Line-up

We finally got together for Family Sunday dinners for the first time since Christmas. It wasn't as long as a break as it was the last time, but it was still nice to finally get together in person. Sadly Jenny and Brian weren't with us because they were on vacation in Mexico and Kayden and Miranda because they didn't have the time off from work and school to join us.

We got there early because it was our turn to host the dinner and it still needed to be cooked. Shortly after we got there, I was surprised to see that Jeff and Tiffany had showed up as well. They wanted to play Catan, and I was all in. Ben had some New Testament reading he had to do, so he didn't join us, but once I had dinner in the over, we went downstairs to set up and play.

The game was a lot of fun. Since we've been apart we've played Catan virtually over the app a few times, but to be able to play in person is a lot more fun. After over an hour and a half, the game finally ended with Jeff being the winner. They went ahead and clean up the game while I finished putting the finishing touches on dinner and setting it up so we could eat.

Since 4 of us weren't there, we were able to sit in the front room around the tables. The kids were surprised by that because normally they are in the other room. Again it was nice to be close to each other and to just be without worrying about anything. Once everyone was done eating we cleaned things up so we could play some card games. Our favorite, Crap on your Neighbor. 

When we gather everyone for dessert, the kids were talking about being taller than one another. I wasn't sure what brought up this conversation, but to see what they were talking about, we had them line up on the wall to compare their heights. We got a kick out of the fact that their heights didn't match their ages. We couldn't stop laughing and once the kids realized what we were laughing at, they joined in. It was a great ending to out evening.

Kid to Kid

During this pandemic the Primary kids have really been left out. The rest of us have been able to attend classes through Zoom, but the boys haven't. I'm sure they don't really care about attending a Primary class through Zoom, but they can still tell that they've been forgotten. They of course have had things dropped off from the Presidency, but it's not the same as being in class with your friends.

The other day they Primary Presidency dropped off cute little bookmark ties to a note. That not was letting them know that there was a Primary activity coming up. It wasn't being planned by our ward, but Church wide. The boys were excited to finally have something to do. When they realized that it was on a Saturday and in the middle of their playing time, I'm not so sure they were as excited anymore.

When it was finally time to get thing set up and turned on, the boys were not happy. They didn't was to stop their electronics time to watch and participate in this Primary activity. I reminded them that they could go back to it once it was over, but Owen was still annoyed by it. He didn't have the best attitude and was taking it out on everyone else. Once he finally calmed down, I turned it on.

Sadly he didn't stay calmed for long. Gabbi wanted to sit down and join them but he wanted nothing to do with her. We tried to calm him down, but he just wasn't having it. We had to pause the video, give him a chance to calm down, before starting it again. We also told him that she could watch and join in on the activities if she wanted and he needed to be nice about it. He didn't like that answer, but agreed. He did ask if she could sit at the table and not in the front room, and we agreed. Once they were all situated, we started it again and it was quiet until it was over.

Once it was over, the boys came in and told us all about it. They both seemed to like it and had fun watching it. As one of the activities they got to drawer a picture step by step. They were both very proud of their end products and wanted to hang them up. I suggested they add it to their art folders and they both ran off to put them away so they wouldn't get ruined. 

Lost Tooth

After a hard won fight, the third and fourth teeth that the Dentist wanted out, is finally out. We've been watching them closely because on one the permanent tooth had already popped through. Thank heavens the baby teeth were so wiggly, they were by far ready to come out.

All during dinner, she complained that it hurt to chew her food on that side. When she was done eating we took a closer look at it and it looked like on one, the baby tooth was rubbing against the permanent tooth. Seeing that, we told her that she had to get it out. They couldn't stay in there any longer. She reluctantly went into the bathroom to get a better look at it herself and started wiggling. 

After back and forth for a good 15 to 20 minutes she finally got one out. She came in happy that it was out. We had her rinse her mouth out and took a look. We then told her that she had to get the other one out too. She was so upset by that. She said that she didn't want to because she would be toothless. She's lost a few teeth the in the last little bit and I felt bad for her, but it had to come out, so we sent her back into the bathroom.

After another 30 minutes and nothing to show for it, Ben stepped in and she was not happy about that. He was as nice and soft with her as he could be. With a little bit of struggle, it was finally out. Once she rinsed her mouth out, we took a better look at the permanent tooth coming in to make sure that all that rubbing didn't damage it at all. After we were done looking at it, we noticed that a part of the permanent tooth (or at least we thought it was permanent) was just as wiggly as her baby tooth was. Ben said that it could not be the permanent tooth and that the baby tooth must have broken in half some how. The tooth that came out did look smaller than it should.

After telling Gabbi about the broken baby tooth and that the rest of it needed to come out, she was crushed. She thought she was done. Ben went and got an ice cube while she rinsed her mouth out again. When he came back, she sucked on the ice cube for a few minutes. When she couldn't take the ice any more, Ben went to work on the broken portion of her baby tooth. Thankfully it didn't take as long to get this portion out, she was such a trooper to put up with that. Now that it was out, she rinsed out her mouth again and we gave her some Tylenol. This one would probably hurt the rest of the night. 

Looking at the two pieces of tooth and her gums from where the tooth came out, we couldn't believe it. We had no idea how or when she broke that tooth, but it was long enough ago that some of her gum had grown down between the two pieces. It was a good thing that we finally got it out. I worry what would have happened to the permanent tooth if it had stayed in their longer. 

Luckily for her, after all that trauma of trying to get these teeth out, she was excited to have been visited by the Tooth Fairy. She was even more excited to see that she got a little extra. Even though it was only technically two teeth, the Tooth Fairy must have thought it was three. Three pieces of teeth and she got three dollars to show for it.

Valentines Weekend

Since Valentines Day is on Sunday and can't really do the celebrating we normally do, we decided to make a few days of it. 

We started off our celebrating (Friday) with a Valentines lunch. I had spent the morning baking sugar cookies for the kids and cleaning the house (because the new owners were stopping by) and I didn't want to make another mess or put together lunch, so Ben and I went to eat at Slab Pizza. We have never been there before, but Ben drives by it every day on his way to campus and had heard a lot about it, so we went to check it out.

When we walked inside they had a very large menu to choose from. I was kind of surprised by some of their topping combinations, but they all sounded really good. I ordered a chicken bacon ranch slab while Ben ordered a super meat one. After we placed our order, we stood to the side and waited for it to get done. We had originally planned to eat there, but the tables were full with what was available, so we took it to go. 

Once it was ready we took that, grabbed drinks from Maverick, and then headed home. We set up the little table in the front room and watched an episode of Cutthroat Kitchen while we were eating. It sadly didn't last long. When I was done eating I only had a few minutes before I had to take off and pick up the boys from school. It was a quick Valentines lunch, but it was really good.

After picking up the boys we surprised the kids with a movie. We had rented a few at the Redbox, two of which we had the kids in mind. So we put in Bobblehead the Movie. It had a fun storyline of Bobbleheads protecting their home while their owners were gone. It had some pretty funny parts and the kids seemed to have enjoyed it.

When it was over, I got dinner going while Ben turned on some funny YouTube video's. Once dinner was ready, we all sat down to eat. When we were done eating and everything was cleaned up, the kids grabbed some popcorn and sat down to watch their second movie, Monster Zone while Ben and I watched ours in our bedroom, Greenland.

Our movie of course lasted longer than their, so once it was over they asked if they could play Minecraft until it was time for bed. We let them and went back to our movie. Once it was over, we had the kids clean up, brush their teeth, we had family prayer, and then the kids went to bed. Ben and I had one more movie to watch, Let Him Go. Once it was over, we too went to bed.

In the morning (Saturday) , I woke up early. I didn't have to, but I did. Since I couldn't go back to sleep, I went in the front room and watched the last movie that we had rented, Wild Mountain Thyme. It took me a minute to figure out why some parts of the story sounded familiar, but once I did, I realized that it was actually an adaptation of a play Ben and I saw when we bought season tickets at Pioneer Theater Company. The play was pretty good and the movie didn't disappoint. 

The rest of the morning was pretty relaxing. When the kids got up, they ate breakfast and then notice some items on the kitchen table. We had set out a little something for the kids for Valentines Day. Once they were done eating breakfast, they asked if they could open them and the box that had been taunting them for the last week and a half. Once they got the okay from Dad, they went over and claimed their gifts.

We gave the kids a small stuffed animal with a bag of conversation hearts attached to it as well as some character cars. Gabbi got a three set of Frozen character; Olaf, Anna, and Elsa. Owen got another Demolition Derby car from Cars and William got a new version of Ramone. He really wanted the blue one that is in the Play Station game, but this was the only one we could find. It was red and had lithograph eyes. Thankfully he was okay with the fact that it wasn't the blue one. 

When they were done opening their cars, they then brought the box over and sat on the floor. Once they were given the go ahead, they worked together to get the wrapping off. When the rapping was off, they took turns opening a part of the box. Owen opened the box, Gabbi took out the stuffing, and William pulled out the gift. Once it was out of the box the kids had no idea what it was. 

Ben took it from William and explained to them that it was a Tibetan Singing Bowl. They still had no idea what it was and Ben further explain while showing them how it worked. They were all mesmerized by the sound and how you could play it. Ben bought it with the intent to allow the kids an avenue to relax when they got worked up over something or a way to relax them in order to get ready for bed. Either way, the kids all took turns gonging the bowl and trying to make it sing. Once they had had their fill of the singing bowl, they took their cars and stuffed animals and went to play.

The rest of the day was a quiet one. Ben did some homework, I did some blogging, the kids were playing in their rooms for the majority of the afternoon. When it was time,  we got dinner from Chick-fil-a. We still had some money leftover on the gift card we got from the realtor. After dinner the kids played Minecraft while Ben and I watched a movie. Once our movie was over, we put the kids to bed.

In the morning (Sunday) everyone got showered, ate breakfast, and got ready to watch our virtual Stake Conference. When it was time, we all gathered on or around the couch and waited for it to start. When it did I tried to keep the kids quiet so we could all enjoy the messages shared. We heard from our Stake President, the Temple President and his wife, the Provo Utah Mission President and his wife, the 2nd councilor in the Stake Presidency, and it was finished off by Elder Hess (visiting Area Authority) and his wife. For the most part the kids did okay, but they were very happy when it was over.

After lunch the afternoon was a quiet one. Ben and I took a nap, Gabbi watched a show on the BYU TV app, and the boys watched the Lego Jurassic park show. What they did after those were over, I'm not sure, but they stay quiet which was great because it was nice to have a nap.

When it was time for dinner, we cooked the heart pizza that I had bought on Friday. It's been a tradition to celebrate Valentines with their Heart attack Pizza and even though it was on a Sunday, I made sure that we still had the heart pizza for dinner on Valentines Day. The kids of course loved it and finished their meal with a heart sugar cookie. I dare say they had a great Valentines weekend. I have to admit, it was a lot of fun dragging out the festivities of Valentines this year.

Valentines Party

Today picking up the boys, they both had huge smiles on their faces. They must have had a great time at school today, celebrating Valentines day. On the way home, I asked them all about it.

Owen said that they didn't do much. I was kind of surprised because he's always done something for Valentines Day in each grade. He said that they had the sections of study like they always do, but for a designated time they were able to hand out Valentines and able to go through the Valentines once they were done, but once that was over, it was back to their studies. I don't blame his teacher for not letting precious time go for a party because of the limited time they have already. One perk of his day thought, He said that everyone loved his Shake Valentines box and he got an awesome Chocolate Shark Valentine from his best friend Ashyr.

When asking William, he said that everything was themed towards Valentines Day, all while doing their studies. For Math they were each given conversations hearts and they had to count and out them on a chart. For Language Arts they had to write sentences about what they loved most. They also did centers today and they had different Valentines activities at each. William's favorite was eating a Valentines cookie. They didn't get to decorate, just eat it, but William said it was the best part of his day. Once all their centers and learning was done, they spent the last little bit of their day handing out Valentines to the class.

After he was telling me the boys were silent the rest of the way home, but as soon as they walked in the door they told both Ben and Gabbi what they did at school today. Gabbi happily showed the boys what she got as well. Her "boyfriend" Derik gave her a sweet little Valentine as well of a small heart with chocolates and a little Gorilla. It was fun to watch all of them show off their spoils from their Valentines celebrations.

Boys Activity

A few weeks ago Ben and I got an email regarding the boys activities starting up again. Along with that email was a survey asking questions about the boys and their interests so their leaders can get to know them. With that survey I took both the boys aside and asked them the questions. When we were done, I submitted the survey and waited to hear more about upcoming activities.

A few more weeks went by and I finally got an email detailing how the activities will go. For the first two months they are only going to get together once a month due to social distancing guidelines and whatnot, then once it gets warmer outside they'll meet twice a month because they can then meet outside for their activities. With the survey the boys took, they plan on doing activities that interest each of the boys. The planned laid out sounded great and now all the boys had to do was wait.

Today the wait was over. The boys were having their first boys primary activity. When it was time, the boys got their shoes on, their coats on, grabbed a mask, and we were out the door. When we got to the church the doors were locked, and he had to wait until they were opened, but once they were the boys ran in with their leaders and I headed home. 

An hour later I went back to the church to pick them up. I walked inside and found them in the multipurpose room. They had made ping pong ball launchers and were playing a game with them. There were 5 boys total and 2 adults. The boys looked like they were having a blast and weren't very happy when I told them it was time to go. At least it was a little easier when the other boys' parents started arriving and there was no one else to play with. So they gathered their things, grabbed a treat, said thank you to their new leaders, and we headed out the door.

Once in the van, the boys told me all about their activity. They spent the first little bit getting to know each other, then they made the launchers and played the remainder of the time. They said they had so much fun and couldn't wait until the next activity. They are going to the Bean Life Science Museum. They told the boys a little bit about it and they both said how excited they were about going. Now we just have to wait until the next activity.

Lost tooth

William had decided to join Gabbi in losing some teeth. He of course doesn't have as many wiggly one as she does, but this is a start. 

After having his snack he came in and showed us that he had a wiggly tooth. I told him to go ahead and wiggly it to see if he could get it to come out. He was of course afraid to wiggly it, but did so anyway. To add to it, both of his siblings were bugging him to get it out as well. He tried for a little bit and then left it alone.  

After eating dinner he really wanted it out because Owen had promised to give him a paper knife he had made (origami). He was determined now. He wiggled and wiggled, but it just wasn't coming. Both Ben and I weren't sure if he actually was or if he was just walking around with his finger on his tooth hoping it would come out. So Ben then asked him if he wanted help and he took it. In literally 30 seconds the tooth was out and he was showing me proudly how it was gone. I gave him a high five and told him to get a baggie so we could put his tooth in it. He couldn't wait to leave it out for the Tooth Fairy.

Lucky for him, she did.

Early Valentines

Ben had a surprise delivery come a couple weeks ago. He told me that he had bought a gift for the family for Valentines Day and then kicked me out of the room so he could wrap them. Once we was done wrapping the family gift he brought it out into the front room to tease the kids. Every day he teases them with a question about, the worst being..."should we open it?" Which of course they all yell yes, and he just smiles.

Today after lunch we ran a few errands and once we got home, we sat down to relax. Ben then said that after a very crazy week of dealing with the kids and helping him get through his schoolwork with a broken collarbone, that I deserved a treat. I told him I was fine and he said nope, I'm going to give you your Valentines gift early. I laughed and said he didn't need to and told me to go and get the bag. So I did and sat down on the couch next to him.

He then called the kids in and told them that since I was really good, I got to open my Valentines gift early. They all looked at him and then at the family gift and you could tell that they had hopes that they could open the family one early too. He told them we'd see, and then brought the attention back to me. I then opened the bag and inside was a cream colored box. I pulled it out of the box and with it weight, I could instantly tell what it was.

Gabbi had made hot pockets for everyone after getting her sewing machine. I never used mine for heat, but would move it around in my fingers to give my hands something to do. I love it for that purpose and randomly told Ben that I wanted a set of the Chinese chime balls that is really good for that too. I had no idea that he was going to act on that statement and that's exactly what I found in the cream colored box.

The thing that was so hilarious, a few days ago, I actually ordered a set. I needed a few more dollars on my Amazon order to get free shipping, so I went ahead and added it to my order. When I had the reaction I did to the box, he knew it. I'm pretty sure that's why he let me open it early as well because the one I ordered is being delivered on Monday. Now we can both have a set because he will use them as much as I will. I loved it, it was awesome and very sweet of him.

One of the cutest parts of the gift was his note inside the box.

Lego Family

We originally bought the stuffed animal keychains as the item that either one of us would keep while away from the family. As time went on, Ben thought about it and decided that it would be something that would be hard to keep close (on their person) with how big they were, so we talked about something else that could be used in its place. After talking it through, we decided that it would be fun to make Lego (we our a house of Lego lovers) people that represented each of us.

Today we actually got to go and do that. We were going to take the kids yesterday for ice cream for their reward for a great PTC, but because of the weather, we never actually went and pushed that to today since it was bright and shiny outside. To double down on being out of the house, we decided to make that stop at the Lego Brick store.

After ordering and eating our ice cream from SubZero, we drove to the Lego store in Orem. When we got there, we gave the kids some specific rules before heading inside. Once they had those, we all walked inside. I was happy to see a sanitizing station right as you walk in. That gave me some comfort knowing that at least the hands are clean before diving into the piles of Lego pieces, well as long as they actually used the sanitizer.

We all had a hard time finding what we wanted with our minifigures that best represented us. I have to admit, I was surprised that they didn't have as big of a selection as some of the other brick stores we've been in. It took us an hour before we all had something that each of us liked. Once we did, Ben and the kids sanitized their hands again and went out to the van, while I waited in line to pay.

Once back in the van, we headed home and as soon as we got inside we washed our new Lego characters. I wanted to make sure that we didn't bring anything home with us. The kids were bummed, but understood. Now we just had to wait until they dried, but as soon as they did we put them together and placed them in their new home on the TV stand where everyone could see them. 

PTC

This week has not only the Book Fair, but it's Parent Teacher Conferences. The kids of course brought home mailers regarding the Book Fair showing some of the different books they had available. The kids have already made a list as to what books they might be interested in and I reminded them that when we went to Parent Teacher Conferences we'd stop by and check it out.

Today was finally the day. I couldn't wait to get it done and over with so I didn't have to hear the boys talk about the Book Fair. After picking up the boys from school, we drove around to the front to park. Once inside the building the boys took me straight to the Book Fair. They were all over the place, trying to show me everything they wanted and it was a lot.

After 10 minutes of back and forth between them both, the boys had narrowed down their choice. I then saw in the corner by the door, a stand with paper slips in it. The slips all had book titles on them that each of the teachers are requesting for their classroom. I found the boys' teachers and grabbed a slip for each of them. William's teacher at two left and Owen's only had 1. With slips in hand, I told the boys to go and find the books. 

William walked straight over to the book and picked it up off the shelf. He said it was a good book and couldn't wait to give it to his teacher. Owen searched and searched, but couldn't find it. He then went and asked Mrs. Kirkland and she helped him look, but it was decided that it was sold out. She did say that it was a clearance book looking at the price, so she wasn't surprised that it wasn't there. She then told us that we could just pick whatever book and use that as the donated book instead. So Owen found the another book from that same series and went with that one instead.

Once we had all books in hand, we walked over and got in line to pay for the books. Once we were done with that, we left the Book Fair and headed towards William's class. He was the first to have Parent Teacher Conference. When we got to his classroom we were a little early, so I gave the boys my phone to watch Netflix while we waited. When William's teacher was ready, she came out and told us that we could come in. William and I left Owen in the hallway and walked in the classroom.

Once in the classroom, William was all over the place. He was showing me everything that was in his classroom. He was the most excited about showing me where his new seat was. Once he was done showing me everything, we finally went and sat down at the half table at the front of the classroom. His teacher then pulled out his file and we started talking about William and how he was doing in class. 

I was pleasantly surprised how well he's doing. At his first Parent Teacher Conference he was in the red section (in some sections) which meant that he needed help, but now it was in the blue section which meant at or above grade level. All of his test and assignments had 100's and she had nothing but great things to say about his progress since the last PTC. It was so good to hear. I was so proud of him and all his hard work. 

Now that we were done with William's conference, it was time to go upstairs and head to Owen's. Again we were early to his classroom, so we sat down and waited in the hallway. The boys' again turned on Netflix to pass the time. WHile they were doing that, Ms. Holland came out. She's our neighbour that lives above us, we we just chatted while waiting for our turn. It was actually kind of nice visiting with her, but time passed and it was time to go in for Owen's conference.

Once in the classroom, we were directed to a table and sat down. She then pulled out Owen's test scores and overall sheet of how he's doing in class. She was happy to report that he jumped leaps and bounds in a few areas and the rest were steps forward, just not as much. Either way he was testing at and above his grade level, which was nice to hear. She said she loved having him in class and that he would be one of those student she would always remember. Again a great report and I couldn't be more proud of him.

With two great conference now done, we gathered our books from the fair and headed out to the van. On the way to the van I told the boys' how proud I was of them and that we definitely needed to celebrate all their hard work. They of course smiled at the thought of that.

Lost tooth

Two down two more to go. Today after coming home from school, Gabbi was sitting down and eating her snack. The next thing I know, she's freaking out and has blood running down her face. Instantly I knew what had happened. She lost another tooth. I was surprised how much it was bleeding, but once it was finally done, we took a closer look. It definitely was one that the Dentist said needed to come out, which was good.

We did however notice that the tooth next to it was either cracked or it has the permanent tooth growing in behind it. I told her that she really needed to pull out that one and she refused. She said she would wait until it came out on it own like this one did. I hope for her sake that it come put quickly and doesn't damage the permanent tooth if indeed it is her permanent tooth growing behind it.

Again...happy to have been visited by the Tooth Fairy.

Student of the Month

Today Gabbi came home from school with a surprise. As soon as I walked in from picking up the boys, she ran to me all excited. She then, from behind her back, pulled out a handful of marker/pens. I asked her what that was all about and where she got them. She then began to tell me that she was chosen as Student of the month for the month of January. I was completely surprised and so proud of her. It's the second time she's been chosen.

I have no idea what is required to become a Student of the month, but whatever she's doing, I told her to keep it up. I then gave her a hug and told her good job. She has come a long way since the first day of school. It's nice to see that all her hard work is being recognized some place other than at home.