So far, February has been grand!

Normal Stuff

Fastest Shoe Tier in the West!

For Family Home Evening, we taught all the kids to tie their shoes in this cool way. Now Andrew is a pro! He hoped that the next day his friend would need his shoes tied. Sure enough, he reported that when Taft’s shoes came untied, Andrew successfully tied them for him (on the 2nd try). Yay for Andrew! (We learned from this video.)

...or at least in Kindergarten.

T is for Tyler time (see his “T” Lego?) Tyler is fun in the mornings (most of the time). He is really good at playing on his own while I put Mark down for his nap, workout or shower. Most every day, he asks if we can go to a store, and I try to have us ready as soon as Mark wakes up from his nap. Some days it’s groceries, others, a quick errand -- I can usually only squeeze in one before we have to pick up Andrew from school.

Lunch. The boys live on cinnamon toast, though I insist on switching things up, too. After that, I move on to homework, practicing and reading the Book of Mormon with Andrew. Homework is always really simple, and practicing is quick and breezy, too. He is eager to do a chore or two because he knows that once all of his work is done, he gets to play on the XBox. I’m not in love with that thing, but....

Tyler and Mark both take naps at the same time in the afternoon, which is handy. This allows me to work with Andrew, and when he’s done, have a few minutes to myself... until Mark wakes up and/or the other kids get home from school.

At their last lesson, M’Jean challenged the girls to practice their piano duets every day (we only practice on weekdays), and then report each night. They faithfully practiced, then emailed using my phone.

Since the girls are really self-sufficient, I focus on Adam after school, making sure he does what he needs to before playing.

Once a week, that’s cello lessons, and doing his homework in the car. I entertained Mark by strategically placing Cheerios on the cello case, my knee, and the bed next to us.

Adam got a bit silly this lesson, turning his bow backwards. Mrs. M went right along with it and switched hers too. When he then played holding the middle of the bow, she said, “Oh! Baroque bow? Well, you can only use a Baroque bow if you play Bach.” She then played a Bach solo and asked, “Can you play that? OK, then you can’t use a Baroque bow yet.” I laughed pretty hard ‘cause Adam was stumped.

Tyler loves Mark, and tries to keep him happy. I love that these two will be close enough in age to be buddies (hopefully).

Wednesday, Jon, Spencer and Joe went out in the snow to test some new technology they’ve been working on. They also squeezed in some snow biking.

Fail! The baked calzone recipe I tried is a one-timer. They were okay, but won’t make the recipe book. I was surprised, tho, that the kids were all pumped to put them in their school lunches.

The Orthodontic Saga Continues

I took the 3 oldest kids in for another free consultation with a second orthodontist. The cost for both girls together was about $1200 cheaper with this guy. Their office was more family friendly, and I was just as confident in the orthodontist. He was funny and very good.

Right before examining Adam’s teeth, Adam said, “Ow!” Dr. T asked, “That hurt? What hurt?” Adam said, “You pulled my hair.” We had a good laugh.

The kids were in heaven when they handed them a DS thinger, markers, and gave them free access to the treat basket and a refrigerator full of Capri-Suns and bottled water. The evaluations by both orthodontic offices were pretty much the same. It looks like we may go with this office.

Damon braces are their standard, which are more expensive, but less painful, smaller, cuter, and they move teeth faster and easier, so I’m favoring them over the old kind that I wore.

Spelling Bee Queen

Amy made the school spelling bee for the second year in a row. She was nervous for it, but made several rounds, correctly spelling the words whiskery, incoherently, and bravado, and then missed the word subconscious (she knew when she left out a letter, but wasn’t allowed to go back and correct it). It’s scary to stand in front of the whole school for that. We’re proud of her! Go Amy! (She’s in the 2nd row, 2nd from the end.)

Andrew was really excited to finish First Nephi this week and receive his first clue. To figure out each letter in the secret word, he had to find specific verses, then count to a certain word, then a letter inside that word. His first word was “Sacrifice.”

Friday, I spiffed up the library, so several activities (new and old) caught Tyler’s eye. It feels good to spend time in there with him.

This is when I fight falling asleep (the reading part).

To help Andrew apply sacrifice in his own life, he read a challenge in invisible ink, which was to sacrifice for someone else. Then he received his first gem: the letter A.

Friday, Andrew had two friends come home with him. They had a great time and are good buddies. It was cute when Andrew and Taft took turns sharing their piano skills with each other. Their friend had no interest in that, which made me laugh. We also had a life lesson in learning how to share and help friends have fun (involving the XBox).

Saturday morning, Natalie made Amy (and everyone else) lemon poppyseed muffins for breakfast. A little later, I caught Amy reading to the boys in the library.

Adam loves going to cub scouts Saturday mornings. He has some great leaders.

I had the kids all pack lunches before we headed up to Bountiful so they could eat whenever they needed, and we could get lessons rolling. (I didn’t want to get caught in snow later on.)

M’Jean was happy with how much the girls both improved since their last lesson.

After their individual lessons, M’Jean helped the girls with duets.

Tyler had a mini lesson (about 30 seconds long) right before Andrew’s. He was thrilled, and it was super cute.

Andrew couldn’t wait to play for M’Jean. He practiced diligently, and was anxious to learn more. I love M’Jean’s teaching methods and admire her talent with teaching piano.

This alligator game is one of many she does with note reading. While she closed her eyes, Andrew fed the alligator some note names for breakfast. When M’Jean uncovered her eyes, she pointed out the missing labels, and got to re-label them. Then they switched and Andrew closed his eyes, and relabeled the notes. Cute, cute!

Barney, Millie and Alice were there when we arrived, so I got to chat with Barney, Gary, and M’Jean that day, which was fun.

Jon’s Stuff

Friday, Adam ordered Little Caesar’s pizza for us: 2 cheese pizzas and 2-liters of root beer. (He’s holding Tyler in this picture.) It’s great practice for them -- learning to speak up and speak clearly, and to handle a $ transaction alone.

Our friend asked Jon to speak at a career fair at the middle school. Several kids said that his presentation was their favorite.

Jon took the teachers quorum grocery shopping for their snow camping excursion. They had to nix the driving electric carts thing pretty quickly. The overnighter got canceled, but the next day they made sure to go play in the snow anyway.

Sunday

I couldn’t help myself from snapping a photo of Tyler at the front of Primary, waving his picture at me. I wondered how he’d do with Andrew being home sick. (Tyler usually sits with Andrew whose class sits right behind the Sunbeams.) Although he did stroll back to talk to me a few times, he happily sat with his class the rest of the time. Yeah!

This week, Jon stayed home with napping Mark and sick Andrew while I went to sacrament meeting with the rest of the kids. I stayed for most of 2nd hour, then went home to switch with Jon so he could be with the teachers.

I call Amy “a little mommy” because she is so helpful all the time. She especially loves to help in the kitchen, and since I taught her a few vacuuming tricks, she loves to vacuum now as well. Love it! Love her!

New Recipes - Some Good, Some Bad

Success! Pancake Squares were a big hit. I like the idea of baking them in a 9x13 pan one time, and they’re all done. I served these with cinnamon syrup, and the kids said they tasted like cinnamon rolls. I’ll be making these with white wheat flour next time. Yummy!

Success! The kids loved these homemade mini corn dogs! They asked me to “please make them again.”

Dillard’s hosed me! I bought 2 of these dresses online for the girls’ violin audition (and since they need new dresses anyway). The package got lost in shipment, so took twice as long. Then, when it arrived, the dresses were SLEEVELESS! I had searched far and wide, and gone to a lot of trouble to find dresses with sleeves. So I was upset with their deceptive photo. Even though I figured I would return them in-store, customer service didn’t even offer to give me free return shipping, nor did they apologize for their false advertising. Now that I know I can’t trust their online photos, I won’t shop there in the future.

With only a week until their audition, I was worried about finding something in-store. Lucky for me, I did, but unlucky for me, their new dresses cost twice as much as the sleeveless ones. Oh well. I had a blast shopping with the girls that night!

We enjoyed hanging with Barney and Mary Sunday night. Amy is so cute with Millie and Alice!