Hannah Isabelle

Aaron and Heidi had a baby girl on Wednesday morning. Nate and I were able to go and see her a few hours later. She is super cute and so tiny. I love her teeny little ears. It was fun to hold her and hear the birth story. Judging from the big bag of clothes and hair bows that Heidi’s mom brought to the hospital, Hannah is going to be a well dressed and accessorized little girl. :)

We got to have Zack, Austin, and Gavin hang out at our house on Friday. Abby had a great time playing with her cousins all day. They played ping-pong, watched Kung Fu Panda, jumped on the trampoline, released Abby’s ladybugs, played the piano, told some awesome knock-knock jokes at lunch, ate “chocolate soup”, and played Mario Kart on the Wii (which was hilarious to watch). Nate got home early from work, so we took the boys and Abby with us on a walk to pick up our other kids from school. Zack and Austin had some flip flop issues that made it a bit of an adventure to get there and back, but we made it. Gavin made the most of the trip and got in a little nap in the stroller. The kids spent the evening playing Wii, jumping on the trampoline, and watching Kung Fu Panda 2. It was a fun day.

Spring Break

Nate and I missed the memo that spring break is supposed to be a time to relax and have fun.  Instead, we used the time to clean and get some projects done around the house.  There are a couple of things we did when we were building our house that we have regretted ever since.  #1. We didn’t put fans in the bathrooms.  We thought, “We can just open the window.”  That was stupid.  Who wants to open the bathroom window when it is 24 degrees outside?  No one, that’s who.  So, after nine years of living here, we (meaning Nate) finally got around to putting in bathroom fans.  They are lovely.  No more stinky bathrooms at this house.  Regret #2 was putting carpet under the computer desk.  When we were building, Nate’s idea was to extend the kitchen floor under the computer desk.  I thought it would look weird so I vetoed this plan.  Turns out he was right.  (Hardly ever happens you know.)  :)  We had to buy several plastic mats to go under the computer chair over the years because they kept cracking.  They were expensive and it was tricky to get one just the right size (important since the carpet under the mat was like new and it was right next to the highest traffic area of our house . . . there was a distinct line in the carpet whenever we would move the mat).  We finally got sick of it and decided to tear up the carpet and put down laminate flooring.  The project was complicated since they don’t make the same type of laminate anymore.  We ended up pulling up the flooring in the entryway to use under the computer desk and buying new flooring for the entryway.  It was a big pain and involved taking off baseboards and buying all new trim.  I’m glad Nate still loves me even though it would have saved us a lot of time and expense if I would have just listened to him in the first place.  He’s cool that way.

We were all about getting things done, but we tried to have at least one fun thing a day for the kids so they wouldn’t think it was a total drag.  It worked.  They kept themselves busy and didn’t complain about being bored.  Here are the things the qualified as fun over the break:  building Legos, lunch at Chick-fil-a, free donuts from Krispy Kreme for good report cards, night games with the neighbor kids, Toads (Emily with her friend Briann), sundaes from Burger King, a family game and movie night (The Muppets), Wii, watching Hoarders on Netflix, fashion drawings (Emily and Elise), Scrabble (Ben and Emily), Webkinz, sending email messages (to each other and to friends and to me and Nate), soccer games, and coloring Easter eggs.  It helped that we also celebrated Abby’s birthday over the break, so that added a couple of extra fun things to the mix.  Mother Nature stuck with tradition and we had spring break snow for the fourth year in a row.  Crazy.

Sunday was Easter.  The kids sang Gethsemane in sacrament meeting.  It is a beautiful song.  Abby sang it around the house for weeks before Easter.  She performed a solo for us so we could take a video.  I love how she sings “Jesus loves me-hee.”  It’s my favorite. 

After church, we had my family over for dinner and an egg hunt.  Holly’s family came straight to our house on the way home from San Diego.  My kids were very happy that their cousins made it back from their trip in time to come and play.  We had a good time visiting with everyone and the kids had lots of fun playing. 

5 Years Old

It seems like we have gotten in the habit of stretching birthday celebrations out over several days at this house. Abby’s birthday was no exception. The fun started on the Tuesday before her birthday when she got to take the treat to preschool. She was so excited about it and every day for a week would ask me how many more days until she got to take the treat. I gave her 13 different choices of what to take. She decided on Rice Krispy Treats. She also took a little miniature gumball machine for each of her classmates. She came home from preschool in her paper crown just beaming. She loved being the center of attention at school and was so happy with the fun birthday prizes from Miss Jamee.

Abby’s actual birthday got off to a shaky start. She had somehow got it into her head that turning five meant that she would be bigger. She was super disappointed when she woke up and she was the same size as a five year old as when she went to bed as a four year old. She kept saying, “It doesn’t seem like my birthday. I thought I would be bigger.” She eventually got over it and moved on to saying “Um, it’s my birthday” in her best don’t-you-think-you-should-give-me-my-way-about-everything-that-I-want-because-it’s-my-birthday voice. She certainly thought that the whole world should revolve around her. It pretty much did. After we got the kids off to school with their crazy hair (luckily Abby forgot that she wanted crazy hair too), she spent the morning watching episodes of Dragon Tales on YouTube. Then we headed off to meet Nate at T.G.I. Friday's for lunch. She got a coupon for a free kids’ meal at her last doctor’s appointment and has been dying to go ever since. The three of us had a fun time together and Abby thought it was great that she got to go to lunch with us while her brother and sisters were at school.




Once we were home, she couldn’t wait for them to get out of school so she could open her presents. She got lots of fun things. Grandma Reatha gave her a new Barbie movie, a hula hoop, and a light-up tracing desk. The kids each gave her a new puzzle. Nate and I gave her a watch, some Squinkies, a mini leatherman tool (random gift for a five year old girl, but she has been wanting one forever), a felt owl mobile (she wanted one just like her sisters have and luckily Nate found the last one in stock at Michael’s), and a ladybug habitat complete with some live ladybug larva. Oh, and a clear mylar balloon (which she thought was the coolest thing ever).

Just as Abby was finishing up with presents, we got a call from our neighbor saying that his wife was in labor. So, their four kids came over. Then Korbin and Maddie came. Then Abby invited Tess over to play. It was a bit crazy with eleven kids at our house, but Abby didn’t seem to mind.


After all of the neighbor kids were returned home (or to another neighbor’s house . . . thanks Claudy!), we headed to McDonald’s for Abby’s birthday dinner. The kids weren’t thrilled with the super mini portion of fries or the lack of caramel dipping sauce for their apples (Thanks Michelle Obama), but they had fun playing.

We finished off the night with strawberry cheesecake. It took Abby about 24 attempts to blow out her candles. It was hilarious to watch. She was sure trying, but just could not get the knack of moving enough air to blow them out. After cheesecake, the kids headed to the movie room for Barbie: Princess Charm School and a slumber party.



Abby chose Crystal Hot Springs for her family activity (after I scored a great Groupon deal and told her it would be fun). We were planning to go the Tuesday after her birthday and then discovered that the water slides aren’t open Tuesday-Thursday. We didn’t really make it up there until Saturday. Nate and I wanted to bail when we saw a full parking lot and even fuller campground, but there was no convincing the kids that it would be better to go back on a different day. It was CROWDED and the water was abnormally gross with dead bugs and leaves floating around, but we still had fun. The slides were super fun and it was relaxing to sit in the warm water once we got over how disgusting it was.

Flood of Fieldtrips

We’ve had a busy month with lots of fieldtrips and school activities for the kids.  Here’s a quick recap:

February 23: Abby had a fieldtrip to the dentist office.  She got to pretend to be a dental hygienist.  They gave her gloves and a mask and let her work the little vacuum.  She loved it.  I forgot to take my camera, so I took a picture of her when we got home.

February 23: Literacy Luau.  My feet were done for the day after going with Abby to her fieldtrip, so Nate took the kids to the school for literacy night by himself.  It was a madhouse, but the kids had fun.  They made bookmarks, danced, did a book walk, had yummy treats, and Ben was part of a little play.  They each spent $4 of their own money to buy little plastic mouth guards with flashing LED lights.  They thought their glowing mouths were pretty cool.

February 27: Ben went to the Environmental Center.  Nate and I both elected to skip this one.  Luckily our friend Tosha sent us a picture that she took.  The parts Ben liked best were cross country skiing (a complete 180 from how he felt about it two years ago) and sliding down the hill on a shovel.  He helped hollow out a snow cave and found deer poop while he was snowshoeing.

February 29: Emily’s class went Storytelling Festival at the Egyptian Theater.  Her favorite part was the “high five” story.

March 5: The fifth grade went to Junior Achievement City in Salt Lake.  This was the “worst fieldtrip ever!” according to Ben.  The bank lady wouldn’t give him enough money to buy a snack and drink so he only got a drink.  It pretty much ruined his day.  The mother hen in me wonders if he would have had a better time if Nate or I were there to help steer him along, but the rest of me says it is good for him to work through these things on his own.

March 6: Emily had her turn at the Environmental Center.  Nate and I skipped this one as well.  Luckily our friend Tosha took a couple of pictures for us . . . again.  Emily’s favorite parts were cross country skiing and seeing a bunch of deer after they snowshoed up to the top of a hill.

March 14: Abby’s preschool class went to the Treehouse Museum.  Abby got to be the little red hen in the partici-play.  It was definitely a highlight of the day.  We went from one thing to another the rest of the time.  I think she loved being the one in charge of what we did and not having to follow her brother and sisters’ lead this time.

March 15: Nate and Elise went to the first grade fieldtrip to the Environmental Center.  This was Elise’s first time and she really wanted one of us to go.  I signed up thinking my feet would be better by then, but there was no way I was up to the hike up to the lodge or going snowshoeing with the kids.  Nate was a good sport and went instead.  They went snowshoeing, climbed a rock wall, and went sledding.  The coolest part for Elise was that they saw a moose at the top of the snowshoeing hill.

March 20: The big fieldtrip in fifth grade is going skiing at Snowbasin.  Nate took the day off and went with Ben.  They had a blast together.  Ben loved riding the gondola.  Nate loved skiing at a bigger/better resort than usual.  We’ll probably stick with the $10-$12 night skiing at Wolf Mountain most of the time, but Nate is looking forward to when each of our girls is in 5^th grade so he can go on this ski trip with them too.

March 21: Ben and Emily both went to see Suessical the Musical at the junior high with their classes.  I like resourceful teachers that manage to work in extra, no-bus-needed fieldtrips during the year.  They both really liked it. 

March 29: I helped with Abby’s preschool Easter party.  We played Abby’s farm animal matching game at my station.  It was a big hit.  At the end of the party the kids got to do an Easter egg hunt on Miss Jamee’s front lawn.  Abby loved it.  I could never be a preschool teacher full time, but it is kind of fun to hang out with four and five-year-olds for an hour or two.  They say and do funny things.