Week #4: Another Snow Day

This Week...

...started off with another snow day! Our summer this year will be just as short as last year because of all these snow days! It is what it is and we made the most of it. Jason and I worked out in the garage and the kids played with Legos all morning. My parents came for a visit and took us out to Azteca. This was the first time for our four younger kids. They all got chicken tenders and can't wait to go back again. Haha! I really enjoyed the Pollo Fundido. Yum! We sat around the table and visited for quite a while. My dad was in no hurry to get back to work. 

...this Lainey girl is growing up far too fast. One of my friends commented recently that they couldn't believe how fast their oldest seems to be growing up. I commented that it isn't my oldest that seems to be growing up so fast, it's my youngest. I know that Emma is growing up, but it seems normal and natural, like she's ready. It's Lainey that seems to be changing and growing when I still think of her as a toddler. Those days are over, I'm afraid. Jason always asks her to stay little and we just haven't found a way for her to do it even though she wants to.) 

...Benjamin threatened to blast us with the calk gun after Cub Scouts. He is working hard on his Bear requirements. He recently made a display board about Marty for Critter Care.

...the neighbors, Evie and Immanuel came over again to play in the backyard. They began work on a snow fort.

...I worked the Just Serve booth at the Family Expo. It was so much fun. Bruce and Debbie Harker were there with their grandsons (one was dressed as The Cat in the Hat). They manned the Family Preparedness table. The Just Serve Table had all kinds of ideas for service opportunities right in our area. It got me excited to get to work. Some people were interested, some were not. Some had heard of it (church members) and some had not. Some people were already doing service and some were excited for a way to get started. The site, justserve.org, is such a great resource.

...we started a sock and glove drive across the stake for the Union Gospel Mission. We didn't get as many as I was hoping for, but we did get some.

Cherice drew some cute art about serving. That's exactly what happens when we help others.

...we made some more boxes just to sell for fun. We tried painting one blue and then antiquing it. It's so fun!

Week #3: Robotics: On To State!

This Week...

...it wasn't the snow fall that caused snow days. It was the freezing rain and ice. The kids had Monday off because of Martin Luther King day. They went to school Tuesday. Then they had Wednesday and Thursday off because of the hazardous conditions. The alternating a activities continued...piano practice, personal reading time, me reading Charlie Bone out loud, puzzles, Minecraft on the Wii U, chores, playing with Marty outside, playing with the neighbors outside, watching A Series of Unfortunate Events on Netflix, board games, baking, and whatever else we could think of. They even tried to eat the ice chunks (which I strongly advised them against, but they wouldn't listen).

It warmed up to 40 degrees and the kids thought they didn't need their coats anymore. They had a whole snowball fight with the neighbor kids without their coats on.

We had an ice rink in the back for a little while. The snow on the grass was all broken up because it had a nice crusty top layer.

...we watched the Inauguration of the 45th President of the United States, who also happens to be Donald Trump. It was a great ceremony in the sense that we were watching the making of history. I felt a great sense of patriotism as we watched the event. I loved seeing the Mormon Tabernacle Choir in the seats and hearing their beautiful rendition of America the Beautiful. They had a lot of prayers as part of the program. I appreciated them for their petition of God's continued favor on our nation. For him or against him, it is the making of history that Trump won. What a crazy election! We will continue to take comfort in the counsel of our Prophet, President Monson, that the future is as bright as our faith. We will continue to find and support the good in the years to come.

...we went to Spokane for Paul's State Robotics Competition. We stayed in a hotel Friday night and then watched him on Saturday. Cherice and Shelly came with us. We stayed at the Holiday Inn Express because they had a hot breakfast included. We weren't too thrilled with it though - no pool (which really wasn't that bad in my book), no movie rental channel, no sound insulation in the floors (we got a noise complaint that we were running too much. And we were! We had five kids!)
    However, it was still nice to get away and relax. We ordered pizza from a local place called Pizza Rita. It was very good. I loved the crust! We watched the coverage of the Inaugural balls on Fox News because it was the only thing on. We couldn't stomach CNN or MSNBC News. Those commentators were so mad about Trump winning that they didn't even try to hide the sarcasm and disdain from their voices. 

We found a face in the snow at the hotel thanks to someone's boot track. It looks like a monkey face.

I stubbed my toe really bad on the stack of books by my bedside before we left for Spokane. Not the best time to do it when we had a weekend of walking ahead of us. It only got worse as the day day went on. It hurt so bad and turned all shades of purple.

Benjamin came prepared. This was his stash that he pulled out of his backpack. I don't know that he actually used any of it because the excitement of being in a hotel was so great.

...we took cookies to our piano teacher. Sister Hall ended up in the hospital because of a fungal mass in the back of her sinus cavity that was causing all sorts of trouble. It was causing a blood clot as well that, thankfully, didn't have any serious consequences. We were so alarmed to hear that she'd been in the hospital and we wanted to stop by with some treats and cheer. We have come to love her so much and we appreciate her talent in teaching the kids piano. Claire drew this awesome picture of a piano and Emma made her world famous Chocolate Crinkle Cookies.

...we had dinner with the Hermanas from the Spanish Ward. Hermana Wade and Hermana Shuman were so fun to have. It was definitely different than Elders.

...we found out what Emma would look like with a beard. Hmm! Interesting look for her.