They Say...

Ashton goes to a spanish immersion school.  His afternoon teacher is from the Dominican Republic. On Monday it was Columbus day and he came home with a coloring of the Santa Maria, Pinta and Nina ships. I asked him what he learned about Christopher Columbus in class.  He promptly replied "Christopher Columbus discovered America, and when he came here he enslaved all the people."

Ashton's morning teacher is from Spain.  I asked him to get the bowls out for dinner.  Ashton: "In Spain they don't call them bowls."  Thinking he would use the spanish word for bowl, which is bol - sounds almost the same,  I asked him what they call them.  He said something that sounded much more like jibberish.  Realizing what was going on, I started to giggle.  Ashton didn't realize that his teacher has an accent and he thought she was using other words - not even spanish words, just other names for things. 

Reagan will only use a British accent when referring to Harry Potter.  "'Arry Pott'r"

She also says "m-kay" for okay, and sounds like a little valley girl...too cute.

 Whenever she tells a story she has to do all the voices.  I sound very high pitched, and Aaron always sounds a bit grumpy ;).

 

In the October Mood

 

Yesterday we took these fun "ghost" pictures of the kids.  I think they turned out great!

We went to visit a friend in Malad and stopped at this old school house.  It was literally two rooms!  I really wanted to steal the old doors ;)

Ashton's 7th Birthday

I can't believe my little boy is 7 - where has the time gone?  Ashton is really into books, he loves to listen to audiobooks in the car (even with his little brother yelling "I hate Percy Jackson and Harry Potter!).  He always has a book in his had about some wild creature.  He loves to be with friends and cousins.  He is sooo social.  His teacher's only comment at parent/teacher conference (on his birthday) was that he talks way too much.  She said his ahead of the average for his age and is doing very well.  He is very good at helping the kids who are struggling and is very sweet.  I love that about my son.  He really enjoys golfing with his papa and shooting bows (archery) with his dad.  He is a big tease and love to have fun.  The day he was born  was a rough entrance into the world , but he has been a blessing ever since.  We love you Ashton!

We do friend party's about every 4 years and it was time for Ashton to have one this year. He chose Harry Potter for his theme and I was really excited because there are so many ideas out there. He hasn't stopped talking about it for months. We invited the neighborhood boys and were really lucky to find out that one of them has a Harry Potter Halloween party every year and offered to let us borrow some of their things.

When the boys arrived we first visited Olivander's wand shop and each boy recieved a wand, text books and a ticket to ride Hogwart's train.  We then went through the 9 3/4 platform to the downstairs where each boy was sorted into a Hogwart's house.  Ashton first got Slytherin, but then there was an extra Gryffindor at the end so I let him trade - it was his birthday afterall.  After the sorting we went outside for Defense Against the Dark Arts, where the boys learned to use their wands.

Once they had the wands down we moved on to Potions class.  This was a huge hit!  I found this really fun "potions" experiment with baking soda, vinegar, water and different colored baking soda.  So the potion first boiled up and turned blue, then with the rest of the ingredients turned green.  They really thought it was cool.

 After potions we played a "first years" version of capture the Snitch.  The boys flew around on their broomsticks looking for the gold ball.  Ashton happened to be the one to find it (with out cheating)!  We also had a bouncy house that Aaron's friend let us borrow so the boys finished the game with that.  It was super fun, but of course I didn't get any pictures cause that's my M.O.
 

To end the party everyone got to take a trip to Honeyduke's candy shop and fill up their treat bags with Bertie Bott's Every Flavor Beans, Lemon Drops, Licorice Wands, Chocolate Frogs, a cupcake and a mug of Butterbeer.  Ashton had an amazing day and was really happy and gracious.  We love that little man!

Reid Family Party

Ashton's the only September birthday on the Reid side of the family so he got the special day to himself.  Thanks everyone for coming and spoiling my big 7 year old!

Ashton's Soccer Game

Ashton is trying to catch up with his skills in soccer.  He's been really frustrated and recognizes that he's behind.  We really did him a dis-service keeping him out last year.  He's still super fast but he's really unsure of what to do with the ball.  He scored a goal at his game yesterday though and we're really proud of him for his determination to get better. 

Colten's Soccer Game

Colten is a tiger out on the field.  He never quits, he is so tenacious.  He scored 7 goals last game and the other team was getting so frustrated they started pulling on his jersey and knocking him down.  He didn't get mad he just jumped up and kept going after the ball!  It was fun to watch.

Happy Birthday Ash!

Ash only had a half day of school today  - on his birthday so his Gram picked him up and took him out to lunch.  Lucky duck...

 

We'll be celebrating his birthday over the next few days - so spoiled!

The Big Elk

Aaron has been obsessing  preparing to get an elk all year.  He bought a new bow in January and began taking Ashton to the local 3D shoots to zero it in.  He even built an archery range in the backyard which has gotten good use.  Come elk season he was ready.  We're really proud of all his hard work and accomplishing his goal - including training Randy's llamas to pack out his trophy!  ***Warning Picture of bloody Elk below***

The Big One!

 

Fireman's Water Works

Aaron has always wanted to do a fire-hydrant water fountain in our yard, he finally had the opportunity to purchase one and went to work.  I love how handy and tenacious he is!

Beach Babes!

 We spent the day at the beach with Papa, Gram and Hudster...papa burying Ashton.

 Torturing with ear tickles!

Breaking free.  We also rented a paddle board (the pics didn't work), I can't wait to buy one for myself!  Super fun workout.