Feb.- Rest of Week 3 and some 4- Babysit Winegars, 100th Day of School, Eli's Party, Preschool

While we were gone in Hawaii, we were so blessed to have wonderful family members taking care of our crew back home.  These are all the pictures they took of our kids and shared with us.  

Dan's sister Sarah Jane (and Jake)...

my brother and sister...

Sam and Lara...

And Adam and Pidi!  Thank you all so much! 

We got home Monday morning around 8:15am after stopping for a quick McD's breakfast.  The kids were already up and eating breakfast as well, and thankfully, since it was President's day, McKenna did not have to go to school.  That morning (and day) we had also previously volunteered to babysit the Winegar kids while Swa and Jake were on a cruise.  We spent most of the morning cleaning, organizing, doing laundry, unpacking etc. while the kids played great together, which was very helpful.  The babies were especially helpful when Dan was doing the dishes.  

Dan also took the big kids out for a little walk because they wanted to deliver some Valentines to neighbors.  Thankfully, Dan decided to stay home from work and we each had a brief moment to nap at some point during the day.  But, boy do I look pretty hashed giving Ellie her last bottle before bedtime.  And miracle of all miracles, all 6 children slept through the night!!  Phew!!  

Tuesday morning, McKenna was off to school like normal and then Brynn came and picked up the Winegar kids for her day of babysitting.  I had a doctor's appointment that day to check on baby #4 and all looked good.  

On Wednesday McKenna had a playdate after school with two neighbor girls.  We also played a little outside...hooray for the nice weather!  Ben drew his first distinguishable person.  This is a self-portrait (on the left).  :)  Later in the week, he also left some "tracks" for me to follow one night after dinner as he was headed to the potty before changing into jammies.  Such a silly boy! 

Thursday I volunteered in McKenna's classroom.  The weather was nice enough that we did homework on the front porch while Ben was at Preschool and Anna napped.  

Friday was McKenna's 100th day of school!  I volunteered to go help out in her classroom for their "party."  I was in charge of a station where they got to write about what they would do with $100.  Most of them were petty realistic and they just wrote down a few toys they wanted.  

This was a picture of herself she decorated to make herself look 100 years old.  

Dan went on a campout that night with the 14-15 year old boys from the ward. After the kids went to bed, I spent the evening writing thank you notes and watching TV.  

Saturday we did the usual grocery shopping then attended cousin Eli's 4th BD party at Grandma's house.  

Monday Ben and McKenna both got haircuts and I babysat cousins Eli and Lola in the afternoon.  That evening, my brother babysat Anna while we took Ben and McKenna to the Jazz (vs. Spurs) game.  We ate dinner at the Gateway food court before the game and made it on time for the kids to see all the fun pre-game and introduction stuff.  

While Dan was out getting some concessions with Ben, the 1/2 Bear came right over to our seats and sat down by Kenna.  He scared both of us at first.  Then I scrambled to take a few (blurry) pictures.  

Overall the kids loved it, but definitely started getting tired shortly after halftime and asking when we could leave.  The picture on the right is Ben snuggling me with his head in my hood.  

Tuesday was cousin Truman's birthday, so we met some cousins at McDonald's to play and eat lunch.  As soon as McKenna bit into her hamburger, she lost her first top front tooth.  It literally fell out to the ground and we had to search a little for it.  She was pretty embarrassed because she was so worried how the look of her smile would change, but I finally got this picture of her "new" smile while I hosted preschool later that afternoon.  We were doing the letter "Uu" and ate our snack UNDER the table.  :)  

We also made some Ukuleles out of boxes.  

The next few pictures are from the end of February but I don't exactly know when they were taken.  

Anna found a new love for headbands. 

She loves to copy her older siblings.  Also, whenever I sit down with the laptop, she climbs up on the couch next to me and sits by me and shares my blanket.  :) 

Ben was creatively helping us move stuff around the house to prepare for our visitors.  He also had to try out the headband.  

Two Instagram posts: Ben's awesome bed head! One of my favorite things about McKenna being able to read is that she can read books to and help entertain Anna. :) 

Wednesday, I ran a bunch of errands and finished getting ready for some visitors we had coming. 

Wednesday bath night, I let the kids try out some new bath crayons.  They loved having something new to do in the tub and they wash off just as easily as I had hoped!  

 Late that night, Dan went to the airport and picked up my brother-in-law, Justin (married to my sister Emily) and their three oldest kids.  Emily and their youngest, had flight troubles and didn't make it in town until the next day.