Happy Fourth Birthday, Benson!!!!

It's birthday season!  First up: Benson

His birthday was on General Conference Sunday, so Mom and Dad slept in a bit longer than the kids.  Gracie helped fill this anxious time by making Benson a birthday hat!

We finally (!) got up so he could open his much anticipated gift--a Power Rangers Megazord!  He's had an obsession with Power Rangers for a couple months, and when he saw this in the store, that's all he would ask for for his birthday.  Lucky kid.

 It is a pretty cool toy.

 I got fancy and made cinnamon rolls for breakfast.  Megazord got his own seat, too.

 To add to the sugar, we did General Conference Bingo, and the kids built traditional conference tents.  Hello, President Eyring!

Throughout the day, Benson would ask me to take pictures of him with his new friend--

The cake theme was decided before the present was chosen, so they don't go together, but Benson didn't care.  I found the design online and cooked it, and Ben cut it, and it was a joint decorating effort.  (I have to say that mixing crushed Oreos in the frosting to make it grey was inspired--and tasty.  You're welcome, family.)

He didn't ask for this picture, but I couldn't resist:

 And one more the next day, for good measure:

Happy Birthday to my very favorite four year old!

Saturday morning pancakes!

(She wouldn't eat them until I took a picture of them, which, of course, makes them now worthy of the blog.)

Soccer 2016--Go Panthers, uh, Raiderettes!

So--when you take a season off from soccer, and you sign up again and click on the box that you want to join the team you used to be on, you apparently have to also send the association an email to say what team that is, or they will assign your child to a different team and not tell you there is a problem, and then they announce the team rosters and despite phone calls from parents and previous coaches, they will not switch your child to the original team.

So, so sorry, Gracie.  She was all right with the change (and I loved the closer practice location), and then she wasn't, and then she was, and then she wasn't...but she was a trooper and stuck it out on her new team.  She played midfield for most of the season, and her team ended up undefeated in her division.  Her old team was in another division, so they didn't play them until the tournament.  I think that she really had to push herself harder than she has in the past, and she did a great job.

She thinks this may be her last season.  She really wants art lessons instead.  I think we can make that happen.

Easter Weekend

 We were so happy to have Devan, Kim, Naaman, Ellie and baby Luke come visit us for Easter--especially because they were moving a couple states away at the end of the month.  Boo for not having family in Texas any more, but we're happy they're getting a new adventure.  (How did I not end up with any pictures of the sweet baby?)

We did some room shuffling while they were here, and Benson took advantage of all the Legos being in one room and built a house for his snake.  Also, the Power Rangers (which he purchased with his Christmas money and LOVES) were tucked away, ready for a road trip.

The next night they were ready to eat with a friendly family of beavers (who happen to own that pink car) in the dollhouse.  Our toys are so versatile.

I know this picture is a little hard to understand, but let me explain...  I had to take Emma to the children's hospital for her heart EKG and echocardiogram, and while walking up, we saw this giant Po statue through the window.  It's the same as the one in the building at BYU where Grandpa R works, so Emma thought it was worth it to try for a picture, though the reflections made it really hard to see.

(Hey--I found our picture of the one from BYU!)

Emma is doing great, by the way.  She has a tiny murmur, but everything is working exactly as it should.

On Saturday morning, the kids woke up to find the Easter Bunny had left a couple baskets around the house.

We got to dye some eggs and some fingers

 That evening was the General Women's Broadcast, and it was great.  There were several talks about helping refugees, both around the world and in your community.  We, as covenant women, were called upon to keep our covenant to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those in need of comfort.  I liked having Caytie, Gracie, Emma, and Kim with me.

On Sunday we enjoyed (early!) church, one more egg hunt for good measure, and a tasty ham lunch/dinner before they headed off for home.  We will miss having their family that close!  (Now to convince another family to move to the Lone Star State...)

Thanks be to God who sent His Son to give us hope for the future, through repentance, resurrection, eternal life, and exaltation.  Happy, happy Easter!

Pre Easter

A family in our preschool got some ducklings for their pond, and offered to bring them for our Easter Party.  They were a HUGE hit!  (For most of the kids...

 ...Some kids held them for a second and decided that was enough!)

 We also made bunny cookies, though Benson's was partially eaten by the time I got a picture.

 We finished with an Easter Egg Hunt

How could we top that?  By going to another Easter Egg Hunt the next day for playgroup!  (I was asked to attend by my Visiting Teachee.  Benson approved.)

Three weeks before The Hailstorm, we had a hailstorm, where we collected these cute little hail balls and kept them in our freezer, since we hadn't seen any this size for a while.

Several people filed claims to get new roofs for this one, though almost no one got one started before The Hailstorm.  Thankfully we decided not to--thereby avoiding the drama of paying two deductibles for one new roof.

The importance of punctuation

We pass this gas station on occasion.  It always inspires discussion on what exactly the sign implies...  Bait and sandwiches?  Sandwiches made of bait?  Sandwiches meant to be used as bait?  No matter what the true meaning is, I am not inspired to find it out.

Celebrate the Arts 2016

Continuing her streak since Kindergarten, Gracie had a picture in the Celebrate the Arts art display.  Love it!

Soccer practice entertainment

Gracie's new soccer team practices at my kids' elementary school, just down the street from our house.  (SOOO much better than her old team, which practices in the next town!)  She's old enough and it's close enough that I usually dropped her off, but sometimes I'd bring the other kids to play during practice.

Once during practice, Benson requested my phone.  I asked why, and he said he wanted to take a picture of the moon.

OK, Bud--have fun!

Tessa wanted a turn, so she took a picture of this little killdeer, who had nested in the woodchips of the swing set.  The janitors had "caution taped" off her little area, and momma killdeer was very diligent staying on her eggs as the kids continued to swing and run all around her.

Caytie decided to go up to the school and take a picture of her classroom through the door.

There you go--the most interesting things my kids saw during soccer practice.

This was mine:

Baby peach

These blossoms on our baby peach tree make me so happy!

3.14.16

Homemade apple pie...so good!

Dallas World Aquarium

I had some unplanned Spring Break days with my kids and my parents due to the trek ending early.  We wanted to go to the Perot Museum, but once we were there, the parking lot was beyond full--even more than the day we thought we were squeezing in--so we detoured across the block and went to the Dallas World Aquarium.  The last time we visited, Gracie was in a stroller, and Scott and Emma only had vague memories.  I had a vivid memory of how much it cost, so I just gritted my teeth and chalked it up to fun family memories.  And it was pretty fun.  The kids (I think mostly Scott) took over my (phone) camera and here's what they thought was picture-worthy:

A sloth!  Right there in a little tree in our pathway!  He turned his head away from the camera, though.

(Oh, I did take this one.  Benson refused to be in it, and Grandpa was probably keeping him from running away...)

The shark tunnel!

There was an amazing variety of animals for the building size.  We'll probably go again--in another ten years!

Trek Day 2

Trek couldn't end in a panic over the weather, especially since no one had their gear, so our Stake leaders decided to have us all gather the next evening to pass everything out, use up some of the food, and do some of the other activities that had been planned.  (PS--the storm continued that morning with lots of wind and rain, so again, it was the right call to bring everyone home.)

We were able to get our clothes washed, so we were relatively mud free.  All the gear, from the trailer below, was not.

We were to have dinner with our families, so we brought blankets to eat on the floor.

After dinner of biscuits and gravy, we played games like sack and three-legged races, Never Have I Ever, the winking at the girl across the room to get her to move to the chair in front of you unless the boy behind her tags her first game, etc.

And then...Square Dancing!

(This was Ben and my position--observing from the sidelines)

Scott is at the very center of this picture:

After the dancing, we gathered with our families in separate rooms, and had a guided discussion.  It was meant to help the kids bond and discuss trials and joys and then to help them feel the Spirit.  I think that it was a pretty good way to end the evening, all things considered.

We were able to gather once more on Sunday evening for a testimony meeting with everyone.  It was great to hear that even with this abbreviated experience, the youth were able to come away with some pretty great lessons, and to even feel the Spirit.  I hope to be able to participate (in some way) again.