Putting Coleman to Sleep

We are the family of routines, as you know, and when Coleman started sleeping in a bed, we had to start a new routine.  Jono usually puts Coleman to bed while I help the older kids and so he established the new routine.  It is laying down with Coleman until he falls asleep!  This goes against every sleeping belief we have.  On one hand, it is so fun to snuggle with him, our faces touching, and watch his long lashes flutter up and down until he drifts off.  On the other hand, it is difficult to take this much time each night, especially if only one parent is putting all the kids to bed.  

Rosie and Bud also have their unique routines.  Rosie likes to sleep with her door closed so she can't see into the bathroom across the hall from her room.  Bud, in contrast, likes to sleep with his door open.  He even puts a pillow in the doorway so there is no chance his door will close in the night.  He also positions his bathroom door so it is just the way he likes it, not too open not too closed.  Bud's room is always very neat.  The other day he said to me, "I think you need to empty my bathroom garbage can, it's getting really full."  I emptied it and it only had about 6 tissues in it.  Rosie's room is still as messy as ever!

This is a picture of Jono and Bud checking on Coleman before Bud's bedtime.  They both laid down by him and pretended to be asleep.

Coleman loves to go to preschool.  One day they learned about bugs and made these cute little headbands.  The day he learned about kangaroos, he hopped all over the house and told us the baby kangaroos are called 'joeys".  He loves to show off his art projects and tell us what he ate for a snack.  Coleman enjoys the carpool as much as going to school.  He is very happy to ride in his friends' cars each morning.  One of his friends lives in a gated circle and he loves the opening and closing gates.   Coleman still is obsessed with our garage door and talks all the way home from school about the big garage doors opening for him.  He is such a funny kid!

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A Joke

I just read this in the Reader's Digest:

When he received a journal as a gift, my eight-year-old son was mystified.  "Mom, what am I supposed to do with this?  The pages are blank."

"You write down interesting stuff that happens to you,"  I said.

"So it's like a blog... on paper."

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Meeting the Utes

We recently went to Rice-Eccles stadium to meet all the Utah Athletic Teams.  We had a lot of fun!  Bud was very excited to shake hands with Coach Boylen, go one-on-one with Carlin Brown and get his picture taken with Shaun Green.  The kids hit balls with the golf team (they were impressed with Rosie's swing) and they kicked and caught footballs.  Jono loved that the most; he made a field goal and an impressive catch.  Bud had the longest rally of the day with a tennis player.  Coleman and Rosie rode a sled down a snow hill with a girl from the ski team named Rosie.  Coleman was afraid of Swoop (what 3 year old isn't), but Bud and Rosie got a photo with him.  The funniest laugh of the day came when we got home and I looked in Bud's scrapbook.  When Bud was 3 years old and at the Utah Fan Fest, he was wearing the same gray T-shirt and orange hat that Coleman had on!  Things don't change that much in the Oettli family.

As we were getting ready to leave, in marched the football team after their practice.  Bud had the players sign the jersey that he was wearing! He was so happy and had a big smile on his face the rest of the day. This is Matt Asiata, the fast Utah running back.  

GO UTES!

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Sibling Rivalry

This past week Rosie was sick with asthma and it disrupted our family dynamics.  Bud was very angry (very angry!) that Rosie missed school and church.  He also felt like I forgot about him. This was one of his spelling sentences, "When people are sick, sometimes moms won't give enough attention to their other child."  Coleman was jealous of all the times I held Rosie on my lap to give her a little love.  He said to me, "Snuggle me, mom, I sick too!"  

The very best was at Dr. F office.  I took Rosie in for her asthma and because it's flu shot time we decided to get our shots over with.  I got mine first.  Rosie went next, and she was very nervous but did great.  Coleman was not to be left out.  "I wanna shot too," he exclaimed and climbed on my lap for his shot.  He didn't even cry.  Never underestimate sibling rivalry!

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Rose

We are so blessed to have in our family a little sweetheart who leaves us notes like this:

This is a poem she wrote me:

   

                                                   You are the best to the best

                                                   Let us go to the west

                                                   That is fun to me

                                                   Let's go to the west

                                                   O let us go

                                                   You are the best!

                                                                     To you

                                                                     From Rosie Oettli

     

Rosie lost another tooth!  She now has the most interesting pattern of teeth and spaces in her smile.  Rosie was very concerned that her tooth for the Tooth Fairy would fall into the space at the top of her bed, so she slept safely down towards the middle of the bed.  The Tooth Fairy was short on small bills and so she (I mean he) left her twenty dollars.  We awoke the next day to screams of, "It's my first twenty dollar bill!"  Jono promptly took the money and put it in her bank account.  

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Rocket U

Cub Scouts.  I am a big supporter and do all I can; but I had to pass the responsibility to Jono for the Space Derby.  (It's like the Pinewood Derby except with rockets).  Jono was not thrilled, but he dug in and together with Bud built a U rocket.  It looked great!

Flashback:  Last year's Pinewood Derby was a disaster.  It was our first Pack Meeting combined with the 13th ward so we felt a little strange and Jono was late.  Bud and I took his car to be weighed and Jono hadn't put any weight in the car when he built it.  I know the man weighing the cars thought I was a single mom who could barely keep life together and had no idea what the Pinewood Derby was all about.  It was a nightmare. We had to tape weights on the car and Bud's car came in last or second to last in every heat.  

So, this year I prepped Bud for the worst.  I explained our goal was simply not to come in last place and let's just have fun.  Imagine our surprise when Bud's rocket won every race!  It was so fast it flew off the rocket track every time!  It beat the second place rocket by several feet! Jono had built the fastest rocket there, without even googling space derby.

The look on Bud's face was priceless when he received the certificate for the fastest rocket.

(The best part is that Jono didn't care if Bud took first place or last place.  He was the least competitive dad there.)

Building the rocket:  Bud and Rosie love it, Jono's talking on the phone.

Bud wanted a Utah rocket, of course.

Jono and his happy face.

Bud's rocket was so fast!  Coleman loved watching all the rockets.

This is my favorite picture; by the later heats the dad's were racing the rockets while the boys played basketball.

Here's the scout troop.

Bud was so happy to get his winning certificate!

Next year:  the Raingutter Regata.

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The First Day of School

The first day of school is here, summer went by much too quickly.  Bud and Rosie both have excellent teachers this year, I am excited for the great year they are sure to have.  Rosie is very excited, also.  She was the first to remind us about their back-to-school blessings from Jono, and Coleman got a blessing this year too! 

Rosie picked out her outfit a week ago, don't you love her pink and white checked vans?  About two weeks before school started, she received a postcard in the mail from her teacher.  Rosie immediately wrote her back and then carried the postcard around with her everywhere!  She has been asking me to take her to the library so she can check out a book to read, the A to Z Mysteries: Runaway Racehorse.  She has been excited to read this series because Bud read them.  Happy 2nd grade, Rosie!

Bud is not as excited to start school.  Here he is at the bus stop with a fake smile.  He is wearing his favorite Utah shirt, his teacher is a Utah fan also, so they should get along great.  Bud says that the only thing he likes about school is recess; his favorite football is in his Utah backpack!

I can't believe my baby Coleman is starting preschool at Rainbow Connection!  He is very, very excited.  He tells everyone he is going "to school at Rainbow Nection" and he's "gotta get a backpack".  Coleman loved going to school with me to meet his teachers, they all remember teaching Bud and Rosie and can't believe how much he looks like Bud.  He said to me, "You leave now", but we both stayed and played for a while.

Soon, it was the first day of school for Coleman.  He was very worried because I was driving and he didn't want me to stay with him.  He put on his backpack and talked non-stop the whole way there.  I prepped him on the way there "be nice at school" and "share with the other kids."  He replied, "Oh, be nice" and "Oh, share."  We had to wait in the line of cars outside the school and Coleman was ready to jump right out of the car.  As soon as it was our turn, he was so excited to go with Mrs. Stoker into school.  I wiped away my tear and headed for home.  Another milestone passed.

   

I was recently at the mall with Bud and Rose and we picked out a backpack for Coleman.  We wrapped it up and he was so excited to open it.  His eyes lit up when he saw it was a new backpack.  It is red, which is his second favorite color.  His favorite color is pink, but somehow I didn't think buying Coleman a pink backpack was the right choice.  He is a very stylish and happy preschooler!

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The End of Summer

Two weeks before school started, I panicked.  Did the kids have a fun summer, did we do enough fun things?  I decided to make the last two weeks of summer the best two weeks ever! Here is a list of what we did (with some must-know details):

  *The zoo:  we had a marathon day at the zoo, about 6 hours! (the white alligator leaves soon, we want to go to the zoo one more time to say goodbye)

   *The park:  on the way home, Coleman threw his croc out the window on Highland Drive and I risked my life when retrieving it.

   *Miniature golfing:  we had so much fun!  Coleman got hit in the head with the windmill, got 2 holes-in-one, a 17 on a hole and a 15 on another hole.  He also got soaked by reaching into the fishing pond with both arms.  Bud won a free game because he hit his ball into the 100 point hole at the end and he had a hole in one.  Jono had 3 holes-in one and won the round.  Rosie loved all the fun gimmicks on the course. 

   * Wheeler Farm:  we have been going here for years, it's a family favorite.  Rosie and Bud each brought $1.00 to buy something.  Shortly after, Rosie lost the ring she picked out near the stream.  Bud came to the rescue and miraculously found it in the long grass!

   *Rosie lost her first tooth that Grampy didn't pull out.  Jono pulled it out and didn't even give her $5.00 like Grampy always does.

     *Lagoon:  see our previous post

   *Bees Baseball game:  some of us went to two games (not Coleman!)  and saw fireworks.  Coleman was not invited back because during the 3rd inning, he threw his mini-bat onto the field.

   *Swimming many times:  at the SportsMall (see the pics) and Holladay Lions.  We had fun swimming this summer.

   *The Children's Museum at Gateway:  this was our last big outing and it was an adventure! We rode Trax and Coleman loved it.  He talked and talked the whole train ride.  At the Gateway, we played in an arcade, ate lunch and then went to the Museum.  We had a wonderful time, the kids loved it.  There is something for everyone.  Coleman had been especially good, I was thinking, and then.... an alarm was sounding and I just knew it was him.  Coleman pushed open the emergency exit and set off an alarm throughout the entire museum.  Parents were panicking thinking it was the fire alarm and the young workers could not figure out how to turn it off.  During the alarm, Coleman wet his pants and I could not have been more embarrassed. Actually, Bud was the most embarrassed of all.  He thought for sure we would be kicked out of the museum.   I said not to worry, we are leaving!  We headed for Ben and Jerry's for ice cream first and then back on Trax.  Coleman and Rosie both sang loudly all the way home.  I overhead a fellow passenger saying on the phone, "Oh, it's just some kids singing on the train!"  

We had a fun last two weeks of Summer!  

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20 Years

I recently went to my 20 year high school reunion and it was actually fun!  The first night was alumni only in the CHS courtyard.  It was dejavu visiting with classmates in the very spot where we were last together after graduating 20 years ago.  Names of people I hadn't thought of for years came rushing back to my mind.  It was interesting to see how well everyone was doing and what they looked like now, 20 years later.  This is a picture of me and my best friend from CHS, Holly.

The next night was a dinner for alumni and guest at the Cottonwood Club.  Jono enjoyed the night as well, he graduated the year before me and was quite social in high school.  This is my other best friend from school, Angie and her husband Pat.  Angie and I go all the way back to Woodstock Elementary.  There is also a picture of some of the people whom I served with on the Seminary Council.  After dinner, there was a slide show with video from our Senior Prom. Jono and I were in the video, how sweet!  There were a surprising number of people who had married someone who also graduated from Cottonwood.  It was a very fun weekend and I'm glad I went.  Here's to the next 20 years!

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