Our House!!

We are under contract for this beautiful 4 bedroom, 2 bath house, (and unfinished basement) and I am SO EXCITED!!!!! If all goes well with inspections, etc., we could move in the end of May! Our move date is June 9th, the day after Jace is done with school.

Check out this kitchen! Can you just see me baking bread in it? That's my desk at the end. Other side, can you believe all this counter space?!

The kids will love this yard and jumping on that trampoline. Oh ya, we haven't gotten it yet :) The french doors on the left of this patio walk into our master bedroom. Sweet!The green rug room is the entryway and, probably home teacher/visiting teacher room :)

They mention a breakfast room that this might be. I wonder if you can eat dinner in it, too.

Master bedroom with walk-in closet and bathroom

Bedroom #2

Bedroom number 3

Bedroom number four isn't pictured, and Jared doesn't remember the color of the walls, so I guess this is trusting him! I'd say he did a pretty fantastic job! And it is so great having him back home again today!

Ah! I am filled with gratitude. Gratitude to my Heavenly Father. Gratitude for my husband and children; Gratitude for my family and friends; my ward's Relief Society, especially the tremendous help, and offers of help, I received while Jared was gone finding this house and I was sick. Gratitude that I am at the end of this silly pneumonia. Gratitude for my life.

Jace's Research Project

Tonight was Parent Night at Jace's school. All the 4th, 5th, and 6th grade ELP (Extended Learning Program) kids get to bring their Personal Exploration Research projects to school and share with the other students and parents. (There are about 14 ELP students in the fourth grade, and they meet during school each day for 45 min. to learn new concepts and "do extra work :)"). The students get to choose their topic, and Jace researched "Gasoline-Powered Vehicles". It is an extensive research project that involves a lot of reading, a bibliography, an interview with an expert, a written product, or story, a 100-word paragraph, can't be more or less, handouts including "Language of the Discipline", to explain any technical terms he uses, and a 20-25 min. presentation. I don't remember 4th grade being anything like that!

Jace trying to smile despite the butterflies in his stomach just before giving his presentation in class earlier this week. He did great! Also, he made this car out of paper mache, cardboard, and his personal finishing touches of paint.

Growing Up

Jace and I on his 4th grade field trip to the Museum of Fine Arts a few weeks ago; Seemed fitting to this post :)

I think Jace grew about an inch or so in just one day. It began when I was putting Kyle to bed and asked Jace if he would get me some lotion for Kyle. In the midst of the chaotic bedtime-for-Lance-and-Kyle-routine, Jace randomly asked me if he could take the recycle stuff upstairs. (We usually grow a pile of recycle-able items by the front door every day). Then he came and told me that there was a surprise waiting by the front door. I went to find that all the shoes were placed on the shoe racks and the recycle stuff was no longer there. I could see carpet! (I know, I need to help my family develop better habits upon coming home; I just hope our next house has a mud room for us to enter and un-pile our stuff - oh, I mean, keep our new habits of putting things away as soon as we walk in the door. :)

So Jace was doing unselfish and kind acts, and I asked him what brought this sudden growth spurt. He told me that he felt good when he helped me out while I was putting Kyle to bed, and he wanted to do more things like that that made him feel happy. Then he helped me clean the kitchen, and even folded Lance's pile of laundry for him! I asked him who he was and what he did with my son. He wasn't sure how to respond to that. I assured him I was kidding and so proud of him!

And then we danced. The kind where he twirls me around. We usually have a dance like that when he mops the floor, just to break it in. I think it's important for a child to see how happy a clean floor makes a Mom. And this Mom is quite pleased and proud of a son that will soon be taller than her! What a big little man!

Easter at the Cabin

When I was a child, the Texan Easter Bunny brought Rice Crispy Treats-shaped baskets filled with goodies, waiting for me on the kitchen table when I woke up in the morning. However, at Jared's house, the Utah Easter bunny always hid his plastic Easter basket. So the Easter bunny, in an effort to save traditions, has been hiding these sticky, gooey baskets throughout our house for the kids to find, each year making it a little more difficult for the older kids to find. This year, the Easter bunny found out that we were at the cabin, since it was General Conference weekend. So, after an Easter story, the search began...

Jace helped Cami reach hers

After looking and over-looking, Jace finally found his goods behind the food in the cupboard. Lance found Kyle's basket in the microwave, and his own in the oven. Good thing no one baked anything this morning! Rice Crispy Treat Bonding. Jared's mom had a hip replacement surgery a few weeks ago and is doing great.

Playing with their goods. Lance and Kyle got cars, from the Cars movie. One of them got some for Christmas and it's been hard on the other guy that didn't get them. Problem solved! Cami also got one, solving any possible future problems....

Later, Cami was feeling festive and put on her Easter dress. Okay, maybe her mom had a small part in it...

It was a cold, white, Easter afternoon. A fresh blanket of snow had just fallen...

Cami didn't seem to mind.

Well, not too much, anyway. Brrr!!

Where are the tulips?

If I can't pick flowers, I'll just pick snow.

Need Some Buttering Up?

Highlights and Pigtails

Cami let me put her hair in pigtails, since it was my birthday -

It was a great day. I got flowers, you can halfway see, from Jared. I can't wait to plant them at my house! I also got highlights done in my hair, an awesome idea that was hinted to Jared by our talented and sweet hairdresser :) Lance gave me his favorite stone. I was spoiled with many more nice things from family and friends that are being put to good use. All in all, it helped me forget that I'm a whopping 32 years old! (Many thanks to the highlights covering up my gray areas.)

Happy Birthday, Jenny!

You are awesomest, best, and most amazing woman, wife, and mother!

Love,

Jared

Match Day Aftermath

After telling him where we are going, Lance's first question was:

"Are there fireflies there?"
"There are."
"Yes!" His eyes were sparkling. As long as it's got fireflies, Lance is great with it.

Jace is okay with it, too. He would have liked to stay in Utah with his friends, family, and the mountains like his dad (not to mention a cabin and hunting), but he's looking forward to the fireflies too, and we're going to live by Adam-Ondi-Ahman!

Lance keeps asking, "Where are we moving again?" He's already weeded through his "box" that he's been packing since the beginning of the year. (I gave him two boxes: throw away and keep, and he diligently went through every preschool paper and knick-knack and thoughtfully saved or did away with. It kept him busy for about 2 hours!)

St. Louis is only months away. Jared's orientation is on June 21st. Jace's last day of school is June 8th (Happy Birthday, Mom!), and we hope to get there sometime soon after that.

'Til then, I'll be singing-

We'll find a place,
Which God for us prepared...
Far away, in the Midwest....

It's a Match!

And we will live the next four years in.....

St. Louis, Missouri!

Wooooohooooo!

You're Not Alone

Cami follows Kyle for a Time-out.

Re-Tired

Lance had a friend over today that he's been wanting to play with since the beginning of school because they both wore the same shoes (crocs). His friend's dad is also in medical school, and today he wore shoes that matched Kyle's shoes. It was fun watching friends play together with oh so many similiarities. The conversation at the lunch table today went like this:

Lance: I’m going to be a doctor
Me: I thought you were going to be a policeman.
Lance: When I’m done being a doctor, then I will be a policeman! (of course, why didn’t I figure that one out?)
Friend: When you are a doctor, you will always be a doctor.
Me: Yes, you can be a doctor until you retire.
Lance: I will always be tired when I’m a doctor.

That sounds about right.

OH NO! Mom's Got the Camera!

It's Valentine's Day at the cabin. The kids are still dressed up from church (minus Jace who quickly changed so that he could relax and read a book that was difficult to put down) and not hungry yet since we just ate a little over an hour ago. This mattress and blanket that I found worked great for our back drop. The flowers Jared gave me were perfect. The lighting was excellent, with help from the snow...

By the way, according to Jared's grandparents who bought this cabin, that piece of furniture belonged to the ninth prophet and president of the LDS church, David O. McKay.

For ME? Really?!Lance reads his Valentine to Kyle. He really got into valentines this year. Aside from making one for everyone in the family, Lance cut out millions (okay, maybe a tiny exaggeration) of hearts and covered the kitchen table with them.

Baby Blue... was the color of her eyes...

I was kicking myself for missing those shots of Kyle at Kiddie Kandids, but kick I did no more... I can't wait to add this one and update his photo in our black and white frames!

Kyle got this dog for Valentine's day so that he would have his own and let Jace have his black dog back. So basically, it was a gift for both Jace and Kyle.There's just something I love about window shots...Sweet. Lance stayed still long enough to get a few shots of him and his precious dog. He sleeps with it every night, and plays most days with it when he and Kyle make their dogpiles. He loves the idea that Evan gave it to him and used to sleep with it, too.Bracing for mom's next tickle

Baby, take a bow!

Injury # 101

I seriously lost count of how many times Jared has hurt himself playing basketball or any ball. Tonight he bumped into someone's elbow playing basketball, and is currently in the ER waiting for paperwork after having his face glued back together.

Let's see... there was the time he broke his arm, broke a finger (he broke another finger before we met), cut a ligament in his hand...wait, that was when he was working on the truck. Sprained ankles, jammed fingers, minor things, here and there...

I took this tonight just after the previous photo to further illustrate my point. He sprained his ankle about a month ago playing volleyball, so he wraps it up nice like this so he can play some more ball! I told him he should try out miniature golf instead.

Love ya, hon!

Get well soon!

All of Us

Someday, it will be all of us, but until then, I will be photo-shoppin':

I made this for one of my family's Christmas gifts. As I went through a few of Evan's non-digital photos, I found this and love it. You may not be able to see that he's wearing his cap inside out. Classic.That's a friend that came to play for a day every week on his mom's "Day off". Isn't that a brilliant idea? I'll have to put that one in my list of things to do. Evan and Jace loved having him over. Great times.

While I'm reminiscing, here's another one. Miss those blue eyes. We used to take Jace and Evan in the bike trailer and ride to the park. He loved chasing the ducks there. This is in the spring before he was diagnosed in July. That boy had energy. I miss hearing his feet clomping up and down the house!

It's a Bop

My friend and her 2 girls call this little looped ponytail a "Bop". She wasn't sure how it came about. It somehow evolved in her family. I'm adopting this word into our family vocabulary. Isn't it just great?

On Reverence...

Lance and Kyle love playing with their stuffed dogs. Today was no exception. Tonight, Kyle got to say the family prayer. He expressed his sincere thankfulness for these dogs and for the fun they had playing with them, asked that they be blessed, and began to close the prayer. Jared and I were stifling our laughs, but when we looked at each other and Jared tried to help Kyle to expand on that, there was no holding back. Our laughter, of course, triggered the kids' unstoppable giggles, and that was the end of a prayer that would have otherwise been a reverent blessing of the stuffed dogs.
Eventually, with his Dad's help, Kyle did mention his family and prophet before closing his heartfelt prayer.

So much for setting a reverent example.

Kyle's Intuition

Cami was being really cranky last night and I couldn't figure out what it was, when I heard Kyle ask her, "Do you have a poopy diaper, Cami?"

Hmmm.... I went to check her diaper again, and sure enough, there it was.

Hey, when Mom doesn't have it, Kyle can pick up the slack.

Healthy Lifestyles

All three boys, and I, got strep throat earlier this week. We all took it easy, with help from sweet friends ;) and then the antibiotics kicked in and it was back to life as usual.

Except I had an idea:

"It's been so nice having all of us home. How 'bout if I just take you out of school and we watch movies all day?"
Lance, shaking his head, said, "my bum will get big."


We had cookies tonight after dinner, and Lance said,
"Mom, I thought you weren't going to eat cookies anymore because there's too much sugar."
I answered excitedly, "How 'bout if I eat a cookie today, and have NO COOKIES tomorrow!"
Lance's eyes got wide open as his long eyelashes blinked in realization and he said enthusiastically, "That's a GREAT idea!"

I'm with him. How's that scripture? "Eat, drink, and be merry? For tomorrow we die?"

Heavenly Prophet

At breakfast this morning, Kyle was saying the prayer:

"... Thank you for the food. Please bless us to have a good eat. Please bless our prophet, Heavenly Monsen..."

In the Gym

If you're on the floor when Jace has the ball, watch out! This speedster's shootin', stealin', passin' and takin' names at the speed of light (which is 186,000 miles per second, he might add).

Okay maybe a few itty-bitty-proud-mom exaggerations, but when he made 12 out of the 18 points made in the first game, the Martin Crowd went a little wild. Even Cami was clapping. Go Jace!