Jan. '17- Week 3- Sunbeams and Nursery, Pallet Expander, Letter Pp, Inauguration, Snow!, More Ben's BD

Sunday was a big day!  It was Anna's first time in Sunbeams and Bethany's first time in Nursery!  

Anna was a little nervous at first, but she warmed up quickly to her teacher, Sis. Jamison, who Ben had last year.  I was spying on her through the door window and found her digging for gold. ;) 

Bethany did great in Nursery as long as I was always near her.  And 2 1/2 months later that's still
true. :(   I had stake choir practice in the evening.  

Monday the kids had no school.  McKenna got her pallet expander put on.  The worst part for her was actually having to brush with MINT toothpaste after it was put on.  Poor thing cried and cried and spit into a cup for a good 30 minutes!  We went straight from there to get Keva Juice smoothies for lunch.  We have to crank it once every other night, so roughly 25 cranks.  I've been so impressed with how little she actually complains about it.  We also kind of make fun of her for how she says some words.  ;) 

The kids had friends over to play in the afternoon. 

Making clay charms.

Tuesday Anna learned about letter Pp in preschool.  They made pizzas.  

Painted, ate Popcorn during Puppet shows, did Puzzles and had a Pillow fight! 

That afternoon I swept & blew out the garage and McKenna tried out a tumbling class after hip hop, which she didn't really care for.  

Wednesday was a rough day for me.  It was super busy and full of running the kids around everywhere which is normal for a Wednesday.  However, on top of that, I felt like Ben's behavior was CRAZY for most of the day.  I'm not proud that I yelled at him a bunch.  For example, I needed to help the YW practice a song they're singing in church.  So we went straight from picking up Ben from music to the church at 6pm.  So it's dinner time too and the kids are restless.  Well, Ben and Anna decided to run back and forth from me (holding Bethany on my hip while trying to lead music) to the wall.  They were very distracting and disruptive during that practice so much so that I lost my place several times while leading.  Needless to say, once we got in the car I kind of let them have it and told them how naughty and embarrassing it was that they couldn't even sit still for 5 minutes while the girls sang.  After dinner, baths, and bed time, I was able to snuggle Ben a little and try to make up for my meanness of the day.  But mostly I was at a loss and needed to think of something that would help him be a better listener and more obedient.  

Thursday at preschool Anna got to have a Picnic, play the Piano and be a Piggy! 

That afternoon I listened to a podcast recommended by my sister-in-law, Brynn, from Power of Moms.  It was all about how to discipline with FUN!  The best idea I got from it was to start an "I'd Love To!" jar.  Just the thing we needed to create more peace and love in our home! Any time someone in the family is asked to do something, if the other person responds with, "I'd love to!" then we get to put a cotton ball in the jar.  When it is full, we get to go out for a treat as a family!  (*After a couple days of this jar being around, Ben was actually the child that responded the BEST to it! Hallelujah!)

I also started working on a 6 week online class for teacher relicense points about teaching financial literacy in the classroom.  

Friday was the Inauguration Day for our new president, Donald Trump.  I watched the news coverage for most of the morning and had many mixed feelings.  My thoughts are this: it's difficult to have a president I don't exactly want my children to look up to.  However, I will continually pray for him and hope that he makes wise and safe decisions for this amazing country we live in.
Anna had fun playing with McKenna's gel pens and writing on Bethany.  I'm pretty surprised Bethany actually let her.  And Bethany has a history of parts of her pajamas coming off sometime in the night.  we found her this time with her shirt totally off!!

In the afternoon Dan left for Mantua with the priests quorum for an overnighter.  Ben and Anna went to play at the Alexander's and McKenna and I made zucchini bread.  Unfortunately Ben had a fever when he went to bed that night.  

Saturday we woke up to LOTS of SNOW!  Ben still had a low fever so he snuggled ALL his stuffed animals and watched shows.  

We invited the Alexander girls down to play and sled in the snow!  

After a while outside the girls came in and we made snow cream with snow, evaporated milk, sugar, vanilla, and whip cream! 

Here's a cute video of McKenna's hip hop dance progress.   The first 30 seconds are improv, then the choreography starts.  Makes me so proud.  

Saturday night we had the January birthday Webster family dinner.  Ben got more Power Ranger stuff and was so excited!  

Jan '17- Week 2- Letter O, Ben BD Date with Gma, BYU Gymnastics, Sea Quest

Sunday church was cancelled due to freezing rain and dangerous road conditions.  However, Dan (and Ben) went to the Behunin's house to participate in their baby blessing of little Daisy.  At Webster family dinner that evening, we all listened to  Grandfather's CES fireside.  (Weather and roads were clear by dinner time.)

This whole week Dan volunteered at the school in carline.  

Monday, I finally put away Christmas decorations! 

Tuesday morning McKenna had an orthodontist appointment to have impressions made for her pallet expander.  I also had my bottom permanent retainer removed and impressions made for a retainer.
Later, I taught letter Oo at preschool.
We put things in Order, matched Owls, ate Oranges and cheeri-Os,

We also did a counting activity with Cheerios. 

Ben went on his birthday date with Grandma Sibber in the afternoon.  He got some awesome Power Ranger, Lego, and Star Wars stuff.  Seriously SO blessed and spoiled by Grandma Sibber! 

Menchies Fro Yo after shopping.  

Wednesday we started Anna in gymnastics and she absolutely loves it!  Almost every night when I put her to bed she asks if she had gymnastics in the morning.  Also, when McKenna got home from school that day, she decided to try to start Anna on potty training.  We may have told McKenna we would pay her $40 (cost of a box of diapers) if she would get Anna to be potty trained! We learned that day that Anna can hold her potty for about 7 hours!  Unfortunately, on day one of potty training she never actually went IN the potty.  

Thursday we tried Anna in underwear again and she had a little tinkle accident just before preschool. Then she stayed dry for several hours! In preschool we colored pictures of Olaf, had Olives and fruit loops for snack, made a giant Octopus with our bodies (Bethany helped), then jumped through Os.  

Right after preschool we went to Aunt Lara's for a sisters-in-law lunch. 

 Anna continued to stay dry! 

Dan was able to take time off work and go with Ben on his field trip to the Gateway Children's Museum.  Ben loves his friends Jordan and Bennet!

Anna finally had some success on the little potty in the afternoon!  That night we went with Dan's mom and brother Sam to the Utah Basketball game.  Unfortunately, because we had a babysitter that night, Anna had an accident just before bed.  

Friday Anna kind of rebelled against under wear at first, but later she went in the little potty around 10:30! We went to ladies lunch and again Anna stayed dry for a while.  That evening we headed to Provo for a fun family night! I cashed in on a Mother's Day gift to attend a BYU event ON CAMPUS.  We decided on the BYU vs. Utah Gymnastics meet.  The girls all dressed in cougar gear, and the boys supported the Utes.  

We also showed the kids the house I lived in my senior year at BYU and where Dan and I had our first kiss! 

Unfortunately, the fun of the evening was kind of shattered...literally.  We pulled into Dan's work parking lot in Murray to pick up his car and found that a rock had been smashed through the back window and his work laptop and wallet had been stolen!  So dumb!  

Saturday morning Dan went to a planning meeting with the youth and I helped the kids set up a mini nerf gun arena in our family room, then Ben and McKenna went to play at the Alexander's.  Dan had his car window replaced. I had Anna sit on the little potty and watch a show while she tried to go pee, but nothing happened.  Around lunch time, Anna decided she wanted to go get dressed and ran to her room.  I didn't think much of it when she came back in her clothes.  Then during lunch I noticed her bum looked saggy/bulgy.  I thought, oh no, she pooped in her underwear.  So I asked her if she had and accident and if she forgot she was wearing underwear.  She looked at me like I was crazy and said "NO."  Then I patted her bum and told her I think she had an accident.  She again said "No I didn't." Then I pulled down her pants to show her she was wearing underwear and I found that she was wearing a DIAPER!!  When she went in her room to get dressed she put a diaper on herself without telling me!  So that was the END of our potty training(for now)!  Here's her grumpy face after I said we need to try underwear again and she refused!  We have tried motivating her with treats, toys, Disney on Ice!  Her response is usually along the lines of "I don't care."  So... Who knows?!  

After Bethany's nap, we headed up to the Sea Quest Aquarium!  It was tons of fun but very crowded!  That was our fault for going during their grand opening weekend! We were able to pet the lizards and feed the parakeets.  

And because it was opening weekend they had a bunch of characters there too!

McKenna was a little too nervous to come in the bird enclosure and feed the parakeets, so she opted to spend her tokens on a fish pedicure.  She said it feels like your feet are waking up from being asleep.  So brave of her! 

After the aquarium we just went home for dinner, baths, and bedtime.  

Jan '17- Week 1- New Years!, HOME, Snow/sledding, Ben's BD date

Happy New Year!! 2017!!

Sunday, New Year's Day!  My parents had 1pm church, thankfully, so we could all sleep in.  We somehow all managed to have a WARM shower that morning AND make it to church ON TIME!  Because of such a fun filled week, we opted to go back home after Sacrament meeting and put all the kids down for naps.  I still kind of regret doing that because my parents stayed at church and I'm sure they would have loved to show off their family a bit and for the men to hear dad's lesson and the kids to be in Primary with Grandma. Dang! What stinkers we were. :(  We had leftovers for dinner and played more games that night as our last night together.

Monday morning my mom made some amazing Pioneer Woman waffles and McKenna and Kaitlyn, with my help, made smoothies for everyone.  We got everyone dressed, packed, cleaned up, then headed for the airport by 11:15am.  

Bethany was dancing and being adorable for Aunt Emily the whole way.  

McKenna took this selfie in the airport.  :)  We ate a packed lunch at the airport before boarding.  My sister Mickelle was on the same flights as us on the way home to UT, but she wasn't exactly sitting near us.  Also, we had a really big turbulent drop in the middle of the flight which really scared the crap out of me!  Not fun! 

I had Bethany for most of the flight from Atlanta to UT and she slept for NONE of it!  She also pooped twice.  So fun.  I mostly fed her snacks, wrestled with her, and tried to watch Big Bang Theory.  When we arrived we were disappointed to find my sister's luggage ripped and Bethany's shade on her carseat missing.  I would have stayed and complained but it was already 7:30pm and we were all SO tired and ready to be home!  Also, the saddest part of returning home was that I realize I left my journal on the plane!  :(  It was only my journal for September-December, but still, the last two months of blogging have just been based off my phone calendar and maybe not quite as detailed as I would have liked.  But oh well!  Life moves on.  We hurried and got the kids in bed, unpacked a little, and got the kids' backpacks ready for school the next day!  

Tuesday I just worked on getting organized.  Laundry, grocery shopping, unpacking, set up new calendars.  When McKenna got home from school, Bethany backed right up to her and sat in her lap.  

Bethany also pushed our new box of wipes over to the fridge to be a little seat for her while she played with magnets.  Anna learned about the letter Nn in preschool and made the planet Neptune out of play dough.  

Wednesday the kids had a lot of friends over to play.  In the evening I took dinner to my friend Jen whose son had his tonsils out that day.  

Thursday there was a 2 hour delay for school due to heavy snow! Because of that delay, Ben's kindergarten was cancelled all together.  He was lucky enough to have a play date with a friend while Anna was at preschool.  That evening we had a consultation for solar panels.  After that I worked on Ben's VIP poster for school the next day.  After kids were in bed, Dan and I watched a movie on Netflix.  

Friday Dan went into school with Ben first thing in the morning to do his VIP spotlight.  

After homework, the kids took advantage of our sloping yard and went sledding and played in the snow! Ben's really ok in that picture.  I think he was just tired.  Though, he did hit one of our trees a couple times going down.  Anna mostly loves to eat the snow! 

My sister came and babysat the girls that night while Dan and I took Ben on a birthday date!  

He chose dinner at Pizza Pie Cafe.  They even gave him a free pizookie dessert.  He was so sweet at dinner and told us he loves having us as his mom and dad.  He even called me the cutest girl he's ever seen! He also said he wants to be a dad when he grows up and do whatever he wants. After dinner, we took him to Dart Zone, a Nerf Gun arena!  He loved being able to shoot and run around, though he didn't always go out when he got shot.  I traded teams at one point so he would have someone he knew on the opposite team to shoot at and he totally talked smack and told me I was going down! 

Unfortunately we ended the night with Dan not feeling well.  I talked to my siblings for a bit, decorated for Ben's actual BD the next day, then went to bed.  

Saturday my sweet baby boy turned 6!!  We're glad we could celebrate the night before because his actual birthday was quite busy with other things.  Dan made chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast, then we all got ready for cousin Whitney's baptism!  On Ben's note to Whitney, he wrote, "Your special day and mine."  :) 

The three "fashion cookies" (a nickname they gave themselves when they were maybe 4).  

After Whitney's baptism, we unfortunately couldn't stay for the luncheon because we needed to go to another baptism for one of our ward friends, Johanna Lewis (Jojo), which Dan conducted.  After that, Dan took the baby girls home to rest while I took Ben and McKenna to the Lewis's pizza party luncheon.  McKenna and Anna then went to the Alexanders to play in the snow.  I took Ben grocery shopping so he could choose one BD present which was a new Nerf Gun! After baths that evening, we went to a wedding reception for Dan's first counselor's son, Matt Turley.  When we got home Ben finally got to blow out his birthday candles in ice cream!  

Ben’s 6-year-old Birthday Interview (Jan. 7, 2017)

What is you favorite color? Red and green, black, white, brown, purple, aqua

What is your favorite toy? Power Ranger Dino Chargers and Mega Zords

What is your favorite fruit? Pears, apples,

What is your favorite TV Show? Power Rangers

What is your favorite movie? Moana

What is your favorite thing to eat for lunch? Bologna and Cheese sandwich  

What is your favorite outfit to wear? Power Ranger shirt

What is your favorite game to play? Hide and Seek

What is your favorite snack? Fruit leather

What is your favorite animal? Sting Ray and baby pandas

What is your favorite song? Power Rangers

What is your favorite book? Comic books

Who is your best friend? Jordan and Bennett

What is your favorite cereal? Kix

What is your favorite thing to do outside? Play in the snow

What is your favorite thing to drink? Pink milk

What is your favorite holiday? Easter and Christmas

What do you like to take to bed with you at night? Puppy

What is your favorite thing to eat for breakfast? Toast

What do you want to have for dinner? Tatertot casserole, sausage corn potato soup

What do you want to be when you grow up?  A really good dad

What is your favorite thing to do with our family? Go to Legoland

What’s your favorite thing to do in school? Recess when it’s warm, and counting days 

Dec- Week 4- Florida- Beach, Temple, Shooting, New Year's Eve

The day after Legoland, my brother unfortunately had to return to UT to get back to work, so we missed him!  We took it easy in the morning, then after lunch we headed to the beach.  Unfortunately, traffic was pretty bad so it took us an hour and half to get there, though once we got there all was well!  The kids didn't even care how cold the water was...they got right in!  We were also "lucky" enough to be right next to some very LOUD Latin music the entire time.  Even though it was annoying at times, I still couldn't help but dance!  Besides swimming, the kids each also took a turn (except Anna and Bethany) being buried in the sand.  And Dan helped Ben make this throne!  

Traffic was also bad on the way home.  We had taco salad for dinner that night.  

Friday we left brave Aunt Pickle with all the kids to babysit while the rest of us drove to the Orlando Temple!  We arrived a little too late to do a session (and didn't want to wait for the next one to start) so we did sealings!  What a great experience!  

We had lunch afterwards at Noodles and Co.  We made it home later than we expected but were glad to find everyone safe and mostly happy.  A HUGE thanks to Mickelle!  

We had Hawaiian Haystacks that night for dinner.  After the kids went to bed, we played Watch Your Mouth!  Oh my goodness we laughed SO hard and had a blast!  

 Super unfortunately those dang mouth things gave me two huge canker sores.  So dumb how sensitive my mouth is sometimes.  

 Saturday was New Year's Eve and also my niece Kari's 12th birthday!!  The men folk left around 8am to go shooting.  The women folk stayed home, got the kids all fed and dressed and then we joined them.  I even shot once!  Just enough to feel the kick back in my shoulder and say that's enough.  

 The Smiths brought a smaller kid sized gun for the kids to try.  Ben loved it! McKenna liked it alright.  

 The ear protection was very important and sometimes fought over.  But check out those cheeks getting squished!! 

 From shooting we went out to lunch at a Cuban sandwich place my dad often goes to for lunch since it's right by his office.  After lunch we drove out to see the church owned gravel pit... Long story short, it's part of a real estate development plan.  (Out of order, the bottom pictures were taken at the stroke of midnight!  Happy New Year!)

Kari made her own birthday dinner, white salfredo (sausage alfredo).  Then we ate and headed to a drive-in movie!  I love that it was warm enough on Dec. 31st to go to a drive in!  However, the humidity was quite high so we all came home damp.  After we got home, we had cake and ice and cream and Kari opened presents! 

 Then we headed outside for fireworks!  Grandpa even bought some roman candles! 

 Again, ear protection was very important!  

 Other pictures from the Florida trip I can't remember exactly when they happened.  

Ben riding shotgun with Dan looking all grown up.  Crafting with Grandma! And lots of snuggles with Aunt Pickle! 

Cousin bonding time with my old Light Bright!

These two really did grow a lot closer during this trip! So great! <3 nbsp="" p="">

 Dylan and Ben got the same Lego set that could transform into three different things.  

 We tried a couple of times to let all the kids (minus Bethany, even though she's in this picture) have a sleepover together in the upstairs game room.  However, our kids always ended up back in our family bedroom either because they were goofing off too much or because they were having a hard time sleeping. 

Our kids also wanted to try the mouth game too.  But only for a second.  These are even smaller kid sized mouth pieces and they still look huge on Ben.  

After fireworks on New Year's Eve, I enjoyed sweeping the street! :)  Then we put the kids to bed, watched the Time's Square Ball drop, then went to bed ourselves.  So long 2016!  It's been a great year with big changes for our family and we recognize we are so blessed!  We look forward to what this next year holds!