Changing up

Monday was grocery swap like usual.  We had FHE with Ali's family that night since Ken and Jane were still here.  Jane taught us some hand motions to remember the 10 commandments with and then we played Don't Eat Pete.  Jack was the best at it, eating all of his marshmallows and saving Pete for last. 

Here is Grandma Jane with the two babies after FHE

Tuesday was quiet.  Candy had thrown up in the middle of the night so we all stayed home all day.  (*Of course Candy had to wake us up--because this was Emily's best night of sleep yet, sleeping from 7:30 pm to 8 am.  Also Candy had turned on the alarm clock in Emily's room so that woke us at 3:45 am too.)  But it was fun to read lots of books, watch more shows than usual, and Jack and I played trains.  We said a quick goodbye to Dan's parents before they left for the airport.  Candy was better quick and no one else got sick.

Wednesday we had playgroup at our neighborhood's little pool, so I went with my younger 3.  It was early release that day, so we ran and picked up the girls at noon and let them change and came back to the pool for a while.  They all had a good quiet time that afternoon!

Thursday morning I got up early and met a friend to swim laps at the little pool at 5:30 am!  It was a little cool getting in, but we warmed up quick.  We swam 850 in about 30 minutes...we are slow!  But it was really fun.  Candy had joy school and then some good thunderstorms rolled in just before lunch.  So we had a quiet afternoon, even swim team was cancelled.  We had cousins over to play just dance.  One of the best things on Thursday was an email from Brooke's teacher that said that Brooke had just tested at the appropriate level for the end of first grade--she started the school year way behind her grade and has worked hard, going to tutoring before school twice a week and practicing lots--and it paid off!  She's right where she should be.  Wahoo!

Jack and Emily hanging out on Thursday.  Emily is getting better at the bumbo chair.

Ha!  funny face :)

The kids were dancing before cousins arrived--but when Megan saw the camera she planted herself on the couch until it disappeared!

Friday morning I taught a swim lesson to these 3 year old twins in my ward, a boy and a girl.  Our small neighborhood pool has a hot tub that is maybe 12 feet by 12 feet and this year they are heating it a little to maybe 90 degrees.  So I did the lesson in there since the pool itself was cold from the rain.  They did pretty good.  When we got home from that, Ashley called and offered to take Jack and Candy to the zoo for a while.  I couldn't join them because my visiting teachers were coming.  So I sent them off and did a photoshoot of Emily in her blessing dress before she grows too much more!  And she's adorable, what can I say.  Then my VT came and we had a good discussion about our favorite conference talks.  After they left I got the house picked up and Jack and Candy got home just before it was time to pick up the big girls.  After swim team we took the kids to babysit night and Dan and I grabbed Chick Fil A and headed to the temple.  The high council and stake presidency were all there, some doing baptisms, some in the session with us.  It was the first time we'd been to the temple since Emily was born and it was just so peaceful to be there.  We got to be the witness couple which I like because it helps me pay attention more closely.  And there was what seemed to be a couple in their 50s that were taking out their own endowments.  That's not something I've seen too much, usually I've seen young missionaries or engaged people doing their own.  So that was fun.

Saturday was a home swim meet, that's where we were when I got your email and sent you those two pics back.  I went early for check in and warmup and Dan dropped off Jack and Emily at 9 when he had to head to the church to help coordinate the child of record baptisms.  Megan is a speedy freestyle swimmer.  She is in the top few of her age group and as a result she was in both a medley relay at the beginning and a free relay at the end (they won the free relay!) and even dropped 2 seconds from her 50 free and 1 second from her 25 free.  She swam breastroke too and for the first time didn't get dq'd. 

Brooke swam the free relay along with her usual 25 free and back.  She's speedy too and in the top 4 in free.  She dropped time and her relay won.  It's fun to see them do well!

Candy is pretty hilarious at the meets.  She jumps off the block smiling and proceeds to limp along down the lane, stopping WAY too much to hang on the rope and wave at us.  She managed to drop about 20 seconds on free but had a hard time in back.  Like she got halfway down and started going in circles for literally 3 minutes and finally (FINALLY!) made it to the finish in 4 minutes and 26 seconds (dq'd too, but that's beside the point).  Whew, we were all exhausted, but she was still smiling at the end!

It made for a fun and tiring morning and we just vegged out in the afternoon.  Brooke went to a birthday party.  We cleaned up and put the kids down early. 

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It's been a nice Sunday.  Dan had early meetings but I managed to get us all to church on time.  And the kids were pretty good during Sacrament meeting.  We sat by cousins today so that helped some.  My class was about the anti-nephi-lehies and making and keeping covenants.  It went really well.  The suggested attention activity was to imagine writing the word "promise" in sand and what would happen if wind blew over it--it would fade away.  As opposed to carving it into rock--lots of wind can blow and the promise would stay there.  So how when we covenant with Heavenly Father we want to be carving our promises into rock and keeping them.  We had dinner and played some Uno before bedtime. 

May Halfway

Hi there Starsi Hanisz!

It's been a great week here.  I am so excited to hear about your weekend with the creation of the stake and hearing from Pres. Uchtdorf, etc.  I can't wait for your email tomorrow!

Monday--your birthday!  Happy 19th old man!  We grocery swapped, did swim team, and had FHE.  Dan was on the lesson and we did it around the dinner table again.  He taught about sin and repentance.  Megan was pretty funny when we talked about how taking things that aren't yours without asking is stealing--since Dan had caught her that very morning at about 5:55 am eating marshmallows in the powder bathroom by the kitchen.  It was a fun lesson and I think the kids learned something.

Tuesday Candy had joy school and I took Emily to the doctor for her 2 month checkup.  She is doing so great Ty--she's put on the most weight in those 2 months of any of my babies.  She weighed in at 13 lbs, 9 oz.  Little chubber.  And she's healthy as can be and doing all the things she should be (cooing, smiling, making eye contact, holding up her head, etc).  She got her first round of immunizations (3 shots and 1 oral) and was WIPED out.  She slept almost the whole day.  I ran to Joann's for some blessing dress fabric before we had to get Candy from joy school.  Instead of swim practice that day it was team pictures.  And I stayed up that night cutting out Emily's dress.

Wednesday I was sewing like crazy and got her dress done at quiet time.  It's so cute!  It's a really pretty lace fabric and it fits her great.  We spent the morning at playgroup at a splash pad with my nephew Luke.  It was great weather for it, warm and muggy.  We had piano and swimming and then had dinner with Ali and her fam and Dan's parents who had just arrived from Utah. 

Thursday I got to take profile pics of the joy school kids for their "all about me" books.  Here is Candy :).  I had a doctor's appointment that morning and my mother in law watched Jack and Emily for me.  Emily is doing great at taking bottles when I need her to and it's so nice!  That afternoon was a little crazy getting ready for Ali's baby shower that night at Ashley's house.  I made homemade lemonade (chick fil a's recipe) with different berries to mix in.  The other ladies made desserts and it was a fun time chatting and celebrating baby Joseph.  I was glad we could do it with Jane here too.

Friday we went to "super kids day" at the school (field day).  Megan and Alonzo were partners and they were pretty cute running around to get all 25 activities checked off in the 2 hours.  Brooke and her buddy Rania were not quite as dedicated.  But Brooke was dedicated to standing in line for 20 minutes for a snow cone.  I told my girls I'd check them out early but they both wanted to stay and play games and watch movies with their classes at school.  So I took my little 3 to the pool and met Jane and my nephew Luke there to have a picnic and swim for a while.  Jack was pretty timid about doing swims with me.  Luke was really excited to swim with me in theory--not so much when I made him put his face in!  He'll get it though.  After swimming and naps and school pickup, I dropped Candy and Brooke at swim team and did a quick stroke clinic with a friend's kid.  It was fun.  Then more swim team and then we dropped our kids off for date night.  We went to dinner with Dan's parents at a yummy BBQ place and took some frozen custard back to eat with Ali and Ben while we hung out for a bit. 

Saturday was an early morning, leaving for our swim meet in Kingwood just after 6:20.  The kids did great, especially Megan who shaved 5 seconds off her freestyle time and came in second place overall--5 points for the team!  Brooke was 5th overall for her freestyle--2 points!  And Brooke's relay won too.  Candy completed her events and even cut 20 seconds off her freestyle time.  She is hilarious to watch.  She jumps in smiling, swims about 1/4 of the way and spends the rest of the time doing 5 feet, grabbing the rope and smiling at us while we yell at her to keep going!  It was HOT.  But fun.  We finished at 12:30, headed home to drop Brooke at a birthday party and grab some stuff at the store.  It was Dan and I's 11th anniversary!  It was so fun to spend the day with our little family.

Jack was so hot he crawled into the stroller and slept for an hour.

That's Emily chillin' on the pink chair and trying not to melt.

Post bath dinner.  I love these people.

Today was a great day!  Dad, Sally, Carrie, Shad, Zach, Molly, and Ellie along with Dan's parents and Ben and the kids were all at church for Emily's blessing.  The plan had been to bless Ali's baby today too, but Ali was sick all day yesterday and felt terrible today so they postponed Joseph's blessing and Ali went to an instacare place instead.   Dan did a great job on the blessing and we felt so loved with our family that could come! 

She's a sweetheart. 

After church everyone came over to have lunch and hang out.  It was a good time.  We watched Dan and my wedding video and some family photo dvds.  The kids loved it and I loved it too.  Pics are one of my favorite things. 

Mother's Day week!

We've had a good week. 

We grocery swapped on Monday, and didn't have swim team because the pool was being repaired.  It was great weather, so I let the kids ride bikes after school and we had fun catching up with some neighbors we hadn't seen in a while.  We had dinner and then family night.  It was Jack's turn to teach, so I picked a story from the friend.  We ended up doing our lesson around the table because we ate dinner pretty late, but it actually worked great for the kids.  We'll have to do it there again.

Tuesday was a nice day again and while Candy was at joy school I ran some errands with Jack and Emily and then we went over to Ali's to meet baby Joseph.  He's a cutie.  I took Luke with us to the park for a little after joy school and dropped him off before taking Candy to kindergarten registration at the school.  She was so excited.  I just filled out a bunch of forms and she did a vision and hearing screen with the nurse.  After school I took the girls to meet their new cousin before swim team.  I made dinner for Ali that night and Dan dropped it off on his way to a meeting so he got to meet the baby too. 

Wednesday we had playgroup in the morning and it was more fantastic weather.  We had a good turnout too which made it really fun. Megan had piano after school and we did swim team too. 

Thursday I got to pick out a gift for Megan's teacher using donations from the families who have kids in the class.  This was my last "room mom" duty of the year and it was fun.  We got her a gift card to the cheesecake factory and a bunch of her favorite snacks.  I stopped at Costco too (one just opened by us so we got a membership there for the first time in a few years).  I did a quick backstroke lesson with Candy and cousin Alonzo after school.  Alonzo was pretty funny, telling me that the lesson with me was way harder than swim practice!  I told him that means he's not working hard enough :).  After swim team on Thursday Megan seemed extra cold and shivery, and sure enough, she had a low grade fever. 

Friday (Emily's 2 month birthday!)  I kept Megan home.  Her fever was gone most of the day though and she was happy running errands with me.  We got some posters printed to put in all the church buildings for stake conference coming up (Dan was assigned to do the advertising this time).  It took a few hours, so I'm glad we did it Friday and not Saturday.  While we waited I took the kids to get hot dogs at costco and they all decided it was their favorite store.  Jack spiked a fever of his own while we ate lunch and was pretty miserable.  Megan had to miss swim team that night and was bummed because on Fridays they only swim a few laps before playing on the big slides.  We hosted a partial babysit swap, just the Tracys (the other family's kid has asthma and they didn't want to risk getting sick from my kids). 

Saturday was BUSY!  I got up and took Jack and Emily with me to walk in the sprint for life.  I had actually planned to run or jog it.  Once Carrie turned around though, I was walking with Linda Talbot and Linda Henry and it was really fun to catch up with them.  We shared some memories of Mom as we walked. 
Linda Talbot talked about when she and mom and done a garage sale and after it was over Carrie and Shad needed to go to piano lessons and they were arguing about who would go first.  Shad got frustrated and hit the new bottle of ketchup just right on the edge of the counter and BOOM!  It exploded and got ketchup EVERYWHERE!!!  Linda said she would have lost it on her kids but Mom just looked at him and said firmly, "Go get ready."  and started cleaning up. 

Linda Henry talked about Leah's 3rd swim lesson at our house.  The first two had gone well, but during the second lesson Mom had let go of her on a swim.  Leah had decided she wasn't going to do anymore swimming with Ms. Candy and refused to put a suit on.  So Linda brought her over fully dressed at her lesson time.  Mom looked at Leah and said, "Ok!  We can swim like this!" and took her right in to start her lesson and suggested Linda go out of sight.  Leah was floored, but by the end of the lesson was doing great and never had a problem again. 

I talked about my memories of playing bean bag pick up with Mom.  As a mother myself now, it's even more hilarious to me that we all loved this game where mom sat on the couch and chucked bean bags at us and if she hit us we had to clean something up.  If we caught it, we were safe for the moment but had to give her the bean bag back. 

We remembered her genuine love for everyone, her kindness, her creativity, and her friendship.  I miss her.

After completing the "race" in 1 hour and 6 minutes, I hurried to drive back to Fall Creek to watch the girls in their time trials.  I told you how they did when we talked to you today, pretty great overall.  I was especially impressed by Candy who had refused to do backstroke in practice all week but got in and faked it well enough to get a time :). 

Time trials ended at noon or so and then Dan took the posters to some church buildings (or to people who'd be at the other buildings on sunday).  He also brought me home some beautiful roses for Mother's day.  I love them.  Then we headed down to Dad and Sally's for dinner at 5 pm.  Shad and Amy and their kids came and Carrie did too.  Charlie is home for  a few weeks.  He and dad had just finished putting a truckload of mulch down when we pulled up.  It was great to be with everyone.  We ate pizza and watched the kentucky derby (a short guy riding a horse won) and put on a movie for the kids while the adults played 5 Crowns.  Dan wants you to know he won.  Dad did not win..  After the game we watched the BYU men's volleyball play for the nat'l championship...and lose in 3 sets.  Bummer.  We all headed home around 9 pm.  Poor Jack was still feverish but slept ok all night with some ibuprofen.  I also moved Emily upstairs!  She slept pretty good too. 

It's been a nice Mother's day in spite of the mixed feelings I always feel on mother's day without my Mom.  My kids and Dan made me breakfast in bed (waffles and oj), Brooke showed me the craft she made me in her class at school, and we all got ready for church.  Dan got me two Willow Tree figurines.  A few weeks ago I bumped into our shelves in the family room and shattered two of my three figurines.  One was from Mom for my college graduation and the other was from my in-laws from when Mom passed away.  I was pretty bummed to lose them and so excited to have them replaced. 
Dan had to run up early for a meeting, so the kids and I met him there.  The primary kids sang 3 songs for the Moms and did great.  I left sacrament meeting a few minutes early to take Jack and Emily home with me so we could skype you.  Dan listened in and then subbed in primary for the last hour (the men subbed for all of the women in primary so they could go to RS).  After church we got a nap in while the kids had quiet time, Dan made dinner (with some help from me), then the kids and I picked up the toys while Dan cleaned up the kitchen.  I had wanted to play a game with the kids before they went to bed and we attempted to play Sorry which was great til Brooke's pawn got sent back home by a Sorry card and she fell apart.  The other kids were good sports about the game being ended early and we got them off to bed.   I got ready to upload pics from my nice camera but apparently the memory card is corrupted.  Bummer.  But I took some phone pics this week.

Emily taking a quick tummy nap on Monday 5/2

Snuggling Daddy on Monday before dinner

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Meeting baby Joseph on Tuesday.  We had a similar pic of Alonzo and Megan (Megan is 12 weeks older than Alonzo).  We joke that this is the only time in their lives that Emily will be bigger. 

My costco dates on Friday. 

When I noticed Jack was shivering I wrapped him up in Emily's carseat cover.  Poor kid.

Smiley Emily on Friday...

The 3 Linda's of my childhood.  I'm thankful for each of them.

Most of the team.  Larissa Meyer and her kids and her mom also ran it for Sweet Like Candy.

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Pretty flowers.

Look!  It's Elder Tyler!

Cute squishy faced Emily napping after church.

The sorry game before brooke's meltdown.  Jack had run off somewhere, but it's me and my 4 girls.  I"m so thankful I get to be their (and Jack's) Mom.  It's really fun and really challenging and pretty amazing.  And I'm glad I get to parent with Dan.  He's the best partner I could ask for.

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