Chef Play & Soapy Soccer

Last week time got away from me and we arrived so late for story time we completely missed the story.

But we didn't miss the fun.

We got there just in time to decorate our own chef hats.

Then sit, dip, and lick away at some chocolaty goodness.

It was a delightful way to spend the morning.

They indulged so much they hardly touched their lunch. It wasn't a very impressive meal anyway. With Dad out of town I've cooked very little.

After we dropped Ethan off at school Graham and I went over to his buddy C's house to hold his brand new baby brother little C. This meant Graham missed his nap playing away while I got some newborn cuddle time. Chris asked if it made me baby hungry and while we would gladly welcome another baby in our home no I was not in any way distraught that we don't have a new addition on the way.

Once school let out we met up with many, many of our friends to pass the 115-120 degree heat, with me sitting in the shade, and the boys playing in the splash fountain and on some awesome new playgroup equipment.

Recreation also started setting up Soapy Soccer for the older kids in the afternoon adjacent to where we were. Zach liked it until he took a hard ball to the chest knocking the wind out of him. Ethan just likes to go in and get in the way. Really only half the kids are playing soccer and the other half are just playing around and literally bouncing off the air filled walls.

These afternoon outings are about all we can do to just pass the darn last 2.5 weeks in this horrible heat.

Do You Know What This Means

It means everyone is getting along.

Does this ever happen in your house or in every room in this case?

I hate messes and clutter. For me less is definitely more.

But I'm willing to put up with the mess as it mutates and migrates from room to room if it means a blissful Saturday (or Thursday in our case)...

of siblings getting along in combined creative play.

Even if it means more work for me.

Snap Painting

More after school fun sponsored by the S* family.

They like Popsicles, just like we do.
Only their mom makes them from yogurt and mangoes.

They are a family of 5 just like we are except they are heavy on the pink and bows instead of sweat and dirt. Don't get me wrong, they like to get down and dirty too. Just wait and see.
They are also transplants from Anchorage. The craziest part is they lived about 3 blocks away from us. We both ran the same trails with our littles in the same type of Chariot. We both took our kids to the same park near our home. We are both just over 5' with brown hair and often get mistaken for one another when out running in camp.

Zach wasn't so sure he wanted to go hang out at the girls' house. We agreed that he would come and stay for at least 15 minutes and if after that he wanted to go he could ride his bike home.

But of course painting rubber bands and snapping the paint onto the paper below proved to be worth his time.

I'm so glad he decided to stay for the first 45 minutes instead because this masterpiece ended up being my favorite of the day.

Ethan loved this so much he can't wait to teach Aunt Lauren how to do it over the summer.
(Lauren, Please start collecting small boxes now because he will be ready to rumble as soon as we get there.)
Graham decided the rubber-bands were just too complicated and just used the old fashioned paint with brush method.

Some decided body art was more their style.

No matter because after some bubbles and sand play....

they all needed a dip and rinse in the pool.

Thanks Carrie for opening your home to us as well as your backyard. We definitely left our mark.

And thanks Not Just Cute for sharing the idea with us.

Keeping Cool After School

What do you do when it's 102 or 4 or 6 or 8?

Take a tandem dip with a friend while eating a Popsicle of course.

Slip, slide, and dive through water that is only a little less hot than the air temperature.

Last week in DHA we took the boys to the pool with slides. Graham loved the hot tub which was only slightly cooler than the outside temp.

Of course water play is always more fun with friends.

Happiness is also a bit of jumping on the trampoline with the water hose. Something I suggested to the boys that I and my siblings once loved to do in our youth.

Staying cool doesn't always involve water sports.

Try getting chased by a FRIGGED Yeti or "...evil disgusting monster of the mountains...," as Zach stated previously.

Some COOL Jedi moves are always refreshing especially while accompanied by the Star Wars theme song.

We so love having a green backyard again. It is so luscious it just begs you to run through it with your shoes off.

Thanks ARAMCO for the new grass and sprinklers.

It Goes On & On & On

Just like many of you we are on a two week Spring Break Count Down. Lucky for us our community is so jammed packed with events the time is just flying by. Wed. afternoon the weekend events kicked off with a parking lot Coloring Contest.

Kids from Elementary age on down gathered to show off not only their art skills but juice box consumptions skills for fun and prizes.

Graham hung out with his best bud "C".

Randy, C's Dad, who was only trying to help suddenly became part of the masterpiece and by the end of the event was covered in chalk marks from the little guys.

Now for the bigger boys. I was so proud of the boys not because their art work, although their depiction of the ultimate Death Star Battle was impressive, but something else made them stand out even more.

Often when it comes to prize time it turns to mayhem. The kids gathered around the prize table and with each name called they took a step closer. I'm not sure why they didn't make the kids just sit down but by the end the table was so crowded it became a free for all with even some parents grabbing several gifts over kids heads. Frankly I was disgusted. Then there was Zach, Ethan, and Zach's friend C. Who stood there not grabbing, not stealing, not pushing, hoping their names would be called. As everything was swiped from the table just in front of them they turned to me with devastated faces. C's lip began to quiver, Zach couldn't take it and started to cry, and Ethan was totally confused as to what had just happened before his eyes, and I was left to clean up the mess of trampled hopes with these 3 boys.

I immediately consoled them and explained how PROUD I was of them for just standing there patiently and not getting involved in the chaos. I was disturbed by what I had just witnesses, (adults shoving kids out of the way for gifts), I decided the boys definitely earned a reward for their proper behavior and I took them to the commissary for a treat of their choice. They were pretty happy about that and by the time we got home Chris was ready and waiting with a yummy Tiramisu.

We drove up our main hill to what we call the Tent for a Fitness Club Celebration. It was a pasta party to carb up for the Annual 3 Peak Road race the following day and celebrate our friend Greg's 3rd place finish in the Kili[man]jaro Adventure Challenge . This event is INSANE they really do try and kill you by:

• summit Kilimanjaro (5895 m) over 6 days (this is not raced)
• compete in a two day mountain bike race around Kilimanjaro (246 km) and
• finish the Kilimanjaro Marathon (42,2 km).

Check it out on the link above.

As soon as that event ended I quickly returned home to scrub all the "little boys smell" off me and get gussied up for a ladies night out sponsered by the Arabic Women's Group. Alas I have no pictures of this event because all the veils were off. But let me tell you this when those Abayah's come off the grooves come on and those ladies like to boogie. It was fun to get really dressed up and see the fancy dresses from other cultures and FINALLY see some of my neighbors face to face. There are some really beautiful women hiding in those black sheets.

Weekly Trip

Two weeks ago all the boys wanted to dress up for our weekly trip to Dhahran. Even Graham wanted to wear a tie. After the pictures they spent (at least the two oldest) the rest of the morning fighting over who looked most like a Prophet, Bishop, and 1st or 2nd Counselor.

Then for FHE last week talked about Treasures and that when we listen to the counsel of the Prophet during Conference we build up a Treasure Chest of Treasures to use in our lives.

When it came time for our weekly trip to DHA. Chris was working nights in the field and Graham had a nasty head cold. The kind you don't want to put him in nursery because he'll slime all the kids and toys. So we decided to stay home and watch Conference instead.

What an amazing day. During the morning session I asked the boys to sit quietly and watch at least one talk....and they DID! For the rest of the two hour block we colored and made a cut out Liahona. So I actually got to hear it.

Then by the time we got around to the afternoon session Graham was napping and I told Ethan he could play inside or out but had to do so quietly. But Zach chose to sit with me and listen. He really perked up during L. Lawrence's talk on Courageous Parenting. I knew he was listening intently because he would pause the talk and ask really good questions and wanted to discuss what had been said. He was surprised to learn there were so many things I had been doing as a parent such as limiting video games, and doing late overs instead of sleep overs that had a deeper purpose then to just make his life difficult.

By the end of the talk I was pretty much in tears because I felt like I'd actually done a few things right as a parent and Zach was totally getting it and we just had this moment together that was so great. Is this what it feels like to have your children grow up and mature a bit because if so I like it and want more of it.

Then after it was all over I was telling Zach how proud I was of him for sitting, listening, and asking such great questions for a complete two hours. He then told me, "Mom I was just storing up treasures." It totally took me off guard as I had forgotten about the FHE lesson but...
he hadn't.

Still Here

I'm still here but after that Italy blogging overload I decided to take a break and FINALLY got to start this:

I'm 3/4 of the way done and it's pretty intense.

Boyz At The Zoo

Boyz, Boyz, Boyz, and their moms.

Not sure
who was

the WILDEST?



These guys

or

these

guys?

Mine were..... hands down.

These bears aren't living the Big Wild Life (AK State Theme).

But we are as we raise our three little monkeys.