Easter Fun 2012

Easter 2012

We spend Easter up in Hooper with my family. Even though church was at 9am, we managed to be ready and have time to take a family picture. Yay us.

We gave the kids their Easter baskets before church. Adelia liked her hat the best, and Lincoln was thrilled with his CTR ring, and Ivan was happiest with the jelly beans I think.

I can't get enough of this kid and her chubby white legs. She kept posing for the camera and cracking me up.

We had an excellent dinner, that included our traditional lamb, tasty rolls, funeral potatoes, salad, and mine and Aaron's contribution of strawberry lemonade. All the food was fabulous. We ate a lot.

Afterwards, Gramma Tam and Papa Kerry set up and egg hunt for the grandkids.

The anticipation...

The hunt

The loot

And since it was such a beautiful 70 degree day (you'd never know we had a blizzard on Friday), we stayed outside the rest of the time we were there enjoying the sand box, trampoline, and sunshine.

Mom, Kyle, and Kels

Emree is here!

Introducing my newest niece...Emree Kay Lemmon, daughter of Jackson and Brooke. She was born on Friday April 6th. 7 pounds 13 ounces 20 and a half inches long. Aaron and I got to go see her Saturday night. She's perfect. I love being an aunt!

Easter Thoughts 2012

I enjoyed Easter Sunday. We were at my mom's and so were Kyle and Kelsey and Steph and Kirk. We all went together to my mom's ward. That means, there were lots of extra adults for my kids to go back and forth between, and I actually got to listen quite a bit to the messages that were shared.

I love going back to my mom's ward. It's the ward I grew up in for 18 years, and so many of the people who had a part in raising me are still there. Lots of my YW leaders, Sunday school and primary teachers, bishops, neighbors, parents of friends, and friends. I love to visit with them and remember how each one of them touched my life in some way. I know a lot of them worried about me as a teenager and wondered if I'd ever get a clue and grow up. I hope that when they see me come to visit with my husband and family, that they remember that they had influences here and there on who I turned out to be. And that it's largely due to them as a whole, not to mention my amazing parents who also played a big part (obviously), that taught me the things I needed to know, so that in the long run, I could make good choices, and end up sealed to a wonderful husband and three terrific kids. I'm not perfect by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd say I'm doing all right. It really does take a village to raise a child, and Hooper did me well. I think about this every time I go back for a visit.

In Sunday School the lesson was about Enos. Kerry taught and did a great job. The first thought I had during the lesson, was that you never read the scriptures the same way twice. It's not possible. You can read the same stories, and the same versus, but every time you do, you are approaching it in a different frame of mind. You are in a different place in your life, than you were the last time you read it. Different things are happening to you, different emotions, different struggles, different needs, etc. Maybe you've gained a lot more knowledge since the last time you read a particular part, and that knowledge adds a unique insight. Maybe you have a new perspective, for whatever reason. But I think this is good. I think this is why we are counseled to read the scriptures daily, because even if we read it cover to cover a million and one times, it's a different book with every reading, because we are different people.  What a blessing.

My friend Dawn gave a good lesson in Relief Society too. We went over the crucifixion, and as we read different scriptures we picked out all the different things that Christ suffered and she put them up on the bored. Words like: scourged, mocked, beaten, betrayed, denied, and so forth. And as I looked at the board, I thought, we suffer some of those same things in our lives, not to the extent that Christ did, but I can think of times that I was betrayed or mocked, for example. But Christ knows all of our hurts, physical or emotional, because he went through it all for us. And at the end of it all Christ forgave, "Father forgive them for they know not what they do." Every since General Conference, Elder Uchtdorf's Stop it! talk has been going through my head, and I realize I need to be more forgiving and let things go. Not big things, I'm not currently in a feud with anyone, and there is no one I can think of who I a not on speaking terms with...but little grudges. I need to forgive and let go. Our landlords, that's the biggest one that's coming to mind, it's not the only one, but we'll use it here for example's sake. The fact that I'm angry and frustrated at them does nothing to them. But it eats me, if I let it. And being angry isn't changing a darn thing...let it go! I can, and it feels good. Christ suffered too, he knows how I feel. The people that spit on him and the guards who thrust the spear into his side, never came back to say sorry, or to help him wipe the spit of his face, or offer him a band aide. Nope. But he forgave them too.

During Dawn's lesson she made a passing comment that Christ doesn't judge us, and isn't angry with us, doesn't hold it against us in any way, the part of the atonement that he paid for us personally. He doesn't say, "Krystal you caused me this many drops of blood, and so you are not as much loved by me as some others who caused me less pain." Not at all. He loves us all equally. He values all our lives the same. I'd never really thought about this before. After thinking about it for some time, I think I can understand this, a least a sliver, because I am a mother. Often, I find myself relating my relationship to my Heavenly Father and Christ, to that I have as a mother of children. It's the only way I know to catch a small amount of understanding. More specifically, relating to this train of thought, I have been pregnant 3 times. All my pregnancies have been relatively easy compared to some, but let's face it, pregnancy is never a walk in the park. I don't love Lincoln more because I got to take naps and rest a lot during my pregnancy with him. And I don't love Adelia less because my back hurt continually and I was an emotional roller coaster during my pregnancy with her. And I don't love Ivan less because I was in labor with him the longest. I love all of my children the same. I would go through the same aches and pains I went through the first time, again, in order that they could be here on this earth as my children. And really, when I think about, even their behavior since they've been here doesn't effect my love for them. They all three are equally angels and demons on any given occasion. Their behavior might change the way I interact with them, or what privileges I allow them to have, but it doesn't change the love I have for them. Maybe this analogy is a poor one to describe my relationship with my Savior, but it's what I've got.

These are my thoughts this Easter day 2012. I am grateful for my Savior and his understanding of me and his patience with me. I'm grateful for his love. I'm grateful for the beautiful music that always seems to touch my heart more directly than any words ever could. I am grateful for bits of understanding that come pieces at a time. I am thankful for the warm sunshine, and being together with family members. I know that Heavenly Father gave us all these things because he loves us. So this Sunday, I'm writing this feeling loved, and blessed, and full.

Macey's Easter Scavenger Hunt

After beautiful weather most of the week, we woke up to the snowstorm of the year this morning. It's not supposed to last, and my guess is, that it will melt before the end of the day. It was kind of random though. And as we were driving Aaron to work this morning, Lincoln said, "Mom, this is NOT a good day for a bike ride."

Later on in the morning, we met up with some of our friends at Provo Macey's for the annual Easter scavenger hunt that they do for pre-schoolers. I like it so much better than the typical, every-one-get-trampled-and-come-away-empty-handed Easter egg hunts that they do at the parks. As you walk in the door of Macey's someone hands you a paper with 9 different animals on it. The kids get to walk around to all the different departments looking for giant pictures of those animals, when they find it, they go to the counter closest to where the picture is hung (the deli counter for example, or the meet counter, or the pharmacy) and tell the cashier what sound that animal makes, and then the cashier hand them a plastic egg for their efforts. Everyone gets the same number of eggs, everyone has fun looking for the animals, there are no crazy parents out to kill each other to make sure their toddler gets an egg, it's great. My kids have a blast every year.

 Lincoln, Sam, Tyler, Ivan, Adelia, and Carson

They also get to make bunny ear hats, and have their noses painted like a bunny if they want. This year, Lincoln and Adelia were in, and Ivan was not. And no amount of coaxing was going to convince him that he wanted bunny ears. But it's all good. We had a good time, and that's what counts.

I've been kind of a slacker about Easter this year. Last year we did all sorts of awesome activities for the week proceeding Easter, that taught the real meaning of Easter in fun ways and how we celebrate our Savior. This year, I haven't had the energy to come up with anything fun. We haven't even done an art project. I'm really behind. I need to get on the ball...I feel like I'm failing as a parent in the religious education department this go-around.

The Poisonwood Bible, Some Thoughts

I love to read. That's probably an understatement. I'm currently reading The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver for the second time. And man, it's doing hula-hoops around my brain. I love it. The book is so much better the second time through, because I understand so much more of the foreshadowing, plot, etc. because I already know how it's going to end. I think during the first read the suspense of the unknown killed me. But this go around I'm not worrying and wondering about the ending; instead, I'm diving deeper into the characters and the history, and the things I think Kingsolver was really trying to say when she wrote the book. And there's a lot. It's deep, really deep. I believe it's a book that will get better with each read, and maybe after I've read it 40 times I'll understand all there is to understand about it.

 I'll tell you what though, when I'm finished reading Poisonwood Bible again, I have a strong urge to reread Heart of Darkness by Jospeh Conrad, and Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe. I'd also really like to read King Leopold's Ghost by Adam Hochschild for the first time. There is so much African history that I either a.) don't understand all the way, or b.) Didn't know even happened. 

The first time I read the book, I liked Leah and Adah best. I still like them, but this go around, I'm intrigued with Orleanna, the mother. I don't know if it's because in the first read I had no idea what she was talking about most of the time, that's probably it. Most all her entries seem to be from the end looking back, while the other girls written in the present, and so some of the things she's talking about haven't happened yet, so you don't realize she's talking about them until the second read. But what powerful insight she has about certain things. 


"Fifteen years after it all happened, I sat by my radio in Atlanta listening to Senator Church and the special committee hearings on the Congo. I dug my nails into my palms till I'd pierced my own flesh. Where had I been? Somewhere else entirely? Of the coup, in August, I'm sure we'd understood nothing. From the next five months of Lumumba's imprisonment, escape, and recapture, I recall -- what? The hardships of washing and cooking in a drought. A humiliating event in the church, and rising contention in the village. Ruth May's illness, of course. And a shocking scrap with Leah, who wanted to go hunting with the men. I was occupied so entirely by each day, I felt detached from anything so large as a month or a year. History didn't cross my mind. Now it does. Now I know, whatever your burdens, to hold yourself apart from the lot of more powerful men is an illusion. On that awful day in January 1961, Lumumba paid with a life and so did I. On the wings of an owl the fallen Congo came to haunt even our little family, we messengers of goodwill adrift on a sea of mistaken intentions."


I love the whole chapter this except came from, but I'll only share this one paragraph. The language is beautiful like that through almost all of the book, but especially from the perspective of Orleanna. And I get what she's saying here...Sometimes we feel like so much is going on in our immediate day-to-day lives, that trying to comprehend what's going on on a larger scale seems impossible. Big history is made largely while most people are living their lives completely unaware of it. I feel that. I would love to pay attention, and know what's going on in the government, and the elections, etc right now. I'd love to feel like I had an informed opinion, and could vote wisely. But alongside the demanding day-to-day everything that goes on in my own household, the task of trying to untangle and figure out a twisty, slippery government seems daunting and unachievable. I wonder if I will look back at these days with the same regret that Orleanna feels? Once I find out the big picture years down the road. I don't know, but it's something worth thinking about.

 

Mailbox

One of Aaron's first projects after moving in (like we moved in Saturday and he built the mailbox on Monday) was constructing this lovely mail box. It's not one of the things we had really planned on doing right off, but as it turns out, if you don't have a mailbox you don't get your mail. Imagine that. :) I think he did a nice job. It's the best looking mailbox on the street. In my humble opinion.

Oh! And in other great news, Aaron found our camera battery charger. Huzzah! (interjection. Used to express joy, encouragement, or triumph.)

Potty Training: Back on the docket

Now that we've moved, I have a few simple (ha!) goals for the remainder of the year, #1 potty train Ivan and #2 get Adelia sleeping in a big girl bed. Sounds fun, eh?

We'll start with #1 first, and if things go the way they went with Lincoln, we'll be ready to start goal #2 sometime around Thanksgiving.

The good news is, the kids bathroom is now big enough to fit our entire family (plus toys, books, and blankets) comfortably, so we can have a party in there every time Ivan needs to go. Doesn't Aaron look like he's having fun?

Let the potty training begin! (again)

Play Ball!

We've had some really nice days here since we moved. We don't have a yard, but that hasn't stopped Lincoln from pulling out the tee and/or begging me to toss him balls to hit. When Ivan is awake he joins us too. Lincoln is a righty, and I'm teaching Ivan to bat left handed, he's pretty natural at it, so it wouldn't surprise me if he's inclined to be a lefty anyway. Either way, it's been fun to play ball in the backyard.

From the Phone

The good thing about having to use my camera phone these last few weeks, is that it finally motivated me to upload some of the pictures that have been on there for awhile. Like this first set for example, these pictures are from our last trip to Washington, Christmas break 2010.

And here are pictures of Adelia's first time on the swing, last spring.

And one of Lisa and her boys at Conference last year that I've been meaning to send her...

And some funnys of Adelia last summer

I like finding pictures from awhile ago. I can remember back to all of these things, and they don't seem that long ago, but look how much my kids have changed. Sure makes me glad I do my blog books, even if Aaron does tease me that our children have had their pictures taken every single day of their lives. I'll get to remember them forever that way.

Dream Laundry Room

Maybe dream should never proceed the words laundry room. Actually when I welcomed Krystal to her dream laundry room she said something like, "No, my dream laundry room would be handing the laundry to someone and having it clean and folded when I came back," but at least we're a little closer... I built shelves.

We have no before shot, so just imagine there are no shelves and all of that junk is sitting on the kitchen counter and in boxes in the laundry room making it nearly impossible to move around in there. (Our laundry room looks really small in that picture, but there is a lot of space to the right that you can't see).

Rant

I am frustrated and I need to vent. The following may or may not make any sense, and it is definitely going to be very one sided. So, keeping that in mind...

Our most recent landlords are extremely anal characters (anal character- noun - Psychoanalysis . a group of personality traits including meticulousness, compulsiveness, and rigidity, believed to be associated with excessive preoccupation with the anal phase as a child, with effects lingering into adulthood.). I knew this right from the very beginning, and was reminded of it all throughout tenancy. So I should have been prepared for what checking out was going to be like. 

I do believe that it is only fair to leave a place at least as clean as you found it (and in most cases, lots better), and so I have no problems cleaning up after ourselves when we leave. Within reason. But let it be known that I am in no way, shape, or form trying to get out of our responsibility to clean. And I knew that our most recent landlords have a high expectation of clean. I mentally tried to put myself up to the challenge.

As we all know, moving out of one place and into another can be quite stressful. Trying to clean up the mess you left behind at the same time as organizing the new mess you've just made, tends to make life a little tense for awhile. I felt like I did my best to counter the stress by planning lots of time to get everything in the old house perfectly clean and spotless. After we moved out, I would go back to the old place in the mornings and deep clean one room at a time while the kids watched a movie on the laptop downstairs. Side note: I did janitorial work all through high school and college, so deep cleaning is something I feel really proficient at; and while I am not the most spotless of day-to-day house-keepers, I can deep clean any given area like nobody's business. When I deep clean, I start at the top of the room and work my way to the bottom. Dust the corners, dust/clean the light fixture, change bulbs as needed, wipe smoke detector, check batteries, bleach the shelves/cupboards, vacuum out window seals, clean the blinds, Windex the windows, 409 the doors and nobs and switches and outlet covers, wash the walls top to floor with hot soapy water, do the baseboards, edge the room with the vacuum, and then finally vacuum the floor. Obviously bathrooms and kitchens have more to do in the middle areas, but those things get equally as much attention. After I was done in each room, I would shut and lock the door behind me so that there was no chance for my kids to go in the room after it was clean and mess it up again. 

After a week of this, Aaron and I decided to see if we could do one long haul on Saturday to finish up and be out, so we could put all our focus on the new house. Our wonderful Relief Society sisters volunteered to come help too, I asked them to go back over the walls and baseboards a second time with hot soapy water. During that time, Aaron and I finished up in the kitchen, even pulling out the oven and fridge and cleaning the sides, underneath and behind them. Guess what? We found some things that weren't ours back there. A hot pad and an oven mitt behind the stove, and some magnetic letters and a couple toys under the fridge. Could it be from someone who lived there before us? (Which was our landlords, btw.) We concluded that since we'd found those things, that it probably hadn't been cleaned out back there when we moved in. 

When we were done with the inside, we tackled the outside. I was a little miffed that we had to do the outside in the first place...I mean pick up all our junk, yes. But they wanted us to weed the garden and remove any old plants, etc. and...this is what gets me..."turn the soil". Seriously? Do you want to know what the garden looked like when we moved it? There were still pieces of old corn stalk, for one, but that didn't really bother me. What bothered me was that they had dumped out a couple of big flower pots into the garden and in the bottoms of the flower pots were dozens of large rocks. So when we moved in and wanted to start a garden, we had to pick out the big rocks, and then sift out the medium sized rocks, and then turn our own soil. But even if the soil and been pristine when we moved in, I don't think spring-cleaning the yard falls under the responsibility of the renters. Up-keeping the yard while you live there - yes, if it's in your contract. I guess, to put in mildly, I thought the check out sheet was over the top. WAY over the top. 

But we really wanted as much of our deposit back as possible, so we honestly gave it a valiant effort. When all was said and done a grand total of 30 hours had been spent in cleaning the old place inside and out.  After a very long Saturday, we turned in our keys and garage door opener. Our landlords couldn't come out right then to walk through with us, but said they'd let us know if they found anything that effected our deposit. We knew a of a couple things that were broken, the weather stripping on the bottom of the storm door, and one set of blinds, that we expected to come out of the deposit, but other than that we were fairly confident that the place couldn't get any cleaner.

Lesson learned: never be confident when renting. They will ALWAYS find something to charge you for. A few days later, we received and email with a long list of stupid things that they said didn't get cleaned. Taking off the floor vents and vacuuming them out was one. She said there were marks all over the walls, especially at kid level. And some other equally dumb things.

And you know, I'm willing to consent to the marks on the walls. There may have still been marks on the walls. HOWEVER, the walls were scrubbed once with bleach by me, and once with hot soapy water by either me, or someone in the RS who was helping us. So after two pretty thorough scrubbings, if it's still on the wall, it's probably not going to come off. But regardless of a scuff mark that won't come off, the wall is still clean. 

It reminds me of the difference between the kinds of people who want to be healthy vs. the kinds of people who merely want to look healthy. People who want to look healthy are the kind that don't care if they are anorexic and that their body is starved for vital nutrients, they just care that they are skinny and don't weigh much. People who want to BE healthy, eat a balanced diet and exercise regularly and aren't as concerned about the numbers on the scale or the size of the clothing, as long as they feel good inside and have energy to do the things they want to do. 

I think our landlords want a house that LOOKS clean. No dents, no scuffs, no scratches, new looking everything. When in reality, over time, things get worn out, baseboards and handrails get dinged up, there will be wear and tear where cupboards slide in and out, tile grout will discolor slightly, as will the bathtub bottom. And any other numberless amounts of things that just get old. And not that the house is old and decrepit and falling apart, because it isn't, it's still in really nice shape...but it's far from brand-spanking-new. However, it is completely sanitary. It has been scrubbed top to bottom inside and out. It IS clean. Not just cleaned but deep cleaned. Clean doesn't mean restoring it to perfectly new. That's not possible. It wasn't perfectly new when we moved in, but even if it had been there would be no way to put it back to new. And I think it's asinine that they are practically demanding that we do so. 

But what chaps my hide even more...if we don't go back and successfully attempt to fix the list she sent us, she will charge us $25 an hour to have someone come in and clean for us. Really? Twenty-five-dollars an hour? When we managed Mira Monte, we charged $12 an hour to clean up after people, and I thought that was a bit high. $25 dollars an hour is flat out highway robbery. Especially to re-clean a place that's already been thoroughly cleaned. So, what if she spends 2 hours re-scrubbing walls, only to discover, that oh-ya, I was right, they were already as clean as they were going get, can she still charge me for those 2 hours? She would.   

And I guess the part that really gets me, the part that has kept my blood boiling for the last 2 days, is that there really isn't anything I can do about it. They've got our money, which we really want back, and they are holding it over our heads, demanding the ridiculous, and if we can't live up to the demands, we're out. That's it. There's no second opinion. No appeal to anyone. Nothing. I suppose, we could go to court, but really? That's not going to happen. Too much money, too much hassle, and no guarantee of  any favorable outcome. A more realistic expectation would be this: Aaron and I will go back and spend several more hours there this weekend. It still won't be good enough. They'll deduct large sums from our deposit. We'll be angry. That will be the end. We lose. No matter what. And I can't get over it. It's just turning and spinning, 'round and 'round in my head, and grating on my nerves. I feel powerless, frustrated, and annoyed. I just want to ring their necks and yell at them until they realize how profoundly unreasonable and ridiculous they are being. But, being the non-confrontational person that I am, I'll write a blog post to vent my frustration instead, and vow that I'll never rent again.

TREES!

 We'd been living in our house all of about three days, when I decided it was time to get down to serious business. Tree planting. I found the two cherry trees I wanted as Costco (Bing and Black Tartarian), so I bought those while I was there. Then a few days later, we went back to Costco and bought a plum tree, and a 3-combo apple tree (it will grow Lodi, Honeycrisp, and Zestar apples). Then we went to Lowes and found an Elberta Peach and a Bartlett Pear.

So all six of our fruit trees are in the ground and raring to go. I wanted to get them in as soon as possible, because it will take a few years before they produce any fruit. We still have to buy the six Linden trees for the grass between the road and the sidewalk, but so far I haven't been able to find them locally, so I may end up having to order them online, but I have one more nursery to check first.

The kids are really excited about the trees, and love sitting in the yard with their little garden trowels pretending to help daddy dig the holes. And since our whole yard is dirt they are welcome to dig pretty much where ever they like. It's like a giant sandbox.

Bike Rides

The weather has been absolutely gorgeous. We've taken a lot of breaks from unpacking to enjoy the sunshine. One of our favorite pass-times is to go on a bike ride around the neighborhood.

I've had to resort to using my camera phone. I still can't find our battery charger. But these pictures turned out pretty good for a phone, I'd say. I'd also just like to mention that I have very cute children. 

The Move

 We closed on our house on Thursday the 15th. We got keys to our house on Friday the 16th and immediately began moving in. We took 3 van loads over Friday night, containing as much kitchen and bedroom stuff as we could squish in. You better believe we were sleeping in the new house the very first chance we got! :)

Saturday morning bright and early we picked up the moving truck. The kids thought the empty moving truck was the greatest thing since Macaroni and Cheese. The Elder's Quorum and Aaron's teacher's quorum, and our awesome neighbor came and began loading and unloading all our stuff. My good friend Julie took our two younger kids (Lincoln wanted to stay and help), which was a HUGE help. And load by load, we moved into our new house!

My parents and Tanner came down to help with the last of the loads, and then they stayed late helping us arrange and put together furniture, and bake pirate ship cakes and party.

We really appreciate everyone who helped move us, and help us clean the old house afterwards. We have the greatest friends and neighbors in the whole world, and that's the truth. Luckily we aren't too far away, so we'll still get to see all them lots and lots.

As I mentioned in my last post, my camera battery died. It's been a week and a half since we moved and I still cannot locate the battery charger. Grrr..... So, pictures coming...sometime.

Ivan's Third Birthday

Ivan turned 3 on March 18th. The day after we moved to our new house. Because my parents were coming up on Saturday the 17th to help us move, we decided that would also be the best day to celebrate.

After moving everything from the old house to the new, we had Papa Murphy's Pizza, opened presents, and had pirate cake and ice cream.

Adelia, Lincoln, Ivan, Tanner, Papa Kerry, Gramma Tam

For his birthday Ivan got some duplo legos and some Air Force jets from Gramma Tam and Papa Kerry, a duplo lego base and bike bell from Grandma and Grandpa Swan, and a strider bike (bike without pedals) and bike helmet and a Lightning McQueen camping chair from us.

He liked his bike well enough, until we told him that now that he had a cool, new big boy bike, he should probably give his little red trike to Adelia. That did not go over well, and then he wanted nothing to do with his new bike. It took a few days to persuade him that his new bike was bigger and he could go faster on it than he could on the trike. I think we're getting there.

Ivan told me his favorite present was his Buzz Lightyear helmet. Two days after his birthday the kids got in the garage and Adelia was playing with the helmet and left it out in the driveway without any of us realizing. Later, I was backing out and ran over it. It crunched. I cried. I felt like a miserable failure at Ivan's birthday this year anyway, because we were so preoccupied with the move, and then I went and ran over his favorite present. Gah!

The good news is, we have since bought him a replacement helmet, this one has rocket ships and astronauts on it and lights up. He's pretty pleased with it.

I will say, that Ivan's cake turned out awesome. It's probably one of my favorite cakes of all the cakes we've made. Ivan wanted a pirate ship. I made it out of a loaf pan and a sheet cake. It was actually pretty easy, but just looked so incredibly cool. I hope he liked it.

On Sunday, Ivan's actually birthday, he had a really long and late nap after church. So  in the evening Aaron and I put Lincoln and Adelia to bed, and then spent some awesome one on one time building a lego city/castle with Ivan in the toy room. Ivan was so animated and chatted up a storm. You could tell that he doesn't get the opportunity to be the only one talking very often, and he wanted to make the most of it. I think that was my favorite part of Ivan's birthday, was being able to spend that hour with just Ivan and Aaron, doing something that Ivan loves...legos. He's a good little builder too, and between him and Aaron and me supervising we made a pretty awesome city. Unfortunately, the camera battery was dead by this point, so I didn't get a picture.

Happy Birthday Ivan Boy! I'm glad you're three and I'm even more glad that you are in our family.

No Internet

We've moved! The new house is wonderful. I will post pictures and tell all about it as soon as we get the Internet installed, which won't be until sometime next week. If you need me, call or text, since I only get to check my email sporadically.

Letter Day Catch Up

I have been such a slacker about posting our weekly letter day activities. They are still happening! Here are some of the things we've done.

I never posted about letter K. But Suzy did a great job with it. She had the kids make K's with their bodies. We even made a giant K out of people on the floor. I was the straight stick, and Ivan and Kaitlyn were the arm and leg coming off of the K. It was fun. We also put on chapstick and kissed a paper letter K. And made fruit ka-bobs.

For M, Suzy did a monkey theme. She read the five little monkeys jumping on the bed book. We made trees by tearing pieced of paper and gluing them in place. Then we used peanuts for monkeys and put 5 monkeys in the tree. They turned out really cute. Suzy also invented this awesome monkey snack out of a bagel, apple, cream cheese, raisins, and Nilla wafers. Cute!

I did N. I did not take any pictures. I meant to. Ivan was being kind of a stinker that day and not super willing to participate. BUT we read a book called Little Bunny's Noisy Book, which is one of our favorites. Then we played a little game on the computer, two animals would pop up on the screen and you would hear a Noise, and then you had to guess which of the two animals made that noise. The kids had a great time with that. Then we made noodle necklaces.

Suzy did O. We looked through ads in the paper and cut out pictures of things that were orange and glued them onto a paper with the letter O. Then we took cheerios and glued them on too, because they are shaped like an O. We also played an opposites matching game. I did not take pictures.

My turn for P. I decided to do a St. Patrick's day theme for P. I read the kids a book about why we celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Then we played pin the hat on the leprechaun. Then I told them about pinching, and how you get pinched if you don't wear green. I'd made up a sheet with a bunch of different animals on it, some were green or had green parts, and some were not. I have the kids a handful of clothespins and told them to pinch the animals that weren't wearing green. I thought it was a fun alternative to pinching each other. :) Then we had a green parade. We invited Lincoln and Nathan and Ryan and Adelia to join us, and we marched down to the stop sign and back, showing off our green. When we got home, we made pots of gold at the end of the rainbow using Fruit Loops. I thought they turned out cute.

Ivan, Nathan, Kaitlyn, Adelia, and Lincoln, sporting their St. Patty's Day green.

And yesterday, Suzy did letter Q. She read us a book about ducks who say quack! Then we got to glue pictures of things that start with Q onto a paper with a Q on it. Then she flipped through alphabet cards and every time she came to a Q or a q we had to quack like a duck. The kids thought that was funny. Then she did a quarter toss. And at the end we ate Q shaped quesadillas.

"Moving" right along....

We did our walk-through this afternoon. All went well. As far as I know, we're still set to close Thursday and move in Saturday. I'm so excited I can't stand it. There are so many things I love about our new house. :) And I have big plans for it, that will probably take a lifetime to fulfill, but I love thinking about them.

I've been a pretty laid back packer this go around. Mostly, I've been feeling like being really meticulous and space efficient is a big waste of time. I've just been throwing things into boxes and taping them shut when they're full. No reorganizing and shuffling things around inside the box to see if more will fit. Not this time. In fact, I mostly haven't even been labeling the outside of the boxes either. I'm driving Aaron crazy. He doesn't like my unorganized packing method. But, I am not one bit stressed about packing. And I figure, I'll be the one who opens 90% of the boxes and puts the stuff away anyway while Aaron's at work. So I'll continue to pack how I please. It's kind of funny, the toys the kids have left out at the end of the day, I just scoop up and throw into some random box. That way, for them at least, opening all our moving boxes will be like Christmas, because there could be toys in any number of boxes.

Homemade Pita Bread

 1 Tbsp yeast
1 Tbsp honey
2 1/2 cup warm water
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp olive oil
6-7 cups whole wheat flour (you could probably use white flour, I've never tried, but you'd probably need more of it since wheat flour sucks up moisture better.)

Dissolve yeast and honey in water in a large bowl (or if you're using a mixer, just put it in the mixer bowl, less dishes that way); let stand until bubbly (10ish minutes). Add salt, oil, and 6 cups of flour. Knead 5-10 minutes, adding additional flour if needed. Let rise for 1 hour or until double in bulk. Punch down; divide into 20 equal portions (I usually only divide into 16 because then the pitas are bigger). Roll each portion into a ball; roll out into circles on floured or greased surface so that they are 1/4 an inch thick. Place onto greased baking sheet; let rise for 30 to 45 minutes, then turn over. Bake at 450 degrees for 8-10 minutes, turning halfway through (I usually don't turn them, and they are fine). Pitas should be puffed in the middle and only slightly browned. To keep them soft, place inside paper bag to cool, or eat them warm.

Whenever I make these, I usually double the recipe (I'd triple it if I could, but I think my bread mixer might die if I did) and then I freeze what we don't use that day. These freeze great. Just wrap them individually in tin foil and put them in the freezer. The next time you want some just pop them in the oven, still wrapped, at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. And they come out just as good as fresh baked.

Purry Goo Hay-er

Purry Goo Hay-er. That's what Adelia calls it.

 Translation: Pretty girl hair. That's what she tells me whenever I actually get around to doing her hair. All the sudden she's started really liking having me put bows or clips in her hair (not that she leaves them in very long). She loves to use her little brush she got for Christmas and brush her own hair, or anyone else's who is willing.

Her hair is long enough now, that I have a couple of different styles at my disposal. Piggy tails, straight down with her bangs back in a clip or bow, or the most recent one, a little braid off to the side. I love that whatever parts of her hair won't stay put up, I can just get wet and scrunch and they will curl and look so cute (at least until after nap time).

Having a girl is such a different ball game than having boys...but it's not so bad.

That's March for Ya

On the last blog entry, I posted a picture of the kids in the snow. Today, a few days later, it was 68 degrees and beautiful outside. We didn't even need coats. We had a picnic. We rode bikes. We stayed outside most of the entire day. It was glorious. Bring on the spring weather! 

Snow and Swim

We had the pleasure of having Aaron's sister Stacey and her husband Rob and their two boys, come and stay with us for a couple nights last week. It snowed, and the next morning all 5 kids were very anxious to get out and play in it. It took me about 30 minutes to get all of them dressed and bundled up. Then we went outside, and after about 2 minutes, they were done and wanted to come in. Such is life with kids. But at least I got off a couple of good shots during those two minutes. :)

Also at our house, swimming lessons have started up again, and this time Ivan is participating too. He was so excited. And he does well in class, but he doesn't like to put his head under the water. So whenever his teacher has him do that, he has a little crying spurt afterwards, but then he's fine. We had to switch lesson times to a time when they had Lincoln's level and Ivan's level going at the same time (because I don't want to spend my life at the swimming pool), and now Aaron gets to go with us to the lessons.  Adelia loves having her daddy there to play with while we watch the boys.

Scary!

If this story doesn't make you want to buy a security system, dog, and handgun, I don't know what will. Aaron works with the home owner in this story...scary stuff. I'm glad it turned out the way it did for him and his family. This happened not very far from our house. It's so much scarier when it's close to home and people you know. We've been triple checking the doors at night, to make sure they are locked.

Police Identify Intruder Killed in Springville

SPRINGVILLE — A homeowner fatally shot a would-be robber who entered his house in Springville early Thursday morning. The intruder apparently stopped for a snack and changed clothes before going upstairs to threaten the home's residents.

Investigators have identified the intruder as Armando Martinez Jr., 31. They believe drugs or alcohol was a factor, but they will have to wait for autopsy results to confirm that.

Springville police responded to a call of a home invasion robbery at 2:48 a.m. in the area of 800 South and 475 East. When officers arrived they found Martinez had been fatally shot in the bedroom.

Lt. Dave Caron with the Springville Police Department said Martinez entered the home through a back sliding glass door. The door was locked with a child lock, but Martinez apparently disabled it by pulling hard on the door.

Once inside, Martinez took off clothes that had become wet while traipsing through the snow and change into some of the resident's clothes, which were folded on the couch in the living room. Caron said Martinez then went to the kitchen, made a tortilla and ham wrap, ate some of it and returned the uneaten portion to the refrigerator before going upstairs.

Martinez then entered the master bedroom, told the homeowner and his wife that he had a gun, and ordered them to get keys to drive him to an ATM. Under the guise of getting ready to leave, the homeowner walked into a closet, got his .9-mm gun and shot Martinez , striking him once in the chest, Caron said.

Investigators say it appears that prior to entering this home, Martinez had walked through the neighborhood, checking at least 20 homes and several cars for unlocked doors. There are no reports of anything missing or any other homes or cars being broken into. Police are currently trying to document the route before the tracks melt.

Caron said Martinez matches the general description of a man wanted in connection with a similar incident last week.

"In that case he went into the home, stole a gun and apparently a cellphone," Caron said. "He told these homeowners tonight that he had stolen a gun before, so we're pretty sure it's the same guy."

Caron said neither the gun nor cellphone from the previous robbery was recovered at the scene of Thursday's shooting. In fact, while the suspect claimed to have had a gun Thursday morning, none was found.

Investigators are treating the incident as a case of self-defense, but Caron said police are conducting a full investigation that will be treated just like any other. Still, the incident appears straightforward.

"I don't see any reason to think it's anything but (self-defense)," Caron said. "They don't know this guy. This guy came into the house, threatened them, claimed he had a gun and, to protect his family, (the homeowner) took that action."

There were three children — 3-year-old twin boys and an infant girl — in the home at the time. None of the family was injured, and police said the family is handling the situation well.

"It's a pretty traumatic experience to have someone break into your home and then threaten you," Caron said. "Then, to actually take the man's life in your bedroom is pretty upsetting. All things considered, they were hanging in there pretty well."

Neighbor Bridger Frampton said he spoke to the homeowner and said he sounded rattled and was still in shock. He was one of a number of neighbors who said they would have done the same thing if they had found themselves in a similar situation.

"That's a big decision, when it comes between your family and that," Frampton said. "I think he made the right one."

Another neighbor, Coleby Clawson, said the incident has impacted everyone in the neighborhood, especially knowing that the burglar had tried to enter a number of houses Thursday morning. There were footprints leading straight to Clawson's back door and he, too, said he would have taken the same actions.

"If it came down to protecting my family, I would do it in a heartbeat," said Clawson, a former BYU linebacker. "I don't think I would hesitate."

He said he felt bad for the trauma his neighbor is most likely going through in the wake of the shooting. He said he serves with the man in the elder's quorum presidency of their local LDS ward.

"I think he is an excellent dad and a good husband, just trying to protect his family," Clawson said.

The incident was mentioned Thursday morning in the Utah Legislature where the Utah Senate gave preliminary approval to a bill that clarifies a person is justified in defending their home and family against criminal activity and may not be held civilly liable for damage or injury to perpetrators.