Pepsi Update

So .. . .I am so relieved!! Come to find out, Jensen's good friend, who is in the same class, had been taking Diet Pepsi to school for two days before the "incident". Apparently, his friend would take some cans of Diet Pepsi, and share with Jensen when they would go outside to play. Then after school, he would share some more cans with the boys (NO GIRLS !!!) at MarDawns. Jensen was all pumped, because he was going to take the "real" thing . . no diet stuff for him. Unfortunately, his plan was foiled. I am just glad to know that this whole thing wasn't entirely his brainchild!!!

Morning Fix

Pepsi's slogan used to be "Something For Everyone". Well . . .everyone must include kindergarteners.

Every morning I check Jensen's backpack before he heads to school to make sure he has everything he needs. This morning I picked it up to check it and it felt kind of heavy - then I noticed it felt wet. I asked Jensen if he had brought more rocks home (Yesterday when I checked his backpack he had brought home giant rocks). He got a funny look on his face and shook his head no.

I asked him if he had his water bottle had leaked. He still had a funny look on his face. I opened the back pocket and pulled the water bottle out - - - sure enough, it had been leaking and was nearly empty. (For the record, it is blue metal . . .not transparent.) Wondering why his backpack was so heavy I opened the front pocket.

Inside, I saw 4 cans of Pepsi, the top can had been opened and I could tell it was empty. I asked him if he had started collecting cans for his aunt (who cashed them in). He got an even funnier look on his face and said no. So, I took the can out to put in a bag to take to his aunt. I reached in to get the next can, and it was still full and hadn't been opened, same with the next two cans. The following conversation then occurred:

"Jensen, why are their cans of pop in your bag?"

Silence.

"Jensen, where did you get these cans of pop.

Silence. Pause. Finger pointing to the storage spot.

"Did you get them from out on the cement?" (BJ's old stash from when he used to drink the stuff.)

Nod.

"What were you going to do with them?"

Silence. Pause. "Take them to school to drink."

"Jensen bud, you can't take Pepsi to kindergarten."

Silence.

"I am pretty sure the rules are that you can only take water in case the drink spills. That way it won't ruin the carpet or anything it might spill on. "

Silence.

"Did you already take a can to school?" (thinking of the already empty can.)

Shaking of head "no."

"Did you already drink one?"

Shaking of head "no."

"Then how come there is an empty can?"

Silence.

Stern look.

"I put that one in my water bottle to take to drink today during school".

"So that is why is your bookbag is all wet?"

"I don't know."

"Well, let's get you a different bag to take today, and we will wash this one out and get it ready for Monday, hurry quick or we are going to be late."

Are you kidding me? My kindergarten student needs a pepsi in the morning to make it through the day? The funniest part, is that BJ doesn't even drink pop anymore, I occasionally buy a Dr. Pepper at the store, but we aren't a huge pop-guzzling family. I don't know what the boy was thinking, other that Pepsi must take better than water. We don't even let him buy Pepsi when we get the kids drinks. . . we usually try to stick with the kid friendly flavors. Can you image the phone call from the principal? "Mrs. Grover, we need you to come and get Jensen, it seems that he is smuggling PEPSI into the classroom." AI am so glad it didn't get that far!!! Although it probably wouln't have gotten to that point. His water bottle is metal, no one would have seen it, and I never would have looked at the Pepsi supply to see that it was dwindling. He may have been bouncing off the walls, but I doubt his teacher would have put the blame on Pepsi.

BJ was in Tooele at a cowboy competition, so I called him as soon as I dropped Jensen off to school and told him the story. He was laughing SOOO hard. Funny funny funny boy. He just makes my heart happy. I honestly couldn't even be mad or upset, it was all I could do not to bust out laughing. What a planner . . .what a thinker . . .he had seriously thought this one out. Gotta love him!!!

County Fair

August starting out being a CRAZY busy month. Generally the fair isn't quite so early, but this year is started during the first of August, and we've been running ever since. Sit down and get comfy, this will be a long post. (If you aren't a reader . . . scroll down to the video at the end for the highlights.)

This year again, the kids have been raising pigs during the summer to sell at the fair. Jensen also raised a pig, (the alternate). I am so proud of how hard the kids worked this summer . . .and it was work. This year the pigs didn't gain weight like they should have, so they were on a special, portioned diet, that took a lot of work and dedication on the part of the kids. Their hard work paid off though, and the pigs made weight. (They have to weigh a minimum amount to be allowed to show & sell).

They showed their animals Thursday and Friday. The girls did excellent!! I was very pleased with how well they looked and how well they handled their animals. They have learned so much about showmanship these past couple of years.

Brooklyn's pig (Mantis) got a blue ribbon (the highest they can get) and was called back for the "star" class. (That is where they compete against the top pigs in from weight division, not just their own weight division.) She ended up taking 7th place out of ALL the mini-livestock pigs. (There were about 40 I think.) BJ would have like a better result, but I was just happy the pig made weight and did that good!!

Brittany showed her pig (Monkey) really well also!! He also received a blue ribbon and was called back to the star class as well. Monkey did GREAT. He was 1st reserve. (That would be second place out of about 25). Brittany was hilarious Thursday morning when we were getting ready to go. She said "I hope my pig doesn't do very well." I asked why. Her reply, "Mom, if we win, I will get another trophy and I don't have any where to put one." The girl had a point . . .their room really is pretty darn full of trophies and ribbons. I told her she still needed to try her best, and if she won, we would find a place for her trophy. Well . . .low and behold . . .we are trying to find a place for her trophy. The kids are convinced BJ needs to build a trophy room. Can you say EGO??

Friday after the livestock show, they had family fun games. Every year kids and parents can participate in events to earn tickets. Then the ticket numbers get called, and if you are "lucky", you get to try to earn some money by rubbing honey all over your body, digging through sawdust, and finding "paper" money that can be traded for some real cash. This year we all did the egg toss (I was the one that dropped the egg), the hula contest (yes, I was even a good sport for that.), and the limbo (I am going to win next year!!!) One of Jensen's tickets got called, and we did honey money together. One of Brittany's tickets got called and she found money with Madison. Brooklyn's tickets weren't lucky. I think Jensen got 10 dollars and Brittany & Madi split $13. Good times were had by all!!

Friday night came and around and it was time for the "Cowboy games". So much fun to watch and HILARIOUS!!! This year BJ had a team and they did the rescue race (1 guy has to rescue 3 other guys on a horse riding bareback.) They also did branding, (sort a calf out and "fake" brand it), the hide race (one guy rides to one end of the arena where another guy (or girl) jumps onto a hide that is being pulled by the horse and rides back to the start). BJ was grabbing a calf to turn it onto its side and the calf went CRAZY and totally trampled him. I was a little concerned at first, but he was all right. Talk about "cowboy up". Good times!!

Saturday was the sale. Brooklyn sold Mantis first, and then Brittany sold Monkey later on. Thanks so much to the buyers!! It is so neat to see how many people support the 4-H program . . .and generally spend a pretty penny doing so. The buyers are fantastic!! What a great thing they do for the youth invovled in this program.

Saturday night was the youth rodeo. This was SOOO much fun . . .I think even more so than the rodeo they brought in the weekend before. Jensen and Brooklyn both ran the barrels and poles and did really good. There were so many family members invovled, it was a blast to watch everyone - and everyone did SOOOO well!! We even had nephews that rode calves (OUCH!!!) as well as nephews that actually rode a bull. (well, tried to.)

Amongst all of this, the girls had to feed, water, & bathe their pigs. Jensen was usually found watching the animals. (Watch for the cute picture of him sitting on the barrel.) I think he sat in that position for about 45 minutes, just watching the longhorn cattle in the pen. There were also lots of craft and games that the kids were involved for most parts of the day. We barely found time to eat lunch or cook dinner.

The week of the fair is always CRAZY busy, but it is also CRAZY fun!!!! What can I say, we are just CRAZY!!

Can you say SLACKER!!

So, since about February I have been a total BLOG SLACKER!!! I am going to attempt to play catch-up. So, don't be surprised when you see posts about March in October. Better late than never!! Wish me luck!

First Day of School

Well . . .summer is over . . .the kids went back to school on Thursday, August 20th. Sad though, none of the first day of school pictures turned out very good.



Wed. night we went out to dinner together and then went home and got bookbags and clothes ready for the first day of school. Then BJ gave everyone a blessing, which I think is such a great idea!!! I think it helps calm nerves and get everyone started to school on the right foot.



It is so crazy to think that Jensen is already in school. . .. doesn't seem like he should be. He wasn't scared to go though. . .he marched right into class, and wouldn't take time for a picture or a hug or anything!!! I made him come back out for a picture, and he wasn't very happy about it. Then his friend came and got in a picture too, and then Jensen didn't think it was bad to be having his picture taken.

The kids have great teachers, and I hope their year goes great!!!

Last call for summer fun

The kids and I made a mad dash for some last summer fun. We went to Spanish Fork the week before school started to do some school shopping and hopefully have some fun. We stayed at my brother's house (thanks Wade) Monday night.

Tuesday morning we hit the stores!! We shopped till we dropped. The kids found some fun clothes, (their choices in style never cease to amaze me.) Jensen has worn long sleeved cowboy shirts and wrangler pants all SUMMER . . . even in the heat. When we went shopping, he just bought t-shirts and some jeans, constantly asking if the clothes he bought were the kinds of clothes his cousins would wear to school. He must really want to fit in. For the past 2 years, Brittany wouldn't wear anything girlish or frilly . . .. what did she pick out this year? Girly, frilly, cute clothes. Go figure!!

We took a break from shopping in the afternoon and went to Veterans Memorial Water Park with Lori and her kids. It was a super hot day, and everyone had so much fun cooling off in the water. Jensen loved the big tube slides. Then Lori was super nice to take my kids to her house so I could do some school shopping. WIERD!! I haven't had to have nice clothes for a LONG time . . . .so I went to see if I could update my wardrobe for my new position at the high school.

After I picked the kids up we shopped some more, then hit Supercuts so they could all get a new, updated do for school. Okay, so the do's weren't really updated, everyone kept their same style, just trimmed up a little bit. I think we finally got back to Wade's at 9:30.

Wednesday morning we woke up early to head to Lagoon. Since the Grover's Annual Tuacahn trip needed to be cancelled this year, most all of the Grover cousins were going to go to Lagoon instead. We couldn't go at the same time as everyone else, but we still went. Luckily, Wade & Ethan go to with us too. On the way there, we called my cousin to see if her daughter could go with us. Brooklyn was pumped to have a cousin with her, and everyone was excited to go to Lagoon. (Even though my kids had never been before and had NO idea what to expect.)

Everyone had tons of fun on the rides, the lines weren't too bad, and they can't wait to go back next year!!! We spent the entire day going from ride to ride, and playing HARD!! I think we left Lagoon around 7:00 p.m. I still had a few stops to make, and after dropping Ciera off, then stopping back at Wade's, we headed home at about 9:45 p.m.

I think the kids must have had too many rides that day, because all the way through the canyon that night, they all kept saying that they were sick to their stomach's. When we go to Price, we stopped at Wendy's and got BJ some hamburgers (he was on the baler ALL night and starving!!)
We made it home without problems, took BJ his food, and I think got home at about 2:30 a.m.

It was a fast and furious trip, but hopefully one the kids will remember!!!