Kung Fu Panda

Ruby dressed up in Dalanie's pj's and was pretending to be Kung Fu Panda. Hudson challenged her in hand to hand combat. They showcased their skill and even wowed us with their acrobatics.

Splish Splash

Welcome Spring! The kids and I have been enjoying the fresh air and being outside. Of course, I enjoying working out in the yard and the kids are so content to play and use their imaginations, especially when cousins are over. They started to complain about it being too hot, so we broke out the popsicles.And not long after that, they wanted to play in the waterfall. Of course, Hailey was begging to put on her swimsuit. But it didn't take but a couple minutes of them wading to decide that the water was way too cold to swim in. Some rolled up their pants, but Ruby wasn't messing around. She just took hers off.And when it was time to clean up, they all piled in the tub. We stream lined things and they all held out their hands for shampoo at once and then I made the rounds with the hand shower to rinse it all out.

Little Red Riding Tights

I had Ruby already to go when I left to help at the school. Upon my return Brent asks, "What's up with her tights?" holding up this pair of swiss cheese, rather grated, tights. I'm just relieved she took them off before all of the cutting went down.

Yep, she's discovering the world of scissor destruction, and pretty darn good at it.

Boyfriend

Brent has someone helping him with Precision Planting. Consequently we occasionally have a guest at lunch and someone working in the garage. Well, this lunch guest has turned into her first crush. She giggles at him and will even blush when he talks to her. So when her friends were here for Joy School she led them to the garage, opened the door and proudly announced that it was her "boyfriend."

Since then we've had a few conversations clarifying candidacy for relationships, and I want to make it quite clear that a married father does not qualify.

Lots of Green, But Little Luck

Hudson got to come up with the treat for a combined birthday party with Evelyn. He wanted chocolate chip and marshmallow frosting. We melted chocolate chips with 1 T butter and whipped in 1 jar of marshmallow creme. It tasted like a 3 Muskateers and he was quite proud of the creation.He caught Lego fever and hustled to get chores and homework done so he could have every possible minute to play with his newest Legos.He had some friends over for a party where we built catapults and ate pizza. They enjoyed using tools to assemble their catapults, but the most fun was launching marshmallows and hitting one another. Wow! Boys get rowdy in a hurry.

image via howtowsmile.org

Mom and Dad came for a birthday visit. Dalanie found Grandpa's beard to be most disturbing. She would hold his face in her hands and say "I don't like that." We attempted a wrestling tournament but Hudson's nerves got the best of him. Grandpa helped Hudson devise an ingenious leprechaun trap, but in the end he was skunked again. It was a little more difficult this year since Hudson read somewhere that leprechauns are 2 feet tall. He had the yardstick out measuring all possible trapping devices. It sure limited things. We struck out on a bowling since there was a big state tournament going on, but birthday boy enjoyed his green asphalt pie in true St. Patty's style.

Slacker Mom

I've never been too precise about well visit checks, immunizations, or dentist appointments. They can send friendly postcard reminders and call me on the phone but they don't mean much to me. And I'm certainly not willing to commit to some appointment six months down the road.

It's hard to think I willing want to go and wait around in a waiting room when we don't have a problem. I reserve well visit checks like vacation days at work, figuring that at some point during the winter we'll be seeing the doctor for a nasty bug that has found it's way into our home. But we have been extremely blessed to be healthy. So since we haven't been forced to a doctor by sickness, and kindergarten registration is upon us, I broke down and took the girls the other day.Who would have thought the doctor visit would have been such a highly anticipated event? They were excited, knowing full well that they were getting shots.

I've also gotten the kids dental visits/work up to snuff too, so we're good to go for awhile. --knock on wood--
This picture makes me laugh. Hudson wanted me to take it of his fat lip at the dentist. Once he looked at it, he was pretty disappointed. "It feels a lot bigger."

Cousins Weekend

Most of my cousins lived within 30 minutes of me while I was growing up so we spent a lot of time together. But now that I'm grown with kids of my own, we're not so lucky. All of my family lives away, so cousin time requires some planning.

We used Disney on Ice as a good excuse to spend the weekend together. We packed a lot in 2 short days. Naturally, decent sleep was the first to go. Just the thought of being together woke the kids bright and early. But with that being said, they all did remarkably well.

We ate Aggie ice cream and drove passed campus, pointing out old Main, the Spectrum, and the football stadium to the kids. Bentley is a super Aggie, so the wow factor wasn't quite as impressive for him.
Once we climbed the stairs to our seats for the show, the kids sat down taking in the enormity of the place. They had the "we're not in Kanas anymore" look in their eyes. The show was a lot of fun, Toy Story 3. We moved closer after intermission despite what the usher said. There was a lot of clapping and dancing in our seats.
Somehow we managed to drag the kids, a pregnant lady, and a few purchases from one side of Gateway to the other and back again. By time we got checked into the hotel, the hopes of swimming the night away were sleepily pushed aside until morning. We were at the pool bright and early.And since we got an early start, we enjoyed the children's exhibit at the Church History Museum and a little shopping before parting ways.

Super Tuesday

You know you're a grown up when:
-You spend your anniversary at a preschool Christmas program.
-When your kids ask what you'd like as a gift, you honestly answer with "nothing, I have everything I need."
-Your Valentine's evening is spent in the ambiance of the church gym.
-When church becomes a 5 hour event with meetings before and after.
-The Super Tuesday caucus is the most anticipated date you've had with your spouse in awhile.

We did our civic duty, were a part of history, and exercised our right to vote. Although I would have to say I was pretty disappointed with the rousing speeches and audience participation. I was expecting it to be more like a rally, but there was no chanting or cheering going on.

Muddy Boots and Lessons Learned

The older kids could not get along Sunday morning. I was unusually calm and uninvolved with their disagreements . . . until the doors started getting kicked. (There's a bit of a history here with door kicking leading back to my childhood.) At this point they were dressed and ready for church so I had them bring me their church shoes and sent them walking across the field to Grandma's in their chore boots. One was less than compliant and left in a huffy without his coat and stopped to wash the gel out of his hair with a handful of snow.

Finally. Quiet.

We finished getting ready and left to pick them up at Grandma's and keep up my end of the deal. As we got closer we spotted them in the field. Walking the wrong way, back to our house. What the heck? This was not part of the plan, and the husband was beginning to make his opinion known on the ridiculouness of my plan. Well, we mudded our way along the field road in our car, honking the horn to get their attention. They came running! And bawling! I had their change of shoes but that wouldn't fix the mud that was 1/2 way up their legs.

We might have been late to church, but I tell you what. My 6 year old let me sit close to him with my arm around him. They were reverent, kind, and full of love. So the execution was a little less than ideal, but the results were better than I had planned. They were never in danger, but it was enough to shake up their security. And when that happens, impressionable lessons are learned.

Out Weighed

Growing up in a house of girls we had plenty of squabbles, but no full on wrestling matches. The sport is quite new and foreign to me. So when Hudson was so excited to try it out we obliged. There were 2 little practices leading up to a match. When we walked into the gym for the match I couldn't believe how many little guys were sporting around those nasty unitards, headgear, and wrestling shoes. But never mind looking the part, Hudson is strong and I figured he'd hold his own. . .

Until he was paired up with a kid outweighing him by 20 lbs. It was horrible to watch. Similar to when Hudson and Dalanie get rough housing. I break it up immediately because the weight difference is just dangerous. Well, that was our introduction to wrestling and it was not fun for this mom to watch.
But Hudson remembers what coach says, "You never loose unless you quit trying." So I guess he's headed back to practice. But I'm still not buying one of those uniforms.

Joy School Fun

I am so glad that Dalanie is able to have the Joy School experience. And I am glad that I get to have the Joy School experience again. I love putting the lesson together (albeit thrown together and last minute) and having her help me. She loves to help plan and gather supplies.

Instead of heading to the library, we decided to make our own at home. I printed each child a library card they could present to the librarian (each child took a turn being the librarian.) We used a cash register as the computer. They loved scanning and stamping the books.

We also had a magic show, featuring none other than. . . me. There were a few suggestions in the manual, so we ran with them. It was especially funny as guys were in and out working on the house remodel and I had a table cloth tied around my neck, mesmerizing these girls with my skills. Their favorite was a hat and water trick. They tried replicating it, only to find that it didn't work so well.

Candy Gram

I supplied the candy bars and tape and the kids went to town on making a candy-gram to welcome Brent back from several days on the road with Precision Planting. Hudson was quite meticulous with the wording and his artwork, getting frustrated with his less precise sisters. Dalanie just wanted to fill the paper with candy and Ruby went to town scribbling on any empty space.
It was a group effort and in the end it read:
Welcome home MR. GOODBAR. Today is your PAYDAY. We SNICKER with JOY to have you home. Just beTWIX us, there are Many & More REESES we {heart} you. ROLOver because our BUTTERFINGERS can't wait to rub your back.
I had forgotten how fun these are to make. But come on, I remember candy bars 4/$1, maybe that added to the fun.

Breakfast in Bed

The girls joined us somewhere around 3:00 in the morning. Not long after 6:30 Hudson managed to weasel his way into the bed too. We all snuggled for awhile before the kids got restless and jumped ship. Brent and I were trying to avoid the rigors of the Sunday when Dalanie came down to ask if it was alright to bring us breakfast in bed. We agreed and the whole time I was thinking "I wonder how big of a disaster this is going to turn out to be?"

To our amazement they brought us down plates of Hudson's world famous coconut/vanilla eggs and yogurts. I don't really know where he came up with this recipe, but they have quickly become Brent's favorite because they're cooked "just right." Apparently I tend to dry my eggs out. They have white chocolate/vanilla chips and shredded coconut in them. Ruby climbed right beside me to stake her claim in the breakfast eating that was going on in bed. A minute later, glasses of milk and water arrived (they taped the little straws to the side of the cup so they wouldn't fall in.) Hudson and Dalanie were just beaming. And to be quite honest, so was I. To think that all of those times spent cooking together was starting to pay off.
Once were were all taken care of, they cooked themselves some eggs and ate them on the floor we generously agreed to share with them.

Proud To Know Papa

Ginny & Papa at Warren's 60th birthday party [June 2011}

Papa was one of those men who never talked much, but he said a lot by the way he lived. He was someone I wanted as my own grandpa and I thank his grand kids for sharing him. I had the privilege of attending his funeral a week ago. As did a number of other people, and I think we all felt the same way-- like we were someone special to him. Together with Ginny, they have sure been quite a team. One of the speakers related them to the outside horses of a four-breasted team, constantly teaching and guiding people in the right direction.

He was a hard worker, worthy servant, faithful companion, and lived his dream as a cowboy.

I pondered a lot that day, and since, about the person I am and who I want to become. Papa was a giant of a man, someone we all could try a little harder to be like.

Small Town USA

The kids have taken a liking to Buck, the sled dog in the old Call of the Wild tv show. So it was a no brainer to head up the road and watch the dog sled races in Ashton. The race start/finish had to be moved off of main street due to the lack of snow. But there was no missing it, all you had to do was follow the sound of all of the barking dogs.It was easy to get caught up in the excitement and quite fun to watch. These racers are definitely passionate about their dogs and it shows. The dogs would be jumping, at the start line. Once the racer gave them the go ahead the sled would lunge forward. It looked like quite the rush.
In addition to the race, there were events for the kids. Hudson and Dalanie both participated in the snowshoe racing.
We ended up with a 1st & 3rd place ribbon.
I wish I would have realized they could have done the mutt dog race. (For some reason I thought we had to have our own dog.) They let kids ride on the dogsled and be pulled by a dog. At any rate, we still had enough fun.And what's a trip to Ashton without eating at Big Jud's. The kids were a bit skeptical that one burger would feed the whole family, but it did with some to spare.

Fat-i-gue

I remember well those mornings we spent reading from the scriptures as a family. We would all take turns ready 5 verses at a time. On one particular day I read "fatigue," pronouncing it fat-i-gue just like it's spelled. Well that prompted all sorts of teasing and it's become a family joke.

So imagine my delight as now my oldest is reading from the scriptures and comes across "blasphemy." It was absolutely uneventful. He didn't so much as bat an eye and rattled it off, perfect pronunciation. Brent and I looked at each other and then I asked Hudson to spell it. We're still working on that, but man-this kid is a reader!