It's a good life.

I am just going to start off with some cute pics of the boys.

So this week for FHE I did a little lesson on emergency preparedness with the boys. I have some backpacks for the boys to grab under their beds.  We talked and walked through it all and then started discussing what to do if there is a fire and earthquake and such.  Drew with his blanket and thumb in his mouth really starts to get this concerned face and asks, "when is this going to happen?"  In order to comfort him I tell him that it isnt really going to happen, we just need to be prepared.  His response was, "so you were just trickin us?" He said in a quiet, kinda "that was totally rude" sorta tone and eye brows raised.  Hee hee. It was funny. 
We had parent teacher conference for Jensen this week.  His teacher said he was doing great, mostly.  She couldn't tell me what level he was reading on.  As she would test him he would get most the words wrong. She would go down a level and same result, until she was down below average and was still getting the same result. He has been doing the same thing at home and we decided that he just tries to go fast.  He doesnt care if he gets the words right he just wants to be fast and done.  Hmmmm, that is weird, my child going 100 mph.  Oh, Mrs. Paepke,that is how we function.  She also said that he should be able to sit and read for 15 min and he cant sit still for 5 min.  Also something I already knew.  At home while reading he is doing summersaults on the couch and laying upside down with his head bobbing off the end. Needless to say we have some reading things to work on, but he is very smart and enjoys math.  He just doesn t have the patience for reading, at least not yet.  It reminded me of a story my mom told me of my brother Alex.  When he was in first grade his teacher said during their reading time at school he sat in the back rolling his head in circle for half an hour. Although she told my mom something is wrong with him.  Alex claims that he really thinks he has ADHD and I am waiting for one of Jensens teachers to tell me he has that, but I think we are just going to deal with it.  No testing or labels, we just have to figure out how to help him learn skills and how to be successful.....at least that is the plan for now.
I got a call from Jensen's teacher this week.  Whenever I see the school calling I get a little anxious.  I have had calls before telling me Jensen has been sent to the principals office, yes, he is only in 1st grade. Luckily, Jensen just fell in the mud at recess and needed a change of clothes.  I was happy to go see him and change his clothes.  Then about 2 hrs later, when he returned home from school he had mud all over him again.  Must have had so much fun at recess.

This weekend we went to Kalli's cabin for Joels 30th birthday earlier this month.  We went with all the Smith siblings, except Jon and Melissa (they live in DC), whom we were missing more than ever this last weeknd, and no children.  We just stayed over one night and played games, watched movies and played in the snow.  It is hard to believe that we found snow, but we did, high in the mountains.

Of course getting pulled behind the 4 wheeler was fun, but not good enough.

They had to build a jump and Justin was the first to test it out.