Court of Honor, Easter Activities, and Lemonade! 3/25 - 3/31/2018

The girls can be so fun sometimes, playing make believe and doing things together.  They really do have a special connection with each other. 

 Chris and the girls play with the magna-tiles frequently.  Usually they share pretty well.  Sometimes we have to divide everything up evenly, even by color. :)

Monday was crazy busy, I left the house at 9:45 and didn't really get home until 7:30.  I did a bunch of errands and then rushed home to go visiting teaching, and then ran to the church to help set up for dress rehearsal, then pick up the kids from school and a quick trip to the store for something I needed for dinner and then back to the church for dress rehearsal. (All while putting in the next load of laundry between each activity).  Grateful for Damon's and Doug's help keeping things going when I'm not home.  

 This was Doug's first Court of Honor as the new Scout Master.  He did a great job.  Damon was master of ceremonies and he did a great job too.  Damon earned quite a few merit badges this time since he finally finished the three he had been working on for months.  He received: personal fitness, family life, personal management, digital technology, programming, and mining in society.  The last three he did at a merit badge clinic.  He is getting close to earning his Star, he just needs a few more service hours.

 Soccer and piano keeps us busy on Tuesday and Wednesday.  I don't like driving Tyler to piano at 4:30, there are a lot of cars on the road with crazy drivers.  But it's still worth it, he is getting better and learning lots.  This week it was raining really hard and the roads were flooding a bit. I was white knuckle on the steering wheel the whole time and was really grateful when we made it home safe.

I did a big trip to Kroger because they had some canned items on sale. They have to put in each can separately so my receipt was crazy long!

Thursday was our RS activity.  Instead of doing a dinner for the birthday celebration we did some service projects.  I helped sew a weighted blanket and I brought a very yummy white chocolate raspberry cheesecake.  I was kind of bummed that I only got a small taste at home, they went pretty fast at church.

 Friday was Good Friday so the kids had the day off of school. In the morning someone came and picked up our old piano - Doug also had the day off so he was able to help wheel it onto the trailer.  The person buying it ended up just living down the street so that was nice that they didn't have to move it very far.

It was the perfect weather and we went to the beach with some friends in the morning.  I packed a lunch and so we stayed until 2 or 3:00.  Tyler took off his shirt part way in and I forgot to put sunscreen on his back, so he got sunburned pretty bad.  The kids love this beach and I love how close it is.  Cleaning up sand is a bit of a pain, but I'm grateful for washing machines.

 After the beach and dinner I went over to the church to help with The Barefoot Theater Company's production of Lemonade.  We did a quick run through and then the show started at 7:00.  There was a good audience, they even had to set up more chairs.  Natalie and I had gone over earlier in the morning to set up the backdrop and Damon and Tyler had set up the chairs.

The show was great, the kids did the best they had ever done and were loud enough most of the time.  I had hinted to a mom to get flowers for Natalie and she surprised me with flowers too.  They were a huge bouquet.  We quickly took down everything and left the building at 8:05 (we started at 7:10 - so to do the show and clean up in under an hour was phenomenal).  Then Natalie, Haley, Laisa, and I went out for ice cream to celebrate Haley's birthday.  I got my favorite at Cold Stone: oreos and raspberries in sweet cream ice cream.  Mmmmm, so good.

Notice the red curtain backdrop, I ironed and sewed all of those - that took awhile. :)

Saturday we had time to do our normal cleaning before conference started.  The kids do a great job of watching even on Saturday.  We dyed eggs during the morning session and then had our egg hunt after lunch.

 Everyone loves dad!

 I really tried to stay away from candy this year.  I only bought one bag of jelly beans and then used some lifesavers and laffy taffy's that I had in the cupboard. We didn't take them to any other egg hunts either - oh well, Easter isn't about the candy right?  They get more excited about the legos and money anyway.  The boys all got a small set and the girls got some Shopkins and $1.00 each.

Doug and Damon went out with friends for dinner then watched the priesthood session at a friend's house.  The new announcement about the merging of quorums was exciting. 

Choir Concert, Color Run, and Paint the Path Pink 3/18 - 3/24/2018

Monday I was in a lot of pain.  I had Doug give me priesthood blessing and I went back to bed after the kids left for school.  I felt better when I work up.  Grateful for tender mercies.

Thursday Tyler had his 5th Grade Spring Choir Concert.  They did a great job.  We really like his choir teachers, they pick great songs and the kids seem to enjoy singing.  

Friday the 2nd grade got to participate in the Color Run.  They sprinkle colored powdered at the kids as they run by.  Chris had very blue bath water when he got cleaned up.  

 Saturday was busy.  We left early to participate in a 5K run/walk for cancer.  One of Doug's coworkers is a survivor and his work helps sponsor this event.  Damon didn't come because he was helping with the scout fundraiser of aerating lawns.  We all made it the whole 5K, the girls too.  They were tired, but we listened to music and encouraged them along the way.  It was great to cross the finish line with a drum line and the Chick-fil-a Cow welcoming us. 

Doug then went to help the scouts with the fundraiser and the rest of us had a full sports day.  We had originally planned to drop Damon off at soccer and then go to the mall, but Tyler wanted to watch Damon's game and then there wasn't enough time to go after that.  So we just all watched Damon's game, then went to watch Tyler's 2 football games.  It was his last day of the season and they needed to make up a game due to all of the rain cancellations.  Damon does pretty well at soccer, he just needs to be more aggressive.  Tyler did well his first game and caught a great pass and ran it in for a touchdown, they won that game.  They did pretty well the second game but just couldn't catch up and ended up losing.  Tyler enjoyed the season.  

The kids did a great job all afternoon/evening watching, playing, and coloring.  We ate packed dinners while watching Tyler's last game.  I was so grateful for the great weather.  It was cloudy and not too hot. We were all tired by the end though.  I had promised them ice cream at McDonald's afterwards, but then when we got there they were remodeling inside.  So we decided to just have some at home. 

 

Then Doug and I quickly got the kids to bed and went over to the Miller's for game night.  We got a call from Damon a bit later saying the Kaylee was crying so we had to go home a bit early.  She was complaining of an ear ache - but she was fine in the morning which was good.  

Long busy day! 

Spring Break! 3/11 - 3/17/2018

Spring Break was a fun week, but definitely not a break for me.  I wanted to keep the kids busy so we wouldn't be fighting at home as much.  That was true, but I may have over done it a bit for me.  

Monday morning we planted flowers.  The kids did a great job of helping and now our front walkway looks so much better.  After that we went to a park we like.  It started out a bit chilly while we ate our lunch, but it was perfect while we were playing.  I enjoyed playing ultimate frisbee and soccer with the boys.  One other family joined us which was fun for the kids.  

 Tuesday we wanted to play poison ball but found out that someone else was using the gym.  So we went over to the park and the kids played poison ball in the tennis court.  It was a beautiful day.  We went home and had lunch then went to our 'secret beach.'  The last time we went was during Christmas break so the kids were excited to go back.  We had a big rain storm earlier in the month and it had washed away a lot of the beach, but it made a cool cliff that the kids had fun climbing and carving into.  We invited two families, but only one could make it.  This was their first time and they loved it too.

 After baths I went to the grocery store and we had dinner then I took the younger 4 to Sk8 Town.  They were having a cheaper day because of Spring Break.  It was crazy busy, but we had fun anyway.  I was afraid that the girls were going to get run over, but they were very confident and just went with the flow.  We left unscathed which I think was a minor miracle.  Kaylee was so so tired, it had been a very full and fun day.

After the kids went to bed I still had a lot to do.  I made muffins and hamburger patties, cut up chicken, did the dishes, cooked sausages, and filled out waivers for our activity tomorrow.  It was 12:30 when I went to bed.  Whew! 

 Wednesday morning I made a pumpkin pie because it's Pi day (3.14) and I had a GNO activity in the evening that I needed to bring a pie to. 

Then we went to a new place called Obstacle Warrior Kids.  It's a place that is like a mini Ninja Warrior.  There is one main obstacle course and then a little kids area and a bigger kid area and a dodge ball room.  It was pretty fun, but you needed a lot of upper body strength to do most of the obstacles, so most of us skipped those parts.  I made it up the 10 foot warp wall which I felt pretty proud of. :) 

 After lunch  the girls and I took a nap - we have been playing hard this week!
Then we went back to the beach because everyone loved it so much yesterday.

 We couldn't stay too long, I had to make dinner and watch a friend's baby while they went to the Rodeo.  I took a quick shower and then he showed up.  He didn't eat very well and was pretty fussy, but once he fell asleep he was fine. 

I went to my GNO and had fun eating pie and trying a new crust recipe.

Thursday the older kids played poison ball and Jenna and Kaylee played at a friends house.  I needed this time to get us all packed to go camping.  It's crazy how much work goes into camping. I made so much food and prepped food to make it easier while we were there.  I pre-cooked the pancakes which took a long time but made it so easy in the morning.  I made a pasta salad for dinner and I marinated the chicken for Friday night and made rice krispy treats.  Doug did some errands in the morning and then helped finish packing.  We left around 4:00.  We went to the Lake Houston Wilderness Park.  I love this place because it is only 25 minutes away and the camp site is great, lots of trees and a big open area for the kids to play in.  We drove separately so that we could bring their bikes. 

Thursday we just set up camp and then grilled hamburgers for dinner.  Two other families joined us, the Hopes and the Thomases.  We divided up some of the food assignments so that made things easier.  It was a bit of a process to get it all figured out, but it worked out well in the end.  We all played lots of games and had fun just visiting and playing around.  There was this big tree right in our area that the kids had fun on.  There were a lot of mosquitoes out which was a bummer, but we lived through it.

This picture has almost all of the kids, missing Damon, Jenna, Aaron and baby William.  My two girls among 11 boys.

 Friday we had our pancake breakfast and then waited for the rain to pass - on our radar it showed that it was just going to be a small band passing by.  I was grateful that was all - it rained during the night and woke me up a couple of time, but at least it was pleasant for us during the day. After the rain we went on a hike/walk to the Nature Center.  Some of us stayed there and looked around and played while Doug took Tyler and some others on a longer hike to pass off a Webelos requirement for Tyler. 

 We had lunch and the kids just kept playing games: Sushi Go, One Night Werewolf, Sleeping Queens, Cover your Assets, Slamwhich.  They were having fun and no one really wanted to go play at the beach - since we had already done that twice this week, so we just stayed at camp. 

We did dutch oven potatoes for dinner, everyone was in charge of their own meat.  We grilled some chicken.  My friend Jen made apple cobbler that was quite yummy.  Our friend Laisa was going to join us for dinner and bring a salad and rolls, but she didn't end up coming until 7:00 so we just ate our dinner without those.  :)  We did s'mores each night of course which the kids enjoyed and bubbles the second night that Laisa brought up.  The second night we put the game table in our pop-up shelter that has a netting attachment so we didn't get eaten by the bugs as much.  We had fun playing a new game called Were-words.  It's a mixture of One Night Werewolf and 20 questions. 

Saturday we had a easy breakfast of muffins, juice, fruit, yogurt and donuts.  Then we packed up and went home.  It takes so long to clean up everything.  Doug and boys pitched the tent in the backyard to air it out and we hung up all of the sleeping bags on the railing.  It is a lot of work to go camping, but it is a lot of fun while you are there. 

New Piano, Wax Museum, Pinewood Derby, 3/4 - 3/10

The beginning of this week was especially busy.
Sunday - We had a very nice fast and testimony meeting, the spirit was very strong.  My lesson went pretty well, the kids weren't too chatty.

Monday - I was gathering up a prop I needed for Tyler's costume when I received a text from my piano tuner.  (I had been asking him for advice on buying used pianos)  He told me that he was tuning a piano and that the family was going to sell it.  He said it was in great condition and that it was a good deal.  I was so excited!  I had been looking a lot for the past 2 weeks and hadn't been able to find a nice piano in the price range we were hoping for.  So I called the lady who was selling and it and made plans to go look at it that day.  I had to hurry and go grocery shopping, and then after I put the food away and drove up to her house (50 min away). 

The piano looked so nice.  It was older, 1975, but in really good shape.  There was some fading on the front of the keys, but the ivory was still great and it sounded so nice.  It was a Yamaha which was an extra plus since I know that they are usually very nice pianos.  Anyway, I stayed and visited with her for a while and told her that I would like to buy it.  I had stopped by Wells Fargo before I left so I had some cash on hand.  She wrote me a reciept and I told her I would arrange for some movers to come pick it up during the week.  I was so excited to have found a good piano!!  I drove back home and had a few minutes to spare before I had to pick up the kids. 

On Mondays I've been helping my friend with a show that she is putting on: "Lemonade."  It is a cute show.  So I always have dinner in the over or in a crock pot so that Damon can help get that started before I get home.  We had to be quick this time because Tyler had his Wax Museum project in the evening.  In 5th grade the students choose a person to do some research on and they write a report.  Then they make a poster at home and dress up like them and pose for the evening while family walks around the walls looking at all of the historical figures.  It is pretty fun.  Tyler said he got pretty bored just sitting there, but he made a very nice Theodore Roosevelt.  He was just fine picking the same person as Damon so we could use the costume again.  Thank you Tyler!

Tuesday - I was a little selfish and went to see The Greatest Showman again. I just loved it and really wanted to see it in the theater again.  I was a little disappointed that the sound didn't seem as good the second time.  The probably just had it turned down since it was a matinee, but I still enjoyed the show. 

We had the pinewood derby Tuesday evening.  This was Chris's first one and he was pretty excited about it.  We tried to tell Tyler and Chris to not get their hopes up too much since some of the dads in the ward really spend some time on their cars and we don't.  The bummer about the night was the track.  Doug had gone over the night before to help set it up and they couldn't get the computer part of it working.  They thought they just needed the cars to get it to work, well it still wasn't working.  They finally got some help and figured it out, but it took 45 minutes.  We didn't start racing until 7:50.  It was a good thing we didn't have too many cars and so we were done about 8:15 - they were good and keeping the races going.  Tyler was pretty sad that his car didn't do very well.  His car just kept shaking back and forth hitting the track.  Chris did ok, but not great.  Chris ended up getting 3rd in his den (but I think there are only 4/5 boys in his den) and Tyler didn't place.  He was pretty sad since this was his last time, but oh well - he did like the look of his car so that was good.

Wednesday - I went shopping with my friend Kari to celebrate her birthday.  We went to Ross and spent all of our time there.  I was determined not to buy too much since we had spent a lot on the piano and tires for the truck and van, but the problem was that I kept finding the things that I had been looking for for the past few weeks.  So I ended up getting a new purse, sunglasses, work-out leggings and a tie for Doug.  I also bought a new shirt just for fun.  I felt kind of guilty afterwards, but really I would have bought these things anyway, I just happened to find all the ones I wanted at the same time.  Kind of good and bad at the same time. 

Wednesday afternoons are kind of busy now.  Tyler has started taking real piano lessons and the teacher lives 25 minutes away.  So this week I had Tyler ride his bike to a meeting point and I drive from there to take him.  The traffic is so bad that we really have to hustle to make it in time. I love his  teacher, we are doing the Suzuki method, along with regular music reading.  Tyler and I have both learned so much already.  I'm excited to watch Tyler grow and become a great musician. 

Doug took Damon to soccer in the evening and I had book club after the kids went to bed. 

Thursday and Friday were a little bit easier - nothing going on in the evenings.  I had been talking to moving companies on Tuesday and Wednesday and picked one to have it delivered on Thursday.  So that afternoon it was delivered.  I was afraid that they would come while I was picking up the kids from school, but we got home right as they were pulling up.  It looks so pretty and everyone is having fun playing it.  I got out some of my old piano books and played through some of my songs.  It brought back a lot of memories. 

Out with the old: bought on craigslist in Vernal

In with the new!

Friday I helped in the library at school and then the kids got out early for Spring Break.  We went to a park and enjoyed the great weather.  It isn't too hot yet, but it is coming.  So we have to take advantage while we can.

Saturday we cleaned and Doug took Tyler to football.  They lost and Tyler didn't play very well.  Hopefully he will learn from his mistakes and do better next week.  Doug and Tyler picked up some flowers and mulch on the way home.  That will be our project on Monday.