Spring...Our Newest Reader!

Spring is really improving with her reading skills. She brought home a book from school that she checked out at the library. She was so excited to read it to me all by herself! After she read it to me we decided to record her so everyone else could hear her read too!

Build a Playground

Last Saturday we all went out to help with a "Build a Playground" project here in Lemoore. In 6 hours with the help of over 300 volunteers a brand new 4,500 square foot playground was begun and completed. It was awesome! It was so inspiring and exhilerating to see so many people united together for a common cause. The kids came with us and enjoyed the day as well. We are so grateful for opportunities to serve and work together as a family. We are also grateful that our children enjoy giving service to others as well.

Early to Church

We have always made it a point to be to church early on Sundays. We like to be seated and ready at least 10-15 minutes early so it is not a rush just before Sacrament Meeting starts. Well, this morning the kids were all ready and they headed out into the garage to get in the van. I came out and helped make sure they were all buckled and then we headed to church. We pulled into the parking lot and as I opened my door I told the kids (as I always do), "Start getting the little ones unbuckled." Then I got out of the car and heard Thomas say, "Uh, Mom...where's Josh?"

I instantly remembered he was still asleep in his crib. He was all dressed for church and I had laid him down for a nap. I was going to get him in the car after I got all the others buckled, but somehow forgot to go back into the house. So, we hurried and got buckled again and headed back home. The whole way home I was accompanied by little chatters of, "I can't believe Mom forgot Joshua!" And, Thomas and Spring were dividing up amongst themselves who they were going to tell that I had left Josh. Their list included Joel, the missionaries, and their friends. Luckily we found him sound asleep in his crib when I got home. I buckled him up and headed back to church. Even with all of this we were still 15 minutes early. Oh, the blessings of being to church early!

Pinewood Derby

Tonight was the Pinewood Derby. Thomas has had so much fun working on his car with Joel. In the ward here the pinewood derby is a ward activity. They started with a dinner and then the cub scouts raced and then they opened it up for a race for anyone that wanted to build a car. Thomas' car took first place in the Cub Scout division. He won all his races, except one, that he came in 2nd place. Garrett, our neighbor, took 2nd place. The boys were so happy. Garrett's dad was joking that the competition is on now in our neighborhood for next year. Then, Spring raced a car that Thomas had built with Grandpa Biggs a couple of years ago. She ended up taking 2nd place overall with that car. The funny thing with that is Joel hadn't touched that car for 2 years. The kids have played and played with it but it raced so well.

It was a great night. Thomas is blessed to have a wonderful Cubmaster and Cub Committee Chairperson who both worked so hard to make it an amazing night for the boys. Thomas was all smiles and so was Spring.

Solution for Sammy

As Joel was helping Thomas paint his pinewood derby car tonight, Joel discovered an excellent solution for Sammy! What do you think? The only problem is Sammy thought it was hilarious and just laughed until the tape came off!

Bike Rodeo

We attended a bike rodeo for cub scouts this evening. It was being hosted by another pack in Lemoore and they invited all cub scouts and their families to attend. Our neighbors came with us as well so Thomas and Garrett had fun together. Spring and Hailey brought their bikes and participated as well. And, of course, Sammy...he had his little tricycle out there tearing up the road with all the big kids. He thought he was just as cool and fast as all of them.

There was a police officer in attendance and she registered their bikes for them. There was a "track" set up for them to ride around as well as an obstacle course. Then they learned about simple bike repair and bike safety. It was a fun FHE activity. On our way home we stopped for ice cream to help ease the heat of the day. As we were leaving the bike rodeo at 7:00 pm it was 98 degrees outside! The worse thing about the heat is it is only April!

Mary's Birthday...Again!

Mary received a birthday package in the mail today from Grandma and Grandpa Biggs. She was so excited as she was opening it that she started to shreak and jump up and down like she couldn't contain herself! She got a blanket and cute outfit. When she saw the clothes she said, "Clothes!" She started dancing up and down while trying to take her clothes off so she could put on her new clothes. She even went down for her nap right after without a fight since she had a new blanket to sleep with! Thanks, Grandma and Grandpa!

A Morning in the Lord's Vineyard

We were able to take the kid with us to the Church Vineyard again this morning. It is really hot this weekend...record temps are expected into the 90's. Because of this, we left home at 7:30 this morning so we could get to the vineyard by about 8:30 to start working before it got too hot. Today's work was really pretty easy. We were just "suckering." Basically, we had to pull off any leaves, shoots, etc that were below a certain level on the vines. This allows for better growth and production because energy isn't being used for the "suckers." We had a good time. The kids enjoyed pulling off the leaves...especially Sammy. We had to watch him because he got overzealous with it at times! They also moved a lot of large stumps from the burm to the ends of the rows. This resulted in a gnarly sliver in Thomas' hand which he liked to show to people.

We are grateful for the opportunities to serve in the vineyard. We had just been reading in the Book of Mormon when King Benjamin was addressing the people and teaching that "when we are in the service of our fellow beings, we are only in the service of our God." We talked with the kids about this on our drive home today and how this is a small way we can serve our Father in Heaven with no thought or expectation of reward or return. (Spring and Joel were with us, as well. I just didn't get a picture of them...maybe they were too hard working for me to get their picture!)

New Pics of Josh and Mary

Here are the updated pics for Joshua at 6 months and Mary at 2 years old!

Mary's Moves

Mary was dancing away in the kitchen yesterday afternoon. There wasn't even music playing but she was dancing away.

Joshie's New Tricks

This has been a week full of accomplishments for Joshua. He finally learned to roll over from his back to his tummy. I have secretly enjoyed him not being able to do this because it makes diaper changes much more difficult when he can roll over. He has also begun to pull himself up this knees and even up to a standing position! He has gotten himself high centered on the rungs of chairs more than once this week too. He is also SO close to being able to sit himself up from a crawling position. We don't think it will be much longer now! It is such a bittersweet feeling as they master new feats of skill...it is exciting to see them learn and progress but sad because they change so quickly. I just wish I could freeze time and have more moments to enjoy each of their stages!

Happy Easter

Mom and I took the kids to Poulsbo for an Easter Egg hunt Saturday morning. It was a great event. They had different areas marked off by age group and they only had one group hunting at a time so we could watch all the kids take their turn. It was so fun to watch their excitement. We were surprised by how much Mary really got into it. Later in the afternoon we dyed Easter Eggs. That was fun for the kids as well. We didn't even spill any of the dye!

This morning the kids had a good time hunting for more eggs in the house since it was raining so much outside. We enjoyed being able to go to church with my parents. Joel and I even got to teach the Sunbeam class together.

Ferry Ride, IKEA, Odyssey 1

Today was such a full and fun day! Grandma and I took the kids on the ferry to Seattle. They all loved going on the ferry. Sammy was sure to correct us whenever we called it a "ferry." He would say, "No, ferry boat!" Sammy, Mary, and Thomas liked going on the deck of the ferry. Spring tried once and realized how cold and windy it was so she didn't go out again. The others made many trips out on the deck for short times and then came back in and back out....

We drove off the ferry and headed to IKEA. The older 3 played at the playland for an hour while we shopped around a little. Joel and I have been in the market for a new kitchen table that will accomodate our family. We want a big table with long benches down both sides. So, I was looking to see what options IKEA has. We will have to make a trip to IKEA when we are home. It is about 4 hours from home for us but it is the only place we have found that has tables and benches like we want. After picking up the kids we had lunch in IKEA and did some more shopping. Then we got back in the car to head home.

We met Grandpa in Tacoma at Odyssey 1. It is a big place with lots of play equipment for the kids. While there we celebrated Mary's birthday and had pizza! Mary opened her present from Aunt Alanna...a new outfit and beautiful new dress. Mary immediately started to take off her clothes and put on her new outfit. Then she wanted her dress on too! Thanks Alanna for the cute outfit.

We came home and the kids headed to bed. They were all asleep pretty quickly but Thomas just couldn't sleep so he came down and played Scrabble with Grandma and I. I enjoy the time to spend with him in the evenings like that. He really is growing up.

Low Tide, Spa, & Sugar Eggs

I took the kids to the waterfront park again today for a picnic lunch. It was fun for them to play on the playground after thier lunch. Thomas was disappointed when a big crow came down and snatched up his hamburger and flew off. He had only had one bite of it before the crow took off with it. After being on the playground for a while we went down to the beachfront again. It was really low tide today so the kids were able to walk really far out and find big rocks that had been underwater the day before. They found lots of oysters and shells and rocks. Then they started to discover LOTS of crabs. Thomas and Spring really liked this but Sammy was terrified of them. He started running frantically up the beach screaming at the top of his lungs that the crabs were eating his feet and pants. It was really quite comical and I wish I had captured it on video.

We came home and put the little ones down for naps and then Thomas and Spring got in the spa. They really liked that and they got back in after Sammy and Mary woke up. All 4 of them had a great time in the spa and they were so tired afterwards.

Following dinner Grandma helped them make Easter Sugar Eggs. It was fun to see each of them decorate their own eggs. It was a wonderful end to a great day. And, they were all so tired they fell right to sleep!

Crafts, Waterfront, Coins, and Tea Parties

The kids and I are in Washington visiting my folks for Spring Break. We are having a good time and we look forward to Friday when Joel will join us for a couple days before we head back home. We have had a fun day today. Grandpa took Thomas to the bank today to find the last few quarters he needed to complete his collection of the state quarters and they were successful! Then the kids had fun doing some crafts and painting during the afternoon. After the little ones woke up from their naps I took all the kids to the waterfront park because it was so nice. It was in the mid 70's and beautiful blue sky outside. There were TONS of people at the park. We had fun down at the waterfront throwing rocks in the water and playing. Sammy tells me that he "loves the ocean park." Thomas and Spring found "corral reef fossils" and decided they are going to start a collection with them! We came home for dinner and the kids had a tea party for dinner! Then we decided to go back to the park with Grandma and Grandpa to play some more since it was so nice outside. It was a fun evening and we didn't leave until almost 8:00. The kids were so tired that it really didn't take them long to fall asleep tonight! I am grateful for the time we have had to share with my parents.

Thomas was working really hard to throw this rock into the water so I wanted to get it on video. I guess I got what I deserved for standing so close while he was working on it!

Spring Bunny

Spring had a fun Easter celebration at school today. They went to the different Kindergarten classrooms to do fun activities. She even got to learn how to hula hoop! She brought home her cute Easter basket made out of 1/2 gallon milk jugs. Her teacher also painted a fun bunny face on the students to go with their bunny ears! Spring asked me to put it on the blog for everyone to see!

Happy Birthday Mary

Our sweet Mary turned 2 today! When she woke up this morning I picked her up and hugged her and said, "Happy Birthday Mary! Today's your birthday!" She got the biggest grin on her face and her eyes were so happy! Then all the kids kept telling her happy birthday and giving her hugs all day long. Throughout the day I would ask her, "Who's birthday is it?" She would smile, point to herself and say, "Me!" Really cute!

Well, it has been a crazy, hectic, long day. I am so glad she is young and doesn't realize how crazy it was. We were going to wait to celebrate her birthday another day when it wasn't so busy but Thomas and Spring were adamant about celebrating it today. So we did! After dinner an cub scouts she unwrapped her presents. She got a color wonder coloring book and markers and some new hair bows! She LOVED both...and the other kids loved "helping" teach her how to use her new color wonder coloring book! Then we sang happy birthday to her and she blew out her candles (with a little help from Dad) and we all enjoyed cake together before Joel rushed off to the church for more meetings.

We love Mary and her sweet smile and countenance. One of my favorite things about Mary is how her eyes "smile" when she is happy. She loves to give hugs and to help me around the house. She also loves to be held and cuddled throughout the day. Her favorite thing to say lately is, "Here Mama." She says this about anything and everything that she wants to hand me or show me! Happy Birthday, Mary! We love you!