"Dear Darla,
I hate your stinkin' guts.
You make me bomb it.
You're stuck between my toes.
Love, Alfalfa"
Both boys laughed and laughed and laughed, and then Micah said, "Mom, what does "bomb it" even mean?"
Classic. Definitely put a smile on my face.
Because the boys are on a 4-day school week, they have long school days. They get home from the bus at 5:10, we have dinner, and we usually have different activities and homework and downtime in the evenings, so I don't make them do chores until Friday.
The boys hate Friday because it is officially the "chore" day in our home. Every Friday, the T.V. and nintendos and computers are shut off at 10am. Then it is up to the boys to complete their chores. During the school year, Ammon has three chores, and the twins each have two. Each Friday, I let the boys know what their chores are for the day, which usually consist of choices from: vacuuming, sweeping, mopping, dusting, dishes, laundry, cleaning the bathroom or cleaning their bedroom. Once I let them know what their assigned chores are, they are in charge of doing it themselves--I do not nag them about it because I know that they are 1. old enough to do them alone and 2. chore-time is a regular routine in our house so they know what is expected of them. Sometimes it takes them a half hour to complete, sometimes it takes over two hours because they choose to not do anything rather than do their chores. The only rules are 1. NO FOOD and 2. NO PLAY TIME until the chores are finished. Aren't I such a mean mom?!
This past Friday was one of those days where the twins didn't feel like doing any chores. Two hours passed while nothing was getting accomplished. Their chores for the day were: 1. clean their room and 2. vacuum. Pretty simple, right? I thought so, but apparently I was wrong. Cleaning their room was proving to be a difficult task that seemed insurmountable and impossible to accomplish. Jonah pushed everything to the outskirts of the room and declared that the room was clean because there was room to play on the middle of the floor. I'd never heard that concept before! He didn't get away with that quite so easily, and I let him know the room was still very much messy. I tried to help them by picking up one corner of the room, and while I was doing so, both boys whined repeatedly about how starving they were. Micah refused to help clean the room in any way, so I told him to get on his bed until he changed his mind. Micah was crying, and didn't want to be on his bed. At this point, Jonah want ballistic and kicked into angry protective mode. He was screaming at me "MOM! He's going to DIE! You HAVE to have food to live! If you don't let him eat, then he's going to DIE!" I tried to console him..."Jonah. Micah is not going to die. If he helps clean his room, then he can eat and so can you". But he wouldn't be consoled. So I put Jonah on his bed to join his brother in time-out, left the room, shut the door, and VOILA!!!--within 5 minutes, the room was miraculously cleaned! And then the boys ate lunch and, here's the best part, lived to tell about it!!!
But this year was different. Since my husband is a Saints Man, 
At that point, it was over for the Colts! The Saints won the game 31-17!!!
This was the first time the Saints had ever been to a Superbowl, so their win was a first in franchise history!!! Drew Brees and his team were spectacular to watch! 
Usually, we like to have a little party with friends for the SuperBowl, but this year I was in Utah during it. I watched the game with my two sisters, my mom listened to the game from the kitchen, and my dad checked in on us from down the hall whenever he heard us laughing hysterically or whooping loudly! I was sad because I wanted to be with Josh as he was celebrating for his team! I could just imagine him jumping up and down during the whole thing! We discussed the game as it happened via facebook, but it just wasn't the same. Ammon reported to me after I got home that he's never seen his dad so excited during a football game!!!
The boys didn't come away with a single bite despite all their hours of sitting on the ice, but they did enjoy being outside on the cool Saturday morning! The older three boys left their poles on the frozen pond with the fish line dangling in the water several times to go sledding, while dad stayed stationary and kept watch for them.
Kanyon never abandoned his pole like the other boys. He kept looking at the worm on the end of his line, repeatedly saying that it was a "big fish, big fish". He had so much fun, but got tired and cold within an hour! 
There were 10 entries in the derby this year, representing scounts from two local troops. He won the award of "most colorful paint job". 
The derby is such a fun and exciting event for the boys! They anticipate it for weeks! They are all friends...which makes the race against each other even more competitive! 
Ammon's car did fairly well, but he couldn't beat the cars made by either set of twins; he even tried running it backwards down the track to see if that would make a difference.
He was sad when the activity ended, because he knew his derby days were done. After we got home, he said he wants to keep making the cars every year even if he's no longer in cub scouts! He has loved building and racing the cars! He's always chosen the car's design and the paint colors and pattern. He likes seeing his mental image of the car become real! And he loves racing against his friends; it is so thrilling to watch the cars speed down the short track! The Pinewood Derby has been his favorite scouting activity! 
(retired derby cars of '08, '09, and '10)
I loved it! I wore that T-shirt until the armpits were yellow and there were holes in it. After I got married (to a dairy farmer's son of all people!), I knew that I wanted to display my cows, so I chose to have a cow-kitchen. I cut that T-shirt and framed it, and it's been in my kitchen ever since. I have had cows adorning my kitchen for 12 years!
The first event of the party was sledding. The boys had a great time on the little hill next to our home, with only minimal injuries resulting from it! 
After sledding for almost 2 hours, they came in for some hot chocolate, and then we started the indoor games. The first pirate game was "Walk the Plank". I made them cross the long 2x4 three times: once normally, once with their eyes closed, and once with their hands tied behind the back. Each time they had a successful crossing without falling off, they received swedish fish.
The next game was "pin the patch" on the skeleton pirate. I painted a pirate skull on a poster, cut out patches from different colors of paper (so that each boy had their own color), and attached glue dots on the backs of the patches. Each boy had to wear a black-out sleeping mask as well as a bandana over it so there would be no peaking and no cheating. The boys loved this game and played it several times. The winner of each round received a handful of swedish fish.
The last pirate game we played was a treasure hunt. They were so excited! It was fun watching them run all over the house to retrieve the clues! There was enough clues for the older boys to each read one aloud. I gave them the first clue in a glass bottle.
Clue #1:
In the treasure chest, there was a pirate loot bag for each boy containing whistles, notepads, candies, and confetti. The chest also contained several gold and silver wrapped chocolates for the boys to share. 
For dinner, we ate corndog sailed ships, string cheese swashbuckler swords, goldfish, and ocean blue jell-o. 
I tried out a new recipe for Ammon's birthday cake, but unfortunately I overcooked it. But I attempted to make up for it by decorating his cake fashioned for a pirate. It wasn't exactly what I had envisioned, since my cake decorating skills are minimal, but Ammon thought it was awesome, and his opinion is what mattered on that day!!
After cake & ice cream, Ammon opened the gifts from his friends, and then the boys played wii for hours and watched the movie "Little Rascals" in the boys' room, and then they giggled and talked and laughed until they finally fell asleep around 11:30. The boys all had a great time at the party, and it was hard for their energy levels to tire! It's a wonder that they ever even fell asleep, since there was seven boys all sleeping in one room!!
My oldest boy is now 10; he's officially hit the age of double digits. I'm sad that he's growing up, but I'm also very proud of him for the young man that he's becoming. When the party was over and the boys were all gone, Ammon told me that he really loved it all and it was the best birthday party ever. When he told me that, I felt like I scored a perfect 10 for his big 10!!! I was glad that all my efforts were appreciated, and that he truly felt special surrounded by his friends on his special day. I love you Ammon and I'm so grateful you're my son!