Updates

We had a Happy Valentine's Day. Layne took off 3 days and told me whatever I needed he was ready and willing. VERY NICE (he's awesome)! We got so much done and were able to have some alone time too!:) Layne and I went to lunch on Friday and then to the kids' valentine parties at school. On Saturday (Valentine's Day) we had our traditional dinner with the kids, on special plates, with fancy glasses and a special dessert and treats from Cupid. On the menu this year - crock pot lasagna, salad and bread. For dessert - black raspberry and chocolate chunk ice cream with Amish friendship bread and a caramel Hershey kiss on the side.



As for what is going on in life -

McKenzie got hit in the mouth with a baseball (not fun, and Kyler felt really bad about it). She is super tough though! She also completed two more projects - a music box for Reading and an Aboriginal dot painting and/or drawing for Social Studies.


And just for an update - the grades for the previously mentioned reading project - scrapbook = 320 points out of 300, and her brochure and PowerPoint = 150 points out of 150. She (we) were pretty excited!!! And as for her "unspeakable math grade," it is now an 89 - YEAH! Things are looking up! She also got invited to be in an Honor Band (with her flute) that will be held in March.

Kyler officially started his soccer season! He has been anxiously but patiently waiting for soccer to start!


(This is from spring season 2008. I am so excited for this season! I love watching him play!)

Karlee completed a report on Ray Charles for black history month. She now loves the song Hit the Road Jack.



And Kavan has a black eye!


(What's new, right?!? Kyler felt really bad about it too!)

We also had two days off of school! I got called into work on Monday (while Layne had the day off) which was kind of a bummer. However, Layne and McKenzie washed and folded the laundry (how cool is that!?!). Layne finished hanging pictures on the newly painted wall and in our newly painted bathroom (Layne did the painting, he's awesome). The kids got a surprise visit from their cousins Timothy, Jeremiah, and Rebekah. And Layne helped me get dinner ready for the missionaries and our friends. McKenzie's friend Emily (she has been coming to church with us now for about 5-6 months) had her third discussion with the missionaries.


It was awesome! Emily's mom was with her and is so supportive. Emily is very energetic, but she has this really sweet spirit and already knows more than I could have imagined her knowing. The spirit was so touching. What a great feeling! Emily wants to be baptized on February 28, 2009 at 6:00pm (pretty neat,huh?)


P.S. Layne got called to jury duty. Then, it got cancelled. Then, today I got called to jury duty. How does that work?!?

P.S.S. My mom and dad are on their way home from their mission! Let's talk about exciting!!! :) (More updates soon!)

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!

Hope your day is full of love!

P.S. My mom made our outfits! I told you she's AWESOME!

P.S.S. February is also Dental Health Month. So I thought I would share a song...

HAPPY TEETH SONG
Use the tune from "Are you sleeping Brother John"


1. Brush your teeth,
brush your teeth,
everyday, everyday,
use your brush and toothpaste,
use your brush and toothpaste,
twice a day, twice a day

2. Floss your teeth,
floss your teeth,
everyday, everyday,
use your floss and fingers,
use your floss and fingers,
once a day, once a day

3. Eat healthy foods,
eat healthy foods,
everyday, everyday,
don't eat lots of sugar,
don't eat lots of sugar,
it causes decay, it causes decay

4. Visit the dentist,
visit the dentist,
twice a year, twice a year
the dentist checks your teeth,
the dentist checks your teeth,
open wide, open wide


*Seriously, go brush your teeth! :)

WHEW!

This is Kavan sound asleep -totally snoring- on the bathroom mat after a shower! It kind of sums up the feeling we all have from the adventures of our last two weeks!:)

Last Monday we talked about Joseph and his coat of many colors. We talked about how forgiving Joseph was and how righteous he was to have things prepared and in order to survive a famine!(We made "coats of many colors" with wax paper, crayon and the iron.)

Well, McKenzie apparently missed that lesson because after the week of sickness, we had to do a lot more "make up" work than was expected. Anyhow, she thought she understood math but with her unspeakable current grade in math she doesn't! And her Reading project that is due today (that she has had 4 weeks to work on) was about 5 minutes researched as of last Monday. -I'm totally chalking it up to the fact that I publicly boasted about how well my kids were doing in school!- So, I had to put on my math tutor hat and my cheerleader hat and try to leave the impatient and frustrated mom behind! Did I mention that Layne was out of town and that I have 3 other kids with homework!

(Thankfully Kyler was a huge help this past week!)

We decided that math had to take priority since she had missed a test while she was sick and would be making it up. After hours of multiplying, adding, dividing, and subtracting fractions, decimals and mixed numbers, she finished the make up test on Thursday. (We don't know the grade, yet - she says it was easy - we will see!) So, on Wednesday the Reading project got started. She had to do a scrapbook, a PowerPoint presentation, and a pamphlet on a real country inserted with her own fictional kingdom. If the scrapbook was turned in by Friday, she got 10 extra credit points. I work on Wednesdays, so I gave her specific instructions on what needed to be done by the time I got home. Wednesday night, our printer stopped working - that's a whole other story. I stayed up until about 12:30am trying to get the printer to work and after I thought I had figured it out - it ran out of ink!! Thursday, I'm out first thing getting ink - Did I mention that my husband is out of town! I replaced the ink and here goes the printer - Yeah! But now the computer is locked! You've got to be kidding me!?! Knowing the computer savvy person that I am not, I worry a little. Thankfully I'm on the phone with my mom, she tells me a couple things to try - it's not working - so she tells me to turn off the computer. I start worrying some more because there's a document that I did not save. And I learned in computer class a long long time ago that just turning off the computer is a huge NO, NO! Anyway, it worked and the document was saved (it had to have been divine intervention - because I don't know how much more I could have taken!). So, long story short (could it be any longer? Um, sorry!)I sent McKenzie to bed a little after 9:30pm (she gets up at 5:30am) and put on my secretary hat and finished her typing. I have to give her credit though, because she only kind of complained once (right before she couldn't control her eyes from falling asleep) and I did have to remind her that she had to stop to eat dinner. I was in bed at about 11:30pm (much sooner than I thought I might be, yeah! - but did I mention that my husband is out of town hunting with two of his favorite buddies?) McKenzie got up early and finished putting the scrapbook together, ate and was on her way to school with ten extra points! I worked Friday morning, and driving to work was so relaxing. After school and piano lessons, we decided that we would go through the car wash (because it's too cold to do it at home and what child doesn't love the car wash), go home, eat pizza and ice cream, and watch a movie. At the car wash, you know how you put your car on the track and put it in neutral - as we were nearing the end of the car wash my car kicked into reverse (maybe it doesn't enjoy a bath). This was the perfect way to top off the week, and did I mention that Layne is out of town?!? Thankfully, no damage was done to my car, however the car behind me had its mirror broken because the car wash did not stop right away -I really am sorry about that!- (by the way, my kids are not so fond of the car wash anymore). We all got home safely with our pizza, but 3 out of 5 of us may not be able to tell you what movie we watched.

Saturday was a day that I wondered if I should let anyone out of the house! I did, and with only minor injuries -

(silly boy!)

Kyler came home from riding dirt bikes with Collin and Kirk ready and excited to go again! And best of all, Layne came home earlier than expected and my jealously that his "guy time" totally outweighs my "girl time" is slowly diminishing!:)

Last night's family home evening = Helping each other and staying on task!

Whew, that was long but I feel better now!:) And McKenzie finished the rest of her project without a hitch. Did I mention that my husband is home! :)

Happy Birthday, MOM!

This is my MOM and DAD! She just loves my DAD!


She loves dancing with my DAD!


Here she is with me and my sister-in-law, Heather. She loves us!


Here's Layne, my brother (Mike), and my DAD. She loves them too!:)


She loves an adventure with her family! And she loves Terry because he loves Heather and Ellie.


She even braves the teacups! Ugh! Now that's love!


She loves her five grandkids!


And all the hugs and kisses! (WOW!)


But worms for fishing are just gross!

She loves being a missionary couple with my DAD, and serving the Lord with President Erickson, his wife, and all of the missionaries in the Peoria, Illinois mission! My MOM is so awesome! We love you lots and lots!

Some fun Moments!

I thought I would share some of our fun moments. For Christmas, Kyler got a K'nex set from Santa. It is quite a large thing and has a BOOK of instructions. He has finished it, even with "little brother interruptions and mishaps!" It is really neat. He (and Kavan) have been really excited about it!

!

Kavan decided he needed to build something all by himself, too!



Then Kenzie figured out how to make Cheerio towers without glue and everyone was entertained.



I have never been able to make an edible loaf of bread by myself. So, Layne decided that we were going to try together (since he just ordered more wheat). My Aunt Patty is awesome in the kitchen -she always has a beautiful garden and she makes so many different, yummy, made from scratch food. So, Layne got her bread recipe (which she said was the best and so easy) and we tried. And we failed! It was very sad! After phone calls and messages to my aunt and my mother in law we tried to figure out what we were doing wrong. My mother in law was even going to come and help me make bread on Thursday. Well, starting Tuesday all of my family got sick, one at a time, and I was home all week with lots of time (since nobody was going anywhere)! So, guess what, Thursday I made bread - by myself - and IT WORKED! It was made among sickness so we have not shared and don't really have proof, but we are excited at how edible it was for my family! :)



So, my next thought is one of those touching moments that involves my Karlee. I've talked about her inner feisty (Example: a famous quote from Karlee - talking to McKenzie - "Can we have a sleepover, if I stop bothering you!?!"). However, I failed to mention that she is probably our most tender child.



You have to know a little bit about my brother to fully understand this. We lost my brother, Mike, in a tragic car accident on November 14, 2003. He was 30 years old and married with a daughter about 6 months older than Karlee. Kavan was born on October 16, 2003. Part of Kavan's PreK homework was to talk about the day he was born. So, we pulled out pictures and looked and talked for probably about an hour. Kavan had the realization that Uncle Mike had never seen him or met him (Kavan was being blessed the first Sunday in December so that's when they were coming). He was very concerned and said, "Mom, he never meet me and I never meet him." Karlee responded very gently, but very matter of fact, "Don't worry you'll meet him, maybe when Jesus comes again." And Kavan was good with that.
How thankful I am for my kids, for my family, for Jesus Christ's atoning sacrifice and for a loving Heavenly Father. I am very grateful for the knowledge of Heavenly Father's plan and the opportunity we have to be forever families.

A Birthday Surprise!

January 14th was my mother-in-law's birthday. We all got together to surprise her this past weekend. She didn't know we were all coming and it was so fun! While the guys stayed and played with the kids, the girls got to take Linda out for a birthday lunch! April got to play with her new camera, as we got a lot of fun family pictures! Then we had a yummy dinner together, topped off with birthday cake and ice cream (thanks, Betsy)! As many of you know, I have been blessed with some awesome in-laws!

My mother-in-law, Linda, is a beautiful, amazingly talented woman, and a really great friend!



She, with a wonderful husband, has raised four handsome boys!



She has 11 beautiful and wonderfully silly grandchildren!



And she has a family that loves her lots!

Hooray!

So, Monday the 12th the kids brought home report cards. It was very exciting!


Kavan - Georgia Pre-K, right on track :)
Karlee - all A's and S+ behavior
Kyler - all A's and S+ behavior
McKenzie - six A's and an 89 in Math


Layne has made kind of a tradition of taking the kids to Chuck E. Cheese with good grades because they get like 15 free tokens when they bring in their report cards (plus the kids think it's quite the reward)! So, after a mundane Monday of doing laundry, the realization of not having to cook and just getting to play with the kids all evening was a super pleasant thought!! So here we are...




I'm not sure who the bigger kid is!?!?


Notice who's winning! :)

After having a blast with tokens, games, greasy pizza, an insane amount of tickets and of course the prizes - 4 big bags of cotton candy (a dental hygienist's dream - OH, MY!) we were on our way home.
- Our Family Home Evening lesson - The value of our education and being dilligent in our studies, as we remember that the Lord Himself has said, “Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith” (D&C 88:118). President Gordon B. Hinckley had said, “Education is the key to opportunity." We are excited to see our kids start their education in such a positive way! Way to go Kenzie, Karlee, Kyler, and Kavan!! Thanks!