Good Looking Boys and Cute Chicks

I can't get over how handsome this boy is getting to be!!  LOOK AT THIS FACE!! 

(his little brother is adorable too, but little brother doesn't enjoy the camera nearly as much.)

Today we drove by the feed store, and they had chicks!  We had to stop.  Nathan was sure we should bring one home.  Ashton kept telling me how cute they were.  And that they were, 'sweet little chicks.' Nathan waited until they came to visit him, and patted several.  Ashton pointed out, 'look, drink water.' He's concerned about hydration recently, and was pleased to see that the chicks were cared for.

Tramps and Tats

The Petty's are playing hard and into hard core, glow in the dark ink.  Here we are  at Jumpin Jacks.  It's the bounce house lovers dream come true.   Played our guts out! Not really Trampolines, but similar in fun.

 Later that week we applied some awesome tattoos, compliments of Travis and Amy Barney and their generous Christmas package full of devious fun.  Nathan has a colorful frog.  Ashton went for the spider.

I'm getting garden fever.  This week I planted some strawberries and flowers.  The pansies, snapdragons, and petunias are doing fine.  The marigolds, are deceased.  However, we have a garden plan.  It includes 6 fruit trees, a whole strawberry patch, a couple of vines, and maybe some patio trees. Then a pine tree and shade tree will bring up the end of the seasons planting plan, if we've not gone outrageously over budget with the veggies and garden beds. I'm gonna give it a few more weeks before we start sowing too many seeds.  Besides, we've got to get the beds all made! Wish us luck!  I'm dying to get some homemade sauces bottled this summer!

Happy Thoughts

Recent Happy Thoughts:

Ashton's love affair with his puppy slippers.  Wore them everywhere: to the store, in the house even to bed for several days.  PUPPY SHOES ON! Is something we heard frequently.

Nathan's realization of a Disney Commercial, "MOM!  It's where Wishes Come True!" The face of an angel.

The SEP meeting with NQ's teacher.  I heard all about how wonderful, smart, caring, expressive, and top of the class Nathan is.  He's also a natural leader for the other kids.  I've been noticing this attribute recently amongst his being out and about in different social situations. (once in a while, not always for the better. There's been a recent gas passing incident at church...)

Ashton's willingness to say the prayer - I LOVE when he does this!

The three day church sticker - Ashton received a sticker on the back of his hand Sunday.  For three days he left it there, through showers, hand washings, overnights and even a bath!  Never picked at it or bothered it... it was just gone yesterday - and I'm pretty sure by it's own choosing. AMAZING how different the boys treat this particular experience.  (With NQ the sticker would have been lucky to leave the nursery or even make it home on his hand. Even now.)

Shane pointing out NQ's freckles to which NQ disagreed, "Dad!! They are NOT freckles.  They are Sun Kisses. That's what Aunt Brooke calls them."

We had an earthquake this week. 3.0. This is happy because it wasn't a higher scale quake.

TWO hours at the Doctors office, trying to get NQ a kindergarten physical.  TWO HOURS!!!!!  Part of the problem was the new (well, new to us) insurance company not answering the phone to answer a question...they left the nurse waiting for over 40 minutes!!, but I'm wondering if the fact that ALL of Dish Network went into coverage today had anything to do with it. (This is listed under Happy Thoughts, because at least we have insurance.) P.S. Nathan is top of the charts (or off of them) tall. And we're going to schedule an eye exam.  I'm not sure that the one at the Doc's office was very accurate...

Calling the Drivers License division to let them know that I require another new card, as they put my Maiden name on it. P.S. Did you Know I have my Motorcycle's license?  I do, because I'm awesome.

We've been visiting the local animal shelters (for something to do) it's becoming increasingly difficult to leave without a pet. Nathan named a newly acquired cat 'Diskis' at one place. One shelter in particular is fantastic about introducing you to each of the animals and getting them out of the cages to play with.  Dogs and cats alike.  We're not ready for a dog!!! (I have to tell myself)

This reminds me, yesterday, Ashton became a cat and meowed for minutes on end and gave everyone kitty kisses.  For the first time, he was quite taken with them.  (okay, so maybe not ALL cats are as stupid as I think they are....MAYBE.)


After visiting with NQ's teacher about our choices available for schooling, I feel even more inclined to send Nathan to the Spanish Speaking Dixie Sun.  As his teacher put it, "Nathan's such a bright boy, and he's like a sponge and just soaks up information.  He'd be great there.  And Spanish is supposed to eventually (she gave me a year, but alas that detail has slipped my mind) take over English as the primary language spoken in America."  We also went over the high points of the other school options.  And she agrees that all three are good choices.  And she wished me luck.  Ugh.  However, I do feel that she spent the most amount of time speaking about Dixie Sun, and she chose that one to talk about first, even before talking about Coral Cliffs, where she does indeed teach.  I take that as a sign.

 

But to be on the safe side, in the little bit of unlikeliness we won't get in, he is all registered for the Charter School.

Picking a winner! Not something to sneeze at: Schools.

Sorry for the booger humor in the title - but I had to get your attention!
I have a problem.  It has to do with where my kids will go to school.  You see, Nathan, today, was accepted to Vista Charter School in Ivins.  A charter school that includes deeper studies of the arts: music, visual, dance, theatre and also technology based learning. 

Check it out here: http://www.vistautah.com/
Apparently, it's difficult to get into this school and they have a looooong waiting list.  We were lucky, and were picked out of a lottery system.  If he goes here, it's an excellent chance that Ashton, and any other Petty children, (NOT Annoucning anything!!) will be able to attend this school. (It's also where his best friend goes, but he will be a year behind his friend.) 1/2 day kindergarten.

There is a school closer to our house (see it here: Dixie Sun  ) which offers duel immersion spanish language.  Full day kindergarten. Half of the day is taught in English, half in Spanish.  Over 70%  of the children attending this school are of spanish decent.  24% caucasion.   But, this school is supposed to enhance/enrich my student with all sorts of amazing learning opportunities, including violin lessons in 4th or 5th grade.  And being that spanish is a latin based language - there are supposed to be all sorts of pros for testing scores and enriched understanding of language in general. 

Then, there is a perfectly normal public school, (here: Coral Cliffs ) where he is currently attending, as a preschool student. They also have 1/2 day kindergarten. This is the one he would go to, if we enrolled him strictly by boundry.  I drove by, saw that they were offering preschool, and signed him up. 

The duel immersion school offers preschool, but we didn't know before hand - having just moved here.

I need to do a LOT of research.  A LOT of praying and pondering.  And I think I just need to go into the schools and tour the facilities and see how my gut feeling is about them.  I also think I'll hit the local middle and high shcools and see what administrators have to say about students coming from these three places of education. 

Then, I've also been talking to parents of kids in these schools.  No matter which school he attends, there will be kids from our neighborhood attending them.  His church primary class is huge - and there are some or will be some kids from his class in each of these three schools.  So he'll know someone, no matter where he is. 

My initial reaction is to send him to Dixie Sun (Duel Immersion) for the language.  It seems like such an easy choice, until you see how awesome the Charter school is or until you realize that about six ladies from the relief society actually work at the Coral Cliffs school, where he currently attends. 

At any point, this decision needs to be made, fairly soon.  If we don't decide to go with the Charter School, we need to say so, so that someone on the waiting list can take the spot.  AND, there's still MINOR chance, we won't be accepted at the Spanish speaking school. Registration starts in March / and our Vista Charter packet needs to be completed by then.  No matter what, Nathan will be able to go to Coral Cliffs - and it's also an excellent choice!!!  Why does this have to be so hard?

Any advice?  Thoughts?  Ideas? Votes? Picks?
Thanks :)

Phone Calls and Messages can be Awkward.

I'm still fairly new to the ward.  And even newer to my visiting teaching partner and our teachees. It was my turn to call and set up appointments.  As luck would have it, I misplaced my call list. So, while at my partners house the other day, I just pumped our teachees numbers into my phone.  Today I called my teachee (we'll call her sue.)

The phone answered and a nice voice over the phone says, "this is Sue."

 I said, "Hi sue, this is Cami Petty, and I need to find a time when Jessica and I can come visit you." 

She answered, "Who?" 

And I replied, "Cami, your slightly neglectful visitor teacher."

Sue says, "oh, Okay. That's funny, I didn't realize I put my work phone down for contact. Here's my Cell Number, I'll be able to answer it when I'm not at work."

 Me, "Okay, thanks.  Yes, this is the number I have, so you must've put it on a list at some point."

Sue, "Yeah, I guess so. Well, I'm really busy at work until about 7 at night, so weekends work better for me, and this weekend, I'm packing up to go to D.C. for the week. So how about Sunday after this?" 

I answered saying "Sure, we can make that happen.  Before or after church?" At this point I'm feeling a little confused, because the last time we went to Sue's house, it was during the day, and she wasn't working. Plus, during this conversation, she mentioned having to pick up a daughter from school.   True, it's been several weeks since last seeing Sue, but I'm pretty sure she only has a son, and some stepdaughters and a stepson.  And I find it unusual that She, Sue would be picking the stepdaughter from School....but what do I know?  I'm not going to pry.

Sue, "Okay, well, I'll see you before church on the Sunday after this coming Sunday.

"Great!  See you then!"

A couple of hours later I go to Jessica (my partner)'s house to take Nathan to a play date - and relayed our upcoming date to visit teach 'Sue.'  I relate the phone conversation and the strange date and time.  Jessica also, is bewildered.  I showed her the number I called.  Then with a tone of "a-ha" Jessica points out that I called the wrong number. It was all correct, except for one number.  She asks if I did indeed talk to a Sue.  To which I reply, "That's what she said when she answered the phone..."

So, I then had two more phone calls to make, one to the correct Sue and one to the Sue whom I didn't know.  So I Recalled the Sue work number, when the message system picked up saying "You've reached Sue Smith*, (NOT THE CORRECT LAST NAME, to No One's Surprise) I'm not able to answer.....etc."  I then left a long, awkward apology and cancelled our visiting teaching appointment for the Sunday after this coming Sunday - before church. 

At the correct Sue's number, I just asked her to call me back - so that we could make plans.  So there you have it:  When calling someone you don't know well, and the voice on the other line is equally perplexed by the strangeness of the call - just be sure to confirm that you know each other, at least a tiny bit.

Valentine Cowboys

Turns out, Grandpa Barney found out about NQ's interest in guns.

We now have 2 sets of Cowboy Pop Cap guns that have holsters and belts and buckles.  The boys are in Seventh Heaven!



The beautiful roses from Shane and Dad



That little red hat has been through a lot.  But the boys play with it often, so despite its pitiful appearance, it continues to survive the occasional toy purge.  That cute little stick pony has held up well too.  He still whinnies and gallops along.

Antigravity, Valentines, Tree buds, Four miles, Creativity and the Bobber Duck

Between the blog title and the pictures of this post, the story will likely tell itself.  But I'll throw in my thoughts anyway.  Look At THAT!  BUDS on my Trees!  YES!  They think it's spring.  In February!!  SPRING?!!!  And the neighborhood begins the sprinkling systems!!  My body is so confused these days.  Nathan, Ashton and I take some time everyday to be outside with minimal body wear to soak some sun into our super-pale skin.  The temps are in the 60's.

These pictures are of the boys at 'Antigravity'  It's a huge warehouse full of trampolines, jump houses, an arcade and other such amusement.  They didn't venture from the little kid area - and didn't need to! They had a fantastic time throwing balls, doing jumps and somersaults and twirls. 

The boys spending quality time together.  They showed me fish faces and just snuggled together for several minutes.  I LOVE these quiet, tender little moments of joy :D

After days and days of asking, "Mom, can we make valentines?" Nathan and I finally got down to business and crafted home made valentines. For HOURS!  First we designed our papers with markers and glitter glue, Nathan picked out the papers that would be folded into cards, then I cut out hearts. Meanwhile Nathan chose the hearts he wanted and began to glue, soon he was tired of that part and just wanted to write in them.  I finished gluing as he wrote in EVERY SINGLE VALENTINE and added a confetti dinosaur for each of them. We were WORN out by the end of the card making.  But we were both pleased with the resulting cards.

This was NQ's favorite, so he put his name on the back and put it downstairs in his room with his 'favorite stuff' spot.  It also carries the most dinosaurs on it.  We had so much fun working together!

Nathan's writing - 95% by his onesey.  I told him the letters for each word/name, and he put them in!  I can't believe how much this little squirt is growing?!  It is NOT going to be easy on me when this kid goes to kindergarten.  He's my best helper, everyday. 

Ashton received his birthday package from Olivia.  He's been loving his Basketball game!  He sings along with the songs and counts and claps and cheers!  This is a really fun toy for him. Today he was playing so intently on the table that he rolled off the table and hit the floor.  He look at me, "Mom! I fell down and hurt!"  He ran to me with his little arms extended ready for some hugs and comfort. Every night he crawls in our bed, pulls the sheets up around his neck and gets ready for "nuggles"  He's a cheeky little fellow with a sense of humor.  He loves to laugh and play, mostly in the dirt.  At the park, he wants to do the dangerous stuff, that make all the mothers cringe!!  Things I don't even like the 5year old doing.  But he puts out a hand ands says "help me." So sometimes I do, other times I just grab his body as he hurls it towards me so that I can catch him.  Oi, we've been lucky to not have any hospital visits yet!!

Nathan has been dying to get a gun.  Anytime we see one, he's asking.  So finally I relented, as he's been particularly helpful and good natured recently.  At Wal-Mart we found this beauty for $6.  It has a scope, it shoots, reloads, and even has a silencer that makes it's own sound when it's twisted on. It also has a flashlight that hooks to the bottom, but Nathan took it off to put in a safe place in case the electricity goes out.  He's being prepared.   NQ's been shooting everything!  (Though I've had to get after him for shooting people walking by and for shooting his brother constantly.) I told him he can't shoot animals, except for cats - because Cats are stupid.  (Also about the only time I allow him to stay stupid, as well.) But this picture CRACKS me up, because he found these vacuum attachments and upgraded his gun with them.  The bottom attachment he likes because he can stand his gun up on a surface with it.  Funny Boy!

The boys hands are all red, because I inked them up to personalize the Petty Year in Review book, which finally went out this week, with the Valentines.

I've been working on training for a 10K in March.  So this week I had to get in a four mile run.  I found I trail close to the house that was 1.9 miles one way (okay, so we didn't quite make the WHOLE 4 miles, but really really close)  We did great!  We stopped for some water and stretch breaks, maybe 5 total, and then played at the park that was close to the trail head.  There were three bridges and three tunnels, which made the ride more fun for the boys.  When we were all finished up I looked at Nathan and said: "Nathan, you just did FOUR MILES!  You did AWESOME!" He replied, "Thanks! Next time I want to go six!"  And I think he could, though he was really pretty wiped out after this session.  We'd need more breaks and probably longer ones.... And Nathan also said, so as to include Ashton: "Ashton did great too!  He didn't even cry, the whole time!!"  And he was right, Ashton did great too! He had snacks and let his hand drag on the wheel as we jogged along and saw the sights. 

Today we have rain.  I stayed home from church with Green Booger Baby. Shane had to teach his class today.  Last week, Shane stayed home, because it was my turn to teach.  Hope it'll clear up soon. (the boogers - not the class teaching.)

Last night the family fed the ducks at a duck/fishing hole next to NQ's preschool.  There was a white duck that had a hook in it's wing and bobbers dragging along behind it in the water.  Shane contemplated several times jumping in after it and helping it out.  He was so concerned for the bird!  We all threw bread to the water fowls.  Every time the bobber duck came by, Shane gauged whether he'd be able to jump for it or not.  Finally, we resolved to leave it be as it was dark, and we didn't know how deep the pond was, or what kinds of things were lurking in the water below.  Nor did I really want a wet, duck pond stinky husband drenching the car on the ride home.  But I think if it'd been a hour earlier with that much more sunlight, he would've gone in after it.  I really appreciate that about my husband.  He comes by doing good unto others very honestly - and it makes me proud of him.