April '17- Week 4- LPM Recital, Moms At Hip Hop, Dentist, Tball, Underwear for Anna, Jazz Game

Saturday morning I ran 2 miles and cleaned up while Dan took the kids to open gym and picked up groceries then we went to Brittana Alexander's baptism!  We're so grateful to have the Alexanders as our friends!  

Brittana's Grandma Jyl Marsden gave probably one of the best talks I've ever heard about being born again!  Brittana giggled through most of her confirmation and said she didn't know why.  I think she just felt the spirit super strong and didn't know how to contain that joy!  We went to the luncheon afterwards.  When we got home, Dan' mowed the lawn and I worked on inside organization.  

We left around 3 for Ben's Let's Play Music recital!  He had a small class this semester and continued to make great progress!  He was mostly very serious during the performance but was still the only one dancing during one of his songs.  

Turtle Shells featuring Ben playing the intervals! 

Music Alphabet

If I Practice Every Day

After the recital we let the kids play at a nearby park for a bit.  We then went home, had leftovers for dinner, did baths and bedtime, and Dan went over his lesson for the combine youth for Sunday.  

Sunday morning after breakfast the kids played so well together for a very long time.  It was so nice.  Anna seemed to not be feeling well right before church and maybe had a low fever.  So I gave her meds right away and she was fine the rest of the day.  I substituted in primary and took these pictures of my cute kids being helpers!  

The best news of the day was that Bethany stayed in Nursery the whole time by herself!  The leaders were so great and endured her crying for a good 15 mins but she finally calmed down!! 

We had Adam, Amelia, and Mickelle over for dinner that night.  Dan and I watched the Jazz game and went to bed.  

Monday Brynn babysat the girls while I volunteered in Ben's class.  I then babysat Ivy Roth for most of the day.  We also had Avery Cardall, Taggart Lewis, and Camille over for play dates later.  We went to the Nelson Family Party that evening. 

Tuesday I went visiting teaching to Shelly.  In the afternoon I attended McKenna's dance class with her as part of parent appreciation week!  It was so fun and even more fun to have neighbors there!  

McKenna was so cute and said I didn't even embarrass her.  She also had some great follow-up questions like, "Was it what you expected?  Was there anything that surprised you?"  

Wednesday the kids all had dentist appointments and I'm thankful to report there were NO cavities!  They always have such a good time there!  

McKenna had piano and Ben had a playdate with his friend Sam from school.  We also had the Dandurands over for dinner that night.  They have no kitchen due to a burst pipe and they had to tear everything out!  That evening Dan sat on a panel for our Stake Standards Night and answered some pretty deep and intense questions from our youth.  

Thursday I had a girls camp meeting with Erica Day and found out she's pregnant!  After that meeting, I took Anna to the store to buy new underwear because we were going to "run out of diapers" and it was her suggestion get new undies.  Dan and I decided to create a "crisis" and follow her lead and see what she would do.  So when she said we buy new underwear, we buy new underwear!  She chose Elena of Avalor! She also had a big week at preschool and wrote all her numbers without any help from the teacher.  

I also saw this darling little avatar from Starfall.com that Anna created.  She is dressed in all pink and even had pink hair in cornrows!  

Thursday afternoon I made anzac biscuits with Ben.  They are Australian cookies for his special 7 continents activity.  That night we had another Tball game that was a little cold.  

Aunt Lara came and took some awesome pictures though! 

Friday I asked Ben to go play with Bethany before school and he climbed on in the crib to read to her.   She was pretty pleased about it.  Ben also made a pokemon ball out of Legos by following some instructions he found online.  Such a smarty!  

Friday I also went to Ben's classroom to help present about the Australian continent for their culminating activity.  I also happened to snow that day.  Dan was home with the girls while I was at the school in the morning. After lunch, he gave me an early Mother's Day present and I went shopping for a new bra by myself!  Brittana and Desi came over to play in the afternoon and we also "ran out of Anna's diapers!"  It took a little bit of practice and coaching, but Anna for most part got the hang of #1 AND #2  in the potty very quickly!  

Dan was lucky enough to attend the Jazz playoff game that night with Sam and Adam.  We didn't win that night, but we did end up winning that series.  

Saturday was a normal morning of running errands.  Then my sister came to babysit and we had a marathon date!  We went to the temple and got to be the witness couple.  We ate a hole in the wall Afghan cuisine place downtown before heading to a cousin's wedding reception at Memory Grove.  Such a great night to be together!  

Sunday I introduced the kids to the "Parent Trap" movie and they liked it.  Dan did an excellent job teaching the 3rd hour to all the combined adults about testimonies and relationships.  Anna had to learn the hard way about how to hold up your dress while going pee in the big potty.  But again, she was catching on really quickly to this potty thing!  She even wears underwear at night and stays dry as long as we wake her up before we go to bed!  After kids were in bed that night, we watched "Arrival" with my sister.  

April '17- Week 3- Top Golf, Easter Sunday, Bethany Talking Video, Bethany Sick, Tunnel Springs Park

Saturday morning our Easter Bunny came!  

Bethany had a bit of a rough start, but she warmed up to the candy quickly! 

After our festivities, I went to Top Golf with the Webster women!  It was our Christmas present to Dan's mom.  The food was yummy, the company was fabulous, 

and I actually wasn't the worst golfer!  ;)  Hooray! 

While I was gone, Dan took the kids to the Legacy House of Bountiful Easter Egg Hunt at the Bountiful Tabernacle.  Lots of cousins were there too.  

When I got home, Dan went to help with the priests aerating fundraiser.  

I worked in the kitchen for what seemed like the rest of the afternoon.  I cut up fruit, divided up some chicken, fed the kids lunch, made rice krispie treats, did dishes, and cleaned up all the messes I made.  McKenna played at the Alexander's, then we picked up groceries after Bethany's nap.  That evening we went to Grandma and Grandpa Webster's house for our Webster Easter dinner and candy hunt.  

Everyone waiting to be let in! 

Letting the little kids go first!

 All the cousins!  

We also took an updated Webster family picture!  So blessed to live so close to our extended family and that our kids can have such close relationships with their cousins! 

Dan took a selfie during the family picture and it appears only two people noticed.  

 Easter Sunday we had a lovely family breakfast and then had a nice Easter lesson, watched a couple church videos, then made to church in time for me to practice with the choir.  I also had a nice chat with one of our nursery leaders about how we can help Bethany adjust to nursery better.  Ben, unfortunately, wasn't feeling too well and ended up with a fever.  He slept most of Sacrament Meeting and I brought him home after that while Mickelle stayed with the other kids at church.  

That evening Jonathan came over as well and we had a nice Easter dinner and played games afterwards.   

Monday I went walking with my friend Rachael and after picking up Ben I did an hour or so of yard work. The kids stayed outside with me but unfortunately played on my phone most of the time.  Ben took these cute pictures among other funny Snapchat videos.  

Bethany found the toilet paper and brought it all into the kitchen.  

But her little naughtiness was made up for with this adorable video.  Just "reading" to her babies! 

Some fun accomplishments by Anna and Ben.  Anna colored this paper in nursery and I think it's the first time I've noticed something other than scribbles.  She drew a rainbow, a sun, and Maui's hook from Moana.  And Ben sorted the Rumikub tiles using symmetry (with the colors)!  

McKenna played at Camille's that afternoon and stayed with them for dinner as well.  

I felt gratitude this day for exercise and nice weather!  

Tuesday I did a workout video.  We read Ben's library book when he got home from school.  

We had a fairly quiet afternoon.  We ate quickly as a family and hustled off to Ben's Tball game which ended up being cancelled as soon as we got there due to lightning and heavy rain.  After kids were in bed, Dan worked on repairing and cleaning out drains in our showers.  What a guy!  So thankful for him! 

Wednesday morning Bethany woke up and was kind of shakey while she ate breakfast.  She ate quickly and then all of the sudden stopped.  I thought that was a little weird so I sat and held her at the kitchen table for a bit.  And it was a good thing I did because she threw up all over me!  Poor thing!  I turned on shows while I cleaned myself and her up.  I rearranged carpools and cancelled gymnastics.  By about 10:30 Bethany had some water and kept it down.  She fell asleep on the floor around 11:30 and I moved her to her crib.  That evening I went with Ben to his final day at his music class.  He sure is loving Let's Play Music!  Anna had preschool Tuesday and Thursday and learned about numbers 5-8.  

Wednesday evening I went to YW to practice for our window washing fundraiser.  Then when I got home we hosted the priests for pizza after they finished their lawn aerating.

Thursday Bethany had a fever of 101 (probably from Ben on Sunday).  Thankfully meds helped keep it down.  I actually had a quite afternoon in my room reading and napping while the kids watched shows.  I also went visiting teaching to Jen Durant after McKenna got home.  After dinner we play outside a little.  After kids were in bed I talked with Dan about a training he attended for work about parenting children who have had "adverse childhood events."  He learned some really good techniques! 

Friday Bethany no longer had a fever but she was super clingy.  Swa babysat the little girls while I volunteered in McKenna's class during their CK Art lesson.  I stayed at Swa's after that, the kids had lunch and played while Brynn, Swa, and I made freezer jam.  

After McKenna got home, we went to Tunnel Springs Park.  I hiked a little with the girls and Dan worked on teaching Ben to ride his bike.  They the kids played for a while.  

The hiking was great because McKenna didn't really want to go and complained for the first 5 mins or so and then she seemed to enjoy herself and there was zero complaining.  Anna even lead the way a couple times.  We heard some lovely meadow larks as well.  

We went to 5 Guys for dinner as a family and then Redboxed "Sing!" 

April '17- Week 2- Rock Climbing, Dye Eggs, Numbers and Easter Preschool, TBall, Egg Hunt, Snapchat

Saturday morning we ate and packed up a little.  After that we headed to the Green Valley Gap for some rock climbing.  Melissa Roth was nice enough to bring down all their equipment and teach the kids the basics.  I stayed at the bottom and watched Anna and Bethany and the other little girls.  

Here's McKenna's turn climbing!  

 Now for Ben!  He had no problem scrambling up the rock, but when it came time to rappel down, he kinda froze and it took a while.  

I was so proud of my kids being brave and trying new things! 

Bethany, Brooklyn, Desi and Anna had a blast playing in the dirt! 

We were back to the condo by 2pm then had snacks, cleaned, vacuumed, and loaded up.  We were on the road home by about 3:15pm.  We stopped by the Scipio cemetery to visit my Grandpa Thompson.  (The sun was very bright and it was quite windy.)  

The dive was pretty uneventful until about Point of the Mountain when it started SNOWING!  By the time we pulled into our driveway our grass was totally covered in snow.  The road were thankfully just wet.  Lovely Spring storm to shake things up.  

Sunday we did showers and baths and I made it to choir only 10 mins late.  Bethany was only ok in nursery with me there and ended up sleeping on me the last 30mins of church.  We had a nice dinner, just our family that night and I worked on planning my week and ordering groceries.  

Monday I volunteered in Ben's class while Brynn watched my girls.  I baked some cookies to thank the Alexanders for inviting us to St. George.  We picked up groceries after getting McKenna from school.  For family home evening that night we dyed Easter Eggs!  Cheesy Bethany smile!  

I love that her mind was blown by the changing of colors and she even asked for "more."

 Tuesday I taught about the numbers 1-4 in preschool.  We did a lot of matching and counting.

Ben build an awesome block city! 

Tuesday Ben had his first Tball game!  He's on the same team as his cousins Henry and Oliver! The great thing about Tball is they don't keep score of runs or outs.  They just give everyone a chance to hit and kinda rotate who plays where on the infield.  Lot of fun to watch too!

Tuesday night I also worked on setting up my new iPhone!  I got a 6s with 32GB of storage instead of the crazy 5GB I had before!  So exciting!

Wednesday was a pretty normal day with some beautiful weather.  I played baseball with Ben in the yard and all three kids got to play in Jerry's tree house for a bit.  I also took dinner to Ann Marie and Cory Birkholz and saw their brand new tiny baby boy! Dan took his crutches to his friend Ryan Spencer who tore his MCL and ACL skiing.  

Thursday we did some Easter/Spring activities in preschool.  

Afterwards, we met Brynn and Laurie at a park for a picnic lunch.  It was really windy, but thankfully not very cold.  Grandma also joined us for lunch.  (I need to take more pictures of my kids with their cousins...)

We had another Tball game that night.  These girls love to go off by themselves so they won't get so bored.  

We went to Arctic Circle afterwards for courtesy cones.  

After kids were in bed I worked on some new pictures frames to hang in my newly painted room.  

Friday I worked on a grocery list.  I think Bethany had heard me talking to Anna about potty training and actually motioned for me to dump her poop from her diaper into the potty.  Kinda funny Bethany seemed to have more interest in the potty than Anna.  

I cut up strawberries to take to Ladies Lunch and found this GIANT!  

Ben and Anna played at the Alexander's and after McKenna got home we went to the neighborhood Easter Egg Hunt at the Holdstock's!  

We had pizza and movie night as a family (we watched Storkes).  I was super thankful for relaxing family time! 

With my new phone and memory space came the Snapchat app!  I don't actually share stuff on the app, but I think the filters and voice changing videos are so funny!