Week #9: Lainey Sings A Solo & Claire Makes The Front Page

This Week...

...Lainey sang a solo in Sacrament meeting! She was so determined to do this all on her own. She almost didn't want Emma to play the piano for her. Haha! We practiced at home and at the church with the microphone. At the last minute, I gave her the book to follow along. I think it caused her to stare down instead of out, but she did it! We were so proud of her for setting her mind to something and making it happen.

...Benjamin won third place in the Pinewood Derby. He was super excited. Paul was sad not to be racing, but glad that they put him to work helping to hand out the awards.

...we applied some vinyl on an Adams County car. It's a stealth car, so there isn't much difference in the vinyl color from the car color. It looks so cool! It's also reflective for night time.

...I went to Time Out For Women with my sisters. It was a lot of fun! We stayed at the Davenport Tower again. It's a little bit further from the Convention Center, but we love the walk on a weekend when it seems like we eat so much. We met up with Amy Allen as usual and had a great time at our table in the back. Once again we staked our claim, spread out our notebooks, and listened in relaxed ease.

Jason hosted the neighbor girls for lunch while I was gone. The oldest girl, Yareli, had to work on a school project with Emma and her younger sisters came to play.

...we had Dr. Seuss spirit week at school. Claire was really good about keeping us all aware of what each days' dress up theme was. They had fun with crazy hair day and hat day. 

At the end of the week, they finished things off with a Read Across America local heroes event. Jason was able to slip away from work to speak to the kids and read them a book. There were many other local celebrities/heroes that came as well - a firefighter, an Army soldier, Miss Washington, Miss Tri-Cities, Elsa from Frozen, Scott Smiley, the only blind army captain, among many others. Jason spoke to Ben and Claire's third grade class and Paul's fifth grade class. He read the book Officer Buckle and Gloria by Peggy Rathmann. A reporter from the Tri-City Herald took note when Jason was in with Ben and Claire's class. Claire was listening so sweetly, with her Cat in the Hat hat and a smile on her face. When Jason got to the part in the story where a student named Claire sends a note to Officer Buckle, we were all excited and surprised. Claire was beaming! And because it was the perfect set up, she made the front page of the Herald.

...Paul was practicing his swing before school. Marty came and sat right in front of him. That's not really effective Marty!

...Emma had a concert for orchestra and Jazz band. We went to Chiawana High School where the kids used their auditorium. They did a really good job. It's fun to see her using her talents and hear the groups play together.

Week #8: Missionaries are the best!

This Week...

...we had the Spanish Elders over for dinner and Elder Sanchez got transferred in. Saying good bye to missionaries is never easy, but meeting the new ones coming in makes up for it. We love Elder Sanchez already. He's from Mexico and is super positive and friendly. When they first stopped by after transfers, we asked him a ton of questions.

Elder Tirado and Elder Beal

Elder Sanchez and Elder Dunnell living the life! Sharing the word!

...the Kings came to play. They made perler bead creations with Emma.

...on my Wednesday popping excursion at the middle school, it seemed like I received a lot of thank yous for the popcorn. It may have had something to do with this little sign that someone posted. Everyone is very appreciative, but I think this little sticky note reminded everyone to vocalize it. :)

...Lainey's been losing her front teeth. It seems every time I turn around (or every time she eats something), she loses a tooth.

...I went with Emma to her New Beginnings program. She earned her knowledge ribbon. It's so fun to see her grow. She's come a long way since the time she went as an incoming Beehive. Her confidence has grown so much. She 's friendly and comfortable with the other girls. She looks for ways to be encouraging and helpful to the girls and leaders. Love my Emma! 

Emma, Josephine Lopez, Savannah Greenhalgh, Callie Lewis

...we went to a free carnival at the high school. Each leadership class from the Pasco high schools and middle schools was in charge of a booth with several games. Then they had community businesses running booths with information and free stuff (pens, lanyards, candy, toys, pens, etc.). The kids had a blast. What am I saying? I had a blast! I'm a sucker for pens. There weren't a whole lot of people in attendance, so the kids got to make the rounds several times. Emma was in charge of the human Tic-Tac-Toe. She was really nervous about how it would turn out. She wondered if people would want to play and if it would be fun. Her worries were unfounded. She was busy all night. If the kids didn't have a partner, she raced against them so they could have a turn. I especially liked seeing the parents play against their kids. 

...while we were at the carnival, Jason was watching Lainey at her first grade Valentine's concert. She knew the words so well and sang the songs so loudly. You could tell she was having a fun time. Go first graders!

...I went to a parent conference sponsored by the school district. It was so much fun! Mac Bledsoe (father to famous NFL quarterback Drew Bledsoe) was the keynote speaker. He is the founder/creator of Parenting with Dignity, a course for parents. It was so engaging and great to listen to. I was motivated by his techniques, advice, and experience. 

Week #7: Valentine Box Season, Again!

This Week...

...it's Valentine box season again. No, it's not Valentine season. It's Valentine box season. At first, I was pushing back. The kids had such big ideas and all I could think about was the time and mess it would take and create. You could catch me saying "Bah humbug" even though Christmas was over. Once I just let go and let them do it their way, we had a grand time working together. Lainey made her box last year and wasn't able to use it. We kept it all year for this day. We had a frog, an owl, a boom box, and a duct tape dragon. I found pictures on google images to match their boxes for their valentines. So cute and fun!

...I helped the Stake Relief Society Presidency with the Stake brunch for widows/single sisters. It was so much fun! These ladies in the presidency sure know how to make it look and taste good. I was so inspired by Debbie's beautiful production that I hurried to create a special dinner for my kids at home.

...Jason and I worked on refinishing some bath tubs and a shower. Our friend is flipping a house and the bathtub/shower units were looking pretty gross. He paid us to refinish them. It wasn't a whole lot of fun scraping, cleaning, and prepping them, but the finished product is so worth it.

...Jason went with Paul on his Scout outing to the Elk feeding grounds in Naches. The numbers of elk were amazing!

Week #6: Mattawa Snow Storm

This Week...

...we made a trip to Mattawa for Sunday dinner. Our cousins were there too which made it that much more fun. Uncle Kirk and Aunt Sharee came with their kids and Uncle Kent and Aunt Julie came with their kids. It was snowing pretty consistently on the way out there and continued the whole time we were there. Over the last several weeks of snow fall, the wind had blown the snow up into their yard and flower garden in some formidable snow drifts. The kids definitely had a lot of fun outside.

...we enjoyed a day of sunshine. Things started to melt and we were pretty excited. I made a trip to my mom's to work for her and get some things done.

Just when we thought the snow frenzy was over, that's when it dumped on us again. 

Knock, knock

Who's there?

Mother Nature.

Mother Nature who?

Mother Nature who keeps dumping ridiculous amounts of snow!

...Lainey lost one of her top front teeth. She was so excited! Tooth Fairy time - if she remembers!

Week #5: Snow and More Snow...and More Snow

This Week...

...we got more snow. It filled in just as fast as we could shovel it.

Paul and Claire played on the snow pile at the church. 

...we took Elder Williamson and Elder Dunnell out to lunch at El Sazon. Elder Williamson is being transferred to West Richland. 

He stopped by later to get a photo with out family.

...Jason did a cop presentation for the Bear Scouts. It's always fun to go and listen to what he shares.

...Paul suffered an attack from the icy snow. The kids were playing in the backyard before school. Benjamin pushed Paul down and he hit his face on the snow. Before the school day had gotten too far underway, Paul had these red scratches on his face. They hurt really bad too.