Misc Summer Fun

A few summer activities that didn't get their own post.

*Slip-n-Slide with the slide. My kids love doing this. (Apparently so do the rest of the neighborhood kids!)


*Making Magic Shell ice cream topping. Enoch and Kate thought this was the coolest thing ever! Gavin thought it was quite tasty.



*Enoch earned enough project points for a Butterfly Garden. The kids were fascinated with it. They were able to see the entire process from caterpillar to butterfly. It was very cool. Time to get more caterpillars!


*Too much fun!


*Getting hurt! Enoch scraped up the insides of both of his thighs on our rock wall in the backyard. It was quite bad and also the day before swimming lessons started. He missed the first day, but toughed it out after that.


*Jumping on the trampoline in the rain. Such fun!


*Flying paper airplanes in the backyard. Enoch loves making airplanes. Today they tied string to them and made kites.


*Going four-wheeling. Kate falls asleep every single time!


*Playing at Grandpa Dee's cabin. Enoch loves it when he leaves his tractor up there.


*Making a recyclable city. Enoch collected all our recyclable items and built a small city. He is still collecting and want to make his city bigger. He used milk boxes to make the White House, milk jugs for houses and Pick-Up Sticks for the roads. Enoch is the president. Since it is the city of Enoch, Enoch called his city Zion.


We had a great summer!

Kate goes to Preschool

Okay - I cried. A lot. I was still teary when I picked her up two hours later.
Kate started Preschool today. She was so excited! She has been asking everyday for weeks when she gets to go to school. She was so upset when her brothers went to school without her. What drama! (especially for Kate, who usually isn't a drama queen).
She was up early today, dressed and ready to go. I made a new skirt for her to wear. It is very twirly and she loves it. We had to wait until 9:30 for school to start. She was quite anxious since her brothers start at 8 am.

We walked to school. We are lucky enough that Kate's preschool is in our neighborhood and a lot of her friends get to go to school with her. She walked right in, put her backpack away and started playing. I gave her a kiss and she waved good-bye. So easy for Kate - so hard for Mom!
She had a great day! Kate loves preschool and I know she will have a terrific year. If only Mom can survive without her for four hours a week!

Potato People at a Family Reunion

Our family attended the Evans' Family Reunion today at Wheeler Farm. We had a great time playing at the park, feeding the ducks, going for walks, visiting with family, eating lunch and jumping on the bounce house.
One of the activities was making potato head people with various crafty items. Gavin was incredible and blew us all away with his creativity. He made a:

HARRY POTTER


ZEBRA


DESPICABLE ME MINION


Yep, those are potatoes. Pretty clever, I think.

Quilts

I had some fabric in my sewing room that ended up in the corner - fabric that I labeled for humanitarian use. I knew that our stake was doing a quilt drive and it gave me the perfect opportunity to put some quilts together and clean out my sewing room. I had to get a bit creative in how I put the quits together because I had a limited amount of each fabric. I also made sure I did some boy quilts, since not as many as those get done.
My biggest challenge was tying them. I usually machine quilt, so tying was a new experience. Luckily the quilts were small enough that I could do them on the floor and I didn't need frames. I tied all five quilts in two days. Yep, my fingers hurt. And, of course, I did it during the hottest week of the year. At least, I know these quilts are warm!
But, they are done - out of my house and on to kids who need them. Enoch and Kate kept asking who the quilts were for. I told them that some kids don't have any blankets and are cold. They were baffled. It never occurred to them that some kids don't have blankets. It was a reminder that I need to spend more time in our family doing service and being grateful.

Scattered Thoughts

1. Kate told me, "Know what I want mostest when I grow up?"
"What?" I asked.
"I want longer arms so I can do all the things in gym class!"
Poor thing! She has inherited my short arms, while her brothers have their dad's extra long monkey arms. I was hoping our kids would get genes from both of us and have average arms, but no such luck.

2. At the beginning of the summer, Gavin was about one inch shorter than me. Now - one inch taller than me! What! How can he be taller than me already?

3. Last night I heard Enoch tell Kate, "Let's go downstairs and be beavers and put our dam skills to work." Okay, I know I shouldn't, but I laughed so hard. When Greg gave me the 'I can't believe you are laughing at that' look (while he too was laughing), I said, "I've lived with kitties and tigers for years now. I'm relieved the kids have some dam skills."

And our little beavers were busy. They built a blanket dam, which was eventually overcome with a flash flood.

Waffle Day

This morning while Greg was checking the weather on the news, I overheard them say it was National Waffle Day. Fabulous - now I know what's for dinner.
I decided to make it a bit more fun and have chocolate waffles with vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, hot fudge sauce and blackberries from the garden. Everyone loved it and it was a fun change for dinner.



Yeah - I was a popular mom tonight!

First Day of School

Some of us were excited for this day, some of us not so much - but it is here.
Gavin and Enoch were up early for their first day of school. We gave Enoch a Yoda alarm clock the night before at set it at 7am, but he was up and going way before that. We started with our traditional first-day-of-school breakfast of French Toast and bacon. Gavin was fine and ate quite a bit, but Enoch was nervous and barely got down a half a slice.
The boys didn't plan this, but they both wore their BYU football shirts. Before I took pictures, Gavin said, "This is stupid, I don't want to be matching my little brother. I'm not doing pictures." I responded with a, "Oh yes you are. And I think it is cute so be quiet and go stand next to your brother." I finally got a smile out of Gavin, but only because he knew we would stand there until I got a good picture and he didn't want to miss the bus. I think it is adorable!



Gavin ran and caught the bus, while Enoch, Kate and I walked to school. I followed Enoch into his classroom (he remembered right where it was) and said good-bye. Enoch was too busy putting his backpack away and checking out his desk to notice that we were leaving. I admit, I was wiping away a few tears as Kate and I left the school. Such a big day for my little guy! Gavin was also on my mind and I kept a prayer in my heart all day for both of them.
The first day of school was a success. Both boys came home happy and excited for the upcoming year.

A Conversation in the Car

Background: Enoch and Kate have made up a game to play in the car. When they get buckled in before Mom does they each get a pretend chocolate trophy. Since it encourages them to get in their seats and buckle up, I'm all for it.

Today when Greg and I got in the car to go the church, Kate was crying. She was crying because Enoch took away her pretend chocolate trophy. (Yep, I was thinking the same thing you are - just wait, it gets better.) When we asked Enoch why he took away her trophy he said she was eating it before she was buckled in. Greg said to give it back to her. Enoch refused.
Greg said, "Give it back it her or I will take away ALL the chocolate trophies."
Enoch said, "I'll just make more."
Greg said, "Give it back or I will take away your pretend chocolate trophy making equipment and you can't make any more.
Enoch said, "Oh, yes I can."
Kate piped in, "I'll help Enoch make some pretend chocolate trophy making equipment and then we can make more and have all we want."

Then I threw my hands in the air and said, "Why are we having this conversation?!"

Scattered Thoughts

1. The other day in the car, Enoch was telling Kate that he has a brother and a sister, but Kate only has brothers. Kate said, "That is okay. I am happy being the only sister." I'm sure she is.

2. Got Gavin new school shoes last night - size 13. Geesh!

3. Gavin finally got a Life (how many Scouts have used that joke?). Gavin was awarded his Life rank at the Court of Honor on Tuesday. He also earned his Scuba Diving, Communications, Pioneering and Wood Carving merit badges and his Snorkeling certification. Gavin also gave a presentation explaining the meaning and requirements of each rank. He did a great job! When he was finished he said, "I'm surprised you couldn't hear my heart beating way back here." He left for a backpacking trip to the Unitahs this morning. He is a great Scout.

4. Enoch is bored to tears, literally. Yesterday he collapsed, dramatically, in the family room and with tears in his eyes, said, "I am so bored!!!!!" We pulled out our castle Legos and that entertained him for a bit. He then picked bugs off our zucchini plant to pass the time. I know, lots of fun. But, he was fascinated by the orange blood on his hands from the bugs. He put the bugs in a baggie and threw them away. Raising an organic gardener is a lot of work!

Neighborhood Pool Party

Since it is now the end of summer, it's time to have a party.
We do this every year - have good intentions of getting together, but put it off until the last possible week. And then, every year, without fail, it is stormy. Weeks of sunny weather and then it storms the night of our party. Every year.
We didn't let the wind stop us. We gathered at the Tuttle's pool for some swimming and ice cream. The kids jumped in the pool and swam until they were too cold.



Our family finally made some homemade ice cream. We picked some blackberries from our garden and made super duper yummy ice cream. WOW! Check out the size of those blackberries!


It was a fun night and we love getting together with our friends.

Scuba Diving

Today Gavin finished up his Scuba Diving merit badge. This has been by far the most time consuming and expensive merit badge he has done - but also the most fun!
He has spent hours and hours in the American Fork Fitness Center pool in full scuba gear. He has spent hours in the classroom. And he has spent two Saturdays at The Crater in Heber doing open water dives. Good thing he really enjoys it.
Last year Gavin was struggling with swimming. He didn't like it and was convinced he couldn't do it. He not only needed to earn his swimming merit badge, but he needed to pass his swimming test for Scout Camp. He just didn't want to do it (at all!). When I saw the scuba diving merit badge advertised at the AF Fitness Center (where Kate goes to gym class), I wondered if that might be the motivation. In order to take this class you have to have your swimming merit badge. I promised Gavin that if he earned his swimming merit badge, he could take the scuba merit badge class. That did the trick!
We enrolled Gavin in private swimming lessons at the Legacy Center and it took a few months for him to earn his swimming merit badge. His swimming coach was a merit badge counselor and was quite a stickler for passing off every thing exactly, so Gavin really did earn it. I was so proud of him! I know it was a really hard thing for him to do.
He now has his swimming merit badge and his scuba diving merit badge. Quite an accomplishment for a kid who refused to go into the deep end of the pool only a year ago! He is super comfortable in the water. Now Greg has a diving buddy. He kept trying to convince me to become scuba certified, but that scares the spit out of me. Greg and Gavin are now both PADI certified, meaning they can dive anywhere in the world.
Good job, Gavin!

(Gavin at The Crater in Heber - sorry for the bad lighting.)

Kate's Gym Class

Kate loves her gym class. She is so excited to go every time and has never once complained or not participated once we got there. She takes off her Crocs and runs right over to her teacher - okay, bounces over to her teacher might be a better description of Kate. She is always bouncing, walking on her tip toes, flying with her butterfly wings (arms) on at gym class. She just has so much fun.
Courtesy of her great Fowler genes, Kate has amazing balance and incredible strength (especially for her size). Her teachers are always commenting on how strong she is (freaky Fowler strength, I call it). Her only limitation right now is her height. She is by far the shortest girl in her 3-6 year old advanced girl class. It is sometimes hard or impossible for her to do all the things the other girls do. But, she always tries and improvises well. Her teachers love her sweet personality, her willingness to try and her natural ability.
Kate's favorites are the rings and bars. I think her strength makes her a natural at these. She has beautiful casts and can almost do a reverse pullover on the bars. She loves to 'flip over the bar' (as she calls it) and do 'skin the cat'. I'm super impressed!




Kate absolutely loves to swing on the rings. She can hang on forever! She loves to flip around and do inverted hangs.



The one thing that Kate could do without at gym class is the beam. She still struggles with the mental part of it. She has the balance to make it across, but she gets nervous. If her teacher hold her hand, she will whiz across the tall beam. She can do the low beam by herself.

They do a lot of fun things at gym class that build skill, strength, coordination and flexibility.





At the end of every class the girls get to play a fun game with the parachute, hula hoops or the scooters. Kate loves the scooters best of all, so I'm glad I got a picture of that.


Kate goes to gym class twice a week. I thought that both of us would get tired of going that much for a three year old. But, Kate knows exactly when Tuesday and Thursday are and is dressed in her gym clothes before she even has breakfast. I have so much fun watching her and seeing her progress and have a wonderful time. Enoch usually comes with us and brings his big box of Legos.
We love it!

Gavin is Wired

What a momentous day for Gavin - BRACES!
He has been waiting for about a year to finally get these things on. Gavin's teeth aren't that crooked, but he has some bite issues. Not that he was excited about braces, but the sooner you get them on, the sooner you can get them off. He has had one tooth that would not break through. He lost the baby tooth about a year ago and has been waiting patiently. X-rays showed a tooth was there, just taking its time to make an appearance. Finally, it poked through and we made his appointment with Dr. Swenson.
Gavin was such a trooper through the whole thing. He didn't act nervous, but I could tell he had a few butterflies. Dr. Swenson and his staff were great and really put Gavin at ease. The procedure took about an hour. I was planning on running to the store to grab some pudding, jello and yogurt, but I was so fascinated with the process, I stayed and watched the whole thing. Gavin watched the movie, Forever Strong during the procedure. (Gavin wasn't thrilled about me taking pictures, but I told him if I'm spending $5,000 on metal in his mouth, I'm getting pictures.)


When it came time to pick elastic colors, Gavin was a bit undecided. He finally went with navy and gray. I think it looks good - I was really hoping he wouldn't choose neon pink or something like that.
We have kept him dosed on Ibuprofen and Tylenol the last few days. He had done remarkably well - not nearly as much whining as I thought. His saxophone lesson on Wednesday was tough, but he made it through.
I sometimes find myself doing a double look at him, forgetting that he has braces. It's just another reminder to me that he is growing up - growing up into a wonderful young man, who will in 18 months have great teeth!

Before:

After: