Finding a reason to dance

Week 5: February 2-8, 2014

We fasted as a stake for moisture. Our Bishop extended the invitation to fast to the other religious leaders in our community. And they joined us. On Tuesday it started to snow. It was a beautiful outpouring of love from our Heavenly Father in direct answer to the pleads. Austin and Emma joined with us in fasting for this purpose. I love the strength this experience adds to their developing testimonies.

Spencer has stayed true to his conviction to be a vegetarian all week. I think its cool that he found something he believes strongly in and wants to do. I've had a talk with Kurt to let him be and not make a big deal about it. It is not a choice that is unhealthy or  will harm him {although Kurt begs to differ and is sure he is going to waste away to nothing. "He's not eating enough."}

Sunday meal for Spence included no roast and ketchup for gravy.

After dinner we took dessert and some house warming gifts over to the Forsbergs new home. It is beautiful and fits their style and personality. I'm happy for them. We had an enjoyable evening which I had to cut short so we could get to bed for school.

Cayson and Austin were writing code that Austin had made up

Result from our nice word money challenge at FHE was revealed. Spencer was the clear winner. I took pitty on Ruth and Lucy because of their age otherwise they would have lost all of their money early in the week. Austin had 3 cents left and Emma Lynn 24. Definitely a good challenge and worth continuing.

We drew names and wrote love notes to put that person's mail box. I was happy to see Austin writing some to everyone and his example carried on to the older kids. 

  

These two seem to hang out during FHE each week. At least they were awake this time.

Lucy is trying to grow out of her naps. With going to get the kids from school and after school activities the timing can be tricky and she ends up falling asleep in the car. She still has crazy bedtime habits. We tuck her in at 8 and then she play or reads books until she passes out at 9-9:30 sometimes later. Its crazy. Doesn't a 2 1/2 year old need more sleep?!!

Kurt and I both had to be at Mutual Wednesday night {both Vale wards were having their new beginnings so I had to run back and forth to both.} We left the kids home to babysit. First time leaving all 5 together. Austin was in charge of Lucy, Emma in charge of Ruth and Spencer had to man himself. Hoping this would eliminate some fighting amongst older siblings. Ruth was asleep and scriptures read when Kurt got home, better than some paid babysitters. I loved finding Austin's checklist he wrote for himself of what to do with Lucy. These are some good kids.

Jane hasn't been sleeping as well. Just waking up to eat more during the night. We have been trying to feed her more baby food to help get her more full. She likes fruit but is not overly impressed with veggies.

We actually spent some time at the library twice this week {Wednesday as usual and Thursday after school because Emma had Academic Academy after school.} Jane continues to LOVE this large toy,

Lucy reading  books unaware of me.

 And how that changes when she realizes I have the camera going. What a ham.

Lucy had a few melt down moments this week. Maybe her poor sleeping patterns are catching up with her. But anyways like a good mom I captured it in photo. Throwing herself down by the treadmill screaming...

And then on a bed {mom is trying to help calm her} and then seconds later smiling and happy. I can't keep up.

With Valentine's coming up next week Emma Lynn started to work on her valentines. She makes a personalized drawing for each person in her class. I hope these kids treasure this piece of thoughtful art.

Ruth's dance studio in Nyssa didn't have class in January due to heating problems. Class resumed this week but for some crazy reason they switched to Tuesday. During Cub Scouts. Arhhhh. Ruth is devasted so we are trying to find an alternative solution. In the meantime we have been dancing more at home in the evenings. Currently we don't have any activities on Thursday or Friday. Whoah. Kinda shocking.

 Had to dig out some 9 month clothes for this little chica. I was in denial that it was time.

 One Thursday she rolled off my bed. Twice. I felt so bad I moved her to her crib for her nap. And there she has slept ever since. Some how she sleeps through Lucy's crazy non-sleeping habits. And some how one of us {usually Kurt} will hear her in the night to fix a bottle. Although he hasn't complained I'm pretty sure Kurt is happy to have his room back.

In preparation for ward conference we had a ward temple session on Saturday afternoon. We brought two sisters with us that would otherwise not be able to go {inactive husbands.} We took them and Jamie to Tucons afterward. I'm pretty sure we made Tami's day. It was a great session to be in the temple with a ward family we've grown to love.

---Romans Reflections---

- Ruth counted to 100 "I can't believe it! I have tears."

- I heard Lucy sing this song:

I love my mom, she is so awesome

I love my sister 

I love success!

- Lucy has really been into Legos the past few weeks. She always builds a phone.

Love this cute centerpiece

I can see clearly now

Week 4: January 26 - February 1, 2014

The People of Parma
Sunday was our second ward conference, Parma 2. Lucy was out of control. Our high councilor over YW {who is also Kurt's cousin} sat with us and took Jane every time I needed to "help" Lucy. Ahhhh totally in the days of just enduring Sacrament meeting. I know she won't be two forever but then Jane will be! hahaha

I am feeling so much frustration with my stake calling right now. Without complaining or speaking ill of someone else I will simply say that I feel like my wings have been clipped. I am praying for guidance to know how to be a good counselor, how to magnify my calling and that through it all I will learn something.

I went back over to Parma that evening for their New Beginnings. I love interacting with the YW and their leaders. I wish there was more of it. There are so many inspiring people that touch my life.

Emma came home from church all excited to work on her Faith in God. It was so fun to see. It is foreshadowing of personal progress. Love it.

Make it Monday
Monday Maggie came over to craft with me. She likes that kind of stuff and so do I so its a great way to spend time together. I had a bunch of Valentine craft that I had already bought so that was our first project together. The only challenge is to make sure it doesn't turn into a gossip session. But next week we are meeting again and I'm going to teach her the first new member lesson.

"Your WORDS" F.H.E.
In an effort to help our family members speak kindly to one another and just use happy voices in general I wanted to focus our lesson on that. I started by squeezing out an entire tube of toothpaste and I said negative things as I did so. I gave the kids a few "tools" and asked them to put the toothpaste back inside the tube. Of course they were unable to put much back inside and so I related that to our words. Once they have been spoken they cannot be taken back. I challenged them all to an experiment this week: I gave each child the same amount of money {in coins} in their own jar. Every time they whine, yell, speak rude, etc...money will be taken out. Whatever they have left next week at FHE will be theirs to keep.

Kurt and Jane found the lesson very captivating.

Tales of Fifth Grade Fun
Lucy went to Nancy's so Jane & I could volunteer. Due to report cards coming out we have been cracking the responsibility whip on Austin. He is so talented it kills me when things like not turning in his homework is what is pulling his grades down. Seriously. So we are working on that. Again. They are not going to put up with that nonsense in prep school. And that transition happens this year. Mrs. Jesperson loved on Jane and she was so good and quiet the whole time. They were working on writing Thesis statements for papers they are going to write. They had to pick one person close to them that they wanted to write about. Austin picked Spence. That warms my heart. Glad that there are two of them and they are close in age to be friends. Directly after school we had a short GS service unit meeting. Dawn will be leaving soon and my heart is so sad. She is an amazing lady, good friend and the CORE of our troop. I'm worried things are going to fall apart without her...

She thought my parent volunteer badge was a fun toy.

Crazy Cubs
The Webelos leaders forgot it was Tuesday and so they all came with us which lead to some extra crazy times. This is the second time {in a row} this older Webelos leader has forgotten to come to scouts. He has asked Kurt to be released. Yikes, we might be in trouble. We are on the countdown: for Spencer to be official AND Austin to finish.

Austin helped me teach the food pyramid 

We all love this J-BUG

Black Ice Madness

Wednesday morning we woke up to freezing rain, black ice conditions. It was Ca-RAY-zz. Sliding all over the place just to get to the car. ALL the school in the surrounding area had closed school for the day. Except Ontario. Of course. Ruth had thrown up that morning at 4 so she wasn't going to school anyway so Kurt slowly braved the roads. 

This is the third week in a row that Ruth has missed a day of school for throwing up...mmm. Regardless we enjoyed our day with her {snuggles, Valentine math Bingo, lots of books and my favorite childhood Valentine craft.}

 Check out this sheet of ice when I rolled the window down. Impressive and fun to break.

All three passed out before we left the driveway it took so long to warm up the car.  

Beside piano all after-school activities were canceled including Mutual. I'm always grateful for the gift of extra time when something changes in the normal schedule. It made of a nice, less hectic evening with the kids. Always grateful for that.

Moment of clarity
I need to embrace the life of a budget. I always start the month with good intentions and then when things get busy it slacks. No more of that! This is my newest and most important 2014 resolution. I've been reading, researching, downloaded some apps and already put changes into place. I feel the need to help contribute and proposed two ideas to Kurt. He didn't agree and for the first time that I can think of it brought a lot of tension and stupor of thought to our marriage. We fasted Friday. I went to the temple with Maria {including a tasty lunch at Cafe Rio after} and felt that Kurt needs to be at peace with the decision and that I should listen to his counsel. We continued the wrestle throughout the weekend. Grateful for tools {most especially the Holy Ghost} to help us make decisions.

Mr. Sun
After a month of fog and inversion the SUN came out on Thursday afternoon. Ahhhh!! I cannot tell you how much joy that brought to make heart. Happy day. As soon as school was out Spencer went outside to enjoy the winter miracle. This is exactly how I felt too!

From the view of our family room we were able to watch ice freeze as the temperatures dropped {it really was cool} AND the fog move through the valley {again.}

A sense of wonder

I love Jane's stage right now as she discovers the world around her and every single thing {i.e. a chip or a spoon} hold such an amazing sense of wonder. The beauty and simplicity of life.

And like the other kids we are helping to foster a love of reading at a young age. Sweetness

State Testing
This week Austin and Emma Lynn had their OAKS testing for the state. Being a third grader this year it was Emma's first time. She had lots to tell me about Monday after school. {So grateful I'm the one who picks them up so I don't miss those moments.} They were working on the reading part this week. Austin finished on Thursday with a score of 237 {high school level.} Emma finished on Friday with a score of 226 {5th grade level.} We got "Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs 2" as the perfect way to relax and unwind.

Love is in the Air
Happy to welcome in the month of February on Saturday. I wanted to encourage the kids to write love notes to each other throughout the month and so I started a new tradition. I got everyone a mailbox {thank you Target dollar section} and every day I put in a new valentine {and sometimes a treat too! ;)} The kids are super excited about this and I think its going to be a perfect February tradition.

My plan is to put our name's on with vinyl {at some point}

Saturday means...
1. Early morning Kindle time

Saturday morning cartoons is a lost idea on this generation

2. Long runs 

After running on the treadmill all week I was more than overjoyed to run 11 miles outside in the beautiful 40 degree sun shining morning. I could do that any day! I acquired 2 friends on my run. They ran the last 5 miles with me. I thought for sure they would go home when I went inside. But hours later I saw this out my front door. haha We finally called the owner to let him know where his dogs were and he came and got them.

It may have inspired me for Spencer's birthday.... ;)

Thanks Grandma

We invited Grandma Cindy over for dinner to thank her for watching the kids when we were in Florida. Mid afternoon Kurt was reminded that the Groundhog dinner at the Catholic church was that night. And so the Catholics cooked dinner for us instead. We came back to the house for dessert and the kids current favorite game of Apples to Apples. Braxton was sleeping over and he and Spencer were quite amusing team. Grandpa Bill killed us all.

THE latest FAD

Grandma brought the kids some of the small rubber bands so they could make bracelets which is THE most currently fad among the elementary school age. They may have gone crazy in their production. Spencer's goal was to make it as long as possible. He has been jumping rope with it, seeing how far it will stretch {through multiple rooms} and winding it through his bed posts to set up a booby trap when he's at school. So many uses.

We have limited Austin to wearing only 4 to school, none to church. 2/3 grade cannot wear them at all {per teacher's request because they were such a big distraction.} Don't worry they made some for Lucy, Jane and every other relation they have. Expect some mail.

---Romans Reflections---
Austin came up with this song to the tune of "Deck the Halls"

Deck your arms with lots of bracelets, fa la la la la la la
You might lose your circulation,  fa la la la la la la
But you who cares you'll die in style,  fa la la la la la la
Deck your arms with lots of bracelets, fa la la la la la la

- Spencer said Thursday night at dinner. "From now on I'm not eating meat." Minutes later, "Does this have meat?" {{YES} "You can have it, Austin. I'm a vegetarian now" {So far he has stayed true to this declaration.}

- Ruth: "What is the definition of a tree huger?" Emma Lynn replied: "Spencer."

- We have a jar of questions and we read one each night at dinner for conversation starters: The question was should girls wear make up yes or no?

S: no, better without because they look beautiful and they should be themselves

R: Brooke and I look more beautiful with make up

A: just lipstick. When Ruth wears lipstick it looks like her whole face has makeup

- At scripture study Kurt asked if we feel safe living in America and Emma replied, "Yes except when we go to Wal-mart."

- Where do you want to live when you grow up? Emma and Ruth said Vale.  Spence said Africa Emma was doubtful, "Are you sure your wife will want to live there?"

- When asking Lucy how she was going to act at church she started singing the primary song, "Reverently, quietly now I know my ABC's."
PS it still didn't help her behavior in sacrament meeting.