Family Visit

What a week!  We had family come to visit!  YAY!  Jerusha came out to visit Oriah, and Oriah being the great sharer that she is, drove down to bring the visit to us!  A competitive game of Ticket to Ride naturally broke out.

Rewinding back a bit, the kids built a fort one day, and Jelly got a little playful on the edges.  This is the claws out kind of playful... so you gotta be careful when you walk by.  But she looked cute.

Grayson continues to think that he doesn't need a nap, but actually really does. So he often gets really tired and just lays down with his blankie in random places. Like the front door mat!

Monica did some work out in the garden... er... side of the garage.  It's the current garden spot, but we're looking to expand.  Grayson came out and helped the whole time too.  I loved him running around with his gloves on.

Brooke had a volleyball game while everyone was here.  She did great, had a great time, and everyone loved watching.

Grayson and William had a good time hanging out at the game.  After the game we played some backyard volleyball and many other games.  All in all it was a very fun Saturday.

Jelly was very popular, and after a little bit of time she warmed up to everyone and enjoyed being pet and played with.

On Sunday we went to the first ward in our building so we could get out earlier to head to Louisiana for spring break.  During sacrament meeting they called up all the primary kids, and Brooke and Winry went up and joined everyone, and then even sang a song with them!  We just fit right in.

Fast forward a few hours and we're on our way in the car.  Everyone did well in the car, so that was great.  Winry enjoyed a nap along the way.  A little outside of Austin we drove by a place called Frebo Zoo which I guess has animal "pens" up by the road for people to look at while they drive by.  I looked them up online, and it's just those pens to view from the road, but pretty interesting to see.  There were zebras, bison, and some deer like animals I don't know the names of.

Grayson is pretty good in the car, even on a long drive.  He had some dinosaurs in his backpack that Monica packed and had a great time when we surprised him with those.

Along I 10 is the 3rd longest bridge in the US.  It is 20 miles long, and was along our route.  Grayson, the bridge lover, was very excited about it.  Personally, I'd say it's a little less exciting than other shorter bridges we went over.  My reasoning is that it's still got land/trees all around it, it runs through swamp land though.  So a lot of it is over water, but there are even places were it's over land that I'm guessing just isn't stable at all.  Anyway, still cool to go over such a huge bridge.

And that brings us to Louisiana.  Look forward to grand adventures in the next post!
 

Brooke Starts Volleyball

Volleyball star alert!  Here's Brooke at her very first volleyball game!  Her league is not really competitive, and they don't keep score or anything, but Brooke is having an amazing time learning to play, and it was lot of fun to watch her out there.  In the rotation everyone got to do a few serves, and also had a spot where a coach would toss the ball over to them to make sure they're getting practice at everything.

The girls are starting to get their dance outfits for the upcoming recital.  They're very excited, and we've even asked multiple times if some of them have come in.  I think this one is for hip hop.

Lately Grayson has wanted to sleep on his chair instead of his bed.  This is how I found him one night.  I also don't think he stays comfortable, because he'll usually end up moving to his bed at some point in the night.

Lizards are back!  Well, at least for a day or two.  We had a hot day in the 80's I think, and there was a lizard on our tree again. Yay!

Speaking of Grayson and sleeping, he's also decided to go back to a sleep sack.  He does technically fit in it, but he is way too big for it and doesn't have much space to wiggle around.  He can get his feet stuck in the corners though, and then it's easier to walk around.  Using a sleep sack does keep him off his chair as well, though he sometimes wakes up during the night, likely being uncomfortable.

Brooke and Grayson went to the library for a puppet show.  There's also a smaller stage always set up in the children's area of the library so Grayson and Brooke decided to do a show of their own!

On Leap Day, we celebrated at Jeramiah's, which was doing a big leap day celebration.  Treats were only 96  cents, and they had slap bracelets, and put gummy frogs on the top, and all kinds of things.  Putting 2 and 2 together, it would appear that they started in 1996, and their mascot is a frog, so they had a leap day throw back.  It was awesome!  Also, the employees were amazingly nice, which is double impressive when you think about how busy a day it probably was!

Cat bed, why buy one of those.  No, Jelly now prefers to sleep 5 feet away on my backpack!  Lately she's been sleeping there or on a pile of boxes.  I'm not sure why her bed lost favor, but she used to like it.

After Brooke's volleyball game on Saturday we went for a little walk over a bridge next to the rec center, and then the kids played on the playground for a little.  It was a very little, because no one was happy about the playground for some reason, but Winry did some climbing and had a good time.

On Saturday night we put together our new fire pit and roasted hot dogs!  We don't have a good place in the backyard, so we set up in the middle of the driveway.

Grayson was trying to be helpful, and at one point tried to grab the grate to go back on top of the fire.  It had been off for a while, but it was still very hot, and he burned his hand.  Poor little guy!  I felt so bad for him.  We ran his hand under water for a little, and then he brought a cup of water out with him so he could keep soaking his hand, but still be out with the fire and food.

You can see his pointer finger is a little blistered.  He had us put a band aid on that, and his middle finger.  I think the band aids were a good call, because if nothing else, I think they just made him use those fingers less.  I'm glad he only touched it for a second, and that the grate had been out of the fire for a bit, because I'm sure this could have been much worse.

On Sunday we had a special apple snack.  Monice got some green apples specifically so that we could use these shape cut outs that we had on them.  The kids super love having apples like this, so maybe we'll have to keep buying two colors.

And that's a wrap!  Have a great week.
 

Back to the Pool

Summer is back!  Well... just for a day, but seriously, it got back up to 90 already!  That's pretty nuts.  When the girls heard it was warm they were super excited to go back over to the pool, though it should be noted that the air warms faster than a pool full of water...  The water was still very cold.  They had fun playing in the water, and they got out some reusable water balloons they got for Christmas and gave those a try.  Looks pretty cool, but, maybe just a little cold still.

Brooke and Grayson continue to do homeschool together.  On fine motor skills day they build blocks together, and Brooke helped Grayson make this giraffe.  Brooke is head of the class!

There's a homeschool day at the library that Monica's started taking everyone to.  Their first day was about 3d printers, which was pretty fun for Brooke.  This past week they went outside for some fun activities, and Grayson just couldn't help but blow a dandelion... errrr... eat a dandelion?

Meanwhile Brooke was making some giant bubbles.  I don't know what the topic for the day was, but something about bubbles, or surface tension, or small game trapping.  Something like that.

Joy spent the day with us as well!  Her parents took her brother to the temple while everyone else was at school.  She had a great day hanging out with Grayson and they did all sorts of fun things together, like going to the park, or riding in the wagon.

Looks like Winry and Grayson had stuffed animal school again and it was group picture day to boot!  They seem to enjoy this particular activity.

Saturday was a whirlwind of a day.  I ran out to do several errands in the morning, including picking up some wood so that I could make shelves for the garage.  I finished them just in time to get ready and head to a stake leadership meeting, and when I got home they were full of food.

We got to church early for stake conference to try to make sure we got a soft seat.  We were 40 minutes early and still just barely got a spot.  Since we were there so early we felt it best not to have Grayson sit while waiting for church to start, so I walked around the church with him.  I took him outside to show him that we have a firepit, and he had a lot of fun throwing leaves in and walking around the area.

That afternoon I made a big discovery.  I found Grayson's special blanket.  It had been missing for a few DAYS!!  Glad he's a champion and still went to bed well without it, but it was great to see it again.  Where did I finally find it?  It somehow ended up behind my computer in the office...

Well, that's all the news I've got.  Till next week.
 

San Antonio or Bust

Back to the zoo baby!!  We headed to San Antonio on Saturday, and our first stop was the zoo.  It was a lot of fun and great to be back.  It was a pretty chilly morning, which was nice because I think it kept the crowds low, but we had a wonderful time.  The trip was really centered around getting to go to the temple, but to sweeten the deal for the kids (and me) we went to the zoo.

Winry and Grayson were playing together one evening, and I believe they were playing school with all these stuffed animals.  Then they started lining them all up in front of the fire place for a picture, and Grayson sat in his spot for a lot of the time while Winry arranged animals around him.  Eventually they asked me to take a picture.  Also, Grayson has been potty training, so he's only got a shirt on, thank goodness he carries a blankie!

Valentines was fast upon us to everyone's delight.  Winry had a great time at school and came home with a neat little crown, and a warp pipe full of goodies!

Brooke's valentines box was a Bulbasaur, and she did an incredible job!  It's extra fun when your kids like things you like, so it was great helping them with their Mario and Pokemon box designs.

At dinner we revealed our secret valentines, and swapped gifts.

Monica and I sent out the word that Brooke was hoping to get some valentines since she wouldn't be at school for an exchange, and pictures and texts came flooding back in.  I printed them all out, and we filled Brooke's valentines box since she didn't get a bunch at school like Winry did.  She was very excited to look at her valentines.  Thank you everyone that helped out!!

Monica and I went out for a special Valentine's date on Friday night.  We went to a pottery painting place.  I think the hardest part was picking something to paint because there were so many great options.  The second hardest was that I'm not very good at painting... but I think things turned out well.  We left them there to get glazed and fired and will pick up the final product soon.

After painting we headed for dinner... at 8 pm.  This limited our options because apparently restaurants all close between 8 and 9 on weekends now.  We found a new place we'd never been, and it turned out to be Italian.  The food was pretty good.  I got a chicken sandwich, can't you tell?  It was a bit messy, but good.

Saturday morning we got up, got ready, and got in the car.  The ride went well.  It was about an hour and half drive, but everyone did well with it, and we had snacks in the car as well.  Grayson looked real cute with his water bottle too.

While in the car, Monica talked about our ticket options and I ended up buying a membership while we were on our way.  Here we are at the front gate, next to this cool gorilla statue.  Ironically, there were no gorillas in the zoo...

We were immediately greeted by the flamingos to everyone's delight.  I don't know if it was just that we hadn't been to the zoo in so long, but the kids were loving the flamingos.

Grayson was very excited to see the fishing cat, and we lucked out and they actually have one here too!  Speaking of cats, when we were by the lion he started... I guess huffing.  It wasn't really roaring, but it was still pretty loud.  That was really cool to be there for.

The wild dogs enjoyed running by the kids over and over, and the kids really enjoyed the attention they were getting.

After the zoo, we dropped Monica off at the temple and I took the kids to Kneaders for lunch.  After lunch we headed to the temple, and Monica was just getting out, so we swapped and I went in while she walked around the temple grounds with the kids.  Once I got out we headed back home, and watched movies in the car, including "How the Grinch Stole Christmas" at Grayson's request.

So, little did we know, but when Brooke started homeschool we started a timer.  We checked in on that timer on Sunday, and that timer was a lunchbox timer.  It's been this much mold since the last time Brooke went to school, and therefore, since she used her lunchbox.  Yikes.  It ended up getting on/in the seal on the lid, so the whole lunchbox had to get tossed!

I'm going to have to give a shout out for William for this next one, because I just don't know where else insulin talk would be coming from.  These post-it notes were on Winry's desk, and part of some game she was playing with Grayson.  I wish I knew more details about what they were actually playing though.

And that finished up the week!  We had a fun Valentine's day, and a superb trip to San Antonio and the temple.  I hope everyone else out there had a great week as well.
 

Valentines Build Up

I wouldn't normally think that Valentine's day is the type of holiday that is going to extend into the previous week, but looking over the pictures there was actually quite a bit of Valentines action this past week.  That includes a ward Valentines dance on Friday evening!  We let the kids stay up so we could all go together, and we had a fun time dancing and playing with balloons.

The dominos were "found" recently, and became the hot toy for a few days.  At one point I showed the kids how to make a domino wall, and Brooke was working on setting up a wall using all of the dominos in the box.  I'm really glad I took a picture, because it fell with just a few left to put on.  So no video...

Grayson was up in his room for a nap one day, and he typically plays for a while before actually falling asleep.  When Monica went to get him up he had fallen asleep just inside his curtain.  I guess he was enjoying the view out of his window for a bit.

At work this past week they had window washers.  It was kind of fun to see them outside the window.

Grayson got the cat wand to play with Jelly.  He thought it was a lot of fun, and did a pretty good job. He always said he was going to catch her, so I think he thought he was fishing for her... I was trying to help him a little with actually getting her to play more, and with not hitting her or hurting her.  In the end I think it went well.

This past week we we had secret Valentines from the ward.  We took them a surprise a few times over the week, and then revealed ourselves at the dance on Friday.  Monica was our getaway driver, and here I am up at the door with the kids putting hearts on their door.

Monica took Brooke and Grayson to playgroup this past week and they had some pretty cool swings there so that Brooke could swing and swing Grayson at the same time.

Niki sent us a valentines package, which had some various valentines and toys for the kids, including bouncy balls.  Grayson really loved playing with his bouncy ball, though he pretty quickly wasn't sure where it went.  We had one of them, and were playing with it by the front door where it could be more contained and not get lost.  He was loving it!

Friday night was the dance, and it was 50's themed.  There was a little swing dance instruction at the start, and then we got to dance the night away.  I had a lot of fun dancing with Brooke and Winry, and spent about half the dance chasing Grayson up and down the halls and throwing balloons in the air.  I think everyone had a good time in their own way.

We prepped valentines on Saturday.  We got them ready early so that the kids could take them to church for their classes.  We melted broken crayons into hearts!

We started doing our family secret valentine this past week to great success.  On Saturday the whole family went to Target together so we could pick out a gift, supplies, etc. so we were ready for the rest of the week.  It was raining a little when we got into the car, but when we got to Target it was DUMPING!  we were all completely soaked by the time we got into the store.  Kind of fun, kind of chilly.

Saturday night I went to check what the breakfast plan was for Sunday morning and was greeted with this message.  I appreciate the freedom to pick, but biscuits and gravy sounded good...

The Ellers came over for the super bowl on Sunday evening.  We had a great time watching the game together, and Joy started to warm up to me.  I'm guessing she won't talk to me again when I see her at church on Sunday, but if we're together for 4 hours she eventually opens up a little.

The kids were roaming during the game.  The Ellers have some older boys who wanted to watch the game, but I think everyone else wandered upstairs at times to play.  Towards the end of the game Grayson was up playing by himself, and Monica went to check on him.  He was sitting at the table with play food on a plate with a fork, enjoying a fine dining experience.  He also spent some time treating us all to a rousing rendition of the Wonka soundtrack!  That's been some pretty hot music around our house lately.

As for the game, it was great!  Down to the wire basically the whole way through.  Congrats to the Chiefs.  Aaaaand that's the end of the week!  Happy almost Valentine's Day, Valentine!