What Is Going On???

Hello folks,  this is Robert... For those of you who don't know... Laura is out of town for the week in Las Vegas... 

• I could say it was business  (its not), 
  
• I could say there was a great sale on breathable shoes at the forum in Caesars (there wasn't) 
  
• I could say that the aliens flipped a switch and caused her to goose step zombie style to the mother ship to become more familiar with the phrase  "How to serve man"  (for those of you who don't know my sense of humor... go here...) (but they didn't…I'm not saying some day they won't!)

I could say that my sister Kelli has had a rough couple of months and needed to take some time off and my wife went to join her... and while it is the truth... it is a lot more boring than you were hoping for...

Laura will be going in to work for a day or two, (not too much.. hey, this is supposed to be fun!) but is planning on doing shopping, hair done, movies, and staying up late in PJ's playing cards and eating Ben and Jerry's. 

So, I thought I would jot down a few things that are going on around here.  

Amazingly enough, we made it to church, on time, shirts ironed (I actually like to iron), faces clean and scriptures in hand.  It was a good sacrament meeting.  Sister Lamb gave an outstanding talk on keeping the commandments when we don't want to.  Then Sister Hawkins spoke.  Again, another wonderful talk asking us to be obedient, when it is hard.  Finally Jodi's husband spoke.  That is a rarity, because he is in the Bishopric.  That doesn't happen often. 

Jared and Sarah lazed all over me but were mostly quiet. 

The rest of the day was enjoyed by having a good lunch, tomato soup and an outrageous tuna salad (I love it with celery). 

Dishes were done, clothes folded, songs sung, Sarah and I read 38 pages of "Charlotte's Web" and in the evening we read scriptures... what a good day. 

Oh, and we went out and said hi to our pet spider.  She (he???) comes out every evening at sunset and begins to spin a web.  It is a large web between our house and our tree.  The circle is probably about 4 feet in diameter. 

I went out before bed last night (around midnight) and it was sitting in the middle happy as a ... spider in a web...and this morning (6:30 am) it was still in the middle.  At 8:00 Jared and I went out and the web had been removed.. and the spider was getting comfy for the rest of the day. 

Anyway... just a note. 

 Since my wife is away... somebody has to blog... I told Laura I would spell check... but punctuation and grammar might be too much for I to do. 

R

Court of Honor

Riley had his first Court of Honor last night. He earned his Tenderfoot rank and seven merit badges. He has one small hike to do to earn Second Class and a few other things to earn First Class. He also has six merit badges in progress. It won't be long before he's working on his Eagle project the way he's going. He enjoys scouting and is doing very well with it and that makes me happy.

Riley's New Toy

Riley has been able to earn a lot of money this summer by doing yard work, babysitting, and other jobs. He's always been very careful with his money and has saved up quite a bit. I think it's great that he's done this. We were at the store the other day and he saw this "Ripstick" and said he's been wanting one. It was about $70 and I told him he could get it. It took him about two seconds to decide that he would get it. He has had a lot of fun and is very good at riding on it. It's a combination between skateboard, snowboard, and something else I can't think of right now. There are two wheels which swivel and are like inline skate wheels. It seems a little dangerous to me, but it's also a good work out. I'm pleased that he was able to save and spend his money on something he really wanted. He still has a lot of money left. Good for him!

Movie Making

(Written by Robert)

We started making a movie on the 18th of August. Not that Spielberg has anything to worry about, but we are trying to create a DVD movie for Christmas this year. It takes a few minutes and highlights each member of the family and one of their talents. We started by filming Sarah making chocolate chip cookies. There must have been 15 takes, and we learned that it is hard to coach a 6-year-old. We all had a good time and we are looking forward to the other shoots we have planned. Some of these include the neighborhood pool, at the church, out on a street, and even train tracks. We will keep you posted on what is going on as the events progress.

Just in Case

Robert started a blog, but then he asked if he could just use this one. So, I said yes and I finally moved the posts from that blog to this blog, but they are dated back in May. They are the very first four posts on this blog, so if you want to read them, go ahead and look in the archives in May 2008.

First Day of School!

(Updated 8/15/08 - Pictures of Nicole and Riley at the bottom.)

I wasn't ready a week ago, but I've adjusted. It's good the kids go back when they do. It's always just in time before I lose my sanity. Okay, the summer wasn't that bad, but I was running out of ideas to keep them busy. I was also trying to work, and that isn't very exciting for anyone. It was a great summer and we were very busy.

I'm so glad my kids are good students. Nicole (8th grade) and Riley (7th grade) are in advanced classes and Nicole even has three classes that count for high school credit! Jared (3rd grade) is reading beyond a 7th grade level and Sarah (1st grade) just loves school and learns everything quickly. I hope this year is fun for all of them, and me too. Next year I'll have a high schooler...that makes me nervous. I don't know if it's because I have to be pretty old to have someone in high school, or because of seminary, or because she'll be closer to driving, or what. I'm just nervous.

I got pictures of Jared and Sarah leaving for school, but my brain wasn't all the way awake when Nicole and Riley left. I'll have to get pictures of them coming home from the first day. I promise to add them to this post.



Notice how the first two pictures look a little hazy and the third one is clearer? I cleaned the lens of the camera. It's amazing the difference it made. I don't know why it's constantly dirty... Also, Jared got a haircut last night. I think his hair was two inches long. Now it's a much more manageable 5/8 inch. Yay!

Nicole and Riley came home from school very happy. I didn't expect them to be thrilled about school, but I had hoped they would be able to get by without too much trouble. They were both sooooo excited about their teachers and friends. I was very surprised at their enthusiasm for this year. That sure makes things nice for everyone. Middle School can be hard and I hope they continue to enjoy this year.

I think Riley was too anxious to get inside to smile. I took several pictures and this was the best I got. Oh well, he said he had a great day.

Haircut

Sarah takes really good care of her hair. We had let it grow really long, but it was constantly in her face. She doesn't like to wear many things in her hair. She's okay with headbands, but her hair was so heavy they would always end up on her forehead. I told her it was time for a cut. It takes so long to brush it and school was starting soon, so it was a great time to make the change.

She's really behind all that hair. She was really patient with me and was actually okay with me chopping about eight inches off. I wish I was trained even a little bit in giving haircuts. I had all these great ideas of what would be cute, but I just couldn't do it. I was too nervous to do what I wanted to try and mess it up completely. So she got a straight cut and I actually did have to recut the next day because I'm not very good.

It turned out very cute and now headbands actually stay inher hair. I'm glad that she's still got nice hair left on her head after my inexperienced haircut. She's getting so big and is such a good girl.