Higgfarm

If you haven't checked these out yet, do yourself a favor.

www.akwardfamilyphotos.com

www.manbabies.com

People often wonder why on earth I home school. While there are dozens of reasons, here's a good affirmation of one:

Washington Post Article

An average of 45% higher scores in all areas over public schooled kids!? Holy Stromboli. And, unlike public school, parent's race, income, age, or college education had no affect!

This has given me a boost.

I thought I had posted about this, when in fact, it was my sis-in-law's blog I was remembering and I actually did a fat lot of nothing. Sounds normal.

The Great Higginbotham Annual Gathering (GHAG) took place in Park City at a crazy butt-kick house. Let me just tell you a few things that happened that week: ping pong, foosball, air hockey, and pool tables, workout room, huge movie theater, hiking, bbq, food, family... I could go on and on.


View of Olympic Park, about 5 minutes walk from the house.

Cousins collecting all kinds of treasures on our hike.
Best picture we got. I can only run back and forth to set the camera timer so many times.
Hana and I sharking it up at pool.
Julian is a hoot. Just look at that outfit!
When a basketball game consists of 5 people going for comic relief and one person who doesn't really care for basketball, you are bound to have a good time.

Gage and Liam, coolest vests in Park City.

Oh, yeah, did I forget to mention that the tub lit up? Because it did. Seven colors. There were also 7 shower heads in the master bathroom. Just thought I'd mention it.


Now I know where Gage gets his cool modeling looks.

Hiking trail right next to the house. I love fall! Boooo to winter.

Spider-ghetti recipe: cut up hot dogs and make the kids stick tons of spaghetti through them. Boil, mix in some frozen peas, add some butter and Italian seasoning, and voila!

Uncle Cabe trying to get a peaceful game of World of Warcraft going. This little guild loved the dragons and castles and characters.

The whole good lookin' bunch. Way to multiply and replenish!

Poor Miss Liv has been in a brown room with a RoboTank on the wall for quite some time now. Whilst she was at her Gammy's for a week, I did this:


First quilt ever! Look at me go!

No seven year old girl's room is complete without something Hannah Montana. I think it's actually a law now.

I can't quite put my finger on it, but something tells me there's a hungry little two year old at my house.

Check out my contribution to a major blog:

http://www.inomommy.com/index.php/2009/11/16/thanksgiving-craft-for-the-kiddies/

Remember Edie in "The Incredibles" and how she was adamantly against capes? Here's a good example of why.

When I finally dismantled the rear wheel, the cape looked like it had been shot with a machine gun. Holes riddled throughout.

We were raking the neighbor's leaves, and Gage ran home to get a drink of water. It's faster to ride back to next door on your bike. I heard a scream and saw his nearly choked to death little face, eyes popping, leaning way back on his bike. I freed him and carried the bike home. Adventures.

Also, please forgive the crummy photos. Our camera is dead, so I have to take pictures with my laptop. Adventures.

Two reasons for Dylan to be a little miffed this Halloween:
#1 Nobody really got what he was and he had to keep explaining
#2 My costume got more attention and laughs

He was a Ski Bum, but people kept saying "Ski Hobo".Liv's Hannah Montana wig kept bugging her eyes, so she wore it way up on her head, giving her a comical "mulletesque" look. And Gage had a kick butt apparatus that shot silly string, but he took it to his buddy's house. His buddy then hid it because he wanted to keep it, and returned it guiltily with his big sister a couple of days after Halloween.

I'm a little bummed that I can't make my kids wear ridiculous costumes anymore. Even Nash insisted on wearing his "Matman" outfit, though he refused the mask and cape. What kind of Batman has no mask and cape? He figured out early on that he could get candy without it.



My costume won first place at a Chamber of Commerce party. I got a gift basket from Great Harvest and a gift certificate to a spa. Cha-Ching!

There is more wire in this costume than any one human should be wearing.

Granny G is the new camp ground host at Minersville Reservoir in Southern Utah. Sweet hookup!

It was a wild weekend of:

fishing,

hiking,

rock throwing,

water skeeters (Gage exclaimed "Aebleskivers!" upon their discovery),
general tom-foolery,
and games. Granny G's charade words: True Grit, Shawshank Redemption, and Die Hard. What the?

My brother Chris brought his kayaks. Dylan tipped his purely for comedy purposes, (yeah, right).

Chris kept paddling by the dock and splashing everyone, so the next time he came by, his hefty 16 year old did a cannonball next to him. Take that!

Our ward camps in the most amazing spot: Granite Flats of American Fork Canyon. Beeeeeautiful! I wish we could've stayed more than just one night. It feels a little ridiculous to have to pack up so much stuff for one night.

Gage and Liv prepped by building a fire in the back yard. They dug the pit, circled the rocks, found the kindling and sticks, and came and got me to start it. The fire blazed right up and they roasted mint leaves. Note that Liv wore pants for fire building AND camping.


Nash is definitely my kid.

Gage and Liv were off exploring in the mountains most of the time, so the only pictures we have are of Nash. But that's okay because he's gorgeous.

Told you so.

"Olivia, I don't feel like I feel like I'm five," said Gage the day after his pirate party. But he should! Check out this dive:



This year Gage has learned to ride a 2 wheeler bike and loves to go to the skate park, has gone off sweet ramps on his Razor scooter, practiced his headstands (he can do a head slide, one handed, no handed, and 180 and 360 degree spins), and begun cursive writing. He's also said these hilarious things:

"I'm moving to You Nork City!"

"Mom, Nash just said Reservation Spatula."

"No, Olivia, it's MY turn to chooses a story....what story do you want me to choose?"

"Hi Mom, I’m just going to watch a movie at the movie theater. It’s called “Chipmunk, Chipmunk, why won’t you learn your ABC’s under the water.”"

We drove by a yard sale. Checking it out through his window, Gage commented, “Oh, man. Those people are having a boring party.”

Gage is tough, but shy. Energetic, but my best cuddler. Independant, but a momma's boy. Hilarious and insightful. We love him and his 2 inch eyelashes! Happy Birthday, little buddy.

Granny G turned 50 and I threw her a surprise party. Scope out this list and then rate the party on a scale of 1-10:

1. Slow cooked pulled pork sandwiches
2. Pinata
3. Balloon animals, swords, and hats
3. Bounce house
4. 800 ft. of streamers
5. 100 balloons
6. Three kinds of cake
7. "This Is Your Life" with embarrassing moments told by friends and family.

Dylan wearing pinata remains, and Riley Mac in a pretty hat.

It was a priceless event. Granny G is the best Granny G you could ask for, and we all love her dearly. Ask her about her lemon meringue pie, why there's water "way up here!?", and the time there were a whole bunch of spiders in her bath water.

Don't get startled! I mean water falls! Although I could easily do a post on the endless number of spills taken by my three hooligans. But back to the matter at hand. We're very fortunate to live but a short drive from this:



Accompanied by Aunt Hana, Uncle Nic, Baby Belly Hendrix, and Hana's sweet waddle.

Before you can even say "waterfall" Gage is immediately in the water, catching bugs, throwing rocks, floating sticks.

Liv and Gage learned to ride bikes this spring, and there's no stopping them.
If you know Liv at all, you know her footwear of choice. This picture shall be a treasure.

Nash is still #1 All Time Winner Cute Baby Face

"You don't have very many cousins, do you?" I asked Dylan this morning. So we counted them all up, and he actually has more than me. Those Higginbothams are just a much quieter group than my side of the family. That reunion was a spaz a second, I tell you. But just because they're calmer, doesn't mean we didn't have a great time. The little cousins still did some good spazzing. Nice back bend, Liv!



Hana insisted on playing Bocci Ball, but only made it through 2 throws before she pooped out!

The kids found a huge nest of horned beetles. Eeeeek!

Gage named this one Ringo.

Nash was walking around on the grass when I heard a blood curdling scream. I rushed to save his life, and he pointed to his foot. There was a beetle crawling on his shoe.

It's become a bit of a tradition for our U of U student housing friends to get together around the 4th of July. 11 hungry kids ages 1-7 in a hotel room after long car rides. What fun!

Becca Salisbury and Nash were best friends, even through some mis-communications. The first day, she was positive Nash was a girl. That diaper change sure set her straight. The next day, she woke up and first thing asked her mom if she could go see "that talking baby". The rest of the day she referred to him as "Jojo that talking baby".

Meals were the only quiet time.


Then the pinata broke, and so did the sound barrier.
Thanks Lewis, Salisbury, and Faux families for the outstanding time. I have a surprising lack of pictures, so please send me some.