October Fun

October was a blur of activity, it went by so fast!  Midterms for the kids was at the beginning of the month, the kids are doing well in school.  Bud had a B+ in algebra, so I started to help him with his homework to improve his grade.  I was so impressed with myself that I remembered how to do his math and was so proud when Bud would come home from school and say, "We got 100% our math homework!"  In two weeks his grade was up to an A-!  At Bud's conferences, I was so happy that every teacher already knew who he was and liked him.  He finished the Hunger Game series and loved them.  He read the first book in a twenty-four hour time period.

Bud got sick with strep throat and missed a day of school.  It is stressful for him to miss junior high, and not fun to be so sick.  He recovered, then Rosie got sick.  She missed church, but felt better to go to school.  Coleman got very sick also.  He missed school the day before Halloween.  I let him sleep in Halloween morning; he missed the parade but felt well enough to go to the party and trick or treating Halloween night.

Bud was the only one who needed to go to the doctor.  The nurse was asking Bud questions about how he felt and his symptoms.  She then asked, "Do you smoke?"  I automatically said no, then realized that she was asking Bud; I couldn't believe it!  I'm sure that some 14 year olds do smoke, but it was an odd moment for me to realize that my son is old enough for a nurse to ask him if he smokes.  One of Bud's favorite classes at school is gym class.  (As a 7th grader, he couldn't believe how lucky to have gym every single day!)

They just started playing basketball and Bud is a really good shooter.  He won lightning three times in a row, one day, and all the boys in the class started to root against him.  He was so proud to tell me about it after school.

Rosie continues to fulfill Papa Donut's prophesy that she will be a free-spirit who will likely give us problems during her teenage years.  (He said years ago, "Oh Jono, she's a wild one. Actually, let's not call her wild, let's call her a free spirit.  You are going to have to pull credit reports on all her prom dates.  I'm glad I won't be around to see it!")  Anyway, she comes home from school with stories about her conversations with the boys at her table; the sixth grade boys and Rosie are flirting with each other all day long!  When I was in sixth grade, I was way too shy to even speak to a boy.  Rosie was passing notes with her friends and a boy (she used to have a crush on him but says she no longer does) tried to grab it.  Rosie wrote on the paper and then passed it again.  This time he grabbed it and read the note. Rosie had written, "Suck a lemon!" on the note, knowing that he would read it.  Can you believe her?  She is so sassy to do that and then she bragged about it at the dinner table that night, laughing hysterically as she told us the story.

She has been so sassy lately and I found the perfect punishment to cure it-- take away cheez-its.  She is obsessed with cheez-its, she eats multiple family sized boxes a week. This punishment is working, all I have to do is threaten no cheez-its and she sweetens right up.  Last Sunday at church, we needed something we left at home.  Rosie walked home to get it for us.  She had a guilty look on her face when she returned.  I asked what she did and she showed me the pocket on her dress.  It was filled with cheez-its!  A funny trend in the sixth grade right now is Wear-Your-Brother's-Sock-to-School-Day Wednesday.  It drives Bud crazy that Rosie wears his long black Nike socks to school every Wednesday.

Coleman has become obsessed with football; he watches all the Utah games on TV and loves the 49's; he actually has a great knowledge of the game thanks to Bud expaining everything.  He plays at school during every recess and comes home covered in grass stains.  I made him a quarterback wristband out of felt to hold all his plays.  He wrote and drew 15 plays and stapled them into his wristband.  When we play flag football on Sunday evenings (Jono and me vs. the kids) he says things like "turn over on downs" and "I'm so speedy mom can't get my flag".  Sometimes we fumble and let Coleman recover the ball and run it in for a touchdown; he gets so excited that he hits his chest multiple times to celebrate.  The kids' cheer before each play is "Make it-- Nasty!"  I think that's is what the Utes must say.    He is going to be Star Lotulelei for Halloween, number 92 for the Utes.

Witches (and Warlocks) Night Out @ Gardner Village

Jono's Eight-Man Golf Team won the Championship for the third year in a row!

Coleman's dirty pants,
Bud & Rosie's looked the same in second grade

Bud gets an early Christmas presents from Jono, new Rocket Ballz irons.  He is so excited!

Rosie learns to sew Halloween pillowcases; she sewed two of them.

We recently finished decorating the basement with shelves filled with sports memorabilia and bought a TV.  Bud had friends over and they played ping-pong and watched a movie.  The boys are big, loud, hungry, and we couldn't be happier they want to hang out at our house.

We loved cheering on the Utes to a victory at the black-out game.