Getting Ready For General Conference

Thanks, Barbara, for teaching us the song!

They look cuter and goofier in this one; Joseph ran away for some reason...silly kids!

Ummm...

This is how Andrew came down this morning.

Yep, that's a jacket he's wearing as pants.

I think we're in for a long day.

LEGO Party

We had a fun birthday party for Joseph. He wanted a lego party & was really excited for his friends to come over. He made a list of things he wanted to do at his party & hung it on the fridge & kept asking what we were really going to do. I kept telling him to just wait & that it was a surprise. Although we didn't do everything on his list, he still said it was a great party! Yay!

We played a series of lego themed games (estimated how many legos in a container, put together a lego toy & then ran an obstacle course with their lego guy, had a relay race & so many more-about 10 total).

After games we opened presents & had lego cake & ice cream. And then played a few more games while we waited for parents to come get kiddos.

Today was a really busy day. After the party we hurried off to the funeral of our sweet neighbor, Jasper. The kids sang with some of their friends for it. They did such a good job. We sure love Jasper & will truly miss his awesome smile!

Spirit Day

Today is Spirit Day at the school & the kids can wear their favorite teams or dress up as a player of a sport. We decided to all sport the Jayhawks.

(Hopefully, Joseph's teacher will still love us. She is a Mizzou alumn.)

Here's hoping they have a great game tonight!

Rock Chalk Jayhawks!

Just Another Day

Yesterday Rick brought this home. One of his co-workers got it for him. Today was so busy & I forgot to make it. I guess that is why BYU lost. They did have a great season though!

We started to get Eliza dressed this morning & then decided we could make her look like Rainbow Brite's Sprite.

It was STEM night at the school where we got to learn about Science, Technology, Engineering, & Math & see some of Lexie & Joseph's artwork.

It was really cool. We played a math game, built cubes with straws & paper clips, saw science fair projects & lots of other stuff! It was great also to see the kid's so excited to see their teachers & friends. We have truly been blessed with awesome teachers & friends!

Crazy Hat & Sock Day

The week continues with crazy hat & sock day. Lexie really tried to get him to wear a sombrero but again, this boy has his own ideas. So, we went with one of Rick's hats & pinned a balloon to it. He was so happy about it. And that is really all that matters. He did wear her socks though.

Purplicious

Crazy Hair

This week, Andrew's preschool is having a fun week. Yesterday was costume day (he was sick) & today is crazy hair day. I tried to shave designs into his hair (since he needs a hair cut terribly) but he wanted none of that, so instead we spiked it all out.

It held fine. This is from after school. I think he kinda looks like a lion with a huge mane. Silly boy!

Eliza thought she'd join in on the day. She rubs her head so much she gets all of these crazy knots in her hair. She's still cute anyway!

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

We found some cute little leprechauns at our house!

How Does He Do It?

We thought he knew food was supposed to go into the mouth, not around it.

How Awesome is the Ringtail Possum?

It's not as awesome as our sweet Lexie, who gave a PowerPoint presentation about the ringtail possum in her class today. She's been working with her partner on this project for over a month & today her class presented it to the parents (& to the 5th graders for practice). Unfortunately, her partner had to leave just before the presentations started, but she did a great job doing the whole thing by herself.

They also made pop-up books about the animal they researched.

It was so awesome to see all of these cute kids present their research & answer questions from the audience. One of the kids asked Lexie why the Ringtail Possum eats leaves. Her answer, "Um...because it's a herbivore." Well said. It was really cute & I learned things about these animals I didn't know before.

Nice work, Lexie! We really enjoyed coming to your presentation today!

The Missing Award

Last week we got an email from Lexie's teacher inviting us to come to the awards assembly because Lexie would be receiving an award. Earlier that afternoon they announced in her class who was getting awards & her name was on the list. The next day, I went for the assembly & they never called her name. She looked confused & I looked at her & told her not to worry about it, mistakes happen. Her teacher came back & talked to her & gave her a hug, but the award had been forgotten. (He felt so bad & I felt so bad that he felt so bad. It really wasn't that big of a deal.) She cried a little but mainly after all the kids in her class, who knew she should have gotten one, started asking what happened. I gave her a hug & said it's not a big deal & she went back to class. I was really pleased after school when I asked her if she was alright & she said, "Yes, I don't need an award every time I do something good. I should be doing good things anyway." That made me smile. And Lexie had a great smile today when she did get her missing award. She got it for having one of her art pictures chosen for a school art show. Way to go, Lex!

Stake Conference

Today was Stake Conference. I asked Lexie & Joseph to get their church bags ready so they would have things to do to keep them entertained for the 2 hour meeting. Lexie told me all the things she put into her bag like crayons, paper, scriptures to follow along with, & a crossword puzzle book. Then she said, "Oh, and a little notebook and a pencil for me and Joseph for if we want to take notes." I was surprised when she then took notes during conference.

Here are the notes she took:

-Every member of his family is important

-Love one another

-July Congo go to temple (It really did relate to the story that was told!)

-Joy to go to temple

-beautiful temple

-keep commandments

-peace to soul in the temple

-Zion important word

-pure heart

-blessing come to pass

-boiled down and put in hymn book (They really did say that.)

-Mosiah 4:2

-speak with mind (Okay, that one I don't remember. I guess she was paying better attention than I was, or I was out with Andrew.)

I guess she really did listen to conference.

Oh, how I love this sweet little girl!

Friday Fun Day

We had Thursday & Friday off from school & Rick was good enough to take Friday off from work to play with us!

Rick set up a new toy (an inflatable snowfort) for the kids in the basement & they loved it!

We also made treats for my sister's surprise 40th birthday party. They were very yummy & the kids were super excited about helping make them.

A Sister Burrito

We're So Glad When Daddy Comes Home

We sure missed Rick while he was in Maryland all week. Poor guy missed out on the strep & all of the throw-up we had here. We were so excited that he was coming home today & then I realized how messy the kitchen was. We really wanted to get it cleaned, but only after we spent the morning playing at the park. Then we came home and shined.

The kids did such a great job & the place really sparkled.

Andrew loves to help me vacuum, he asks every day if he can vacuum with me. It's awesome. And so are his shorts. Those are size 12 month pajama shorts he now sports as undies. He cracks me up!

Eliza was a happy girl, giggling away while we cleaned. We love to hear her giggle!