Runaway

Kyle got mad at me on Saturday when I got "caught" giving away some of his hand me down clothes to our neighbors with a younger baby boy. When I was downloading pictures to the computer from the digital camera, I asked Jordan what these pictures of Kyle with his bag of clothes were all about.

Jordan had gone after him and he told her that he was "running away". I guess I better be careful who's around the next time I do any spring cleaning. I thought he'd be happy to have some new summer clothes from the boxes of things saved from Connor and Max. But that didn't seem to make him happy, since he immediately packed them up into a grocery bag and jumped on his scooter to run away!

He scooted off into the big scary world, riding arount the culde-sac for a whole 10 minutes before returning home and forgiving his Mom of her terrible crime!

I am the proud parent of a Viking Gold Scholar!

Am I the only one old enough to remember those corny yellow bumper stickers that parents used to have on the backs of their cars to advertise to everyone that their child was on the honor roll??

Jordan was "honored" yesterday at the Pleasant Grove Junior High Awards Assembly. She received the "Viking Gold Scholar" award and a "certificate of achievement for excellence" in.....ART! Huh? What did he say? Art? Does Jordan take art? Does Jordan even like art? Now that was a shocker, however the other one was just what we have come to expect from Super - Student Extraordinaire, Jordan Eickbush.


When I asked just what a "gold scholar" was , as opposed to many "silver-scholars" also awarded, her best friend Ashley (pictured) replied, "I don't know, I've never been in the three's" (referring to Grade Point Average.) I later found out it meant you had a 3.9 or higher G.P.A. for the entire school year. Wow, pretty cool. Stay Gold Jordie!

Top Dog

How much is that Doggie in the middle? The one with pink eyes and no nose?

The Second graders at Valley View put on their annual spring play yesterday. It was entitled "Catville and Dogburg". The boys were the dogs and the girls were the cats. (Now that's original, isn't it?) The basic moral to the story was that you can be friends with people who are different than you.

Max has always been the number one example of a friend to all. In fact I think he has many more "girl" friends than boys. He's always concerned about the little handicapped students, and will defend them if anyone says anything derrogatory about them.

He was such an adorable little pup, although his puppy dog eyes were just recovering from pink eye and you might be able to tell. Oh yes, and he was a little sad that he lost his little black nose, but his freckled one looked just as cute to me!

A Pirate Mom -- that's me!

Yesterday, Connor's baseball game was wet, cold, rainy, windy, and quite miserable - weather wise that is. I have officially joined the ranks of the nutty, screaming maniac Mothers who get so excited about the game that I have no voice today! Because you know that those boys would have no clue how to play without my screeching commands and advice! The first exciting thing that happened was that the coach finally let him pitch again. He's been waiting for this chance. He did pretty good, although he was a little stiff, and it's because he puts so much pressure on himself. Hmmm, wonder who he gets that from. I tried to remind him to just think about how he did it when it was just Dad up at bat--Connor hit a home run his first time up at bat, which was awesome and his team-mates were so thrilled, it was the best. His second time up at bat, the catcher, as well as the coach screamed out to their team "BACK UP - it's the Heavy Hitter!!"

Although he hit it almost as far, he only got a single out of it. But he got 'em back by stealing his way to third base.However, with his two hits, he brought in 5 runners. They won 9-7, thank goodness, because they had been on a two game losing streak. You know I was a cheerleader back in the day, so maybe I'm just having fun cheering on my own little athlete. I just never imagined that I would love watching a baseball game so much. That day Megan looked at me and said with a smile--
"You're a Pirate Mom now" I guess I am. And proud of it!

Slumber Party of Five

Part of being a Mom is checking on the kids every night before I head off to bed myself. As I tip-toe into each of my children's rooms and cover them up, or fix their pillows, or turn them the right direction in the bed, I give them one last kiss and tuck them in. They never know whether I do come up and "check" on them or not, but I always tell them I will, and so I can't go to bed without doing it. It gives me just a little assurance and peace of mind that they are all safe in their own beds and hearing their quiet breathing (or loud snores in some cases) is the final sounds I hear at the end of each day.

I always loved to sit and watch them sleep when they were babies and always commented on how cute they look when they're asleep. But last night, they all looked so funny!! It was a busy weekend, the boys had been on the Father/Son Camp-out for our ward, Jordan had been baby-sitting for some friends until late, and Megan and Kyle had been out in the sun all day and they were all over-tired, dirty, open mouth breathing, drooling messes!

They just might kill me, but I'm taking a chance that it is Mother's Day and all. So, I confess that I snuck and took little pictures of each one in all their passed out glory!

Mother's Day 2007

The kids have all been excitedly rushing around today, secretly making me little cards, drawing me pictures, and whispering about what they will do for me tomorrow on Mom's Day.

Max just couldn't wait to give me the little gift he made at school and so he made me open it Friday afternoon the minute he got home. It was a little glass window decoration with a butterfly on it that he painted himself. It was so sweet and he was so proud of it. However, the little letter that accompanied the gift was my favorite part...

Mommy,

I like your cooking. I like your hair. I like your eyes. Thank you for your love. Thank you for my food. Thank you for being nice.

Love you,

Freckle Face

To all the wonderful examples of Motherhood I know, to my Girlfriends, Sisters, Aunts, Cousins, and especially my own incredible Mom--

Freckle Face

Look at Max's freckles! It's not even summer yet, and he has more than his Mom! I may not have been blessed with any red-heads but I definitely know this freckle faced boy is mine! He may not think they're cute, but I think his freckles are fabulous!

Our Teen-age Drama Queen

Jordan is still a Straight A student with a 4.0. Well, I think her collective GPA is actually 3.987 because of an A- she received for one term in Choir.

This quarter she is taking drama, and maybe another elective will damage her perfect GPA. Today she had a test and told me she got 94%, being knocked down for not making "mean" expressions. Now, all of you who know Jordan, know that she is the queen of expressions, and mean ones shouldn't come too hard. When speaking to her Uncle Joey about it on the phone, he suggested she should have just thought about her fights with Connor! (yes, they do have their moments of disagreement, to put it mildly.)

I had to post just a few of her many faces! We love you, Jordie Lou!

The "Truth" according to Kyle

Kyle tells me so many stories, it's hard to remember all of them. He is an incredibly insightful and imaginative child, especially for a three year old. He is extremely consistent (or stubborn) and doesn't change his mind easily. Once he decides something is truth, he sticks to it!

1- Girls are "cute" but boys are only AWESOME. If you describe any male (even kittens) as cute, you will be corrected and harshly reprimanded. Whatever you do, DO NOT ever tell Kyle that he looks "cute".

2- There is a bad guy that lives inside the mountain named "Darkness". He is there but you don't see him. That's why your parents make you come inside the house when the sun goes down. There is another guy who lives inside the snowy mountain. His name is "Timpanogos". Timpanogos watches out for you at night so that darkness can't get you.

3- If anything is misplaced, lost, stolen, or otherwise missing-- "Swiper took it."(For all of you not familiar with Dora, the Explorer- Swiper is a Fox that steals things on the show) There is no question in his mind and we might as well just quit looking for it, because Swiper has it and that's that.

4- If Mom or Dad find a mess or your scooter left out in the road and we ask "who did this?" It was "Casper". I thought Casper was a friendly ghost, but apparently in Kyle's world, he's an incredibly forgetful and messy ghost.

5- When Kyle turns 4, he will go to Pre-School. The other day he told me "You're going to be very sad and lonely when I turn 4 Mom. You won't have anyone to play with or watch movies with all day long." Well, he is right about that one.

6- Jesus lives up in the clouds. He has a good view from up there. Kyle can often be seen waving up into the sky to him.

7- Peach Cobbler is a staple that should always be kept on hand for whenever you're in the mood for it. It is as important as having eggs and milk in your kitchen. If you don't have any, whiney behavior and tantrums are rampant. "What? We don't have any cobbler?"

8- Mom is never, ever, under any circumstances to leave Kyle at home without her. It doesn't matter where she went, who is at home watching him, including Dad, Kyle is supposed to go with Mom at all times. This is absolutely against all laws in Kyle's world.

9- There is a monster that lives under the bath tub. He slurps down the water when you pull the plug. You must be completely out of the tub before you begin to let the water out or you risk being sucked into the monster's belly. Unless you're an adult, in which case you'll just get stuck in the monster's throat.

10- If there is any light left in the sky, it is morning. It doesn't matter if it's 6:00 p.m., it's not dark, and it's still morning. He's having a real problem with daylight savings time!

As you can see from this list, Kyle is a kid with definite ideas and a mind of his own. Life is always entertaining when he's around!