Pink and Mustard

Today at the lunch table, the kids were discussing which colors are girl colors and which colors are boy colors.  Derek was adamant that boys couldn't like pink.  I pointed out that he and Zack both have ties with pink in them.  Zack told Derek that he likes his pink tie.  Derek assured us that he would never wear pink.  So I asked him, would he rather wear a pink shirt or eat mustard.  (Derek HATES mustard).  He was horrified by both options.  He had to think long and hard.  He asked where he would have to wear the pink shirt, I said school.  He asked if he could wear a coat over it and I said no.  By this point I am laughing so hard that he hates mustard that much.  He went so far as to say that he would tell girls he is in love with them 10 times rather than eat mustard.  Finally, he asked how much mustard he would have to eat. I said just a taste.  He still had to deliberate a while before deciding on the mustard.  Hmm....he seemed to forget that this was all hypothetical :)

Birthday Boy #2

 We decided this year to throw Derek a real birthday bash.  He invited the boys from his Primary class, and his brothers, of course.  Derek wanted an "Army Man" party.  I decided we would do basic training.  Nothing fancy, I planned all the activities about an hour before the party started.  I painted their faces to make them look tough. 

 We did an obstacle course and then had get through this "laser trap."  I may have slightly injured myself while demonstrating this one.  Then we had target practice with nerf guns. 

 Then cupcakes! 

 Then presents!  Derek loved being the center of attention. 

The party took place on Derek's actual birthday.  That morning before school, he opened up a new fleece sweatshirt in a camo print.  After the party we had the dinner of his choice (pancakes, bacon and eggs). and then opened presents.  Derek received a Lego Star Wars alarm clock, some clothes, books, and seriously, I can not remember anything else, although I bought it all.  hmmm...The boys also received LOTR Legos from Grandma and Grandpa P. and an awesome sled and clothes from Grandma and Grandpa S.  They were spoiled rotten. 

Derek is the funniest kid.  I can not believe he is seven.  He has matured so much in the last year.  He is fun and active and loves to tease.  He wants to be a lifeguard or a computer guy when he grows up.  He is too cute for words.  Happy Birthday Der!

Birthday Boy #1

Zack had his birthday last week.  I can't believe he is ten years old!  All the photos of his birthday are on Matt's camera, I will have to find them. 

The weekend before his birthday, Zack invited the boys in his church class to go sledding.  Matt took them for about an hour while I picked up pizza.  They came home all worn out and starving.  I had made a batch of cinnamon rolls that morning they were gobbled up before I could even get the pizzas in the oven!  They watched Jumanji (none of them except Zack had ever seen it) and played around until it was time to go home.  It wasn't a party, more of a late night and Zack thought it was better than any birthday party around. 

The day of his birthday he had to go to school.  I had promised to make him a special birthday lunch, but in the hustle and bustle of getting everyone off to school amidst birthday stuff, I forgot.  He was THRILLED when I showed up to school with his special lunch later that morning...when I remembered. 

Zack opened up a Lego Idea book before school and everything else after dinner.  Dinner was his choice (Steak and fried potatoes and salad with chocolate cake for dessert).  He also got a backpacking backpack, Webelos stuff, some science kits and I can't remember what else....

Zack is a great kid.  He is funny and kind and always willing to help.  He wants to be an author and a professor of Greek mythology when he grows up.  Happy Birthday Zack!!

In One Ear.....

My oldest boy, Zack, is deaf in one ear.  He has been since birth, but it took us a little while to figure it out.  He doesn't use hearing aids, he has complete loss in the one ear and perfect hearing in the other.  As a result his "bad ear" as he calls it, he sometimes mispronounces things if he hasn't seen the words in print to know exactly how to say it.  If he is not facing the speaker, or his good ear is not toward the speaker, he sometimes gets a skewed version of certain words.  For example:  recently I heard him say something about Lula.  It took a while before I realized he meant HULA.  My favorite pronunciation was today when I heard him tell his brother the story of Rumpled Stiltskin.  (Rumplestiltskin).  He is always very good natured when I correct him, when he realizes his mistake, he usually thinks it is pretty funny.  Some of the cutest mispronounced words from when he was little have slowly faded away as he learned to read and also learned how to listen more effectively.  Those darling confused words are few and far between now, that is why I got such a kick out of hearing two in one week!  He is a great kid. 

FHE Update

We have been having so much fun with our Family Home Evening Activities lately.  A few weeks ago we made a mural of Nephi's journey.  We each took a story and drew part of it on a big piece of butcher paper.  It was pretty awesome.  We assigned each of the kids a topic and a night to be in charge.  We let Derek go first.  He was supposed to teach us about the stripling warriors.  He made some visual aids a week in advance.  I kept asking him if he needed help, or wanted me to review the scriptures with him.  Nope.  He had it taken care of.  He asked every day for a week if it was time for his lesson.  This is how it went:
   He welcomed us and we sang a song of his choosing and then had a prayer.  Derek handed each of us a piece of paper and a pencil and told us to write:  STRIPLING WARRIOR on it.  He then gathered all our papers and looked them over and gave us a check mark if we had done well.  Then he showed us his pictures he had drawn of the stripling warriors and asked us to draw our own, just like his.  Then he told us that they were young guys who had to fight the bad guys.  They had to fight because their dads had no weapons.  :)  Then we played Don't Eat Pete.
He loved being in charge (and getting all the attention).  It was fun.

Austin taught us this week.  He was supposed to teach Jonah and the Whale.  He basically told and sang all the parts to the Jonah Liken the Scriptures movie.  It was pretty funny.  It included dancing and when we couldn't remember the words to the song, we finally pulled out the soundtrack so we could listen and dance.  It was fun.  Fun to have a specific time set aside for family, with no interruptions (okay, minimal interruptions.)  Next week Zack will be teaching us about Apostles and then it is Matt's turn to teach us about testimony.  Fun, fun!!  

Derek's Birthday!!

Derek
Favorite Color is Blue
Favorite Food is Corn on the Cob
Wants to be a Police Officer when he grows up.

Things that are special about Derek:  He is loving, he is forgiving, he is curious, he has boundless energy, he is funny, he loves to make people laugh, he is independent, he loves to build things and has a really great eye for that, he is honest.

Derek is a great boy. We love him so much....we would be a seriously boring family without him.  I feel very blessed to be his mom!!

Derek was so thrilled with his birthday gifts....his favorites were his army guys, star wars guys(from Grandma and Grandpa Sorensen) and the guitar (from Grandma and Grandpa and Michael Peterson).  He was so excited!!!!!  Yes, he did get a snow shovel...he loves to help shovel the driveway....too bad we don't have any snow.

A Great Blog

I want to tell you about my friend, Heather.  We were in the same ward for maybe three or four years and she served in the Primary with me.  When our ward was split, we lost many, many great people to a new ward.  (Our loss, their gain.)  Heather and her family were some who were part of the new ward.  With her 5th baby only about a month or so old, Heather, bless her heart, was called to be the Relief Society President of that ward.  Oh, how I laughed and laughed when she told me.  Not in a haha that is so funny kind of way, more of an, oh!  how our plans are never what our Heavenly Father's plans are for us.  She keeps a great blog with lots of real mothering perspective and inspiring thoughts.  On of my favorite things I read on her blog was advice a friend gave her upon embarking on the Relief Society journey



Image copied from jimmyandheather.com
This is one of my new favorite quotes.  I think credit goes to Heather's friend in Alaska for coming up with this one.  Here is the link to the blog:  jimmyandheather.com
Such a great reminder that we can do anything!  We have been lovingly created by our Father in Heaven and only He knows our infinite potential.  So tie on your bonnet, sisters, we're going to make it to Zion!!!!