Perc Test!

After finding out that our *dream* land sold just days before we accepted the offer on our house, we were pretty motivated to find some new land!!  There really isn't much on the market for vacant land or existing houses in the school district we are looking in... BUT, we found a gorgeous piece of property that we made an offer on... absolutely breath taking, but the sellers have been a little *ahem* difficult.  So just before we left for Kentucky, we finally agreed on a price on some land... How naive of us to assume that since the actual transaction of selling our house was so smooth, that buying our land would be equally as smooth...  Regardless, when we got back from Kentucky, we had to get busy!

I brought Bryson, Hailee and Jace out for the perc test and they were completely transfixed by the excavator.  

Hailee has a new obsession.... back hoe's... except that it sounds like "back-hole" when she says it...  The excavator was nice enough to let the kids have a little fun in the back hoe after he was done...

Unfortunately the perc test didn't go too well... and not just because of the dirt.  The sellers completely flipped out, literally screaming at me, because their land was being dug up... never mind that they had granted permission and all!  It was ridiculous and I can't wait for this transaction to be over with, they are absolutely the most unreasonable people I have ever dealt with.

Easter!

The Easter bunny showed up at our house Friday night... there was no mention of him visiting before bed on Friday, so the kids were really surprised Saturday morning, it was kinda fun!

 Saturday afternoon Scott and Dayna showed up with their kids, my kids were super excited to have them here (it's so much more fun with us living at Mimi and Papa's because our cousins stay here too!!).  We decorated eggs...my kids didn't even question decorating eggs after the Easter had already come *wink*

Math is Cool

4th grade at my kids school brings multiplication timed tests.  We got a little info on it at parent night at the beginning of the school year, but I assumed that they were drilling and practicing at school to be prepared to pass the tests- 40 problems for each factor in 2 minutes.  At the end, there is a 50 problem mixed facts test you have to pass in 3 minutes... and the students that passed them all in a specified amount of time got a pizza and ice cream party and earned their 'Math Medal'.  Because I was distracted with life and assumed that they were drilling in school, I didn't spend any time working on multiplication facts with Bryson at home.  By the time I realized he was struggling, damage had been done.  I would try to drill him, and as soon as he'd miss one problem, he'd just explain that he wasn't good at math!  I really felt like it was my fault.  When we started practicing at home, he quickly started passing the tests, but couldn't catch up quick enough to earn his math medal on time- he was crushed that he didn't get to go to the party, and I was kinda perturbed that they had it set up the way they did... sure an incentive is good, but it was so devastating to him.  But whatever, it's part of life.  Lesson learned!  Once again, Bryson is the unfortunate guinea pig for me learning to be a mom *sigh*  While he did regain some confidence in math, his psyche took a beating.

So fast forward a few months, and I must admit, I was a little surprised when Bryson brought home the forms to participate in 'Math is Cool'.  It's really really tough competition that multiple schools participate in and takes a lot of focus and dedication, but he was eager, so we signed him up... (knowing Bryson as I do, I knew it was far more for the social aspect than the learning, but whatever)

Each week he would bring home a study packet with math problems... the problems were super hard, WAY above a normal 4th grade level.  If left to his own devices, he would just guess (and it wasn't multiple choice...)  So we'd work on it together.  He learned a little about geometry, algebra and multi-step problem solving.  It took a lot of patience on both our parts, but it was good.  

The day of the competition happened to coincide with mustache day at school....

After an individual test, parents were allowed in to classrooms where each school was paired against different schools for a quiz show-like round where the kids had to buzz in when they knew the answer... I was so proud of Bryson, he got several questions right on his own!  Mostly pleased that he didn't let his own fears or anxieties of 'not being good at math' stop him from answering a question.

We took a small detour on our way home from Kentucky to visit my sister in Colorado for a few days.  It was great to see her and her home that she has put so much work into- it gave me lots of ideas for our new house!  The kids all thoroughly enjoyed playing with Matt and Stacy and Kevin... or at least their xbox.  I let them have unrestricted play on the xbox one day, just to see if they would tire of it or show any sense of personal responsibility... I wasn't surprised with the end result.  Bryson didn't eat breakfast and didn't change out of his pajama's until Kristi mentioned something after lunch.  Dallin and Eli only took breaks because they had to share a controller and take turns since it's only 2 player and Bryson wouldn't relinquish his controller.  Yikes.

Her get-ups never cease to amuse me... monkey rain boots, a lanyard from karate nationals and ski goggles.

Another Tooth!

Eli lost his 2nd tooth while at grandmas house... 

 and then promptly LOST it!!  But don't worry, he wrote a note of explanation....

tooth fairy
I pulled out my
tooth.  My DaD
inspected it and
it did Not Have
any Cavities.
then When I looked
on the table
it was goNe!
I hoPe you
understand.
love EliCotton
ps... thanKS for
coming to my
grandmas in
KeNtacKY

Fortunately the tooth fairy did indeed understand and he received a fair reward.

Louisville Science Center and Zoo

One evening we went to the Science Center, unfortunately, I was too busy having fun to take very many pictures...

The Zoo in Louisville is one of my favorites, my kids loved it, even Hailee liked it, who doesn't particularly care for animals.  of any kind.  at all...

The animals were all really interactive and much more entertaining that any time I had ever seen before, and we used to go a lot when we lived a block away!

 Hailee completely freaked out when when we went into the African petting zoo... it just just a bunch of little goats, but she was literally climbing up me and any zoo worker she could find.  I finally had to put Jace down and calm her... she eventually 'pet' a goat, but she wouldn't look at it.

We had to leave the petting zoo area sooner than the boys wanted because I couldn't hold both her and Jace because Jace kept wriggling out of my arms and would get run to try to climb on and ride the little goats... it was quite the circus!

Hailee wanted to ride in the stroller for the 2nd half of the day, so we found a happy compromise...

 The quintessential zoo picture...

Spring Break

Since the week before spring break was all half days for parent-teacher conferences, we skipped that week of school to get some extra time in Kentucky!  If we're going to drive all that way, I want to get to enjoy our time there!

I love the ease with which my kids and their cousins reunite... so much to do!

Captain America somehow stowed-away with us...

Jace was in heaven... cars, cars, cars!

But he wasn't so sure about the other person in the tub with him...

Gracie was a big draw for both Hailee and Jace..

We had a camp fire and roasted s'mores.... Hailee was not about to be informal for the occasion...

There were some amazing thunder and rain storms that came through a few days so the cousins all went out and played in the river that was running through grandmas front yard...

 The kids just enjoyed the generally warm weather so much- they loved being outside!

The bag lady even made an appearance:

Oh we love our time in Kentucky, it's always so hard for us to leave.  We wish we could visit more often... or that Kentucky was closer... or that we would have family visit us more often... or any combination of the above!