Just another soccer shot.

Jonathan's soccer team had their final game tonight.

Mike did an excellent job coaching!
It gave him the opportunity to spend quality time with Jonathan.
It gave him a reason to leave work on Monday nights in order to get to practice on time.
It gave him the chance to share his knowledge of the game of soccer.
It gave him the excuse he needed to act a little silly sometimes.

We hope he returns in the spring...
(hint, hint, hint)

And we don't even like turkey!

This morning when I was getting ready for church, Mike came running into the bedroom and hurried me over to the window looking out into the backyard. He said, "Well, you said you wanted to know what a turkey looked like!"

Sure enough, as I looked out the window I saw not one, not two, not even three...
...but TEN wild turkeys parading around our backyard!
They were huge!
Even from the second story window they looked huge!

Of course, I wanted to take a picture or these huge birds in our backyard, so we snuck (yes, Tracey, I believe it is a word) out onto our back deck and I snapped a few pictures with my camera.


It was still early in the morning, so the lighting was not the best.
But can you see the black shapes in the picture?
Those are the turkeys!

And, being the goofball that I tend to be, I asked Mike, "Did they come for Thanksgiving?"
To which he quickly replied, "Only if we shoot them!"

Oh, and in case you are wondering...
Turkeys do NOT say "gobble, gobble, gobble".
They make a weird noise that sounds like they are choking on something.
So much for everything we learned when we were young!

It's a tradition...

Every year, we carve pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns.
This tradition has evolved through the years.
Level 0
When the kids were young, I carved our pumpkins into jack-o-lanterns while they watched.
Level 1
They told me what they wanted their pumpkins to look like. I did the "work".
Level 2
They drew the faces and I dug out all the guts.
Level 3
They stuck their hands into the pumpkins, made a face for the camera, and then I dug all the guts out.
Level 4
Jonathan did a lot of the work on his pumpkin, but I had to help Sammy quite a bit.
Level 5 (this year)
I did the carving, but the kids had to gut the pumpkins themselves.

I was so impressed with how hard they worked to get their pumpkins cleaned out.
It was a messy job, but they loved it!

Growing Up

It's inevidable,
but it still surprises me.
Jonathan is really growing up!
He looks older.
He acts older.
He sounds older.
I am not ready for this.
I wish he could stay small forever...

Well,
at least for a little bit longer.






.

Our New Toy

We finally did it!

A couple weeks ago we went to Sam's Club and purchased an enormous trampoline for the kids to play on. To tell you the truth, I was sort of feeling left out since we didn't have a trampoline or a swing set or a pool (the three most popular items in our neighborhood).

But now we fit in very nicely.

Jon and Sammy love to jump on the trampoline together. They even convinced Papaw to jump with them one day! And I have to admit that I like it too. It makes me feel like a kid again to bounce up and down for a while. I can still remember playing on the trampoline when I was growing up - although I know that we did not have a safety net surrounding ours. I remember bouncing each other so high that we literally flew off of the trampoline and landed on the little hill in our back yard. How is it that no one actually ended up seriously injured?!?

I am so glad that we decided to buy a trampoline...with a safety net.

If I was in charge of the world...

The other day I was chatting with the kids in the car on the way home from school. Sammy was complaining about something (I can't remember exactly what right now) and so I said, "Wouldn't it be great if YOU were in charge of everything?" She didn't immediately respond, so I prompted her by asking, "If you were in charge of the whole world, what would you make the rules be?" Her response was sweet (see #3) and timely (see #1 & #2) since she had just finished standardized tests at school that week.

If Sammy was in charge of the world...
1. No tests.
2. No NWEA tests.
3. No one would boss mommy around.
4. No making dogs stay in their pens. They could sleep in your bed or outside.
5. You can't boss kids around.
6. Everyone could be super heroes.

Sammy's list of how she would rule the world gave such insights into her personality and what is important to her at this stage in her life. Hearing her responses made me curious about how the rest of the family would answer the same question.

If Jonathan was in charge of the world...
1. No tests.
2. School would be shorter.
3. You can read whatever you want.
4. You can read whenever you want.
5. No banned books.
6. I would own a BIG library.
7. No writing prompts.

If Mike was in charge of the world...
(Are you ready for this?!?)
His answer: "I would create three worlds. (grinning) One for stupid people. One for everybody else. And one for me. And people can only visit me when I say so. And they have to do anything I want and leave when I say so." Sammy was concerned. She asked, "But your family would be allowed to visit?" "Only on certain days," he replied, laughing.

NOTE: Getting Mike to answer this question at all was like pulling teeth. I actually expected his first response to be that no one would ever have to answer silly questions like this. When he said he would create a world for stupid people, I laughed so hard I spit food all over the place! He has a unique sense of humor that is understood, accepted, and appreciated by members of our immediate family.

And finally.......

If I was in charge of the world...
1. Teachers would be paid more.
2. Humor would infiltrate all aspects of our lives.
3. Gas prices would go back down.
4. Families would really be together forever (despite the stupid things we say and do sometimes).
5. Friends would live closer to each other.
6. Houses would clean themselves regularly.
7. Dinner would arrive at your doorstep fully cooked and ready to serve 15 minutes before you are ready to eat. (And no one would complain about what is being served!)
8. I would have my own lane on every road.
9. Speed limits would be optional.
10. No calories in sweets. (or any other food for that matter)
11. No whining - kids or adults or students or customers or coworkers included.
12. Clothes would automatically fit right and look fabulous!
13. There would always be perfect lighting for taking photographs.
14. Kids would be internally motivated to learn.
15. There would be no grades or report cards.
16. Kids would have a pause button (for days when I am too tired to keep up), a mute button (for when I have a headache or don't want to hear the whining - see #11), a rewind button (to return to those precious moments I let slip past me sometimes), and a fast forward button (for those moments I wish I didn't have to face - teething, potty training, battles for independence, puberty, teenage years, and the inevitable mistakes I wish I could help them avoid).
17. People would understand that a waitress only gets paid $2.13 per hour!
18. Exercise would be more fun than eating.
19. People would never misunderstand your comments or be offended.
20. And then, of course, on a more serious/mature note: world peace, no more hunger, no more abuse, increased awareness of our earth and how we affect it, and more philanthropic acts by all.

So, what would you do if you were in charge of the world?

This boy...

...carries a book everywhere he goes.
...attends martial arts classes almost every day.
...still enjoys playing video games.
...has a passion for writing.
...helps out without being asked.
...is the most caring and patient big brother.
...is writing his own novel.
...knows how to be a true friend.
...treats others with respect.
...is confident in who he is and what he believes.
...will start middle school next fall.
...is honest and dependable.
...is developing his own unique sense of style.
...has a strong testimony of the gospel.
...just received the Aaronic Priesthood yesterday.
...will always be my little boy.

Fear Factor LIVE at the Bunton House

It all started with the idea for the cake.
A poo-poo cake.
Complete with plastic flies!
And things got messier and grosser as we began to make plans for Jonathan's Fear Factor birthday party.
This was definitely the most outrageous party we have had so far!

The invitations that I sent out were "applications" to be on the show. I wanted to start to freak the kids out by asking questions about their fears, but I also wanted a way to be sure parents understood that their kids needed to be dressed to get messy and be sure no one has allergies. It was a lot of fun reading the entries as they were returned. Some of the applications were very entertaining!

So, after the kids sent in their applications (Jonathan thought it was hilarious that I added that despite their entries, some kids still might not be selected!) they received a confirmation phone call telling them the following:

Congratulations! You have been selected from hundreds of applicants to be a contestant on the next Fear Factor show. Please arrive at the production site on Friday by 6:00 pm. You will receive further instructions upon arrival. Thank you for your application, and we look forward to meeting you on Friday!

When they arrived, I had a jar of gummy octopus candy and they had to try to guess how many candies were in the jar to "win" the prize. Next, they decorated Fear Factor bandannas to wear for the activities (or use to wipe stuff off of their faces, arms, stomachs, etc.) After dividing them into random teams, the boys made up group names and began to get psyched up for the first event.

12th birthday.
12 party guests.
12 messy challenges.
12 less hours of sleep that night.

Challenge #1: Balloon Race
Teams each got 10 balloons. They had to blow up the balloons one at a time and tie them. Then they ran across the yard and used anything (except a stick - too easy) to pop them and then ran back for the next person to go.

Challenge #2: Gum Grab
Players each had a bowl of Cool Whip with a big piece of bubble gum hidden at the bottom of it. They had to get the gum out using their mouths only, chew the gum, and blow a big bubble. Much harder than it sounds. Some of the boys couldn't stop eating the Cool Whip - even after the event was over!

Challenge #3: Quick Hands
Each team was given two puzzles (100 pieces each) with all the pieces mixed together in a bag. They needed to assemble both puzzles as fast as they could. This proved to be much more challenging than I thought it would be, so we settled for the first team to get one puzzle assembled.

Challenge #4: Marshmallow Madness
Players worked with a partner. One was the "target" and one was the "thrower". The thrower got a glob of peanut butter and some mini marshmallows. They had to cover the marshmallows with the peanut butter and then throw them at their "target" to see how many they could get to stick to them. Again, harder than I thought it would be. Another event that had kids eating things off the ground! Gross!

Challenge #5: Spaghetti Dig
Teams each got a bowl of spaghetti noodles and cherry pie filling layered together. Without using their hands, they had to get all the cherry pieces out and spit them on a plate. It was so funny listening to them offer suggestions to each other on how to best extract the cherries from the slimy mass of noodles.

Challenge #6: Glob of Goo
I had purchased 12 baby food jars and removed the labels. And I did NOT just get the yummy fruit ones. Each player was given a napkin and a spoon. The number written on their napkin was the number of the jar of baby food they had to eat to earn points for their team. IF they could guess the type of baby food correctly (without tasting it) they earned exemption from the challenge. Of all the events I had planned, I never would have guessed that this one would end up causing someone to puke! Yep - Jonathan got sick on plum baby food! Poor guy. But he ate the whole jar and earned 10 points for his team!

Challenge #7: Know Your States
(A filler activity so I could get stuff ready for other stunts.) They had 2 minutes to list all the states they could remember starting with the letters: C F H I M N T.

Challenge #8: Iron Toes
I had tubs filled with ice, water, and marbles. Teams were given one minute to retrieve as many marbles from the bottom of the tub as possible using only their toes. I was accused of causing frostbite during this stunt.

Challenge #9: Bad Hair Day
Each team was given a bottle of shaving cream and had to create the wackiest hairstyles in each other's hair as they could. It was - interesting.

Challenge #10: Soda Slurp
Partners had to drink soda from a 1/2 liter bottle as fast as possible. The catch was that they had to use a straw...well, actually three straws hooked together to make one long straw. I had expected it to be seriously hard for them to suck the soda up that tall straw, but they were able to do it without a problem. What I hadn't anticipated was the amount of burping that would follow this stunt!

Challenge #11: Garden Gourmet
Each team was given a handful of gummy worms (that had been rolled in honey and crushed Oreos) for their team to eat. They could either have one person eat all the worms or split the task. They were a little timid at first until someone bit into a "worm" and announced, "They aren't real worms guys!"

Challenge #12: Drop Zone
(I love having a deck!) Players worked as a team. They have two people on the ground below the deck holding large plastic crates on their heads. The others were on the deck with LARGE water balloons. I'm talking 12 inch water balloons! They had to toss the balloons off the deck into the crates on their teammates' heads. In a word - WET.



Overall, the party was a huge success. Jonathan said his friends had a blast at the party! I had a good time too, but I sure had a hard time getting them to settle down that night.

Hmmmmm.
Could it have been all the sugar they ate?

NOTE: Sammy was the only girl attending the party and was given the challenging task of acting as a security guard during the party. She got to help set up for the events, tell the boys where to go next, and remove any rowdy participants. She took her role very seriously and even wore a black Fear Factor SECURITY t-shirt. Cute!

Saying Goodbye

It's not what you think.
Sure, sometimes the kids drive me crazy.
But I promise that I didn't kick them out.

I know it looks like they've packed their bags and been turned out to the streets, but that isn't the case! Today was the first day of Jonathan and Sammy's "outdoor education experience". They are headed to Bradford Woods for three days! They are so excited, and I know (from experience) that they will have the best time.

BUT...
I'm really going to miss them!
Life is so crazy most of the time, but without them I don't know what to do with myself.

I can hardly wait until they come home on Wednesday and tell me about everything they did while they were away at camp. Even though I went to Bradford Woods last year, their experience will be different. I was there as a teacher. They are going there as children "freed" from the walls of school for a few days. Their perspectives will be very different from my own.

I just hope I can survive without my munchkins for the next couple days.