Valentine's Day and President's Day Weekend 2016

Saturday morning we had some chores to do, but the forecast said it would be sunny and almost 60 so we planned some outdoor things as well. Aaron had trimmed the tops of the trees, and cut back the raspberries. The cherry tree was getting out of hand since we don't have a big enough ladder. We were grateful to have the extended loppers that Daren K* gave us before they moved last year. Aaron, David and Timothy loaded up the truck bed with the piles of stuff from last year's garden and this year's pruning. When Michelle was napping I went through and pruned the fruit trees and cut back the roses. It was nice to finally get that done.

I neglected to mention that the kids got Valentines in the mail on Friday. They were excited to get them from both sets of grandparents at the same time. One of them had balloons, and everyone loved those including Michelle.

I took a couple pictures, but then told the kids she really shouldn't play with the balloon because it might pop and she could choke on the little pieces. Aaron also took on a baking project. He found a recipe for these brownie sandwiches with raspberry frosting

With the leftovers he asked if I thought he could make cake pops, so I found a recipe and told him how easy it was. So he used the brownie scraps to make these brownie pops.

Sunday he made these cupcakes to give away to a few people.

But anyway, back to Saturday. That afternoon David wanted to play Settlers of Catan again. So we started another game. David won that one. We also made Valentines for each other. Aaron and I wanted to go to the basketball district tournament, but the other kids didn't want to go. So we ended up dropping David off at the high school to catch the bus for pep band, and then Aaron went to the games. He kept me updated. Both the boys and girls teams won and would go on to the championship game.

The girls would be playing G* - our rivals (they won their game at a different location). At home we had dinner and the kids took baths and showers etc.

David wanted to ride the bus back to the high school, so Aaron had to drive over to the high school and wait for him. That added about 30 minutes to the trip home. So he was home later than he wanted to be. Oh well.

Sunday morning was great! We all got to sleep in. It was a regional broadcast for stake conference. He could have had a bishopric meeting that morning, but both of his counselors were out of town. So with no early meetings we slept in and then had a great breakfast. Then we all headed over to the church a little earlier than normal. Aaron wanted to make sure everything was set up and running smoothly. Since it was a Stake Conference, we had a broadcast from our stake center with opening hymn, prayer, song from the choir and a message from our stake president. Then we turned to the broadcast from Salt Lake. We heard from Elder Renlund, Sister Bonnie Oscarson, and someone else, I don't really remember! But they were all great talks! Then we closed with a hymn and prayer in our own building. Afterward Aaron was meeting with a couple of people, and then he came home.

Aaron said he would make dinner. So I got out some salmon and a couple of T-bone steaks. Except it turned out there were 5 steaks in the package. So we had surf and turf for Valentine's dinner. We Skyped with my parents and that was a lot of fun. Then we delivered a few goodies to some friends and neighbors. When we got home we had FHE and dessert.

Monday morning Aaron and I were trying to plan something fun for the family. He and the kids had the day off, but Timothy still had drama class. So we had to find something that we could do that wouldn't last all day, and didn't interfere with his class. We thought about bowling, but it didn't open until 3:00. We thought about the trampoline park, but they didn't have their cheaper Monday rates because of the holiday. So we decided to go roller skating. That left the morning wide open. Until Aaron got a text asking if we could watch the I* boys while Phillip and Julianna went to the Dr. Phillip had an infection from a spider bite (he put it on Facebook so I don't think he'll mind if I say it here). They were here for a couple of hours. We pulled it off because I had Aaron and David to help.

They were playing train I think

We were getting ready for lunch when the boys went home. After lunch we headed up to the skating rink. We've never been as a family so it was news to us that they only take cash. I'm not about to be charged for using some other bank's ATM, so we drove to the bank and back again. Finally we got in and got skates for everyone. Even Melanie. David got out there quickly, and Timothy went out timidly. Michelle woke up, so I fed her while Aaron took the girls. Melanie didn't even make it around the practice rink before she'd had enough. Amy fell a few times and wasn't keen on trying again.

Not a great picture of David

Aaron showing Amy how her shirts glows in the black light.

 Aaron got a few pictures and Amy and I skating.

 And Melanie running around

 

 David moves too fast

  

 I never fell, but Amy did slow me down, and it was hard to skate with her pulling on my arm

 Melanie tried it on the carpet, but never went back out onto the wooden floor

 Amy gained some confidence and eventually started going out by herself.

Melanie mostly danced to the music

In the end Amy found a friend and they skated together

We left in time to drop off Timothy at his drama class, and then the rest of us went to Costco. It was nice to have Aaron there to get the bags of salt. I can lift them, but usually I have Michelle in the wrap, and I can't bend over safely to put them on the bottom of the cart. So I have been avoiding getting them. We got a couple of extra ones, so I won't have to get them for a while. We still had plenty of time to go back to the studio and the kids played outside on the playground for a bit. It was just a little chilly, but in the upper 50s, it was warm enough for them. I kept Michelle in the Yukon and fed her.

After Timothy's class we surprised the kids with dinner at Dickey's. Aaron had a coupon for kid's eat free with paying adult. That's normally their Sunday deal, but it was a holiday promotion. So we paid for David, Aaron and me, and got Timothy, Amy and Melanie's meals free. Michelle was an angel and slept the whole time. She even slept most of the way home, but she didn't stay asleep the whole time. Oh well, she survived. It was close to bed time when we got home but there was enough time to get into PJs and then watch an episode of Studio C. Then it was off to bed. It was a fun weekend together.

Rolling Over and Date Night

Monday was fairly normal if I remember correctly. I took some pictures of Melanie and Michelle while the kids were at school.

Then she did the most amazing thing! She rolled from her back to her stomach!

It was fun to share that with my family on the group me app.

That afternoon was fairly normal as well. I took Michelle with me to take Timothy to drama class. Then we went to Costco afterward. It didn't take too long, so we waited in the lobby until he was done. Then it was home for dinner. We had FHE lesson and activity that night.

Tuesday I went up to the city for some shopping. Fred Meyer, Target and Michael's, and I think that was it. I was turning onto our road when Aaron texted and asked if I could bring him something. Michelle was still asleep, so I figured I could run in the house and grab it and run it over. Unfortunately about halfway to the clinic Michelle woke up. To compound things I didn't have a place to park. With the new clinic there is no where right behind it to park. I used to use the community college building parking lot to wait in, but that's further away now and the construction fences make it hard to walk to from the clinic. So Aaron suggested I use the space in front of the fire station since I wasn't getting out of the Yukon. I was only there for 2 minutes, but Michelle was screaming. An easy errand turned out messy. Aaron thanked me and apologized that Michelle was screaming. He headed back to the clinic and I headed home. But I wasn't sure I wanted to hear Michelle scream for 10 minutes when it had been almost 3 hours since she had eaten. So I pulled over in front of the park and got out and nursed her in the back seat. Then we drove home in peace. Then I could finally unload the groceries and get lunch for Melanie and me. Phew!

I don't remember much about the rest of the day, but that night there was another basketball game. No pictures that night, but I remember that there weren't many people there. David had to be there at 6:30 and the game started at 7:00, so we didn't see a reason to drop him off and come back later. It was a district game, so our ASB cards weren't valid, we had to pay admission, well David didn't because he;s in pep band, and they refused to let me pay for Amy, so I only payed for Me and Timothy. Aaron came in straight from work. The game was pretty fun.

Wednesday I didn't help in Amy's class because they were doing testing. I don't remember what else I did instead.

Now that Michelle knows how to roll over, she isn't always content to sit in the swing. She was trying to wriggle her way out of it on Wednesday morning.

I made sugar cookies that afternoon. Amy helped me cut them out and bake them, and then frost them. They were for her class party the next day. At about 5:00 Amy and Aaron went to the elementary school for the Daddy dessert night. They have dessert and make Valentines. After that there was scouts that night. And we have a new 11 year old scout leader, so hopefully that means Timothy will be able to pass some things off and earn his Scout and Tenderfoot Ranks quickly!

Thursday morning I had to get dressed before dropping kids off at school so I could help Amy bring in things for her party. We had the cookies and some drinks. So I finally got to use the stroller for Michelle's car seat. It would have been cumbersome to try to carry the cookies, the drinks and Michelle's seat. But the stroller has a basket beneath it where I could put the cookies and drinks. That stroller is so easy to steer, I love it! I wish I had the opportunity to use it more, but it's a little cold outside still, and strollers on gravel roads don't work too well.

After dropping off the treats we headed back home, and I have no idea what else we did that day.  Trying to remember... yep, I got nuthin!

Friday the kids had no school. It was a four day weekend for them. So David had the great idea to play games. So each of the kids picked a game, starting with Melanie. She wanted to play Candy Land. She almost won, but then she got the Gingerbread Man and then Amy won. Next up Amy wanted to Blokus, but wanted to turn it into a guessing game, and it was getting a little complicated. So I asked if she really wanted to play the real game. She said she wanted to play Settlers of Catan, but thought that's the game that David would pick. I told her if she wanted to play Settlers, then she should pick that one. So she did. It was a lot of fun. Amy doesn't have a ton of strategy, but she knows how to play. She quickly racked up the largest army. In fact we used up all of the development cards, and she had more than 10 knights. This game took a long time, we had to break for lunch and putting Melanie down for a nap, but eventually I won the game. After that we played Timothy's choice of Munchkin. I was busy with the kitchen and the kids, so Amy and I were on a team. I think David won that game.

In the middle of our game of Munchkin Aaron, texted and said to have David call him. He was making spontaneous plans for us, but wanted to make sure David was up for babysitting. So rather than playing another game (Monopoly was David's choice) we got ready for dinner. I made a pizza for the kids. Aaron came home and changed clothes and we got ready to go.

We had a gift card for Olive Garden, so that's where we went. Knowing it was a Friday night, right before Valentine's Day, I expected there would be some wait. So 20 minutes wasn't too bad. We talked some, and the Michelle woke up. We looked at the menu while we waited so we already knew what to order. We enjoyed our dinner, and I fed Michelle at some point. We were too full to eat dessert there. Aaron wanted to do some shopping and he let me pick the store. I chose Kohl's. As we wandered around we ended up at the jewelry counter. With Valentine's Day around the corner everything was on sale. However we wandered around the whole thing I didn't find anything that jumped out at me. We did fond a couple of other things like a blue dress shirt for Aaron, and a new rug for the down stairs bathroom. Then we headed home. We stopped by McDonald's to grab a Shamrock Shake to share. I wondered if we would run into Rebecca P* and sure enough she was working the drive-thru. Then we got home, sent David to bed, and then got ready for bed ourselves. It was fun to go on a date that didn't include a church or work event.

Un-Super Bowl Party

Saturday we had our normal chores, but I wanted to get a few more things done around the house and outside too. I used the excuse that we were having the missionaries over for dinner and the K*'s were coming over on Sunday. But really it wasn't the guests that I wanted to clean for. I just wanted it done. So we basically had all sorts of projects going on throughout the day.

I'm sure there were other things, but I can't remember. The kids probably had screen time, and Aaron probably ran to the store. Later on I got ready for dinner. I had picked up some cashews at Costco to try out some cashew chicken recipes. This was my second recipe for the dinner with the missionaries. It was pretty good.

Afterward I can't really recall what we did. Probably baths and showers. I remember that Aaron made the Artisan bread dough in preparation for the next day. That's about it.

Sunday was a Fast Sunday which meant it was just the girls and I for breakfast. The boys were fasting. As much as I love food, I look forward to when I can fast again even if it means that I'm done nursing. So after breakfast I showered and got a few things ready for dinner.

Church was great. I love hearing the testimonies shared by members of the congregation. I remember some really special things that were shared. I was glad Sharon W* was able to share her testimony even though she spoke from her pew because she still can't stand for very long, or make it up those stairs or the ramp to the podium. I don't remember much else.

I remember when I opened my iPad during Sunday School I realized I'd forgotten to turn off the sound, and it automatically started playing the show I was watching the last time I used my iPad. It was some commercial for some medication, and before I could close the iPad it was warning us of possible complications if you had a fungal infection. I wonder who beside Phillip behind me could hear that. I had to go out in the hall to turn it off before I could open my Gospel Library app. Next time I'll make sure it's not playing a video before I bring it to church!

Julianna taught the lesson the Young Womens. It was about the plan of salvation. Aaron took Michelle for that last hour. Of course that meant when church was over, I had to wait until he was done talking with Pres. R* before I could go home. He had Michelle and the diaper bag with the keys.

After we got home we had a quick lunch and then I started on the rest of dinner. David wanted to help so he made a seven layer dip. Although I didn't have any tomatoes, so it was only 6 layers. It was our annual Un-Super Bowl Party where we eat football party foods without watching the game. Last year was fun, but the game score was too much of a distraction. But this year the Seahawks were not in the Super Bowl, so I was fairly certain no one would be worried about checking the score. We planned dinner for 4:30, and had lots of tailgate party food. In fact the only pictures I took were of the food!

We had the appetizers we didn't use on New Year's Eve (the frozen meatballs, jalapeno poppers and mini quiches), veggie pizza, crackers, bread and spinach dip. Shannon brought veggies, corn and bean salsa, and come cookies. I made Oreo pops, and mini Snickers brownies. I wish I had gotten a close up picture of those two. They were yummy. It was all delicious! We started with a prayer and let the kids get their plates ready. Then we served ourselves. Michael ended up holding Michelle and she fell asleep. Once the kids were done eating, they played downstairs, either ping pong or in the play room. Brooklyn, and Brynn had fun with Amy and Melanie. Upstairs we talked and played a bit of Mormon Mouthful. You have a set of unrelated words that, when read aloud, sound familiar, but make no logical sense. For example "Hair On Ache Pre Stewed" is really "Aaronic Priesthood" (that's straight from the instructions). We didn't really play in teams, we just let everyone guess.

It was a really fun evening, but the kids had school the next day, so we had to eventually wrap it up and get the kids to bed. Only after the kids were getting ready for bed did David ask who won the Super Bowl. He was happy that the Broncos won.

Fun with Friends and More Basketball

At least I'm consistently two weeks behind! On to February! Monday it was back to school for the kids and I can't think of what else for me and the little girls. That afternoon I took Timothy to his drama class, and I can't remember if Melanie came with me or not that day.

I do remember Tuesday. It was book club that night. There was a possibility of me going up to the city to help Julianna pick up the car, but Phillip found a ride to the airport. Even with him gone she hosted book club. Although I realized if it wasn't at her house, she probably wouldn't have been able to go. I enjoyed being with my book club friends. We were all excited to see Sandi after missing her the last couple of months. We had a good conversation. Michelle was pretty well behaved, and both Nancy and Carol got to hold her. We had some treats and then I drove Nancy home, so Carol could drive Sandi home.

Wednesday I helped out in Amy's class, but Michelle wasn't as cooperative. I tried to feed her, and that didn't work, but she did eventually settle down. The kids loved having her there and thought she was so cute. Except for one kids he said she was "too noisy". Timothy had social group that afternoon, until he didn't. After we got there I found out she had cancelled it because she was sick, but somehow I was left off the email. She apologized profusely. I needed to do grocery shopping anyway. So I took Timothy with me to Fred Meyer. I saw Louise U* there. Since I didn't have to wait to pick up Timothy we got back about 30 minutes earlier than I expected.

When I got home we got dinner ready and then Aaron went to the church, and I took the boys to the church for scouts. I picked them up afterward as well. That's about it.

Thursday I was home most of the day. Melanie really wanted to hold Michelle, so I got a few pictures.

Sometimes Michelle will wriggle her way out of the swaddling. Now she is starting suck her finger, but it doesn't satisfy her for very long.

This time she had three fingers in her mouth.

I can't remember what else we did that day. Friday I had invited Julianna over. She brought the boys over for a play date. I knew Phillip was out of town for another day. While I couldn't take her kids for her (4 kids under 4 is too much for me) I thought she might enjoy getting out and talking with another adult and her kids could be in a kid friendly environment. So they came over for a couple of hours. We talked, the kids played, the babies napped.

 The babies had fun looking at one another

Melanie was getting hungry, and so was Timothy, so I asked if they wanted to stay for lunch. I made sandwiches for the kids, and warmed up leftovers for Julianna and me. It was getting close to nap time, so we said goodbye- but we couldn't find Timothy's sippy cup. He'd wandered off with it and left it somewhere. Oh well. 

Aaron was home early that afternoon. Early enough for me to pick up David from school. He had been invited over to Kyle's to play before pep band that evening. Kyle broke his foot a while ago, and his last class is PE so he goes home early until he's able to participate. Otherwise David would have just gone home with him. As I was waiting for David to come out of the school I realized I should have just had all of the kids get off of the bus at the middle school and take them all home. But it was to late for that now, so I just drove David over to Kyle's and went home. We had a snack and Melanie wanted to hold Michelle again.

 

That evening we had an early dinner and then Aaron headed over to the game. I came with the kids as soon as we were ready. I knew it was a big game and the last regular season home game (senior night), but I had no idea the parking lot would be so full. I drove around a few time before I found a spot our huge vehicle would fit! Once we were parked, we quickly gathered everything and made our way to the entrance. It was a full crowd, and I soon realized it was because the basketball skills team was performing at halftime. It's a fun tradition! They do some pretty cool things!

  We know several of the 5th graders from church - Brandon, Dallin, Hailey, Mariah to name a few.

 As usual Michelle did great and let Carol hold her

She loves sucking on her fingers

Both games were great. Frustrating at times, but both teams pulled out wins. With all of the senior celebrations and lots of lots of fouls etc. The games ran long and we didn't get to leave until about 9:30. Aaron brought David home and the rest of us went in the Yukon.