What kid doesn’t want to slide down the stairs? Casey and I slid down our stairs as kids on a crib mattress. My kiddos have tried sliding down in a laundry basket. I said “no more”. They tried it with a lid from a storage container. Again, I said, “no”. So today when they asked to go down in sleeping bags, I said, “ok”. It kept them busy and out of trouble while I was folding laundry.
Seeing these budding bulbs while walking up to my front door today reminded me that my hope of warmth is just around the corner. Hope is a decision. No one can take hope away from you. This intangible gift is something our family needs more than ever today.
As we were strolling through Wal Mart for a few necessities, my little shopping buddy spotted an impulsive buy. Matti loves monsters. When she saw monster puppets, she had to have them. Though I don’t give in at the store often, it was something that the kids could do together, use their creativity, and it was a toy that didn’t require batteries, or a tv screen. Justified. Best $10 bucks spent this week.
Friday’s blizzard blew in an outing to the Living Planet Aquarium. We are running out of ideas for indoor days while waiting for spring to arrive, but this was a good (warm) way to enjoy a Saturday afternoon.
I am a wimp. I didn’t want to touch the stingrays, even though I will be swimming with them in the Caribbean next week. They freak me out! The kids loved and were fascinated by them and I had fun watching them play with them.
Let’s do a little math. 8 people x 2 socks per person x 7 days a week =112 socks to sort EVERY week. I can’t wait for sandal and flip flop season just for the pure fact that the warm weather will free up some time that I now spend sorting socks!
These are all the socks left over after today’s load. Not one has a match. Really. Where do they all go? !
Meet “Crystal” (That’s what Matti wants to be called when she has straight hair). She is wearing a new trend in hair accessories in the form of a blue flower lei crown which brings out the rich blue color of her eyes. Her makeup, a light pink gloss and rosy red cheeks for spring, was done by Brooklyn, who produced today’s show. The look is finished with a gold magic wand matching the gold sparkles and trim on her dress.
If there’s one thing that Colton loves about school, it’s the teacher’s bell. In fact, the first time his teacher saw him cry was when another student took it out of his hand at parent-teacher conferences. When Colton saw Matti pull one out of the kitchen drawer from my classroom last year, he wanted it so bad! She handed it over to him and with great delight, he took it into his room. The best part about watching him play with it is seeing his jaw clench up, tongue get sucked up the roof of his mouth, and his hand go up and down like an engine piston firing over, and over, (and over) again.
We love adventure, and we love fun. It was time for Justin and I to get out and play, so for Valentine’s Day, I got my honey a pass to the Solomon Center where we surfed on the indoor wave and went indoor skydiving at IFLY. This date rocked!
After we got home from our date last night, Justin remembered that he had promised Wyatt that he would play cars with him when we got home. At 9:30, Justin got Wyatt out of bed to play with him, and Harley decided to join them. Wyatt couldn’t have been a happier boy!
I think this cat loves being in our family. She tolerates being held. She tolerates the noise. And when she just can’t take it anymore, she seeks refuge under our bed. Most of all, she tolerates being dressed up. I saw her in a ladybug outfit the other day. Today she is sitting pretty in her heart sweater and blends in with the rest of the stuffed animals on the bed.
While we spend hundreds of dollars on toys for our little ones, sometimes we need to remember that some of the simplest things can be the most entertaining. Colton got a kick out of scooping up the table decorations and dropping them back down onto the table and laughing at them when they fell. Whatever works!
Tonight Cameron received his Arrow of Light, which is the highest of all awards in Cub Scouts. He has worked for the last 3 years to receive this honor. We are proud of you Cam! He is excited to start Boy Scouts next month!
Ok. So it wasn’t romantic at all. I would prefer to be alone with my husband, dressed up, sitting at a nice quiet table, gazing into each other’s eyes, whispering sweet nothings. But that will have to wait. In the meantime, what’s better then spending Valentine’s Day with the ones you love the most? Who wouldn’t love these rugrats?
Justin said I looked tired in this picture. Well, I am. This was my day today: I got up (that’s the first step to a productive day), got the kids out the door, I went shopping to Hobby Lobby and Target for decorations, sheets, curtains, etc. for Colton’s room, decorated the room which included ironing curtains (I hate ironing), hung a shelf and curtains, picked up Wyatt from Kindergarten, made lunch for the kids, picked up Matti from preschool, made Valentine surprises for the kids to put on their beds for when they got home from school, looked at how much laundry I have to do, but didn’t do it, caught up on my blog, almost forgot to take Brit to piano, but got her there in time. Cleaned up the “special lemonade” that Wyatt and Matti made by dumping their BLUE Fun Dip into a cup and adding water, while spilling the powder all over the newly mopped and vacuumed kitchen floor, picked Brit up from piano, made dinner, organized my list, newspapers and coupons for the next bargain grocery shopping trip if I can ever get to the store, watched “Secretariat” with the kids, and collapsed in my bed to watch “The Bachelor”. Here I am. Getting geared up to do it all again tomorrow. I am looking forward to our Caribbean cruise in just a few weeks to recharge my batteries! And I am looking forward to spending the next 27 minutes of what’s left of Valentine’s Day with my hubby.
My body is tired. My back hurts from lifting heavy objects. We practically moved this weekend. Wyatt was in desperate need of his own room. Colton is a noisy, messy (and often stinky) roommate. In order to make this happen, Brooklyn had to move downstairs with the other 2 girls into Cam’s old room. Cameron moved across the hall to the Britney and Matti’s old room. Colton moved out of Wyatt’s room into Brooklyn’s old room. And this is the result:
Sometimes rules are broken. Ok, rules are broken all the time around here. When they are, the kids have to do a “Good Habit Card” which consists of chores, physical activity or kind deeds. Sweet little Matti needed a reminder to listen to mom the first time, so she is making a picture for a family member.
Out of five 5th Grade classes, 10 finalists were chosen to move on to the District –Level Science Fair. Cameron’s project on Hovercrafts was chosen as one of them. Yay!
I try to keep some semblance of order in the home. “Hang up your jacket”, “Put your shoes where they belong”, and “Keep your Nintendo DS in the case” are words spoken daily, and today is no exception. In fact, I find it interesting, almost comical, that our special needs 3 year old has the routine of taking off his shoes and putting them away immediately after walking in the door better than the older 5. Go figure?! It drives me crazy, but today I just had to shake my head, roll my eyes and smile. This is the life of a mother.
During the week of our sealing, temperatures hovered around 10-18 degrees. We somehow got lucky when they warmed up to the mid-30’s and it was tolerable to take photos without a blizzard, smog, pink runny noses, wind, or frostbite! Thanks to my sister-in-law, Krysta, we have these beautiful pictures to remember our temple wedding. I love them! This is just a small sample of our favorites. Enjoy!
Grandma Carmen refers to Matti as her “little sunshine”. So when we come in for our weekly visit to the “city”, Grandma likes to play with her. Today they made mosaics together.
Today is a day for bragging. After making a mad dash to multiple classrooms in a row (including Colton’s special ed teacher), parent-teacher conferences ended in delight! Our daily after school homework sessions resulted in words of praise and good grades for EVERY child. I couldn’t have been more pleased, and a sweet treat of McDonalds hot-fudge sundaes were well-deserved.
Putting their baking skills to the test again, Brooklyn and Britney baked sugar cookies. With supervision, they made 5 dozen heart-shaped cookies, did a wonderful job decorating them and surprisingly didn’t even get sick eating them. Can you say, “sugar overload” quickly 10 times?
