A Welcome to Spring

We are welcoming Spring in Cincinnati. Brisk air in the morning that smells green and growing (or maybe I just smell fertilizer), we all want to be outside every moment. Of course, Spring is also so unpredictable, we have had rain showers followed by summer-like sun, and are expecting snowflakes this afternoon! The kids are enjoying it immensely. The bikes came out of the trailer; the coats went in the closet. Sweatshirts are about the only thing I can get them to wear, even when it's closer to freezing in the mornings.

Here are a few things we've been doing these first couple weeks of Spring:



James enjoys doing his homework in the tree. The boys spend every minute possible climbing this tree since it's slated to come down anytime now by the electric company. This tree and about five others are getting too close to the 50 foot clearance from the power lines. They would have been climbing it all year had we realized it was on our property the whole time. James says the height gives him a greater clarity of thought. --OK, he didn't really say that, but he always looks very Thoreau-esk when he's up there.

"More bars in more places"
or, perhaps as our neighbors would say with regard to tree-climbing, "More kids in more places,"

Sewing lesson #1. Maggie wanted to learn how to sew, so we have scheduled a lesson for every Thursday after school. We are making a dress for Amy's birthday (despite Brian's better suggestion of making ditty bags for Scot to take backpacking--but how fun is that?). Honestly, I was very surprised at her interest in all the details of dress-making. I expected her just to want to use the sewing machine, but she listened attentively to me describe pattern markings, and how to place the pattern. Who knew?? And, I forgot how fun it is to sew! I'm hoping all the older kids will choose a project that we can do one-on-one this summer.

Garden supplies: take two.
Our 2nd round of soil for the garden boxes. We now have them all filled up, and we were so excited to see the peas & broccoli have already sprouted up in the first box.

Amy helping decorate for Easter. Can you just see plastic grass all over the house? Actually that's not fair, there have only been wooden eggs placed all over, which they hunt for every hour & then hide again.



Art's Night at Summit Elementary. Scot performed with the 5th/6th Grade Chorus. I really liked Take Me Out to the Ball Game (in honor of the Red's opening day on Monday), but Scot's favorite was Angels Watchin', a spiritual. They did a great job on all the songs.
jJames' contribution to Art's Night was his Kenyan necklace. He molded a vulture for the center totem. Art's Night is an evening dedicated to the different arts taught at the school. From displayed projects & poetry reading to chorus performances, I was really impressed with the whole evening. They had samplings from different students representing all the art projects they had done thus far in the year. Very cool.



Paul's obession with balls. Even the watermelon is not safe.

A few other events, each of which has it's own worthy story, but will have to suffice with one sentence for now:
Paul perfected the "mine" from the seagulls in Finding Nemo. I went through Cub Scout training. We attended Cami Winn's baptism. The girl's went to a birthday party next door. And finally, we are enjoying General Conference this weekend & eating our 72-hour kit (mmm...Spam with mac & cheese).

Blue & Gold Banquet

This past month we've been getting reading for the Cub Scout Blue & Gold Banquet which was held last night. It was quite the prehistoric sight--the cultural hall was all decked out in dinosaurs (most of which were lent by us) and paper mache eggs the cubs made & painted. James has been working hard & received two beads for his recognition patch. The dinner was pulled pork sandwiches & sides. All the boys made and decorated a prehistoric cake. The kids got to play a guessing dino game trying to figure out who's dinosaur was who's. Everyone had a great time, except Scot who was feeling lousy but didn't want to miss out.

James was very generous in letting Maggie help paint his paper mache dino eggs. He went for the realistic, blend-into-the-mud-nest coloring. Nice.




The bear den performed a nice skit demonstrating different types of dinosaurs. James tried to show that not all dinosaurs went tromping & roaring around. Apparently some of them had very serious number-crunching jobs as well.



James receiving his beads. Give him a big dino roar yell!





A sampling of the prehistoric cakes, including lots of volcanoes. My favority, of course, was James' light-purple "Stegasaurus Steve." Delicious. Of noted interest was the fossil layer trifle dessert--very clever.


Next month is the Pinewood Derby. Get your engines running...

A Day in the Life of 3 year old Amy

I've been planning to create this post for a long time--pretty much since she turned 3--and now that her 4th birthday is quickly approaching I thought I should get going. Amy is a true delight in our home: happy, helpful, giggly. Hopefully that will not dissipate, but since four does rhyme with chore, she'll be expected to pull more of her weight after her birthday (not that she's got much to pull). I have no doubt that she will always be joyful and quick to cheer. Soft and comforting, she's much like her well loved blanket--the most obvious similarity is that neither take enough baths.

Here are some fun Amy-isms that I've collected this last year:

"I'm medium!"--big girls do Maggie-type things and small girls are, well...,babies; medium girls can do lots of things by themselves, but are not pressured to be completely grown-up

"never my mind" -- translated 'never mind'

"there's a tomato in the bathtub"--looking at the water draining like a tornado vortex in the tub

Cheetah--what Amy will name her first baby girl, or, in her words, "the first baby that comes out of my tummy that is a girl"; also the name she gives any baby doll she plays with

"du-du uh-du!"--self fanfare after putting folded hands together for family prayer, her eyes closed so tight that her eyelashes have disappeared



What is her day like? Here's a little taste:

7:30 wake up smiling, run to the bathroom, "I want to wear a dress"
8:00 breakfast--favorites include...everything
8:40 walk to the bus stop with the kids--wave to the bus, then race it back home
Before & after waiting for Maggie & boys to get home: play with Paul, work with mom, watch cartoons or a movie, run errands, play on the computer, go the park, cry at least twice until she has the comfort of her "colorful blanket," run from the neighbor kids
6:00 eat dinner...lick the plate clean...be the only one to clear it from the table to the dishwasher
6:30 take a bath with Paul and Maggie--be a mermaid, hate to get her hair washed
7:00 read stories like Curious George and Cinderella, crawl under her blanket
8:30 still awake playing in her bed

Biggest accomplishments this year include bathroom skills, saying prayers by herself ("loud and clear" not whispered seconds), being able to play by herself (although she'd much rather play with her "best friends" Abbie Ritzman (Ohio) and Katie Hunter (Colorado)), and sleeping in a real bunk bed instead of on the floor (perhaps that is showing more what mom & dad have accomplished this year!).

And finally, a video taken at Scot's birthday party. True essence of Amy:) FYI, Paul is the only one that doesn't grow up at the end of the story. Don't you just want to hug, then tickle her?

Beginning Band Concert

Tuesday we all got to see Scot perform in his first band concert. In our district, each school's 4th grade orchestras and 5th grade bands have been practicing the same songs for a few months to perform in one huge concert. They filled up the gym & looked so classy in their white shirts & black pants/skirts. Paul kept the beat for the orchestra by kicking his feet on the bleachers (he lost shoe privileges after running back & forth--not exactly concert etiquette). "We Will Rock You" was one of their numbers. The band played 5 different songs including "Prehistoric Suite" and "Alpha Squadron."

5th grade band waiting for the orchestra to play. (Scot is sitting middle, 2nd row from top)















Scot performing one of their fabulous numbers. (Again, middle & 2nd row from top).

Week in Review with Photos

I welcome you to join me in a few photos that represent this week:

Here is Scot in his new scout uniform, holding the arrow his cubmaster made when he earned his Arrow of Light. Brian is the 11 year old leader in our ward. They have been having fun together along with the other 2 scouts in the patrol. This week's highlight occurred after scouts: the boys got their "good turn" in when they helped a guy who ran out of gas. BTW, nice new glasses, Scot! James escaped getting glasses yet another year; Maggie is begging for an exam. When I was her age there was nothing I wanted more than glasses & braces. What could I have been thinking!?!





Do you think Paul needs a hair cut? This has been on our list for about 2 months now & we finally broke down and did it.















Paul was so excited to sit on the barstool (yes, that gut is the real thing), feeling very grown-up & special until...


















..he realized what was going on! Despite the initial tears he sat very still & let me hold his head so Brian could trim. He deserves a medal, or at least a huge bowl of Cheerios (which he would definitely prefer), for being so good. Scot and James never sat like that--which can be proven by all the lousy haircuts they've received over the years.

End result: thumbs up!













Our final photo stop is in the garage. We are really excited about having a garden (and actually growing plants, not just the trying to grow part).

We've decided to have a few boxes dedicated to the square-foot gardening approach. We made three 4x4 boxes & one 2x2 deep box. Sometime in the next week we'll start some seeds inside since it's too early to plant outside still. The kids have picked their veggies & are planning their areas.












That's all the pictures I have, but some other things that have happened since the beginning of March are...

• going to the weekly playgroup at the church gym (I shoot hoops while the kids play)
• getting a stellar report from Maggie's kindergarten teacher (Maggie is now reading at a 2nd grade, 10 mo. level)
• visiting teaching & delivering a dinner--always a joy:)
• receiving a tortilla via frisbee pass at dinner from Brian & refusing to accept a similar pass from James (in my defense I asked him to pass the taco meat)
• watching Paul laugh at his own jokes (sorry all you dead-pan artists, Paul will need some serious training)
• finishing the Harry Potter series & then checking out the movies from the library (actually just #4 and #5)--now that I've dissected & analyzed every part of the story I might be able to move on with my life

Hope you all have a great week. Thanks for all the birthday wishes:)

Happy Birthday Mom!

Scot and James got up early to make breakfast for Sara. When I left for work, a Fried Egg and glass of OJ were waiting for her to come downstairs. I don't know if anything else was added.

Just as I was leaving though, the boys said 'Dad, something is wrong with the scrambled eggs'. They had decided that a real present would be if Sara not only had her own breakfast, but also, to quote them 'she didn't have to make any breakfast at all today'.

So, upon examination of a very very pale color in the frying pan, Scot and I had the following conversation:

Me- "How many eggs did you use?"
Scot- "5"
Me- "How much milk did you put it?"
Scot- "1 cup"

We turned up the heat and added two more eggs- and some salt and pepper. Things were starting to come together, so Scot commented "That was easy, I knew something wasn't right, I thought maybe they needed like a 1/4 cup of oil or something."

I love that my boys like to cook and especially that they love their mom. Sorry there will be no pictures for this one.

Indianapolis

We had a fun mini-weekend with the Winns and Christensens in Indianapolis. It's amazing how 3 crazy, couch-dancing BYU roommates have ended up living so close to each other. The kids had fun watching movies, playing wii, and swimming in the pool. The adults had fun watching kids, playing wii, and swimming in the pool. Ah...good times, good times:) We could not have ended February in a nicer way, with nicer friends.