police finished up their report he still came over to tape Ronny. It was a late night for them but Ronny sure appreciated his willingness to tape his knees. He said they didn't hurt at all during the race.

Just after 9:00 a.m. the kids and I went down to cheer him on. We saw him pass by in front of the temple and then decided we were having so much fun we jumped in the car and drove ahead and cheered him on again. We ended up doing this all the way to the finish. The kids had a great time and we met some fun people along the way. They also enjoyed the treats from the gas station and from the farm that we hit up during our journey. One of the runners that was near Ron most of the way stopped and requested a picture with the kids as he appreciated all their cheers for the last 16 miles. We found out he had fl0wn in from Portland to run the race and catch the BYU game. (We won't talk about that much).

We made it to the finish line with only minutes to spare to cheer Ronny in. He did great with his time being 3:42. Not a Boston qualifier but he wasn't shooting for that this year he says. It was however good enough to be #1 place in his age group. It helps to be 35 in the 35-40 age group! This gets him a free admission into the race next year. I'm all for that as the admission fee is steep! (I still don't get why you would pay so much money for someone to let you run 26.2 miles!)

We were pleasantly surprised at the finish line with lunch sandwiches from Chick Fil A, fruit, ice cream bars, nuts, frozen yogurt, and water bottles for all those cheering loved ones on. The racers were treated with free massages, chiropractic adjustments and lots of food and water. Ben went right up to one of the massage therapists and asked if he could be next, it was hilarious! It was a great day, way to go Ronny!

No Fun!

What an 8 year old boy looks like after having his second tooth pulled in a week.

While the kids were off track this month we made our semi annual dental appointments. This is always an adventure. Charley had finally lost her last baby tooth so we knew we would be referred to the orthodontist at this visit. It was a surprise when the nurse came out and explained that Joseph was in need of seeing one too. She then proceeded to tell us that he would need 2 more teeth pulled (already had one done this year) and a retainer put in ASAP. She also showed us that his gums were receeding pretty bad on the bottom and would most likely need surgery to correct that. I then went back and started making all the appointments that he would need. All three other kids had a clean bill and were free to return in 6 months (other than Charley's ortho consult.)

Joseph has returned twice to have the teeth pulled and his cavities filled and was fitted for the retaining wire. He and Charley see the Orthodontist tomorrow and depending on what happens there, he will have another dental appointment on Friday to have the retainer fastened in unless he gets brackets put on. The tooth fairy has visited often this last month and is broke! (Especially after she finds out how much braces are going to run for 2 kiddos and a possible surgery, blahhhhhh!) NO FUN! Hopefully their next break won't be so filled with appointments.

The Perfect Day

For Labor Day we decided to pack as much in with Dad on his day off as possible. We started at the zoo. With the kids on the year round school schedule we became zoo members as a way to find things to do while the kids go off track. For the price of two visits we became members and now the whole family can go as many times as we want for a year.

The tigers at Hogle Zoo are very active as far as zoo animals go. Every time we go they are up walking around. Last time we went two cats came and sat just a couple feet from us and then started to follow us as we walked away. The kids loved it!

This is what the kids looked like most of the time at the zoo. We told them a few times to get down but realized quickly we were just talking to the air. The boys were so excited to wear their new "camo" pants and sweatshirts. Two signs fall is on its way.

The faces of the kids pretty much sum up how much fun we had at the zoo. Pure joy!

After the zoo we headed to a park for a late picnic lunch. The weather and the view were amazing! Joseph and Ben thought it was great to "water" a few of the trees while we were there. Boys!

We even convinced the kids to pose for a quick family picture.

After the zoo and the picnic we ventured out to the lake next to our house. With our HOA we can check out canoes, sailboats, and kayaks with our membership cards. This is the view of our house (yellow in the middle) from our canoe on the lake.

We finished our day up at the pizza parlor just down the street from our house. On Monday nights they offer half off pizzas. (They really know their demographic!) We fed our family for a whopping $12.35 and no clean up after wards. Amazing!

Ronny and I would constantly look at each other and comment on how good the kids were. No whining or complaining the entire day! That is worth writing about! After dinner the kids played Wii for a few minutes before bed. They were exhausted and went to bed without even a hesitation. We truly had a great family day. Hopefully we will have many more to come.

Last of the Summer Fun

Sam decided it was getting a little too cold.

Race for the ball that went out of bounds.

Keep Away (boys against girls, unfortunately there were only 3 girls including the Moms!)

As Labor Day approached and the temperature started to drop we were dreading the end of summer. We really haven't felt like we had a lot of it here with stitches, school starting, and moving our summer seemed to race by. Friday and Saturday we were determined to get one last gelato fix and concert and one last day of swimming in before everything closed for the season.
Living in the Daybreak area has a lot of perks that we discovered this summer. One of them is Friday Night concerts. Every Friday night a band or performance group performs out in SODA Row (the small retail section of our community). They have a tent and stage set up in the grass field and families and their pets can enjoy the summer evenings outside. The field is also right next to a big water fountain for kids to play in and a gelato shop is in the space next to field as well. We have enjoyed getting gelato as a family, seeing our neighbors, and getting wet almost every Friday night this summer and look forward to this again next summer and many more to come.

Saturday was warm enough to head over to the pool one last time. We all had a great time even after Ben decided to jump in the deep end without his life jacket with Mom racing after him. Thankfully the life guard was paying attention and realized he was just too fast for Mom and went in after him. Glad to see my HOA dollars at work! We thanked the life guard profusely and after a "time out" and a good lecture Ben raced back to the water. The other kids enjoyed playing keep away with a beach ball a friend had brought and just enjoyed the water.

After swimming we made it home just in time to barbecue some burgers and watch the Cougars beat the Huskies with some friends from our last neighborhood. They didn't get the game so we invited them over to watch. Unfortunately we could not say the same thing for the Beavers but they played well none the less. Great Fun!

First Day of Something

So our kiddos started school the last week of July this year. (year round school schedule) It was so odd to me and Ronny was out of town at the time that I just didn't get their first day of school photos taken. Friday the kids went off track and Saturday was their first day of break so I opted to take their photos then. We also went school shopping just this week so they were excited to put on their new clothes for the picture. We are getting back into the swing of things just in time for them to be home. This is the first year I have all 4 kids in school of some sort. I have 6 hours a week to myself which has already been filled with helping in their respective classrooms. Go figure. I do enjoy it and it allows me to see what is really going on in the classrooms.

Charley tested for the Accelerated Learning Placements program last year. The district takes all the gifted kids and puts them in their own classrooms at one or two schools. We decided to let Charley try it out this year knowing it would be challenging having her at a different school and commuting back and forth. She is enjoying the class and is being challenged which is great to see. She is still excelling and blossoming while making new friends. Mom is getting used to juggling picking up one child and racing home to meet two more.

Joseph and Sam are together at our neighborhood school. They like riding their bikes and making lots of new friends. Most days you can find them out playing soccer with 6 or 7 other kids at one of the parks near our house after school. They seem to have adjusted well to the move.

Ben has started preschool and it has been adjustment for the both of us. The first week was a little rocky as he was acting out and not listening. He is learning to socialize and be patient. He has finally settled in and comes home with reports of playing with friends and having to let the teacher read the book instead of him. Its pretty funny!

Funny Happenings

So before I forget these I need to write them down because they were funny.
1. Ben has recently started preschool. At the end of the second day his teacher came over to me to "chat". She said Ben was having a hard time listening in class. (No big surprise here). I told her we were working on it at home too. We started a reward system for him if he does well at school. Yesterday his teacher came out and reported, "Ben had a great day today, right up until he hit "John with a block". I laughed out loud and asked if that was at the end of the day or in the beginning? Apparently it was right at the end, at least he's making progress.

2. Sam was getting ready for school this morning and then came in and told me his side was hurting really bad. I told him to try using the bathroom and he said he already did. He was completely hunched over and you could tell he was in pain. I had him lay down while I was getting the other kids ready for school. He wasn't running a fever but I couldn't send him to school like this. About an hour after the other kids left Sam came over to me and told me he needed to vomit. I sent him straight to the bathroom. Before I could get in to help he hollered out he was going to try to go to the bathroom again. About 10 minutes later he came skipping out with a huge smile on his face. I asked him if he felt better. He said he did. I then told him to get his shoes on. He asked why. I told him he was going to school. The look on his face was priceless! I then told him he did not get out of school because he had to go to the bathroom. We'll have to get some more fiber in him so we don't have the same thing happen again. When I signed him into school the secretary asked if he was feeling better. Sam promptly told her once he "pooped" he felt much better. The secretary laughed and said she had boys too and totally understood.

Red????

One of the items on the to do list while Nana was here was to have Charley pick out fabric for a quilt that would fit her new bedroom furniture. I knew of a quilt store in down town South Jordan so we headed over before taking Nana to the airport. (pictures to come when the quilt is finished, no pressure here Stephanie).

When Charley picked out her bedroom colors she wanted pink and purple. Perfectly natural girl colors right? Well in the last month or two I think she has grown up and changed her opinions considerably. Before going in to the store I told her she could pick out whatever she wanted as this was her room. As we looked at fabric I was pointing out pinks and purples and complimentary colors that would match the wall colors. She would nod and say, "that's nice but Mom look at this fabric" which of course was anything but what I thought she would like and what would match the walls. We eventually enlisted the help of one of the employees in the store that was off showing Charley all kinds of modern and retro fabrics that Charley was eating up. I couldn't believe it! Stephanie would laugh and look at me like "really" that's what she wants....? I would shrug and say I guess so. You should see the fabric that she picked out for the back. Soooo not what I would have thought she would like. As we were leaving Stephanie looked at me and said that Chalrey did not pick out anything that she would have picked for her but that Charley picked out fabric that her aunt Anjanette would pick out. So, in the end I guess she is in good company.

Last week I took Charley to get her hair cut as it was in need of some serious help. As we were waiting I asked Charley if she wanted to get a couple blond highlights put in that would brighten her hair up a little. She shrugged and said she would think about it. I think she was intimidated by one of the hairstylists who had several different color highlights in her hair and was getting more put in while we were there in between customers. (Random!). While she was cutting her hair the stylist who was working with her joked that she could always put some orange and red streaks in to look like fire. Charley perked right up and asked if she could get red highlights put in. Red???? Where did that come from? I said if that's what she wanted as I had already offered the blond highlights. I gave the stylist strict instructions on what color red she could put in. Charley was thrilled. Red, go figure. They really don't stand out too much but when the light catches her hair just right you can see them. Otherwise you really have to look. Can you tell she is my only daughter??? She really wants her ear pierced like her cousin but Ronny isn't having it. I think that is one of his last hold outs on trying to not let her grow up so fast. I don't blame him. We'll see how long it lasts.

Go Cougars!

Nana called a week or so before her visit and asked for the kids shirt sizes. She wanted to know if we wanted the new BYU football shirt for this season. As we are avid BYU and football fans in general we excited told her absolutely. Besides when we were in OR we bought the kids new OSU shirts so it was only right that they BYU had equal representation right??? They arrived just minutes before Nana had to leave for the airport. Just in time for a picture! (I have a feeling that Charley is going to pass up Nana in the height department in the next few months).

It's Great to Be Eight

Joseph turned 8 years old on August 11th. This was a big milestone for him considering how many times he has visited the ER and found himself in precarious situations during these years. We celebrated as a family on his actual birthday and had friends and family over after his baptism the following Saturday. Joseph decided he wanted a lightsaber cake this year which I was happy with. I had a friend who had done this for her own son and just lined up cupcakes and frosted them according to what color lightsaber he wanted. This made the week so much smoother as we were already busy getting ready for his baptism and having family come into town. Not to mention school and karate activities as well.

Joseph's baptism was wonderful. He had been looking forward to it these last 12 months and has been inviting everyone he came in contact with as well. Our great bishop came over to meet us and give Joseph his baptism interview at our home and asked if we would say the closing prayer. The primary presidency also came over that week and gave us the rundown on how the stake baptisms were organized. The Monday before the baptism the Stake Primary presidency called and informed us our family was assigned the musical number during the stake portion of things. I laughed out loud and told her we were not very musical. She said she knew we had 10 year old daughter. I said we did but that had nothing to do with a musical number. I told her we were not the kind of family that could just pull one out of a hat but that we would be more than happy to provide a talk or prayer. She wasn't having it and wanted me to tell her right then what song our family would sing. Yeah Right! I told her I would have to get back to her. Needless to say I was not very happy! It wouldn't have bothered me if we had a couple weeks notice. Its not like they didn't know the baptism was coming up. In the end our family sang a song out of the Children's Song Book and hopefully we didn't embarrass ourselves too much.
As a special treat Nana brought with her all the Cub Scout paraphernalia Joseph would need to start Cubs. I was thrilled as well as this got me out of a trip to the Scout Store. Joseph went to his first meeting last week and came home so excited to work on the various badges. He will be attending a day long Cub Scout activity this weekend and can't wait!

Disney Concert

The day after my birthday Ronny and I headed to the Park City to meet up with my mom, Dexter, Jen, and Mike for dinner and to see the symphony at Deer Valley. They were having a Disney night. We sat on the side of the mountain and enjoyed the cool weather and some great music. They had a large screen set up down by the stage that played excerpts from the movies the pieces they played came from. We had a couple little girls sitting by us who danced the whole night. They were hilarious. It was a great night with great company!

Weekend Trip

This last month we decided to make a quick trip to CA to Ronny's parents house to restock our meat supply, get our fill of Papa's orchard, and see his sister Liz. She and her cute kids had come from New Jersey and we hadn't seen her in several years. Her oldest son is the closest cousin in age to our children. Her son and Sam are only a month apart and the last time they were together they were great playmates.

We left late Thursday afternoon and drove until the sun went down and the kids were done in the car. We made it all the way to Winnamucca, NV. We even found a hotel with 3 queen beds, real beds, not a sofa bed. This is pretty amazing considering how small this town is.

We made it into Turlock about 5:00 Pacific time the following day and were welcomed by all the cousins minus Aaron's family. Our kids were thrilled. They quickly found the water and were drenched in seconds. Anjanette drove up to from So Cal with Jackson and Deborah and Eric came over from the coast with their three so the house was packed. Thankfully a friend of the Bjarnason's offered for us to stay at her home while we were there. We jumped at the chance knowing this would alleviate the stress of so many using one bathroom and allowing us all the sleep in a bed as opposed to the floor, it was great! She also happened to have a pool which our children made good use of while we were there.

Saturday morning was cousin time and then we headed out to Livermore for Jon's 30th birthday party. We didn't quite realize how big the event was going to be and didn't anticipate spending so much time there but we had a great time. The house the party was at had a pool with a water slide from the back hill feeding into it. The kids had a blast. They were tired and worn out by the time we left, unfortunately we couldn't convince any of them to sleep on the way back.

We left right after Sacrament meeting the next day and arrived home about midnight Sunday night. It was a quick trip, really quick! (We spent more time in the car than we did in CA). We made it home with 3 coolers of meat and one large box of the best fruit you'll ever have! It was worth every minute of it!