Happy Birthday Dr. Seuss!

Today we celebrated Dr. Seuss' Birthday.  The kids got to wear pajamas to school, then we had green eggs and ham (pork roast) and cat in the hat strawberry shortcake for dinner.  We also colored Grinch pictures and could only talk in rhymes at dinner.  It was a really fun day.

Thankful

I am really loving my new job at the elementary school.  Actually, I really love both my jobs.  I love PRWUA because it really is the dream job, but I love the school because I feel like I am making a difference in the lives of the children I work with.  Emma Miller and Bailey Curtis took a poster around and had everyone in the school sign it and it says, "we are thankful for you."  It made my whole day and I even hung it next to my computer so I can see it everyday.  I hope I am making a difference and I hope I am helping kids that may not get love at home. 

Finish work

Beginning of the end!  Finish work!  We have been working hard to prep the house to begin painting next weekend.

St. George and such

Connor had his first baseball tournament of the year in beautiful St. George.  We pulled our trailer down and parked in Lorla's backyard.  She has a beautiful home and let us use her house for showers, laundry, and even fed us dinner.  St. George was wonderful, it was so warm and there is always so much to see and do.  Friday we watched baseball all evening (the boys won both games) and the highlight for the kids was when Matthew caught a little frog.  He told us it's name was, "frog" and it was blue.  Saturday morning we lounged around at Lorla's then headed to Hurricane for Connor's double header.  He pitched like a champ!  He pitched both games, and although they lost, he couldn't have pitched better.  I think Rory said he pitched over 37 strike outs.  After the game we went to Lorla's for hamburgers and Kadee and Kinlee got in the hot tub.

Sunday morning the kids swam at Debbies motel and then the rest of Sunday we spent at Sand Hollow Reservoir.  The kids played in the sand for hours, played baseball, soccer, collected sea shells, and Connor even jumped in the water all the way on a bet (the water was only 47 degrees!).  After that we went to a movie and then back to Lorla's house so the kids could play with her grandkids.  It was such a relaxing weekend and I'm so looking forward to going back in March. 

Kadee's 9th Birthday!

Sunday we had a Valentine's Dinner at Derk and Debbie's and celebrated Kadee, Devin, and Debbie's Birthdays.  Kadee made the cake and it turned out so cute, she was so excited to blow out her candles until Devin and Zac started fighting over the lighter and ended up hitting her in the forehead with it.  I was kind of upset and she was really upset.  I had a stern talk with my kids later to let them know we don't ever play with fire and that we never try to grab something like that out of someones hands, especially when there is an open flame. 

Yesterday we celebrated Kadee's 9th birthday, I can't believe it!  She woke up at 6:00 am to open presents and that is HUGE for her, I'm usually dragging her out of bed and then rushing around so she won't be late.  I made her a delicious home lunch and then took cupcakes to her class and had everyone sing to her.  Her best friend Jordan came over after school and they jumped on the tramp and played for hours.  Finally I took them to the college to get pedicures and we went to McDonald's for dinner and Oreo McFlurries.  She had such a fun day but then woke up in the middle of the night with the stomach flu.  Her and Matthew were sick all night and all day today.  It was so sad and an exhausting day for me.  Matthew had a hard time puking in a bowl so I ended up cleaning all the bedding, carpets, and couch.  Needless to say the laundry situation in our house was out of control.  Thankfully Debbie took some laundry home for me and helped me get most of it done.

     

Matthew & Kinlee had their Valentine's parties on Monday and Tuesday.  These are the cute Valentine's we made. 

Rory's new plaque on his door, I'm so proud of him!  He has worked so hard to get this position and has waited a long time to prove he has what it takes to do well.

Models and cookies

 We've had a fun week.  Monday I got a text from a lady whose daughter used to be in my preschool.  She is a professional photographer and asked if Kinlee would like to be a part of a photo shoot for a clothing line for Costco.  She had so much fun and loved hamming it up for the camera.  I'm not sure when the ad will be published, but it was a fun experience.

Kadee joined Girl Scouts (again) and started selling cookies.  She loves to be busy but hasn't quite decided what she wants to be busy with.  She's also been really into babysitting lately.  She had my cousin Ashlee's little girl come over and she did all sorts of crafts with her.

Connor received his Webelos badge and had a great pack meeting about people with disabilities.  A lady who was deaf and her husband came and spoke to the kids and then they had obstacles that they had to do without some of their senses.  He also got a king size candy bar from his math teacher for being the only kid in 4th grade to work on the math website at home.  He got to eat the candy bar in front of both fourth grade classes and he loved it.

Matthews highlight of the week was when he got Bella to jump in the tub with him.  He was so excited and they splashed around together and played with bath toys together.   

Helper in house gymnastics meet

Tonight was Pineau's in house tumbling meet in Helper.  Connor, Kadee, and Kinlee all competed in their individual levels and did great.  Kinlee went first and rocked it.  She did so well on her passes and she took 1st overall.  Connor and Kadee were next.  They both did their individual groups and each took 2nd overall in their own groups.  They had lots of support there too,  Connor's math/science teacher was there to watch him and Shalyce, and grandma Debbie came and brought Landon, Valyssa, and Zac.  I am super proud of them, they did great and have worked hard.  A couple days ago Connor crashed hard on his bike, so that's why he looks beat up in all my pictures.  He flew over the handlebars and landed on his face, it was pretty miserable.    

Some other exciting news is our drywall is being hung. They finished the upstairs today and will be done with the garage and basement next week.  We also went and picked out our cabinets and counter tops today and they are gorgeous (if I do say so myself).  As soon as the drywall is done in the garage we can get our garage doors installed and our brick will be delivered next Wednesday.  I am so excited to get out of this rental and into our home.  We've loved living across the street from Derk and Debbie, but it is ridiculously hard having four kids, a dog, and a husband in a single wide trailer.  I feel like it's never clean and is so crowded.  The countdown is on, hopefully we will be done and moved in by the end of March.