March '17- Week 2- Raking, Letter Ww, Games at D&L's, Aquarium, McK Braces, Letter Xx

Ben decided to write a letter to the Easter Bunny.  Can you tell his new obsession?  POKEMON!  

Wednesday Anna had a play date with Lizzy.  I took dinner that night to my friend Kylee who had surgery.  I had a conference call with my family that night.  

Thursday I hosted preschool and taught about the letter Ww.  We painted with watercolors and had waffles for snack.  

After preschool we packed a lunch and headed to a picnic in the park with cousins.  When we got home the weather was so beautiful I decided to do some yardwork-- raking pine needles!  Thank goodness for gravity helping on the downhill!  Our neighbor Jerry came by as he was going on a walk with his great granddaughter Chloe, and he was nice enough to take Ben with him.  

We went to Lowe's as a family that night and after family prayers Bethany said a new word, "Amen!" :)  

Friday I hosted preschool again.  We made a web, matched letter Ww things, ate gummy worms and wafers for a snack (which ended up being a total flop, the kids didn't really like them at all), and played "Where's Waldo" with Lego guys.  

We babysat cousins Clara and Henry in the afternoon and the boys drew and cut out Pokemon balls.  I also took a picture of Bethany's weird thing under her tongue.  It kind of looks like a canker, but it's really white.  She's had it one time before and it kind of coincides when she has a cold.  She doesn't seem to be bothered by it.  Oh well.  

After school McKenna had Hannah Hilbig over to play.  For dinner we went to Chick fil a so the kids could play at the play place.  After the kids were in bed I sanded and primed our closet doors and Dan painted the window and door trim.  

Saturday Ben and Anna had open gym.  After that, I took Ben and Bennet and Jordan to a classmate's birthday party at the Ogden Nature Center.  McKenna went to a couple stores with Dan and then worked on her book report.  We played Barbies in the afternoon while Dan attended a youth convert baptism for Jaron Nelson.  McKenna played with Camille and we painted doors in the garage and did a second coat on the trim inside.

We had a laundry folding party that night and painted a second coat on the doors.  Phew!  Busy busy day! 

Sunday snuggles with blankets!

Dan and I split the time with Bethany in Nursery during church.  We had Adam over for dinner then went to Dave and Laurie's for games and popcorn.  

This was Bethany during singing time-- "Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam." Before Adam came over, Ben set the table all by himself and unprompted and the girls loved playing dress-up together.  

Monday the kids didn't have school because it was a make-up snow day they hadn't used yet.  So we met Brynn and Swa at the Sea Quest Aquarium.  

In the afternoon we took Henry and Desi to the park with us.  Later the Lewises joined us.  For family home eveing that night we talked about the birth and betrayal of Jesus. After kids were in bed I worked on taping off for painting and Dan worked on changing out our outlets and switches.  Unfortunately we hit a road bump when Dan was doing the LAST outlet by our sink which was supposed to be GFCI.  He installed it wrong the first time and as he was trying to do it right the second time there was a screw that was being super difficult to go in.  Anyway, long story short, we had to turn the power off the whole house because we couldn't find the circuit that outlet was on.   And because the kid's nightlight was off, McKenna woke up (and woke up Ben) and had some major anxiety again and couldn't fall back to sleep till 1am!  

Tuesday morning we had to wake up early for an orthodontist appointment for McKenna to get her braces on!  6 weeks with the pallet expander already helped a ton to fix her cross bite!  She said it didn't even hurt and she actually felt pretty happy giddy about her new smile. :) Too bad it made her look super grown up! 

Anna learned about the letter Xx at preschool.  I love the eXcited faces at the bottom.  

I also went visiting teaching that morning and then went to a park in Woods Cross with Brynn, Swa, and Adam.  

Here's some cute Pokemon coloring from Ben! 

That night I did more taping off and knocked down some of the texturing "peaks."   We also managed to paint the first coat of gray pain on the walls that night!

March '17- Week 1- Dart Zone Date, Beginning of Bedroom Project, McK Fasting 1st Time, Anna No More Sippy Cups, Friends Over for Dessert

Wednesday Ben didn't have school due to Parent Teacher conference, so Dan took him to breakfast.  He had a fun day playing with friends!  He and Taggart copied and colored Pokemon guys.  Then Ben got to go back to Children's Museum with Bennett and his family.  

That afternoon we had McKenna's parent/teacher conference and received a wonderful report from her teacher.  She said McKenna is so trustworthy and smart, but she is humble about it.  :)

I went with Ben to his music class.  

That night after the kids went to bed we worked on moving our bedroom furniture out of our room so we could begin our improvement project.  Unfortunately, Anna, who we moved to sleeping downstairs, came down with a cough and was keeping McKenna up.  

Thursday Ben didn't have school again so he got to play at Taggart's house.  When McKenna got home she got to play at Camille's.  After dinner we have a dishes and dance party. I do dishes and the kids dance. :)  

That night Dan started framing our bedroom windows.  Unfortunately, Bethany was up with a croup sounding cough.  :(  We gave her some otterpops and sat outside in the cold for a bit and things calmed down enough she could go back to sleep.  

Friday we went to Ben's parent/teacher conference and also received a great report from his teachers.  They said he's reading and doing math at an end of first grade level.  We're so thankful for smart kids who learn things relatively easily!  We had Henry, Desi, and McKayla over to play in the morning and the Lewis kids in the afternoon.  

That night we went on a FUN triple date with the Alexanders and Puzeys to Dart Zone (where we took Ben for his 6th BD).  It was tons of fun and I was very sore the next day.  So out of shape.  

Saturday Dan went to the Church's Face to Face broadcast with the youth. While he was gone we tried a couple craft things the kids got as gifts.  We made a clay cupcake (using molds) and tried this knitting machine.  Dan then took the three older kids to our neighbor Grant Gunnerson's baptism.  As I was taking this picture of Ben I looked over and saw Bethany smiling and posing like this. :) 

After lunch I showered and started to fill the nail holes on our new window frames with putty and Dan caulked.  The kids enjoyed playing outside with the Alexanders.  We went grocery shopping, ate pizza, did baths, and more bedroom prep that night.  

Sunday McKenna tried fasting for the first time!  I was pleasantly surprised at how well she did; there was little to no complaining!  When Ben mentioned he wanted to try it next time, she quickly told him, "Oh no you don't!  This is not easy!"  I explained a little to Ben about what a great sacrifice it is to Fast and McKenna chimed in with, "Yeah, Heavenly Father knows this is a big sacrifice for me to fast because He knows how much I LOVE oatmeal!"  (We eat oatmeal every Sunday for breakfast.)

We played games as a family and with my sister but she had to hustle out because it started to SNOW!

Monday we decided to have Anna quit using sippy cups, cold turkey, and this was how she felt about it.  

Monday morning we also went to the paint store to continue on with our bedroom project.  That night we had Jesse and Brandon Menlove, and Ann Marie and Cory Birkholz over for dessert.  I totally lost sleep about making this dessert but it totally turned out great!!  I made something called Panna Cotta which basically means cooked cream!  It tastes like a vanilla custard thing with some fruit toppings. We had a quick FHE about Christ's baptism.  I also started coming down with a cold that I got from Anna and Bethany.  After the kids were in bed we painted the ceiling in our bedroom.  

Tuesday while Anna played at Desi's house, Bethany loved being alone and having free reign on all the toys! I got trapped under a sleeping Anna after lunch and reading time.   Dad was pretty pooped when he go home from work and dozed off while reading with the girls.  I just love Bethany's little pose.  

That night I did green paint touch-ups throughout the house while Dan textured our bedroom walls.  

Feb '17- Weeks 3 and 4- Preschool Letter Tt and Vv, Mantua, President's Day, Tree on our Roof, Temple Date, Capitol Tour, Ben 6 yr old Check,

Wednesday I picked up groceries while Ben and Anna were at Gymnastics.  Later, for some reason, McKenna was so sad and tired when it came time for her piano lesson that she just couldn't bring herself to go.  I also worked a lot on organizing and decluttering the desk and kitchen counters.  

Thursday Anna had preschool and learned about the letter Tt.  They made and played with trains!

I spent the morning cleaning and prepping to host my sisters-in-law for lunch! 

Grandma, Sam and Hailey, Brynn, and Laurie all came.  I made an Oriental chicken salad, grapes, and a mushroom asparagus appetizer.  The kids ate chicken nuggets and watched Peter Pan.  

Friday I babysat Oliver and Ellie in the morning.  I went to ladies lunch with a rather small group.  Then, that afternoon we packed and headed to Mantua for a sleep over with some ward friends! 

We invited the Wades (John and Emily), the Behunins (Nate and Kylee), the Days (Steven and Erica), and the McKameys (Russ and Brigette).  We had pizza for dinner.  Then after kids went to bed we played the newlywed game and again Dan and I didn't do well!  The Days had to leave late Friday night.

Saturday morning we made a big breakfast of pancakes, fruit, and bacon.  We just enjoyed talking, playing games, and being together.  After lunch Dan took the kids on a Ranger ride.  We cleaned up and left by 4:15.  

After we got home and kids were in bed, Dan and I had a great discussion about forgiveness and I realized I have been needing to work on and improve some things in my life in regards to that principle.    

Sunday Bethany still hated to be in nursery alone.  McKenna sat with Dan on the stand.  After dinner we played games as a family.  

Monday there was no school due to President's Day.  I tried to set up a park day with friends but it was too cold and windy.  So we got Dan's church keys and went to play in the church gym.  We ended up having 8 moms and 25+ kids come play, ride bikes and scooters, and generally burn off some energy! 

That afternoon I vacuumed and cleaned out the van.  Felt so good! 

 In the evening we babysat Amelia for a little bit.  After the kids were in bed, I was at our desk in the kitchen working on my UEN class and we could hear strong gusts of wind blowing outside.  

During a particularly strong gust, all of the sudden we heard a loud crash!  Since we knew we had a dead tree that had been leaning for a while, we pretty much knew what had happened.  And since the loud crash was right above where I was sitting at the desk, I BOLTED across the kitchen and into the family room where Dan had to hold me and calm me down.  I totally had visions and thoughts that  the tree was going to come through the roof and land on me! No fun.  

Thankfully the base of the tree only had a diameter about the size of a basketball.  And also thankfully, it landed on the roof that was just past the exterior wall of the house.  

There was one hole punctured through the roof that we filled with tar and "patched" it up that way.  

Tuesday my kids also didn't have school.  Anna went to preschool and McKayla Searle's birthday.  Dan worked on clearing the tree off the roof with our neighbor Jared Kump who was so nice to volunteer his help! Ben even got to climb a little on the roof and was pretty excited about that.  

Bethany took a nap that day at Grandma's house while we took the older three for $5 movie Tuesdays and saw the "Lego Batman" movie!  

We also had to take a picture in front of the Power Rangers poster.  

Wednesday I worked on my UEN class final project.  I had to teach a financial literacy lesson to some kids, so I chose to use my own.  I taught about scarcity by discussing the story "The Mitten."  

Thursday we had some snow.  I also had a girls camp meeting, and then attended the Bishops' Wives luncheon at Dan's mom's house.  Brynn was so sweet to babysit my kids and got this picture of Bethany adoring baby Charlie.  

The luncheon not only had delicious food, but we were able to relate to one another.  It was wonderful to know that all those women have felt the same things I have in the short time I've been a Bishop's wife.  Dan's mom gave a sweet spiritual thought about finding JOY as we support and sustain our husbands.  

My sweet friend Melissa brought over some homemade bread that day...SOO GOOOOD!!

 Bethany got into the paperclips and enjoyed "swimming" in them while I made dinner.  

Friday I did a bunch of planning and calendaring in the morning and put out St. Patrick's day decor.  

That afternoon Dan went to Mantua with the Teacher's Quorum.  I took the kids to the Cub Scout fundraiser Luau dinner.  Sweet Sister Freebarin noticed I was by myself and came to help me get my kids' plates of food.  :)  

Saturday Ben and Anna went to open gym then after grocery shopping the kids tried to do a little sledding and playing in the snow.  Dan got home from Mantua.  We had friends over to play in the afternoon.  Dan and I rearranged our bedroom furniture.  Mickelle came to babysit then Dan and I went on a dinner and Temple date to SLC.  It was a wonderful surprise to meet my cousin Marianne in the Salt Lake Temple as well!  That night the prayer circle was especially meaningful to me.  I heard some very specific counsel and guidance for me concerning forgiveness! 

Sunday church was very crowded due to Sherrie Cope's mission homecoming.  We also had YW New beginnings the third hour of church.  We also celebrated February birthdays at Webster family dinner.  That night McKenna had some major sleep anxiety and was up very late.  Unfortunately that made for a very difficult Monday morning.  

Monday I took McKenna later for school when I went to read with kids in Ben's class.  We babysat Ellie after that so Swa could go to a doctor's appointment.  

Monday night we attended our state representative, Becky Edward's, family night tour of the Capitol.  She takes her own personal time to give families tours of the Utah State Capitol every Monday night while the Legislature is in session.  We went with Dan's sister Brynn and fam as well as two other families with young kids.  Phew!  

Very interesting and informative...and she even lets the kids RUN across the main floor under the rotunda.  

 Tuesday Anna had preschool and learned about the letter Vv--for volcano! 

We also had Ben's 6 year old check up. 

Ben's 6 Year Stats

Height: 45in (2.5in increase in 1 year) 30th percentile 

Weight: 42lbs oz (3lb increase in 1 year) 25th percentile 

That night we planned out a home improvement project for our bedroom!  

Feb '17- Week 2- Zoo, Letter Ss, Ben's 100th Day, Roots Tech, Valentine's Day

Wednesday after school we took Henry, Desi, Brittana, and McKinley Ulmer to Deer Hollow Park with the zip line.  That night Grandma came to babysit while I went with Dan to Mutual.  It was a date night for the priests and their moms.  We played the newlywed game with 5 questions and did very poorly (2 out of 5 correct).  

Thursday in preschool we made snowman magnets, did sink or float, and ate spaghetti for a snack.  

As soon as preschool was over we went to the zoo with cousins (Brynn, Swa, Lara, and Gma)! 

We had to stop by Ugurt after as well! :) 

That afternoon I miraculously got everyone to take a nap because we were going to have a late night at the Utah basketball game.  

Friday I got to help with Ben's 100th Day of School!  I was at the station where the kids did 100 thumb prints to show "Thumbody is 100 days smarter!"  The same day, McKenna was having her culminating project for their unit on China. 

Jordan Slaugh and McKayla Searle played at our house that afternoon.  

In the evening, I attended a relief society activity.  We had dinner and then divided up for different crafts.  I signed up to make hair bows and bowties with just fabric and a glue gun.  So fun! 

Saturday morning Dan took Ben and Anna to open gym gymnastics and grocery shopping.  That afternoon my sister babysat while Dan, McKenna, and I attended the Roots Tech Conference to hear Grandfather and Wendy speak.  

After their talk, we walked around the vendor booths.  In the evening we visited my Condie Grandparents.  

Sunday my early Valentine's Day flowers were opening up nicely and looking so lovely, as were my kids and handsome husband!  

Though Bethany is still not loving nursery by herself, she does love playing with all the dolls and strollers in there!  She came home on Sunday and put the baby just like this in her walker, all on her own.  So smart. :) 

Monday I went visiting teaching both in the morning and afternoon.  

In the evening we went to the Nelson Family BD party.  

Tuesday was Valentine's Day!  

Anna had a lot of fun at preschool! They decorated cookies, counted hearts, decorated their envelopes, and passed out Valentines.  

McKenna's teacher also sent these cute class pictures.

That night I made a fancy dinner for my family as my Valentine's gift for them.  Steak, shrimp, baked potatoes, and peas.  Dan made cute heart shaped Twinkies for dessert.  

After dinner, the kids put on a cute show and sang love songs as their gift to us!