Second Track and Field Meet of the Season

Benjamin is preparing for his race very soon.  One of his coach's came up to him and bumped fists together.

Benjamin was going to

English and Science Research Paper

Although Benjamin has a smile on his happy face, he normally wouldn't be smiling while working on homework.   Write more later.

Benjamin's First Track and Field Meet

Look at Benjamin go at his first Track & Field Meet.

The Soccer Siblings

First soccer game of the season and the soccer siblings finished up having their team photos and they are off to play. Benjamin and Emma were the only ones that had games today. Anna's game will be on Wednesday.

I'm pretty sure that Anna and Emma are taller than they appear here, but the ground they are standing on is lower than Benjamin's so it shows a larger gap in height.

Benjamin's team is Blur, Anna's is Cobras, and Emma's is Flames. Emma's team didn't put a team name on their shirt and they just settled on a name right before pictures were taken today.

Their Aunt Yolanda came to watch part of Benjamin and Emma's games with Brenna and Devin. They finished up their games earlier and had a little bit of time to grab a bite to eat and arrive at half time. Emma's team lost, Benjamin's team won, and Anna's team didn't play today. Regardless of who won or lost, the kids had a win-win situation today. Their Aunt Yolanda went shopping to IKEA afterwards and their cousins, Brenna and Devin, came home and played for a while. After the shopping, Anna and Emma went back with their cousins to sleep at their house. I'm sure they had fun.

Since Emma was not here, that left Benjamin more in charge of Cameron while I met Clinton after the Priesthood Leadership Meeting and attended the Adult Session of Stake Conference with him. When Emma is around, Cameron does get looked after and played with a little bit more. Hopefully all was well with Benjamin, Justin, and Cameron.

I loved attending the meeting. All the talks were great. Justin McPheters, a member of our Woodridge 1st Ward, a High Council member, a LDS Family Services therapist, and friend was one of the speakers. This is his last time speaking in the area since his family is moving to Utah on April 27th. I will miss their family greatly.

Easter Egg Hunt at the Potters

Once again, another Easter Egg Hunt. This time it was at the Potter's house. They live right behind us in the culdesac.

Easter Egg Hunt at the Fishers

Once the Easter Egg Hunt began, Benjamin took off to help Justin first before finding his own.

Cameron's First Easter Egg Hunt

How EGG-citing it was today to help Cameron collect eggs at his first Easter Egg Hunt. He loved looking at all of the colorful eggs that were spread all throughout the gym of the church. It would have been outside, but the high today was suppose to be 55 degrees, so it was held inside.

As I held Cameron with my hands, I tried to lean his towards the ground low enough to reach the eggs. Most of the time the eggs would be bumped by one hand and begin to roll all around and away from the other hand. Occasionally, he would be coordinated enough to grasp it with two hands at once. When he did do this, he was successful in picking up the eggs. Of course, Cameron tried putting all of the eggs he collected inside his mouth. Cameron was fortune to find a "chick" egg. Anna and Clinton helped Natalie Chandler hide all of the eggs and Clinton took pictures, too.

There were a bunch of families at the church today for the Easter egg hunt. The bulk of the children were 4 years of age and under. Everyone was suppose to bring 10 eggs per child. Since Benjamin was involved with track, it was only Anna, Emma, Justin, and Cameron, but that's alright, we have an Easter egg hunt on Friday at the Fishers and one on Saturday at a neighbor's house (Will and Aubrey Potter). Benjamin should be able to get some treats then.

With having three different Easter egg hunts and our own Easter, hopefully the kids can be taught more about the true meaning of Easter and not focus on the eggs, candy, and the Easter Bunny. This is another opportunity to teach our children about Christ.

Track and Field Running

Clinton found out Monday night from some neighbor girls, Hannah & Esther Mitre, that Track & Field practices started that day after school.

We were not sure if Benjamin had wanted to do it, but he had talked about it before. We spoke to him and he said no. We suggested that he go Tuesday for practice and see what it's all about. Well, he went and decided that he did want to do it. He is one of the fastest runners there I believe.

One of the benefits of us living on Woodridge Drive is that the cross country team and the track & field team run right in front of our house. This is one of a few routes they take. This picture is being taken as he is running towards our house and he is second in the front.

His running will greatly improve his soccer ability this season and continuing his soccer will help his running for track. I don't know which category he will participate in, but I'm excited to see what he picks and how he does. Hopefully, too, these athletic sports will instill a love of exercising throughout life as he sees and feels the benefits of doing it.

Spring Soccer Season Begins

The hustle and bustle of another spring soccer season has begun. Benjamin has soccer practices on Mondays and Fridays from 5:30-6:30pm on the Cypress Cove field. Anna has soccer practices on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00-7:00pm on the Sunnydale field.

Benjamin's coach is the same coach he had last season. They had a good season, but the times they lost were to the same good team. I don't know how evenly matched the 4 teams will be, but last season 2 teams were good and the other 2 teams struggled. Some of the players on Benjamin's team have been on his team before. He knows

Anna's coach is someone new. The only person she has had on her team before is Nolan. She does know some of the other people from playing against them other soccer seasons such as Eric, Aubrey, Melissa, and Thomas.

Emma has yet to hear from a coach and find out when and where her practices begin. I spoke with a person at the Woodridge Park District and they are discussing this with the Woodridge Soccer Association (WSA) to find out. I believe they had a coach before and then something fell through. Who knows if she will get to play if they don't get a coach.

Justin can't wait until he can play soccer next fall. I think he'll play well. Cameron will probably pick up soccer pretty quick just like Justin, since he will end up with 4 siblings playing the sport. Our Saturdays will be busy, but I'll enjoy it.

National Junior Honor Society Induction Ceremony

NJHS

Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox, What Time Is It?

I don't know what got Justin thinking about Mr. Fox, but during dinner the discussion started. He wondered where he had played that game. I remembered it was from swim lessons this past summer at Cypress Cove.

It was a game Justin and his swim class would play towards the end of their lesson. It was good practice for them to be reaching and stretching their arms to catch people just like they would use them to swim. It was a fun way to practice something useful.

Justin enjoyed the game during his swim lessons, so after dinner, the kids began playing. As you can see here, Benjamin is Mr. Fox and he is trying to get Anna, Emma, and Justin. Anna is a little further ahead than Emma and Justin, and probably the only safe one. It looks like Justin has tumbled to the floor and that Emma is about to drop like her brother.

There are different variations online of how you could play, but here's how we played the game based on how Justin learned it:

Mr. Fox starts out at one end of a field, room, or designated area with his back to the group. The group at the other end then yells out “Mr. Fox, Mr. Fox, what time is it?” Mr. Fox then calls out a time that is on the even hour (1 o'clock - 12 o'clock). The group then takes that many steps towards Mr. Fox. As people get closer to Mr. Fox and continue to ask him what time it is, he can answer, "It's lunch time" and begin chasing them to tag them. Mr. Fox can continue to tag everyone, if he wants to, but the first person tagged is Mr. Fox for the next round.

Another variation I saw online is similar to how Justin played, but once people are near Mr. Fox and ask him again, he yells out, "Midnight" instead. Mr. Fox then turns around and chases the group. Those that he catches are to sit out. The last one left becomes the fox. Another variation is to allow each child who is tagged to become an honorary fox and help catch people.

Swinging in the Sun on a Saturday

Saturday is a special day, it's the day we get ready for Sunday. When the kids first woke up, they headed downstairs to watch tv. I told them they needed to come up at a certain time to eat breakfast.

Following breakfast, they all needed to put away their laundry baskets of clothes before playing any wii games. Benjamin hurried up and did his, so he could go play "How To Train Your Dragon". I thought it was funny that the movie Clinton checked out and the wii game that I checked out where for the same thing. We didn't even plan it that way.

While Benjamin played (and I think Justin watched him play), Anna, Emma and I tackled their room and closet. It was horrendous. We spent quite a bit of time in there. Benjamin ended his game at a certain time and everyone continued to clean up their rooms and have lunch.

Around 2:00pm, Clinton had planned to take whichever kids wanted, and were ready with their rooms, to the park. I didn't figure he would be gone so long, but Benjamin decided to play at home first on the game and bike over a little later. By the time he biked over to Castaldo Park, they weren't there. They had headed to various places and ended up at the Woodridge Community Park District playground. Emma stayed behind to finish up her room. Of course, I continued helping her. Finally, around 4:00pm we finished, so I dropped her off at the playground where Clinton, Anna, and Justin were playing. Luckily, she got the chance to play. She would have been extremely sad if she missed that chance.

Once everyone was home, it was time for taking showers, fixing dinner, and eating. It was an amazing dinner of one of our family's favorites - biscuits and gravy along with potatoes. What a good way to celebrate a productive day. Although I was busy the entire day, I really enjoyed it. The boys' room could still use a little cleaning up, but their room and the girls' room is much better. I have a lot more to tackle this next week. My desire is to get more cleaned up prior to Spring Break, so we can enjoy it a little more. We may also set up a little trip during that week, so it will help if things get prepared earlier.

Hooray, ISAT Tests Are Over For the Week

It's Friday night, Benjamin's ISAT tests have ended, Anna and Emma made it through their week of ISAT tests and have one more day next week, and all they want to do is relax.

I stopped by the library today and checked out a few wii games and a movie. Clinton also checked out a few movies while he was there. The movie they decided to watch was, "How To Train Your Dragon".

It is a good movie. I believe we have all watched it before, but it has been a while. It was nice for them to relax a little after dinner. I'm sure tomorrow they will want to play some of the wii games, so I think a little room cleaning will be needed first. Benjamin and Justin did most of their room tonight.

Initially, I told the kids that whomever would finish up their room first, could play a game. Benjamin and Justin did start on their room right away and once Benjamin was finished (to his satisfaction), he went to play. His room does look better, but it is nowhere near what I want it to look like. :)

Anna and Emma will need to begin their cleaning tomorrow. Hooray to get things clean (or at least cleaner).

Buffalo Wild Wings

Tonight was our school's restaurant fundraiser night at Buffalo Wild Wings. I don't think we have been there in quite some time. The last time we've gone there was probably over a year ago. Prior to that, we had gone maybe a few times a year the last few years. Our school would have fundraiser nights each year, plus we would come on other occasions.

Buffalo Wild Wings use to be under different management and Wednesday night (their Kid's Night), they would have $1.99 kid meals with free ice cream topping bar, raffles, and face painting. I believe that manager has since moved to another location. I don't know if he does the same things there, but it was fun.

Benjamin wasn't sure what to get, but he was looking over the kid menu and noticed that two of the chicken tender kid meals were cheaper than a regular chicken tender meal. I know Benjamin would normally want to seem older to everyone, but this is the only time he is thrilled to be young - he still qualified as "12 and under", so he took advantage of it, but one meal would not be enough for his appetite.

Anna, Emma, and Justin received kid menus and crayons in their paper bag, plus a piece of candy. Emma had a Reese's peanut butter cup, but since Anna and Justin had smaller candy, they actually received two pieces. They thought it was nice.

Clinton tried out the hand-held device that they have. You can login and play trivia games that have the questions displayed on their large tv screens inside the restaurant. I think he won one of the games and lost another. There is no real prize except knowing you did well. :)

Everybody ordered a meal, but Clinton asked if we could try a black bean burger that is suppose to be healthy. He heard about it on the Doctor Oz show. Wow, the things you can see and learn from watching shows during the day when you "work" from home.

We had a good time and ate delicious food, but I think I may have to hunt down that other manager and see if he does a special kid's night. I think it would be more worth it to go back for that.

Best of Buds, Tired and Together

Although Justin's bed is the top bunk, he sleeps with Benjamin almost every night in his bed. Justin knows that he should only sleep with Benjamin when it is not a school night, but that still doesn't stop him. He may crawl into his bed before falling asleep or crawl down during the night.

It is important that they both get their rest during the school week and this week it is even more important. ISAT testing started this week for the kids. Anna and Emma started today and Benjamin will begin his testing tomorrow. He also has Jazz band tomorrow morning at 7:00am, so he should be awake sooner than usual.

It is usually hard to wake up Benjamin without waking up Justin if they are sleeping together. Good thing for Justin that Benjamin loves him a lot. Benjamin has told me on more than one occasion that he loves having Justin sleep with him because he is such a warm body. He generally doesn't need many blankets when he sleeps with him. As you can see, Benjamin is actually sleeping without a shirt in the middle of winter (although this winter has been extremely, and strangely mild).

I'm not sure if Justin chose to sleep at the foot of Benjamin's bed or if he was asked to do that. Once I laid Cameron down I went into their room to take a picture. Benjamin's head popped up and he asked me if I took a picture of him. I guess he wasn't quite asleep yet. I told him he was in it a little bit, but that I wanted to take a picture of Justin since he was about to fall off the bed. I know he wouldn't like it if he knew I was posting this picture and blogging about him. Gotta love that boy! :)

"March Forth"

Today is March Fourth and I decided that we as a family would "March Forth" and do good service each year on March 4th, so tonight it began.

I don't recall where I had heard of this idea before, but it had been some time from when I heard it to actually putting it into action. I felt this was a good way to involve the kids in doing good (not like we don't do it already). I had Benjamin, Anna, Emma, and Justin choose 2 families each to deliver cookies to and share our little idea and say thank you.

Benjamin and Clinton had already been involved in service that day by driving around and collecting fast offerings for church. Benjamin was gone for about 2 1/2 hours and Clinton was gone for about 3 1/2 hours. Since our ward started doing this as an assignment for the YM each Fast Sunday, Benjamin has gone on a route with Brother Adam Froerer and Brother Trevor Ricks. He has a blast with them. I am glad he gets to spend additional time with them outside of Sunday and Tuesday activities. I think because of the time he spent with them today, he chose those two families to deliver cookies to tonight.

Anna selected Amelia Korbitz's family. Amelia is in 5th grade and she is in Anna's class. I would say Amelia is probably her best friend at school and she has known her since Kindergarten. She and her family are very kind. They have another daughter who is younger than Emma, but they have a lot of fun playing together. Whenever Anna gets to play with Amelia, Emma gets to go play with Francesca. It makes the playing so much more enjoyable for everyone. The other family she chose was Lindsay Pluister's family. She has known her a long time and has even had her dad as a soccer coach before. When Anna delivered the cookies to them the dad answered the door and she said, "Happy March 4th. I am 'Marching Forth' to do good service". He said he was very glad to have a treat since their whole family had been ill for a while.

Earlier this evening, Lindsay's mom called to see if Anna told me thank you. She said that was the best thing that had happened to them all week. They had been sick since Monday and they haven't gone anywhere, done anything, or felt great. They are on the mend finally and sure appreciated it. She said that whatever made Anna choose them, she chose the right house. I felt very pleased about that and I shared the conversation with Anna. I told her that I was glad she chose that family and whatever made her think of them was the Holy Ghost prompting her to do so, and that I was proud of her for acting on the inspiration given to her.

Emma chose friends from school, too. The first family was Rylan Gaspar's family. She and Rylan have known each other since Kindergarten and are currently serving together as Student Council representatives for their 3rd grade class with Ms. Brackett. Emma has also had her dad as a soccer coach before. Rylan comes from a great family. The other family she chose was Cady Murphy's. Cady was in Kindergarten and 1st grade with Emma, but she skipped 2nd grade and advanced to 3rd grade. When Anna was in 4th grade, she and Cady Murphy had Mrs. Neylon together for the 3rd/4th grade Literacy Enrichment Class. Even though they don't get together regularly since she is not in Emma's grade, she still wanted to do something nice for her.

Justin selected Will Potter's family. Will is a Kindergarten boy that lives in the culdesac behind our house. His family is very friendly and they had been kind to let Justin come and play for a while, especially after I had Cameron. Will is probably Justin's best neighborhood friend. The other family he chose was Peter Anderson's family. Peter is Justin's best friend/church friend.

Tonight was just a small way we could show our appreciation for the friendship and service these families offer to us.

A New Addition To The Family

Benjamin and Justin were having fun with the new addition to the family, Ethan Kinnear. Although he may not look it, Ethan is Benjamin's age and in 7th grade. The two boys were having fun with him tonight while Cameron kept watching all of the action right in front of him.

Ethan's parents called during our dinner with the missionaries to see if he could earn any additional community service hours before Monday, March 5th. He and his family attended our ward Chili Cook Off last weekend and we discussed this topic. He even stayed afterwards for 1/2 hour to help clean up. Ethan and Benjamin are working towards being inducted into the National Junior Honor Society (NJHS).

In order to join, you must attend all mandatory meetings, need to have 20 community service hours per year, two of the total hours must be performed at their junior high doing peer tutoring on a Thursday - one hour each semester, complete and turn in their NJHS application, uphold the five pillars of the NJHS, pay a $5 membership dues each year, and maintain a minimum 3.0 GPA. At least 10 of those hours need to be completed by the March 5th deadline in order to be inducted into the NJHS at a special induction ceremony on March 14th.

Benjamin has no problem achieving his community service hours. With YM/Scouts and church, he has it covered. He already has 40 hours from Thanksgiving until now. They started later in the school year and told the kids they could count their time from Thanksgiving and continuing. If we could have counted hours from the beginning of the school year, Benjamin would have a ton more. The YM, EQ, and High Priests are in a rotation to mow at a Women's Shelter. He has put in several hours over there this school year and will start up again once the mowing begins.

Ethan needed another hour of community service by Monday in order for him to be eligible. We gave a suggestion of cleaning up a park or the grounds of the Woodridge Community Park District building. If he needed someone to work with, we sort of volunteered Benjamin to go. He told us that would be fine. Benjamin didn't mind doing this with his friend. We drove over and dropped him off at the park district building and planned to pick him up in one hour.

Clinton went to go pick up Benjamin, but passed Ethan's dad on the way over. They dropped him off for us and Ethan ended up staying for a while. Justin loves hanging out with Benjamin's friends and he is good about letting Justin hang out with him and his friends, too. Ethan is like a brother, but from a different mother. A picture of him and his three "brothers" was needed, so here it is. Thanks for the fun evening Ethan!

Family Fun Night @ Meadowview

I'll blog about it in the morning.

The Museum of Science and Industry - Jefferson Pride Team Fieldtrip

I'll let Clinton detail this picture since he was one of the chaperones on the trip. He was the chaperone in charge of Benjamin's group.

Leap Day - Let's Leap and Roll

I'll write about this one tomorrow.