Monday, November 23, 2015

Our Thankful Hearts Week 2

November 8 - 14, 2015

"We are thankful for church." - Jane
Sunday, November 8th
Early morning serenades with the super cool glasses from the Science Day. Stylin'

I found this gem on my phone. For some special reason the emergency whistle from our 72 hour kit has made it into the car {I love moving.} I have threatened their life if they blow it whiled driving.

It was Sister Guittezes last Sunday in the branch. There were lots of hugs for everyone. Words cannot not describe how much we will miss that amazing missionary!

There was lots of happy sibling play after church. That makes me a happy mom! Austin was helping Spencer with the art transposing.

Ruth and Lucy continue to hang out on the top bunk pouring over the American Girl catalog. They have a very long list of items they want to earn money for.


I encouraged Austin to have a deacon quorum presidency meeting and so he arranged it for 5 at the house. I whipped up some popcorn and rice krispies to keep them happy. Kurt was able to give some training and help guide the meeting.

We had another discussion with the Buenos family that night. They actually opened the door this time. The kids were loud and playing, just wanting attention so I went and played with them so the adults could have a chance to focus and hopefully feel the spirit. They are good kids, good people. We just need to get the super shy, hermit type dad to come to church. It was nearly 10 we when got home. The buddies were asleep together on Ruth's bed.

"We are thankful for food." - Austin
Monday, November 9th
This week it was my turn to pick our family ponderizing scripture and I wanted something about gratitude. I especially like verse 5. God IS Good.

Kurt took the kids to school so I could help the sisters with transfers. We loaded up Sister G. stuff and took it to Ontario and then met up with all the missionaries to pick up the new sister{that was kinda cool to witness. Like one big missionary party in the parking lot. Random church fun.}

Brittney and I worked on more meal prep. That is the key to eating healthy as we rush around after and for our kids. More protein bites were definitely on the list! :)

Austin finally used his piano points.


Jane was off all day and by dinner time she was done. She just laid on the kitchen floor {which is not big} and cried. Maybe I cut her apples wrong. Somethings will remain a mystery.

After Kurt and Emma got home we headed over to the Beck's house to listen to the kids pre-festival
piano recital. All 3 of them did a great job. After a little visiting & lots of cookies consumed by the kids we headed home for NDH {FHE.}





Our Noche De Hogar is always super reverent. Jane and Lucy were trying to learn new tricks,

This is Lucy's-I'm-trying-to-master-winking face.

"I'm thankful for my parents." - Emma Lynn
Tuesday, November 10th
Before smart gym, "Look mom we are serving you!!" I am so blessed.

While Lucy was at smart gym Jane and I did a little volunteering but mainly focused on taking Spence to lunch for his mommy date. He chose pizza and Kiwi Loco. I have always had a hard time saying no to that brown-eyed boy. I'm sure he'll make sure the other siblings know that's where we went. But as long as he feels special & loved its a win. 

Jane saw the paw print on the side walk {supporting Ontario HS Tigers} and she got excited, "Look its Blues Clues!" She's so adorable.

Lucy was SO excited to show me the city they had built in preschool. She had to show me all the details including the waterfall in the front yard. This smart gym has been a great experience for her.

One of the happiest parts of the day is that Kurt was able to attend Robotics {THANK YOU!} So grateful for his presence. He brought the finished lego table and it was great to have him come. 

Kurt took Spencer to basketball practice in between visits while I took the girls to dance. I love these little friends who remind me about the simple joy of life.

I also love this guy I'm married to who not only reads stories to his little girls but sings them too.



"We are thankful for prophets." - Spencer
Wednesday, November 11th 
Happy Veteran's Day! The kids had school and I love that they do. They have been learned about veterans and had prepared a program for them when they came for the special Veteran's breakfast. Austin, Marcus, Cayson and Moses did the flag ceremony in their Scout uniform. 



And Ruth's class sang "I'm Proud to be an American." They have been practicing for weeks. She's been telling me all about the song she was learning but was keeping it a secret. Finally yesterday on the way to dance she said she wanted to sing it for me. She was shocked that I was able to join in with her and sing every word. "How do YOU know that song too mom?!!" haha

While they were at school Brittney, Alyssa and Jonathan came over. While we were running at morning she was talking about her plan to make photo albums for each kid for Christmas. Of course I had to jump in at this point to tell her about Project Life. So I invited them to come over so I could show and explain everything {and get them started.} They were sold on the idea, and purchased and downloaded the app before they left. It makes me happy.

Before they left Lucy wanted to make some soup. So they started throwing ingredients into a pot. I persuaded her that peanut butter might not be the best choice but other than that let them create. We put the pot on the stove to cook that night for dinner.


We threw together our freezer meals for SISTERS DAY and then headed over to Kelli's house. Julie, Cindy and Marti had all canceled that morning.  The West Fall crew was branding and Marti's family ran up to McCall for a quick 24 hour trip. So Christy and I were there. I'm just so glad that the idea is taking root and that someone else was hosting. Keeping my fingers crossed for this tradition to stick. Everyone had already made they freezer meals ahead of time so we put together Chocolate Christmas countdowns. If I make one I only make ONE and everyone shares so the kids are going to be super excited {and spoiled} to have their own. Thanks Kelli for a fun afternoon.

As I was out and about this scene cracked me up. It sums up this country life we live: the man in the tractor stop at the stoplight and got out to talk to his neighbor on the side of the road. 

Look how good this sister is. After school fun.


I also picked up our Zaycon chicken Tuesday afternoon but with robotics and dance I could do nothing but put it in the frig. 80 lbs of raw chicken that had to be cut and bagged. Ruth was anxious to help without being asked. And even though she didn't last the entire time {it took a while!} she was a great help. She is a sweet heart and I am so fortunate to be her mom.




Lucy was very excited to check on her soup while it was cooking.


After Kurt and Austin went to mutual the girls got busy. When you have 4 daughters it means lots of dress up, crowns, jewels, drama and dancing. I love it. Spencer was buried in his room deep in HP5.


Austin got home before Kurt because Kurt had run to Home Depot after parts for the 7th Ave house. We are trying to finish up a bunch of little projects to get the house on the market. We have hired Art and 2 of Jeff Bair's seasonal help. Kurt made the comment to me, "Sorry we didn't finish these projects when we lived there. It looks nicer now." Its' all good. It just needs to sell. Anyhow Austin came home told me about 1.7 sentences about mutual and asked to borrow a dinning room chair. He took it outside and shut the door. I finished cleaning up the dishes and 10 minutes passed. I finally went out to see what he was up to. Just some soap whittling on the porch at 9:24 pm. hahah That kid.
He made a car and it has joined Spencer's bear on top of our music cupboard {because that's were all whittling creations belong.}

"We are thankful for mom & dad." - Ruth 
Thursday, November 12th
I finally scheduled an appointment for the warts on the outside of Emma's hands to be treated. We got rid of a few big ones on fingers this summer. The one of the outside are hard to treat and they were starting to crack with the dry weather. She is self conscience about them. It was past time to do something. Sage told us there were 2 options we could do: freeze them off OR apply beetle juice to each wart. She has not seen much success with the freeze off method. So we opted for the beetle juice. The application was not suppose to hurt and each area applied with the beetle juice would blister. When the blister naturally popped and went away the wart was suppose to go with it. Sounded harmless enough and we were ready to do anything!

This is her hands before.

During the beetle juice application.


They covered all of them with clear bandages and then wrapped them. They had to stay for 6 hours and then we were suppose to take them all off and wash them well with soap and water. Because all the blister would pop at some point the greatest concern was keeping them from getting infected. In total she had 30 warts treated.

I took her to school all badge up and then picked up Lucy from preschool Kelli's house. We had Coleson during preschool and the Dr appointment and he slept for most of it. What a sweet kid. Lucy loved doing the Hippo Walk for the letter H. She won nail polish and she was so excited! "Take a picture to show the kids what color my polish is!"

Kelli and kids were headed out of town to visit Traci. On a whim they invited Lucy to come with them. I hesitated but there is that part of me that still loves the chance to be spontaneous. I knew Lucy would love it & that she would be easy to take care of and happy. So we said YES! We ran home to back up a bag for her and snacks for the road & met back at Kelli's to load up. Lots of excitement in that van! Thanks Kelli and good luck!!


That afternoon for Thursday Robotics Shay came to help. He is a vet that presented to the Prep school the day before. Chelle was super impressed with his experience and background & asked if he would be interested in helping with our robotics club. They divided into groups, the programmers with Kurt and the designers with Shay. It worked out perfectly because Emma needed my full attention.

 It was time to take the badges off during Robotics and she wanted it off before dance after school. We didn't realize what a painful process that was or we never would have done it in the school bathroom. They had stuck to her skin too well and removing them ripped off skin and some blisters that had already started to form. It was a mess. She was crying and shaking with pain & at least 3 adults came to check that I was beating her. Ah my heart was breaking for her. We got her some ibprohen and I cuddled her on my lap. Can't remember the last time she let me do that. The scores were starting to ooze and so we got regular bandaids to cover them. About that time she had to leave for dance. I gave her a big hug & Miss Amber a quick text about her status. Chelle ended up buying more of the blue wrap tape to keep the bandaids in place during dance.

I loved seeing the new bulletin board outside Senora Ortega's 4/5 room. Can you see the kid in the reading in the tree? That's Spencer reading HP5. So I learned that he has read during all his recesses all week. Under a tree with his hood pulled up. No body bother me I'm at Hogwarts. So glad she got a picture of it!

The rest of us went to Spencer's music lesson and once again had fun with the leaves. After jumping in them to their hearts content Austin completely covered my windshield in a thick blanket of leaves. They thought it was so hilarious to watch the leave fly off all the way home.





I had a Stake Primary meeting that night so Kurt picked up Emma from dance car pool and a friend took Spence to bball practice. The meeting was great. They had asked me to bear my testimony about the power of Primary music, that is easy to feel passionate about. They also led a great discussion and we came away enriched and strengthen.

Poor Emma was a wreck when I got home. She was in so much pain. We were able to get the bandaids off but again it was a struggle and very painful because all the warts are so close together. The blisters were big and they were oozing, dripping off her hand ooz. Kurt gave her a blessing and used this opportunity to teach about the power of the atonement. She was very emotional. When the pain was bad she just wanted me so I slept with her that night.

I found this surprise in my room
Ruth had folded our laundry and left service smiles for us. She sure does make me smile.

"We are thankful for Austin." - Jane
Friday, November 13th
What a beautiful sunrise after a long night. 

I did not send Emma to school. As long as we could keep the pain under control she was fine otherwise she was very emotional. It was an up & down day. We played some games together in between reading HP and resting.

Most of the open sores were starting to crust over and the oozing was minimal. 


After we picked up the kids from school we went over to the library to pick up Emma's prize for winning the drawing contest. She got an art kit & $50 to Wal-Mart. She was beaming. She took pictures and then we had to sign a bunch of paperwork. Fun to have something exciting after a rough 24 hours.

 This is her winning drawing!

We went to nutcracker practice. She was exhausted at this point and thankfully slept the entire way over. She was excited to use her new supplies when we got home. She went straight to work on Miss Amber's Christmas present. ;)

Kelli texted me this picture. They went to ijump and had a wonderful time. I was happy to talk to her on the phone. She was very excited and animated. Love that girl!

It was announced at school that starting next year they will start 4 Rivers High School. This is HUGE. I never in my life thought this would happen. It does raise some mixed emotions. Spencer has already said he is going to Nyssa HS and Austin and Emma are VERY concerned. I remind them that Spencer is only a 4th and luckily we don't have to decide anything today.
This is my cool new shirt from Chelle. I love their new crest logo.

Jane has been sleeping in Lucy's bed since she's been gone. We couldn't find her though - where is Jane? She blends in with her blanket and sheets, all camouflaged. Never seen so much zebra in my life {love it.}

Love bed time love notes!

"We are thankful for the temple." - Mom
Saturday, November 14th
Ruth, Emma & I picked up Norma {20 year old investigator) and drove to the Owyhee church to learn how to make pies. Chelsey, Fabiloa, Jasmine, Chema and Hma Good were also there. We had a fun and my girls did a great job. We made 5 pies. It was fun to learn together. Our sisters from the branch were a natural with all their tortilla making experience.  Hopefully the girls and I can keep practicing and make it an art.







Luckily I got home in time to go with Kurt and Spencer to his basketball games in Fruitland. We didn't realize it but we were playing Braxton's team. It was fun to cheer for everyone and watch them guard each other. Vale won. We won the second game against Payette.






Spencer stayed with Marti so he could watch Braxton's second game. Kurt and I stopped at Home Depot and then straight out to Willow Creek to fix a few more things on the house. Kurt showed me the pad for his new store building. Documents have been signed and this is the first step in the building process. So EXCITING!

We met up with Spencer at Logan before heading back to Nyssa. We were home just a short time before Kurt, Emma and I got ready for the Gonzales anniversary party in Parma. Kurt and I worked the kitchen, serving food and then all the clean up duty. We had a great night visiting and serving with friends and other branch members. I love our little branch. Kurt and I did get to dance. And all I can say is that I do not have the same passion at the Latino couple around us. hahaha






 As we were clearing the table there was some horchata left in each of the pitchers. We couldn't in good faith dump in down the drain. And I may have started a chugging contest at that point.


  Of course I had to get in on the fun. Holy coldness and Holy sweetness. Wow.

 It was after 11:30 when we got home. I realized after typed this that Austin pretty much babysat everyone all day. Thanks kid, maybe I should start paying ya! Appreciate you



~~~Romans Reflections~~~
- Jane is complete obsessed with TWO things right now. DORA - or as she would say,
"Do Do DORA!" and Bathrooms. She wants to watch Dora all day long from the moment she wakes up until she goes to bed. Don't worry, I don't give in. But it is extremely adorable to hear her say
"Do Do Dora!" The bathroom obsession drives me CRA-ZAY. But clearly if that's what it takes to be potty trained obviously I'm not going to complain BUT its not the cleanest obsession! She wants to use and see every. single. bathroom. Every store, every house we go into, every gas station we pass. She loves the toilet paper and the sink and wants to see what kind of soap they have. ;-)
- When I'm cooking dinner I hear Jane's voice, "I'm hiding from you!" Then a cupboard cracks open.
- When Jane wants to be picked up she says, "I get ta hold you."

1 comment:

Karen and Roger said...

Oh, I'm so sorry for Emma! Warts are the worst and looks so painful. :( They better ALL fall off!

All of Jane's "romans reflections" had me laughing. She is too cute!

This is Halloween Nite!

October 28 - November 3, 2018 Sunday, 10.28 Monday, 10.29 Tuesday, 10.30 Wednesday, 10.31 Thursday, 11.01 Friday, 11.02...