I don't know what to do.

This is the last blog post I need to do for my communications merit badge. I don't know what to do. Once I finish this post I will have one more thing to do. Maybe I will be able to get my parents off my back. (a little) That would be great. I can't wait for that to happen. Then I will be that much closer to my eagle!!!!!!!! I can't wait to get my eagle! It would be great. During our Christmas break, we have been making potatoes look like they could run marathons. I like saying "It would be great." It is great. We have been being the laziest I have ever seen my family be. It is great. It would be great if we could be like this all year. It would be great. (Well, not really.) I can't wait till Christmas!!!!!!

~Zach Marshall, Guest Blogger.

Lego Robotics

Zach had his Lego Robotics Competition at Weber State a couple weeks ago. He had a great time! They got to be there at 8 am and we got home at about 4pm! Long day but lots of fun for sure. The kids get to do presentations to judges about their robots and how they designed it. They also have to do some research and do a display board. Zach was able to get his robot to do what he wanted it to so that was good. Here are a few pictures.

 The Theme this year was natural disasters so they had star wars storm troopers there. It was really cool for the kids!

 Here they are watching their teammates during the competition.

Here they are just waiting for their turn to go see the judges and do practice runs. They made a good showing and had a great time!

Seussical Program!

Today Zach's third grade class did a program all about Dr. Seuss and his books. It was really cute and funny. All the kids got to wear really bright clothes and could bust out some moves.

Here's a movie for you :) The kids have been learning how to play the ukelele. They are great! Zach is in green behind the girl in purple on the left.

Easter!

Happy Easter!

It's been a good Easter here at the Marshall household! We were able to go to Grandma and Grandpa Marshall's for dinner and an Easter egg hunt. Dinner was fantastic and the Easter Bunny that goes to Grandma's house likes to put candy and money in the eggs so Zach and Sam made out like bandits! They both had lots of fun. We enjoyed going to church today and being reminded of the Atonement and of the resurrection of Jesus. I loved talking about the Plan of Salvation and how we don't have to sorrow so much when our loved ones die because we know that there is life after death and that through the sealing power we can be eternal families! What joy and peace that brings to me! I love to look at the earth beginning to wake up and the flowers and trees are starting to bloom and grow. Such growth and renewal reminds me that it's my time to grow and to recommit myself to do the basic things that will lead me to eternal life so that I can be with those that I love.

I guess it's time for the obligatory Easter pictures of the egg hunts and the new Sunday ties. Enjoy!

Volcano!

The past couple years the elementary school has put on an art night. Last year was lots of fun so when Zach's teacher asked me if I could help with the second grade's project I was excited to do it. (plus I thought it'd give me a mental vacation from blue and gold) In the beginning it was supposed to look like a 2nd grade volcano worksheet on the wall where they label all the parts of the volcano.

No problem I thought. Paper on the wall with 4 other parents to help. We'll be done in no time! The next week came and the location for the volcano changed. Now it was to be half in the library and half in the hall. Oh okay I thought. We can do that. It will be a little bit different but we can do that. Then I heard about this dragon they had built and the kids had made all the scales for it, cool idea I thought.....then I saw the dragon.



and then I started to freak out! On to plan B C D and F. All that Friday I worried and I stewed and then I figured it out! Wait until Josh gets home and the kids are in bed and then he'll help me figure it out! So figure it out we did.

We built us a little frame....


covered it with chicken wire and filled the chicken wire with plastic grocery bags and then brown bulletin board paper, construction paper hands, and crate paper.....



Did the other side so they could label it....



and there you have a half of a volcano that is worthy of such a dragon!

We've earned our Bobcat!

Zach was awarded his bobcat at pack meeting in January! Way to go buddy! He's just eating this whole scout stuff up. I think his favorite den meeting was when they went to Jensen park and started collecting rocks in the cold rain!

Flying Squirrels

I love how kids can come up with all sorts of fun things to do once we adults announce that there as been enough screen time!

Zach asked me the other day if he could get in his pj's. Kind of a random request from him but okay. I was making dinner and we weren't going anywhere so I gave him the green light. Well monkey see monkey do and Sam appeared with his pj's on too. Next thing I hear is "Mom where's the yellow tape (meaning masking tape)?" I help them find it then go back the concoction that I have cooking on the stove.

Bang! Thump! "Boys what are you doing?" I ask in my most motherly you might be in trouble voice.

"Just being flying squirrels mom." came the reply.

Now for the visual!

Look who's getting baptized!

I can't believe that Zach is 8! It's exciting and has made me reflect on how fast these 8 years have gone. I remember thinking that this moment would come when he was just born. It just seemed like it would be farther away than it is! We're so excited about Zach's decision.

Profound Words

The other day Zach,Sam and I were in the car listening to Christmas Music (I know it's a little early but it's good music) when a commercial came on about a contest that would send the luck winner and their family to "The Happiest Place on Earth" or Disneyland. Zach pipes up in the back seat. "I don't think that's the happiest place." I said oh really. Where is the happiest place on earth?" Zach replies "Home" Interesting incite huh. Maybe we can think about that while we celebrate Thanksgiving in a couple of days. Home is the happiest place on earth because we're with the ones we love and who love us the most.

Look Who We Saw!

So while driving on the main road in the middle of a little town we saw this.


We of course had to pull over and take advantage of the photo op!

Family Dinner, Lemonade, Cookies, and Milk

We have dinner together most every night which I love! We were talking and Zach got this brilliant idea that he should have a lemonade stand and sell lemonade. Josh explained to him that lemon juice is usually expensive and he wouldn't make a lot of money. So undeterred he suggested selling cookies and mom's jam. Here is the conversation Zach had with me.

Zach: Mom, could you make some cookies and get some cups and some milk so I can sell them?

Me: Um maybe.

Zach: I think that the kids will like them. I think that the mom's will like them too. Especially the stressed out ones because milk and cookies are a good treat. They would really like that. It would be good to put a glass of milk and some cookies in a mom's place (at the table) and then say Hey Mom Come look what the stressed out fairy brought you!

Me: Yeah that would be good. Alright Zach, time for bed, see you in the morning.

Let me tell you it was hard not to smirk or bust out laughing! He was so serious! So what does the stressed out fairy bring you? Apparently ours brings milk and cookies!

Kites!

It was really kinda blustery on Sunday and we needed something to do so out came the kites. It took us about 10 minutes to get them untangled but then we were ready to go! It was fun to watch the boys hold on to their kites after we got them up in the air. A perfect thing to do on a Sunday afternoon!

Soccer!

We've been playing soccer! This is Zach's first year playing soccer and he has had so much fun. He's usually so excited he really can't hide his excitement. On the way to the first game I was privy to a chant of "Go Hawks. go!" Over and over and over.... well you get the idea. All the way to the field which thankfully is only about 1.5 miles away. He's a good little soccer player. He's the best as a half back but it's been nice that he's gotten to play all the positions. His number is 7.

Did we get lost?

I knew I had been neglecting my blog but I hadn't realized it had been that long! I promise I haven't been abducted by aliens or even gotten lost in the amazon! I'm still here doing the things that I do every day. I was looking at the calendar today and realized that there are only three more weeks of school! It sure doesn't feel like that! Hum Where should I start? Maybe spring break would be a good place to start! Josh took a couple of days off during spring break and we headed to Grandma's house. It was cold but we had a lot of fun. Aunt Jeni and her frined Tiff came up with a treasure hunt and the boys loved it! Here's a few pictures.










They had some pretty fun bounty





One of the main reason's we went was to run a race together! We ran the Gunnison Valley Spring Run off. Everyone one ran... Okay at least a little :) Here's a few pictures!






More to come!

Happy Birthday Zach!

Zach you are amazing! I love your creativity and the love that you show to everyone! You are so smart and can read really well! Thanks for being a great kid! Happy Birthday Son!

Arrrrgh! I Spy a Pirate Party!

Zach got to have a friend birthday party this year. We decided it would be fun to do a pirate theme and it worked out so well!

When Zach's friends came, we had pirate things for them to put on and play with. They mostly just had fun having a big battle! My wonderful neighbor made balloon swords and we had a sword fight. They loved it! See!



Then we played a few games like Loot, Loot, who has my loot. Which is just like button button who's got the button. Instead of a button a used a play golden coin. We also played red light Green light.

Before we had lunch I read them a story to help calm things down. We read. Roger, The Jolly Pirate by Brett Helquist. It's a pretty funny story. You should check it out sometime!



For lunch we had Octopus and Sea monsters, with sides of fish, logs and boats... or in other words.. hot dogs, gold fish crackers, french fries and apple slices. The Octopus hot dogs definitely stole the show though. For desert we had cupcakes with white frosting and pirate picks in them.



Then it was time to open presents! Zach received a lot of cool things! It was fun to see all the boys get excited about each one.


And what pirate party is complete without a treasure hunt? For treasure I had little bags that had pretend gold coins, chocolate gold coins, Swedish fish, and gummy sharks. It was great! We let the kids take home all the pirate stuff too. I think they had a fun time and I think it was a good experience for Zach. Now we just need to get those thank you notes written!

Class Halloween Party

Today was the big school Halloween parade and party! We made sure we were early and we even got a parking spot! We must be rock stars! Here is Zach in his unique costume. He's the owl Battle Beast.. (don't worry if you don't know what it is... They're from the 80's)


After I took that picture He walked right into that metal bar! At first I was stunned then I laughed after I knew he was okay. Silly kid. Note to self... Don't sit that close to the door.

After we were done partying Zach and his class sang us a Halloween song and did a really good job. Happy Halloween!

Being a Kid

Isn't it great when your mom lets you be a kid? Since we have been having an unseasonably warm October and the secondary water hasn't quite been shut off there was water running down the gutter. The kids got creative with a friend of theirs and had fun playing in the gutter... They first started out by seeing what would float down the gutter. Then it got to seeing if they could dam it up. Don't worry I was there the whole time so they wouldn't get hurt!

HAM Shack

Zach came home from school with this picture.....



This was the conversation that followed...

me: Zach I like your picture. Can you tell me about it?

Zach: That's a HAM Shack. She the antenna?

Me: I can see that. Did you tell Mrs. Young what it was?

Zach: Yeah

Me: What did she say?

Zach: She asked me if it was a shack for pigs and I told her that it wasn't that it was a house for HAM radios and she asked if they were radios made out of hams and I said not that the radios are like walkie talkies that can go really far and you have to have a license.

I just had to laugh. I guess we're a little bit into HAM Radios huh

1st Day of School!

It's hear! The first day of school! I had to convince Zach to get a picture with the mascot but we did it! We road our bikes and were on time! Yeah! Sam was kind of sad and wanted to stay with Zach. Plus he was gone forever! He misses Zach a lot. Me I cried. It's quite the experience seeing your baby go to school all day and have to eat lunch there and you have no idea what goes on all day! It's a big leap of faith! Here's our cute pics!