This week

Our last sick kid got better this week.  I enjoyed the kind cuddles instead of the 4 year old bounces for a while, but I'm glad he's back to himself.

Evelyn was Noble Knight at school!  Good job!

Thanks Mindy for the marvelous fry bread!  My cousin was doing a fundraiser for band tour.  Yummiest fundraiser.

Ada had a yeast infection and I didn't make her go to school so we called up Aunt Nellie to see if she was working and took her out to lunch.  I caught Ada patting Seth on the head.  I love seeing them love each other, then I hate it when they bug each other.... oh the learning curve.

We took Ada to the Dinosaur Museum instead.

I finished the blanket I made for Thea while we were stuck in the house.  

One of Janelle's days off, we went to IKEA to pick up some hangers and little stuff.  Seth and Vivien loved bouncing on the couches.  Sharon is so close to having her baby, I'm so excited to meet her new one.  

Friday is early out day at school.  A neighbor had some baptisms for the temple, so Sam watched the kids and I took Ada to the temple.  It was fun to run into my Great-Aunt and Uncle... Linda and Doug Harding.  He just finished radiation, so he's not as bouncy and chipper as usual, but they were there serving and are perfect to give hugs.  Ada remembers them from meeting them a couple of times, but I tried to put them into a timeline for her.... The grandma that Ada is named after is Doug's sister.  So it's like Ada and Seth.

On Saturday we got to go to Isaiah and Michelle's baptism.  They're in the middle to moving to Virginia, but we were so lucky to be able to see them before they leave.  Sophie left to start her job training with Amazon and McKay will take kids out there this next week.  His job is just going to transfer him, so that's a good thing.  They have two offices within and hour of where Sophie will work, so they are going to try to find a place somewhere between that.  Congrats on the baptism you two!

With our tax return we bought a table that's big enough for our aging family and can host people when we have them over.  I really want to repaint the kitchen a light yellow color.  I think it would look really pretty with this table.

Sunday we got to see our Robertson grandparents for the first time in 3 weeks.  Grandpa was making cookies and Sam and Ada jumped right in.  It was fun to watch and listen to.

We had a teacher prep day off.  I told the kids that I would take them skating because they had all earned free passes at school.  Laurel and Ian came with us. (Laurel had a pass and we missed Ian's birthday because we were sick.) I figured that 6 older kids wouldn't be a problem.  They weren't.  I did end up watching my friends' 2 kids while she went to class. (She's a single mom in college with two kids.  One is high functioning autistic that I've helped out with before.)  She brought them and they were great the entire time, until I told them that it was time to go because their mom was at the entrance waiting for them.  Then her autistic son (I think he's 12ish) decided that he would hide in the laser tag area.  I had them turn it off and pull everyone out, I also had Ada take my keys and get the rest of them in the van while I got him.  I asked his sister if she knew how to get him out, she went in and came out bawling along with a worker holding a baseboard.  He decided to pull the laser tag area apart and hit people with it.  I ran in, took away the other piece that he'd peeled off the wall and grabbed him in a bear hug.  He screamed, "I hate you and I wish you were dead." the entire time that I was trying to drag him to the front doors.  I got him about half way when he decided to lay on the floor and not move, then I dragged him the rest of the way.  His mom took him from there.  She said that he ended up in the crisis center for the afternoon.  She says that he's been having more meltdowns lately... maybe he's growing and needs to adjust his meds.  I don't know.  He called a couple hours later to talk.  He never apologized for his behavior, but he did talk about how he felt and then chatted with me for an hour about dinosaurs, legos and submarines.  I hope that was able to smooth out hurt feelings on his end.  

We were late for taking kids home so I could teach my fencing class, so I took all 6 with me instead of just 2.  It was actually really fun to have everyone... I had my 6, my 2 regulars and 3 more visitors.  (The 3 visiting were Elliot and Susan's kids.  Man they're adorable.  Susan brought their 3 year old daughter, Ashley, with them.  Ada was telling me how cute she is.  I told her that it's her 2nd cousin and she squeals, "I'm related to a princess!")  It was fun to see the two older boys again.  They've all been in my class before.

I found these online.... I really need to try to make them for Ada.  She would be in heaven.

Jer came home from meetings on Sunday and was absolutely exhausted, so he told everyone to go read in bed... and they all went and fell asleep instead.  It was pretty funny.

Here are McKay with Michelle and Isaiah.

Sick weeks

We picked up the Influenza A virus from.... everywhere.  The bishop had it, the carpooling family had it, kids at school had it, people at church have it, my ministering companion had it (and I've been spending a lot of time with her... foot surgery, trying to carry a baby down her stairs, picking up kids from school and my Laurel that is her daughter has been in and out of the mental hospital for a couple weeks), and I even saw people at the grocery store with it.  So Ada caught it, and so far we've all had it except Jer.  He's taken good care of us though, making meals and doing laundry.  He let me sleep in all week and got kids up and going for school.  We're mostly better now.  A little bit of coughing and Sam still has a little bit of a fever.  (The way he describes body aches is hilarious!  "Dad! My legs feel like they are potato wedges!" What does that mean?  And we don't eat potato wedges at home, do they eat them at school?)

In the last two weeks we've had Ada and Sam receive the Noble Knight award at school. (Student of the week). We had a low key and family time Valentines Day (lots of legos).  We finished our taxes and most of my parents taxes.  We got word that my brother McKay and his family will be moving out East.  And I've been cuddling everyone under the sun.

Ada's Noble Knight

These are Evelyn's 8 is great program.

Ada wanted to make a dragonhead Valentine's Day box... so we did.  Ada did about a third of it, I did about a third of the conceptualizing part and then Ada got really sick and Dad painted it for her.  She was still sick on Valentine's, so Sam dropped it off in class for her and picked it up after.  She got the class award for best box.  She was pretty happy about that but felt bad that she didn't do the whole thing herself.  Baby steps.

Dad bought flowers and balloons for us for Valentine's from our sweet niece Emma.  She's been a florist for years now, and has her own side business here in Utah called Hummingbird Floral.

This is when I knew Seth was sick for sure... he didn't just climb on me, he buried himself and fell asleep.

Lego space ships!  Dad rebuilt our Benny's spaceship and the kids loved it.

We had stirfry for dinner.  Seth insisted that you don't just eat the baby corn, you eat them like they were corn on the cob.  And he did... with every last bit of it.

I asked Evelyn to put down  her strawberry for the picture.... Yeah, she didn't.

Evelyn's sayings

So Sam and Ada had saved and used their money to buy books at the book fair.  Evelyn felt left out and asked if she could borrow $10 for a book.  I told her that she already owed me money from the last year when she bought a book and didn't do chores to pay me back.  She told me, "I don't mind owing you money."  I just had to roll my eyes.  I've made her do two money chores since then because I do mind that she owes money from that long ago.

Evelyn is turning 8 this year and our ward has 14 kids getting baptized this year.  It's a little weird, we had no kids in the neighborhood and now we've had so many new families in that our Primary and Youth groups are large.  They're not as big as Saratoga Springs where they have multiple primaries, but we definitely have kids around us.  I told Evelyn that we were going to the 8 is great program at the church to plan and get ready for her baptism.  She looked at me and said, "Planning is so boring!"  When we actually got there and she saw all the kids around her she ran in, hugged Mia and yelled, "Yay!  You're here too!"  Then she spent the next hour bouncing up and down with her hand in the air.  She wanted to answer every question and Jer and I were pleasantly surprised by how much she was not only able to remember but to process to make it personal for her.

Exciting progress

This sweet family is pretty much official.  The court ruled that the kids parents were unfit and that McKay and Sophie will be allowed to officially adopted the kids that they've raised on and off for the last 9 years (full time for the last year).  All that they're missing is the last court date to sign papers.  It's been a hard last year, but they're pulling through and they're doing marvelously.  They have been so good for those kids, you can see them bloom. They are also taking steps for the missionaries to teach them and arrange for their baptism.  I'm so excited as they continue to grow and progress.  Sophie has also acted as the mom/big sister to her sister's oldest daughter since she was born.  I'm glad that she can rely on Sophie and McKay.

Happy two weeks #10

I have a sweet new nephew too.  He's Robertson grandchild #47 (the 29th Robertson grandson), my 51st niece/nephew, and such a cute dimpled baby.  His name is Gideon and I hope he brings joy wherever he goes!  (He looks like he will... that face is so sweet.)  Congrats John and Diane. 

Happy two weeks #9

We had the first free Saturday that we've had since before Christmas... We decided to go to the zoo in the snow while Jeremy represented our family at the Pro-Life march. We explained what it was to the kids, and why we support that cause, but Sam especially has a very gentle heart and wouldn't be able to face actually going to the march quite yet.  I personally am mentally exhausted and need just a political and debate free head for a few weeks. Jer has some neat experiences that he told us after and me in more depth after kids went to bed.  One of them is that there was a kid marching next to him that was supposed to have been aborted.  It's heartbreaking.

 While certain animals are hiding inside, some of them love it.  Evelyn loved the snow leopard and the otter was sure having fun in the cold.  

The lions found the only non snowy patches and were soaking in as much sun as they could.

Progression of a yawn.

I actually really liked watching the armadillos collect the hay and stuff their house.

We were talking to one of the workers about theses guys... She called out the turtle/tortoise expert and he told us all about Isma and Kronk.  That was pretty cool.

I also thought it was pretty funny that they gave the wolf a bunch of cardboard boxes to chew up and shred.  That's what all the dogs I've ever owned have done.

We were there at feeding time for the red pandas.

And I still love that they let their peacocks roam free.  It makes it a little more interactive.