"Who Killed Doc Robbins?"

Jamison was in the play "Who Killed Doc Robbins?" yesterday at school. His teacher divided the class into 4 groups and had a mother direct each play. I directed Jamison's group. We've been working on them for about 5 weeks now.

At the very first practice I had the kids all read the parts through, so we could see what the play was about, and I could get a feel for how their personalities would match the various parts. Jamison read the part of Lt. Guilford, the investigator of the murder, and he did an incredible job. Where everyone else was just mumbling and stumbling through, he was saying his with feeling and vigor--Jamison has quite a loud voice, if you hadn't noticed. Anyway, I was incredibly impressed with his hidden theatrical talents! Apparently others in our group were, too, because when we finished reading it through, Jamie's best friend and he both wanted to be Lt. Guilford--I'm sure because of the way Jamie had been reading it. When they picked numbers between 1 & 10, Taylor got the closest. So, he was Lt. Guilford, and Jamison ended up with the small part of Doc Robbins' dental partner, Dr. Lord.

It was a cute play, and the kids did a great job. I was proud of all of them, especially Jamison!

Happy Birthday, Sabra!

Sabra's 5th birthday was yesterday, Feb. 15. She had a great day. It was very busy:
9-10 am: watch Jamison's play at school
11-12 am: dance
12:30-2:30 pm: preschool
6:30 pm: cake & ice cream

Her favorite present was a new bike. She rode it all around the house--lucky we have hardwood floors! Finally today she was able to try riding it outside. It was a success: no scratches, on her or the bike.

Some interesting facts about Sabra:

1. She loves chocolate. She wanted a heart birthday cake, chocolate, with pink frosting.

2. She is very opinionated. Being the youngest hasn't slowed her down a bit in voicing her opinions to her older siblings.

3. She loves Barbies, Polly pockets, dress-up, and coloring, not necessarily in that order.

4. She loves taking baths, especially when she can get Barbies or other toys in the water with her.

5. She loves to shop. I should clarify that: she loves to shop when we're getting something for her. Grocery shopping is good, because she always thinks there's a treat coming. But watch out when there's no benefit for Sabra! (Did I mention that she's very opinionated?)

6. She loves green salad. She loves to try new dressings--she gets tired of Ranch. Her favorite right now is Italian.

7. She loves playing with her best friend, Hannah. It's going to be a sad day when we move 20 minutes away!

8. She has a great memory. She is very good about remembering where she last played with something.

9. She's a night owl. She sits in her bed, in the dark, and plays with her toys for awhile before going to sleep.

10. She loves her pink blankie.

Stake Conference

While my kids were staying with Grandpa & Grandma, they went to Stake Conference. This story was related to me by Mom & Dad.

It's the 150th anniversary of the Bountiful Tabernacle, so they actually held stake conf. there rather than at the regional center. Mom & Dad & the kids all got there nice & early so they could get good seats in the main chapel.

One of the high council members was speaking, and he started relating the history of Bountiful, how Peregrine Sessions and a few others settled in the area. The following summer, just when their new crops were starting to grow, suddenly the crickets arrived. The speaker said, "So do you think that Peregrine Sessions and the other settlers went back into their dugouts to let the crickets eat their crops?" Tristan, who had been busy coloring, said very loudly, "NO!"

I guess you never know when kids are actually listening!

Cancun Update

Cancun was great! But too short--we could've used one more day. Especially since we had rain every day except the last one! We stayed at the Iberostar Paraiso Beach--a great property. It's an all-inclusive resort, so all of our meals, drinks & activities there were included. We ate at a different restaurant every night, and they were excellent--except the Brazilian one. It wasn't as authentic as I'd hoped. The other two were fabulous!

One of the included things was a scuba lesson. Sean had taken a lesson with the scouts, and he's been eager for me to try it ever since. I am not a huge snorkeling fan, because the wave motion makes me sick, so I've been less than enthusiastic about the thoughts of scuba diving. I also tend to get a little claustrophobic sometimes--so scuba has never been something I've been thrilled about doing. However, we tried it, and I loved it! The instructor was absolutely fantastic--very good about making sure I was OK with each baby step before moving onto the next instruction. We scuba'ed around the pool, and it was awesome! One more day in Cancun would've made it so we could have gone out with him on a real excursion and seen some awesome coral reefs & fish. Oh, well, I guess it's always good to have something to look forward to. I'd highly recommend scuba to anyone!

Another fun thing we did was go to an eco-park called Xcaret. They call it an ecological Disneyland. There aren't rides, but it's a huge maze of some cool stuff. All kinds of exotic animals--from dolphins to jaguars, birds, sea turtles, and pretty much all the other wildlife indigenous to the area. One fun thing to do there is to float/swim/snorkel down a river that eventually joins the ocean. And to make it even more fun, most of the river is in underground caves. It was fun!

Mom & Dad watched our kids, and I think they had a crazy weekend, but everyone survived. (See Stake Conference post.)

Goin' to Cancun

Last fall at a travel trade show, I won a free 3-night trip for 2 at an all-inclusive resort in Cancun! So Sean & I are going, Saturday through Tuesday. This week has been early out all week, because of parent/teacher conferences. That totally messes up my schedule! And Sean's been getting some new equipment at work, which has kept him there long hours, so that we hardly see him. It's been a crazy week, and doesn't really feel like a great time to go. But if we can get out of town, and I can get everyone's laundry done in time, I think it'll be great once we get there.

Mom & Dad have agreed to keep the kids, so that's all taken care of. Thank goodness for parents, at times like these! :0)

Our new house is coming along--they finally have brick stacked around the house, so hopefully will start laying that soon. And on the inside, they're painting & laying tile. Maybe another month till we're moving again?!

Wheat & Stuff

Just a few minutes ago Sabra was helping me grind some of my new wheat so that I could make bread. Sabra was digging her hands into the wheat bucket and playing in it. When I said, "OK, it's time to put the wheat away," she responded,"Mom, I like playing in those beans of wheat!" (Her only frame of reference for wheat is the bucket of beans I have in storage.)

Last week Sabra got to be a mini-cheerleader for a BHS Braves basketball game. They did a dance & a cheer at halftime. (See accompanying picture.) All through the first half of the game, the little girls (about 150 of them) all sat on the bleachers in a group by the cheerleaders, with the families sitting up in the balcony section on the student side. The most entertaining part of the basketball game was Tristan. "Hey, did you see that? That guy just stole the ball! Yea! He's going to shoot. Look at him! Oh NO! He didn't make it! The other team took it away!" He kept up a continual running commentary, and was so excited about every basket and steal the Braves made.

Jamison & Tristan got to go ice fishing last Saturday with Sean. They also went with Sean's brother Joe & some cousins. The fishing wasn't real great--only 3 fish caught the entire morning--but Jamison was thrilled because he caught the first (and according to him, the biggest) fish. So it was a success, in his eyes.

Dinner Conversation

Here are some fun dinner conversation starters (from Family Fun March '07 magazine):

* How would you spend a million dollars?

* Can you do anything better than your parents? What is it?

* What season do you like best and why?

* If your family were to start a family business, what would it be?

* How did mom & dad meet & fall in love?

* What superpower would you want and why?