We really like our Hot Cocoa

Wednesday this past week started with a good workout while the kids read.  As I was putting away my weights, I turned around to see the kids using my resistance bands to do a move I had just done.  It was kind of funny!  

 Every morning, at least 2 of the 4 kids have hot cocoa.  That morning, it was all four and it was so cute seeing them all sitting there sipping on their mugs!

 We got the kids out the door and I started picking up the house from the morning chaos.  I had cleaned out Kaylee's backpack and found the cutest writing page of Kaylee's.  It said:  "When I grow up I want to be a pediatrician.  The first reason is because I love babies.  I enjoy being around them.  Next I love how cute they are.  Last, I want to make good money.".  Such a smart girl!

 That afternoon we met up with Dawn and her kids at Arctic Circle for some lunch!  It was great!  It was nice to get the kids out of the house and enjoy some fun!

 That night Nick held scouts at our house and they did a fun ice cream dessert to say goodbye to one of the scouts that was turning 12 that week.  They only have one 11 yr old scout now, but by May, Garret will be in, and then Carson will be there in July.  He can't wait!

 Carson has also been working really hard on his report on Danielle Boone.  He was able to get it all done to turn it in on Thursday.  It looked great!  They are doing a wax museum coming up on Wednesday, so we are on the lookout for a costume.

I am 35!

It is crazy to think I am 35!  When did that happen??  I don't feel that old, but I guess that is what it is!  I got up early and got in a workout before Choir, then took Livy to speech.  She did great!  I came home to a yummy cupcake from my friend and visiting teaching partner Maria Johnson.  

My friend Brittany made us lunch and we hung out for a bit.  I taught dance that evening and then came home to a wonderful dinner of Italian Chicken and rice that Brittany had made and had our family over for dinner.  The best part was the Chocolate Strawberries for dessert!  YUM!!! She knows me well!

 We had a fun night of food, legos, bubblegum and friends!

When I got home I saw these cute Birthday Wishes on my door (which I found out later was two girls in the ward!)  It was such a perfect Birthday day!!!  I couldn't have asked for a better day!

Birthday Dinner

Last Monday evening, my Mom and Matt's family came for dinner and cake to celebrate my Birthday!  It was a lot of fun!  We had taco chicken and rice and then a yummy chocolate cake.  

 We tried out Natalie's selfie stick!  It was awesome!  Here was the whole group!

I sure love my mom and I am grateful that she was willing to be my mom and have me 35 years ago!!

Broken?

I enjoyed an outside ran last weekend since the weather was nice and Nick didn't work!  I love running outside a lot more than on a treadmill.  I was able to keep around a 9 min mile and it felt great!  

We spent the afternoon working around the house and went to a bbq at the McConkies that night.  It was so much fun!  The McCords, Symes, and the Wagstaffs were there.  We had hamburgers and enjoyed the fire pit as the sun went down.

 Sunday turned out to be a little bit more exciting than I had planned.  Church went great.  I had taught the primary songs to sing for Easter Sunday and the kids were all great, besides Preston who like normal, was a handful!  He had to be taken to Nick twice during church.  The first during singing time, and then during class he was out of control, so they walked him down the hall to Nick.  By the time they got him to Nick he was crying and wouldn't stop and wouldn't let anyone touch his hand.  Nick took him to the van and waited out there until we were done with church.  The whole time he held his hand.  When we got home, he wouldn't get out of his carseat because he wouldn't let us touch his hand.  So we decided I should take him to the insta care and have it looked at.  He was pretty miserable and we finally got check in and had it xrayed.  We were there for about 2 hours total and left with a splint.  They couldn't confirm a fracture in his hand, but the doctor really thought it was hurt by the way he was acting and with a small mark on the xray.  So she splinted it up and sent us home with instructions to follow up with his pediatrician the next day.  He just mostly sat on my lap and didn't move, and so I could tell it truly hurt him.  Poor kid!

 Once they had the splint on his hand, he started perking up and finally started acting a little bit more like himself.

 We got home and he spent the rest of the night on the couch and then we gave him tylenol and got him to bed.  He got up at 5 AM crying that it hurt, so I gave him more medicine and he went back to bed.  He acted okay the rest of the morning.  I called his doctor but they couldn't get him in until Tuesday to look at his hand.  I figured I would keep him in the splint until our appt.  The kids played that morning with the cars before Livy's preschool.  I really need to get them to play more with toys and not just watch tv all day!

After Livy went to school, I was doing dishes and Preston walked out with his splint half way pulled off.  I took it off to rewrap it and when I took it off I asked him if it hurt and he said no.  I thought I would wait a bit and see how he acted with it, and he spent the rest of the day playing and wrestling like it was never hurt.  He acted like that the next day, so I called and cancelled his appointment, which helped make our Tuesday less busy, so all was good!

Missionary Measles...Goodbye Van!

On Sunday, the 28th, we had the Missionaries come and help us with Singing Time.  We played Missionary Measles, which meant they got more measles (stickers) the better they kids sang.  It was great!  

 Tuesday, was another early day of choir.  I snapped this picture just so I could show how big and awesome the choir is at the school.  It has been so much fun being involved in helping direct them.  They are great kids and such a great program.  One perk is that Kaylee gets to sing in it as a 2nd grader!  She loves it too!

 Talking Time was good!  We made volcanoes and worked on the letter 'V' that day!  They even helped them explode with some baking soda and vinegar!

 On Wednesday, we dropped the older kids off at dance and passed the time at Smith's with some ice cream.  They further entertained themselves with a small shopping cart.  It was pretty funny!

 On Thursday, I listed our old van on KSL and that night we had quite a bit of interest.  The next day we had a cute couple come up from Lehi and look at it and bought it!  It was such a smooth process and we got exactly what we wanted out of it.  It was great!

 We finished the transaction at the Credit  Union and on my way out I snapped a quick picture of the old and new.  It seems silly to be so attached to a van, but we had the Hyundai for 8 years and made lots of memories in that van!  It was a little bitter sweet!  

First Ballroom Dance Competition

The last weekend in February, the oldest kids had their first Ballroom Dance Competition in Logan at Sky View High School.  They were so excited and it ended up being such a fun day!!!  I sang with some ladies at a Stake Women's Conference in Harrisville before we left that morning.  It was so fun singing with such talented ladies!  I sang with Connie starks, who is a co-director of the school choir, and then Melissa Chertudi's sister.  Melissa was sick and so she wasn't able to sing with us, which was really sad.  But it worked out and I thought we sounded great!  I got home and we loaded up in the new van and drove up to Logan for their competition.  

 They have been working since October every week at dance to get ready for this competition.  Nick said at one point, that he never ever thought he would be spending a Saturday at a Ballroom Competition.  It was funny!  It was also a lot of fun to be there with Marisa to watch Austin dance too.  The kids got all warmed up and started their competition with the Swing.  Carson and Kaylee were partners for this one.

 They did so good!  They made it through the semi final and got called to the finals where they took 3rd in their division, which was the Newcomer.  This division is for kids who have danced for less than a year.

 The most precious moment was watching them wait for their results.  They grabbed hands and were so excited when they got their award.  They were so nice to each other that whole afternoon and worked so good as a team.  I was so proud of them!

 The second dance they did was the Samba.  Kaylee partnered with Wyatt and Carson danced with Ellie.  They are the kids of their teacher, Heather Cragun.  Cute kids!  Kaylee & Wyatt took 5th and Carson took 7th.  They had a blast and they loved every minute!!!

After the competition, we ate dinner at Panda and then headed home.  It was seriously one of the funnest days we have had as a family!  I love that they have been given the opportunity to learn dance and I hope this is just the beginning of many more competitions.