Our new cub scout

Now that he's 8, Tyler gets to start going to cub scouts. To say that he is excited about this would be an understatement. I was starting to get tired of being the wolf den leader, but now that Tyler is in there with me I am all excited again. They might as well keep me in there for the next 8 years, since we have several more boys to move through. I'll probably have the scout books memorized by then.

Tonight was Tyler's first pack meeting, and he was so happy he could participate in all the games this time.

They were moving so fast it was hard to get a picture. But as you can see, they had a lot of fun.

Panda Fun Run. What an oxymoron.

Last week was the Panda Fun Run fundraiser at school. Here's their principal, Mr. Peterson, looking all festive. Lucky for me the grades with my kids in them were all in a row, so I just hung out at the school for a couple hours to watch. Tyler was so happy running - every time I saw him he had a huge smile on his face. And he never stopped for water. As Dallin told his cousin Eric when he got there, "They try to give you water to slow you down. But you can't take it - you just gotta keep running."
Afterwards they ate Rice Krispy Treats. Brennnan was so happy they let him have one too. He and I ran around together once, but he started crying halfway around and I had to carry him the rest of the way.

Spencer ran with intensity. And he ran the whole time without stopping too.

Here's his class afterwards.

Finally it was Dallin's turn. After watching his brothers run (which was before his kindergarten class started), he thought it looked easy. He dashed out in front and stayed there for the first lap. But he looked so surprised when it started to get hard. Every time he looked like he wanted to slow down he'd get a look of total willpower and press forward. That's one determined kid.

I think it's such a great fundraiser for the school, and the kids really get into it. Spencer & Tyler are all excited to be in the Taco Bell track meet next month. But when I asked Dallin if he wanted to do it, he said, "No way. You know I don't like to race."

Outlaw Boot

Spencer wrote an essay that won the school district writing contest, and this week was the awards ceremony. There were over 100 students from grades K-12 recognized, with 2 from each grade for each category. He won the imaginative essay category and was one of the few students asked to read his piece at the event. Naturally he really hammed it up and cracked up the audience. Afterwards the lady in charge whispered to him that his piece was her favorite. Then some of the teachers and a principle from another school told him how great his essay was and asked him what school he attends. His teacher overheard them; she came and put her arm around him and proudly exclaimed, "He's mine!" She wrote an article about the event in the town newspaper, including a picture of Spencer (holding his award and wearing cowboy boots) and his entire essay, and she gave him a copy at school. He came home so excited to be in print. Since I know you're dying to read it, here it is:

Outlaw Boot, by Spencer

Oh my gosh, be quiet already. It’s only 5:00 in the morning! Oh hi, sorry, my brother is having one of his "moments.’’ But enough of that. My name is Lefty; my brother’s McRight. I call him Right'n'poop. You see, me ‘n my brother are cowboy boots, and every day we roam the plains with our owner.

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I’m a brown none strap 100% cowhide cowboy boot. I’m size ten and perfect for rounding cattle. Then there’s m’ brother. He’s technically the same, but to me, he’s a downright lazy, worthless piece of leather.
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Wow, 7:00 already. Uh-oh, the shepherd spaniel, or dog. It’s coming closer, closer. Ouch! Man, you have yellow teeth. Hey, two words: breath mint! Please don’t drop me, please don’t drop me. McRight, do something, ‘n quick!! Ok, what’s going on? I hear slurping, I see four big logs with food on top, and I smell yesterday’s jerky. Eek, the bombing area! I’m sorry, but I’ve gotta go catch me some breakfast. See you at the ranch.

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Well it smells like manure again, an… SQUISH! Oh, it feels like it too! Gosh, stop laughing already, McRight. Besides, it’s not all bad. I mean, I could have also stepped in...SPLASH- mud! Just forget it. Huh, that’s funny. We’re going to the bank; hey, why are you loading a gun? Whoa, whoa, whoa! I thought the cashier was your best frien…BANG!! Too late. Hey McRight, don’t you just haaate it when you get stained with blood? Ha, ha, ha.
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Well, as we speak, I’m a hightailing home for another restless day. I can’t wait ‘till we’re sitting ‘round the campfire, listening to folk music, counting money, and eatin’ overcooked chili by the light of the fire. This cowboy outta thank me some day, because without me, he’d be in laying n’ Boot hill.

A happy birthday

Dave made me this super yummy chocolate cake from scratch with whipped cream and cherry pie filling. We were short 1 candle, so I used the clone feature on Photoshop to duplicate one of the candles. Can you find the 2 that are identicle? We went down to Los Angeles last weekend for a combined birthday celebration and stake temple day, spending Friday night at the temple apartments. We traded off watching the boys and going to the temple. While Dave was with them, they played at the park and rode scooters and roller blades around the apartments. Then when it was my turn we walked around the temple grounds and took pictures, which is one of our favorite things to do. They especially like climbing trees and walking through these huge leafy plants that make us feel like we're in Bug's Life.
Dallin's hissing like a snake.

Then we went to Crate and Barrel in Beverly Hills to pick out my birthday present. Three of the boys fells asleep on the way to the store, so Dave stayed with them in the car while Spencer and I went shopping together. That was a lot of fun. It was really hard to choose, but I ended up getting this metal wall hanging for above our bed.

Then we went to a Persian cafe we recently discovered called Pink Orchid. It's in a Persian neighborhood near the temple, and we sure got a lot of attention there with our 5 blonde boys. (Grampa - tell Azarm we love Persian sweets!) It was such a fun weekend.

He makes us happy

I had 4 sick kids this week - Brennan had an ear infection. Spencer, Tyler and Dallin all had a stomach virus. We had lots of lying around, watching videos, napping on the couch, and groaning.

When I asked if there was anything I could do for them, they said they wanted to look at Levi. Just looking at him made them feel better. He has that effect on us.

He's working hard to get those toes in his mouth!

Hockey!

Tyler had his first roller hockey game this week - he's on Spencer's team. Doesn't he look tough in all his gear? I was scared to send him out there, since he's one of the smallest players. And he's still a bit shaky on those skates. But he looked so dang cute skating around. He fell quite a few times, and the other players would help him back up. He came home with a huge smile on his face. Now Dallin's asking when he gets to play too.

The Tech

We went to the science museum in San Jose called The Tech over spring break. My sister's family went there a couple months ago and told us we'd love it. We did.

Our admission tickets (which were only $10 - I thought that was totally reasonable) included 1 Imax movie. There were 4 to choose from, but naturally my boys chose Under the Sea. It was the best Imax theater I've seen. In fact it's the largest one west of the Mississippi. And the sound system was awesome. Too bad Levi started screaming about 5 minutes into it and I had to watch it from the back corner until he finally fell asleep.

The museum was all fun hands-on stuff. Here's Dave in the jet pack.

Brennan composing music.

Tyler perfecting his graffiti skills.

They tilted the table all around to move the digital ball in this cool Labyrinth game.

They grew bacteria in jellyfish DNA. They felt all scientific in their goggles and gloves.

It took 24 hours for their bacteria to grow, but they could look it up online the next day.

Here's Spencer and me in front of the body heat sensor.

We didn't get to see everything there, since we had to go to Cheesecake Factory before we got too tired and cranky.

It's great to be 8!

Tyler turned 8 last Tuesday, April 6th. He requested a jungle cake, so we searched online for ideas. He wanted lots of trees and animals, so he gathered toys for me to put on top. We also decided to make it a fun 3D shape, so I baked a round cake and 2 small loaf cakes, then I piled them on top of each other for a rugged mountain shape. I iced it after he went to bed, and he was so excited when he saw it the next morning.

We took it down to my parents' house to have after Easter dinner.

He got to blow out the candles over and over.

We love trick candles. That's Ben's friend Barbara on the left.

He was excited to get his own set of scriptures.

Then we had our own little family party on his actual birthday.

Levi ate the packaging.

While Dave and the boys played Tyler's new game: Sorry Sliders.

This is my last Easter blog. I promise.

Anna and Brennan are so funny together. It was pretty much impossible to get a picture of them both looking at me because they kept looking at each other.

Can you believe Levi is 6 months old? I watched the October conference in the hospital. So now we have 2 conference birthdays - Tyler in April (I watched it in the hospital when he was born too) and Levi in October.We had our Easter egg hunt at my parents' house after conference. The easy ones in the grass were for Anna and Brennan.

And the tricky ones were for the big boys.

Sometimes they had to get creative.

Dallin was sad that he didn't get very many, so Tyler got this one for him.

Okay, I'm all done with Easter blogs. There's just something about all the bright colors of the eggs and baskets that makes me want to take lots of pictures.