Lotsa Stuff

I  knew this was a busy week when Mitch was writing in his journal yesterday and after a whole page said he'd only made it to Tuesday. 

Here are some highlights:

*President's Day drove to Kamas to go swimming. Not sure why except the pull of good family to do it with and no other pressing plans won out.

*Blue and Gold Banquet on Tuesday with a hot dog bar! Ethan could hardly sleep, he was so excited about this.  Mitch and I received his Bear. Though his great den leader should have received a pin as well. Ethan's 8 next month and I'm not as excited about another kid in scouts as I could be....

* Isaac had the city wide shootout on Wednesday at the same time as New Beginnings for me and YM for hub. We made it work and Ike did well. I couldn't handle the pressure of making certain shots in a time limit, but that's why I wasn't invited to do it I guess. I was too stressed about it to take any pictures so just imagine him shooting a basketball, would you?

*Hub's 95-year-old grandma passed away and her funeral was on Friday. I enjoyed hearing more stories and tidbits about her. Plus it's great to see Hub's cousins and fam that we only seem to see at funerals. 

* Syd had her 3rd Birthday on Saturday. This was a day she'd been waiting for. She woke up and ran into Isaac first thing and asked him 'Do I look bigger?" She was very excited to get her new Barbies, clothes, Barbie DVD, sunglasses and purse. 

 After basketball games, opening presents, and other things (I went to the Cougarette showcase and loveloveloved it) the whole fam went to the BYU basketball game. What, doesn't every 3-year-old girl want to do that on her Birthday?

 Then we got to dine at Syd's favorite fine dining establishment: McDonald's.

 And the evening ended at Krispy Kreme where we had to wait FOREVER in line and then have a problem with the machines not being able to read gift cards that day. The end result was fine as everyone enjoyed a birthday donut.

                                           We love Syd and are so glad she's in our family!

Birthday and Loveday

 Hub had a Birthday. He is the new scoutmaster in our ward so he spent his birthday money on scout/camp stuff and then even got to be on the winter campout for some of his special day. The kids spoiled him rotten with multiple cards (I think Syd made about 12) and Ethan even gave him two Pokemon cards ( not completely altruistic--now that Hub owns a couple cards Ethan always is trying to talk him into playing Pokemon with him). Mitch made him a fortune teller where Hub always ended up being 'awesome' or 'amazing' and Ike gave him a coupon  promising that the next time they played Risk Ike wouldn't lose his temper (another sneaky gift--since Ike was hoping it meant they could play Risk that day). Noelle's card had a picture of her and Hub in the sunshine that made Syd cry because 'where me in the picture?'
Hub is a great hubby and father and deserves more than one day a year where he gets spoiled. I guess there's always Father's Day....

Then three days later it's Valentines Day. I can't complain since my birthday is a week after Christmas, but dang, I'd like to spread out some of these special days a bit more!

Mitch's 'box' is the milk jug, Ethan wanted a dragon, and that other thing is Ike's musical instrument he had to make for his monthly project. He didn't make a box because he's in 6th grade and is too cool for that? So he was the only kid in his class who had a grocery bag be his box. I honestly didn't complain!

Syd and Noelle looking 'loving' and holding the valentines balloon they talked Hub into buying. And then popped 5 minutes after this picture was taken.

Hub and I had a special dinner together while we let the kids watch a movie and then we all did the chocolate fountain. Hub pulls that out a couple times a year and the kids love it. I'm not super fond of the mess, cuz I'm not fun like that, but since Hub does all the cleanup I can't complain. Told you he was special.
All in all, it's kindof nice having occasions to look forward to in spite of the extra work it brings. Now what to do for President's Day?

I need me some padded cells

So we've had some doozy days of late. My little angelic girls, whom I usually relish during the school hours while the boys are away, have taken up some incredible fights with each other. They wrestle, they yell, they have big dramatic cries, they race to see who gets to hug me first in their distress....ugh. I've had many instances where I've locked myself in my room and bathroom to finish a phone call or have a shower and try to ignore the sobbing and pounding on the door.
Then the boys come home and pick on each other for picking on each other. The irony would be amusing if it wasn't so annoying. So I've had some not-so-nice feelings lately about my otherwise perfect brood. But then  I looked at some of the pix from my cell (which didn't transfer great to the blog so peer really closely) and I remembered that I actually really like my kids. And I like hanging out with them.

This is from Ethan and me grocery shopping at Maceys right before the Super Bowl (he was going for the 'patriotics'). He was in heaven since they had a ton of samples and free hot dogs! Ethan's fave food is hot dogs so he was one happy camper. They also had face painting and balloon animals and we had to make a long trip longer by waiting for the dragon to be painted on his face. Sure, the kid knocked down a bunch of stuff in the store and his balloon had popped before we left but he has such a fun outlook on life I can't help but enjoy spending time with him.

This is Mitch right after his performance of a Shel Silverstein poem in school. He happened to choose the longest one about Cynthia Sylvia Stout not taking the garbage out.  He amazingly memorized it on his own with no complaining and performed it well. He's one of those smart kids who doesn't need to brag about it and is a great and patient friend. His greatest desire in life is to be checked out of school for no good reason and I like him so much I may just give in one day.

This is Ike at the BYU b-ball game against Gonzaga. We had Grandpa C's excellent seats on row 4 and Ike was in heaven.  He's old enough now where we can have somewhat more mature conversations about kids in his class and why he shouldn't eat so much junk food. He actually will talk to adults now and is excited about earning merit badges.

I do get some good one-on-one with the girls but no great cell phone pictures to post as evidence. So the moral of the story? When all the kids are yelling and fighting I shouldn't lock myself in a room. I should lock each of them in their own padded cell (cause you should see Syd throw herself on the floor when she's mad!) and then visit them one by one so I could remember how awesome they are. The end.

The last week of January

 After months of healthiness I was actually relieved to have some sickness in the family.  We all have to have our turn, right? Variations of a cough, fever and colds visited everyone but Hub. He must be living right because he rarely gets sick.
Fortunately we still managed to squeeze in our basketball games. Ike and Mitch are playing and having a great time. Ike vacillates between feelings of thinking he's Jimmer and can't be stopped to beating himself up if he doesn't score double digits.  Mitch does a great job and has only scored one basket for the other team this year. He's on a team with lots of friends and they all put in a great, sweaty effort.

Some of us were able to also attend Noelle's first dance performance.  I was worried that she would be a no-show due to some of her 'issues' with not wanting attention (she refused to get her preschool pictures taken, her eyes or ears tested, etc).  She ended up being just fine and told me she didn't even need us to pray for since she wasn't nervous at all. And who wants wasted prayers, right?

                           She goes to a dance studio with several first cousins and second cousins. (she and Annie were mice, Kylie and Madeleine flowers)

I spent a lot of time and hairspray on Noelle's curls and by the time the show started it was pretty deflated as you can see. Next time I'm giving her a home perm before the show.

That was all.

Now we move onto February. This month is very exciting because it's short and brings us one month closer to   spring. Hurray!