September Slideshow & Newsletter

Here's some of our family adventures this past month...

FAMILY:  The beginning of September was spent at Enterprise Reservoir for Labor Day weekend. We had such a great time catching fish (Heidi caught a bass, Jason caught a bass & trout & crawdads, and the girls caught some baby bass), riding bikes, roasting marshmallows, playing games, listening to the crazy rainstorm at night, and playing and playing in mud. The St. George Hamiltons even came up and joined us for a lot of Saturday & brought some fun 4-wheelers. What a fun weekend! The 6^th was our ward party & we had fun visiting & getting to meet some new people!  The 9^th was Sunday & it was McKinley’s 7^th birthday! Happy Birthday McKinley! See her section for more details on the fun. The 9^th was also the day that Heidi & Jason spoke in church. It went well, but Jason didn’t have much time at the end for his awesome talk L Heidi spoke from the talk “Coming to Ourselves” by Elder Hales & Jason spoke on “How to Obtain Revelation” by Elder Scott. The 10^th was South Elementary’s back to school bash. The girls had so much fun riding the train, doing the jumpy slide, and McKinley even got to do the walk-on-water bubble. Ireland & McKinley had fun seeing their school friends & teachers. On the 13^th, Grandma & Grandpa Potts came down & stayed with us for a couple days. They took McKinley out for her birthday date, did lots of piggyback rides, read lots of books, did some crafts, went for a walk, and on the 15^th, we got to go cheer Grandpa Potts on in the Cedar Half Marathon. He did great & took 3^rd place in his age group. Way to go Grandpa! Jason also got to see his friend, Brady Nielson & his family there as well. That evening we got to go to the block party with our Herriman friends, the Hooks. McKinley had so much fun reconnecting with Alyssa & we all had fun dancing to the live music, playing in the bounce house, eating yummy food, and free cotton candy. It was an all-around great time J On the 20^th, we headed to St. George. The adults went to the temple and then afterwards we had a little mini birthday party for the September birthdays – McKinley, Daken & Jeff. It was a great time! The 22^nd we had fun going to a swap meet in the morning, McDonald’s for lunch, checking out our lot in Enoch, going up to Woods Ranch to see the leaves, walking up to the fishing pond, and then meeting our friends at the park for a potluck. The 23^rd was the special temple dedication for the Brigham City temple & we had the Johnson kids over in the morning – Jason made pancakes & we had fun building temples out of marshmallows & toothpicks – while Heather & Dustin went to the 9am session, then our kids went over there & we went to the noon session. It was neat! On the 30^th , we made a quick trip over to Richfield to celebrate Aunt Kim’s birthday. It was great to see everyone & eat some yummy food!

JASON: September was a busy month for Jason with his boss gone and end of fiscal year arrangements to be done, but he did a great job & we’re all glad that a new fiscal year has begun. He’s enjoyed his calling in with the priests & getting to know everyone. Jason has been working on some family history & one night stayed up till 2am! He thinks he may have found his great-great-grandma on his dad’s side, so he’s pretty excited. He’s also started to read Lord of the Rings again J

 HEIDI: When we went camping over Labor Day weekend, Heidi slipped down the trailer stairs & really hurt her lower back. Thankfully, she & the baby were fine, though. She had her checkup this month & everything looked good. She really is looking forward to holding her baby boy in her arms finally. Heidi enjoys teaching the 6 year-olds and she enjoys visiting teaching & getting to know the ladies in the ward. She stays busy going to playgroup in the old ward & the new ward & she’s finishing up Kezia’s birthday book. She finished a Scottish historical novel called “Thorn in my Heart” this month, which was pretty good. On the 29^th, Jason watched the girls while Jason went to the Relief Society General Broadcast with Elise Dixon. It was great food and wonderful messages.

McKINLEY:

-McKinley continues to enjoy first grade. Her teacher, Mrs. Robb, had some hard times at the beginning of the year including sickness & some funerals, so that was hard, but things seem to be better now. Mrs. Robb said that McKinley is one of her very favorite students & she’s doing so well. She’s already passed off all her sight words for the year. Her friends in her class are Alyssa & Aurora & Gracie. She has a crush on Casen and Daniel & makes a heart with her hands & shows them J She’s also been learning lots of hand-clapping games at school & she really loves lunchtime. She sits by Ireland on the bus on the way to school & she sits by Olivia on the way home. She also likes to sit by her friend, Jenny.

-McKinley says she wants to be a teacher when she grows up AND a mom. She says “I know it’s hard word and I like hard work.”

-On the 8^th, McKinley went to a birthday party for Aiden in her class. It was a circus theme & was pretty amazing with magicians & face painting & game booths. McKinley even came home with a goldfish! (which, unfortunately, only lived for 2 days L

-McKinley turned 7 this month!! She was so very excited for her birthday. It was on a Sunday, so it was a little different than other birthdays, but it was still a lot of fun. She wanted the cereal Crave for breakfast & then she opened a couple gifts & we headed to church. Mom and Dad both mentioned McKinley’s birthday in their church talks & she got to wear the birthday hat & get sung to in Primary. Mom was teaching her primary class, so she brought cupcakes & we all had some J Since everyone knew it was her birthday, she got LOTS of Happy Birthday wishes at church.  For lunch, McKinley wanted homemade pizza, so we had fun making those when we got home from church. McKinley got to find more presents after that – including an MP3 player! She was SO very excited about that & has told most everyone that she got an MP3 player. We worked on setting it up & getting it going. For dinner, she requested Navajo Tacos & then we Skyped with the Potts & we all sang Happy Birthday to her while she blew out the candles on her cake. From mom & dad, McKinley got a Barbie coloring book, an MP3 player, a jacket, a farkol card game, some nail polish & some lip gloss. She got a Barbie, a shirt, a hat & some money from Grandma Devenish. Grandma Potts got her a birdhouse & a hummingbird feeder. Lots of great gifts! She’s VERY excited to be 7, though she asked mom what she gets to do now that she’s 7 & mom just said “go to first grade!”
-Mom & dad stayed up late with her on her birthday, looked at her birthday book & told her how special she is in our family. Afterwards, we played her new Farkol game. The baby was really active in mommy’s tummy, so McKinley got to feel him. Apparently he wanted to put on a show for her birthday because he just kept moving all around & kicking her hand &McKinley was laughing so hard that she was crying! J

-After dad had had a couple of really busy, late days at work, McKinley decided he deserved breakfast in bed, so she made him some chocolate milk and got his cereal ready in his bowl & brought it to him. It was so sweet J

-One Sunday, mom worked with McKinley to learn how to finger knit. She has really taken off with it & made at least 7 bracelets for family & friends!

-McKinley was supposed to give a scripture in primary & she decided to read 1 Nephi 3:7-8, where Nephi says “I will go & do the things which the Lord hath commanded…” She did a great job J

-One afternoon, McKinley decided to put together a band. She made a drum (for daddy) out of an empty ice cream bucket, 2 guitars (for McKinley & Ireland) out of empty Kleenex containers & rubber bands, and a tambourine (for Kezi) with 2 plates stapled together with noodles inside. She called it the “family band” J

IRELAND:

-Ireland continues to love Kindergarten as well & scored a 32 on the DIBELS test, which is great! She knows about 45 sight words now & is getting really good at reading. She sits by McKinley on the way to school & sits by her friend Isabella on the way home & they love to talk. Every recess she gets, she works hard at doing the monkey bars & she’s gotten REALLY good! She can go all the way across by herself & she has the calluses on her hands to prove her hard work. She even got a blister & had to wrap it for a couple days. She’s been practicing writing her letters for homework and she’s getting really good at it. Mrs. Ekker says Ireland is a joy to have in her class!
-One day we were talking about what the girls wanted to be when they grow up. Ireland said “I want to be everything when I grow up!”
-Ireland REALLY loves it when daddy gets to stay home from work & she expresses her gratitude in her prayers “and thank you that daddy didn’t have to go to work today”
-Ireland gave a talk in Primary this month about Helaman & the stripling warriors. She did a great job repeating what mom said & didn’t get the giggles at all! Great job Ireland!
-One day we were talking about skeletons & Ireland said “Yeah… and when you die and you have a skeleton & someone that didn’t die can take your skeleton for Halloween & it will be really scary”
-Ireland has had a harder time this month with telling the truth & remembering to ask before taking things. We’re working on it!

KEZIA

-Mom & Kezia have enjoyed their mornings together lately. Sometimes we paint. Sometimes we read. Sometimes we play games or go for a walk. One day we were out walking & we saw a black cat. Mom asked Kezia where she thought the cat was going & Kezia said “It’s going visiting teaching to that house.”

-At the ward party, Kezia was running around with her sisters & friends & playing. The next thing that we know, she is screaming. Jason ran over & stripped her down naked – in front of most of the ward. There were red ants all over her!  One was especially mean & clinging to her neck. They were attacking another little boy, too, that Jason tried to help. She does love to play with ants, so hopefully after that episode, she will stay away from the red ones.

-Kezia still loves her little “friends” & she has a little Winnie the Pooh. She held him up to mom one day & said “Look mom! Winnie the Pooh has a baby in HIS tummy, too!”

-Mom was singing to Kezia one day “..One fell off and bumped his head. Momma called the doctor & the doctor said…   what did he say Kezia?” Kezia – “he needs a band aid.”

-Kezia’s prayers have been more appeasing to what she wants. An example…”And please help that we will play with Anna & Ella and we’ll go to Walmart and get candy.”

-McKinley got a huge bag of birdseed for her birthday & Kezia had made a huge mess with it. Mom asked her to clean it up & she said “but I’m just making a sandcastle!”

-One day Kezia was looking at daddy’s socks & she asked “are there words on your socks, dad?” and he said “Yes. They say George.” Kezia said “Curious George?”

-Kezia has been getting so tall. Every day for bed she would reach to turn off the light, but she couldn’t quite make it, but in the last couple weeks, she’s JUST tall enough!

 -There was a katydid on the ceiling of our covered deck. It was pretty cool to look at. It was walking up there & mom said maybe it was looking for its family. Kezia said “Yeah – maybe they’re in Arizona.”

-Mom & Kezia were in the foyer at church during sacrament. There was a picture with Jesus & a boat. Mom asked Kezia what she thought Jesus was saying to the men in the boat. She said she didn’t know. Mom said “Jesus is saying Come Follow Me. Stop what you’re doing and come follow me!” Kezia said “ohhh… like… like Potty Time! Stop what you’re doing!”

-When Kezia gets upset, she’ll say “oh, dangit.”

32 weeks

I feel like I've been neglecting this pregnancy. With all the other girls, I was pretty good about writing to my unborn child every few weeks or so in my journal. I think I've written maybe 3 times with this one :(  I also haven't taken hardly any pictures of my baby bump. On Sunday, I finally gave McKinley the camera & asked her to take a picture.
So - I wanted to do a quick post about this baby.

How am I feeling physically?  I am going to be positive here & say pretty good most of the time. Sure, I am tired. Sure - my sciatic nerves bug me by the end of the day & I walk around like and old person. Sure - I go to bed looking WAY hot in 2 wrist braces for my carpal tunnal, Jason's old T-shirt, and nose strips so I can breathe. And sure - my hips ache at night and I toss & turn & have to get up to pee at least a couple times.  Not to mention that my shirts and pants are already too tight and I have 2 more months to go...
Wait a minute!! Where did my positive-ness go? Hmm - I guess I'll have to work on that ;) No - really I am  blessed to have the opportunity to be pregnant. I am thankful that there are just a couple months left and that the heat of the summer is slowly going away.

How do I feel about having a boy? It's growing on me (and IN me :). I have definitely gotten used to using "him" "his" "he", "brother", which I think is a good start. However, after I read articles like THIS, I start to feel panicky and wonder if I am really cut out to be the mother of a boy. You mother of boys will have to read it & tell me if it's true!

Names? Sigh... wish we were one of those people that just knew from the start what this baby should be called & make our lives a whole lot easier. I am determined, however, NOT to be like we were with Kezia & wait until 3 days after the birth & realize we should really figure it out sometime. We are going for an "L" name because we have an H, I, J, K and an M in our family. I like the name Link Hamilton - because it Links our names together & he's a link to the generations. Jason likes Lincoln, but I feel like it's too common and Lincoln Hamilton sounds a bit to presidential to me. Yes, yes, we could name him Lincoln & call him Link, but it still would have a different meaning. The middle name is the real challenge, however, each of our girls have names that are a combination of family names from Jason's side & my side. If you can come up with a great way to combine the name "Daniel" (my dad) and "Billy" (his dad), you let me know, K? :-)

Sibling opinions? They are all really excited. McKinley especially loves to feel my tummy when he's active. Just last night he was moving all around & she just laughed as he kicked, moved, and squirmed around in my belly. Ireland & Kezia haven't really been patient enough to feel him move too much, but they talk about him a lot. I'm excited for McKinley to be old enough to really be a helper and I'm excited for Ireland because she really LOVES babies, and I'm excited for Kezia to be a big sister, though I'm afraid she's going to have the hardest time because she's been the baby for almost 3 years & I'm sure it's going to be a bit of a transition for her.

Feeling Ready? Not really. I have the crib and the mobile up - and the changing table/dresser. I have more blankets and gender neutral things than I realized that I did, but I still will need some more clothes & I need to find a cute boy nursery set and a boppy cover and a diaper bag. Also - need a new car seat. Of course I bought a gender-neutral car seat with McKinley & now it's expired & I need a new one. If I would have known, I would have bought a super-girly carseat to begin with! I also want to do the letters of his name once we can figure that out!

Worries/Fears? Of course, I have the fear of every mother - that something will go wrong with the pregnancy or birth. That something will be wrong with his little body. I also don't know about how the delivery will go. I still haven't decided if I'm going natural. I may just get induced & get the epidural this time. Not sure how that's going to go. I also worry about after he comes - with my other babies, I haven't really dealt with school, so I could just turn on cartoons in the morning if I needed to sleep. I won't have that kind of luxury this year. I need to continue to get my girls up & going in the morning so they can catch the bus. Just praying that this little guy is a good sleeper!!

August Slideshow & Newsletter

Enjoy!



FAMILY:  We had a great time in August – we got to see a lot of family & have a lot of fun! On the 4^th, we spent most of the day unpacking boxes and Jason worked with a guy & his mini excavator to clear some sagebrush. That was hot, dirty, draining work, but our side and backyard look MUCH better! McKinley got to stay with Grandma Devenish from the 7^th to the 10^th and they had a lot of fun going to the fair, going swimming, playing with cousins, and grandma tried to teach McKinley how to crochet.  While they were gone, Ireland & Kezia had fun with mom – going to the park, having dance parties, and going shopping. We met the Devenishs in Cove Fort on the 10^th & the kids had fun doing the Cove Fort tour. The weekend of the 11^th was adult stake conference & Hannah & Hailey watched our kids & the Bealers while we went to the adult session. The main session was on Sunday & the girls did really well. After we got back we had some fun visitors – the Warrens (our friends from Herriman) had been in St. George & stopped for lunch and a visit on their way home. It was great to catch up & McKinley was SO excited to see her friend Lizzy! J The 13^th was our special Family Home Evening where we talked about school & blessings & Jason gave all the girls a blessing. On the 14^th, McKinley & Ireland went to the dentist & we’re so happy to say that they are cavity-free!! That evening Jason went to back-to-school night with McKinley at South Elementary. McKinley started 1^st grade with Mrs. Robb on August 16^th! Also that morning, mom went with Ireland to meet her Kindergarten teacher, Mrs. Ekker & do her assessment. We had our annual Potts family retreat on August 17^th-21^st. It was hot there, but we spent a LOT of time swimming!! We also had fun hiking to Delicate Arch (wow! What a hike!), playing games, visiting, doing crafts, watching movies, and MORE swimming! The condos were really nice and we all had a great time. Jason wanted to take the scenic route home & while it was MUCH longer (3hours!) than he estimated, it was beautiful to drive past so many national parks & forests. We came back from Moab with some colds, but thankfully they didn’t last long. The Simons went to Las Vegas & stopped by to see us on the way back – the 26^th. We had some good lunch & cookies & it was fun to show them our new home & play with their cute kids. Mom & Dad went to the dentist on the 27^th & we wish we has as good of a report as the kids. Jason has 3 cavities & Heidi has 2 teeth with a little decay that they want to take care of L  Ireland started Kindergarten on the 28^th & she was SO excited to ride the bus with her sister! Now it’s just mom & Kezia in the mornings – quite a change! Also at the end of the month, the Checketts moved to Minnesota L We are sad, but glad we got to spend time with them in Moab & hope they come visit LOTS!! There has been a LOT of rain this month here in Cedar. Almost every afternoon the clouds roll in & we get thunder & lightning & a rainstorm. We’ve had fun watching the rain from the deck or playing in it in the front yard J Our other big news this month is that we sold one of our Enoch lots. HOORAY! Miracle!

JASON:  Jason’s boss has headed to another fire, so he’s got a busy workload again, but not too busy to spend time with family & take some time off for Moab & Labor Day. They got news that they are getting a new Forest Supervisor from the Nevada BLM next month, so he’s looking forward to seeing what changes she might bring. Jason got called this month to be a Priest Quorum advisor/scout leader and he’s already started going to activities on Tuesdays. He’s looking forward to getting to know the boys and the leaders. Jason has been working with Ireland at nights – helping her to learn her sight words and read her BOB books. Such a good daddy!

 HEIDI: Heidi is still very pregnant. Just over 2 more months to go. She’s feeling pretty good overall, but her hips are really starting to bother her at night. She still tries to get a couple-mile run in a couple times a week & a walk or two. The baby is really active at night – right before she goes to bed. He also seems to really like sweets J Heidi got called to be the teacher in McKinley’s class & is excited to get to know all McKinley’s friends. She’s team-teaching with her friend Elise, so it should be fun J Heidi is trying to be wise about her time with just Kezia in the mornings. She gets stuff done, but likes to just relax & play with her Kezia while she’s still the baby of the family J She read some good books this month – Matched & Crossed, by Alie Condie, and The Wednesday Letters. She also completed McKinley’s birthday book. Yay!

McKINLEY:

-McKinley had a great time having some special time with Grandma Devenish this month. Grandma took her to the fair & tried to teach her how to crochet. She also took her swimming & McKinley got to play with her Reed cousins in Richfield. Grandma also took her shopping & got some really cute dresses & swim suits.

-McKinley is really liking Mrs. Robb’s 1^st grade class so far. She’s even had a girl from her class call her for a play-date – Alyssa. She likes having lunch at school (and mom’s notes) and she likes her 3 recesses, though she says she doesn’t play much. She says she gets hot & likes to sit in the shade. So far McKinley’s homework has just been to write her ABCs. Everyone gets to bring something from home when it’s their day for that letter. She has the letter O and gets to be the leader on her birthday next month. She’s VERY excited!

-McKinley has also had lots of play-dates with our neighbor down the street, Jenny Dowse. Jenny is 9 years old, but is about McKinley’s height & they seem to have lots of fun together. Jenny has a pool in her backyard, so McKinley got to go swimming over there for a while one afternoon.

-McKinley is loving school, but grappling with the reality of growing up. After a few days of school, one evening it was time to get ready for bed & lay out clothes for the next day. McKinley realized she hadn’t had any screen time that day & had a major meltdown. She said 1^st grade was too hard and she doesn’t have time for playing and friends and screen time and all she ever does is go to school and come home & do chores and eat and she never gets to do anything fun anymore. She decided that night that she was done with school and she wasn’t going to go any more and no one could make her. Thankfully by the next morning she has some better perspective, but she really is realizing there’s not enough hours in the day to do all the things she wants to.

-One Sunday while the rest of the family took naps, McKinley was bored & decided to get the box of crayons out. She got a blank piece of paper & wrote down the colors of each crayon. It was filled front & back with names like “midnight blue” and “slate gray”

-When we are trying to get out the door, Mom will often chant “L-E-T-S G-O! let’s go, let’s go!” (and old cheer). One day we were trying to leave & McKinley yelled “L-E-G-S T-O!”

-When McKinley went to the dentist this month, she got a fun surprise. The dental assistant that worked on her teeth turned out to be Kaden’s mom. Kaden was a boy she had a crush on in Mrs. Jones Kindergarten class. Kaden’s mom said she knew McKinley because Kaden would talk about her & say there was a girl that talked to him & chased him at recess J McKinley got Kaden’s number for a play date J

-After McKinley went to back-to-school night with dad, she got to go to McDonald’s for her date that she earned with her points. They had ice cream & a great time!

-McKinley has had a REALLY hard time sleeping this month. With school starting & having earlier bedtimes, she struggles with getting to sleep. Some nights she’s up almost to 11 & complains that she just CAN’T go to sleep. Mom & dad try & help her to say prayers, count her blessings, write in her journal, read a book, or other quiet activities, but she still seems to struggle.

-McKinley had a LOT of fun in Moab. She got to have sleepovers with Michael & go swimming to her heart’s content. The Delicate Arch hike was hard, but she didn’t give up & she had a good attitude the whole time. GREAT job McKinley!

IRELAND:

-Ireland has had a really hard time this month using her WORDS instead of her HANDS or even TEETH. She has pushed & kicked & she lost the privilege of getting to stay with Grandma Devenish with McKinley. One day mom was just exasperated & asked “Ireland – what do I have to do to help you remember to use your WORDS instead of your HANDS?” Ireland thought for a minute & said “Ummm… I know!! Maybe you could give me candy!!”
-One day mom was trying to get Ireland to clean up her room. She was supposed to put the books away & mom looked to find Ireland reading them instead of putting them away. Mom said “Ireland – just put the books away – don’t read them!” Ireland replied “But I have to check to make sure all the pages are there!”
-Ireland did great at the dentist again – no cavities!
-Kezia smashed a spider one morning & Ireland yelled “Kezia’s our HERO! She smashed the spider!”
-Ireland has been really cute with her notes lately. She likes to write on the little heart post-it notes. She will write “I love you Jason” & give it to daddy or “I love you Heidi” and put it on mom’s shirt. She’s also been doing lots of drawings with sun & grass & 2 stick figures holding hands. One day she also put lots of random letters & lines & at the end she wrote THE END. She told mom all about the story she wrote. It was so cute J
-Ireland has been SO excited to start Kindergarten this month – especially since McKinley started 2 weeks earlier than she did. Every night she would ask, in the morning I go to Kindergarten, right?

-Mrs. Ekker said she did really well on her assessment & is ALL ready for Kindergarten. Just in the past month, Ireland has REALLY progressed in learning sights words & reading. She knows about 30 sight words now & can read about 8 BOB books all by herself. GREAT JOB Ireland!
-Ireland has been having a hard time with mean faces lately. If someone takes something away or she’s upset at her sisters, she will get in their faces & scrunch up her face & yell or growl at them. We are working with her & she has gotten some cayenne pepper this month L
-Ireland LOVES to ride the bus. Mom picked her up on her first day of school so she could get some pictures & Ireland was so mad that she didn’t get to ride the bus home.
-Ireland is LOVING her new school clothes – especially her sparkly shoes. She has not gone to school one day without sparkly shoes one. She will just look down at her feet as she’s walking & smile J
-Ireland is loving Kindergarten. She learned the tortoise & the hare story & they made their own tortoises. They are learning color songs & it’s so cute to hear her sing her R-E-D red song. She says that she sits on the letter E for Elephant on the alphabet rug.

KEZIA

-Mom wishes she had a recorded to record Kezia’s sayings. She is just too cute these days and says the funniest things. Mom can’t even capture a part of it.

-Kezia walked in on a family member in the restroom. Kezia asked if it was going to be stinky & the person said “yes.” Then Kezia said “Ok – then I’m going to plug my ears”

-One day Kezia said “Jesus is goin’ to be mad to Ireland because she’s pinchin’ me!”
-When mom was washing Kezia’s hair one day, Kezia said “it’s in my eyes!” Mom said “what’s in your eyes?” She said “The air conditioner!”
-Mom was in the other room & she heard  this song in her sweet 2-year-old's voice: "Mary had a little knife, little knife, little knife..." sure enough, mom went in there & she had this sharp knife, trying to cut a piece of fruit. Glad she warned mom even if it was the creepiest thing she’s ever heard!!

-Kezia loves to lift up her shirt & try to stick out her tummy & say “look mom! My tummy is big like yours!”

-Kezia is apparently unafraid of smashing spiders lately. Not sure if it’s a good or bad thing!

-Lately Kezia will cover her ears with her hands when she doesn’t want to hear something. If her sisters are mad at her, she covers her ears. If she knows she will get in trouble, she will cover her ears. Mom caught her coloring on the tile with marker & she just put her hands over her ears.

-One day Kezia came to mom & said “I tooted!” mom said “well, what do you say?” Kezia: “WOW!!” Mom (trying to keep a straight face): “No – we say excuse me!” Kezia: “Well, dad says Wow!” (yes… yes, he does.)

-Kezia was on mom’s lap one day & said “Mom your baby is trying to get out! He’s trying to make a door so he can get out!”

-Kezia has been a bit sad about her sister’s leaving. She will often ask where they are. She was sad, too, because they were getting all these new things for school, so mom bought her a few new things so she wouldn’t feel too left out J

-Kezia is still having some accidents, but overall she’s doing great and we are so proud that she wears her big girl panties!!

School & Chores

So - today was Ireland's first day of Kindergarten. I was a bit melancholy when McKinley left for first grade, but no tears, so I was totally unprepared when that bus rolled away with my Ireland & the waterworks started! She said she had a great day, though, and she was glad McKinley was there on the bus with her & to walk her to class because she said she was a little bit afraid. Now it's just me & Kezi-boo in the mornings & I'm going to try & come up with a little bit of a plan so we can spend some quality time together before the baby.
As a follow-up to my post about chores, THANK YOU for all the input - on Facebook & on the blog. Right now this is what we're going to try for McKinley & Ireland:

-EVERY DAY chores: *the basics (clean room, make bed, get ready, etc) - done in the morning,
*choice chore (to be no more than 15 minutes) for after they get home from school & finish homework.

-WEDNESDAY (their early day): McKinley will be expected to clean the bathroom & we'll have a bigger chore for Ireland, too.

-WEDNESDAY & SATURDAY: they will have the opportunity to do larger chores & earn more $.

ALLOWANCE: If they complete all their every day chores, choice chores, & big chore for the entire week, they will get a small allowance.

That's our plan & we'll see how it goes & I'll update the blog.

Here's some pics of our school girls. Growing up SO fast! Sigh...

 

Moabites

We were Moabites for a few days this past week/weekend. It was our annual Potts Family Retreat. Honestly, we weren't looking forward so much to being in Moab in August. H E A T! It was hot, but thankfully there was a pool and so what did we do? We just kept swimming, swimming, swimming! ;) Oh - and we went hiking, and played games, and watched movies and talked. Love my family. Sure miss them, so it's precious time to be with them. And, of course, the girls can't get enough time with their cousins. Thanks mom & dad for another great year!!

Advice - chores & routines

So - this week McKinley starts first grade. And in another couple weeks, Ireland starts Kindergarten. It's going to be a bit strange having just Kezia & I at home in the mornings. Part of me thinks of all I could & should accomplish. The other part of me just wants to hang out with my youngest while she's still my youngest. Hopefully I can do a bit of both & find balance :)
Anyway, McKinley starts school on Thursday, so this week we are trying to get into our school routine - going to bed at the right time & waking up at the right time. We're not exactly morning people over here, so it's going to take some getting used to. This morning was a bit rough getting going.
As we were eating breakfast, I was thinking about this new schedule & how much it's going to change everything over here. We've always had "morning things" and the girls have completed their chores in the morning. Of course not EVERY morning, but that's been our schedule.  I just don't think there's going to be time for anything other than making beds, getting dressed, eating breakfast, fixing hair, brushing teeth, getting lunches together (McKinley will eat lunch at school for the first time!), and getting them to the bus stop by 8:29. Seriously 8:29 AM. And even if by some miracle this goes smoothly for the first month or two, a baby in November will ensure that I should not try & add anything in the morning.
I could have her do her chores after she gets home & we talk & she does her homework. But then I feel bad. When does she have time to just be a kid? And what if I put her in lessons? Chores on top of all that seems rough. I was thinking maybe we should just give her a couple weekly chores instead?
Any suggestions would be appreciated. I am going to try & get everything together as much as possible the night before (backpacks ready, outfits laid out, lunches put together as much as possible), but I'm still worried about getting it together in the mornings without feeling crazy & feeling like my kids never do chores anymore.
THANKS :)

July Newsletter & Slideshow

What a busy, fun month for the Hamiltons! Sorry so many pics. Just lots going on!



FAMILY: For the Hamiltons, July was spent 4th of July-ing! (bike parade, yummy food, parade, fun at the park, water party, BBQ, cake & ice cream & gifts for Ireland, sparklers, and fireworks), enjoying Ireland's 5th birthday (see her section), a couple trips to St. George - one for a birthday party for Jason's friend, one for a temple trip, having an open-house BBQ with friends from the old ward, camping at Kent's lake (and seeing the Johnsons up there!), camping again at Yankee Meadows with the Bealers, 24th of July fun (including a family fun-run, watching the parade, BBQ with friends, and watching fireworks), and having the Edwards come stay with us! (Hiking, swimming, shopping, Shakespearean Festival-ing, playing at the park, playing games, painting nails, watching movies, cake & ice cream-ing, and watching amazing rainstorms and beautiful rainbows and sunsets). We've been unpacking, re-arranging, and settling into our new home, neighborhood & ward. We've also had fun watching the Olympics this month. GO USA! 

JASON:  There was a fire that broke out at the top of Cedar mountain on July 2^nd  & Jason took the opportunity to get into the game & learn what there is to know on supporting a fire. He worked late on the 2^nd & came up to Richfield with Keeley on the 3^rd (Heidi was already there with the girls). We came back the night of the 4^th & for the next week or so, Jason was putting in very long hours – leaving at 5:45am, getting home around 10pm. He did learn a lot and we were able to get some overtime, which we are thankful for. He’s also had fun camping & working on our new home.  On the 26^th, he went to work late so he could go see the girls’ last day of swimming lessons. They were so happy!

 HEIDI: Heidi is glad to be in our new home & sometimes has a hard time just believing we’re here. She still has plenty of unpacking to do, but feels good about what’s been done. Overall, she’s still feeling good, but her carpal tunnel has really started kicking in & she wears her braces at night to sleep better. She has fun feeling baby move, kick, and turn. She was able to go up to girls camp for the old ward on the 11^th & it was fun to see all the girls & get lots of hugs & smiles & just be with them. She rode back with Diane in a red jeep & had fun seeing a family of skunks and 4 HUGE elks on the way back – not to mention just the fun on riding in the back of a jeep J Heidi had been wanting to see Les Miserables for a while, so it was SO fun to go with her sweetheart and see the play. Awesome. She also re-read about a fourth of the book before she saw the play & loved that, too. She enjoyed all the festivities of the 4^th of July, Ireland’s birthday, 24^th of July & camping. It has been a fun month & fun to see our home come together & meet new people.

McKINLEY:

-McKinley poked mom one day & said “your bra is getting ready to milk.”

-McKinley got to feel her baby brother moving & she was SO excited. She is constantly coming up to mom now & asking her if the baby is moving. She even got to go with mom to her prenatal appointment and hear the heartbeat. She’s going to be a great big sister!

-McKinley had lots of fun at swimming lessons this year & the very first day they moved her up a level because she was so good. She was in level 2 and her teacher was Ben Rischard. He checked off everything & she gets to move on to level 3! Here’s what he wrote on her paper: “Awesome Job! You are a way strong swimmer and did very well!”

-McKinley got registered for 1^st grade & found out she has Mrs. Robb – the same teacher as Parker Johnson! She’s excited to start at South Elementary next month & she’s excited that she’ll know someone in her class.

-Her new friends in this ward are Brenna Dixon, Olivia Price, and Kirsten Correy. Mom got to teach McKinley’s class one Sunday & McKinley was so excited!

-McKinley & Ireland went early to church on the last Sunday of the month. They got to be greeters and pass out the sacrament program. Daddy went with them & said McKinley did a great job & smiled a lot J

-We’ve been reading The Wind in the Willows at night.

-McKinley has had fun opening our moving boxes & finding some things that have been in storage for the past couple years – decorations from Primary and things from her preschool days.
-After watching the Olympics, McKinley is convinced she wants to do gymnastics!
-McKinley has been asking to do a race for a long time now & when she did the Main Street Mile with the family, she did great! Didn’t stop once!

IRELAND:

-Ireland KEPT asking when her birthday was going to be. Almost every night for a month she would ask “Is my birthday in the morning?”

-2012 was Ireland’s magical birthday! She turned 5 on the 5^th! The fun started on the 4^th with the annual cake, ice cream, presents & water party at Grandma Devenish. Then on the 5^th, she got pancakes for breakfast & she got to help crack the eggs! In our family, it’s a rite of passage that you need to be 5 to crack eggs. She was VERY excited & daddy showed her just right how to do it. She did the sing & seek of presents and got to go to the store to pick what she wanted to eat that day & her cake. She wanted sandwiches for lunch and corn dogs for dinner & then we headed to the Aquatic Center for a party! Ella Strand & the Bealers came & we had fun swimming, opening presents, doing the piñata, and –of course – eating cake & ice cream! It was a fun day. MUCH later in the month when the Edwards came, Aunt Cindy also make a treasure chest cake for Ireland & Joshua. Some favorite gifts: pop-beads from grandma Devenish, lite bright from mom and dad, clippety-clop shoes and a Barbie from Grandma & Grandpa Potts, a singing card from Aunt Kim, and a huge Dora coloring book from the Hamiltons. She had a GREAT birthday!!
-We were talking about fire-fighting and Ireland asked if the fire-fighters wore helmets. Mom said yes. Ireland said “Yeah! Cuz if you didn’t have a helmet then you’d burn your head up!!”
-There was a book we got from the library that showed a little brother squirting his little sister with the hose. Mom asked Ireland what she would do if her little brother did that to her. She said “I would take the hose away from him!... (pause) and then I’d SMACK him in the head!”
-Ireland is getting much better at writing. She’s doing better with her name & one day she wrote the entire alphabet!
-Ireland is just a fish when it comes to swimming. She can’t wait to jump in the pool. The first week of swimming lessons, there was another girl in her class (Tots 2), but the 2^nd week, she had the teacher all to herself! Private lessons! He was very impressed with her swimming. He wrote on her paper that on the back glide, instead of doing 2 body lengths, she did 5! And he said “father than anyone else I’ve ever taught!” and his comments on the back were “I’d suggest level 1 next! (she’ll be with older kids) She was really great! Listened & learned quickly!” GREAT JOB IRELAND!
-Ireland got registered for Kindergarten & she’s in Mrs. Ecker’s AM Kindergarten class. She’s so excited because Shaylee Johnson will be in her class, too!
-For some reason Ireland has been spitting a lot lately. She says she has bubbles in her mouth & she needs to spit them out. She’s also had a harder time using words instead of hands. She’s bit, kicked & hit this month & we’ve had to take away some privileges L
-Ireland’s tags are really bothering her lately. She has cut out almost every tag in her pants.

KEZIA

-At the beginning of the month, Kezia decided she wanted to wear panties like her sisters. She’s done REALLY well! The last week of the month, she regressed some, but overall she’s really done great & we are SO SO proud of her. Way to go Kezi-boo!

-While her sisters were at swim lessons, Kezia had fun (for the most part ;) playing with the younger Bealer boys – Brecken & Owen. They did play-dough, painted, played with toys, and colored. Mom got the jumper down for Owen & Kezi had lots of fun when Owen was done with it. She even fell asleep in it once!

-Kezi is definitely growing into a big girl. She was fighting her naps so much that mom decided she’s big enough to go without them every other day or so. She’s done really well & slept better at night, too J

-Mom came upstairs one day & Kezi was up there with just her Winnie the Pooh underwear on. Mom asked why she only had her panties on. She said “I’m showing Winnie the Pooh himself!” (she had a toy Winnie and she was showing him the one on her panties.

-Kezia’s drawings are really getting good! She’s doing lots of circles and lines & you can now tell where the head, eyes, and body is. She loves to draw her family members!

-Kezia really loves all her little “friends.” Stuffed animals, littlest pet shop animals, etc. She carries them around in purses, in buckets, in boxes. She feeds them, changes their diapers and gives them water. She comes to mom and dad in the middle of the night worried about them. She sure loves them!

-Kezi’s done pretty well in nursery. There were just a couple weeks that she wouldn’t go, but overall she loves it.