This and That from February

This is James's ninja turtle costume.

My phone's screen is kept locked so the only thing the kids can do with it is take pictures. Sometimes I find these gems.

While Justin was hunting down a homeless rabbit in our backyard, Erica coped with the situation by drawing a picture of the rabbit that has hopped around the neigborhood for months. She wanted to name it Hoppy but I told her I already named it Poopsie because of the several hundred rabbit poops in our backyard. (The rabbit is now dead and we can use our yard again.)

Nothing says be my Valentine like a bat brownie.

 

James and I visited Justin at work a few weeks ago. They have a 3D printer and Justin has a toy excavator in his office so James thinks it's pretty much the coolest place ever.

I lost a measuring cup from one of my measuring cup sets. I looked everywhere (all my dry good bins, in the toy kitchen) and even asked my neighbor if my kids used it to dig in their yard (which isn't an unlikely occurrence). We concluded that it got thrown away somehow. I was really upset about it because 1. I liked that set, 2. I can't buy it online anywhere and 3. I don't want to spend money on a new measuring cup set. It took me like a month to finally break down and buy new ones (And I really like them) but I still held onto the remaining cups of this set out of hope or denial. 

And then I found it last week. I pulled out a bag of dried milk that I keep in the freezer and there it was. It's been there since that FHE when we made peanut butter playdough (November maybe?). Pretty sure I was the one to zip up this large resealable bag and stick it in the freezer. Funny part is, I misread the recipe and didn't even need dried milk this day so who knows how long it would have taken me to find it.

The kids could make a Valentine box for school if they wanted to and they wanted to. James didn't want to be left out so he made a monster box.

Erica chose a unicorn (thank you pinterest)

Henry's is an Among Us guy.

And Sarah's is a toaster. A Cuisinheart toaster. (See what we did there?)

She won second place in her class's contest. I saw the first place box that was a vending machine. It deserved to win.

Sarah asked me if I ever had Valentine box contests in elementary school. I told her, yes every year, but now that I think about it, I think it was just me that always made my boxes like it was a competition!

Note to self and warning to others: don't buy the Tootsie Pop Valentine kit. The hearts do not punch out without scissors and/or cursing.

We had to improvise our own little tags with stickers that I had on hand

I actually think they turned out cuter and Erica and her friend Madison liked working on them. Henry is at the end of the table complaining why he has to do this dumb Valentine stuff.

James got a little obsessed with cutting out hearts and made one for everyone he knows. I'd fold the paper and draw the line for him to follow.

This is for his cousin Jaana. It's his best one.

Friday we went to the school to see the 5th and 6th grade science fair. I snapped this picture of Sarah's student council picture.

I thought the science fair would be boring since it's just posters---no malfunctioning volcanoes like on television. But it was actually pretty interesting. The kids were so creative and genuine. I liked it and wished I had time to talk to each of the kids but I only stopped at 10 or so.

Here's Sarah's project. She was among 9 sixth graders that won 1st place. (Still not sure how that works.)

A car carrier trailer (I had to google what it's called) pulled up in front of our house Saturday morning. We called the kids up to take a look as it's not something that we've ever seen on our street.

After a year long hiatus, Justin and I went out to dinner with our good friends and neighbors AmyJo and Brock Jones. We introduced them to a taco place in Provo, they introduced us to Brooker's ice cream in Provo and it was the best ice cream I've ever had. The theme of the place is colonial America so they  have clever names like Alexander Hamilton's Not Gonna Throw Away My Scoop and Patrick Henry's Give Me Chocolate or Give Me Death. This is Aaron Burr's Murderous Shot (Black Madagascar vanilla). 

And that takes us to Valentine's Day. We celebrated with a fancy dinner at home. Justin made the most authentic enchiladas, refried beans, and jalapeno poppers. He even bought Mexican sodas to make the dinner extra fun. I gave each of the kids a bag of Valentine candy and we had a dance party in the living room after we ate. Oh! And chocolate mousse pie for dessert.

The kids opened their Valentines from my sister-in-law Lisa. She has the snowcone shacks and she sends all her nieces and nephews Valentines every year. She's making it nearly impossible to compete with for Favorite Aunt award.

And that's that.

Erica Turns 7

Erica turned 7 on Friday. We started the morning off with pancakes, eggs, sausage and bacon. While Justin was cooking, Erica opened her presents. I took mostly video at this time. She got the 5th Dory Fantasmagory book, an activity book, lots of food and a pair of pink rollerblades.

While the kids were at school I worked on the frosting for her cake and baked the cookies. She has been talking for months that she wanted a giant cookie cake and I was all prepared to bake her a few giant chocolate chip cookies to stack with frosting. But a few weeks before she decided she wanted a few stacks of regular sized cookies. I had everything ready for her when she got home so that we could do the assembling together. This is what she came up with.

I think the candles she picked out really made it super cute. It looks like something from Dr. Seuss. 

No sooner had we finished up than her friends arrived for her party. This is Finley. She and Erica were in the same preschool and kindergarten class but the school boundaries changed in the summer and Finley got moved to Park. There were a lot of tears from both of them about that. So whenever we can get them together, it's a big deal.

First activity--wand making. I previously made wands with white cardboard and chopsticks. The girls put on jewels and tied them with ribbon.

Then they went downstairs to the "ballroom" and played keepie uppie with 60 balloons while dancing to music. At this point I left them to go prepare for the tea party and things got really loud which I think is a good sign.

For the tea party they ate grapes, carrots and ranch, cheetos and princess punch and pink sugar cookies for a treat.

Then it was presents time.

I took a picture of each of her friends but not with what they gave her. Lots of glitter, lots of animals, lots of cutsie girlie stuff.

(Back) Sadie, Marlie, June, Madison, Bell (front) Maddie, Finley, Erica, Mary

Sarah led them on a treasure hunt to a bouquet of chocolate roses. It was 4:37 at that point--they had blown through all those activities much faster than I planned. We don't throw a ton of birthday parties but that's never happened before! Sarah and I thought quickly and led them through games of musical chairs, statues, and the thimble game. I have to say I was a little relieved to see the first parents show up.

Once all the girls had gone, we loaded in the car and went to Beto's for dinner. Justin and I haven't been to Beto's since high school and we've never been together so it's been years. It's not a place we, as adults, consider good food. But we have this kid, Erica, who loves nachos and I remembered getting super nachos at Beto's as a teen and thinking they were the best thing ever, or at least impressively large. When I told Erica what supernachos had on them, she was all about it and chose it for her birthday. 

They weren't as good as I remember (is anything ever?) but she was in chip heaven. We may need to find a better place for supernachos because I think she'll want them again.

Then we went back home for birthday cake cookies.

Corey and Nadine gave her this motorcycle jacket and boots that Erica is obsessed with. "Now all I need is a motorcycle"

Here are a few things about Erica at 7. 

She just recently started reading chapter books independently. It's like something just clicked. It went from her requesting "will you read a page, and I'll read a page?" to me catching her reading an hour past bedtime. Iet h had to go back to the library just to ger more books. Her favorite books are the Dory Fantasmagory series (I think they are hilarious too) and The Princess in Black.

She wakes up last and plays the most with friends so she watches the least amount of TV. If she ever does get to actually choose what's on, she chooses Anastasia.

She still is my nicest kid. She picks up on the subtlest hint of a need and she hops up and helps. It's pretty amazing. Be like Erica.

She wants to take piano lessons and is on the waiting list with Sarah's teacher. In the meantime I've been teaching her little songs I remember learning as a kid (think chopsticks and that one you play by rocking your knuckles across the black keys). Sarah has been teaching her actual piano skills.

(I'm sad the following picture is blurry. We were walking and laughing at the end of our photo shoot and that's why it's blurry and her most natural smile. Sigh.)

She's still pretty sneaky when it comes to getting into Sarah's candy stash. James does it more but he learned it from her.

She has lost one tooth and the other one is loose too. Her friends at her party all seemed so much older because she's lost the least amount of teeth and has no grown-up teeth.

She wants to be a veterinarian when she grows up. She has the compassion to do that or anything in medicine but she also has a super sensitive gag reflex so we'll see how that pans out.

She can be surprisingly super goofy. Most of the time she's just pleasant. There's a strong grumpy streak in her, especially in the morning or if she's kept up too late. But sometimes she is so obnoxiously goofy. It's usually when she and Henry play house with their stuffed animals or if they just get giggling about random stuff. I've had to separate them to get her to knock it off. 

When she was a baby, I never got tired of her. You know how when your baby wakes up from a nap and there's this feeling of wishing the baby would sleep just a little bit longer? I never felt that with her. She was so content and pleasant and fun that I was fine about it when she woke up.

 I still feel that way about her. I like having her around.

Random Story Saturday: Birds

One day when I was 8 years old I was home sick from school. I was laying on the couch watching TV, (good odds it was The Price is Right or inappropriate-for-my-age Days of Our Lives). Suddenly a loud crash behind me startled me and I shot to my feet to see what was wrong. I saw glass all over the floor behind the couch. I thought it was the dining room chandelier from the next room that had fallen and shattered into the room. Then I saw a bird lying in the midst of the glass. "It's a bird!" I yelled to my mom who had come in. Then we saw the hole in the living room window. The bird was a pheasant and it was scared by some men working near its tree. The bird took off and beelined right for our large living room window. We found all this out when the worker came to our door to check if we were all right. The bird died. I had a great story for my classmates.

Later that same year I was driving home from a fishing trip with my aunt and uncle. We were in my uncle's truck in Thistle canyon and it was dark. Suddenly a loud thwack hit the side window next to my seat. My uncle stopped the truck on the side of the road to see what had hit the truck. We saw the outline of a wingspan in the dust on the window. We did not find the bird. I had a great story to tell my family.

Fast forward a few years. My parents have a wood-burning stove in the family room. We've never really used it because it doesn't ventilate properly but the chimney or stove-pipe thing was clear enough for a bird to come down and was stuck inside the stove. I didn't know it was a bird until I opened the door. It flew right out into the room. It took a long time to get that bird out of the house.

When I was 13 we were bird-sitting my sister's parakeet while she was on her honeymoon. I was also babysitting my little nephew. He opened the door to the birdcage and the bird flew out. As it flew across the room our dog Buddy barked at the bird. It dropped midflight and landed on the carpet. Dead. I did not look forward to explaining how that happened.    

My parents have a lot of trees in their yard and  I seemed to be the one to find the dead birds on the lawn. Why was our yard the place for birds to come to die?

Add in a few viewings of Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds and you can better believe I do not like birds. For a while there I was certain that there was something strange about me and birds. I have no cat stories, no dog stories. I only have bird stories. 

Januweary

To put it simply, there's not a whole lot going on around here. Justin has been working long days to finish up the report on Barney's mine by the end of the month. He has been working on this project for years and the end is in sight. I think he will feel satisfied when it is complete but since it's been a part of his life longer than two of his children, I can't help but wonder if there will be a little adjustment period when he moves onto new projects at work. We'll see.

I have been going through every box and drawer and tote in the house to find stuff to get rid of. While this is not unusual (you may argue it has become a past time of mine) I am finding less and less stuff to get rid of which is a little disappointing. But it is a good sign. It means we are almost down to only having what we love or use. And I can tell you exactly what is in every drawer in the kitchen, every tote in the storage room, every box under my bed. It's nice not to have more stuff than my brain can manage. I have also been deep-cleaning my house and seriously curtailing my screen usage. It feels good.

Sarah has been hard at work being a super student, super baby-sitter, super piano player. She doesn't do anything half-heartedly (except for her chores) and it's one of her greatest personality traits. She turned in her paper for middle school next year where she got to request which electives she'd like to take (orchestra and dance). She is so excited to leave elementary school but I don't know if I'm ready. She and I are definitely not ready for 8 am start time. She is hard at work learning some primary songs to play at Henry's friend's baptism and putting together her science project on the senses of smell and taste.

Henry is about half-way through his basketball season. He has practice on Wednesdays and games on Saturdays. He loves it. He is always ready to go early. Once we get to the gym, he is so chatty! He greets all his teammates, teases them a little, comments on their shots and dribbling as they warm up. It's hilarious. He is also super pumped about the Superbowl with his beloved Tom Brady. He is the first kid ready for school and kindly puts all the bikes and scooters in the car for him and his sisters to ride home. 

Erica can only think and talk about her upcoming birthday. Okay, not really, but it's close. Every day she has new ideas about her party and cake. She finally gets to have a big friend birthday party (We only do them at 7, 10, 13, and 16). Wait until you see what she has come up with for her birthday cake. I can definitely say I've never made anything like it. She has been having some drama with her neighborhood friends. It seems like every day she comes in because somebody said something or did something rude. She can be overly sensitive at times and I know how these things blow over as quickly as they start. I stay out of it and instead give her ideas of how she can stick up for herself and others and teach people how to treat her. This is such a girl thing.

James wants to be a ninja when he grows up. He trains by watching Kung Fu Panda and Ninjago and pretend (or not so pretend) fighting anyone in the house that will put up with his antics. He wants to take karate. I am mean and won't sign him up.  Maybe I'll sign him up for tumbling and he won't know the difference. He knows just about all the letters, he knows all the numbers and can do simple addition and touch counting. We are working on his pronunciation of L and TH. He substitutes 'w' and 'f' respectively. 

And we play a lot of checkers. If he's not roundhouse kicking a tower of paper towels, he is playing checkers. The first few days I taught him the moves and rules and then when I got bored I sacrificed my pieces one by one until he won. Last time we played I lost but I wasn't trying to lose! Sure I had to clue him in on all the mistakes he was about to make but every piece of mine I lost, I wasn't trying to lose. I'm a below-average checkers player so take this for what it's worth--either he is quickly getting good or I am really really bad.

Some days he wears this for the better part of an afternoon. He is sad when we have to go in the car because I tell him he can't wear it and be safely buckled. He doesn't care too much about football. I think he just likes to look big and tough.

My parents are in Hurricane for the winter. I drove past their house and saw this on the lawn and had to turn around and investigate. Dead raccoon? 

Nope, just some packing paper. My sister had the same thought when she drove by.

At parent teacher conferences I saw Henry's artwork in the hall outside his classroom. I agree--he is one smart cookie. His teacher says he LOOOVES math. I knew that but it was funny to hear his teacher be so emphatic about it.

We made homemade ginger ale. I liked it but I wanted to be blown away by the delicioiusness after all the work it took to make it (peel and boil and strain a pound of ginger, boil with sugar to make a simple syrup, mix with club soda).

It was better the next day. But I think homemade lemonade is easier and even more refreshing. I may try another recipe someday.

Ugh, I can barely look at this picture. Is this not the most depressing sight ever? Goodbye mountain view. I have been really struggling seeing the fields behind our house turned into never-ending houses but I was sick all day when this one was framed. I just hate it. Luckily it's a one story so I can still see the top of the mountain but I still hate it and I will never go meet these people because there's no way I can be civil. (There are two fences and a railroad track between us and takes 7 minutes to drive there. It would actually be weird to introduce myself.)

Saturday Justin and I went to Makan Makan in Sandy. It's an Indonesian restaurant. I've never had Indonesian food and if there's anything that gets me excited, it's tasting new flavors. This place did not disappoint. Justin and I geeked out pretty good on every bite. 

When you have to take another bite because you feel like you missed out on one of the many flavors of your last bite, it's a good time.

Today at Reams James found a monster truck school bus. It's been awhile since I have seen something so ridiculous.

Scratch that--Friday Erica glued two pictures from her homework together and made this. I hate it. She thinks it's ugly too but she also gets such a kick out of it she won't throw it away.

So that's where things are during the second-longest month of the year (July feels longer). Good thing we didn't buy the kids sleds for Christmas because there have been no opportunities to use them. James asked when it was going to be winter. I told him it was winter and he replied, "No, real winter." I don't know, bud. 

Movie Stuff

After school a few weeks ago Henry asked me if I ever checked my email. Why do you ask? "Because I emailed you today but you didn't write back," he replied nonchalantly. I explained that I check my email in the morning but usually not again until later unless I'm expecting something.  Later that evening I checked my email. This is what I found from Henry. (Keep your eye on the timestamp.)

Fri 12/18/2020 9:28 AM

To: You

Hi mom, this is Henry, we are having a movie in my class and we were allowed to bring pillows, blankets, and stuffed animals, but I forgot my stuff.

Can you bring all 4 of my puppies, Muhu, Patriots blanket, and Dumbo by 12:35?

XOXOXOXOXOXO

From Henry

---

Fri 12/18/2020 9:30 AM

To: You

make it 12:30

---

Fri 12/18/2020 9:31 AM

To: You

And my squishmollow

---

Fri 12/18/2020 9:36 AM

To: You

PleasePleasePleasePleasePlease!?!?!?!?!?

---

Fri 12/18/2020 9:36 AM

To: You

Mrs.Luke gave me your Email.

---

Fri 12/18/2020 9:48 AM

To: You

Hello?......

---

Fri 12/18/2020 9:52 AM

To: You

Mom???????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

---

Fri 12/18/2020 9:58 AM

To: You

Hi mom, we are having a movie today at about 12:30 and I forgot the stuff I was going to bring. Can u bring Muhu, my Patriots blanket, all 4 of my puppies, and my squishmollow? Pease!?!?

XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO

---

Fri 12/18/2020 10:03 AM

To: You

And Dumbo. Please?

---

Fri 12/18/2020 10:38 AM

To: You

Oh, and Dumbo. Please?

---

Fri 12/18/2020 12:30 PM

To: You

Mom it's Henry, we are having a movie and we were aloud to bring blankets, pillows, and stuffed animals but, I forgot the stuff that I was going to bring so can you bring me something by 12:30-135

---

After I read these emails I felt really bad that I didn't take him his stuff. But he didn't seem to care as much after school as he did in his messages. That kid....