Somewhere Over the Rainbow

Well, I may not be Picasso or even Linnea Hoyos (you just have to know this amazing woman to appreciate that comment), but I did manage to make one little girl's dream come true. As you may know we decided that we had to bite the bullet and let the twins pick out their own room colors. I still have to get to Zach, but Zoe choose pink. I had to have a hand in it and made her pick out two different shades so at least the room could have some design qualities. At first the pink was overwhelming and despite having a 16 year old girl ahead of her, we had never painted a room pink. But I do have to admit that it grows on you, and I actually kind of like it now.

At this point in the story I should tell you that several months ago Zoe saw what she claimed to be her first ever rainbow to see in real life. She is absolutely obsessed with them, she draws them all the time and has memorized the colors and everything is all about rainbows. I asked her if she would like a rainbow on her wall and she readily agreed. Next I set about accomplishing this task. I mulled it all over in my mind and ended up procrastinating it. We painted her room about a month ago and most of her things were still in the loft waiting to move back in.

I had purchased samples of the necessary colors when I purchased the pink, so on Sunday I just decided to give it a try. I have to say that freehand and in about 3 hours from start to finish I made the most amazing rainbow on her wall! The whole time I was painting I was so worried about lines and of course I know where all the imperfections are, but I just want to say that for someone who is not trained to paint, this wall art is pretty cool! And in the end, the only person I really have to please is the seven year old, right?

Confession: during the making of the product below, I did have a serious palsy moment and spilled about a cup of green paint on the carpet...oh well? Good thing we know someone who does carpet? :)

The mission was accomplished and Zoe was appropriately grateful for my artwork. Poor sheltered child thinks that I am actually talented! It was nice to have her huge hug and receive all her compliments. It is the small moments that make long days go much better.

Brother insisted that they should both sit under the rainbow for a picture. My hope that they can experience many more rainbows during their lifetime and remember the smile it brings whenever you see one.

Eagle Project

It is no secret that I am a little ambitious when it comes to my son and scouting. When he was a cub, I constantly had him doing some kind of badge work. When he turned 11 and graduated into Boy Scouts, I received all the information well. I thought to myself, wow 121 merit badges, we are SO getting all those. Right about now all you more experienced scout mom's can just go ahead a take a good hard laugh.

I gave it a good try, let us not be confused. I pushed really hard and put my expectations very high. Whenever my son was not doing something, I would say "let's look at your merit badges, pick one to do, we are doing it". He advanced quickly and I was pleased that it appeared he could earn his Eagle Scout by the time he was 13, or at the very latest 14.

Then puberty hit and he became the tallest person in our house and pretty much tested me on a regular basis, letting me know what he was and was not going to do. The earning of merit badges has slowed considerably. He has been a Life scout since last September, meaning that anytime during the last year he could have planned and completed his large project necessary to earn Eagle Scout rank. He was not motivated, at all. Nothing I did was going to change this, so I just stopped doing anything. It was up to him. I did interpret the guidelines of earning Eagle rank to my own advantage and let him know that the requirement states "earn 21 merit badges, or 10 more than you already have". I think the Boy Scouts assume to that point you have only earned 11 merit badges...but Justin had already earned 24, so I said he had to earn 10 more than he already had. He argued with me long and hard, but I was not budging.

I am proud to say that on September 24th, he completed his long awaited Eagle project and is in the process of finishing his paperwork and application to earn the award. I am very proud of the innovative project he chose and all the ways that he had to grow in order to complete the project. He is a shy kid to strangers and had to call and meet with many strangers to accomplish this. He even did a live radio interview to promote his project!

He seems to be very happy as well, happy to be done, but also happy he did it. He is also grateful for my merit badge Nazism, because he has earned enough to receive two Eagle palms with his rank. I overheard him telling someone that he plans to earn two silver palms and end his career with 51 merit badges.

So, for all you over zealous scout mom's to come...there is hope!

Here are a few pics of my Justin, doing his project.

He collected 715 lbs of food.

Twins Turn Seven

We have a tradition since all our birthdays are during the school year. We leave a few presents on the kitchen table to open before school. When kids come down for breakfast we take a picture of their year older self! Here is handsome Zach.

and Zoe going right for the gifts.
This definately made the hit list of gifts. Zach got a rip stick (some kind of really cool skateboard thing) and of course protective equipment for every inch of his body. He really loves to ride this. and Zoe got a hair straightener. You might be able to tell that she is kissing the box. She thinks her straightener is super cute and she loves being independent with it. I also love this gift because it helps her hair not look as though she has just crawled out from under the bridge :)

The twins were excited because this year they got to have their FIRST friend party. We decided that separate parties were in order. Zoe's was held on Friday night and the theme was ROCK STAR (of the female Hannah Montana type). We sent the boys packing and had us some real girl fun, make up station (thanks Lyndsey), hair station (thanks Becca), nail station and then the VIP lounge. Everyone gave lip syncing a try!

Zach's party was on Saturday morning. He chose a footbal training camp theme. Clint had a great time making different obstacles for the boys to practice. I think that eveyone enjoyed it! I do have to admit that it made for a very long 48 hours, but it was worth it.

Many significant events have happened since school started. I was going to try and cover them all here, but I think it is better to make a post for each thing. So, stay tuned :)

Back to School

It is that time of year. All the kids are back to school. I have yet to receive any calls from the nurse so we are off to a good start!

Lyndsey - 11th Grade

Justin - 9th Grade

Zoe - 1st Grade

Zach - 1st Grade

Catch Up

So it is June and I find myself terribly behind again in the blogging world. Not that it really matters because I am confident that you are not sitting on the edge of your chair waiting for my amazing posts.

Not much has changed in our busy life, but I thought I would share updates on everyone and a few photos. Another school year has come to an end - good news - all four kids advance to the next grade!! In the fall we will be proud parents of two high school students (holy cow) and two first graders (again, holy cow).

Summer plans - Lyndsey is working (yipee), Justin is working on his Eagle Scout project (double yipee), Zoe is attending day camp and Zach is having a blast at summer school. Other activities include: dating, working out, golf, swimming, reading, EFY, bike riding, trips to zoo, and family camping.

I enjoy having the kids at home, and not just for the free labor. They make me smile a little every day. Here are some choice moments from the last couple of months.

Lyndsey is on the color guard squad again next fall and did very well at tryouts.

This is actually a VERY funny story. Lyndsey is allergic to cottonwood trees, particuarly when they are dropping all their cotton seeds and cotton is just flying randomly in the air. We took a camping trip over Memorial Day weekend. When we got out of the car cotton was flying everywhere - and Lyndsey was already suffering just from working outdoors. I was not sure what to do, since we would be living outside for a few days. Thankfully I am the emergency preparedness queen and amoung other obscure items in my first aid kit I found swine flu masks. So for the entire trip, this is what Lyndsey looked like!

Here is Zoe on the last day of school. We are so proud of all her accomplishments this year.

While at the lake, Zoe made an awsome sand castle. The camera ran out of batteries, so we took her back to have a photo with it. I just love her blue eyes in this picture!

The twins were being sweet and sharing a listen on the IPOD. Caution - this does not happen often. Last weekend the twins participated in a fun run. They both ran a 1/2 mile race and completed it. They were so cute "practicing" for the run by doing laps around the cul de sac for a couple weeks in advance.

Zach has always been our hoarder. He finds things everywhere, he can spy things on the ground that NASA probably couldn't find. Anyway, we recently received some packages in the mail and he quickly confiscated the cardboard. He then found other trinkets from his room and proceeded to make a robot - completely recycled material :)

On the last day of school Zach had a friend spend the night. After dinner they went to his room. They came down and Zach had outfitted his friend in a baseball hat and wrestling shoes. Here they are fashioning a pulley in our tree limbs in order to more swiftly climb said tree. Future scouts look out!

Oh, just a little of what I have been doing lately. This year our strawberry patch was MUCH more than we could eat. I decided to learn how to make freezer jam. This was my first of five batches made. I am told that it is quite good.

Lady got her hair cut today. They groomer said she was such a good girl that they played with her and gave a mohawk. Justin loves it and says he is going to fix it that way every day.

And last but not least.... THE GRADUATE (from middle school :) )

On May 24th Justin was promoted from middle school to high school.

With his best buddy - Porter.

Um, after promotion Justin went on a limo ride with some friends, er ladies? The story was that about five other people would be on this ride, including some male persons. But when it came time to leave, this is who was going. It seemed to late to not let him go, so we did. He had a really good time, drove around town and ended with ice cream. I am sure that he was a perfect gentleman. This picture is a sign of the times we have ahead of us...what a ladies man!

Jazz anyone? Justin playes the tenor saxaphone for the band at school. His favorite type of music is jazz.

I had to throw in a birthday picture so he can not claim second child syndrome.

Here is a photo of the relay team. In addition to long jump, Justin did the 100m, 400m, 4x100m and 4x4oom races this year. He had a blast, improved his times and is looking forward to next track season. The only down side is that it is the same time as boys golf...he has to choose :(

I just love this picture. Can you see why he is a total heartbreaker?

Ok, so here is what Justin did while we were camping. He has recently been declaring that he is too hot for clothes. He does not mean the temperature. His new recent past time is working on his tan - he wants to be tall, dark and handsome!

Little Blessings

It has been one year since we received a life changing phone call. Nothing has been the same since. I am a planner, I LOVE to make lists and check things off. I am not sure what virtue I am supposed to learn, but it is evident that I am still being stubborn about learning it. Lately I have been able to see small little blessings and savor the sweet moments I witness. For that I am truely thankful.

Lyndsey

Well, she lived to the ripe age of 16. I can make no other promises past this point.

Spring Break

I am back from a long trip on a bus. That's right, a bus. Lyndsey and I went to New York City with her high school band. Let me tell you that from Topeka, KS via Arrow bus company, it takes 31 hours to arrive. I have not been shy about hiding the fact that I did not enjoy the bus ride. But I did my best to happy, for the sake of the kids. I know that they all had fun! In the Big Apple we saw many sights, played hard and slept little. While we were gone Clint took Justin, Zoe, Zach and Reid (Justin's friend) to St. Louis. They had a great time. Here are a few picture highlights:

Ok, this first one is a "you had to be there moment", but is for all you John Lennon fans.

Tim is showing off how much he looks like a monkey :)The Chrysler Building

This is a game called how many hotdogs can Tim eat in a minute.

Our band took second place and received a trophy that is only about 6 inches shorter than my daughter...

Ok, here is the St. Louis contingent: