Spring Break--Part 1

The highlight of our first week of Spring Break was going to the cabin with some favorite cousins, the Wrights. Among other things, we enjoyed playing in the snow, reading and relaxing, playing lots of games, visiting, hiking, building forts, fishing, riding mountain bikes,

exercising, going on walks, and feeding horses.

Mason and boys, preparing for a great snow-ball fight against the girls.

John with baby Kate, watching the snowball fight.

Roasting Smores over the fire.

Taylor and cousins, fishing--waiting for a bite.

After a few hours of building and working, the kids showed us an AWESOME fort.

Pretty impressive!

This picture is a still-shot of Taylor and Derek's personality! Snuggling together, reading from the same book titled, "Dangerous Book for Boys". Life couldn't get any better for these two.

EmmaClaire was one of the "big kids" this trip and enjoyed a lot of playing outside and hiking.

And, just for kicks--baby Kate is SOOOOOOOOOOOOO cute! Especially all

bundled up in her warm snow clothes.




We came home full of great memories.

Such a great helper!

Never assume Andersen will do fine carrying in a grocery bag without "busting" almost everything in the bag. His nickname, "Buster", is very well suited.

4 eggs out of the dozen survived.

Who would have thought that walking about 12 feet from the car to the kitchen would have brought on so much dammage. And all good intentions too--just trying to help out. Gotta LOVE 3-year old boys.

One of those Moments. . .

Today I took Andersen and Kate to a fabric store. Shortly after getting there, Kate started fussing, and I knew her time was ticking. Andersen continued to hide in and around every bolt of fabric. To say the least, I was ready to get out of there when I got to the check-out stand.

After turning in coupons and reviewing my receipt, I realized that I hadn't paid for a big piece of fabric. By this time, Kate was outright crying, but I asked the store clerk to help me figure things out so I knew I had paid the right amount. She spent a few minutes looking, then called another lady up to the front. By this time, there were about 8 other people in line. . . just waiting for me to finish. During all this, Andersen went around the corner of the counter and was looking at the candy. A lady came up to me and said with a smile, "just so you know, your little boy is doing some creative shopping". Uh oh--with Andersen, that could mean ANYTHING!

I quickly came around the corner to find him sticking suckers in all of his 6 pants pockets, one at a time. He had 9 suckers in the pockets so far, with two in each hand, trying to stuff them in too.

All 8 people in line had eyes on me, Kate was crying in the shopping cart loud enough for the world to hear, and the store worker was yelling, "where did that woman go?" I'm laughing as I write, but it wasn't too funny then.

I got down to Andersen's eye level and asked him to put the suckers back on the shelf. His response wasn't great, and we had a few moments of quiet confrontation. I ended up picking him up and removing him from the suckers, quickly paid for my things, along with a bag of reces pieces, and was glad to get out of the store.

Andersen was glad to get a treat in the car. Half way home, he yelled from the back seat, "mom--something is in my nose".

What would motivate a 3-year-old boy to stuff reces pieces in his nose? I'll never know. It took a few hard and long blows to get them out, and he's fine now.

As I tucked him in bed tonight (much earlier than usual--for my sanity), we had a good talk about stealing and not taking things that don't belong to us, paying for store items first, and why it's not good to push things up our noses.

As busy and mischievous as he is, I still just love his little personality. He adds color to my days and I couldn't imagine being a mom without him. I LOVE HIM!

Abby's Concert

Abby was involved in a super awesome concert this past weekend. She sang with a full orchestra in front of over 5000 people in the Mesa Arts Center with the East Valley Mormon Choral Organization. The theme of the concert was Messiah in America. Absolutely phenomenal music. I also have a bunch of friends and extended family that were involved in it.

My in laws went with John to the first concert while I stayed home with the kids. During the second song, my in laws noticed that Abby started looking a little shaky and pale. Within a few minutes, they watched her "in slow motion" drop to the floor in front of her and disappear for about a minute. Then she slowly came back up and looked as white as a ghost and didn't sing for a while. After the song was over, a few women helped her cool off and get something to eat. They kept asking her if she wanted to just stay behind for the rest of the concert and not sing. She told them that her dad was watching her, and she wanted to sing so he could see her.

I attended the second concert and Abby seemed fine but was standing on the very edge of the row (which isn't usually where she stands) and out of view from my seat, so I couldn't even see her. She said there were two ladies standing just behind the curtains that kept whispering, "don't lock your knees. . .don't lock your knees" as she was singing. They were ready to catch her if it happened again.

Poor girl! Probably the hot lights, nerves, locking her knees, and not a great lunch all contributed to her feeling dizzy and fainting. She was pretty embarrassed about the whole thing and made her dad and I promise not to tell her brothers about it, as they might tease her. So-keep the secret and don't tell the brothers!

I was proud of Abby in how she handled things. She didn't get dramatic or make a big deal about it and wanted to finish strong, even in her weak condition.

Happy Valentine's Day

This past week I've been doing the 12 Days till Valentines for John. Each day, he has gotten a small gift with a short poem that starts out like, "On the 10th day till Valentine's Day, your true love give to you. . . ". Kind of cheesy, but he has seemed to enjoy it. And I have enjoyed thinking and planning and being secretive about it. I let Abby in on it, and she LOVES wrapping small gifts and hiding them in dad's car. Very exciting for a 7-year-old.

So today, being the 5th day till Valentine's, my plan was to give him 5 flowers. I have NEVER given John flowers, and I don't think he's ever received them from anyone else. So I thought he might enjoy finding a vase of 5 big Gerber daisies on his desk at work. Really, who wouldn't enjoy flowers, right?

WRONG!

This afternoon John called CRACKING UP that someone had just delivered flowers to his office. Not just flowers, but pink flowers with a big purple ribbon on it. His boy secretary and boy boss were teasing him that he'd lost his manhood. I laughed myself to tears listening to all the razzing he was getting at work.

Tonight when John returned home, he walked in the door with the vase of flowers and pretended that he had bought them for me--of course I went along with it and told him what a thoughtful guy he was.

He's a good sport, but he felt a little silly receiving pink flowers. I'm trying to laugh at myself instead of feeling dumb about it. I feel like I need to come up with five masculine items to redeem myself before the night is over.

Note to self: John is a man. He doesn't like getting flowers. Flowers are for girls.

Twins

Nothing is better to a 5 year old than to have another 5-year old cousin show up to play on a Saturday afternoon wearing the exact same shirt and blue jeans.

I wish I could have caught the excited squeels and laughter on tape when these two girls met each other at the door. Pretty cute!

The Game Quilt

John and I have a super wonderful friend who lives in Lake Havasu City, AZ. We don't see her much, but we keep in contact with email and letters. She is a very talented quilter and has sent our family quilts over the years for special occasions. My children can't remember a time ever meeting her in person, but they talk about her like they know her well because of the quilts she

has made for them.

This past weekend we got a package in the mail from her. A quilt. Not just any ordinary quilt, but a GAME quilt. It includes checkers, tic-tac-toe, double rings, and two other games. It is such a beautiful quilt, I've been tempted to hang it on the wall for display instead of spread it out on the floor for play.

I've heard more " this is awesome", "wanna play on the game quilt?", "I love this quilt", and other happy comments from my children this past weekend than I can count.

Thank you, Mary Lou, for creating a centerpiece for FUN in our family. Your quilt is a treasure, just like you!