Week #15: General Conference Recharge

This week...

...we had a great time watching General Conference. I'm glad that my kids get just as excited as I do for this time twice a year. We now have the BYU channel! It is so nice to access conference through our TV and not have to worry about jimmying a computer somehow. Here's a few shots of everyone from their conference spots. We have scaled way back on treats because it seemed like too much and they weren't really helping the kids be quiet. We now have a bingo bowl that they can choose out of when they get a bingo and blackout.

A little bit of Studio C in between made for excellent viewing.

...Jason grilled me some salmon. For those of you that know him, you know that this is a singular occasion. Jason. hates. fish. We have a couple really good fish stories involving him on the verge of gagging and taking extreme measures to get out of eating said fish. I want to take this opportunity to thank the Traeger. My husband actually bought some salmon and grilled it for me. It was delicious! And I got to eat it all by myself. I'll give him and the kids credit, they at least tried it.

...we had a picnic in the park. Today was definitely a yes day, as Lainey came up with the idea of a picnic and I said that we could do it. She was so excited and could barely contain herself as we gathered our supplies. We absolutely had to have a basket - we had to dig some out. Fortunately we had a piece of picnic appropriate fabric to spread on the grass. And most importantly, we had some delicious snacks and foods to pack in our basket. The other kids were sad when they found out we picnicked at the park without them.

...Ben found a cozy spot to listen to me read out loud before bed. We finished the Fable Haven series and are now starting on the Sisters Grimm series.

...we had a most successful Family Home Evening. We used the church website to play music videos of the songs the kids are learning in primary for our opening and closing songs. Claire conducted the meeting and we watched the Mormon Message on bullying (it's so good). Then I had another window open on the computer for the kids to play the games and puzzles from the friend after we said the prayer. They loved it. Emma had an idea for strawberries with carrots and ranch for the treat. She helped me prepare it and talked animatedly with me. I've never seen my kids eat an FHE treat so fast. The night was such a big hit. I could feel that the spirit was blessing us long after we closed our meeting with prayer.

...Lainey is a ham at Costco. This is fast becoming our favorite store to frequent, and I'm not just thinking about samples. What other store can so easily send you out the door with so many things you realize you can't live without?

...Uncle Kent was making the girls laugh their heads off. Allie and Lainey were trying to get Uncle Kent's shoes off and he was really making them laugh. It was funny to watch.

...we cleaned out the garage and moved some things around. And by cleaning, I mean cleaning. We gave away these two precious pieces. They've been with us since our Ellensburg college days and Jason crafted them both. This is the cradle Jason started for our third baby which turned out to be twins. We had a good laugh over needing two, but there wasn't time in the semester to start one. The "green' table, as we've dubbed it, was an unlikely project for his wood art class, but something highly functional for our small apartment, and even later in our rental houses. We know that it's time for them to move on. The cradle went to some friends of ours in our ward who just had a baby.

Week #14:Spring Break Action

This week...

...we had a blast during spring break. It went fast, but we lived. every. day. We spent Monday and Tuesday in Mattawa. We took a field trip to the feedlot where Aunt Shelly works. We saw the horses, cows, feed, and chickens.

We worked out in the yard clearing leaves and tree limbs. All of the kids worked hard without having to be told to get back to work. The treats at Grandma's are always popular.

We went for walks down to the farm, looking for rocks on our way.

Aunt Shelly taught the kids how to draw an easy, but cute, bat. She is doing a picture-a-day journal this year. She found a really neat tutorial drawing site that helps you draw with great results. Once we got home, we drew lost of things on our own from that site - minnie mouse, a minion, angry birds, Elsa (that one didn't turn out so great).

Aunt Shelly gathered the kids in her room. They wanted in on the treats she had stashed there, but I told them they had to answer trivia questions first. Aunt Shelly's good with trivia. So she asked different questions and we guessed at them to get out treat.

Lainey fell asleep on me as we listened.

Lainey was matching her hands to the ones on the grandkid wall.

Grandpa Zirker played a trick on me. He put a mcracker in one shoe and an almond in the other. When I went to put my shoes on to do yard work, I was met with these uncomfortable surprises in my shoes. I couldn't believe who would drop these things in my shoes, until I remembered that my dad and brother Corey play this trick on each other, slipping crazy things into their shoes the night before.

On Wednesday we went to the Benton City Fire Station. Jason was working in that area and was able to meet us there for the tour. Paul needed to visit the fire station in connection with the unit on fire safety. The kids had a good time.

Saturday night we had a barbeque with Jason's family. We grilled on the Traeger and then watched the men's session of conference together. That was definitely different. :) Then we went to a late showing of Captain America with his sisters Lara and Shawnee, Bill (Shawnee's husband), and Hannah (niece). It was fun to be out with them and the movie was good.

Lara, Lainey, Jason, Emma, Shawnee, Hannah, Paul

Paul and Ben worked a paying job as vinyl assistants over the break. Ben was getting frustrated that Paul wasn't letting him help. Paul is a pretty handy helper and gets excited to have his hands in on the action. Vinyl isn't always the easiest task to let little kids help with, but Jason was being very patient with them as they decal-ed this car for Adams County.

These are the kids' thank you pictures for the firemen and EMT's that helped us out at the fire station:

Week #13:Special Olympics Luncheon

This week...

...Jason got Traeger grill. Let me just say gift card and Costco. That about sums it up. He was like a kid on Christmas day as he opened that box. Paul was super excited to help where he could. I can't wait for him to start making dinner. Haha!

...Monday, Monday. 

...Emma performed in the fourth grade choir. Her cousin Ethan is also in the choir.

...we had a fear factor mutual night. They were very brave to try the different gross activities. I would not have been able to eat the baby food and the harry potter jelly beans were really taking a toll. We gave a little message about having faith vs. fear. Faith wins every time.

...Jason worked with Texas Roadhouse to organize a luncheon for Special Olympics. Texas Roadhouse is so cool when it comes to community service. They donate everything for the meal and open up before business hours to host the luncheon. Then they donate ALL of the proceeds to the organization for which we're raising funds. Their employees come in and volunteer their time to seat and serve at the luncheon. It's amazing! This time our focus was Special Olympics.

Jason parked his car out front along with one of the unmarked chargers that the gang team uses.

Here's the chalk art greeting that Texas Roadhouse had in the entry. I joked with them that no one would have thought that chalk art abilities was part of the job description.

The Benton County Gang Team came in to greet people at the door. We also had a Richland Officer and a Port of Benton Officer helping at the door as well.

Our friend Erik came with his mom Valery. He wore some of his medals from Special Olympics.

The Texas Roadhouse did not disappoint. Even thought it was a small luncheon, they got out there and danced several times. That's just what they do. Will Butts (pictured above) is the one that worked with Jason so much to put the luncheon together.

Here's my Lainey modeling the proper use of the napkin with the delicious food. Texas Roadhouse made these slider sandwiches this time. They were a huge hit...with me. ;)

Week #12: Measure Up!

This week...

...In the Barbie movie, The Magic of Pegasus...(Really? You ask. Yes, really. We watch a lot of Barbie around here.) Ahem! Back to what I was saying...In the movie, Barbie has to hunt down three things to make a wand of light to overcome the evil bad guy. The first one is a measure of courage. Lainey trying to see how tall she is with the tape measure made me think of that. Lainey's taking her measure. 

...we caught sight of these little blossoms beginning. What a great time of year! I love it when the buds and blossoms and leaves return. This is the tree in our backyard. Soon, they'll be popping out everywhere else.

...we played at the park.We met with one of Paul's friends from school. I sat and talked with Amity and the kids played with Caleb. Caleb showed Paul how to make these paper claws and they've been doing nothing else since.

The park got too cold for me. So we came home and brought the neighbor kids with us.

 

...Jason painted my bookshelf for our bedroom. He created a nice paint booth in the garage and set to work. I can't wait to use it.