Spring Break 2009

Spring break this year of course landed on the very same week that Ben had to go to Chicago for a week for yet more job training. So, to avoid killing anyone this week, I decided that we'd better try to stay busy. Here is how our week went:

Monday: Cypress Grove Nature Walk
We walked about 4 miles on boardwalk through a lot of marsh and trees. We saw two ponds, lots of bugs and birds, and no matter how hard we looked, we never did see a crocodile. (Bummer!) I wasn't a very smart mommy and didn't bring the stroller, so Jarom only walked 3 miles out of the 4, and mommy was punished for her stupidity by having to carry the kid the rest of the way. Good times.

Tuesday: Pinson Mounds State Park
We went to the state park that is full of man built mounds. Exciting you say? Well not really. We had fun climbing 72 feet of stairs to see what seemed like the top of Tennessee as you can see from the picture, but the museum was pretty lame. We had a picnic at the playground there, and I think that was the highlight of the day. The playground was in a wooded area that smelled like we were camping so that helped salvage the trip.

Wednesday: Memphis Temple Day
To me, the most unbelievable temple experience I have ever had. The stake R.S. provided a daycare at the stake center (in the same parking lot as the temple) so the moms could go. It was awesome to just drive up and see MY temple after passing by so many other churches. I am telling you, Utah gets a lot of flak for having so many Mormon churches everywhere, but there is at least 1 church of some sort on every block here. It was a fantastic experience, and DB had a good time, but JT did not. Momma's boy. BTW, the temple is 1 hour 15 minutes away.

Thursday: Jammy Day
We had every intention of going to the train museum on this day, but decided that JT needed a nap before we went. So, he went down and DB and I stayed in our jammies and watched a movie and hung out, and then JT woke up and we just never got around to it. At about 4:00 DB noticed that we were all still in our jammies and couldn't believe that we hadn't even gotten dressed yet! It was a nice day of lounging around with my babies.

Friday: N.C & St.L Train Depot
A very cool train museum that had WAY more information than DB ever expected to get on trains. The tour guide there was on fire with the spirit of trains and was talking so fast an animated that I could hardly keep up with what he was saying. I learned that Albert Einstein lived in Jackson for a while, along with Elvis and Casey Jones. DB absolutely loved the model room where he got to go behind the scenes and be the "conductor" of all these trains. There was also a train whistle attached to the flagpole outside, and he stood there and blew that horn over and over again. We are definitely going to go back.

Saturday: Dad got home!
DB's soccer game got rained out (again) so we stayed home and cleaned up after a week of NO CLEANING! We were all very glad to have our Dad home, we sure missed him! He went out the door to get something from the car, and JT about had a fit.

The best part was that all of these activities were free! We had a great week apparently because DB REALLY did not want to go to school this morning. Back to the real life, kid.

Confession

I freely admit it to all of the Shoff family and any other Lord of the Rings fans that I have never previously watched the entirety of the movies. I went to the midnight showing with Ben to each of the three movies, but I slept through at least significant parts each time. We have owned the movies for quite some time and those of you who know Ben will not be surprised at that. So that is not my confession. My confession is this: I spent the last 3 days doing nothing productive because I was too busy watching these shows. It was truly ridiculous. Ben started watching the first one one night so I sat down to watch it with him (I figured it would put me to sleep pretty quickly) but I became so enthralled with the story that I just couldn't quit! I have never been so grateful for full day Kindergarten as I was this week! JT's naptime just didn't last long enough on one day, so I admit that I sent him out back to play (fenced in and safe backyard) while I sat by the door with one eye on him and the other on the conclusion of the Return of the King. I kept asking Ben questions that he wouldn't answer, so I had to keep watching! How irritating! Does Dumbledore REALLY die? I would ask, and he would sigh and tell me that I would have to wait to find out GANDALF'S fate, and another (big) sigh. He was quite disappointed in me this week in finding that his own wife has only recently decided to care about something he loves so dearly: Frodo and the Ring.
You know, it truly is a good story. I had just become blinded by Ben's fanatacism, I guess. I think I tend to shy away from anything Ben is fanatical about, I don't know why. Anyway, I am definitely adding the books to my "to read" list. OKAY! Yes! I haven't read the books either, but I have read the Hobbit, so don't hate me too much.

Moving forward

Sheesh! My posts have been very un-informative lately, eh? Sorry about that, Mom. Well we are settling in to life here.

DB has started soccer and has had a great time with that. He has a great coach who has taught him a lot already after just one practice. They do it differently here, though. They play 4 on 4 on two smaller fields and don't technically have a goalie. I actually like it better, it keeps him more active and he doesn't lose interest as much with so much running without being near the ball. He is a cute little Pele if you ask me. Oh, guess what size soccer cleats he got? Are you ready for this? 4 1/2!!! Good Grief! I asked him what his favorite part about school was and he told me it was rest time, snack time and going home time. Something tells me he doesn't love school, what do you think? He is doing quite well at math, seems to enjoy science and comes home with a new song every day. As far as I can tell he is adjusting quite well. It is unbelievable the amount of schoolwork he has here in TN as opposed to UT. The kids in Kindergarten in UT are really getting jipped if you ask me, and we are in TN land of the inadequate schools!

JT. Where do I begin with JT? The little stinker has just grown up a lot lately. He has already "decorated" more walls in his short lifetime than DB has in his significantly longer life (see evidence below....) When he finished his masterpiece this morning, even DB said that he NEVER drew on a wall and told JT that was NAUGHTY! Of course, JT just laughed and ran off to find another crayon. He loves Elmo, the songs "The Wheels on the Bus" and "Head Shoulders Knees and Toes." He can't keep himself out of the second and third drawer in the bathroom, and loves to unroll the TP. He LOVES his blanket that his Aunt Rachel gave to him when he was born, and loves to read books. At the end of every day, we have books spread from one end of the house to the other. I sure miss my small house where everything had no choice but to be contained!

Ben just got a new calling as the Sunday School 1st counselor, and he is still figuring out exactly what that entails. He is really doing well at his new job out here. He took his team out to lunch the other day, and his religion came up. Someone finally asked him if being LDS meant that you were Mormon too. He told them yes, and they had a lot of funny questions, mostly about how many wives he had or intended to have. They were all really cool with it after he told them what he believes. His team sounds pretty awesome, there is an Orthodox Jew, Seventh Day Adventist, Baptist, Non-denominational Christian, Methodist and now a Mormon! There are a couple others that Ben hasn't figured out yet. That would be awesome if they were Catholic and Prodestant!

I, well I am still figuring out my place here in TN. I had a book group over at my house yesterday, and really enjoyed talking about things besides anything that had to do with kids. The book we read was "These is My Words" and I really enjoyed it. The next book we are going to discuss is "The Hiding Place" by Carrie Ten Boom. I got 100% on my Business midterm and am working on failing my Communications class--it is BORING!!! I found an awesome new homemade tortilla recipe that I LOVE, and am making either tacos or chicken wraps tonight for dinner.

Tennessee is cloudy and wet A LOT. We got some snow a week back, and apparently TN hasn't seen that much snow for 40 years! The schools were closed for 2 days because there was snow on the ground. Now, coming from STG, I admittedly have an aversion to snow, but it was very funny to me that they skipped 2 days of school because there was snow on the ground...not the roads.....the grass. DB sure was thrilled, and JT wasn't so sure about walking on the snow. At one point he fell forward and did a face plant into the snow. It was so dang funny that I couldn't stop laughing long enough to comfort him in his pain. What a good mom I am.....

There you go, that's the dish if you read this whole long post, then you must be my family, or really need a hobby (unless of course, your hobby is blog stalking, then you are good to go!) We love and miss all of our family and STG peeps!

Child of the new millenium

So we went to Target the other day, and my sweet child that was born in this new millenium walks up to the door and pauses, unsure exactly why the doors aren't automatically opening for him. Now, to his credit, even I have noticed that Target is the only one of the big chain stores that still have a manual-open-it-yourself kind of door, but it was funny that he was just a bit perplexed there for a minute. Come to think of it, he doesn't understand VHS, CD's or even the radio! We hear a song on the radio and he asks me to replay it all the time! SHEESH! And we haven't had TV in such a long time that when he happens to be somewhere watching it, he thinks the show is over when the commercials come on. My poor, sheltered child.