Misc. May

Here's a few random pictures from the month of May ...

Landon has been practicing his driving more and more... which is good, as his learners permit expires soon! As we would come home from Herriman and dropped off the kids in the carpool, I'd have Landon take over to pick Callahan up from school each day. It was also nice to just give the keys to Landon and tell him to pull the car into the garage ...

 The school had a rewards night for the kids one evening. The kids could bring their "principal visits" (given for good behavior) and redeem them for a prize. Colton had quite a few! His teacher always tells me what a good boy he is!

 Cooper had his end of year program at school ... he did great!

I just have to say this traffic light on Old Bingham (taking the back road to the elementary school) frustrates me! The road runs parallel to the Trax tracks ... and when a train is going by, NO ONE gets to go, even those going straight, NOT crossing the tracks.

 We got our vents cleaned out ... they needed it!

Hopefully there will be less dust around the house now.

In a previous post, I mentioned Maga's trifle dessert. Before she made it, I hadn't been aware that all my boys LOVE angel food cake. While I haven't attempted making the trifle myself, I have purchased several angel food cakes, which the boys have devoured. 

 While we were at Maga's (at said Trifle eating party), Aunt Olivia gave the boys MUCH needed haircuts. They were SO shaggy! Thanks Aunt Livi.

Landon is finishing up his Eagle Scout project ... helping over at the neighborhood park, which has had some renovation. Some needed electrical was added, but it left a trench all the way through the park. Landon raised money to buy sod and gathered volunteers to fill in the trench and lay the sod. Of course as they finished that, big trucks rolled in for the building of a basketball court (which my boys are THRILLED about) and now there is another, even bigger trench!

Airborne

OK - This post is really late. Daddy took the boys to Airborne last MAY. I noticed the folder of little video clips Grayson took sitting on the computer desktop and figured maybe I should do something with them. So I made a little muvee. The boys really had a lot of fun bouncing, flipping and playing dodge ball.  A few days later, Airborne offered a "free" morning deal (from 6 in the morning until 8 or 9) and Callahan managed to hitch a ride with a couple of friends (and we picked them up afterward). It's a little pricey, but everyone who goes Airborne seems to love it.  See their flipping fun in the short video below *Ü*

Don't TRIFLE With Me!

So a little while back, Maga made TRIFLE ... it was a hit. For Mother's Day, she said she would bring another to the family gathering. Everyone was anxiously awaiting it. Then Maga came in looking a little sheepish and empty handed. She had gone to a missionary homecoming. She had thought to store the trifle in the fridge there... and it didn't make it back out uneaten. It was gone! She promised she's make it up to everyone.

So the following week we had another BlackhamBunch gathering, and Maga had the materials for TWO trifles. She also had some help. Landon and Callahan pitched right in.

Landon made THAT face in every picture!

BIG strawberry!

Look at those masterpieces!

Thanks Maga *Ü*

I didn't have my camera ... these were taken with my Ipod.

Arctic After School

Back to school after being off-track, the weather has warmed up enough that the boys have resumed an after-school activity ... walking to Arctic Circle for a free "courtesy cone". The Arctic Circle in West Jordan is just a couple blocks down from the school, and a few minutes after school lets out, it is flooded with kids. Each child is offered a mini ice cream cone dipped in chocolate, butterscotch or cherry topping.  Colton is home with me by this time (as kindergarten gets out early) but he loves to come with me to pick up the boys and get his ice cream.

The boys often bring money to buy a bigger cone or a shake. A couple of times I've splurged on some chicken rings, fries and tater tots. The boys also like to bring quarters to get a gumball (hopefully a "winner" gumball, which entitles them to a free sundae).

While we are certainly not the only kids who take advantage of the free ice cream cones, the pickup is a LOT less congested there at the restaurant than it is at the school. So it's fun and FUNctional. Thanks Arctic Circle.

Mother's Day

We started Mother's Day a bit early this year ... the Thursday before, we went out to dinner at Tepanyaki (one of my favorite places) for dinner.  We've only been with the kids once before, so it was still pretty new to them. I should have brought my camera. The little boys were so enthralled with the chef's tricks. I was torn between watching the tricks, and watching the little boy's faces. Pam was able to join us for dinner too, which made it even more fun.

 For dessert afterward, we had some ice cream at SubZero.

For Mother's Day itself, Gray had made a trip to "The Store" to pick up some croissants. These are frozen ones, lay them out the night before and they raise all night and are ready to be baked fresh in the morning. Since we've moved to the 9:00 church schedule, they have become a family favorite. We had been out of them for a few weeks, so I (and everyone else) was very happy to have them restocked and rising for a quick breakfast.

All the boys had little notes and gifts (with Daddy's help, gift cards to Amazon and Itunes).  I just have to share this little Q&A sheet I got from Colton (they did it in school). The underlined portions are what Colton filled in to personalize the paper ...

My mom is ...  41 years old.

My mom weighs...  10  pounds.

My mom's favorite color is ...  purple. 

My mom's favorite food is ...  cereal. 

My mom always says ...  "Thank you".

My mom cooks the best ...  noodles.

My mom is really good at ... Wii Fit.

My mom and I like to ...  eat ice cream.

My mom really loves...  ice cream.

I love my mom because ... she gives me ice cream. 

We better not take ICE CREAM out of my relationship with Colton or we might be in trouble! *Ü*

oh BOWee

The Blackham Boys have always enjoyed shooting in the backyard ... sometimes with a bb gun, but also with a bow and arrow. Gray had his own bow that was a little too big for the boys, so he invested in a smaller one. Keaton was pretty excited.

Keaton showing me where he hit the bulls eye

Gray and the bigger bow

An arrow that missed the target and hit the wall ...

Buzz Backpacks

Here's my oldest and my youngest ...

both with their BUZZ backpacks!

To infinity ... and beyond!

Seriously, Landon LOVES all things Toy Story. I remember when the first one came out, he was just a baby. He did come with us to the movie theater (in the baby carrier) but he slept through the whole thing (thankfully). When he was a year old, we bought the VHS tape and he would watch it over and over ...

Callahan and Keaton have UofU backpacks, Cooper's is Spongebob ... but Colton and Landon both have BUZZ ... it goes perfectly with Landon's lunchbox too ...

Cooper's Color Coordination

Ah Cooper ... he has his own sense of "style" ...he really likes his basketball shorts, and he likes his tops to match (color wise anyway, I've told him repeatedly that golf shirts and basketball shorts don't really go together).  He always insists on being tucked in too ... not sure where that comes from (probably from basketball games, they do have the kids tuck their jerseys in during games.) I had the thought to snap some pictures of Cooper's color coordination, and after the first couple, Cooper was the one asking "do you have a picture of me in green yet? In blue?" You can tell by his posing that he thinks he is pretty cute. 

I let Cooper be in his comfy clothes all during his off-track time, although when we would go out to visit family or something, I would encourage him to change into something else. Now that school is back in session, I've told him I'd like him to make use of all the OTHER cute clothes he has ... levi shorts, plaid shorts, cute t-shirts and collar shirts (not paired with basketball shorts!).  I also bought him some plain white and black Nike socks, which he has liked (replacing some of the brightly colored ones he has been wearing).

Cooper still likes to change into his "active" clothing after school ... it does make for loads of laundry and socks, shirts, shoes, shorts tossed ALL over the room, drawers left open... I'm always after him! I wish he picked up as painstakingly as he color coordinates his clothes!