Josh Graduates Grade 7

 

Wednesday was a big day for Josh.

He is no longer in Elementary school as he graduated grade 7.

 

Josh has been waiting for this day for it seems like forever.

He saw what Ben was doing in the high school and classes he was taking and Josh wanted to rush into the too.

 

He will miss some of his friends he has now as he is going to a different school than most of them.

He is glad there is facebook and who says they still can't come and sleep over.

He Loved his teacher and she gave him the "Most Competitive" Award because he always wanted to be first.

 

The School did a really cool slide show about the kids and in it was a section where they showed baby pictures and then a picture they took of the kids this year. 

I think he is such a cutie in both!

 

Afterwards we gave him a Candy Bouquet because we knew it was something he would love and it celebrated his differences as well. 

His class was excited too as he shared some with them.

 

Congratulations to the Harwin Grade 7 Class of 2011/2012!

You all were a great class. 

Hidden Treasure

Yesterday I spent most of the day working on getting my garden up and running and weeding the flower beds.

As I was going through the grass and weed infested garden we found our long lost strawberry plants.

I was sure they were dead or snuffed out by the weeds, but nope.

These strong little plants grew up in spite of all the other over crowding plants.

Not only did they grow but low and behold they are producing fruit! 

Claudia is soo excited as they were her part of the garden.

There was even one that was ripe.

Well of course I grabbed the camera and here are a couple of pictures of our hidden treasures,

including one that was already ripe enough to eat.

The Trampoline

So I splurged a month or so ago and bought the kids a new trampoline.

We have been having sooo much fun on it.

Their friends even just show up and start jumping while they wait for the kids to come out of the house.

There has been some fighting and definite rule breaking.

But when you get past all of that we have mostly had a lot of fun.

Last night we spent a lot of time on it playing different games and just laughing.

I must tell you Ben is one tough egg to crack... must get it from me ;)

We had our family scripture and prayer out on it as well and the kids loved it.

It has been a real blessing for the most part, I don't think that way when a Kid is crying because of a crash.

So I wanted to share with you a little of what we did last night.

The kids sat me down on the edge and showed me all the different partner things they had been working on.

It was so great to see what they could accomplish working together.

Well Cloe wanted to be able to be bounced up to a standing position since we first brought it home.

So with practice everyday Cloe and Ben have mastered the trick and here is the 6 sec video of proof I took with my dying cell phone.

Enjoy :)

What is a favorite activity you do with your family?

Talent Show 2012

I love the year end talent show that the kids elementary school puts on every year.

I think the kids are very brave to get up there and perform for everyone risking everything.
There were so many great acts and some really cute ones as well.
So fun to watch.

Well Sam and Matt took last year off, but they did go back on this year.

It is a lot of hard work at home for them to get ready for this.

Now Sam doesn't leave things to chance and he creates a script to be used.

I love his sense of control needed but I also love that he is getting use to the idea of improvising when things get off track a little too.

The show started a little slow this year as there was a little misunderstanding and we didn't have a mic stand at rehersal so a few glitches there, but the show must go on and the boys did a great job.

So here is the video of the show, you will need to turn the volume up all the way to try and hear most of it.

I would like to Thank Josh for taking the video for me.

For those interested I will post the script after the video and please every comment on it as the boys LOVE to hear what you thought of the show.

Stage Curtain Opens to Sam and Matt looking for another cup so they can both have a drink of milk

Mrs. A: Sam, Matt uhm it’s time to start your act.

Sam: Sorry but we were feeling really nervous since it has been 2 years and we just really need a drink of milk to calm our stomachs down please.

Mrs. A: Ok but please make it quick as we need to get on with the show.

Matt: Sam I still can’t find my cup. How am I going to have my drink?

Sam: We will make a quick paper cup and you can use that… I will just pour the milk carefully so it doesn’t leak.

Matt: ok that sounds like a great plan.

They roll up a piece of paper and Sam pours some milk in it and then into his cup. Sam takes a drink of his milk while Matt stares at his paper cup.

Sam: Matt, quickly drink your milk so we can do our magic act.

Matt: I can’t Sam.

Sam:  Why?

Matt: Because it has disappeared…. The milk is gone.

Sam takes the paper and tips it upside down then unrolls it to show the audience. Then while he crumples up the paper says

Sam: I am sorry Matt, I guess you will have to take a drink of milk after the show. Next time we won’t use magic paper. *Pause then talks to audience* Good afternoon everybody. How are you all doing today. *lets audience yell answers* Good. Well sorry for the delay in starting, today I have decided to make some money. Next year my family is going to Disney World and I do not have any US money so I figured it would be a great trick to make some.

Matt: Sam… I thought we were going to do the other trick because last time you tried this trick your bag started on fire and we don’t want to set the school on fire.

Sam: It’s fine Matt… I can handle this…. *looks at Mrs. A* You do have a fire extinguisher handy though right…. Oh never mind.. we won’t need it. Matthew could you please pick up my bag and hold it for me, I am going to create boxes of money.

Matt: Sam it’s empty *Shows the audience*

Sam: I know it’s empty, but if I reach inside and wiggle my hand like this then I can pull out a box of money.  *Pulls out box from bag*

Matt: Sam you said you were going to do Boxes of money.. this is just one and the bag is empty again *Shows audience*

Sam: Your right let me just reach in there again and see what I can find. With a little magic I can create another box *Pulls out a second box of money*

*Matt reaches in bag and then quickly pulls hand back out Starts shaking bag*

Matt: Sam I think you put too much magic in the bag this time because it is still creating money but it isn’t in boxes anymore.

*money comes out of bag as Mat continues to shake and then put on table. As Matt looks closer at the money…

Sam: Great!! It worked this time!! Now we have lots of money for going to Disney world with!

Matt: I think you might have a problem with that… you didn’t create US Money.. you Created Magic world money. I don’t think Disney world takes Magic world money.

Sam: Oh Well, maybe next time I will get it right. Thank-you everyone and enjoy the rest of the talent show.

*Sam and Matt bow as the curtain closes*

Project Me

So does anyone remember many, many years ago when Richard Simmons revolutionized the weight loss industry with his deal a meal plan?

Well I happened to come across the original version in a freecycle moment and thought I would check it out to see how the healthy life style started rather than dieting.

Now it is weird going through it and seeing how eating and information has changed since then.

What really caught my attention was the little "Project Me" card that comes with the kit.

It is a card you're to read everyday to help remind you what you are working for and that you're important.

I like the idea and for the most part the little statements are good but there are a few I don't agree with.

Let me know what you think.

1. I admit I love food and I am addicted to it.

2. My weight bother me and I know it's not healthy.

3. I am overweight for the most part because I overeat and don't exercise enough.

4. I have blamed many people and many things for my fat, but I must admit I am to blame. I hold the fork.

5. I forgive those who have made fun of me, judged me or put me down because of my weight.

6. I forgive myself and forget about the times I tried before

7. Today I will make time for myself, I will eat healthy and I will exercise. 

8. I will not ignore, hide from or avoid food. I will face food and not lean on it

9. I realize that food has no power and will never solve any problems - past, present or future.

10. I will be patient with myself and will not become compulsive and obsessed with losing weight and exercising.

11. If I didn't do great yesterday, I will try harder today
12. I will take a daily inventory and be truthful with myself.
13. I know now there are no easy ways to do this. I know the only way to achieve my goal is through exercise, eating healthy and staying motivated.
14. I will use my sense of humor today, for it heals loneliness, depression, insecurity and boredom.
15. This time I am doing this for me.
16. I am a terrific person and I like myself right now, no matter what I weigh.
17. The next time I have a craving for anything I know is fattening or am tempted not to exercise, I will think about the new me, and I will be strong.
18. I will take a look in the mirror and say, "I'm going to have a great day."
19. I have a very positive outlook about "My Life."
20. I am doing it! I am going all the way!
21. I am worth it!

I am taking the ones I like and posting them through out my home so that I see them all day long.  

Food Is Always There

I have been going through a lot of difficult, upsetting things these past few months and a crazy work schedule in the middle of it all and it made me realize one thing....

Food has been there through it all.

The boring hours at work.

The busy times at work.

The sad times.

The happy times.

Anytime for any reason, any feeling there is a food for that.

When you don't have time or a way to cope with everything else in your life you can always grab some kind of food.

Good for you food.

Bad for you food.

It doesn't matter what kind of food, it is there for you.

This makes me think back to a play I did in high school for the drama convention Shed the Mask.

I wonder if they still get the schools together for that.. it was a great experience.

Anyway I had a small part in our school play talking about a french fries and other food and the pit falls of being on a diet.

I didn't get it then, the food thing. 

It didn't make sense to me as I never turned to food then for anything.

I didn't get the diet thing because I had never dieted.

Oh I wasn't happy about the way I looked (foolish)

But i had soooo much more to worry about that I chose not to think about that one.

I never went for the guy I liked through high school because of everything I was going through and how I looked and I figured he had so much of a better life that why would he even want to look at me.

I was so screwed up with the way I felt about relationships that the first time an amazing guy showed interest in me I had no idea of how to act and after just 2 days we were no longer together.

I was so scared of life. 

My wish is he knows how much I wish I could of been the person he thought I was, because he was so amazing, and still is.

But still through all of that I never turned to food for comfort.

I did love good food though, don't get me wrong.

And hey Butter Pecan Icecream still makes me smile after one weekend with my friends Ruth and Crystal.

It was something to enjoy but not to be over done.

When did that change for me?

When did it become the thing I turned to first when I am sad instead of talking to my friends?

When did it become so important in my life that when I want to celebrate something I go to it first?

When did I become that girl from the play?

I could pretend and be anything I wanted except for the lover of food and now I can't imagine what it would be like without that food.

We have to eat right.

It's not like it is something I can give up and never touch again.

The worst part is there are foods that are sooo good for you and why wouldn't you use those for comfort, it doesn't have to be cake and brownies or all those sweets, but apples and grapefruit and salads.

I have blogged a lot about food.

I am a good cook, and my kids are growing into good cooks and we share that together alot.

I mean there are 3 meals in a day where I can get some one on one time with the kids as I teach them something new to cook. 

I have to do it anyway so use that time well.

My kids have an AMAZING metabolism and can eat anything and look great. 

They get it from their dad.

I don't have that same blessing.

I have a very rare problem thanks to my ancestors.

When the rest of the world is starving when the food runs out I will survive.

I had a doctor once tell me that I come from good healthy peasant stock... but that created a fight or flight reflex in my body when I had so many kids close together.

When other can melt away the fat I keep gaining in prep for the next famine... even if I have never been in a famine.

Ahhhh to live back in Michelangelo's time when big was sexy and admired.

Wonder every so often if I could go back in time for just a few days.

Maybe I could be one of those lovely ladies he painted.

Now of course we know the health risks involved and know we shouldn't look like this.

However, I do and now I turn to food to?

Why? 

That seems crazy right? 

It is crazy.

But its always there.

When the hubby is at work and the kids are screaming at you for this and that, it is there.

When you feel like dieing inside because things are happening that you have no control of, it is there.

When your best friends live 12 hours away or are longer are talking to you for reasons you don't know about, it is there.

No matter what, food is there.

So what do you when you don't want food to be there for you anymore but when you look around there isn't anything else?

I don't know yet, but I am sure one day I will figure it out.

Sailing

Almost 2 weeks ago the boys and I went with Grandpa out to west Lake to go sailing on his boat that his brother gave him.
We had to get some yard work done first so it was late before we finally got out there but it was nice.
We had a BBQ and the kids played around while Grandpa and Ben set the sails up and all.

The kids who wanted to go out went for rides and had some lessons, other like Tommy and Cloe who were quite ready to sail on the water stayed on land.

Claudia lost her shoe at one point in the water and screamed at me for grabbing my camera first rather than saving her shoe.To Be Honest.. it was cute and I would totally do it again in a heart beat.

The wind died down around 9ish and Ben enjoyed the job of rowing the bow into place to load on the trailer and even though he did struggle at first he cam around did completed it perfectly.

Then as I turned briefly in the wrong direction to head home I came up this amazing sunset and had to capture it. Glad for the occasional wrong turn in life as things of beauty come from it.

I Miss My Son

For  few hours last night this was literally true.

Ben had decided that I was punishing out of hate and that I didn't love him.

Of course that is not true but it didn't make it any less real in his had.

He decided to walk home to our house from Walmart yesterday after on top of punishments I didn't buy him a starter pack of cards and he began sulking more.

Now this isn't normally my Son.

He is a Happy, Funny, Responsible, Strong will, Amazing... though sometimes challenging young man.

He has stood up in his school classes against drinking, smoking, and drugs with no fear of what people thought of him.

He has delivered newspapers since he was 9 years old and at the age of 14 is currently working at Little Caesars as a banner carrier.

He hates doing chores and homework and struggled in those areas but we love him anyways and know that one day he will master those two things.

He has been different for the past little month and a half, almost 2 months. 

Unfortunately a lot of what I am unable to talk about involves him and why he angry, but let me tell you no person should ever go through what he has, especially as a teenager just trying to make their way through the most confusing time in their lives thanks to hormones and changes.

He went from someone who would talk to me about everything to a silent, angry person.

I don't blame him but it makes me sad.

He is seeing a counselor at the school about everything going on but he is still angry.

I am going to see about finding him someone else to talk to during the summer or longer if needed, but he is still angry.

This anger and teenagedom translated to a bad decision which made it necessary to punish him for those choices. 

Now to be honest I have struggled with the choice to keep the punishments the same even though I know that there are other personal things going on that are leading to these actions he has taken.

Now I feel that things shouldn't change and get easier just for him just because he is having a bad time as in time I am sure he will be grateful for the consistency even if he can't now.

If you think I am wrong or right let me know in a comment because I am truly struggling with it.

Anyways so he is mad because he doesn't have his cell phone right now and he is grounded which involved me picking him up from school yesterday.

Maybe to much, but since he hasn't stuck with the grounding yet when coming home from school I wanted to make a point of letting him know what the other option would be if he continued to choose to not follow the rules of the grounding.

Too Much? I don't know.. he is my first stubborn teenager with 5 more just waiting to follow him on that path.

So he wants his phone back and he wants his freedom back and I wouldn't budge on either hence him deciding to walk home yesterday.

Now I did let him go because to be honest I needed the cooling off period too because I am 

A) not perfect and do in fact have feeling too and was getting upset because of his attitude and 

B) recognized that he needed some time to think things through and figured I would give him the time to do that. I have never really had reason to not trust that he wouldn't come home in a timely manner.

Well he decided that He needed some time to talk things out with a friend but that I should be made to feel a little suffering as well. He chose not to phone when he got to his friends house so that I wouldn't know where he was. He stayed out later so that I would worry a little bit about him and change my mind about he having his cell phone.

Well it worked in a way.

I worried like crazy and at 9:30 called the police because it was not like him to be gone for over 4 and a half hours without a single word, however when he got back home he was upset because he still didn't get his phone back.

Am I wrong in that decision? let me know what you think because I don't know but didn't feel he deserved a reward for making yet another poor choice.

So here I sit writing a blog post about it as he gives me the silent, anger treatment because I didn't back down. He is moving especially slow getting out to do his papers and hoping that I will change my mind before he has to go to school.

So I am posting a picture of him on here saying that I Miss my Happy, funny, amazing son and hope that we can find him soon. If you do see him around please take a picture and share it with me as I really could use some hope to hold on to that I might see him again some day.

Christ Never Let Me Down

So today is Sunday.

I struggle with these days right now.

It is not that I don't believe or have faith, but that I feel sad.

Why?

I can't say right now, but I do.

I struggle to get up and get the kids ready to go.

I love the feeling of being close to my Heavenly Father and to Jesus.

I love the feeling of love and friendship there, but that is also what makes me feel sad because of what I am struggling with.

Does that make sense?

Probably not, but it is how I feel.

I still go, and try, and my kids see that and so I am sure they learn and grow from it.

I feel I am letting Heavenly Father and Jesus down by feeling those things I feel and gong through what we are going through, but he has never let me down.

I know that to be true everyday.

I watched a touching video this morning that explains more how I feel about this and the faith I have that I can move forward.

Please watch and enjoy.

End of Year Ballet Recital

So today was Cloe's last day of Ballet until September.

It was a Sad and very Exciting day.

She loves her Ballet class so much that she wants to go everyday.

She is going to miss all her little friends as they may not end up in the same class again next year.

We started getting her ready yesterday when we took her to
Mivenya's Divine Design hair and Nail Salon to get her hair braided back and then I tucked the rest of her her into a bun type look this morning.

She woke up and we dressed her in her costume and then to help get some of her jitters out I took some pictures of her "flying" on the trampoline.

 

Her class was right in the middle of the session so we were treated to a few performances. 

We headed back stage 3 numbers before she went on stage which gave me time to get back in to take some photos of her on stage.

Her class was Awesome!!

Afterwards we gave her a bouquet of some of her favorite flowers, Candy bags, and a pink teddy for one amazing and cutie pie of a dancer.

 

In September she wants to take both a Ballet Class and a Hip Hop Class. 

I think it will be fun :)

Mowing the Lawn

So the Sun peaked out yesterday and I thought I should get at least the front yard quickly mowed.

Now a couples years ago we bought a push mower because Josh was working on mowing other peoples laws and 1. it was easier to load and move and 2. he was still a little young for using a power mower.

Now it does NOT cut the lawn all perfect and stuff but I sure to get a workout using it.

Well Cloe decided she wanted to help me mow the lawn and I decided why not. 

She worked so hard at pushing the mower.

I thought it was a workout for me but she used every muscle in her little body just to move it a few inches but she never gave up. 

She never followed a straight path and we have little patches sticking up all over the place but it was the most fun I have had cutting the grass. 

We took turns and I did the best I could to not go over the areas she had done because I wanted her to keep feeling that sense of accomplishment and not bad over not being perfect.

So if you happen to live in here or be passing through town and you see all the little patches of taller grass sticking up, Smile. The cutest little 4 year old girl was a big help and did a great job at it.

P.S. Check out her "yard work" outfit she had to change into to mow the lawn. I am so blessed to have her in my life.

Burgers and Tours

Check it out, Three posts in a row! 

Crazy after not posting for so long, but here you have it :)

Okay it really isn't that crazy just feels good to chat into the universe about some small portions of my life when there is so much that I am unable to talk about.

It seems weird but when you are needing an outlet and don't really have one then what do you do next?

I live in a bubble I think.

I rarely know what is going on outside of my family or myself.

Is that sort of selfish?

I mean my family is the most important entity in my life and with 6 kids do people really expect me to keep up with everything else as well?

maybe that is do many deep thought questions for first thing in the morning, but I can tell you that will be something I will be pondering as I go through out my day today.

For now lets get to Sam's latest cooking experience!

He chose Hamburgers for Wednesdays meal and what a hamburger he made.

He picked out a cheddar and bacon frozen patty from Walmart and they were very tasty.

He was very nervous with putting the patties into the pan and then flipping them but he did a great job and was a pro at the end.

Then he put them together... A cheese bun instead of a regular bun, lettuce, tomato, cheese, and lots of bacon. 

That's right, he learned how to cook bacon yesterday too.

he said it was the best burger he has ever eaten!

I told him that is because he made it.

It was so big that he could barely fit it into his mouth.

 

That afternoon I took the Cub troupe to CKPG TV for a tour of their station.

There is 2 radio stations there as well and the kids had fun meeting the DJ's who were on air at that time and check out the TV station room really quick before the news had to go on.

I think they all might be giving the current News Anchors a run for their money when it comes to their jobs.

It was a fun day all said... even with a ton of rain.

Thank-you so much to Rick Kelly at The River 101.3, Darren Coogan of 99.3 The Drive, and mostly to Ron Polillo who guided us through the whole tour. 

We look forward to coming back again.

So Far This Week

Well It has been a long while since I have blogged... not since the beginning of February when I started back to work and the crazy schedule of running that small little office in the corner of the Bay.

There were suppose to be 2 of us working the office, myself as the office leader and then another employee so that I didn't have to work 7 days a week.

I was given a first year to begin with and I didn't mind because I was told she was top of the class and wouldn't have a problem with working on her own.

Now she was a fantastic person except for one thing... She was older than me and ran her own business on the side and therefore thought that she should have the same rights as I did as office leader and said as much to me one day when there was a client waiting. So needless to say they moved her offices and she did well in an office where there was a supervisor there all the time.

Next they gave me for the weekends the Lady who use to run the office there and they couldn't get her into the computer properly so after 2 days she said she would not come back after another dramatic blow up in front of clients over it. It left me wondering why I get all the dramatic ones. 

After that I told them I would work all the extra hours except for the day when I had to go to office leader meetings and thank heavens for my sister working that day or I don't know what I would of done. 

It took a lot of hard work, but I have made it so that next year that office qualifies to be a 2 person office and so a LOT less Drama too, I hope. But it did mean that I had very little time left over from working up to 12 hour days so I spent it with my family and sleeping hence the ignoring of the blog and most of the rest of the world wide universe. 

I am sure everyone understands.

Then after Tax season ended I thought I can find time to take pictures and get back into everything but that did not happen either.

Since then we have had a couple of serious situations happen.

One I can not talk about on here and we hope is finally over and going to move past.

The Second is more recent and I am not prepared to talk about yet. It is hard and painful but like everything else I have gone through I will survive it. When the time is right I will open up but for now it has to be something that my family works through privately.

That brings me to now.

I was flipping through some of my favorite pages on facebook when I came across the photo challenge called "All Boys" and I realized that I missed holding my camera and sharing my little bubble of a world on the blog.

Is that weird? Maybe, but it some how makes life a little easier when I share it because I realize it is not as bad as I feel it is some days.

So I started with pictures of our Family Home Evening treat which was Smores!

Our Lesson was on being able to work together through anything and smores seemed like the best treat that also helped demonstrate the point of the lesson. 

A family is a group of people put together and when life starts heating up we can either puff up individually and it can all fall apart, or we can work together and come out closer than before.

It was yummy!

  

Then this week is the first week of the older boys learning how to work a meal plan and budget.

We came to a shocking realization that in just 5 years Ben is going to be heading on a mission and followed shortly after by Josh. 

I started looking at the skills they need to know and learn in that time. 

One of them was the ability to make a meal plan, shop for the supplies on a small budget and still enjoy good home made food.

Ben's chose Tuesday to be his day and he really got into the challenge when it came to going through my recipe books and finding meals he would like.

He was not as keen when I told him he had a total of $40 to spend on the 2 meals he was doing for his day.

Really a small budget for feeding a family of 8 but I figure his budget compared when he goes on his mission would be equally as meager.

It was tough and he had to compromise a few name brand products for generic ones ( All except the bacon.. which he says you should only use high quality because it is the most important ingredient). And the best part was he stayed about $9 under the budget so he bought a few extra items and made smoothies for everyone when we came home from shopping that night.

Tuesday morning after papers he got to work on his breakfast and it was yummy.

It is a breakfast Sandwich called "Warm Bacon and Egg Salad Stuffed Pitas" that he found in an old Pilsbury Halloween magazine I bought back in 2002

INGREDIENTS: 6 hard boiled eggs peeled and chopped, 1/4 cup real bacon bits, 1/3 cup purchased Alfredo sauce, 1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley, 1/2 tsp onion powder, 2 6" pita pockets cut in half

DIRECTIONS: 1. mix all the ingredients expect the pita pockets in a bowl and mix well. Spoon mixture into Pita halves. 2. Wrap each sandwich in plastic or wax paper and microwave on high for 20-30 seconds or until warm. Enjoy.

Lunch was planned and made by Sam who was in my post yesterday.

Dinner was super easy and Ben found the idea in the same magazine as breakfast only more simplified and easy. Tasty too and reminded the kids of going to Arby's but for a fraction of the cost.

It is called "Hot Roast Beef Sandwich with French Onion Cheddar Sauce"

INGREDIENTS: Kaiser Roll (They said onion one but Ben chose whole wheat instead), Sliced deli roast beaf warmed up, Cheese Whiz or similar, dry onion soup mix

DIRECTIONS: Warm Cheeze Whiz in microwave, add a spoonful of soup mix stir. Toast Bun top with warm beef and cheese mixture and enjoy.

It was a tasty day!

Also on the fun scale was watching Cloe enjoy her new nail polish kit that she picked out as a reward for being so brave when she had to go the hospital for stitches when  Tommy and her decided to try and cut open their freezies with a knife when they couldn't find their safety scissors.

She has made even her brother wear nail polish for a day, while changing her nails 3 to 4 times a day.

The cutest though was when I walked in on her last night painting her toes.

Make sure you check out her bandaid wrap on her hand there too as she is also applying those herself as well. Make me a little sad at how independent she is getting and so very proud of her at the same time. 

My baby is not a baby anymore. 

How have all of you been. Post a Hi, or something.

Have a Great day no matter what trials come your way.

I Heart Faces/ All Boy Challenge

Ok, it has been a while since I posted on here and the first one I do is a challenge post that to be honest.. I have mostly boys so I was excited to enter. 

So looking at the boys and trying to figure out the best photo to post, this one fell in my lap. 

Sam is going to be 10 this month and wants to learn to cook so he is making lunch meal plans where it is just the 2 of us at home and easier meals to cook.
Today was his first day and he picked his favorite food, 

Kraft Mac and Cheese.

He loved all the steps to make it and was even timing his pauses between stirring.

When he was done he sat down and started eating it WITH OUT KETCHUP for the first time ever.

I had to capture the whole moment.

When I looked at it afterward it screamed all boy and it just had to be the one I posted for this challenge.

Can't wait to see what the other amazing, talented photographers that enter this challenge do with theirs.

You can check them all out too by clicking on the link below: