Week #6: Frozen Yogurt, A Dance Party, & One Packed Week

This week...

...we took the kiddos to My FroYo after Family Home Evening. It was partly a reward for keeping the family room so clean all week long and partly because we had a gift certificate that we needed to sue. :) For our lesson, we used the poem Pockets Full of Rocks from the Friend about the young boy, Malcolm Tent, who picks up rocks to remember the bad things that happen to him. When he finally realizes what that is doing to him inside and out, he takes all the rocks and makes a rock garden to remember the good people do instead. I had Paul collect some rocks from outside and I had them slip them into their pockets and socks to get an idea of how uncomfortable that would be. Then we used fun markers to write on paper rocks - one bad thing to let go and one good thing to put in our rock garden. They paid attention and it was quick and fun.

Here's the poem and the link (http://www.lds.org/friend/2014/02/pockets-full-of-rocks?lang=eng):

...Emma participated in the variety show at her school. I was very proud of her for trying out, making the cut, and practicing during recess time to be a part of the show. Here's my instagram of the group and the caption i wrote: "I have to post this one, even though it's several hours later. Emma was part of the variety show at her school today playing The Entertainer on the piano. She got so nervous that she almost didn't go through with it. I went up with her and told her not to pay attention to everyone there watching. She did it! She was so nervous, but she did it! The applause seemed louder somehow when she finished and we walked back to our seats." My friend Heidi commented, "Good job Emma! I was always nervous for recitals and performances and games." Our friend Lucy Lowe commented, " I would have loved to hear her play The Entertainer!!! Emma is so talented!" I was so proud of Emma for being nervous and doing it anyway. Her teacher told her that too. Mrs. Vandervert said that it's almost a greater victory to be at the brink of turning back and continuing on. Everyone there was pulling for her and applauded her for her bravery.

...we got SNOW! I couldn't believe it to begin with. I posted a wimpy snow picture on instagram thinking that was all the snow we would get.

Then the elements proved me wrong. We got dumped on. The kids were ecstatic. Claire went out immediately after getting home from school to play in it with our neighbors/friends the Bagleys. Emma was actually excited to take the garbage out so she could walk in it. Right before bedtime, Emma and I had shoveled Jason's parking spot so it wouldn't be so bad when he got home from work the next morning. (Poor guy was out all night in the blustery stuff.) We had a great time.

She was more than happy and willing to stay up past her bed time to get this done for Dad.

I went out to help her so that it would go faster. Then we both needed to change our pajamas before bed.

Emma was being silly with the snow - throwing it up in the air and on her head.

And she couldn't come back in until she had done one of these.

Emma was bringing in the Claire's scooter and slipped on the fresh snow covered sidewalk. She was super excited to find that she'd made a cool sign in the snow. I colored it red for effect. Oooo!


...we played in the snow, bought boots, and played in the snow some more! The kids were super excited. Me? Not so much. We had a two hour delay on Friday so I ran down to Walmart to see what kind of selection they had. Luckily, I found some good ones and I was in and out pretty quick. They enjoyed their extra time to play in the snow and I was glad to send them to school with warm footwear.

Emma and Paul worked on an igloo together.

...I ran in to the library in search of one book. I didn't have much time. I came out with five in about as many minutes. It was great! 

I found the first two books of a new series by Lemony Snicket - the author of A Series Of Unfortunate Events - called All The Wrong Questions. The title itself is so fun. I can't wait to find out what they are like. Then I found The Extraordinary Education Of Nicholas Benedict. If you've read, The Mysterious Benedict Society, you might enjoy this one. I'll let you know once I've read it. ;) I picked up The Dark by Lemony Snicket just to see what it's like. Then I checked on book two of the Septimus Heap series, Flyte, written by Angie Sage, so I could read with Emma. She was reading the first book for school so that she could take an AR test on it and get her monthly required points last month. Her teacher gave them all an extension over the weekend on the deadline because they'd had the wax museum. She didn't read Friday. She didn't read much Saturday. She showed me Saturday night, at bedtime, that she had just over half of the 578 page book left to read and told me that she was feeling nervous about it. Yeah, I would say so. I reassured her that we would work on it the next day, even though it was Sunday, and gave a small lecture on using her time more wisely. So after the Superbowl , Go Seahawks!, I started reading out loud to Emma. I read fast, hardly stopping to take a breath or swallow my spit. I barely let her give me the back story when I came to things I didn't understand, and just plowed on through. Luckily, the pages were short and it was a good read. Even with my accelerated pace of reading, we could finish no earlier than 11:40 pm. Youser! We both went to bed tired, but feeling great. She scored a whopping 18/18 on her AR test and I was hooked for the next book in the series. The only hang up is that she gets ahead of me at school. Thus the need for me to check out my own copy. This way I can keep up. ;) There you go! You got the long of a short list of books.

...I went with Paul to his first cub scout den meeting. The biweekly meetings are held at the Bagley's down the street. (Isn't it fun that I caught all three Bagley children in the background?!) 

Paul is super excited to go be with other boys and get to do some hands on boy-type activities. Unfortunately, his leader is new and things weren't as active as we both were anticipating. Hopefully, things will pick up for Paul's sake. We have been reviewing things at home though - working on the cub scout promise, scout motto, scout sign, etc. He is eating it up. And...I find that scouting is a good engine for me to discuss him having a better attitude, being kinder to his siblings, and trying harder to help others. Paul has always had a strong sense of what is right and a desire to do it just the way he's been told. It was exciting to bolster him as I related this to him when we were talking about the motto - Do your Best - and the sign - help others and obey. Friday morning, after the big snow and as they were getting ready to go out to the bus, we were digging out warmer gloves for everyone. Sadly, my stockpile of warm gear is dwindling because the kids have grown and we haven't needed anything for so long. It came down to Paul giving Emma back her warm gloves and him taking a slightly smaller pair that would fit him but not Emma. He didn't want to and he shed a few tears, but there was no fit throwing; no anger. I pointed out that he was serving his sister by being willing to switch so that she could be warm. I said, "That's what scouting is all about - helping other people."

...Lainey took a sudden turn for the worst and threw up Thursday after preschool. At least she made it all week. Now we can hunker down for the weekend and get her feeling better. She went from playing with Pax, to feeling wiped out pretty quickly. She hasn't quite mastered the use of the bowl like Benjamin. Cleaning up after him when he was recently sick was truly not that bad. He made it in the bowl or on his bed sheets (that were easy to change) every time. For Lainey, we promptly made a bed on the floor and kept the bowl handy anyway.

Instagram of happy kids - Lainey with Thursday buddy Paxton

Instagram of sleepy Lainey with upset tummy

...Paul got sick. He was apparently the next one in line after Lainey. Fortunately, it did not last for days  on end and he was back to playing in no time.

...I took Ben back for his ear infection follow up and had Lainey's eyes checked as well. She had the goops and I wanted something for it. We're becoming regulars at that office, let me tell you.

...I caught this for instagram. Caption: "Ben is to sitting on the table as cold is to winter; as cozy is to blankets; as addictive is to chocolate...you get the idea." I can not count on two hands the number of times I have to tell Benjamin to get off the table. He loves it.

...we watched Lainey's beanstalk shoot up. She carried it upstairs one night and ended up leaving it in the bathroom overnight. It stays very warm in there because it's such a small room and no windows. That little beanstalk wasted no time in shooting up several more inches.

...I marvel at the wonderful new Come, Follow Me curriculum for the youth of our church. It truly is an amazing program of teaching and learning. It's life changing. I love studying the outlines and writing things down that stand out to me, techniques and insights. I love to think of my girls and what I can prepare that will help them. I love to evaluate how my activities and lessons actually go - what worked and what didn't. (This self evaluation part is new this year. Criticism can be hard to take, but I thought if it was coming from me I have less to fear in trying to be a better teacher/facilitator.)

Instagram of my notes and Wednesday mutual evaluation. I had my Beehives make a Smash journal page and write down something they learned from last year and something they want to learn this year - a sort of spiritual goal. I showed a video from the course intro videos and led a discussion on the invitations to act and their responsibility to follow through when they receive a challenge during our lessons on Sunday. It went so smoothly. They knew that they weren't doing the best they could to follow through and my admonition to do better was well received. I shared this printout with them for their journals. They have to change to accept the challenge, but accepting the challenge will change them as they grow spiritually and come unto Christ.

(I saw this on facebook and I redid it because I didn't like the colors.)

Week # 5: A Pine Wood Derby & A Baptism

This week...

...Paul got baptized. It was such a great feeling sitting together with family and friends to have the baptism. I felt such a warm feeling as I glanced over at Paul throughout to watch his reactions and see his innocent face. That feeling continued as we laughed during the talks and the bishopric welcome at Paul's sweet, innocent responses. What a great experience! We're so excited for Paul to be taking this step and making these covenants with his Heavenly Father that will bless his life forever.

...Paul participated in his first pinewood derby as an official cub scout. He was very excited! Jason helped him with cutting the car and I helped him put the vinyl on top and the sides. His raced pretty well. He almost took third.

He even got to help in the presenting of the colors.

We added three pennies on the bottom to bring it up to weight.

Since there weren't that many little scouts, they let the siblings participate. Claire was the only one of the other kids to actually get a car. Her's was extremely below weight and we tried to glue weights and quarters and dimes on the bottom to help it out. On the first run the money popped off so we scrapped that idea. 

Paul racing Eli Bagley.

Paul and Claire racing against each other.

Paul and his cub scout group - Dawson Claybrook, Zack and Josh Wellman, and Landon Claybrook

...I took Ben in for an ear infection. He also stayed home from school because he'd been throwing up during the night. I tell you, we're ready for the sick bug to leave our home so we can get on with our year. Because Ben had an antibiotic for strep at the beginning of January, they had to give him a different one for the ear infection. Needless to say, it doesn't taste very good. It's a chore to get him to take it morning and night.

...Lainey has mastered the art of occupying herself. She's knows how to get stuff out to play with. It's the putting it all away part that we need to work on.

...Lainey's beanstalk sprouted. Their theme at preschool was Jack and the beanstalk. She looked down at these sprouts when I showed her how they were growing and said, with a look of trepidation, "Where's the giant?" I laughed and assured her that we can't grow giants.

...Lainey was our entertainment after our home teacher left. She's sitting in a shoe box once again making up stories and reading them out loud.

...Emma participated in a wax museum with her fourth grade class. Each class member chose a notable U.S. citizen from History-someone they can look up to; a hero. They researched that person to be able to  write a report, prepare a project display board, and write a monologue using that person's own words. They memorized their monologues, dressed in costumes and then pretended to be statues in a museum. They each had a freeze position and magically came to life when we said their name. This was an amazing event to attend! They all did so well with their parts. Some were nervous, some were nervous and close to tears, some were sick and couldn't attend, some had voices 
loud and clear, some were in the zone, some broke character behind our backs to see if they could get away with it (we caught them), some were bold, some were humorous, some all were inspiring. During the day of the evening parent performance, they presented their wax museum all day to the other classes and grades at the school. Emma took lots of water and snacks to keep her going. She was pretty tired when she got home.

Emma chose Clara Barton as her hero. Who knows what she was noted for? Go! No, I'll tell you. She was instrumental in starting the Red Cross here in the U.S. Here's Emma's monologue. It was very moving how Ema put Clara's words together. She almost made her teacher cry.

This is Emma's good friend Hannah. She chose Louisa May Alcott - writer of fiction for girls.

Another friend, Zoey - She chose Betsy Ross - sewed the first U.S. flag. 

Another friend, Joy - She chose Sandra Day O'Conner - first female Supreme Court Judge.

Here's the group being silly. Their teacher kept calling out crazy things for them to do and I missed the first couple normal, stand-up-nice-and-straight shots.

Week #4:Benton County K9 Visits Emma's School

This week...

...Deputy Erickson visited Emma's school with the Benton County K9 handlers. They gave her class a 20 minute presentation of their duties and tool belts, the K9, and their patrol cars. The kids were excited to see the dog in action and have a chance to pet him.

Emma gets handcuffed in front of the class.

Deputy Hansen and Deputy Gonzalez with K9 dog Iago. Boy, they are well trained dogs.

Showing the kids the inside of the patrol car, the backseat where the criminals ride, and what he carries in the trunk.

...

Week #3: Diamond in the Rough

This week...

...I shared a devotional on being a diamond in the rough for our Young Women. As I've said before, the theme this year is Come Unto Christ. I thought the process of how a diamond is formed was a fitting and inspiring analogy. (picture source - google images - then I added the text and borders)

Diamonds are formed deep within the earth under immense pressure and intense heat. Enough said, right?I gave them a brief background of how they're formed in the mantle at about 2700 F and under pressure the equivalent of 4,000 grown men standing on your foot. Carbon atoms bond and form diamonds - rough diamonds. Then trenches of lava from the core shoot up through the mantle to erupt through the earth's surface bring the diamonds along the way. The kimberlite then hardens and diamonds can be mined. That's when they undergo the refining process and are judged on clarity, cut, caret, and color. We had a great discussion about the types of pressure and heat and refining that they feel as young women today. Then we handed out ring pops and the little handouts I made for their journals.

...Claire broke out in a terrible rash ALL over her body. She was taking amoxicillin for an ear infection that she got last week. This is what we found this week. Note in file: Claire is allergic to amoxicillin.

...we attended the Great to be Eight event with Paul. It was so cute to see his class sitting across the front row as they listened to our Primary President talk to them about their upcoming baptisms. We felt the pride and excitement of all the parents gathered to support these great soon-to-be eight year olds.

Saul Jimenez, Paul, Mckayla Slaugh, Kaylee Stout, Jade Meyer, Jessica Gonzalez, Isabella Sandoval, Taya Riner, Daniella Hale

Week #2: A craft day at home and Paul turns 8

This week...

...we stayed home from church because Ben got strep. Oh man! It's the break of sickness! My sisters gave each kid their very own ream of white printer paper. They were the most excited about that. They each got their pack of paper out and it kept them busy all day. Claire was making up her own animal creations. Ben and Paul were making paper chains. Lainey was just coloring pictures and not interested in having her picture taken.

Claire was working on this tree house for two whole days. She did most of the work herself. I only helped her with extra supports to keep it up.

...we celebrated Paul's 8th birthday in the midst of sickness and doctor's appointments. We had a small party here at the house. Ben was still recovering from strep and I didn't want to take any chances with a big group of kids.

Paul wanted a Pegasus Beyblade cake. I did my best. Paul thought it was cool and that's all I care about.

Paul with Emma - Getting ready for the birthday song and the eighth epic wish of his life.

She looked all innocent and loving in that last picture, but what Emma was really trying to do is get the first go at the candles. Don't worry. Paul deftly blocked her.

So Jason tried a little blocking of his own. Paul didn't even see it coming. Pfffffttttt! Try again!

What a good kid! He was excited about the big gift behind him that Aunt Lara brought in. He couldn't wait to open it. It was an air hockey table.

...I made candy bar covers for our young women birthday gifts this year. We got the king size candy bars from cash-n-carry. Going simple and easy this year.

Here's a picture of the girls with their new journals for the year. I wasn't able to be there since Ben was sick so they took a picture and e-mailed it to me. It made my day tos ee them holding them up and all excited.

Week #1:Start the year out with Strep - no fun!

This week...

...I got strep on New Year's Eve. It. was. not. fun. We went out Monday to Mattawa for New Year's, but through the night and into the morning I knew that I had something because it was a beast to swallow. So we rounded everything and everyone up to come back home. My mom followed to help with the kids since Jason had to work that night. I went down to the Urgent Care Clinic and sat for several hours just to be seen. I hadn't had anything to eat or drink all day so I was pretty queasy when they gave me the shot. I knew that it might be a problem because I don't do well with shots, and sure enough I just about fainted as I went to pay. So I had to call for a ride and went to bed the minute I got home. Ugh!

This is my sick station - water to stay hydrated, crackers for the queasy stomach, ibuprofen/Tylenol for pain/inflammation.

It was a good thing that we played lots of games on Monday because it felt like the trip wasn't a total waste. We played Tenzie, Spot it! (such a fun game), and Ticket to Ride (Paul was in heaven). I talked books with my sister Shelly, watched Victor Borge (hilarious comedian pianist) with my parents and stayed up late talking to my sister Cherice.

Benjamin played with Lainey setting up the Little People Nativity set.  He's so good to play with Lainey sometimes. At other times he just likes to bug her and make her cry.

 

Hilarious! Look him up on You Tube.

...put this 600 piece puzzle together on one of my sick days. I was feeling better, but not 100%. My mom loves to do puzzles and we were teasing her that staying with us was keeping her from her favorite past time. We have two puzzles - the one shown because it's so cool and one from our honeymoon that we bought since ALL of the cool shops were closed. I tried to do puzzles when Emma and Paul we little, like four and two, but it didn't work. I didn't have a place to keep them out so I could work on them that the little ones wouldn't get into. So I scrapped that idea. We started this puzzle around 11:00 am and ended just before 8:00 pm. There are patterns that help as you put it together, but I tell you I was ready to give up more than once. Well worth it though when you can actually get it together.

...Lainey was cooking up some Mad Gab. She loves these pots and pans that are now my old ones.

...I want to include Ben's writing of a song they learned at school. They learned this song for the Veteran's Day assembly. It was so catchy that Ben, Claire, and Paul would sing it ALL the time after school. Before long, I was singing it; Lainey was singing it; and even Jason sings it on occasion. One night Ben asked for my help to write the song out. It was so cute and definitely good letter practice.