Should I be worried?

Chinese Chopsticks

The other night I made chinese for dinner. Since Nate served his mission in Taiwan he is a chopsticks pro. Therefore, we have about 20 pairs of chopsticks floating around the kitchen. Well, as per usual he went for those at dinner. If you have kids you know what happened next. They all wanted to use chopsticks. I was hungry so I chose a fork. As a side note, when we were dating Nate tried over and over to teach me how to use chopsticks, to no avail. However, after one date with our good friend Chad Pendleton, I had it down. I think Chad harassed poor Nate about it, I think it was something to do with being a real man.....I digress. After all of these years I have forgotten how to use them, and like before I can't seem to learn it from Nate. Must be time to have Chad and Holly over for a chinese dinner again to teach me, hint hint. Anyhow, after the kids started begging for help from Nate, we told them they had to have their first 5 bites with a fork, then Daddy could help. It worked. It was actually very fun and very educational. Nate got to sneak in a few lessons on manners in Asia, what is appropriate and what is not, and so forth.



Some of the things that are polite there are not so polite here. Oh well, when in Rome...I mean Asia, right.

Ethan's new adVenture

Last August Nate and I looked into the local Charter school (k-9th) and decided that we would rather have our kids go there for middle school and jr. high. One problem, really long waiting list. It was partly okay though because we loved the elementary schools our kids currently were attending. I just wanted to get Ethan in before the start of 6th grade. Well, as I was checking on where we were on the list in February we became a bit disheartened that he was 50th on the list of 5th graders trying to get in. Ugh. Fifty may not sound like a lot but that is all they allow in the school per grade. This was gonna take longer than I wanted. The only way he would move up quickly in the ranks is if we were willing to move him mid-year. I knew this going in and had opted to kind of wait and see how fast he moved. So, finally we agreed we would be willing to do this. A few weeks later we got a call from the school telling us that Ethan was close to the top of the list. They had an opening and if the other families opted to not take the spot it would be his. So, we waited a few days and then finally got the call. If we chose, Ethan would start on April 6th, finishing out his 5th grade year at the Charter school. Of course we accepted. That gave us a week to get his uniform, wrap things up at Three Mile Creek and begin to say goodbye to a school that he loved. I kept telling him that this wasn't anything he wasn't already gonna do, it was just 2 months early. He has been bravely nervous during this time of transition and I am very proud of him and how he has handled it. I am also grateful that his mid-year move came so late in the year so that he could have so much time with his previous school, teachers and friends. It worked out great. The best part though is that he will start at day one next year at the Charter school. Although we love the current Elementaries that Ally and Ryland also go to we have them on the list to move to the Charter school at the beginning of next year as well. Just decided having all the kids under the same roof was a good thing. Since the Charter school doesn't provide bussing I figured it will also ease my schedule a bit with having all the kids together. I will miss the idea of the bus but not the actual bus. Drama drama drama that thing has been. I already have a love/hate relationship with the uniforms as well. I think it is a great idea to have strict guidelines and keeps the focus on the classroom and not on fashion but I gotta tell ya, after one shopping trip to start outfitting my kids, I am bored to tears. BORING. Oh well, it's only for another 13 years most likely. I can handle that, right? Just don't be surprised if my kids are in crazy outfits outside of school. We might be swinging that pendulum pretty heavily in the coming years. Although it is Ethan starting us out on this adVenture it really is the whole family going through this change. Nate and I feel good about it, but only time will tell if we made the right choice for our kiddos. Wish us luck. I decided to do a little recap of Ethan's teachers that he has had since we moved into our new home. It's been almost 4 years, should I still call it new? Whatever. Also, we would like to introduce his new teacher at the charter school as well. Sorry if this post bores you to tears, but this blogs main purpose IS to chronicle our family's adVenture so here goes.

Ethan's first teacher at Three Mile Creek was Ms. Abbott, who went on to become Mrs. Acuff. We loved her. She was so perfect for him that year. She has since retired and substitutes occasionally. When Ethan told her he was leaving the school he asked her to come back before he left so that he could get a picture with her. Sweetheart that she is she came back the day of the Spring Parties to get a photo with Ethan.

Ethan's all-time favorite teacher that he has ever had was Mrs. Yates in 3rd grade. He prayed he would get her again in 4th grade when she changed from 3rd to 4th. When he was moving to 5th grade he hoped and prayed he would get to have her as his teacher again since she moved from 4th to 5th grade that year as well. From what I could see, Mrs. Yates creates a family with her classes. To this day Ethan can hardly talk about her without getting a little choked up. I think it also has to do with the fact that she was his teacher when Nate was diagnosed with Cancer. She was so great with him, and helped him during those last days of the school year when our family was going through so much. He never got his wish to have her as his teacher again but he ended up with some pretty great teachers those years as well.

Ethan really enjoyed having Miss T (Thompson) for his 4th grade teacher. He will always remember her love of all things Goofy.

His teacher this year for 5th grade was Mrs. Pedersen.

Ethan's class on his last day at Three Mile Creek.

Ethan this morning all ready to go in his new uniform. Didn't even seem nervous, but I bet he was just a little.

Ethan and his new teacher Mr. Hart. This will be the first time that Ethan has had a male teacher. Should be fun for him to experience so many new things in the coming months.

I am sure that this new adVenture of Ethan's will be full of great teachers as well.
Just a little side note. I thought it was so sweet that Ethan and Ally were so troubled with the fact that they would no longer be going to the same school. I gently explained to them that this 2 month seperation is much shorter than if we sent them to the local public schools. Then they wouldn't be together again until she was a Sophomore and he a Senior. I think that helped. I love that they are buddies and watch out for each other. Sweet.

Encourgement: Jack Buck quote

Things turn out best for those who make the best of the way things turn out.
~Jack Buck

Easter 2010

We started Easter weekend off with coloring eggs. It was insanity on my part to wait this long to color Easter eggs. We did it just a mere 2 hours before hosting over 20 people for Easter dinner and an egg hunt. What I was thinking I will never know. Fortunately we got through the project and the mess and the shindig seemed to go off without a hitch. As usual the coloring of the eggs was a hit. I was surprised (and yet relieved) that Evie wanted nothing to do with it though. I am sure next year will be a different story.

Ally's Easter egg hair-do. We have seen this idea floating around the internet the last few years (who hasn't) but we had never tried it. It is a way cute idea, unfortunately Ally's hair is just too thin and fine to really pull it off. Her eggs were out within half an hour. Not sure it is worth the effort. Of course I have promised that we will try again next year, but with the mini eggs instead. We'll see how that pans out. I make no promises for it to be successful.


I snagged the girls for a quick photo before the egg hunt started. I instructed them to stand by each other and smile. This is what I got. Crazy kids. I love how little Julia just looks at them like, "What in the heck are you doing?". (Julia, Sydney and Ally)

Just moments before the hunt was to begin, we were informed by Megan that an egg had become inadvertently stuck in Grandma and Grandpa Burke's exhaust pipe. What?!?

We immediately went out and tried unsuccessfully to fish it out. Our last attempt was made with the vacuum in the hopes that we could suck it out enough to get a hold of it. Unfortunately all this accomplished was puching the egg even further into the pipe and eventually directly into the muffler. The egg forever a momento for Grandma and Grandpa of our Easter celebration. Oh well, what are ya gonna do?

Sydney, Logan, Tyler and Ally once they were told the "easy eggs" out on the lawn were finally fair game.




Evelyn trying on some new glasses that Grandma Hale brought over to give out.

This morning the kids were on the hunt for their baskets before they even had a potty break. Ethan received a Bakugan case, two new Bakugans and the Astro Boy DVD, along with some candy.

Ally got the Barbie A Mermaid's Tale DVD, one of the Mermaid Barbies from the movie and some candy.

Ryland also received a new Bakugan case and two new Bakugans, some candy and the Alvin and the Chipmunks Squeekquel DVD.

Evelyn got the Princess and the Frog DVD, a little barbie from the new Barbie movie A Mermaids Tale as well as some candy.


Along with all of these fun festivities we have been enjoying listening to General Conference and remembering the true reason for Easter. What a beautiful weekend to celebrate the wonderful gift of the Resurrection and the Atonement that we have all been given.

3rd Grade Spring Party

Yesterday I got to go help Ally's teacher with their Spring Party. I actually remembered to take my camera this time. I have helped with countless class parties through the years and I have no photos to show for it. Oh well, no point crying over spilled milk, eh? I was in charge of the game....again. We divided the kids up into 3 groups. In Ally's group it was boys vs. girls. They each won a round. It was a relay race to see who could put all of their eggs from one basket into another. Forget all of that nonsense about NOT putting all of your eggs in one basket, that rule doesn't apply to this. The rules were you couldn't use your hands, if you dropped the egg before you put it in the other bucket you had to scoop it up and start back at the original bucket. Easy Peasy, right? I guess it depends on who you ask. They seemed to have an enjoyable time playing and we only had one boy have a sore loser meltdown. I guess that's what happens when you lose to a bunch of girls! Seemed like a success.

Safe Keeping

I don't know how many times I walked past here without seeing it. What a funny kid you are Chub.