Family, finals and frolics

Things have been crazy around here lately...Dave finishing up finals and school, and we've actually had lots of time to do things as a family, which has been so much fun!

 

First, here are a few random pictures of our fam and what each has been doing lately. 

 

Lucy has been getting very independent and can be very fiesty at times.  I guess it's a good thing, right?  Her favorite things to do are to raid my underwear drawer (see white girl do-rag below) and play with brother and sister.  She's getting rather good at talking and usually speaks pretty clearly so we can understand her and will put together short sentances.  My favorite is when she wakes up in the morning and says "It's a sunny day!"  I love it! 

                                                      

 

One day, we did silly string in the backyard.  Lucy was not amused, as you can tell!  Poor girl was terrified of the stuff!

 

Super cute Weber State girl!

 

Cal's been loving going outside with the warmer weather!  He's been so great at listening and helping out lately, what a sweet boy!  This day, he decided to play in the dirt outside and marked himself and told me "I'm Grandma Sue's mascot!"  I got a chuckle out of that one.  His favorite time of day?  When Emma comes home from school!  He also loves preschool and has been having a blast with his little buddies there.   

 

"I'm looking at you!" Cal said in this disguise. 

 

Preschool fun 

 

Emma has been working hard in school.  We had her parent teacher conference and she is doing great in everything.  Go Em!  She loves to play with friends after school and art projects.  She recently made her first thing on the sewing machine - a bean bag, which she did a great job on.  She had her first grade program at school, her favorite song was chicken rap (bawk bawk - what are they teaching kids in the schools these days).  Emma has been quite popular lately.  She's been to 4 (and invited to a few she couldn't attend) birthday parties in the past 6 weeks.  And, she got her first boquet of flowers from a boy at school.  Now, when I go volunteer in Emma's class, Aric blushes when he sees me.  Ha ha!  How did she grow up so fast?  She's into doing her own hair and won't let me touch it most days.  Or if I do, she'll pull it out and do it herself.  Funny girl.  She hates practicing piano and seems to think it's the worst thing that ever happened to her and that "none of her friends have to practice!".  But she does so well, so we will keep with it! 

Emma's music program.  She has so many cute little friends at school and they all did a great job with the program!

My little fire fighters

We've been out riding bikes and playing in the back yard as much as we can.  Cal loves doing tricks on his bikes and will do 360's on them.  He's pretty fearless.  Lucy just likes pushing her bikes around.  And Emma is still working on her bike without training wheels.  We also painted Cal's big wheel dark blue (his favorite color), so he wouldn't be rolling around on pink & purple anymore!  :)

We had a dirt devil back behind our house in the "sand dunes" recently.  It was pretty crazy to see it!  The kids were all quite impressed!

And after months of high stress never seeing him and changes of topics for his graduate project, Dave did it!  He defended his graduate project with flying colors!  :)  Yay babe!  He was also selected out of his cohorts to represent WSU at the Washington State Health Care Executives forum, along with some students from UW and EWU.  His professors and others in attendance pointed out how much better Dave did presentation-wise and how the cirriculum is better and the students are better ready to face the real world from Wazzu.  It was an honor though for him to be selected for this.  We are so proud of him!  It's been  relief to have him done!  He's worked so hard and we're grateful for his diligence.

We went to Frank's Diner the night he finished up his defense to celebrate.  We got to eat in an old train car.  It was a cute little place.  And we all had breakfast for dinner, even better!  Then we watched James Bond Skyfall, which was the first movie we've watched together in a long time!  Seriously, the TV has not even been on around here in months.  The movie was very good though.  And we all feel so relieved to be able to breathe little bit now.  Though Dave still feels like something is due and he has dreams (or nightmares) about homework and his project.  Ha ha!

When Dave isn't applying for jobs, or working on final projects or presentation, or helping out around the house, he's out zapping bugs.  Lol!  We got this bug zapper.  It's his new favorite toy.  We tried for several days to kill this ginormous fly, but it was so fast and invincible it took several days to get it.  The kids were quite amused, we thought for sure it died but it got up off the bug zapper (which will fry a spider or smaller flies instantly) and kept flying around.  It was pretty funny.  But it's been good to see Dave play with the kids more, since he hasn't had much time for that this semester (or all of grad school).  They are always laughing when they play with Daddy, and I like to just sit back and listen and watch and it makes me smile. 

I guess I'd better post one prego shot of me (the only one I've taken lately of me at all).  Here I am at about 23 weeks.  "You gotta love it, baby!"

We've able to spend some time together as a family again and just enjoy each other.  One night, we went to a tail gaiting party and then over to the Gonzaga vs. Wazzu baseball game.  It was chilly, but we had a good time anyways singing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" and cheering for the Cougs!

One weekend, we went to the Crimson & Grey spring football game.  It's a pretty big deal!  We got autographs from players, scored some free stuff, played on the Bouncy Houses, met Butch, the mascot, enjoyed some cotton candy and  fun football game. Go Cougs!

 

We went bowling for a family activity Dave's school was doing.  We haven't been for a while, so it was fun to get out and bowl with the kids.  Emma won, she got higher scores than all of us!  And Cal got excited whether he knocked down 1 or 10 pins.  I think that's how we should all be.  We're not in a competition with anyone else, just going for personal best.  Somedays, we have strike days and feel like we've done all we can, other days its a 1 pin day.  But as long as we do our best, it doesn't matter!  

Since we may be leaving town here soon, we've been trying to cram in all of the things we haven't done yet that we've wanted to.  We went to the Donut Parade and tried the maple bacon (and more!) donuts.  Pretty tasty!  And then we went over to Cal's Books ("There's mine book store!" Cal always says as we drive by) and let the kids pick out book. 

One Sunday afternoon, we drove to Kettle Falls.  It was such a pretty drive.  I love all of the pine trees!  We skipped rocks, walked along the shore, and visited a park around the area.  This part of the country is so beautiful.  I've traveled all over the country (thanks, Dad!) and this is some of the best out there!

 

So what's next for this here family?  I wish I knew.  We've had no luck securing a job yet, but are so close and are in the running for three, two on the west side of Washington and one in Utah.  So we're waiting to see where we'll end up, applying for more jobs, and packing our stuff up in the meantime.  We love it here so much, but every job Dave has applied for has turned us down.  So it looks like we're going somewhere else, and that must be the way its supposed to be.  Which makes me sad, but Someone else has better plans for us. And He knows best.  So we'll trust in that and we're hoping and praying something falls into place soon here.  Sometimes it's hard to play the waiting game and be in the uncertain.  But I know something will work out.  :)

April showers brings spring break

April showers bring spring break for us!  We had a great week this week!  Lots of sleeping in, no schedules and less structure - it was really nice!  We had movie nights, went swimming, went out to get frozen yogurt, did activities and art projects, played a lot outside, went out to dinner one night. 

 

Monday was April Fool's Day and I always do a little something.  This year, I hid blue food coloring under the kids' toothpaste on their toothbrushes.  Cal was the first to start brushing and he was laughing so hard!  I told him, "April fools!  Gotcha!"  And then I told Emma to go brush.  She did and got the giggles too!  They thought it was pretty funny.  It was a pretty good prank, I'd say.  It came off mid-day, but they had blue teeth and lips still when we went to the Y that they had to explain to some.  :)

But, the kids got the last laugh.  I told the older kids they could stay up a little later, with spring break and all, and went to put Lucy to bed.  I fell asleep as I was trying to get her down for bed, and the next thing I knew, I felt something on my face and heard giggling children.  Emma told me that I had to go see myself in the mirror.  This is what I saw...  Ha ha!  The jokes on me, I guess!  Emma actually was planning on doing this to Daddy, but he woke up before her, so that never worked out. 

We went bike riding one afternoon.  We've been working with Em for a long time on riding her bike without training wheels.  She gets so scared and will stop her bike once she figures out the balance thing.  But this day, she was determined and would not give up until she got it!  She tried and tried and we cheered her on and then got it couldn't stop riding! 

 

I was so excited she learned how to ride her bike I started screaming and she was laughing at me.  But it's really exciting to see something your child has been struggling with finally get it!  These little milestones are exciting for a mom.  :)

Cal and Luce also had fun riding bikes.  Cal likes this big wheel (pink and purple, oh yeah!  Note: we buy mostly gender neutral stuff like that) and was doing all kinds of crazy tricks on it.  But, he kept taking off his helmet, so he had to go take a little time out and stop riding for a bit.  He is so funny!

Lucy rode a while, and then would run around.  Doesn't she look so cute in her little Weber State cheerleading outfit?  The Wildcats played this day in their tournament, but unfortunately, they lost. 

The first half of the week the weather was so nice and we were outside most of it.  Then, toward the weekend, the rain came in.  So we had fun inside.  We did some rain art pictures, a few little crafts, and this day, we did tiny masterpieces with little pieces of paper and tiny paint tools.  They all love getting messy in the name of art. 

The weekend brought LDS General conference, which we thoroughly enjoyed.  The messsages were inspiring and encouraging, and I heard a few things that I felt were just what I needed to hear.  The kids did pretty well listening for some of the time too.  We played lots of Bingo, conference coloring pages, our jelly bean game, and had blocks and other toys on hand to keep them entertained.  I'm so thankful to be able to hear the words of the living prophets and to be a part of this Gospel!  What a blessing!  I know it's true!

 

Saturday we celebrated Dave's 31st birthday!  We had a Pete's Dragon birthday party for him, since that's one of his favorite movies.  Emma stayed up late Friday night helping me make this Pete's Dragon Elliot cake.  She did a great job helping with the fondant - mixing, rolling out, cutting, shaping.  We had fun, though I got a little tired and cranky towards the end.  We had the Bennetts and the Halleys over to celebrate with us.  

We decorated in purple & green and had candles on the water for this brazzle dazzle birthday. 

For dinner, we had salad, garlic steak fries, purple and green grapes, and breaded talapia, melt-in-your-mouth salmon, garlic pepper salmon and chicken, and Doc Terminus' cure all elixer to drink (black cherry, root beer and orange soda). 

The kids had a fun time at the party and laughed (and tooted) a lot around the table!

The adults (we're so grown up now) had fun too.  We sat around and visited and laughed (but didn't toot) as well.  This was too funny!  Hana kept trying to take her moms drink. 

Then we had the cake, Dave put the candles in to look like Elliot was breathing out fire. 

Singing happy birthday to the birthday boy!  He's getting a little distraught about being "so old".  I can't wait until he's 51!  Ha ha!

Then we watched Pete's Dragon, the friends stayed for part of it, but then all had to leave because it was so late.  Dave, Emma and I stayed up and finished watching it together, singing all of the great songs.  Dave had a brazzle dazzle birthday for sure.  He's so cute!  That day, in their prayers, the kids thanked Heavenly Father for Daddy and that we could celebrate Daddy's birthday. 

Easter Excitement

Happy Easter from us to you!  We got going a few weeks ago when we decorated for Easter and started our Easter puzzle/activity from the Friend magazine.  On Monday night, we made an Easter block with different pictures from the life of Christ (particularly the atonement and resurrection) and let the kids roll it and then we teamed up to find a scripture that went along with it.  Then we decorated ginormous Easter bunny cookies. 

We went to an Easter egg hunt playgroup with some friends this week.  The kids had so much fun playing with their friends and eating a lot of candy!  We also went that day to the downtown park, which was fun.  It's getting so warm (well, like the sweltering 60's) the kids want to take off their jackets and pull out the sandals and shorts.  Ha ha!  It is so nice having the sun out again! 

Cal had an Easter party for preschool too.  Check out these cute bunnies!

We also dyed Easter eggs with our neighbors.  The kids came up with some clever designs, and this year, we dyed the eggs in Kool Aid. 

On Saturday, we decided to kick off Spring break with Couer d'Alene.  We went and walked along the boardwalk, went to play at the park, and went to a yummy Brazilian steakhouse.  It was so beautiful, like always!

Then we went on the Journey to the Cross tour.  It was like a walk through the Holy Land recreating the last few weeks of the Savior's life.  We went last year as well.  It was neat for the kids seeing it brought to life. 

Sunday morning, we woke up and had bunny cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Then the kids came down (Emma even woke up early by herself!) to check out the goods.  Emma was cute the night before and made signs so the Easter bunny would know whose basket was whose.  They were excited and loved all of the good stuff. 

Then it was time to get ready to go to church.  The kids looked so cute in their new Easter outfits!  I actually finished the girls dresses and petticoats and Cal's tie, which I didn't know if I would.  Emma picked out the material for it.  I think she did a pretty good job!  Church was great, the focus was on the Savior and his Atonement and forgiveness and the Resurection and the hope of the gospel and our own Sacred Grove moments.  It was wonderful.  The Primary kids also sang a few numbers and I got to play for them.  They sang "He Sent His Son" and "Easter Hosanna".  They were so sweet and the spirit they sing with gave me the chills. 

After church, we had some quiet time.  I love that time to reflect, read and pray.  Then we got dinner going in the oven.  We then went on our egg hunt in the backyard.  Daddy hid them, as he always does, and tricky as he might be, the kids found them all!  I love our Easter traditions. 

Emma helped me make these cute cupcakes and we took some around to neighbors and visited with a few of our neighbors. 

Then we had dinner - ham, cheesy potatoes, asparagus, homeade rolls, and strawberries.  Mmm!  After that, we watched the He is Risen video.  It was very touching and these Bible videos are so well done.  It was a nice Easter!

I'm so grateful for the hope and determination that the Atonement and Resurrection of Christ gives to me.  I absolutely know he died and rose again so we can too.  What a marvelous gift!  I love Him and I'm so grateful for what He did for us all! 

My Students of the Month

Last week, we were invited to our girl Emma's school for an assembly for student of the month since she was chosen for March.  She got to go up in front of the school and get a certificate, pizza certificate and pencil from the principal, which she thought was pretty cool.  Her teacher read this about Emma:

"Emma is an outstanding student in all areas, a good person through and through.  Emma is sure to include all her classmates in partner work or games.  She also never has a bad thing to say, she is always kind.  She takes her time and puts effort into her work.  When she is done, she looks to help others.  Emma leads by example, even when I have a guest teacher in the room, I know Emma is one I can always count on to be on her best behavior.  Thank you Emma for being so trustworthy and such a hard worker."

She kept looking over at us during the assembly and tried hard not to smile.  Funny girl!  When she got home, we got her a balloon and made her a card.  We're so proud of her.  I also had her parent teacher conference this past week, and the teacher told me she isn't supposed to pick favorites, but told me she just couldn't help it.  Emma's freckles and kindness to everyone gets her every time.  And she's doing really well academically as well.  Way to go, sweetie! 

My other student of the month is my husband, Dave!  He has been working tirelessly on his paper and project for his graduate work for months and months.  He finally got it submitted and approved this week!  Hooray!  Now all we have left is to defend, which will happen in about a week.  So proud of him and the quality job he has done!  Here he is one morning, sleeping in a bit.  He deserves it!  He was up most nights until 2 or 3 trying to get this thing done and done.  Isn't he cute!?  He's probably dreaming of his research during this, that would happen.  The topic and his paper was always on his mind, even in his sleep.  Now this is the face of a man who has been working hard!