The Lutz Family Fun Page

Bowling

2012-02-18T17:36:00.000-08:00

Out of the blue one day, I decided to take the kids bowling. What I hadn't realized was that Brett had taken the van. So I called him and told him we were going to walk to the Bowling Alley and he could meet us there with the van. It was kind of fun. The kids enjoyed the walk, and it was quite the fun time on Christmas Break.

Christmas

2012-02-16T10:12:00.000-08:00

Since Valentine's just occurred I figured it is about time I posted Christmas stuff. Christmas was wonderful. Family filled and full of blessings. We love spending time with everyone. It's amazing how fast this kids grow up. I love my family!! Merry Christmas everyone!!! =)

Tori's Orchestra and the sing along

2012-02-11T22:03:00.000-08:00

Tori's Orchestra Class performed at the schools Christmas Sing Along Program. She did really well!! She's the nice festive one in the pink striped sweater. I think I have a couple of talented kids. =)

The classes all learn Christmas Songs and they have fun sharing them.

This is Ssmantha's Class i promise. She was in the front. I tried to at least get the back of her head, but apparently she's a little shorter than the rest.

This is Tori's Class. I really can't understand what they are saying, but they are all enjoying it.

Spanish Christmas Carolls

2012-02-11T21:37:00.000-08:00

Duncan really didn't want me to go to this early morning Christmas Presentation. He had to be there for his grades, but I had to go anyway. =)

Jason's in Primary

2012-02-04T22:14:00.000-08:00

This is Jason's Buddy Arwen.

Jason has been in Nursery for a long time. He was supposed to go to Primary last year, but our Primary presidency and his teachers really didn't know how to handle him. I guess we didn't help much, but it's hard to try and push someone to help your kid when they REALLY don't want to.

Arwen is one of my favorite people. He LOVES my boy. It doesn't matter what is wrong or what extra care he needs. He wants to help me boy.

I can't tell you how wonderful it is to have someone reach out to him, without me having to explain every little thing that is wrong with him. Arwen, just loves me boy.

Primary so far has been wonderful this year. We have a new Primary Presidency and Jason has two AWESOME teachers. They WANT to help him the best they can. I've asked them to attempt to get him to stay quiet during the prayer. That's it....because it's a place to start. I'm going to be extra vigilant at home so having them reinforce it at church will be fabulous.

Again, I love it when people want to work with my sweet baby!

Magic Trick and Tutorial

2012-02-04T22:00:00.000-08:00

Duncan is obsessed with Tutorials on Youtube. I came across these and thought they were awesome!

Duncan's Christmas Orchestra Concert

2012-02-04T17:09:00.000-08:00

My boy thinks he's such a stud....because he is. =)

This is the girl he has/had a crush on. I'm not sure if he still does, but he did at the time. =)

Grandma Siddoway watched the other kids so that Duncan's concert wouldn't be interrupted by Jason. When we got home we noticed that Duncan finally is taller than Grandma.

Jason really likes the marble runs that Grandpa made. However, he had decided that he had to get every last marble out of the bag. It was kind of cute...in a very autistic sort of way.

My sweet baby in a Santa Hat. My crazy Sam behind him.

Good Job Duncan!!

No Electronics

2012-02-01T09:17:00.000-08:00

The boys decided it was a good idea to take one of the tractor tires out in the road and have a go at it. Duncan of course was the guinea pig.

Then the girls wanted a turn.

Yes those are garbage bags. The boys filled them up with air to try and create and air bag like safety devise. =)

Samantha was too little. She fell on the airbags. She's a tough chick though.

It was too dark to take video but I tried anyway. I wouldn't have posted this but the statement at the end is so Tori I had to do it.

Ice Cream with the Girls

2012-01-24T13:48:00.000-08:00

Because Tori was such an AWESOME babysitter for me while Duncan had his Wrestling Tournament I took them to get ice cream. I was only going to take Tori, but she insisted I bring Sam as well. I took them to Baskin Robbins. This is not the newest most expensive ice cream place. This is where my parents took us for ice cream. At least it was either Baskin Robbins or Arctic Circle where you sat on the saddles by the mirror. Gotta love sharing traditions and my time with my sweet girls!

Check out my handsome kid!

2012-01-24T09:46:00.000-08:00

This was from the Halloween Concert. I have too many electronic devises that take pictures. My Mother-in-Law says he looks just like a picture that she has of Grandpa Lutz when he was in the army. We'll have to get a copy of it. As a Mother however, I hope to never see my boy in a real one of these uniforms.

Wrestling

2012-01-24T08:52:00.000-08:00

Duncan had a wrestling tournament on December 10th. He did pretty good for it being his first one. There was a group that had to have registered all there kids as beginners, but they weren't...The one kid that was obviously a beginner Duncan won the match. Here they are!

He took 3rd place in his weight class. He was quite proud of himself.

Decorating the Christmas Tree

2012-01-19T16:02:00.000-08:00

The kids had fun decorating the tree again. Well the girls did. I had to make Duncan help. Jason was naked so the goal was to get good wholesome pictures. I did fail on quite a few, but here are the clean ones. =)

Asthma Sucks!!

2012-01-19T08:56:00.000-08:00

Jason had a pretty severe case of Asthma on December 8th. I called the doctor and asked them to call in a steroid for him, and of course they wanted to see him. Rude......

I brought him in and the Doctor walked into the room.....I took this video of him while waiting for her. She looked at the way he was breathing and then called in for the pulse-ox meter. He had a 91% saturation level. I had already given him one dose of Albuterol with the nebulizer before I got there, but she wanted a second one given. He opened up pretty good, but his numbers were still 91. She said, "Would he keep a monitor on?" Of course he won't! So she didn't send us to the hospital. She wanted to see him back in 3 hours. So I spent the day in and out of the doctors office. Then I borrowed a pulse-ox meter from my Awesome friend Angie. His levels never rose above 91%. I brought him in to the doctor the next morning and his numbers were 93%. He did start perking up. Eventually the Flo-vent kicked in and his Asthma has for the most part been under control. Winter air in Utah isn't very good......=(

My boy

2012-01-19T08:38:00.000-08:00

Jason has been such a Mama's Boy lately. It's cute and annoying all at the same time. I thought this was cute so I took a picture. He was under my feet as I was working. It made me giggle just a little bit.

Another Braille Prentation

2012-01-19T08:35:00.000-08:00

December 5th Tori got to do another Braille presentation. Since you have seen 4 of them already I just posted the pictures I took. Tori is a good little teacher and she enjoys being infront of the class.

With Samantha I had to go and help move her along, Tori kept things moving and made sure everyone had a turn.

Good Job Baby!!!

Blustery Day

2012-01-18T16:29:00.000-08:00

There was a crazy couple of days in Davis County. I believe it was the 1st of December....but I really can't remember. We wind was insane. Jason wouldn't sleep. It didn't matter that I gave him his sleeping meds. It didn't matter that 2 hours later I gave him some Melatonin. It didn't matter that two more hours later he was given Melatonin. It didn't matter that two more hours later I gave him some Melatonin. At about 5:30am we gave him 1/2 of a pill of his sleeping meds and the little bugger finally gave in. It was like he had restless body syndrome. He would lay down and his whole body would shake. The wind was crazy!!! I think they said it got up to 120 miles an hour in Centerville. There was quite a bit of damage around us. So many trees uprooted. It was nuts!!! It was really weird to see the National Gaurd driving around with huge amounts of wood on military vehicles.

We didn't have it too bad. Just a few torn up shingles. I told Brett I would get up on the roof and help him fix them, but he wouldn't have it. It was the closest I've ever seen him to having an anxiety attack.

Thanks Babe!!!

December 1st 2011

2012-01-13T09:11:00.000-08:00

My girls decided they wanted to make beds out of some boxes I had been holding on to. At first they wanted them to be bunk beds. I had to explain that the one in the bottom box really wouldn't like being squished. I'm not sure how well they slept, but they thought they were pretty neat.

Duncan didn't want to sleep downstairs alone so he slept on the couch. =)

Duncan and Dad

2012-01-12T09:20:00.000-08:00

On Thanksgiving Brett and John made plans to take the boys shooting. It was quite the day. All the boys enjoyed there time together. I love that my husband will do this kind of thing with his boy. Anytime spent he spends with Duncan is valuable time.

I made Brett bring the camera so Duncan had to take it over. He's such a goof ball!!!

Thanksgiving.....finally

2012-01-12T08:52:00.000-08:00

Thanksgiving as always was fun and family filled. We didn't leave the house until about 1:00pm. We headed up to Grandma Siddoway's for a "small" family gathering. The whole clan was not able to make it this year, but we were VERY grateful for those that were able to.

Grandma and my nieces had fun making some Oreo turkeys. The girls thought they were very cute. Jason just wanted to eat the candy corn off them. It was kind of entertaining to watch him try to grab the feathers off of as many turkeys as possible.

We were assigned to bring the rainbow jello again this year. Brett quite enjoys making this and I think it's fun to watch him do it. I have no patience for this type of thing. =)

Jason was very uninterested in Thanksgiving. He and Alaric understand each other. They just hung out on the couch with their electrical devises and ignored the crowd.

Duncan was being annoying for some reason. Probably just the fact that he's going to be a full fledged teenager soon. I told him that he was going to have to run to Grandma Child's house after dinner. He smiled and said "OK". I gave him permission and this was the picture I got of him as we drove past. I did make Brett go back and follow him. I made the jaunt to the Siddoway home from mine many....many times when I was young, but my Mom always made me take the back ways. Not the main road. The psycho paranoid part of me couldn't help but worry about him.

Uncle Jeff and Aunt Berrie were playing Rock Band when we got to Grandma Child's. Jason couldn't help but watch.

And of course I had to video tape it. He is such a cute kid. =) Tori is the one in the background "helping" Livie sing.

November 25th

2011-12-27T11:23:00.000-08:00

I chopped off my hair. This is something I do periodically when I'm really tired of wearing it in a bun. I donated 12 inches to Locks of Love. It's always entertaining to see the looks on the hair dressers face when you tell them to take it all off. I like it. I think it will be a good hairstyle for me until it grows....and grows....and than I decided to chop it off again.

Letters to Santa November 22

2011-12-27T11:15:00.000-08:00

This is a yearly tradition at our house. This was something that Brett's family did. I had never heard of this, but the kids think its a lot of fun. We write our letters to Santa and then read them out loud so everyone can hear them. Then we put them in the fireplace and light them on fire.

The ashes then go up the chimney, and up to the North Pole.

Once they get there they are reassembled in Santa's Chimney. That is how the letters get to Santa Claus from our house. =)

Nov 21st School Counselor

2011-12-26T20:47:00.000-08:00

The school counselor called us to remind us that we had an appointment with her and Duncan on the 21st. I just about had a heart attack, and then Duncan told me it was for SEOP's. Which is similar to SEP's only it's with a counselor instead of the teachers. We have had some problems with Duncan and his grades. Basically he does it and then doesn't turn it in. AAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How frustrating is that??????? So this appointment ended up being a bit of a tease fest with Duncan. Three adults picking on him. =)

It was actually really nice. I could tell that she had seen many 7th graders in this predicament. However it was also nice to have one more adult telling him it's not ok to do this. So hopefully we can get him out of his 7th grade transition soon!!!!

Showing his Autism

2011-12-26T20:37:00.000-08:00

This is my boy between my couch and my coffee table. There is a heater vent almost right where he is, but I think it was the tight space, because I'm not sure if the heater was on full-time yet.

Bath Time!

2011-12-26T20:34:00.001-08:00

Boy does this kid love the water!!!

November 14th

2011-12-26T16:13:00.000-08:00

Jason had a doctors appointment this day. I don't remember exactly why. He's been having a steady stream of appointments every 4 months or so. I think it was just a routine check up.

The girls also had SEPS. Tori went first.and her teacher loves her. She had nothing but good things to say about her. Her teacher really tries to prep them for Jr. High so she has them figure out their GPA. Tori made the Honor Roll for her class. The main thing I remember is that her teacher said she has a very good imagination and she is very good as telling stories.

Samantha was next. Her teacher loves her as well, and really likes having her in her class. They are making a book of their year so Samantha hasn't brought home very many things yet, so they showed us her book as has been completed so far. Samantha struggles with slowing down and doing things right. She wants to rush through and be the first done. She is really helping her to remember this and her work is looking great.

My Mother's 60th girls day out Nov 12th

2011-12-26T15:50:00.001-08:00

I can't believe that my Mom is 60!!!

We (Leslie) decided we needed to do something for her birthday so we went to get our toes done.

Ok, well that was only one of the things we did. That's the only thing I took a picture of though.

All the girls, older girls, went to get a pedicure. Then we went to lunch. Then we went shopping.

It was a lot of fun, just sitting and relaxing. My legs had been hurting from the gym so it was LOVELY to have someone rub my calves. It was also nice to just sit and chat and giggle a little bit. Especially when Berrie was struggling not to take her feet out of the ladies hands. She a bit ticklish.

We went to lunch......at......um.....I can't remember the restaurants name. I know fairly pathetic. But again, we enjoyed visiting and talking about kids, and friends, and Dad. It was fun to have a girls night out, and have my Mother actually feel comfortable talking. She can be a bit quiet when there are more people around that aren't family.

Than we went shopping for some clothes for Mom. Not my favorite thing shopping. I did get some cute flats while we were there. Traci is the family fashionesta so I basically followed her around and pointed out the ugliest things on the rack. It was pretty entertaining. Mom was uncomfortable, but enjoying being the center of attention.

My Dad called about 4:00pm trying to figure out where we were. He can't be without my Mother for longer than 3 hours, at least if he's not at work.

Poor Brett was without my help for about 8 hours. It was a lovely break for me.

Good Quote

2011-12-26T12:36:00.001-08:00

I found this quote online. I don't know if it's a true quote from Churchill, but either way I like it!

Jason and Greg

2011-12-26T12:34:00.001-08:00

Greg has been working with Jason a little bit alone, so he can see if he will focus better without me in the room. Greg got an ipad after working with Jason a little bit, so this was him and Jason working with the ipad.

Silly Singing Time Stuff

2011-12-26T12:11:00.001-08:00

Brett and I were recently called to be in the Primary. Brett is a Primary teacher and I get to do Singing Time for the Senior Primary. I'm so excited!!! This is the one and only craft I've done for singing time. However I thought he was pretty cute. Notice to look on the turkey's face. After you pluck all his feathers he is covering his behind. =)

Jason and Daddy

2011-12-26T12:06:00.000-08:00

How cute is that!! Brett was coating the walls so maybe we could paint. What happens? My sweet baby wants to join in. Only for a minute, but long enough for me to take a picture.

Jason and Cocoa

2011-12-26T12:00:00.000-08:00

There are definitely times that I am tired of this puppy. However, this is one of the times I love her. Look at how well she is paying attention to him. She is really in tune to Jason and his needs. I love this dog!!!

November 5th and 6th

2011-12-20T09:27:00.000-08:00

Duncan had a camp out this weekend. It had been fairly warm, but the weather man said to expect snow. I don't think Duncan would have wanted to go but they were going to be shooting the next day, and they wouldn't have been able to shoot if they didn't go on the camp out. The real draw was one of the Scout leaders was going to be bringing he AK-47. A must do so he went to the camp out.

The fun was the struggle I had getting Duncan to pack correctly. Seriously!!! First he left his coat in his locker. Coats are uncool in Jr. High. I told him to get his butt inside and get his coat. He fought me. "They close the halls to students now, they won't let me get it." I told him if I had to lead him by the hand inside to get his coat I would do it. So he finally went inside and was able to get his coat.

When we got home he fought me about how many blankets he needed, whether he need long johns, whether gloves and a hat would be necessary. If it would be more beneficial to back the water proof pading over the old egg shell. It was RIDICULOUS!!!!

By the time he was in the car I was advising the leaders that it would be ok to leave him up there. (Joking of course.)

The next morning Brett went to help with Bountiful Baskets and the troop was home eating breakfast at the scout leaders house. They got a foot of snow dumped on them. One of the other boys told Duncan to knock the snow off the tent. So Duncan smacked the side of the tent right where a tent pole was and he broke the pole, collapsing the tent. So instead of trying to eat breakfast in that insanity they packed up and came home.

They ran up to the shooting range and Duncan was ecstatic!!! It didn't matter how much snow dumped on him, he was going shooting. I guess an AK-47 is worth any amount of misery.

Wrestling

2011-12-19T08:17:00.000-08:00

Duncan started wrestling. He wants to wrestle this year in Jr. High so we thought it would be a good idea for him to start on a club. The wrestling coach of the Jr. High is also in charge of the club.

I really do think he could do well in this sport, as long as he can keep his grades up.

Piano Lessons

2011-12-18T21:34:00.000-08:00

Tori is getting better and better with each piano lesson.

Samantha has a tendency to not practice so she struggles with the new stuff.

However Mom's concern is that Samantha will bypass Tori. So no practice right now is good for everyone. =)

Halloween

2011-12-18T21:05:00.000-08:00

Halloween would not be complete without carving pumpkins.

My sweet girls loved every minute of this.

This was Samantha's first time cleaning out the pumpkin. She did think it was pretty gross.

Alaric with Jason. Love this kid!! I'm going to miss him when he goes to college and his mission.

Samantha picking up her hot dog from Grandpa Siddoway at their wards Trunk or Treat.

Jason saw the play ground and that was all she wrote.

Duncan was just going to be a soldier but his friend took him to get his face painted so he was a zombie soldier. His buddy Curtis was a Man in Black. And yes....they thought they were being so funny!!!

Jason really didn't want his picture taken.

Samantha is my fabulous Ghost Buster. Her Daddy threw her costume together and I think it turned out pretty good.

Tori just wanted to be a zombie. The first time I had Duncan put the green paint on her face while driving to Traci's house, it was a little scary, and not in a good way. Everyone thought she was the incredible hulk. So this time I think it turned out much better.

Again....Jason not wanting his picture taken. Alaric was trying to help me out and not be in the picture.

There's my scary ghost and my scary zombie.

This is my really scary crew. And yes...we claim Curtis as well.

Trick or Treating at Bob's across the street. Bob's favorite holiday to decorate for is Halloween. He always goes all out.

Brett's Pumpkin turned out pretty cute.

The Jack-o-Lanterns on the porch.

Tori with her Bat pumpkin.

Samantha with her Jack-o-Lantern. They were both so proud!!!

Bad Mom and Dad

2011-12-18T20:45:00.000-08:00

Jason loves my parents swing. He also loves to spin. So Brett and I took it upon ourselves to see if Jason really gets dizzy. Ok, really we just thought he was having a good time. Which he was.

Than he got out of the swing and he threw up all over my parents driveway. Guess what.....Jason gets dizzy.

October 26th

2011-12-17T15:48:00.000-08:00

On the 26th, I decided to take Jason Bowling before we went to therapy. He enjoyed it a lot. Of course no one else was bowling so he got to continue to do so, but it was a really good game for him.

Then we had O.T. He did really well this day. He was so cooperative that Julia just kept doing different things.

After O.T. he had Speech. Let me tell you it was a long day. However, Greg said to take him bowling before EVERY therapy session!!!

Duncan's Halloween Concert

2011-12-16T12:46:00.000-08:00

I just went to Duncan's Christmas Orchestra Concert and I'm posting his Halloween concert.....sad isn't it. Some day I will get caught up......=P

October 24th

2011-12-15T11:07:00.000-08:00

I feel guilty. Most of my pictures are of Jason. However, I really do spend most of my time with Jason.

Anyway, this is how we spend a lot of our time, in bed. Jumping on the bed. Under covers. I thought this was kind of a cute set of pictures, so I decided to post them. =)

October 23rd

2011-12-14T10:56:00.000-08:00

The 23rd was a Sunday. We always visit the in-laws and my parents. This day was fun because Duncan and Tori had finished reading Grandpa Siddoway's book The Hut in the Tree in the Woods. This is a book about Grandpa's adventures with Cousin Bill. So the kids were asking questions about what happened "really". They also wanted to hear Grandpa tell some of their favorite parts of the book. I loved every minute of this exchange!!

October 22nd

2011-12-13T23:33:00.001-08:00

Duncan had a soccer game out by my sisters house on the 22nd of October. They had the most entertaining playground I've ever seen!!! Jason didn't even want to leave the park, there was just something about it.

He made it all the way over this "ladder"?
Samantha was very proud of herself on the climbing wall. Of course once she got up she wasn't sure about how to get down.
Tori thought it was more fun to go over the rings than through them.
This slide was weird! The idea was to put your bum in the groove, wrap your legs around it and hold on. Tori was a little nervous at first.
Samantha didn't have a very easy time because she was in a skirt.
Jason however went over and over and over and over and over..........need I say more?
I love this picture. My girl sitting on top and my baby sitting in the middle like a monkey. Well that is one of his nick names.
He would have stayed all night!!!
However I wanted to go watch the soccer game so I took his hand and said, lets go watch Duncan. Jason let go and shook his head no. HUGE!!!!!! So I said to him, "Because you shook your head no you can stay as long as you want to." After a few minutes I showed him the iPad and asked if he wanted to go watch the soccer game. He took my hand and we went over. I couldn't believe it. (of course it hasn't happened since, but whatever.)

Duncan's team got spanked!! We were facing the sun, and honestly there wasn't much to take pictures of.

However I did get to sit on the bench with Jason and Brett so I got a lovely picture of Duncan and his penny.

Afterward we went to Traci's house to have dinner and watch the new Pirates of the Carribean movie that was out on DVD. It was fun, but I still get majorly stressed out when we go to her house. Jason is not an easy kid to control, and with the darn movie room, he goes crazy. He loves that stinking thing!!!!

Child Family Halloween Party

2011-12-12T08:33:00.000-08:00

This year for the Child Family Halloween Party we went to a pumpkin patch. The kids had a ball!! This is the naughty little bunch of kids.

Papa and Jason
My silly girl and her silly cousin. Watch out when these two are getting along.
These two think they are so big and tough. It's pretty funny!!!
Loved the sunset behind the tractor.
Picking out their pumpkins. Duncan choose his the minute he got off the hay ride.
Samantha was so excited she could hardly contain herself.
Tori was very meticulous about picking hers. She wanted it to be the biggest!!
Jason could have cared less about the pumpkin but enjoyed the hay ride, and running around the field.
The had fabulous slides. All the kids loved them. If the line wasn't so long I think they would have hit this slide all night.
Even Jason loved it. The flash didn't work so the picture sucks but I LOVE his smile.
I took Jason over to the smaller slide and showed him how to do it himself. Mitchell and Jason had a lot of fun together!!!
Last thing was the train ride. Tori is my sweet girl that always gets Jason.
Samantha tries really hard to be a big girl, but really enjoys things like this.

Duncan and Max went through the haunted house with Jeff and Papa. It scared the pants off them and it was a great experience for them all.

October 20th

2011-12-11T21:25:00.000-08:00

I had an O.T. appointment with Jason. He decided he was going to sit in the desk. So Julia used it to her advantage. He loves bubbles, but still can't really blow out. I think he could, I just don't think he understands the muscles to use yet. However, he LOVES bubbles!

And this is the reason he is mainly naked when we eat spaghetti. Cocoa just sits by him, knowing she can eat his left overs.

October 18th FHF Party

2011-12-11T21:02:00.000-08:00

I'm not 100% what day this was on. A couple of our friends passed level 6 fitness. They are both amazing and we had a little party for them. When it was time to clean up Brett being the manly man that he is, flipped a tire. I think it weighs 600 lbs....it might be 400 lbs but he would never forgive me if I underestimated that weight. I made him flip it for 3rd time so I could get video.

October 18th

2011-12-11T20:49:00.001-08:00

Duncan had to go to a music concert for orchestra. It didn't matter what kind, just that it got done. There was a choral concert at Woods Cross High, so Duncan and I went and had a good time. It was a little weird returning to the old school. It's been almost 20 years since I graduated....weird. It was fun seeing the old choir teacher up there, however I was a little bummed at how down hill the choir program was. I know...it's been almost 20 years. However, there were some songs that the Madrigals sang that I really thought Mr. H. would never have let slide by for a performance when I was an school. Oh well, enough of that. LOL!!!

October 14th

2011-12-11T20:39:00.000-08:00

When Duncan was 9 months old he got RSV. He required a nebulizer for over two months, so our insurance bought it for us. Since we are the only ones in my family with one, we get calls periodically to use it. My sister told me I should start charging for it.

My sweet niece had a pretty severe attack and I ran up to their house to drop it off, and hover like a crazy person. She was so sweet. After she had the albuterol treatment, she started coughing. Once coughing ensued the little thing puked. She was showing me and her dad how she puked. She makes me laugh!!!

October 13th

2011-12-11T20:32:00.000-08:00

I got to sub in Jason's class again. Can I tell you how much I love that! I get to see how he's doing, because in all honesty he doesn't really even pay attention to me.

Even though I knew this I was excited to find he really likes bowling. I guess every time they go to the gym, this is what he does. Love my boy!!!

October 11th Another False Alarm

2011-12-11T20:27:00.000-08:00

I'm not sure what is going on. Duncan is driving me nuts!! This was one of many times he has called me to pick him up from school because something was wrong with him. He claimed that he was seeing a spot in his vision and that he had tripped at school and it had become bigger. Me, being who I am, and having the girls with there problems checked him out and rushed him into the doctor. Guess what. NOTHING IS WRONG!!! He did need a knew prescription for his glasses, but no problems. Help!! Is being crazy and needy normal for 7th grade?

October 11th

2011-12-02T08:24:00.000-08:00

Samantha gave a braille presentation in her class. It's long, sorry! =)

Family Pictures

2011-11-25T20:59:00.002-08:00

Leslie got me the disk of all the family pictures she taken in the last little while. Here are the highlights!!!

October 8th

2011-11-25T20:29:00.000-08:00

The 8th was CRAZY!!! We were invited to the baptism of one of Samantha's friends. Brett and Duncan had a soccer game later that day so they stayed home to get some things ready. I'll tell you, Jason was on one!!! I finally gave up and took him to the nursery. This is what he did for about 15 minutes.

Brett and Duncan took the van to the soccer game so me and the other three walked down to the Stake activity. It was our Stakes 10th anniversary so they had a big blow up planned.

The kids had a lot of fun! I just kind of let the older kids run around and enjoy themselves. Brett and Duncan showed up not long after we did so they were able to enjoy Pulled Pork Sandwiches for dinner as well.

All in all a very fun Saturday.

October 7th

2011-11-25T19:32:00.000-08:00

I thought these were really cute. This dog can sure be a pill, but she is a sweet thing when she wants to be.

October 6th

2011-11-25T15:45:00.000-08:00

Jason was hating hanging down stairs for me. So one day I was complaining about it and Brett made me this wonderful work station upstairs. He really is a handy man to have around.

October 1st

2011-11-25T15:23:00.000-08:00

Duncan had a soccer game in Logan. It was General Conference weekend, and I had a ton of work to do. So Brett was able to borrow the in-Laws truck and Duncan and he had a Father/Son bonding trip. The boys lost miserably, so I'm glad we didn't make a whole family day out of it. I don't think the girls, and Jason, would have been a little peeved.

Random Pictures from Brett's Phone

2011-11-24T10:33:00.002-08:00

Brett has kept his pictures on his phone from the day he got them. So I finally downloaded them on the computer. I thought they would be fun to put here.

September 30th

2011-11-23T14:59:00.000-08:00

Tori called me frantically Friday afternoon. Her teacher does a friday afternoon activity. The parents sign up. And apparently I'd signed up for this one. Since I had not said anything she just new that I had nothing to do for it. I told her it would be fine and that I would be there.

I brought a bunch of embroidery thread and tought the kids how to make friendship bracelets. It was a hit for all the girls and even the boys.

Jason came with me and surprisingly he only tried to escape the room once.

September 29th

2011-11-23T14:40:00.000-08:00

Duncan had a soccer game on the 29th. I can't tell you if they won or lost. All I remember is that Duncan is actually starting to really enjoy playing the game. It's not just interaction with his team mates. I likes the game.

I was going to give the girls a break and followed Jason around to the park. He sat down to have a rest. I thought he was darn cute.

This situation broke my heart. That sweet little boy was trying to get Jason to play with him. He kept asking, "Do you want to play with me? Hey...hey kid....do you want to play with me?" Brought tears to my eyes as my sweet baby didn't even know he was talking to him.
Here's the soccer game pictures.

Tori came over to the playground and said, "what are you doing over here? " I told her I was going to give her a break, and my sweet girl said, "Mom, I've got it." Of course close to the end of the game she had to chase him down with his pants in hand, and bring him to me. =)
When she brought him to me she begged me for the camera. Ran over to the fence and came back with a bunch of shots of deer. What a brave girl, I think I would have had a heart attack.

September 28th Parent Teacher Conference

2011-11-23T11:58:00.000-08:00

We had our first Jr. High Parent Teacher Conference experience in September. We've been monitoring Duncan's grades all along so we were really not surprised with those.

Science-He has struggled with this. For no other reason than not turning in his homework. His teacher said that he has started opening up in class more.

CTE-This is similar to Home Ec. Again, no surprised that he was missing assignments. However his teacher thinks he's a good kid.

English-His teacher was not there the day we went. However he did have an F when we went. He again is struggling turning in assignments.

Pre-Algebra-This teacher really likes him. He struggles turning in assignments but what he did turn in, he was doing well with.

Gym-Strangely there is paper assignments in Gym. This is the only thing Duncan is struggling with. Everything else is good, he participates well.

Spanish-He had an F when we went in. However this teacher didn't care when he got his assignments turned in as long as he did. She enjoys him in her class.

Orchestra-This teacher RAVES about Duncan. She says he's a very talented musician and she loves having him in her class.

As you can see the over all problem for Duncan is turning in assignments. I'm hoping he will be able to figure this out!!!!

September 28th

2011-10-23T21:56:00.000-07:00

Jason had another eye appointment with Dr. Dries. The last one he had, he wouldn't let Dr. Dries even come near his eyes. So we came back to see if maybe things would work out.

I loved this! I can't tell you how many times we have walked past this display without Jason even noticing it. That day he paid attention!!
To see if we could get something out of the appointment I gave Jason a sedative to knock him out. However this still didn't work. He still fought the doctor. His suggestion was to make sure to check his eye sight every day by covering one eye and then the other and see if he starts fighting me. Than if he ever has anything that he is under anesthesia for to let him know and he'll run down and check his retinas. Hopefully someday he will stop fighting the doctor.

September 26th

2011-10-23T21:53:00.001-07:00

Nothing too exciting happened this day. I did take a picture of Jason walking to the car, because he has started actually walking to the car. He will run...skip....to the car. He will walk to his side, and wait for me to get there. This is a HUGE step for us. He used to just keep going....keep running....keep skipping. Now he has purpose!!!

September 24th

2011-10-23T21:29:00.000-07:00

September 24th was a busy day! Duncan...to put it bluntly....has been struggling with adjusting to 7th grade. He has come home with some less than perfect grades. For no other reason but that he's not turning in his homework. So for extra credit in Gym he decided he needed to run the school 5k. Since Brett had a goal to run a 5k this year, he decided he'd run it with him. Here is his blog post about the experience.

Than Brett took Duncan to Boot Camp with him. This is in his blog post.

Later that Afternoon, Duncan had a soccer game. Needless to say, Duncan was exhausted after this day was over. It's a good thing he has a good Dad who will do things with him. =)

My sweet and beautiful girls taking Jason to the playground.

Yes....he does play a lot of soccer right now.

When we got home from the game, I was late for the General Relief Society meeting. I decided to head down anyway and listen to what I could. It was definitely worth it! I love President Uchtdorf. He is such a great man. Here is the link to his talk.

First School Dance

2011-10-23T21:20:00.000-07:00

Not that I got any pictures. I REALLY would have loved to been a fly on the wall. Duncan had his first school dance. He was so excited he could barely stand it. He told me to come pick him up at 3:00pm. When I got there the dance was still going on. You cannot believe how tempted I was to sneak in and see if I could find him. I was so proud of myself.....I waited....and waited....and waited.....The kids started pouring out of the gym.....I waited.....and waited.....and waited.....still no Duncan. I wanted to go run around the school and find out how the dance went....but I waited.....and waited.....and waited.......soon my Mother instincts started going crazy and I started freaking out......about 3:30pm, I left the school and started for home without my son. I called home frantic hoping he might pick up the phone. The little bugger did!!!!

Needless to say, it took me a little while to calm down. It also took me a little while to find out that he danced with the girl he wanted to dance with, and since he was successful he decided to head for home. At least he felt the day was a success.....and I still have a son. =)

September 23rd

2011-10-23T21:00:00.001-07:00

My awesome Visiting Teachers met me at McDonald's for a drink on the 23rd. It was a friday and a much needed day out. I have forgotten the cabin fever you get when working from home. It's been so long since I've been in a McDonald's that I can't believe how fast Jason can cruise up and down the tubes.

September 21st

2011-10-23T20:33:00.000-07:00

I was able to sub in Jason 's class on the 21st of September. It was really fun, to see how much progress he is making. He actually will sit still through circle time! An amazing accomplishment I was never sure would happen.

He was a little funny about recess. I really likes the benches that surround the play ground.

Of course as always he was ready to leave. He was just thrilled to take my hand and run.....=)

Happy Birthday to my Baby

2011-10-20T15:00:00.000-07:00

I can't believe my baby is 4 years old.

The things Jason likes: Running, jumping, spinning, swinging, swimming, being naked, eating paint and paper, quesadilla's, apples, oranges, cookies, chips, Ipad, Ipods, Credits, puzzles.

He is my sweet baby. He hugs and kisses me all day.

Love you baby!!!!

The things we do for Jason

2011-10-20T13:57:00.000-07:00

Jason will not sleep in his room. My body has been aching!! Between the dumb dog and Jason Brett and I have not been sleeping......so I moved Jason's bed in my room. Brett isn't totally thrilled with it, but at least I can scoot over if the bed get way to crowded!!!

September 20th

2011-10-20T13:45:00.000-07:00

Duncan had been complaining a lot about his leg. We've even had some run in's with school because of it....don't ask......

First we had an appointment with Lisa to see what she thought about it. She looked at his leg, and poked and prodded. Where he hurt wasn't a normal place to hurt so she wanted to have his blood drawn.

When that didn't yield anything we had to have an x-ray taken.

That showed that he had a stress fracture.

So I set up an appointment with a sports med doctor to see what should be done.

Once again they took x-rays and this is what they found.

He has Osgood-Slaughters and has to be careful in his playing. When his leg hurts he has to sit it out. So far so good. He's only had a few issues. So all is well.

September 18th

2011-10-18T23:05:00.000-07:00

I love my sister!!! She has taken our family picture 3 times since July. Now the big question is, which ones to have her put onto canvas!!???!!??

September 17th

2011-09-22T17:17:00.001-07:00

We have never had an official Birthday Party for Jason. I know....I dropped the ball. I'm just not good at throwing parties. So unless the kids actually ask for one, I've avoided them like the plague. Since it's been such a good summer the pool was still open close to his birthday. We decided to have a swimming party at Grandma and Grandpa Siddoway's. Jason LOVES swimming, I thought even if he doesn't get it he will like swimming.

Alaric is Jason's buddy. When Alaric was told about the party he was so excited he'd be able to be there. Gotta love this kid!!
Jason loves candles. I'm not sure this is a good thing. =) Every time he hears the Happy Birthday song he comes running. I love the look on his face.
He took about 3 bites of cake and then wanted to go swimming.
The best part of presents was peeling the wrapping paper off. That made waiting for swimming bearable.

One of his aunts bought him stickers. As you can see....he loves them!
We finally convinced him to come swimming. Sticker peeling left his head after a little while.
Samantha loved having all her cousins in the pool.
My silly girls.
Duncan wanted to be a grown up but wanted to play with the kids as well. He couldn't make up his mind.
Alaric spun Jason around, and around. He thinks Alaric is pretty cool.
A good crowd came out to celebrate my sweet boy.

My kids always have to race. This time they did it with someone on their backs.
Duncan was showing off.
Right before the mass jump in.
Jason stripped naked in the pool, and ran up to jump on the trampoline. FREEDOM!!!
I love my silly boy!!!!
After the party Grandpa and Brett helped Duncan pin bugs for his bug collection. I couldn't stand it!! Those bugs in the box better stay at school!!!!
Right after bug pinning, Duncan had a soccer game. I love it when there is a play ground at the soccer field.

Duncan had an awesome game! I really think he might be picking up on the game. I just wish he'd show a little more passion, or be done. =)

September 16th

2011-09-22T17:06:00.000-07:00

Tori had her eye appointment with Dr. Bernstein on the 16th. I had to call 3 or 4 times just to get through to the doctors office. Once I got through they set me up with an appointment pretty quick.
As always Tori took everything in stride. The monkey even didn't eat breakfast just in case she had to have surgery that day. However, everything is fine. Dr. Bernstein said her retinas look good, and nothing to worry about. I asked him about the lattice degeneration that the other Doctor saw and he said, "I see what he was talking about but it's really not degeneration, more like scar tissue." So she's good for now.

"Dr. Lisa" called and let us know that Duncan's blood work came back fine. His blood cell count was fine, his arthritis numbers were normal. He did have some high numbers on one of the tests, I don't remember what it was, but basically you can have these numbers if you don't stretch out well before you run. So she wanted us to get x-ray's taken. We headed over to Lakeview and had another first for him. As a matter of fact Jason was the only kid we have had to have x-rayed before this one. Of course they sent us home to let us know that the X-ray doctor would contact our doctor.

September 14th

2011-09-22T14:13:00.000-07:00

Jason had a follow up appointment with "Dr. Lisa". I quick rundown of Jason showed that his allergy educed asthma had turned into Pneumonia. Well at least that was the consensus. He wouldn't let us leave the pulse-ox reader on his finger and the baby reader just doesn't quite work on his fat toes. So he was put on an antibiotic for 5 days and is doing much better.
I had discussed with Lisa at Relief Society some issues that Duncan is having with his legs and she wanted me to get an appointment for him. So this appointment really went from a follow up appointment for Jason to an appointment for Duncan.She checked him out. Felt for bumps looked for bruises. Looked at the way he stands. All ok, for the most part. So she sent us for blood work.
Yes....I'm an awesome Mom. I recorded his first blood draw experience.

September 13th

2011-09-22T14:09:00.000-07:00

Jason had a huge day for therapy. We saw O.T. Julia and Speech Therapist Greg. We talked about he's doing and what new goals we should work on.

O.T. we talked about finding things that will help Jason sit still and join us for dinner. Also, potty training. We'll see how that goes.

Speech we talked about trying new things. More sign language.

It was a long day and both Jason and I were exhausted.

September 7th

2011-09-22T13:54:00.000-07:00

I know it's out of order!!! Jason started Pre-school!!! He is at a new school. It just happens to be the one I went the whole time I was in Elementary School. So it's weird to be bringing my kid there, but familiar all at the same time.

September 12th

2011-09-22T13:50:00.000-07:00

The only thing of note that I remember is I finished my training. I was able to go home and set up my work and get started!!!

Saturday September 10th

2011-09-22T12:27:00.000-07:00

I woke up the morning and realized that the world was crazy!! Brett was at Bountiful Baskets, an every weekend kind of thing. He'd taken the van for obvious reasons. Duncan had been invited to go wake boarding with his buddy, and he advised me he needed a lunch. I jumped up and ran to the park to get the van and go get him a lunch. By the time I got home he had already left.

Samantha had been invited to two birthday parties. She was so excited she could hardly stand it. As soon as I got home she was telling me she needed to go get birthday presents. Since I wasn't 100% what time her parties were at I decided it was better to get them then to not. So we ran to the store and picked out some presents.

I thought the insanity was over when Tori advised us on the way out the door that she was seeing a weird spot. The way she described it really didn't sound like a "floater". She said when she moved her vision it stayed consistent in the same line of sight. Well not her words but that's how I took it.

I called the On-Call and advised him Dr. Bernstein was her doctor and she had Sticklers Syndrome. Two magic words and we were in to see the on-call at 1:00 pm.

We got there and of course had to wait to dilate her eyes.

Then she is the best patient and the world!! She is no trouble what so ever.The doctor said her retinas are flat and attached beautifully. He did however see some Lattice that is common in Sticklers patients. He said she was fine but needed to see Dr. Bernstein in the next couple of weeks.

Duncan then had a soccer game. Tori of course had to wear here awesome sunglasses!
The boys lost again. It was cold and windy, but they did have fun. Again we saw some good things happening.

Jason fell asleep! Something wasn't quite right with this picture.

Friday September 9th

2011-09-22T09:38:00.001-07:00

This day started out on the sad side. Our friends Funeral was that morning. We dropped Jason off at the In-Laws and Brett, Duncan and I went to the church. We stood in line for the viewing. We just happened to sit next to the Stake President. He's a sweet man, but he just also happened to be the the Sunday before when I was a boobing mess!! When we got into the Relief Society room Duncan hunted out his buddy who was in the corner with a few of his friends who were playing on their iPhone. Duncan stole his Dad's phone so he didn't feel left out.

We of course hugged my sweet friend and her sweet daughter and made our way back to the chapel. I was asked to conduct the music so I had to sit up front. I asked my family to join me up front. I learned quickly that there is no way to not cry so just let it go. Besides most people don't pay attention to the chorister anyway....=)

Side note: Duncan's friend Curtis asked his older brother why he wasn't crying. He responded "Because I'm too entertained by watching Duncan boobing.." Ya the poor kid must take after his Mother.

Later that evening Duncan had his first soccer game of the season. They were slaughtered. You could see the boys slowly deflating. There were definitely some good things happening though.
I don't have to yell at Duncan to keep running quite as often as I used to.
The girls and Jason played on the play ground for just about the whole game. Towards the end we say Tori trying to drag Jason around the field. Grandpa Siddoway jogged around to pick him up. Once he got moving he continued moving.
After the game it was time for Family Movie Night. Duncan decided he didn't have to visit his old school so all the boys stayed home. Brett dropped us off and the girls and I had a ball.

Waiting in line for some dinner. Hot Dogs and chips.
Gotta have popcorn and snow cones.
My sweet girl. Well at least she can be sweet sometimes....
Tori and her friend. I love seeing her interact with her friends.
This is quite the fun night. What could be better then watching a movie outside.We walked home in the light of the moon. Quite a fun evening.

Past Due Posting

2011-09-07T19:11:00.000-07:00

I can't believe September is so close to being over already. Seesh!!!! I started typing up this blog entry and it got put aside. So now I'm finishing it!

The 6th of September was a CRAZY day!!! I had an appointment to apply for SSI at 9:04am. It was really just feeling out the application in front of a Social Security worker. That was a shorter meeting than I anticipated, but it didn't free up my day any. I had to go to my training, which I anticipated being late for. After my training I had Jason's IEP. This was the longest IEP meeting I've had to date.

Jason's old teacher was there along with his new teacher. We went over his new goals and health plan. I think his new teacher is just that....a NEW teacher. She said she had worked in a school for kids with Autism before, but I think this is her first official post. She had originally started going to school to be an Occupational Therapist and changed her mind, to become a teacher. So that is something in her favor for working with Jason. I'm really excited to have Jason work with this Speech Therapist. She is very excited to use whatever means necessary to help him start communicating. She said she wants to use Sign Language, Speech, and PECS. Whatever will help him to communicate in anyway. She might be getting us a touch screen so he can use his teach town program at home more effectively. I'm hopeful for this year but am going to hold off on a complete judgment for a few months.

Duncan then had soccer practice. Since we are a one car family this day required us borrowing a vehicle. Thank goodness it was available!!! Brett and I dropped Jason and Samantha off at the In-Laws borrowed the truck, and then took Duncan to soccer practice and Tori went with him. She is starting Orchestra this year so she had her Orchestra Orientation that evening. So Brett got to bring Tori and Duncan over to the High School.

The reason that Brett had to do all that running around instead of splitting it up, was I got to sing in Relief Society that evening. I was supposed to put together a group but.....well there is an explanation on the video. I know I'm cheesy. I recorded myself singing. I figure most of the time this blog is about the kids so I've gotta throw me in there sometimes. By the time this day was over I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Labor Day

2011-09-07T18:48:00.000-07:00

Labor Day was a pretty mellow day. At least for me. Duncan went up to Gary's (Brett's cousin) and helped him with a sprinkler line and some sod. We left him there and went up to my parents house. My Mother wants a table for her birthday and so I thought it would be a good project for Brett to help with.

The kids just had fun hanging out. Gotta love playing in the sand.
My poor Dad lost all of his tomatoes that were in the house. I think Jason ate about 6 while they were in the garage.
Here is a shot of the legs. My Dad has never done this kind of work before. So, it was fun for both of them.
Gotta love my sweet boy. Even when he's covered in tomato juice!!!

Tori's Piano

2011-09-05T10:26:00.000-07:00

Tori is really picking up the piano. She is enjoying it immensely. She practices just about every day. She is so excited about the music that she wants to start Orchestra. I love her enthusiasm!!!

Sad Stuff, but a proud Mama

2011-09-05T09:40:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning was quite the shocker. Duncan had to go to BYC, so he was at church at 8:00 am. At about 8:10am we got a phone call from my sweet boy. One of our good friends had passed away that morning. He was diagnosed with cancer and we just found out about it sometime in July. It doesn't seem that long, but I know it has seemed like a lifetime and a blink of an eye at the same time for his sweet family. Duncan's buddy, who is also the Deacon's Quorum President, just happens to be the son of our sweet friends. I've worried for how Duncan would take the news.

When I got to church I immediately started looking for my boy. I thought for sure he'd been struggling to cope. When I finally found him he was sitting down where he was supposed to. He was the only Deacon there and he was doing his Priesthood duty. When I looked at him, he mouthed the words, "It'll be OK." Of course I was bawling all the way through sacrament meeting. =)

There was a baby blessing, and Duncan jumped up and had to go find the microphone. He is fairly new to the responsibilities of a Deacon so he wasn't prepared. However, he took everything in stride.

Of course since it was the first of the month it was Testimony meeting. Our ward has the Deacon's stand up front with a roaming microphone so that if anyone wants to bare their Testimony, but are unable to go to the pulpit they still are able to do so. He looked up a little frantic and ran up front to do his job. Not a look of frustration, he just knew that was his job.

I had to go home to compose myself after the meeting, so we took Jason home and I relaxed for a bit. When I ran back to church for Relief Society I walked past the stage door. There was my boy, standing behind the curtains. Mom instincts kicked in and I thought he might be struggling. So I walked up there and said, "What are you doing? Are you being a trouble maker??" The visiting High Councilman stepped out from behind another Curtain and said, "Oh no, he is being VERY helpful." He was getting the hymn books for Priesthood opening exercises. Once again, doing his job.

Relief Society just might have well been a cry fest. I'm not sure that there was a dry eye in the house. We all were feeling the ache and loss for this sweet family.

When we got out of class Duncan said, "Where's Dad?" I told him he was home with Jason. He said, "We have to go get him, I need him to be my partner for Fast Offerings." Again, not even close to shirking his duties.

The thing I am most proud of is the ache he feels for his friend. He doesn't know quite what to do. He loves his buddy, and wants to be able to make it better. Obviously this is not going to happen. He wants to make cookies. He wanted to stop at their house after doing fast offerings. He asked if he could call him. I told him it might not be pretty, but he could call him and show his support. He called and told his friend he was really sorry. Of course his friend really didn't want to talk. Duncan said he wasn't sure it was such a good idea to call, but I love him for his understanding. I love him for his love of his friend. I love him for his ability to be a responsible kid. What can I say.....I'm a pretty lucky Mom and I have a pretty good kid!!!!

Speech Therapy

2011-09-03T20:45:00.000-07:00

Well this video is just playing. But look how cute he is!!

Rabbit Fur

2011-09-01T14:55:00.000-07:00

I have a tendency to talk a little bit. So since I'm sitting next to people and keying for 4 hours most of the class knows that Jason has Autism. One of the lovely ladies told me at break time yesterday that she has a 21 year old cousin who has Autism. Her favorite calming toy is a rabbit fur. So I was, relaying this information to the person that sits next to me, and she advised me that she saw a rabbit pelt at Hobbie Lobby. She offered to pick one up for me. So today I came home from training with a rabbit pelt. Jason was unsure at first, but he loves the pelt. I tried to sneak it off his lap, just to see what happened and he grabbed it and put it back on his lap. Gotta love when people share information!!!!

Bag-O-Me

2011-08-31T06:59:00.000-07:00

Duncan had an assignment in Honors English. I was quite impressed with his writing so I thought I would post it here.

Bag-O-Me

Have you ever heard of a person with only three characteristics? I sure haven’t. Because everyone has hundreds of traits, choosing just three is near impossible. I love technology, my family, laughter, and much more. But I managed to decide on a rock, a joke, and a bar of soap to tell Duncan Lutz’s story.

Rocks aren’t only for skipping you know. The reason I put a rock in my bag is that a rock is steady and stands firm. When dealing with a challenge I am steady. Experience has shaped me like a rock is shaped by the wind and the water. This has helped me learn how to treat others. Having an autistic brother has helped me learn how to take care for small children. Taking karate for four years helped me learn how to take care of myself.

The Joke represents a good spirit. I can laugh at myself, and I’m not easily offended. I have lots of friends because I’m easily liked! The way I think about laughter is that its fuel. One laugh can light up a whole room. Being happy is a choice and I make that choice a lot.

The bar of soap represents cleanliness both in thought, speech, and action. Soap can clean the outside of your body, but to really be clean you have to make good choices. A dirty joke may be funny to you but it may not be to someone else, so if you tell dirty joke others might lose respect for you. If you make good choices, and are respectful of others you will have a good reputation. I am a good example of that.

I am steady and firm in my convictions. I like to laugh and make people happy. I try to make good choices. That is why a rock, a joke, and a bar of soap represent me.

Beans???

2011-08-30T18:18:00.000-07:00

My boy LOVES BEANS!!! You'd think this would be one of the things that he would despise! Whoever I think it's his favorite food.

I love this contemplative look. Of course I took the picture because he's covered in sauce.
I love his little hands. I have to reload his plate with beans to get him to stay at the table.
Of course if you are taking pictures of Jason eating you have to take one of Samantha. She told e she was looking through a camera.......it looks a little green and briney to me.
Corn......gotta love corn!

Training

2011-08-30T18:10:00.000-07:00

I am on the downward side of training. I have 8 days until I can work from home. It's been fairly frustrating, because I did this job for over 6 years. Enough has changed that I needed to get some info on the keying functions, but for the most part it's all about the same. Regence requires us to have 4 weeks of training though, so I have to go.

Hopefully the time will just fly by!!!

Speech Therapy

2011-08-26T07:46:00.000-07:00

Jason had speech on Tuesday. Still working on a lot, but he REALLY likes the marble maze.

Back to School

2011-08-25T21:59:00.000-07:00

I'm loving both Tori and Samantha's teachers. I am very hopeful for this year. First I visited Tori's class. Mrs. Daines is going to be sooooo good for Tori. She is teaching them positive affirmations, visualizing success, friendliness and unity. Keep your fingers crossed that these things will sink in. She also asked the kids to write their parents a love letter. When I read Tori's I thought it was just a little bit too poetic so I assumed the teacher and given them ideas or had them copy something. I picked up the card next to me to check it out and it was completely different. My Tori might grow up to be a Poet.

Here is a picture of her card. It says,

I Love you Mommy and Daddy. In troubled times you make me smile. If love was running I'd run many a mile. Thanks for raising me the way I am! School is great!! I have great friends. and a great teacher.

Love this girl!

Samantha's teacher is also very wonderful. I do think that Samantha will learn a lot from this teacher. They are already working on 9 times tables. She does this first so the kids won't be worn out before they get to the hard numbers, and then when they are bored with times tables they will only have the easy ones to memorize. On Monday Samantha wasn't so sure about her teacher. She told me she got yelled at because she was talking. To which we replied to get a long with her teacher she had to keep her lip zipped. She has done better, and she asked me to tell her something. "Mommy, will you tell Mrs. Simmons she is doing a good job with me?" This put a broad smile on the teachers face and a pretty good chuckle was had.

Love this girl, as well!

I'm Famous!!

2011-08-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

Tori said this as she walked in the door yesterday. One of her friends Mom's emailed me the day before and wanted to know if that was Tori on the pamphlet the kids brought home. Of course it is. So yesterday she came in with a big smile on her face. That really made her feel good!!!!

A bit spoiled sometimes

2011-08-22T22:27:00.000-07:00

This is a picture of Jason at my Mom's house on Sunday. He LOVES her bed. They have a sleep number bed that also moves and vibrates. This is a plus for Jason, but if he could be in my Mom's bed all day I think he would. I'm not sure if it's the weight of the blankets, the cool room???? Again, he likes the vibrating but that is kind of an after thought for my Mom.

The spoiled part is obvious to me, because none of the grand kids get to lay in my parents bed. Dad says it just cost too much money. However, my Jason is obviously being spoiled just a little bit.

Random

2011-08-22T15:19:00.001-07:00

My wallpaper on my desktop is set to rotate through the pictures I have on my computer. I minimized a wall and this was up. I think Tori took the picture. I'm not sure which one of them came up with whats on the paper, but it made me giggle!!! It says, "I'm a SAMwich." TEE HEEE!!!!!!!

Back to School

2011-08-22T07:47:00.000-07:00

Duncan was so ready to go to school this morning. He was so excited he could hardly stand it! As you can see, Curtis is not so ready. Tee Hee!!

The girls were up not long after Duncan left. Samantha was ready to walk out the door when I was dropping the boys off at school. Samantha couldn't wait to go hang out at her classroom. Tori, thankfully, ran into a friend who was so excited to see her the minute we walked up.

Who does he most look like?????

2011-08-20T20:41:00.000-07:00

This is a question that has always confused me. It depends on who you ask.

Most would say he looks like Brett. After all he is Duncan's Dad. However if people don't know my husband they say he looks like my Dad.

Sometimes, I would even say he has a strong resemblance to my brother. (well, lets not go there!)

I guess I won't be satisfied until he grows up. And even then I'm sure it will depend on who you knew the best. I guess my boy is just a good mix of Lutz and Child genetics!!! Well, that's what I think anyway.......=P

Court of Honor

2011-08-19T18:46:00.000-07:00

Duncan had a Court of Honor last night. He got all of his awards that he earned at summer camp. He got the cooking merit badge, the motorboating merit badge, pioneering merit badge, and his canoeing merit badge. He's working hard, but struggling with his new found schedule. He really does just want to stay at home, as is seen by the fact that he was supposed to be camping tonight. Hopefully Jr. High won't kill him. =)

Mormon Channel and Back to School Night

2011-08-17T20:31:00.000-07:00

Duncan had an awesome opportunity to be on a radio broadcast for the Mormon Channel. He was so excited he couldn't stop talking about it for three days. I got an email from the casting guy letting him know when to be there. I was checking all day, and the one time he

checked my email it was there. When I came downstairs to check again, I had an "out of office reply." I asked Duncan if he had sent a reply and of course he had. Here it is.

Hi Ben!

Thanks for the information I only have one question, what should I wear? I’m guessing what I would wear to church, but I’m not sure contact me.

But with the ‘going casually’ part I listened to some of the episodes to see what to expect well thanks bye!

Sincerely Duncan Lutz

This seriously made me giggle so I had to post it here.

Grandpa Siddoway took him out there, and was able to spend the time with him. Dick said he was so excited, he could hardly sit still. They said a prayer before they started and the lady prayed that they would be able to touch young people all over the world. Duncan said that made him nervous and he got really tense there.

Dick said he was quite impressed on the grasp the four young people had on Repentance and the Atonement. Duncan struggled with nerves for a little while but was able to pull himself around to being normal. I asked him if it was just a fun experience, or if it was both fun and spiritual. He looked confused. I guess he hasn't learned that a spiritual experience can also be fun...=)

Duncan said it was an awesome experience, and he would do it again in a heart beat. He said he will email the casting guy to let him know that if they ever need him again, he will be there.

They said that it will be aired in a couple of months. I'll post the link to the podcast here when it finally airs.

Look how studly he thinks he is!

This was the crew that did the show. They had one more kid that they called on the phone from idaho. He was for sure the youngest of the group.
After dinner it was time for Back to School Night. Duncan got to meet all his teachers, and we were able to pick up the supply lists and what not.

The most important thing was remembering his locker com and being able to open it.
He will have a lot of homework. He is in Honor's English and Honor's Science. He has a bug collection due on the 23rd, so he will need to kick it into high gear. Hopefully he will want to do his homework and I won't have to sit with him the whole time he's doing it. =)

Speech Therapy

2011-08-17T14:51:00.001-07:00

I had to get Jason to speech therapy by 8:00am. This morning was somewhat unsuccessful so I got there about 8:15am. Gotta love my ability to get moving in the morning. Last week the speech therapist talked about finding something that Jason could see the sound waves. See that something happens when we speak. He will sometimes move his lips similar to what Greg and I are doing, but no sound comes out. I discussed this with my brother Jeff, a few weeks ago. He suggested an oscillator. This wasn't exactly what I needed, but it led me to this! http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/led-audio-spectrum/id396083500?mt=8

When I got to speech and Jason was inside of the barrel, I pulled it out to show the speech therapist. He was so excited, he told me he would probably have an iPad by next week. Greg would say "AAAAAAA" and point to the iPad. After that if Jason would make some kind of noise that remotely resembled the sound and was looking at the iPad, Greg and I clapped and cheered. I think the visual clues will be a benefit for Jason.

Jason was getting frustrated by the fact that we wouldn't let him have the iPad so I had to put it away for the very end of the appointment. Jason is really responding to "Ready, Set, GO!" It was fun to see him actually PLAYING with cars!!!

Today's Stuff

2011-08-16T19:36:00.000-07:00

This morning I had training again. I'm not sure who is going to have a tougher time with my training. Jason or my In-Laws. He can be such a handful! It doesn't help of course that they have the other three kids. The girls just seem to fight more then usual. I think it will be good for them to go to school.

Then we ran over to Duncan's Jr. High. We needed to see about pictures, and his schedule. Tomorrow is back to school night, but we had to try his locker and find his classes anyway.

He's more excited about his locker than anything!!!
Than it was time for the gym and soccer practice. I'm really sore. It's been over two weeks since I went to the gym last, and my legs and back hurt. Next will be my arms......

I went back to pick up Brett and Duncan from soccer practice. They still had about half an hour. Jason decided it was time to play on the play ground.
I love my boy!!
He has decided this is a pretty cool part of the play ground.
He finally got the "hang" of hanging. I still have to push him back and forth, but he is for the most part staying on the bar.
He figured out how to climb up the twisty slide. Of course he might not have thought of this, except Samantha showed him that it was possible.
So I had to chase him up to save him. Than I followed him down the slide. He thought this was a fabulous game. Every time I followed him down the slide, he would giggle. The last time I went down after him, he watched for me and waited for me to follow him.
He started up again, and I wanted to get a picture of him compared to the slide. At this point I noticed that there was nobody on the soccer field.
I had noticed Tori coming over to the play ground a little while before and then she was walking away. I thought she probably decided she didn't want to play with us. However she was supposed to come and find us to tell us that it was time to go home. I don't think she made it even half way across the field. I started laughing and grabbed Jason and got him moving toward the road. Brett called his phone, (which I had with me) to find out where on earth we were. I giggled and advised him we were still at the school. So just be aware of your surrounding when you are going down the slide with your 3 year old.

15 Years

2011-08-15T18:44:00.000-07:00

I can't believe how quickly time has gone by. It seems like yesterday I was kicking my husband out of the car. Ok.....well....I guess I'll have to tell this story.

In February we had gone to New York to visit Brett's Brother and Sister-in-Law. On the ride home I asked Brett, "What would you say if I told you I loved you?" Of course since we have been married for quite a while now you would know what his answer was.

Then one night Brett and I were kissing in the car. I advised him he was going to drive me crazy, to which he replied, "Or you could marry me." I believe I said, "Ya.....I guess I could do that." Then I said, "Get out of my car, this is really weird." Yes. I was quite mature enough for the Proposal of marriage.

The next day Brett picked me up and we went shopping for my ring. We sat in his parents family room waiting for them to get home. Hiding my hand the whole time. Then his folks walked in the door, and Brett flashed my hand at his mother. She looked at it and said, "You're supposed to warn me about these things." She had to turn around and compose herself but was quick to recover. She was very happy for us.

We then went down to my folks and I advised Brett to stay upstairs. I was unsure of how my Mother would react. When I got down there I showed her my ring, she looked very concerned. She said, "You know you don't have to get married just because your brother did." This is of course the kind of response I expected from my Mom. She just doesn't take these kinds of things very well. I of course let her know that I wasn't basing my whole eternity on the fact that my brother was just married a few months before.

As you can tell, we are doing pretty good. We have our speed bumps, and glitches like everyone else, but 15 years and we are still going strong.

Love you babe, with all my heart.

New Job

2011-08-15T15:57:00.000-07:00

I started a new job today. I'll be keying in-home for ACS. This is a job that I have had in the past and am looking forward to being able to work at home again. Jason is getting harder and harder to deal with. My in-laws are wanting to be Grandparents instead of babysitters, (which I totally understand!!!) So I'm working from home again. I'm contemplating working full-time. I'm not sure if they will have any openings there anytime soon, so I will have a chance to see how Part-time goes before I up my hours. However the extra Dental Insurance would be really good!!! I have a feeling with all the grinding of his teeth that Jason does he is going to kill us in Dental bills. Today worked out well. I got to see my old boss and friend, and then training was just reading and doing the HIPAA training. Tomorrow will be more reading and practicing HCFA claims. It should be good. Hopefully the kids don't mind too much. =)

This Weekend

2011-08-15T15:47:00.000-07:00

This weekend was trying to get back into the real world. We were all exhausted on Friday, and then ended up going swimming at the in-laws. Saturday was a Family party. The Siddoway Clan got together and we got to see cousin's and Aunt's and Uncle's that we don't see that often. It was fun reconnecting with everyone. Sunday was just your normal day, and we went to visit family. It was nice to have Brett home for a week or so. Sigh.....he's back there today.....

Bear Lake 2011

2011-08-13T11:39:00.000-07:00

We just got back from Bear Lake. We have so much fun when we go up there. Life slows down, stress lifts, and we all just have a good time.

I had three different "camera's" there. I didn't charge my cameras before I came and I ran out of memory. So the pictures are kind of out of order. =)

Samantha LOVES Wake Surfing!!!! It is one of the many things she looks forward to at the "Farm". Uncle Chad is AWESOME!

The reason I took this picture is because at the time Jason was on the porch. He looked up, saw all the kids on the play dome thingy, and ran over and got under neath. The fact that he wanted to be around his cousins made me soooooo happy!
My girls loving the fire! Chad gets to light a fire almost every night. The kids would sit by it all the time!

I love Mitch. He doesn't give up on Jason. Even if he doesn't understand the impact he makes, he is doing so much good making Jason accept him in his little world.
Ya, I'm a nerd. I had to take a picture of how tired we were after day one.
Baby Beth got out of the cabin and started heading toward the road. So my sweet Duncan decided to grab her and watch her, without being asked! What a sweet heart!
We went to lunch a La Beaus one day. Curtis lost his drink to Jason. He didn't complain. He just gave it to him, and helped feed him for me.
My parents and the Lowrance's have bought some land at the "reserve". There is a playground and a swimming pool. We wanted to take advantage of it so we went up there and had some fun. The kids enjoyed the pool, and the parents enjoyed not having to tell the kids they were too far out in the lake.
Samantha loves to tease everyone. Grandpa didn't take to it quite as calmly as some. =)
Jason loved the hot tub. His favorite thing was to walk back and forth between the pool and hot tub. Lots of sensory input.
Samantha is such a ham!
Duncan was a little tired by this time.
Tori's mask! Mom always has crafts and this was one of them.
The last day we went up to Bloomington Lake. The kids enjoy this hike, and swim. Except for the fact that there is still snow surrounding the lake......=)
I didn't have to worry about Jason too much. It was even too cold for him.
On the way home Duncan made us stop at the border. He said he wanted to be in two places at once.
Jason even played!!!
Gotta love the go carts.
I couldn't get a good picture. They were just moving too fast.
Brett had to take Aurora on the 4 wheeler. It was just too much fun!!
Tori was in the water almost the whole time!
Kayaking. Lots of fun.
Always gotta enjoy jumping out of the boat.
Duncan was always in the water. Anytime they'd let him.

Jason got really cold! He was shivering. Thank goodness there was a heater on the boat. The tube pulls out and we put it under the towels. He sighed as soon as the warm air hit him.
I love my boys!

More Tori in the water. I don't think I ever noticed her on the beach unless it was lunch time.
My helpful girl. She is such a tough little thing.
the kids spent hours under the trampoline. Even Jason went under it for a while.
Tubing!! Chad just loves throwing you off!

He did finally get Duncan off. He enjoyed every minute.
However, we should have had these three go first. After the wild ride they didn't want to go fast at all. These are actually in order. You can tell when Chad tried to speed up by the looks on there faces.

The boys had a goal to get Traci in the water. She was a river guide so trying to tip the kayak was very unsuccessful.
Tori in the water, still.
My sweet Jason!
Samantha is my crazy one. She is my sweet, energetic, kid.
Jason loved the trampoline. He could have been on it all day.
Samantha in the kayak.
I love when I catch a smile.
Tori loves the lake.
Many, many water fights this year. The kids are really growing up.

Don't try and get uncle John wet. He lets you know that was a bad idea.
I had to make sure Traci got in the water. I went down too, but at least she got drenched.
Jason loved the tube! He is my wild child.
Tori tried to wake surf. She did get up. There is some video at the end here.
Brett was successful. I love his smile.
Duncan thinks he's quite the stud. Which of course he is.
I was not as successful as the rest. I tried. I'll get there!!!!
Brett's true success.
Duncan jumped off a cliff. Yes he is there.
Here is the zoom in. Uncle Jon really knows how to show a boy h0w to play.
Tori was really freaked out by the rope swing. She cried but really wanted to go. I knew she would be kicking herself in the car ride down so we finally talked her into it. Grandpa has a calming effect on her.
I even went. It was kind of fun.
BUT COLD!!!!

Here are the videos of the trip. Lots and lots. Hope you enjoy!!!