O, I Wish I Was in Dixie! Hooray! Hooray!

No not the land of cotton, the land of red rocks, blue sky and 65 degree weather in February. Ahh...sweet, sweet (Utah's) Dixie--just a four and a half hour drive away. All these are reasons I spent more time there than I did in my college classes. (Bless you, Josh and Lex!)







To show our love this Valentine's for one another, we booked a suite in our favorite St. George hotel, packed our bikes and hiking shoes and took off for a three day mini-vacation-- arriving just in time on Sunday to get in a two hour bike ride before checking into the hotel. My three boys were all so thrilled to be on their bikes (which have been hibernating under our porch for the winter) more than one audible "WOOOHOOO" was heard along the bike path (much to the other path users' amusement.) The perfect ride was followed by the perfect meal at the Bear Claw Cafe. William had chocolate chip pancakes, Romney had sausages wrapped in pancakes on a stick, Bill had a breakfast burrito and being health conscious about the fuel that is going into my body I skipped the belgian waffle I really wanted in favor of rolled oats with walnuts and sliced almonds. What arrived drew a sigh from Bill and an inquisition from a neighboring table asking me what I had ordered. It did not look or taste like "oatmeal", rather it looked (and tasted) like an ice cream sundae. I didn't even feel guilty as I scarfed half of my oatmeal down. Heaven knows I had done my best to order something "healthy". It wasn't healthy, but it was heavenly! (Wish I had thought to take a photo!)




In order to work off the previous days' "oatmeal of the gods", we decided to both bike and hike. We started with a hike up Snow Canyon. We got the advice of the ranger and decided to heed it about which hike to try. We did the Hidden Pinyon trail. It wasn't terribly long (only about 2 hours round trip with lots of rock climbing diversions.) But the terrain was so diverse and wound us through the most beautiful scenery. After the hike we grabbed our bikes and biked all afternoon. The down hill was fast and fun-- back up to the top, more challenging. Bill and I had a back-up plan if the boys (or I) weren't able to make it back up to the car. Bill would peddle back alone and rescue the rest of us. No back-up plan necessary as our little troopers fought their way back! Rewarding them (and, let's face it, me) Bill let the three of us do the downhill again while he drove the car to the bottom to pick us up. That evening, William was excited to see "The Lightening Thief" and we waited in quite a line (made us appreciate our theater's pick your assigned seat when you buy your ticket system) to make that happen for him that night. (Better than I thought, way too scary for Romney-- wish I had checked into that more.)




My love of the red rocks continues in the next generation as my boys share my love of the gorgeous Snow Canyon. Oh, if only they were happier to be there.














Hiking was a favorite activity, but hiking half naked brought a whole layer of new challenges to our family fun. Unbelievably no cuts, no bruises and no sun burn resulted from this little monkey's desire to shed his clothes. (He definitely gets that from me).





Worth the drive, worth the money and worth the time. We somehow managed to find spring again, and it is getting closer. (4 1/2 hours away instead of 12 hours away in California.)

Smarty Pants

The end of January means the end of the semester, half way through the school year. (Also, and more importantly, half way done with winter!) When I googled parent teacher conferences for images for the blog, I stumbled on an article in the Washington Post which read "The Dreaded Parent-Teacher Conference
When teachers and parents get together to discuss kids, anything can happen." I happen not to dread this time of year. I look forward to it, I embrace it as a chance to support my kids' learning. I also happen to have two very lovely and smart kiddos. I also happen to be lucky beyond words that Romney has a teacher who really, really likes him. She gets his sense of humor and finds him charming. (If you know Romney, you know that could go the other way). Romney's conference was a pleasure. He was so excited to get his turn in the spotlight. (He is the only member of the Barbers4 who feels that way). Knowing we were the last conference of the day, and feeling similarly about his teacher as she feels for him, Romney and I stopped by a bakery to get her favorite treat to bring her to end her day. Romney wrote a note that read "I hope you like these treats. I love you. Romney". (Words all spelled correctly I might proudly add. Makes sense that a Romney would know how to spell the word "treats".) We had a lovely conversation about Romney's progress and goals for the rest of the year. Romney was so great about telling his teacher what he needed. He wanted "2nd grade math". He brought it up, he ran the discussion and at the end of the conversation was promised that would be looked into. By the end of the night, he had an email from his teacher, letting him know that his math teacher had agreed that would be best and he would now be doing his math with the 2nd graders. It has made all the difference in his attitude toward school. He will even admit to having had a great day. This is new for him.

William's parent teacher kid conferences were good, but different. With 5 different teachers to visit, it was interesting to hear comments from his teachers that were almost verbatim to what I remember hearing as a kid. "He has great ideas and is always paying attention, but he doesn't raise his hand." "If I call on him, he does always have the right answer." "He is really quiet, but always knows what is going on in class and is doing great." We talked to him on the way home about not raising his hand to see if he would feel comfortable doing that more. He said "NO WAY!" Then we broke it down into "Well, how about once a week as a goal." He surprised us all when he said "Well, I could raise my hand once in every class, every day. I would feel OK doing that". He has totally kept his goal and is feeling more confident as he gets positive feedback on his comments from peers and teachers. I am so proud of him. He is so willing to step out of his comfort zone to grow a little more. He is my brave speaking in public hero. (And as a proud Mama who doesn't care one whit about grades, (until they are given , apparently) my shy guy made the high honor roll.)

So, PBS, I owe you a LOT of money for all the learning TV shows my kids have watched that have obviously paid off!