Sunday, February 26, 2017

"If you continue to let your kid ride his bike, I am calling CPS."

As a family, we like to ride our bikes.  And our kids KNOW how to ride a bike (safety, courtesy, rules of the road, etc.) Of all the kids, Christian probably likes to ride the most. And as a health professional, I encourage physical activity.  We live about 2 miles from the elementary school where our kids attend, so we ride our bikes. We have to cross a major street, but we are able to cross at the canal where there is a pedestrian crosswalk and light.  When coming home, we cross the street and get on the sidewalk where we ride against traffic for about 30 feet before turning left on our street. We don't normally ride against traffic, or on the sidewalk, but in this case it's really the safest thing we can do.  Well, one day there was a car stopped on our street at the stop sign getting ready to turn onto the major road.  Christian wasn't sure what to do, so he rode in front of the car and turned left after he passed him.  Well, at the same time, a car was turning onto our street from the major street and nearly hit Christian.  Christian did not seem concerned a tall.  But of course, I talked to him about what he should have done different.  The guy driving the car (we will call him Howard because that is his name) stopped at the stop sign, left a note on my door the next day wanting to talk about the incident.  So, I called him.  He said that he did not see Christian until he was in front of his car and that the guy turning onto our street (we will call him Paul because that is his name) did not see him either and they were very shaken up.  Honestly, I do no know how neither one of them saw us.  After all, traffic stopped for us and there were three of us.  But I thanked Howard for his concern and assured him I had talked to Christian.  He then proceeded to tell me that Christian was too young to be riding his bike on the street (even in the neighborhood), that he (Christian) was not going to listen to me, and that if I continued to let Christian ride his bike he was going to call CPS.  I basically said he should do what he felt like he needed to do and I hung up.  I went to talk to Paul and he was totally cool and did not place any of the blame on Christian and thought that Howard was out of line. Several days later, we were stopped at the stop sign just as Howard was and a guy who lives in our neighborhood did the exact same thing Christian did (rode right in front of me and turned left after riding past me) and Christian said "Hey, he just did what I did."  Needless to say, we didn't make Christian stop riding his bike and CPS has not been called.

Thursday, February 2, 2017

Spelling B

H (age 9) was one of two kids in her class to advance to the school spelling bee. After school the day of the bee, she was very excited about how she did. But her excitement was short lived when a boy came over to me and told me she did not do very good. Of course, I told this boy that H did well and that he was not being very nice. And I consoled H. As we were walking away, H told me she wanted me to call his mom. I said I would not because I don't like tattle telling and I certainly wasn't going to tattle on a kid. I also said I had told him that he was not being nice and H said, "Yeah, but you were too nice when you said it." So, she came home and wrote him a note. (see the picture). Originally, the note said B not bee and peace, not piece. It was too cute to change, but since we were talking about a spelling bee, I had her change it. She also wrote, "Please stop or you WILL be sorry". I told her that wasn't very nice, so she changed it to the golden rule part. I wasn't sure if I should let her give it to him, but I decided to let them work it out. And she did give it to him. And she told him he better show it to his mom. Oh, and on the front there is just an X. I said why did you put an X and she said, "Well, I wasn't going to draw him a pretty picture."


It says, "Hugo, I got far into the school spelling bee so you can't say I did bad because I got farther  than you.  I do not like the way you treat me and if you do not stop, I will give you a piece of my  mind.  Please stop or you will be given a poster of the golden rule.  Please stop.  from Hannah Royalty PS I hope you know what the golden rule is.

Wednesday, January 4, 2017

2016 - The Year in Review

We bought ONE new mini-van.
We made TWO home renovations; painted the interior of the house and got new counter tops.
I got up with kids at night an average of THREE times a week.
Cameron is involved in FOUR extra-curricular activities; band (he plays the flute), scouts, basketball and Honors Team.
Hannah is involved in FIVE extra-curricular activities; choir, scouts, dance, piano and activity day girls.
Christian turned SIX!
All SEVEN days of the annual summer backpack trip only included SEVEN backpackers.
I spent EIGHT hours a week (on average) volunteering at either the elementary school or middle school.
Hannah turned NINE.
We hiked TEN miles (in one day) at the Grand Canyon over Fall Break.
Cameron turned ELEVEN.
TWELVE just might be the number of times each kid says mom every hour.
Although I won't divulge our ages, I will say there is still a THIRTEEN year difference between Chuck and me.
Chuck and I have been married FOURTEEN years.
Each kid is rude to me or to each other about FIFTEEN times a day.
Cameron and Hannah competed in a combined SIXTEEN swim races over the summer.

In 2017, we are hoping for fewer night visits from children, more kindness in our home and more independent children!  But overall, it was a great year.  We love our children, we love our lives and we are grateful for the ease and comfort in which we live.  Here's to 2017!

*for more details on anything mentioned above, refer to back posts on the blog




Christmas 2016

Decorating the tree




Christmas Morning








On Christmas morning, the kids looked at their gifts from Santa, we had a delicious breakfast and then we went to church.  What better way to start the day than worshiping at church!?  We opened gifts after church and had a delicious dinner with Grandma Kitty, Papa, Camera, Emily and the girls.  
How thankful we are for the birth of Jesus Christ, for the opportunity we have to be members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and all the blessings Christ and His church bring into our lives.

Christmas Break 2016

We had a lot of fun during Christmas break and I even managed to stay sane!  We started the break with our annual Christmas gingerbread house decorating party.  The Hamblins, Hatchs along with Carla and Noah Smith and Grandma Kitty and Papa joined in the fun.  In & Out gift cards were given to the winners.  But really everyone won because we met for lunch later in the break at In & Out.

Cameron and Carson joined forces to design and decorate their house.  They won best overall design.

Hannah and Natalie also joined forces and won most creative.



We spent a day at the zoo.  We went with Camera, Melody, Raygan and Rylee.  Cameron was in charge of the camera.  So, I didn't get many pictures of the kids, but Cameron got a lot of the Lego creations which were pretty impressive
.





We took a quick trip (leaving Tues around noon and returning Fri around 9pm) to Farmington, NM.  We spent a lot of time playing with cousins.  The best part of the trip according to the kids was going sledding and to the aquatic center in Durango.  Chuck got to ride his bike to Durango, which he said was a religious experience.  As you can see, there wasn't a lot of snow in Durango but they still had fun.  All the kids were very well behaved the whole trip.












Other fun activities included: riding our bikes to Kneaders for breakfast, watching the Harry Potter movies, play dates with friends and neighbors, spending time with Grandma Kitty and Papa, and the boys going to see Star Wars Rogue One while the girls went to lunch and the mall.  

Oh, and we bought a new car!

Tuesday, January 3, 2017

Fall Extracurriculars

Cameron played on the school's flag football team that is organized by the city.  We were less than impressed with the team and its coaches, but C did finish out the season despite his disappointments.

C is in a striped shirt because there were not enough uniforms, even though we did register early.

Cameron made the JV basketball team.  They win some and they lose some, but the important thing is that they are getting better each game.  And at times, they look really good.



And C is first chair flute in the band.  He has band 5 days a week and believes he does not have to practice because of that, so he does not.


Hannah performed in the 4th grade musical, "The Undersea Mystery" and was the puppeteer for Ms. Manatee.

She also had a piano recital where she played "The Lion Kingdom" and "Pirate of the North Sea".  She was one of the best pianist there.

Sunday, January 1, 2017

Thanksgiving 2016

Per tradition, we started our Thanksgiving Day by running the Mesa Turkey Trot.  All 3 kids (Chuck and I too) ran the 2 miles and then Chuck and I ran the 10K.  My dad was in town for the week, so he went along to watch the kids while Chuck and I ran.  We had dinner with dad, Camera, Melody and Alexander and Mandy (Chuck's co-worker and his fiance).  As always, it was a beautiful day in the Valley of the Sun.

Times:
Cameron 19:43
Hannah 26:46
Christian 23:45
Rebekah and Chuck (because he always runs with me) 52:27. 
 I was 14th in my age group and I BEAT THE TURKEY!  However, the turkey was running a little slow this year,  He may have over-heated just a bit.