Tired yet?

After reading posts every day for half a month, are you tired of hearing about us?

Just checking.

True Love

For Mother's Day I got to sleep in until 10:30 am! It has been a LONG TIME since I've come even close to that! Here is the letter Adam gave me. It's very honest.

*****
Dear Mom,

I know you freak out at me, but that doesn't change how much I love you. Thanks for everything. I love you.

From Adam
*****

I appreciate the message--I'm not a perfect mom. And he loves me--not because I'm perfect, but because I'm his mom.

More Fun at School

So we've been horrible about taking pictures, but even when you get one it looks like this:

This is a picture of one of Adam's performances with the first grade. Some other fun school events--Adam was one of the two finalists from his class to go to a 1-3 grade spelling bee in the school. He worked hard and was very disappointed he didn't win. You see, we practiced the spelling words during Christmas break, and with relatively little preparation he was able to "win" in his class (the top two advanced, he was second). So he figured that since we REALLY studied for the school wide bee, he would have a good chance.

I remember him saying with tears in his eyes "There were words I didn't even know. There's no way I could have won--why would they have me compete if I have no chance of winning?" The logic is sound. Why would you ask first graders to compete with third graders, when no matter how hard they studied, it would be almost impossible to win?

We talked about how in other schools, they don't even invite first graders to participate, and how being the the bee helped him learn and understand what it would really take to win it. So first and second grades are a good chance to practice and learn how to do it.

The latest school event was a speech festival. Adam chose to do "Your Town" (another Grandpa Headlee poem). We kept encouraging him to do it with expression and sort of "perform" it. He REFUSED and got really mad when we tried to show him.

Similar to the spelling bee, the top two students in each class competed school-wide. Then they picked one winner per grade. Adam performed for his class on Monday. Tuesday when I picked him up from school, he did the entire poem with all sorts of enthusiasm and inflection. When I asked about it--some of the other kids in the class had really performed their speeches, and it inspired him. Suddenly, doing it that way was cool.

Family Sledding Adventure

We love to go sledding every winter. Who knew that this winter we would only have two chances to go!

Again--where am I? Behind the camera!

Watching TV

Where Adam likes to sit:

Where Jacob likes to sit:

Boons

Jacob went through this phase where he was determined to put on my bras. He calls them Boons (boobs).

Visit with Savanna

Here is Jacob, Sam (behind) and Savanna.

Where am I, you ask? Taking the pictures!

Builder of the Month

At Adam's school they have a "Builders" theme based on one of the poems my grandfather used to make us memorize:

Builders

I saw them tearing a building down,

A gang of men in a busy town.

With a yo heave ho and a lusty yell,

They swung a beam and the sidewall fell.

I asked the foreman if these men were as skilled

As those he would hire if he were to build.

He laughed and said, “Oh, no indeed,

Common labor is all I need,

For they can wreck in a day or two,

What builders have taken years to do.”

So I asked myself, as I went my way,

Which of these roles am I to play?

Am I the builder, who works with care,

Measuring life by the rule and square?

Or am I the wrecker who walks the town,

Content in the role of tearing down?

I’ve made my decision; I’ll start today,

I’ll be a builder in every way.

- Anonymous and Howard Headlee

So every month they have a Builder of the Month. After watching the award happen the first month, Adam came home motivated. He announced "I am going to be Builder of the Month!" He was particularly careful not to talk out, to sit in learning position, to yell out loud and proud, and get his homework done and learning plan signed every night.

Well, you can imagine how happy we were to find out he was selected as Builder of the Month! Here he is with the other children (one from each class) that received the award.

A family picture:

And with his teacher Ms. Sebra (rhymes with Zebra). 

Halloween 2011

Adam was Robin Hood. This was his first year to go with friends (supervised by parents) and he had a great time!

Jacob was a Zebra. He scooted all around the neighborhood for his treats. 

We took the kids to Sam's work. I don't know where Jacob was for this picture, but Brynlee wore his costume and he was a Lion.

Headlee Family Reunion

Once we were all fully exhausted from our pre-reunion, our Headlee family reunion began!

We began with a morning at temple square. Everyone got to see the new version of the Joseph Smith movie there. After snacks we headed to a local rec center for swimming. As you can imagine, Jacob kept making the life guards panic because he spent more time with his head underwater than above. Adam fell in love with his Meyer cousins all over again!

That night we had dinner at a church and then a Family Missionary Night. My cousin Tim shared his conversion story with the family. Later, my mom and dad talked about their service as mission president in DR Congo, Africa.

The next day we spent at Noah's (sort of a conference center) where we all enjoyed bounce houses, crafts, games, and of course, family pictures. The first picture is the entire Headlee family--my Grandmother, her children, grand children, and great-grandchildren. Below is my parents, children, and grandchildren. We're big enough for our own reunion!

We had our traditional memorizing poems and scriptures "contest"--and everyone earned a little cash. Grandma Headlee handed out special books of favorite inspirational poems and quotes, with many originals by my grandfather.

The Zoo

Last summer we had a family reunion, and a few days before my 3 sisters and their kids stayed at our house. It was pretty much bodies on every soft surface (beds, couches, carpet), and TONS of fun!

One day we all went to the Hogle Zoo. At the time, they had a bunch of dinosaurs on display. I love this picture my sister took of Adam (above). Adam loved running around with the cousins, and Jacob was afraid to ride the train.

Another day we went to a local splash park. The kids played night games in the cul de sac. And the highlight (at least as far as Adam was concerned) was a trip to Cowabunga Bay. He still talks about it every time we drive by.

(PS The title is a double reference--the Hogle Zoo, and my house at the time)

Annual Trip to Temple Square

It's become such a fun family tradition to ride Trax from Sandy to Temple Square to see the lights every Christmas. Jacob was really nervous about riding the "train," but he adjusted just fine as long as we were holding him.

 Pretty soon the boys were swinging from the rafters (literally) and enjoying hot chocolate.

Translation services needed

This is old, I'm thinking at least last year. I know it starts "To Dad" and I see "Mom" twice. It's definitely signed "Luf Adam"--which is the best part anyway!

So Behind

So you know how sometimes you get behind, and the more behind you get the more you can't face it. And you keep feeling more and more pressure the longer you wait, which makes it nearly impossible to do the very thing you are so behind on?

Yep. That's what happened.