House of Sickies

We have a house of sickies.  Joel woke up with the stomach flu yesterday morning and spent much of his morning in the bathroom while I headed to church with the kids.  During Sunday School the Nursery leaders brought Joshie to me.  He was just real lethargic and a little fevered.  I juggled him and Gideon for the rest of church with the help of Stefanie.  Joshie just layed in our laps and slept.  We got home and Joshie slept the rest of the day...hardly moving at all and  not wanting any food.  He just wanted me to hold him or lay with him which got kinda tricky when I needed to feed Gideon.  Joel tried and tried to get Joshie to lay with him while I nursed Gideon but he only wanted mom.  I felt so bad that he wasn't feeling good but I enjoyed the cuddles and time with him.  Joel began to feel better by early afternoon and then Thomas started feeling sick to his stomach.  They all slept well last night though and were doing better this morning.  Joshie isn't fevered anymore but he says his tummy hurts a little.  He is up and playing so I think he's pretty much over it.  This morning Mary told us her tummy hurt and shortly afterwards she began to throw up as well.  So, we have throw up bowls in all the rooms of the house and we're having a lazy day at home!  Hopefully everyone that is going to get it will get it soon so it doesn't linger around all week!

Scripture Study Distraction

Saturday evening we were reading scriptures and Gideon was sitting on the table with us.  We heard Sammy start to giggle so we looked over to see the reason for his giggling.  He had decided to share his sunglasses with Gideon.

Pinewood Derby

Thomas had his final pinewood derby tonight.  He worked so hard on his car and really did almost all of it himself.  He enjoyed working with Joel on every step of his car.  We have a wonderful group of boys and families in our pack.  Living in an area of the country where the wards are smaller and much more geographically spread out, we are really blessed to have 9 great boys in our pack.  I am so blessed to work with Stefanie too. She is just amazing and one of the best people I have ever had the opportunity to serve with.  We have been working hard to give these boys more leadership opportunities as they take their turn serving as the denner each month. Our goal is for each of these boys to learn how to lead and conduct a meeting now so they will be more prepared and able to do so when they hold leadership positions in their Priesthood Quorums.  They have exceeded our expectations.  The boys now conduct each pack meeting (as well as Den Meetings) by getting the attention of the group, welcoming everyone, assigning prayers and the color guard, and concluding each meeting.  It is so great to see them take on these responsibilities.

We began the evening presenting the boys with their advancement awards and then quickly moved on to the best part of the evening.  All the boys did so well and every race was super close.  None of us envied the job of the judges tonight.  It was great to see all the boys enjoying the evening and showing awesome sportsmanship.  Once the racing was over, awards had been presented, and closing flag and prayer...the real fun was had.  The boys had great fun racing their cars down the track over and over while taking turns being the race starter.  It was a great night.  I love these boys I get to work with.  I love being able to share these times with Thomas.  It is a sad thought to think in less than a year he will no longer be in cub scouts with me.  The time really goes much too quickly.

Another Snow Day

We are having yet another snow day today.  Joel and Thomas headed out early this morning to clear the driveways of about 6 inches of snow that accumulated in the last 6 hours or so, and by the time they were done there was another inch that had fallen.  The wind is blowing hard and snow is going everywhere!  We are under a winter storm watch until 4 this afternoon.  Joel decided to work from home today so he didn't have to go out on the roads.  So, we are enjoying another day inside with everyone!  Sammy wanted to work with Dad so he got a workbook page and worked alongside Dad for a while.  Hopefully we won't have too many more of these storms or our kids will be going to school all summer!

How can I not smile....

...when I get to spend my days with this little guy.  He is so much fun.  He loves sitting up on the counter with me as I cook, clean the kitchen, do the dishes, pack lunches, or help kids with homework.  He will sit for at least an hour very happily.  I love being able to lean over and give him kisses and hear him talk to us.  He has recently acquired a fascination and comfort in his fingers.  We often find him with 2 fingers in his mouth.  He is such a joy in our lives. 

Winter's Not Over Yet

I guess the warm up over the weekend was nothing more than a teaser for us. Sunday evening brought snow and then another ice storm. Monday was another day of super low temperatures and then snow really started to fall in the afternoon. In about 10 hours we got about 8 inches of new snow. It is cold again and we are back into a winter wonderland. The days of seeing green and the kids playing in the mud almost seem like a dream now. We have been told that we can expect snow storms and ice storms through the end of March. We can't count winter over until at least April.

(If you look closely at the branches you can see ice hanging from them.)

Samuel as "Samuel the Lamanite"

Sammy asked Spring to help him prepare the Family Home Evening lesson for tonight.  They decided to tell the story of Samuel the Lamanite.  It made for a fun and lively Family Home Evening.  We ended the recording early twice because we thought they were done...hence the 3 videos.

Playing in the Mud

With warmer temperatures our snow has melted and left us with a swamp for a backyard.  It is so wet and muddy and gross.  Yesterday I looked into our backyard and I came to awful realization of what happens after 3 months of not picking up after our dog.  It was not a pretty sight.  I guess we just hoped it would all go away with the snow.  Not only did it not go away but it was no longer frozen either.  Suffice it to say that it was a long hour of cleaning up mushy poop.  I may not be loving this muddy mess but the kids have LOVED tromping in the mud.  Every chance they get they ask if they can go out and play in the mud.  It's been a long day of constantly cleaning up muddy kitchen floors and a muddy dirty puppy.  Oh well, it is supposed to freeze up again and snow this weekend so I guess it is good they are enjoying the time outside that they have been.  This is how Mary was dressed to go out and play today in the mud.

Father Daughter Valentine Dance

The elementary school hosted a Father-Daughter Valentine Dance last night.  Spring planned what she was going to wear weeks in advance.  She wanted to wear her skirt she made with Sue Ann in sewing lessons.  Joel came down after getting ready for the dance wearing a purple tie to match Spring's skirt. He said he's  not a fan of a purple tie (he's never worn it before) but it was worth it for tonight.  Spring's eyes it up and she just smiled when she saw him.  The two had a fun night of dancing and Joel enjoyed meeting some of Spring's friends and their dads.

When did our Boys get so Big?

Recent pictures of Thomas at 10 years old and Gideon at 3 months.

Another Newspaper Appearance

Once again at church this morning we were told that one of our children was in the newspaper.  This time it was Sammy. 

Snippets of Last Week

Mary on the Front Page

At church yesterday a few different people came up to us and told us they had seen Mary on the front page of the town's newspaper.  So, we were excited to come home and check it out.  How fun for all the kids to get so excited to show Mary.  She just smiled her big, "Mary smile" and thought it was pretty cool!

"We're Skating!"

After dinner we told Sammy, Mary, and Joshie to head upstairs to get ready for a bath.  I guess Joel and I lingered downstairs a little too long.  As we started up the stairs we heard shrieks of laughter and just expressions of pure joy coming from the bathroom.  As we turned the corner at the top of the stairs we found this:

We asked, "What are you doing?"  to which they proudly replied, "We're skating!"  They continued to skate around the bathroom floor.  We discovered they covered the bottom of their feet in bath soap which allowed them to slip and slide around the bathroom floor.  We had a clean floor when they were done!  It was one of those times when we realized the pure joy that comes from such simple pleasures in their life and we just had to laugh along with them.  I got a wonderful video of it as well but Joel won't let me put it on the blog.  So, if you want to see it let me know and I can email it to you!

She's a Natural

We were getting ready for scripture study tonight and we looked over to see our sweet Mary.  When she saw us looking at her and smiling she just said, "My baby was hungry."  Not only is she a natural little mother but she is already learning the art of multi-tasking!

Ice Cream and Single Digit Temperatures

Last night we decided to go to Handel's for ice cream as our Family Home Evening treat.  Normally this would not be a big deal but last night it was bitter cold with single digit temperatures.  Sammy was disappointed when we got there and told him we were not going to eat outside at the tables; however, after a few minutes of deciding what flavor he wanted he was running back to the van wanting to go home to eat his ice cream.  Gideon even had his first taste of ice cream...not sure what to think of it yet but I'm sure he will grow to love it!  Fun memories!