Hoot at the Hootenanny

The boys' school does a really fun school carnival, it is Western themed and they call it the Hootenanny!  They advertised for weeks before the event and no one was more excited than Caden.  For weeks and weeks all we heard about was the upcoming Hootenanny (which is a really fun word for a Kindergarten kid to say, he emphasized each syllable).  

The day of the Hootenanny all of the school kids get to wear Western wear to school.  It was advertised that there would be a girl and a boy winner from each grade that would get to wear a special ribbon that night at the Hootenanny.  Caden was determined that he was going to win that ribbon.  So determined that the night before the event I found myself at Hobby Lobby finding fabric to make chaps.  He felt pretty proud the next morning with his Sheriff badge, bandanna, hat, Wranglers, boots, lasso, and chaps.

Ethan, on the other hand did not feel so proud the morning of when he had on his horse costume.  He had planned on his own that he was going to be Caden's horse.  However, putting on the 3 sizes too small costume and actually picturing himself walking into 2nd grade wearing something so different from everyone else put him into a small panic attack.  So in the 5 minutes before school started we made him into a cowboy too.  (Too bad little guys have to grow up and follow "social rules."  

Caden was selected as the boy winner from his class and got to go down to the front office with the other Kindergarten winners from the other classes to be judged for the grand ribbon.  That was way out of the comfort zone for shy, little Caden.  He was so nervous.  He told me later his heart was beating so fast.  He felt a little ripped off that the boy that won didn't have chaps, Sheriff badge, or a bandanna. Luckily the big event that evening lived up to all of the hype and the ribbon was soon forgotten.  

I'm luckiest girl around to have 4 handsome cowboys on my team!

Caden was pretty proud of his face paint success!

Fame

Last Saturday we joined a group of people from our church to participate in some Earth Day clean-up activities.  We were assigned a stretch of the river and a fishing pond.  No one worked harder than Caden.  He loves to find "treasures" in our yard and can spot the tiniest little beads or rocks.  So he was a natural hunting for trash.  As we were leaving a man from the newspaper came and snapped some pictures.  I didn't really think much of it.  

The next day at church someone came and handed Clark and Caden a copy of the Pueblo Chieftain.  There on the front page of the Local section was Caden picking up trash and Clark showing his best side to the camera!  Caden has never been more proud.  He sat there with his smug little grin all during Sacrament Meeting, and then took the paper to show his Primary class.  

He was pretty proud to take it to show his Kindergarten class, and then the secretary hung it up in a glass box in the front of the school.  It couldn't have happened to a better kid!  I asked him how it felt to be famous, he said, "it's not that fun being famous, it's just fame."

My Little Buddy Quinn

I love having Quinn home in the day to be my little buddy while the boys are at school.  He is so much fun.  He cracks me up daily.  

Here is a conversation we had last week:

Me:  You're such a good boy Quinn.

Q:  Well not all the time, sometimes I hurt people, like my brothers.

Me:  Well, do you say sorry?

Q:  No...I run!

Pretty wise words really coming from the youngest brother!

Quinn has sleep issues!  He wakes up a lot just needing a hand to pinch or a snuggle.  I thought if I took his naps away maybe he would sleep better at night.  I don't know if that was the right decision.  He likes to snuggle in the afternoon during quiet time, and a lot of times falls asleep.

After he gets tucked in at night he loves to wander.  He knows he's not supposed to come downstairs.  So several times we've found him fast asleep on the stairs or on the floor of the loft.

He's a boy after my own heart, he likes to take it easy in the mornings.  I love those mornings that we can.  He loves to wake up and then just snuggle in a warm bed until he's ready to face the day.

I'm excited for the boys to be home from school for the summer...but I'll miss my daily one-on-one time with my little buddy Quinn.

Greeley Friends

In April we were able to see some of our favorite Greeley friends.  Heather brought her cute kids out for a fun weekend.  The kids loved playing, and I loved chatting with Heather.  We went to Royal Gorge Bridge, and played some fun games.    

All of my boys were so happy to see Stella again!

We were able to go with Clark to Denver for a quick podiatry conference one weekend and were able to hang out with the Fowlers and the Pfaus.

Excited to discover a Cafe Rio in Castle Rock on our way!

The boys were impressed with our hotel room.  Caden yelled, "this hotel even has free robes and slippers!  This vacation just keeps getting better!"

The 12 kids filled the pool!  There was a crazy blizzard in Denver that weekend so we were happy to just hang out at the hotel and let the kids swim while the guys were at the conference.

Just your average car you see in front of the Dollar Tree.

That night we all went to Casa Bonita for dinner.  It was a fun night being entertained by the divers, watching the shows, and scaring the kids in Black Bart's cave

Pretty snow at the church in Denver Sunday morning.

Pinewood Derby for the Newest Cub Scout

When Ethan turned 8 he was able to join Cub Scouts!  He LOVES scouts!  He was so excited that his first scout activity was the Pinewood Derby.  Clark and Ethan worked hard to make an awesome Blue Lightning car.  Clark also helped Caden and Quinn make one too just for fun, and because he's the best Dad.  He was also really excited to have Grandma Karen here that night on her way to Denver to be there for the big race.  

So handsome and proud of his new Scout uniform.

I loved his little celebration "yes" every time his car won and how he skipped to take it back to the starting line.

A celebratory banana split at Dairy Queen!  This little scout ate the whole thing!

Easter 2016

Ethan kept telling everyone that he was so excited because all of our family from out of town was coming to celebrate his birthday, baptism and Easter!  It was a busy weekend, but it was so fun to have guests for Easter.  After going to church we had a yummy Easter lunch.

This picture was taken before Quinn went up to join the Primary kids sing an Easter song...when he glared at everyone and fought back tears the entire song.  He was a little nervous!

Dyeing eggs with this bunch of boys was fun!

Lots of games with Grandpa!

Before we ate our Easter lunch we did the Romanian egg cracking tradition, and Grandma P. won!

We had a fun egg hunt outside for all the boys as soon as the snow melted.

Grammy brought a chicken egg laying game in the magic suitcase...seemed appropriate for Easter!

Ethan's Baptism

Ethan's baptism was one of those special life events that I had anticipated from the first time I held our sweet little baby with the tuft of red hair on the back of his head that stuck straight in the air.  Living far away from family I had assumed that not many would be able to attend his special day.  I was wrong.  We had so many family members travel through blizzards and across many miles to be here with us.  I was so touched and happy to have so many gathered in our home.  It was so special for our little family.  I told Ethan he was pretty lucky to have a great-grandpa, two great-grandmas, two grandpas and two grandmas at his baptism.  We also had many friends attend.

Grandpa and Nada pulled their trailer all the way from Utah and were able to set up their little house in our yard.  And of course, it had to snow that weekend!  

Great Grandmother Peterson

Grammy and Grandpa

Great Grandpa Turpin and Nada

Grandpa Johnson and Grandma Karen

As far as Ethan was concerned, Henry was the most important guest at his baptism.  Lucy and her boys got in late the night before the baptism so the first time we saw them was at the church.  Henry and Ethan had big grins and big hugs for each other!

The baptism service was wonderful.  Grandpa Johnson gave a prayer and Grandpa Peterson gave a last minute talk.  Clark was able to baptize and confirm Ethan with the gift of the Holy Ghost.  There was a sweet spirit there that reminded me again that Ethan is a special son of God and that I'm so blessed to be his mom.  I am proud of Ethan.  He made sure he was prepared to be baptized.  He knew the covenants that he was making and was excited to do it.  This past fall he made a goal to read the whole Book of Mormon before his baptism.  It was a family effort for sure, but we finished the week of his baptism.

All of our family that came!  I love these people!

After the baptism we had a big Cafe Rio style lunch at our house with our friends and family that came.  We set up a lot of folding tables and had a great time!  Ethan got another cake to celebrate his baptism day!  

Such a special day!