Ski Night

There is a long standing tradition at our elementary school for the annual ski night.  All of the fourth and fifth graders get to leave school early and head up to Bogus Basin for a night of skiing.  Ains and her friends really wanted to go, and so their cool tag-along mothers decided to go up as well.  Something about 10 and 11 year olds being let loose on  a mountain after a 90 min lesson was just begging for some parental involvement!

So last week we checked the girls out of school and made the trek up to the mountains.  I was a little nervous going with Ainsley, just because she tends to be a lot braver and tougher when I'm not around.  I was regretting my decision to join her when we had a major melt down over deciding if her boots were the right size.  Her life was spared when Erin intervened as she saw the look of death enter my eyes.  After that the night went really well.

 

The kids headed off for their lesson with the ski instructors and the moms headed up the bunny hill.  Erin was our resident skier.  I haven't been since the fifth grade.  And Lerin hasn't ever been.  So Erin gave us what instruction she could and we dove right in.  We immediately crashed as we got off the lift.  Had a good laugh and then slowly mastered the bunny hill.  Come to find out, I really enjoy skiing.  I might be a little cocky, seeing as how my skill level still involves the bunny hill, but I was rocking that hill by the end of the night and even super brave and did one other run.  And I only fell twice on that run   And one of those falls was getting off the lift.  Why is it so hard to get off the lift???!!!

 

After the honing of our skills we snagged the girls after their lesson.  We took them up the chair lift, and they immediately fell.  And then they got up and skied!  Ains did great!  I was super proud.  She had a few crashes but she did really well.  We probably went down that bunny hill with them over a dozen times that night and each time they got better.  Now I've got an itch to take the whole family up.  I actually think Owen would love it.  Too bad it's almost March!  If the snow will stay maybe we can make it up next month!

 

And now for a list of my favorite moments of the night:

 

• Watching Lerin take down the second counselor of our bishopric.
• Feeling overly confident only to then completely crash getting off the ski lift.
• Watching Ains miss the appropriate moment to exit the ski lift and start to head back down the mountain.  I seriously laughed so hard.  I'm a bad mom.  Luckily the man working the ski lift was nicer than me and stopped the lift and rescued her.  All while I was still laughing.
• Hanging out with Ains.
• Getting faster and faster with every run.
• Crashing into a barricade at the bottom of the bunny hill.  Yes I did.

Learning

I have debated to write about this because it isn't very positive.  But I decided that this blog needed to share the good and the not so good parts of our lives.  So here we go....

Owen is forcing me to learn about boys.  More specifically spirited boys.  Even more specifically MY spirited boy.  I've always struggled a bit with Owen.  He's headstrong and independent and short tempered (just like his parents).  I've always know that he wasn't the kid that would naturally get along with everyone. Which is a little ironic because the only 2 things he has interest in doing is playing with friends and playing the ipad.  It is guaranteed that the first words out of his mouth when he gets home from school will be "can I play with a friend?" and his first words every  morning are, "Can I play the ipad?" 

Lately Owen has been struggling a bit at school and church.  He just can't seem to keep his hands and inappropriate words to himself.  Last month I was at the school meeting with the principal and the school counselor about an incident with another boy in his class.  Luckily Owen hadn't done anything too bad, but events had escalated to a point where parents were involved.  He now has someone in his class that he is not allowed to be near or speak to, and vice versa.  This whole things stresses me out and worries me.  I just don't understand it.  I've never understood personalities that were so polar that they literally couldn't mesh with another personality.

I'm never surprised to get concerned emails from teachers, notes to be signed and returned to school, or even calls home.  On the other hand, when he tries to get his act together, I'm always pleasantly surprised to get positive notes home. It proves to me that he can do it.  He can be good! Those occasional notes make me think we'll be able to get this sorted out an raise a child that can succeed and function in society (okay, maybe that was a little dramatic).

Through all of this I've learned a few things.

• MY boy has endless energy.  Endless.  I don't know that I've ever heard him say he was tired.
• With the friends that he does get along with really well, MY boy can play for hours.  Literally.
• MY boy is very independent.  He can take care of himself and is happiest when he is roaming the streets with his friends taking care of himself.
• MY boy can play on electronics for hours on end.  It's a little unnerving.
• MY boy is not driven to do well in school.  He could care less if he does an assignment perfectly.
• MY boy is super smart.  Seriously.  Possibly my smartest kid.  He could just care less about proving that to other people.
• MY boy is fearless. 
• MY boy doesn't like church (yet).  For him its terribly boring.
• My boy doesn't like to be touched.  Unless it's a back scratch and then he loves it.
• MY boy is a little OCD.  His loom band hobby has gotten a little out of control. 
• MY boy has kept a fish alive for 7 months now.  Perhaps its time we consider getting him a dog.
• MY boy might cause me concern until he's.....um I don't know....maybe 50?
• MY boy came to MY family for a reason.  
• MY boy has qualities that will get him far in life.  As long as he learns to use those qualities wisely
• I'm glad that MY boy is mine. 

Dance

Emmie has been taking dance for the last couple of months.  She's loving it!  And I have had a great time watching.  It's always entertaining.  I can't wait for the recital in May!

Valentine's Day

We did in fact celebrate Valentine's day this year. In our own sort of mellow way. The kids all had parties at school. Owen gave flowers to all the girls in the family. We ate pizza. Watched Despicable Me 2. Attempted to play a game. And all went to bed at a reasonable hour. And we even took exactly 2 pictures of the day. And these are them!