Sun Shine!

We are enjoying a mid-winter “spring” time.  The weather has been wonderful.  Clear skies, that are so blue, and afternoon temperatures between 60-75 degrees.  Today is a bit cooler and the weather forecast says our warm weather will be ending.  But we have really enjoyed it.  Neal has done work on his bike and Spencer’s, and they have all enjoyed riding almost every afternoon.  Today Neal took Spencer, Andrew and Parker (a neighbor) on a bike ride.  I have even tried riding Ruth’s bike a couple of times this week.  It is a work out for me because I am not use to using those muscles but I am getting better with it.

Last Wednesday evening the boys were invited by Parker and Logan to go to “bring a friend to Karate” day.  They enjoyed going to see where their friends go every Monday and Wednesday.  They had fun doing some of the activities with the boys that night.  

With the nice weather the kids have wanted to play in the open space behind the house.  The boys seem to be drawn to the creek and end up getting muddy, even with promises they wont get in the water.  Neal was out there with them one afternoon and he saw an Eagle perched in a tree.  He came and got Ruth to see too.  She brought her binoculars and had a neat experience looking at an Eagle up close.  

Saturday I took Ruth to the library to get some books and then I took her shopping.  She has been growing so quickly this year that it is hard to keep up with it.  Her clothes are all getting short and tight in the shoulders for her.  I bought her a bunch of long sleeved shirts last fall and now she is wanting more short sleeved things.  She also needed more pants.  Her other pants she has out grown.  So I bought her a cute new outfit, jeans and a striped tee.  She was pleased to wear them to school this week.  I keep reminding her that eventually she will stop growing and then her wardrobe will start to build up more.  But with her changing sizes every six months, well, she doesn’t have much right now.  She is especially wishing for more dresses, she has two skirts and one dress that fit right now.  The dress is actually getting a little small in the shoulders, but is still wearable.  I told her when I finish the quilt project I will make her a fancy dress for the spring/summer time.  I also have a skirt that doesn’t fit me right that I am going to remake to fit her, shorten and take in at the waist, that way she has more variety.

Well, Saturday afternoon we had some friends come over to play, Cameron and Justin. The boys had fun with them here.  Andrew was excited to have Cameron over again and made sure he had the electric train in working order to show him.  Caleb just has fun with Justin.  In fact Caleb got to play with Justin again this morning, since his mom is my visiting teacher and they came over today.  Yesterday Caleb went to play with Evan and Justin at Evan's house.  It was fun for all three of them to get together.  These are the same boys that we would get together with last fall at the park every week.  When the weather stays warmer we will probably start meeting at a park again.  But for now we decided we could do play time at the different family homes.  It is good for Caleb to have someone to go play with.  I think he gets a little bored just being home with Mom and Dad all day.  He also has gotten very clingy to me.  For example this morning I wanted to go for a walk and wanted to go by myself so I could go farther and Caleb started to cry that I was leaving him, Neal had to hold him while I left the house.  He even told me this week that he didn’t want to go to kindergarten because then he wouldn’t have enough time to snuggle with me.  So these play dates are a good thing for him to have time away from mom.  Caleb is progressing with his education.  This week he has wanted to do math flash cards.  He has almost mastered the addition facts and yesterday I found him looking at the multiplication cards.  Sunday while he was waiting for me to finish in Nursery he found some chalk and started to write the alphabet on the board.  Then I realized he was writing with his left hand.  He usually writes with his right.  But when I asked him why he was using that hand he just said “because I am holding my popcorn in this hand” (while he held up his right hand.)  He amazes me with what he can do.  

Mentioning Nursery reminds me of a new assignment I have been asked to do.  There is a family in our ward that has a little boy who is nursery age but because of physical limitations his parents don’t want him to go to nursery, but it is getting harder for the parents to fulfill there callings in Primary.  Since I am a nursery worker the Primary Presidency has asked me to take care of this little boy.  Since he can’t go to nursery I will be going to the adult classes with him.  I understand that he is pretty mellow and it will be just holding him during the two hours.  He isn’t crawling much yet.  It shouldn’t be too hard.  I am not sure how long it will last.  He just had a surgery about a month ago and his parents want him to be stronger before letting him be around other kids.  I guess we will see how it goes this week.  Best part is that I will be able to go to adult classes again for awhile.

I did get Spencer’s quilt set up last week.  The week has been busy for me and I am only about half done quilting it.  So I wont get it done in a week, like I did with Andrew’s.  I am glad to see the progress though.

Friday evening Neal and Andrew made cookies.  We were looking at Andrew’s cub scout book and he is very close to getting his Bear.  One of the requirements he needed to do was make cookies with an adult.  They enjoyed working together.  One fun thing that Neal had the idea to do was make a giant cookie.  They took about half the dough and mixed in Hershey kisses for the chips and then put it on a pizza pan.  It cooked up pretty good, a little crisp on the edges, but tasted good.  It was fun to have the big “chips” to match the big cookie.  

Sunday evening I played Uno with the kids.  All four of them played and really got into it.  They were being more competitive than they have before.  I think they realized it is okay to get a “draw four” card and that it is part of the fun of the game.  It got a little loud and crazy.

Last night Ruth enjoyed going to Activity Days with the girls.  They made a vinyl lettering on a wood block that says “Daughter of a Heavenly King.”  I think it great that her leaders do such fun things with the girls.  Ruth is also very excited to have been invited to the Young Women’s New Beginnings that will be in two weeks.  She is very ready to move on to the Young Women’s program, just a few more months until her 12^th birthday.

Well, this got to be a long letter.  I always enjoy hearing from others in the family too.  Neal is still working through all the things associated with job hunting.  Next week he has an interview in Albuquerque.  He is also working with another company to set up an interview.  

Picnic in January

This week has gone by quickly for me.  Last Friday Neal and I were able to go to the Denver temple.  I enjoyed being in a quiet peaceful place for a bit.  It was a nice day to spend time together.  Caleb had lots of fun playing with his friend Justin while we were at the temple.  We got back in time to get the kids from school.  

The weather was nice over the week end.  Saturday we decided to go to the park.  It was sunny and about 45 degrees.  We brought our lunch with us and enjoyed a picnic in January, in Colorado!  The kids had fun riding their bikes and playing with their rockets.  We also brought a kite with us.  There were lots of people at the park and the kids friend Ayden who lives on our street was there with is dad.  He joined in the rocket fun.  

Andrew and Caleb having fun at the park

Spencer

 Neal with the kite

A little video trying to capture the rockets

Sunday was a nice day too.  We did quiet things after church.  Our home teachers came for a visit.  It was nice to meet someone new.  This is the first time home teachers have come since we moved.  I am thankful they would take time to make the visit.  I talked to Ruth in the afternoon.  She was playing in her room and I went in to see what she was doing and she showed me her dolls and talked about what she liked to play with.  On Monday she made another little dress for her Barbie dolls.  She is learning about sewing and even used the machine this time.  

Monday was Neal’s birthday! The kids had the day off school for the holiday. The kids were excited to have a birthday cake and balloon time.  We enjoyed time together at home and had a fun evening with the kids.

Neal with his cake

The weather was so nice Monday we ate lunch outside

Monday was another pretty day and the kids played out side a lot.  Mid morning I took Andrew out to Boondocks.  He had earned another reward for his good work on his chart.  He wanted to try out miniature golf.  He hadn’t done it before.  We had a fun game of it.  He did really well for his first time too.  I enjoyed being with him.  I was talking to him and he told me that he isn’t liking school very well.  I asked why.  I was surprised that the first thing he said was that kids and some teachers don’t dress neat or modest.  He doesn’t like that the kids don’t try to look nice and then often they don’t act nice.  I thought that was interesting he noticed those things.  This school district doesn’t have much of a dress code.  In Texas our school district had a pretty strict dress code, that was enforced.  How you dress does make a difference in how you act.  I am glad that Andrew has noticed that.  He also misses having P.E. every day.  Here they are on a rotation for “specials” and go to one special for three days then they rotate to the next one.  P.E. is in the rotation, so they only have P.E. 3 days out of 12.  I wish they had it more.  

Yesterday the kids got back into their school routine.  It was cooler but they still played outside a lot in the afternoon.  Spencer came inside so cold.  I think that will help him remember to put on a coat next time, not just a sweeter.  Caleb had lots of fun riding his trike around and playing with the neighbor kids. He is good at his trike and loves riding it.  I have been working on Spencer’s quilt and have the top pieced together.  I hope to get the backing sewed together and have it on the frame to start quilting it soon.  Neal has worked on little mechanical crafts, like Lego and today he is working on getting an old motor working for the Erector set.  He is also keeping up with job hunting things too.

This morning it has snowed.  It is cold and white.  I went visiting teaching and the kids will get out of school soon, early out day.  I am thankful for a good week.

Quilting

Last week I did get Andrew’s quilt all set up.  It has been awhile since I have done that, but I got it all put on the frames.  (Thanks mom for letting me borrow yours!)  I worked on it a lot this week.  I guess my week wasn’t that busy with other things.  Today I took it off the frame and did the binding.  So it is all done!  I think it turned out well.  Now the other boys are getting anxious for me to do their quilts.  I have Spencer’s almost pieced together.  It might take me a week to get it ready to quilt.  I am glad that I have the time to work on this right now.  I bought the fabric a year ago.  And that was after planning them and thinking about it for almost two years.  So I am thankful this is finally getting done.  I hope that the boys can enjoy them.

The quilt set up on the frame.

I draped the quilt over the dining room table, to see it.  I figure once it is on his top bunk bed it won't be as easy to see.  So I did all the quilting in a week.  I only quilted around the blocks, my hand is a bit sore, but it went quickly.  I am pleased with how it turned out.

The weather has been nice on many days.  I like how sunny it is here.  Even when it is cold the sun can be out and it feels nice enough to get out.  Last week Caleb and I went to a play ground about a mile away.  He rode his trike back and forth, and played for a bit on the play ground.  He got good exercise that day.  I have tried going for walks but have been a bit lazy and not gone every day.

Friday afternoon Spencer was upset that he had forgotten to take in a Lego creation for a school contest.  That evening he organized his own Lego display.  He asked everyone to bring things they have made and show it to the family.  I was the only one that didn’t have anything to show.  Neal has been making things with the boys lately, so he even had something to show.  It was fun to let the kids talk about what they had made.  Then Monday morning Neal took the boys to school and went in the school with Spencer and his Lego car he had made.  They asked the teacher if Spencer could turn it in still, even though it was late.  They let him and he was all excited about it.

Last Friday the kids got their semester report cards.  I was a bit worried about how they were doing, since this is the first report card of the year.  I see marks on their papers but haven’t been sure how they really are doing.  The grading system is different here.  The kids did well, at least I think so.  I know they all got some “2’s” on their report but I felt like over all they are learning what the school is teaching.  We talked about it with the kids too.  We made sure they understand that the important thing is that they are learning and doing their best.  Also to see what areas they are a bit weak on and to work hard to improve in those areas. We have parent conferences coming up in February, so I guess I will see what the teachers say about their work.

Saturday evening I went to a party some women in the ward organized.  It was a “Favorite Things” party.  Everyone brought one of their favorite things to share with everyone,  (we brought three of them.)  We went around the circle telling what we brought and why, then we drew three names out of a bowl to say who got our three favorite things.  It was a fun way to get to know each other better and have a gift to bring back home.  I brought my favorite granola bars, Nature Valley Sweet and Salty Dark Chocolate Peanut and Almond.  They are a bit healthier than candy bars and I enjoy them once in a awhile.  I got some fun things to bring back home.  I enjoyed the evening out and am glad that I went.

Sunday was our Ward Conference.  I liked the talks given by our Bishop and Stake President on keeping covenants and staying on the path.  In nursery we had a Stake Primary leader come in and teach the lesson and do a craft with the kids.  I thought that was fun they did something special, even for the nursery kids.  The other classes that day were taught by Stake leaders, even sharing time in Primary.  Sunday afternoon Ruth and Neal went to ward choir and enjoyed singing with the group.  It was Ruth’s first time going.  She has asked to go before and now that choir is practicing at a different time we decided to try letting her go.  She does have a nice voice and enjoys music.  

Monday evening it was my turn to teach our lesson and I decided to down load the app for Family Tree onto the iPad.  Then I showed the kids the app.  It was fun to see the different family history lines.  We looked at pictures and read some of the stories on it.  I felt that I need to work at teaching the kids their family history.  I want them to know the names and stories of their ancestors and I think it is neat that we have this tool to help us with that.  I am thankful for family members who contribute in the work and make it available on the church site.  It is a good thing to learn about our family.  The kids enjoyed it.  Ruth even wanted to look at it more yesterday.

Caleb has had some fun playing with friends this week.  Yesterday Evan came over to play and today Justin came over.  I enjoyed watching Caleb play with his friends.  It is good for him to play with kids his own age.  I am glad that these boys could come over.  

The boys have their neighborhood friends over right now and they are all in the basement playing with the trains.  I am glad that they can have friends, even when they are loud!

Happy New Year

We enjoyed a fun New Year's Eve time. The kids asked if they could stay up until midnight.  So after dinner we played Monopoly together.  I was surprised at how well Caleb could play the game.  He is good with numbers.  After we played for about an hour we decided to stop and watch a movie.  Spencer had fallen asleep and Caleb only lasted a little into the movie.  But the timing was perfect because the movie ended two minutes before midnight.  Ruth and Andrew thought it was great they could say "happy new year" at midnight.  We also looked out the window and watched some fireworks from our neighbor.

New Year's Day was a good one.  We had snow and Neal took the kids sledding at the park.  They found a hill to slide down.  They had so much fun, they stayed out for about three hours.  I enjoyed some quiet time at home.  I cooked a turkey that day, which we all enjoyed.

In Friday I went to the grocery store and they had turkey's on sale for 69 cents a pound, I couldn't pass it up and bought one.  So we will get lots of turkey this month.  Friday we also worked at taking down our Christmas decorations.  Ruth was a big help getting the tree undecorated.

Saturday afternoon Andrew went to play with his friend Cody.  I was surprised at how quiet the house seemed without him here.  The weather warmed up some and we watched the snow melt.  (Then this morning it has been snowing again.). Neal gave the boys hair cuts and they all look nice and trim.

Sunday we started going to church at 9:00 again.  I like the morning time and we have had it a lot.  It was nice to have all afternoon to do quiet things at home.

Monday the kids still had home from school.  Ruth had fun making some doll clothes for her new doll (like a Barbie).  I don't have patterns for that size doll so she made up her own patterns.  She even did some of the sewing on the machine.  I worked on quilts.  I have Andrews quilt already to set up on the frame to start quilting it.  I hope to be able to do that today.  Spencer had fun putting together a rocket he was given.  Then last night Neal helped him launch it at the church building, while they waited for Andrew at scouts.

Yesterday I went to a lunch with women from the ward.  I am trying hard to make friends.  It was nice to get out.  Other women brought their kids with them, that was a bit of a distraction.  I was glad I could leave Caleb with Neal.  I also took Caleb to the library yesterday.  He had fun going to story time again.  Caleb is working in typing numbers into his Pages document, he is up to about 850 now.  He is working on it now.  He also likes to write the alphabet out and write numbers.  On paper he wrote up to about 260.  He also loves arranging his letter and number magnets on the fridge. He likes to ask us how to spell words, Neal joked that he was having his spelling test.  It is fun to see him so interested in numbers and letters.  He is doing well with his reading.  I gave him the book "Green Eggs and Ham" for Christmas.  He read it to me that afternoon.  He loves to learn.

Yesterday the kids went back to school.  They enjoyed seeing their friends again. I am glad to be at home today and am enjoying seeing the world turn white again.  I hope everyone can enjoy a new year.